Devil in the Details

Chapter Five

The office at Diana and Evelyn's home was actually supposed to be a spare bedroom or nursery. There was one small closet and a window that looked out onto the driveway. It wasn't a large room by any means, so they had chosen to turn it into an office. Evelyn had painted the walls a dark sort of blue-gray while Diana had cleaned and polished the built-in shelves on one side. She had filled it with her true crime books, mysteries, and knickknacks. A large desk sat in the middle with a chair on each side and a Tiffany style lamp in the middle.

Evelyn sighed and tossed the file she was looking at on the desk with a little more force than she meant to. The papers and photos inside slid in different directions, out of the manilla folder. Beside her, the contents of a blue coffee mug had long been cold. Peering at it, she wrinkled her nose and set it back down. She took off her reading glasses instead and rubbed her temples, allowing her eyes to close for a moment or two.

Even with her eyes closed, Evelyn could still see the photos she'd been going over for hours. Dead eyes stared back up at her from their last resting places. Some of their expressions were blank, some of them horrified. Not one of them had been the victim of any sort of blunt force trauma. That felt significant. A few of the larger men had crushed windpipes. He had choked them from behind, but he had hit none of them in the head. Evelyn couldn't help but make a mental note that Benjamin Walker was a large, powerful man.

"Hey." Diana said from the doorway and Evelyn's head snapped up, eyes wide. She hadn't even heard her wife approaching. "Sorry," Diana apologized, "didn't mean to scare you."

"It's fine." Evelyn cleared her throat. She glanced down and shuffled the photos away before Diana saw them. They were the stuff of nightmares and she didn't want her wife to suffer through that. Diana, of course, pieced that together.

"Rough stuff, huh?" she asked, bringing over a cup of coffee.

"Incredibly." Evelyn said. She took the fresh cup and smiled, tilting her head up for a kiss. "Thank you, baby, you're the best."

"I keep trying to tell you." Diana said. "So, what is it this time? Trafficking? Homicide? Suicide?" Evelyn groaned and ignored the question, taking another long drink of her coffee. It warmed her up, but it did little to chase away the icy feeling in the pit of her stomach. Diana waited patiently. She wasn't one to give up. It was what made her a talented reporter. It was also what made her so charming. "Is it that murder from the other night?" Evelyn licked her lips as she chose her words.

"I know you've heard there was more to the homicide."

"And here you are." Diana replied, "with multiple files."

"I'm studying the Falls Vampire." Evelyn admitted, shifting her weight and spinning her chair away from Diana a bit.

"The Garret Falls Vampire." Diana echoed. Her voice was quiet, as if speaking his name might summon him. She took a drink of coffee from her own mug and grimaced. "Why?"

"It's off the record." Evelyn replied. She knew Diana would be trustworthy. "You know who the victim was?"

"Jason Newton." Diana replied. "We've been looking into him. Forty-seven, avid angler, hunter- he had a few run-ins with your people, but nothing too serious."

"Right." Evelyn agreed. "But he was also the alibi for the first suspect they had pinned as the Garret Falls Vampire... Benjamin Walker."

"You've got to be shitting me." Diana replied, setting her cup to the side. She sat up straight. "No, see? I knew I recognized his name from somewhere! Back when we met, I looked at the case, remember? I always thought he was lying. I remember wanting to do an interview with him, maybe have some drinks and get a confession. Do you think they're related to the old murders?"