Ashley's Asylum (3)

05| Ashley's Asylum

Karl tried to keep calm but it was almost impossible, with the words spewing out of the investigator's mouth, insult after insult washed over him and everyone present.

Ashley's aunt sobbed gently into a fistful of scrunched tissues, she'd barely eaten or slept since they'd arrived at the station. Her eyes were glistening with tears but they were also shadowed and wary. She was exhausted both emotionally and physically. Ben, her husband and Ashley's Uncle stood protectively behind her, his jaw twitched as he too struggled to maintain a hold on his anger and grief.

Unlike the rest of them, Adrian had no self-restraint. "What is it you're trying to say exactly?" He snapped heatedly. His shoulders were hunched, a sign he was getting angry.

The investigator, John Watts, noticed the effect his words were having on the group but continued regardless.

"We have reason to believe that Ashley could be involved with the escape of Michael Wilton and Samuel Hanz."

"What reason? We were there that day we saw her kidnapped!" Adrian growled.

"We've had witnesses confirm her likely involvement. Those who have seen her spending time with them outside of work hours, CCTV that reveals her moving outside of normal times, she has spent time with them when no one else has been around."

"Witnesses!" Karl exclaimed. His anger erupted. "Bullshit!"

Ben stepped around his wife and scowled. "Now you listen to me. Our daughter is out there somewhere, scared and alone with those, those monsters and you say this!"

The old man pointed a finger at the detective. "I watched them take my little girl right in front of my eyes and there wasn't a bloody thing I could do about it! I saw the look on her face, the absolute fear and you dare to feed me this bullshit. Whose saying she's involved. Who! What about them, maybe they're the ones involved!"

"We're considering all the possibilities." John murmured, undeterred by Ben's anger.

Karl snorted and shook his head.

John gave his head a shake. "Look, I'm doing you all the justice of being frank and to the point. The most likely suspect we have here, alive, is Ashley. There is evidence of three people exiting the first car used to escape the Asylum and equal evidence showing that three people climbed into the second car David must have driven. The only footprints trying to flee are David's."

"Maybe she couldn't run" Adrian exclaimed.

"Maybe?" John shrugged, he didn't seem convinced.

"She's not stupid." Karl exclaimed. "Ashley's been working with them for an entire year, she knows what to do and what not to do. I've worked with Sam myself, he's my patient. Running would only provoke him. You said so yourself how David died. That's Sam all over, strength and power, if Ashley ran she'd only be bringing that on herself."

John sat back on a desk. "You seem to know quite a bit."

Karl glared at him. "It's my job. If you think Ashley could outrun someone that David couldn't, I'll begin to wonder how you ever became a detective."

John held up his hands and got to his feet again. "All I'm asking is that you think back. Think of anything that might give us more clues. I'm not saying Ashley is involved in all of this, but I need proof and at the moment, the evidence isn't looking good."

John exited the small office after a moment and made his way to the wall where all leads and evidence was pinned to a board. His rookie partner approached from the side and stood beside him, John could already tell from his expression that he had things to say.

"What is it Johnson?"

C. Johnson rubbed his chin and darted an anxious look at his superior. "This whole thing feels wrong. This girl being involved, it doesn't feel right."

John sighed and stared at her picture pinned to the board. She had her hair tied up in a scrunchy, with a vest top and pair of bed shorts on. She was pretty and young, innocent in appearance but weren't all children? He could see something intelligent in her eyes. Her profile and application to the Asylum was pinned beside her image alongside images of the gory aftermath of the Asylum incident that kicked off this case. On the opposite side of the board, mugshots of Michael Wilton and Samuel Hanz were pinned.

"We've got a statement that suggests otherwise." He murmured.

Johnson shook his head. "That Timothy kid? I'd sooner think he was involved, the way he fidgeted in the interview. There's something off about him."

John sighed, and popped a cigarette in his mouth. "Mmhmm..."

Johnson could tell he wasn't taking him seriously. He decided to try a little harder. "What I see so far are five bodies, four from the Asylum and now a fifth one, David, found in the middle of nowhere with a crushed windpipe and the DNA of Samuel Hanz all over him."

John lit his cigarette and drew in a deep breath before speaking. "What's your point, Johnson?"

Johnson chuffed as if it were obvious. "We've got two serial killers who shouldn't have even been at the Dale-Creek facility, yet they were, two very dangerous, very high profile criminals and now they've escaped. We've also got a number of other unmentionables who were being kept at the Asylum who are equally ill matched to the facility. We've also got six inexperienced adolescents working at a professional Asylum with sick people who need qualified, experienced help."

"And..." John turned to look at colleague with raised eyebrows.

"What I'm trying to say is it's obvious that he was a collector, somehow he's managed to gather all of these criminals under one roof. It's a disaster waiting to happen. There's still enough crazy in that basement to take out a country. Look, he clearly helped Hanz and Wilton escape. He met up with them after they made a break for it and they killed him to tie up loose ends. "

John frowned. "That's a good last point Johnson. Worth looking into, however all that does is suggest David was involved, not that Ashley wasn't. Why take her? Why keep her alive...why not kill her alongside David?"

He didn't have the answers. He didn't know why, but he was going to find out. John watts gave him a pat on the back. "Just because someone looks innocent, it doesn't make it so. Keep trying rookie" He barely murmured before moving away.

Johnson let out a harsh sigh and folded his arms. He remained where he was, staring up at the image pinned to the board. He didn't think she was guilty of anything but being in the wrong place at the wrong time.