Morgan's patience had clearly run its course.He gripped Ernest's arm firmly.“That's enough.We're going to the station.”
As Morgan steered Ernest toward the door, he pulled out his radio with his free hand.“This is Chief Morgan.I need officers and a coroner's team at the Chase cabin immediately.”His voice faded as he guided his prisoner outside.
Jenna, Jake, and Spelling were left standing around the freezer in the suddenly quiet room.Outside, wind whispered through the trees, a counterpoint to the bizarre conversation that had just unfolded.
“Well,” Spelling broke the silence, “it sure looks like we've found our killer.”
Jenna shook her head, surprising even herself with the certainty she felt.“I don't think so.I believe him—at least the part about finding her here.”
“You’re serious?”Jake asked.
“Ernest Chase is certainly eccentric,” Jenna replied, studying the frozen body.“Surely delusional about certain things.But this...”She gestured toward Rebecca's remains.“This pose, the apple.It’s so carefully done.Calculated.It doesn't fit him.”
“Sheriff, with all due respect, he had a frozen corpse in his freezer and a fairytale explanation ready to go,” Spelling pointed out.
“Exactly,” Jenna said.“It's too perfect.Someone could be using his reputation, his eccentricities, against him.”She turned toward the door.“There's something I need to check before we leave.”
Outside, the autumn air felt crisp after the stagnant atmosphere of the cabin.Jenna pointed toward the tree line where she had noticed vultures circling earlier.
“This way,” she said, setting off toward a barely visible trail that led deeper into the woods.
Jake and Spelling followed her, their shoes crunching on fallen leaves.As they walked, an acrid smell began to permeate the air—putrid and unmistakable.
“What exactly are we looking for?”Spelling asked, his nose wrinkling at the stench.
Jenna didn't answer immediately.The trail opened into a small clearing, and there, just as she had expected, lay a pile of animal remains—entrails, organs, and bones in various states of decay.Several vultures took flight as they approached, their massive wings beating heavily as they retreated to nearby trees.
“Ernest's gut pile,” Jenna said, gesturing toward the grisly sight.“Hunters often leave the entrails and organs in one spot after field dressing their kills.”
Jake caught on immediately.“You think whoever put Rebecca in the freezer also came out here and took organs from this pile?”
“Exactly.”Jenna circled the area, careful not to disturb anything more than necessary.“The liver and lungs found in Heritage Park—they weren't fresh human organs.They were deer organs, partially eaten by scavengers, collected and arranged under that cake stand the left on the picnic table.”
“It tracks,” Spelling admitted, surveying the scene.“Our killer could have taken animal organs from here, then placed them there.”He shook his head.“It's twisted, but it makes sense.”
Jenna asked, “Do you think that the man that Morgan just arrested would have done all of that?”
Jake shook his head.“Setting up that display in the park does seem kind of complicated for Ernest Chase to handle.”
“Then the question is, who did it?”Spelling asked.
“I don't know yet,” Jenna admitted.“But I'm certain of one thing—Ernest Chase is being set up.The real killer is still out there, and they're very clever.”
Jake looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to continue.The gleam in his eyes told her he was ready to follow her lead, despite Morgan's dismissal, despite his own questions.This was why they worked well together—his trust in her instincts, even when they led them off the beaten path.
Spelling said slowly.“You might be right, Sheriff.But convincing Morgan won't be easy.He thinks he's got his man.”
“Then we'll have to find enough evidence to convince him otherwise,” Jenna said firmly.
They made their way back toward Spelling's cruiser, the woods around them suddenly seeming full of hidden threats.Somewhere, a killer was watching, waiting, perhaps even planning their next move.As Jenna slid into the passenger seat, she couldn't shake the feeling that they were being manipulated, pieces moved skillfully across a board in a game whose rules they hadn't yet deciphered.
*
Jenna, Jake, Spelling, and Morgan spent hours at the Pinecrest Police Station listening to Ernest Chase's increasingly bizarre tales of aliens, enchanted sleep, and his self-appointed role as protector.The arrival of the public defender—a harried woman with a permanent frown—had finally brought the interview to a merciful end, leaving them all exhausted and no closer to untangling the truth from the fantastical web Ernest had spun.
“My office,” Morgan said curtly, already striding down the hallway without checking if they followed.
Jenna exchanged a glance with Jake before heading down the hallway.Colonel Spelling fell into step beside them, his expression carefully neutral.The corridor seemed longer than it had that morning, the walls closer somehow.Jenna considered fragments of Ernest's statements, trying to piece them together into something that made sense.