He’d estimated between five and seven in the morning for both couples. Which hit the running time the two women were well known for. Kate had been able to confirm with their husbands the set time that the women had always left, as both husbands had very conveniently been asleep, well used to the time frame and schedule that their wives followed. And, of course, one husband no longer lived in the same household.
Kate walked up and down the parking lot and then, on instinct, headed back down the pathway to where the first murders had occurred. She walked up into the hills and all the way around, watching the runners come and go, also people walking with their dogs, others just out for a stroll with cameras around their necks. Making a mental note to contact the bird-watching societies in the local area, she stopped one older gentleman and asked him how often he came with his binoculars and his camera.
He laughed. “Every chance I get, my dear, every chance I get. The more I head down this retirement path, the less I find that I want to be home, and the more I want to be out here, enjoying nature,” he said, with a big smile, his white mustache twinkling in delight at the opportunity to talk about his favorite topic.
“Do you ever meet other people with the same interests here?”
“Oh yes,” he agreed, “very much so. Early mornings are best—or late in the afternoon, when it’s just about to hit sunset,” he murmured. “But it can get busy here too. You can see runners up and down here always.”
She nodded. “Have you ever been concerned, you know, considering the fact that several people were murdered on this trail? Have you ever been afraid or seen anybody who worried you?”
He immediately shook his head. “No, not at all, and I’m hardly part of the group that would cause trouble. I’m older. I’m obviously not as strong as these other people. I’m not here to compete or to wreck anybody’s exercise time. I’m just here to take pictures of birds if I can.”
“Do the runners ever disturb the birds that you’re looking at?”
He nodded. “All the time. But I’m okay with that.”
“But what about other bird-watchers?”
He frowned, thinking about it. “You know what? I hadn’t realized that runners were quite so cutthroat, but bird-watchers can be really bad too.”
Her interest perked up. “Meaning?”
“Meaning,” he explained, “that some people will stay out all night for an opportunity to see the bird that they’re looking for at a specific time of day. And, if anybody disturbs them at the precise hour that they’ve been waiting for, you can get quite a ruckus. I’m not typically a traditional bird-watcher in the sensethat I won’t sit camped out all night long, waiting for a bird to get out of its nest in the morning. I’m here for the unstaged photographs.” He held up his camera.
She admired the camera and the long lens on it. “And there’s a certain amount of money that goes into this to make it worthwhile, isn’t there?”
“It’s not even so much about the money,” he noted, “but it is one area that the more you spend on equipment, the better the value is. And I have the money, so I like to spend it on my toys, such as quality camera equipment. I was a teacher for many, many years, and I always held on to the belief that one day I’d reap the benefits of all those evenings, working late, marking homework, and all those days, dealing with cranky kids in the classroom,” he said, with a belly laugh. “And I have to tell you that I’m loving life right now.”
“I’m happy to hear that,” she replied, with a bright smile. “I’m investigating the killings and trying to figure out motive, and I’ve been wondering if bird-watchers or photographers would have been pissed off by these runners.”
He looked at her in surprise. “That is possible,” he agreed, “because, you know, well,people. But I can’t imagine that it would be something that would go on all the time.” He turned to look around. “I’ve been walking these trails for years, and this is the first time I’ve ever heard of any nastiness like this.”
She nodded. “I did check for crimes around this area and found a couple rapes, but they were many years ago.”
He nodded. “Yes, and they were university students too, as I recall.” He frowned. “I think they were specifically targeted by a boyfriend or something of that nature, if memory serves.”
She nodded. “Yes, that’s what I understand as well. There doesn’t seem to be much of a clear motivation for these recent murders, at least that I’ve been able to see so far.”
“Well, I won’t try and tell you how to do your job, young lady. However, I’m sure, by the time you figure it out, the motive will be clear.”
“Oh, I agree with you there,” she murmured. “Now if only I had some insight into why and how.”
“And here I thought you’d be right after the husbands or the partners,” he noted, with a jovial smile. “Aren’t they always the first ones you look at?”
“Yes, and they’ve been looked at already,” she confirmed, “for the first two women killed, that is. And the second set of murders was an apparently happy couple.” Not that she would get into it with this guy though. “I just saw you with the camera there and wondered what it was like in this area, with so many competing interests occupying the same space.”
He nodded. “Honestly, most of us bird-watchers are pretty easygoing,” he noted. “There is a certain amount of patience a person must have to be successful at it to begin with. But still, you will find people who get very irritated. You know, somebody who’s planned ahead, maybe even taken a day off work, and this is their one chance to find this specific bird. So they are all set up to see or to catch that one perfect shot, then somebody comes thundering along or chattering away at just the wrong time and potentially blows the opportunity they worked so hard to set up. You know what? I can almost see that happening.”
“I get it.” And Kate listened as he carried on. It was possible; it certainly was. But, in that case, the killings would be completely random, and those were even harder to pin down. Of course, if they were random, then it wouldn’t matter to the victims.
She thanked him for his time, then frowned, as she walked around the area a little bit longer. Frustration and not wanting to go back and admit defeat at the office pushed her to continue. With that, she slowly walked the path once more, looking aroundthe area, wishing there was some way to set herself up as bait, even knowing the rest of the department would be completely against it.
But she had no way to know when this guy would actually jump up and do something. It was sad, but, as she headed back to her car, dragging her ass, she knew—as soon as she got to the office—she’d have to turn her attention to the other cases. But she also knew that she could do very little else with this joggers’ case. She would further check social media as soon as she got in to see if there was any belated mention of any of the victims or any of the suspects. But, other than that, she was pretty well out of trails to follow.
Once back in the office, the others looked up at her.
She shrugged. “Nothing new.”