Chapter 9
Daphne laid in her bed. Her body and mind were tired but she couldn't seem to get to sleep.
Fred and Daphne had decided to go to bed when the final episode of the Simpsons had ended.
Sleeping in the same bedroom did not feel as strange as it had the previous night, the two had simply brushed their teeth and climbed into their separate beds.
Fred was sleeping, snoring quietly. Daphne was lying awake, it was not Fred's snores keeping her awake, but something else.
Her head rolled to the side, and she watched Fred sleeping. The moonlight leaked through the curtains.
It wasn't him keeping her awake, something else maybe, she didn't know what.
She laid in the bed staring at the ceiling, hoping she would fall asleep soon.
But no prevail.
She sighed, all she wanted to was to go to sleep and it was infuriating how difficult it was to get to sleep.
She flung the bedsheets off herself and climbed out of the bed, stepping over to Fred's bed.
She looked down at him before she gently nudged his shoulder, 'Fred.' She whispered.
No response, so she nudged him a little bit more firmly and he grunted, 'Freddie.' She whispered again, and his eyes rolled open, 'Daphne?' He asked, 'Are you ok?'
She nodded, 'I can't sleep.'
Fred yawned, but he tried to smile as he did so. He pulled the bedsheets back, 'Come on.' He said scooting over to let her into his bed.
Daphne slid into the bed with him and he wrapped the sheets around them both.
She laid on her side facing him, realising how close they were and she could taste his minty breath from him recently brushing his teeth.
Fred's arm wrapped around her and pulled her closer. Her head fell onto his chest and she felt her eyes getting heavier, 'Thanks Freddie.' She said quietly.
Fred smiled, pressing his lips to the top of her head, and Daphne felt her cheeks flush, 'Good night, Freddie.'
'Night, Daph.'
'Daphne.' Fred called from the kitchen, 'Coffees ready.'
He heard Daphne's muffled reply from the bathroom. He rolled his eyes, chuckling to himself thinking that her coffee would taste awful after just brushing her teeth.
Fred flung a tea towel on his shoulder as he washed the bowls from last night and the plates from this morning's toast.
He quickly dried his hands when he heard his phone vibrating on the table, he saw the caller ID Det. Wheeler
He answered it, 'Wheeler?' Fred asked.
'Jones, there's something you should know.' Wheeler began, 'I just had a phone call from Doctor Brooker, the guy who carried out the autopsy on Liam and Alfie.'
'What is it?' Fred asked.
'He said their bodies were not frozen enough.' Wheeler said. Fred didn't think this made any sense until Wheeler continued, 'We suspected that the boys had been out there for a while, but Brooker thinks they may have only been out there a few hours, probably the night before at the latest. Their bodies must have been moved from somewhere.'
'What?' Daphne asked noticing the look on Fred's face, unaware of what was being said.
'There's nothing on either of the bodies to indicate they had been dragged, and there's no evidence at the scene that shows either. My suggestion is that they were carried, which backs up another theory I have.' Wheeler spoke.
'What would that be?' Fred asked.
'My theory is they were going to be put there anyway, but the killer decided to put Liam's body in the sewers when you guys arrived in town. I think he knew you were coming and had decided to do to get your attention or to make it more and more difficult for us to find his next victims.'
'We're on our way now.' Fred ended the call.
'What?' Daphne asked again.
'Wheeler.' Fred began, 'Drink up, I'll explain on the way.'
Daphne took a sip of her coffee and grimaced at the taste of coffee and toothpaste.
Daphne, Fred and Wheeler sat in the operations room, Wheeler was explaining to them – in more depth – his theory and Doctor Brooker's report.
'Where is Fischer?' Daphne asked.
'With Doctor Brooker, the boys' parents have asked to see their sons.'
'We need to come up with a plan of action.' Wheeler said, 'And now, we must stop him before he kills again.' He stood up from the table and turned one of the whiteboards over to the blank side.
He grabbed one of the pens and stood ready to start writing points on the board.
'Let's make a profile.' He pulled the lid off the pen.
'I've been thinking.' Daphne began, 'Yesterday, Fischer told me about Milo Pablo. At first I thought our killer might be in his 30's, maybe even as old as the mid 40's. But now I'm not so sure.'
'Milo Pablo was killed in 1987 at the age of 9. By what Milo's brother had said we assumed that a killer would be aged between 25 and 35. Meaning that he had to be quick enough to snatch Milo before his brother saw witnessed the kidnapping.' Wheeler explained.
'I know. Milo died 34 years ago which would make his killer in his 60's or 70's and I doubt these two cases are the same killer, how could a man that old possibly carry two bodies, pull up the manhole cover and put a body in the sewers without being noticed by anyone, or slipping up?' Daphne asked.
'That doesn't sound possible.' Wheeler said.
'No, it doesn't.' Daphne commented, 'Initial I thought the killers were the same, but now I'm thinking, maybe we have a copycat?'
Wheeler looked from Fred and Daphne, 'It could be possible.'
'Has anyone been working on Milo's case since his murder?' Fred asked. 'It went cold.' Wheeler replied, 'We put up posters around the town reminding people to call in if they thought they knew anything. But nothing came of it and eventually the posters were destroyed by the weather.'
'After so many years, why would someone now be copying a cold case murder?' Daphne said aloud, now doubting her copycat theory.
'Detective's on Milo's case spoke to the family and they knew of nobody who had anything against them. Nobody at all who would want to harm their child.' Wheeler spoke, putting the pen lid back on and it clicked.
'I think we should go ahead with our plan and speak to the families.' Daphne spoke.
'I think so too.' Fred replied.
'Good idea.' Wheeler added, 'We'll split up the interviews if you guys want?'
Daphne nodded, 'Good idea.'
Wheeler smiled and gave a nod. Fred's eyes narrowed for a second as he saw Wheeler smile at Daphne. Then he said, 'Daphne and I will speak to the Tudor's first.'
Wheeler nodded again, 'I'll speak to the Wyatt's and Thomas', you wanna speak to the Richards' too?' He asked.
'We will do.' Daphne replied.
The three knew to leave the Harleson's for a little, to give them time for the news to sink in. Maybe Fischer would speak to them if she allowed them to see their boys.
The three gathered their notepads and exited the operations room.
They went their separate ways in the parking lot, Daphne and Fred climbed into the Ford Explorer and Wheeler climbed into his black Jeep.
Daphne pulled out of the parking lot and Fred read out the address of Tudor's home.
It wasn't hard to find, it was only a few blocks away from the station and only a few houses into the street.
Daphne parked outside the house and climbed out of the car. There was a blue Nissan pickup parked on the drive and a snowman built in the front garden.
They walked up the little path to the front door. Daphne rang the doorbell and they both pulled their badges out of their pockets. The door slowly opened and a man stood on the other side.
Daphne and Fred showed him their badges, 'I'm Detective Jones, this is Detective Blake. We're working on the recent cases involving kidnappings and murders in the town.' Fred spoke.
The man bowed his head, 'I'm Peter Tudor, Josh and Charlie's father. Come in.' He said, allowing them into their home.
He closed the door behind them and led them through to the kitchen where a woman and a young girl stood next to the oven. They both wore aprons and both had their hair tied in messy ponytails.
Caroline Tudor's smile dropped from her face when she saw Fred and Daphne.
'Catherine, why don't you go and watch TV in my bedroom and I'll call you when the cake is ready to come out of the oven.' Caroline spoke, trying to sound a bit more cheerful when she spoke to her daughter.
The little girl nodded. She went to the fridge and grabbed herself a bottle of water before running upstairs.
'You're here about the murders?' Caroline asked.
'We are.' Daphne replied.
'We'd like to ask you a few questions.' Fred said.
'We already gave our statements last year when our boys…our boys were killed.'
'We're reinvestigating, going over the statements and just making sure there was nothing that was missed or someone you might remember that could have had something to do with it.' Fred explained.
'It's the least we can do, Caroline.' Peter Tudor spoke.
Caroline Tudor nodded, 'Ok. Please, sit down.'
She motioned them to the dining table, 'Can I get you anything to drink?' Caroline asked.
'Oh, no thank you.' Fred replied.
'No thank you.' Daphne said.
The four sat at the table, 'Where would you like to start?' Peter Tudor asked.
'If it's ok with you, we'd like to start from the beginning.' Fred said.
Both Caroline and Peter looked uneasy.
'I can't imagine how difficult this is for you, but we aim to have this case solved as soon as possible.' Fred reassured the grieving couple. They both nodded, Caroline gave a thankful smile.
By the end of the interview, Daphne and Fred like it had been a waste of time. Everything the Tudor's had told them matched up to their statements from the beginning of the case last year.
They climbed back into their car. Fred went through the paperwork and found the address for the Richards', who lived only a five-minute drive from the Tudor's.
When they found the house, they pulled up outside.
There was a very small driveway and not much of a path leading to the house, but it didn't look like it had been cleared so they were careful not to slip if it was icy.
Fred rang the doorbell this time, and when it opened they saw a boy on the other side of the door. He looked to be 13-15-years-old.
'Hi, are your parents home?' Fred asked.
The boy nodded and he turned away from the door, 'Mom, Dad, some people are here!'
A few seconds later a woman appeared in the doorway and Fred and Daphne presented their badges, 'Hello Mrs Richards, I'm Detective Blake, this is Detective Jones, we're reinvestigating the recent-' remembering the boy was there she had to find a kinder word than "murders", 'incidents.' She finished.
Louise Richards knew exactly what she meant and she allowed them into the house, she told the boy to go to his room and take the barking dog with him. Daphne caught a glimpse of the name of the dog's collar; CHAPPIE.
'My name is Louise, this is my husband Henry.' Louise Richards introduced herself and her husband Henry Richards who had just walked into the room.
'Hello.' Henry said.
Daphne and Fred shook their hands.
'I'm sure you have heard about the recent incident?' Daphne asked and the Richards nodded.
'Please sit down.' Lousie Richards said and she and her husband sat down on the couch behind them. Fred and Daphne sat on the couch opposite the Richards'.
'We could like to go over the case with you. We want to make sure nothing was missed in the original statements or if you've remembered something that you might not think is important, but we will be looking over everything.' Fred said.
Henry Richards nodded, 'On March 11th Adrian and Sean took Chappie for a walk. Tyler wanted to go but he had to do his homework which was due the next day. Firstly, I don't remember how long the boys were gone, then I heard Chappie barking and thought they were home. But Chappie was so distressed by something and I knew something had happened. Maybe one of the boys was hurt or they both were and Chappie came home to alert us. But I…I tried to get him to take me to them and he would not leave the house. Something had scared him.'
Fred took notes and Henry Richards spoke.
'I called my neighbour and I asked him to stay with Tyler and Chappie whilst I went out to look for the boys. And my neighbour said he would come with me and his wife would stay with Tyler and Chappie. So we went to look for them. I didn't know where they had been but they usually take Chappie to one of the surrounding fields so he can play with his ball. We walked up and down the streets but found nothing. So I decided to call the police and tell them what had happened, and they came out straight away. I also called Louise who was at work and she came home.'
Louise Richards dabbed her eyes with a tissue she held tightly in her hand.
'By the early evening, most of the neighbourhood was out looking for the boys and we suddenly remembered the kidnapping/murder case a few weeks prior and we were worried for their lives. Tyler was only 13 at the time, he hadn't long celebrated his Birthday and the boys bought him a new skateboard for his birthday, a proper one.' Henry Richards smiled a little, 'He was so happy.'
Pausing briefly to wipe his eyes and blow his nose, but it was Louise Richards who continued the account of events, 'We stayed up all night, we had sent Tyler to bed and Chappie stuck to his side like glue. About 9 o'clock the next morning, a police officer came to the door and told us the two bodies had been found it was likely they belonged to our boys. And we had to go and identify them. It was them.'
'I'm so sorry.' Daphne said, trying to keep herself from getting upset so she could focus on the case.
'Do you remember anyone who stuck out to you, anyone acting strangely? Or seeing anything that made you think twice?' Fred asked.
The Richards' thought for a few seconds before Louise shook her head, and Henry replied with a "no".
And Daphne and Fred both realised that there was nothing different about their original statements and what they had just told them.
'I hope my boys didn't suffer for too long.' Louise Richards broke and began crying, her husband comforted her, but she gathered herself together to say something to Fred and Daphne before they left, 'I hope you find who did this to my boys, and those other boys. It's been a year nearly since we lost them, and you being here today has given new hope.' She smiled at them and led them to the door, showing them out.
Daphne wiped her eyes as she walked back to the car and she noticed Fred looking a bit teary-eyes as well.