Chapter 33
"So, you think Rex will be able to smell a body that's been there for a very long time?" Anna asked as she, Charlie, and Rex drove up to the cabin in the Charger. Mika was riding with Jesse and the forensics team was behind them. Joe had stayed behind to get the paperwork started on Richard hitting Mika. The man was in the holding cells while they checked out the cabin.
"It has been a while but if she's not buried too deeply, he may be able to get something. Again, we may need to be relying on the ground penetrating radar," Charlie admitted and Rex barked.
"Not doubting your abilities buddy. There's a lot of ground to search and we have no idea how Moffat buried her," the detective reassured his loyal companion.
"I spoke to my colleagues at IAB," Anna said, changing the subject.
"Oh. Did Fischel spill the beans?" Charlie asked.
"Hardly. Well until they threatened his retirement benefits," Anna chuckled.
"That was all it took? Kind of sad," Charlie shook his head as he turned off the paved road and onto a dirt one.
"Fischel claims that he didn't know what Moffat was. They were just friends since their kids played hockey together. So, when the detectives said that they didn't believe him and told him that they knew Stephen was abused, he cracked like a walnut," Anna heaved a sigh.
"So, was he covering for his son or himself?" Charlie wasn't sure he liked where this was headed.
"I wish I could say it was his son but…" Anna shook her head as Charlie pulled the Charger up to the cabin. He parked the car and turned off the ignition.
"It's worse, isn't it?" He asked her as he turned in his seat.
"You were right about the sharing part. Only problem was it wasn't photos," Charlie could tell that Anna was struggling with this. Totally understandable, given the topic. Child abuse never got easier and if it did, then it would be time to retire and seek help.
"Was it Richard?" He wanted to know. Anna shook her head and Charlie wanted to throw up. Richard wasn't protecting his sister at all, at any point, in her life. There had to be something they could nail him on other than his punching Mika.
"Why would he protect Fischel then?" Charlie wondered.
"I'm not convinced that he is protecting Fischel. There was someone who was witness to all of this and she's been missing for far too long," Anna said.
"You think Fischel helped him bury the missing person's report because if the RCMP went digging, his and Moffat's proclivities would be exposed," Charlie figured.
"I think Aiden helped Richard bury Debra. Once Fischel revealed what he was, IAB confronted him about Debra. He claimed to not have any idea what they were talking about. The man just admitted to being the scum of the Earth. His pension benefits are toast. IAB is searching his house now for images. He knows he's going away. Why wouldn't he confess to Debra?" Anna asked.
"It's the only thing we have left to explain why Richard was panicking. He's only cared about himself in all of this. Lynn must have said something to him to make him believe that she might have said something to Tim Watkins," Charlie said.
"There's no statute of limitations on murder," Anna nodded before opening her car door and climbing out. Rex hopped out after her and Charlie quickly followed.
"You tell everyone else this?" He asked.
"They're up to speed. So where do we start?" Anna wanted to know.
"You guys search the cabin. Ground penetrating radar doesn't work inside buildings," Kelly spoke up. She was at the forensics van, helping them unload.
"We'll start there," Charlie nodded. Mika and Jesse promised to help scout locations for the forensics team, leaving Charlie and Anna to check the cabin. The building was in a state of disrepair and a pine tree had gone through the roof. Charlie figured that the family hadn't been up there in a very long time.
"We're going to have to be very careful in there. I think we should just open the door and see what damage the tree did," he told Anna.
"Agreed. No one else needs to get hurt here," she nodded. They slowly climbed the stone steps, up to the porch. The high pitch of the roof there was full of cobwebs and bird nests and the wooden boards on the porch floor creaked and moved under their feet. Rex had refused to follow them.
"Yeah, this is not a good plan," Anna shook her head.
"Nope. Back out the way we came in. Call Joe and find out what he wants to do," Charlie told her as they moved back off the porch.
"A no-go?" Jesse asked.
"Not safe in the slightest. We have to hope for now that she's out here somewhere," Charlie admitted.
"First place to check is the outhouse but we have to make sure there aren't any bears in there," Jesse said.
"The outhouse?" Anna gave him a look.
"Easiest place to dump a body and the smell wouldn't be as noticeable. I hate that I know that," Jesse shook his head.
"Well let's get started," Charlie told him.
To Be Continued…