Before he Sees

He’d have to climb the fence, she thought.

She then started investigating the fence. She wasn’t sure what she was looking for. Maybe stray dirt or fibers on the chain links. Anything she found would be a long shot, but it would be something.

It took less than two minutes before she came across something of interest. It was so infinitesimal that she almost ignored it completely. But as she stepped closer, she saw that it might be more helpful than she had originally thought.

About five feet off the ground and six feet to the left of the entry gate, a single strand of white fabric clung to one of the diamond shapes in the fence. The fabric itself might not yield any results but this at least gave them a great place to start dusting for fingerprints.

“Agent Bryers?” she said.

He came over slowly, as if he wasn’t expecting much. As he got closer, she heard him make a hmmm sound as he looked at the piece of fabric.

“Great work, Ms. White,” he said.

“Please, just Mackenzie,” she said. “Mac, if you’re feeling adventurous.”

“What do you think it is?” he asked.

“Maybe nothing. Buy maybe a strand of clothing from someone that recently scaled the fence. The fabric may be useless, but it gives us a concentrated area to focus on for fingerprints.”

“There’s a small evidence kit in the trunk of the car. Can you retrieve it while I call this in?”

“Sure,” she said, heading back to the car.

By the time she returned to him, he was already ending the call. Everything with Bryers seemed to be quick and efficient. It was one of the things she was quickly starting to like about him.

“Okay, Mac,” he said. “Now let’s continue down the trail you spelled out earlier today. The victim’s husband lives about twenty minutes away from here. You up for it?”

“I am,” Mackenzie said.

They got back into the car and pulled out of the still-closed-down landfill. Overhead, a series of scavenger birds performed their duty diligently, watching the drama unfold below with uncaring eyes.

***

Caleb Kellerman already had visitors in the form of two policemen when Mackenzie and Bryers arrived at his home. He lived just outside of Georgetown in a two-story house that made for a cute starter home. Thinking that the Kellermans had only been married for a little over a year before his bride had been killed made Mackenzie feel sorry for the man, but also angry about what had happened.

A starter home that never got a chance to see what else it could be, Mackenzie thought as they stepped into the house. How profoundly sad.

They entered through the front door, stepping into a thin foyer that looked directly into the living room. Mackenzie could feel the creeping sense of loneliness and quiet that accompanied most residences shortly after a death. She hoped she’d eventually get used to it, but found it hard to believe.

Bryers made introductions with the police outside of the foyer and the boys in uniform seemed relieved to be asked to step aside. When they made their exit, Bryers and Mackenzie stepped into the living room. Mackenzie saw that Caleb Kellerman looked incredibly young; he could easily pass for eighteen with his clean-shaven look, Five Finger Death Punch T-shirt, and baggy camo shorts. Mackenzie was able to quickly look past his appearance, focusing instead on the indescribable grief she saw in the young man’s face.

He looked up to them, waiting for either of them to speak. Mackenzie noticed Bryers giving her the go-ahead, nodding subtly in Caleb Kellerman’s direction. She stepped forward, both terrified and flattered that she was being given such authority. Either Bryers thought a lot of her, or he was trying to make her uncomfortable.

“Mr. Kellerman, I’m Agent White, and this is Agent Bryers.” She hesitated there for a moment. Had she really just called herself Agent White? It sort of had a nice ring to it. She skipped past this and continued on. “I know you’re dealing with a loss that I won’t even pretend to be able to understand,” she said. She kept her tone soft, warm, but firm. “But if we want to find the person that did this, we really need to ask you some questions. Are you up for it?”

Caleb Kellerman nodded. “Anything I can do to make sure the man that did this is found,” he said. “I’ll do anything.”

There was rage in his voice that made Mackenzie hope that someone would seek some sort of therapy for Caleb in the coming days. There was something in his eyes that looked nearly unhinged.

“Well, first of all, I need to know if Susan had any enemies…anyone that might be a rival of sorts.”

“There were a few girls she went to high school with that would get pissy with her on Facebook,” Caleb said. “It was usually over politics, though. And none of those girls would do it, anyway. It was just nasty arguments and things like that.”

“And what about her job?” Mackenzie asked. “Did she enjoy it?”

Caleb shrugged. He sat back on the couch and tried to relax. His face, however, seemed resigned to a permanent frown. “She liked it about as much as any woman that went to college and lands a job that has nothing to do with her degree. It paid the bills and the bonuses were pretty good sometimes. The hours sucked, though.”

“Did you know any of the people she worked with?” Mackenzie asked.

“No. I heard about them in the stories she’d bring home, but that was it.”

Bryers chimed in next. His voice sounded very different in the still of the house as he used somber tones. “She was a saleswoman, correct? For A Better You University?”

“Yeah. I already gave the police her supervisor’s number.”

“We’ve had some people from the Bureau already speak with him,” Bryers said.

“It won’t matter,” Caleb said. “No one at work killed her. I can guarantee it. I know it sounds stupid, but it’s this feeling I have. Everyone at her work is nice…in the same boat we were in, trying to pay bills and make ends meet. Honest people, you know?”

For a moment, he teetered on the edge of weeping. He stifled it back, looked down to the floor to collect himself, and looked back up. The tears that he had barely suppressed floated along the edges of his eyes.

“Okay, then what can you think of that might lead us down the right path?” Bryers asked.

“I can’t,” Caleb said. “She had a sell sheet of the clients she was visiting that day, but no one can find it. The cops said it’s probably because the killer took it and trashed it.”

“That’s probably the case,” Mackenzie said.

“I still don’t get it,” Caleb said. “It still doesn’t feel real. I’m waiting for her to come back through that door any minute now. The day she died…it started out just like any other day. She kissed me on the cheek as I was getting dressed for work and said goodbye. She left for the bus stop, and that was it. That was the last time I saw her.”

Mackenzie saw that Caleb was on the verge of losing it and, as much as it seemed wrong to do so, she got in one last question before he collapsed.

“Bus stop?” she asked.

“Yeah, she rode the bus to the office every day; she caught the eight twenty to get to work on time. The car crapped out on us two months ago.”

“Where’s that bus stop located?” Bryers asked.

“Two blocks down,” Caleb said. “It’s one of those small vestibule-type deals.” He then looked at Mackenzie and White, hope suddenly blooming in his eyes under the pain and hatred. “Why? Do you think it’s important?”

“There’s no way to know for sure,” Mackenzie said. “But we’ll keep you posted. Thank you for your time.”

“Sure,” Caleb said. “Hey…guys?”

“Yeah?” Mackenzie said.

“It’s been more than three days now, right? Three days since I last saw her and almost two whole days since they found her body.”

“That’s right,” Bryers said quietly.