She shook herself free of the memory and overlaid the similarities of the two sects. Could she say with utter certainty there was a connection between her father’s cult and Parson’s gathering? No, not without doubt. Their singing could be something just as strange, but unrelated, like Hughes wanted to believe. There was always an explanation if you wanted to find one, a safe way to view events so they wouldn’t add up to something a person couldn’t deal with. She’d conditioned herself in this way to cope with all of the trauma from her childhood, to place a label on what was real and what wasn’t. But now, if she let all of the logical ponderings and possibilities fall away, she sensed an almost invisible cord stretching across the years, tying her past to the present in a way she couldn’t deny. She felt it not in the processing centers of her mind, but in her center, in the very fabric of who she was.
A wave of gooseflesh swept over her body and she shivered. She dug her phone from her purse, glancing once around the deserted parking lot, assuring herself she was still alone. Right now she needed to hear Eric’s voice. It was the only thing that would ground her enough to move forward and deal with what was to come.
He picked up on the second ring. “Hey there. How’s it going? I was starting to worry.”
“I’m sorry, honey. I was going to call you this morning but it was too early and then . . .”
“And then?”
She took a deep breath. “It’s her. The woman. It’s Shanna.”
A long pause. “What?”
“She knows things . . . things only Shanna would.” She launched into details of that morning’s revelations, pausing only to answer Eric’s occasional question. When she finished she felt spent, like she’d gone ten miles on one of the machines in the hotel’s workout room. Within the fatigue there was also a stirring of imagination, something she couldn’t keep herself from thinking. Depending upon if they found Shanna’s son, alive or dead, what would happen from that point on? Shanna had no other family. The relatives on their father’s side had been gone for years now and despite Clare’s diligent search, she’d never located any known relations of Charity Henson. She saw Shanna, and perhaps her son, returning with her to Oregon. They could make room for them until Shanna got fully back on her feet. She and Eric would take care of them, and it would be a second chance. It would be—
She was daydreaming, letting her mind run away with her. Less than twelve hours ago she hadn’t known whether or not it was Shanna in that hospital room and now she was imagining an entire future for them. As if reading her thoughts, Eric said, “This is really a lot. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m coping. It’s . . . terrifying and exhilarating all at once.”
“I think I should come out there. I can put the analysis on hold.”
“Liar. You’d lose the account.”
“So what? We’re doing more than okay. I’m busy enough day trading as it is.”
“I love you for offering, but finish up your work. If I’m still here when you’re done then we’ll make plans. Besides, if the analysis goes well they might offer to keep you on retainer.”
He sighed. “Yeah, they might.”
“That would be good.”
“Yes. Yes, it would. Okay, you have a deal, Dr. Murdock. I’ll be done with everything here no later than Thursday. If you’re still there I’m on the first flight out.”
“Perfect,” she said, thinking of the moment when he would ask her the question he thought was still a secret. She smiled at the answer she would give him when he did. “I love you.”
“Love you too. Call me before you turn in.”
“I will.”
They hung up and she sat for another minute looking down at the phone before gathering her things from the car and heading into the hotel.
When she’d closed the door to her room and locked it, she leaned against it for a second before moving to the small table to set the file folder there. It landed with a flat thud that made her think of body bags being dropped onto concrete and she gave the mini bar a wistful look before sitting down in the nearest chair. As an afterthought she pulled the coin out of her pocket and set it beside the folder, eyeing it and fixing it in place. Still a coin, nothing else. She reached out, hand hovering over the file’s cover, then flipped it open. She read the cover page, basic information concerning the county and offices involved in the report as well as date ranges covering the incident. It seemed the main county investigator was someone by the name of Felix Howard. She didn’t recall speaking to him, but the days following the fire were a jumble of tarnished memories. She’d been interviewed multiple times while in the hospital and afterward in custody, so many people asking unending questions while all along she had her own, and no answers for any of them.
Clare flipped the page and read on.
At approximately 0800 hours on 09/13/01, a 911 call was received by dispatch from a male reporting an injured female on Access Road 325 in northern Cairn County. The caller was later identified as Lucas Marshall Murdock, 42, a Minnesota DNR officer. Injured female was identified as Clare Alice Kinsey, 13. Emergency medical services were dispatched along with Cairn County Sheriff’s deputies Dale Wilson and Reginald Hughes. Fire services were also dispatched in response to a fire burning several miles northeast of Access Road 325 in plat 415 adjacent to Minnesota State property. (See appendix 2.1 for details on fire containment and acreage burned).
Deputies Wilson and Hughes arrived on scene at approximately 0835 and assessed the situation by taking statements from Murdock and Kinsey. Kinsey was conscious but unresponsive.
She skimmed ahead, turning several more pages before finding what she was looking for, and dreading it at the same time.
Initial crime scene observations were taken by myself, Sheriff Jeremy Dawson, as well as BCA forensics specialists from Elmore, MN. I arrived on site twenty-four hours after 911 call was initiated due to the ensuing forest fire in the vicinity. It was later confirmed fire began due to the ignition of an accelerant (gasoline) on the northwestern edge of property. Dryness of season along with elevated wind speed were factors in the quick spread of burn area. Assessment concluded at least twenty structures burned on property owned by Simon Kinley Jr., including central hall where concentration of bodies were located.
Clare sat back from the table and looked out the window. The afternoon light was still strong, shining through the trees in the undeveloped lot behind the hotel. She stood and crossed to the mini bar, pulling two miniature bottles of bourbon free along with a Coke. Grabbing a glass from the bathroom, she emptied both of the liquor bottles into it, topping the booze off with the soft drink. The thought of going to the ice machine in the hall flashed once through her mind before she drank half the glass in three long swallows. The drink burned all the way down, but an almost immediate sense of warmth spread from her belly all the way to her head. She sipped once more before sitting back at the table, continuing to hold the drink as she read on.
Remains were badly burned mostly due to cache of generator fuel stored at the rear of the structure. Soft tissue was generally absent, leaving only skeletal remains for identification. Remains were scattered within structure’s boundaries (see appendix 3.2 for full forensic analysis of locations) but most were located near the northernmost wall. Final determination of amount as well as identities of deceased is still open at the time of this report’s creation, but at least forty individuals have been accounted for: thirty-three adult remains (eighteen male, fifteen female) as well as seven children (four female, three male). Other unidentified remains were beyond forensic analytic conclusion due to intensity of heat/extended burn period.