Chapter Six: Kathy Kohm: The Stranger Returns

 

Chapter 6

    On April 10th the stranger bought a new replacement car trunk liner and new floor mats for his car.  The old mats were still in the mud where he had been stuck on the evening of the 5th. He didn’t really need a new trunk liner but had taken the old trunk liner completely out and thrown it away. He had meticulously washed the car several times and vacuumed and cleaned the interior.  Now that these things were done he felt less nervous about it all.  He still thought about what he had done. He couldn’t stop himself from thinking about what he had done. He almost couldn’t believe that he had really done it.  But he had.  He enjoyed thinking about it, reliving it.  He was a little worried about getting caught but did not feel at all bad about what he had done. He had felt so powerful and he had enjoyed it.  But he absolutely did not want his wife or his brothers or his parents to find out.  They could never find out.  No one could ever find out.

   He was happy when it rained that Spring.  He knew that would wash away more evidence. So he checked the weather forecast and smiled.

   He kept trying to think about all the loose ends. He kept going over the details in his mind.  He didn’t want to get caught because of some little thing. And so he bought a metal detector a few weeks later. He had always made fun of those before. He always thought those things were for nerds but he kept thinking about that bullet.  He had shot her in the head.  He kept thinking maybe he could get the bullet out and that way there would be no ballistics evidence tying him to the crime.  

    Late one dark night that Spring he went back to the place he had left her. He was pleased to see that the leaves were coming out on the trees and foliage. That would help conceal her for longer, maybe even forever. 

    He walked back on that same lane where he had gotten stuck.  It looked a little different now.  He wondered if he would be able to find her again.  He followed the deep ruts he had left in the mud. Then all of a sudden he could smell the body and followed that scent. 

    Despite all the searchers and the farmer who had pulled him out of the mud; he seemed to be okay for now.  No one had found her back here. More importantly, no one had connected him to her disappearance. The farmer must have believed his story about just needing a place to pee.  

   But now he had to get that bullet. He had brought a pocket knife and thought he would be able to just dig it out.  He hadn’t been sure what to expect.  He had imagined that she would be more skeletal already and that the bullet might be already out of the skull and in the leaves and dirt. That thought seemed ridiculously naive now as he brushed leaves and sticks away from her face. He realized that she was not already reduced to skeletal remains. Far from it.  He also realized that he was not up to this gruesome task.  It was already turning his stomach. He was gagging.  He stepped away for some fresh air. He decided at the last second to take her earrings and the ring on her finger. He had a panicked and hare brained idea that they would be something that could identify her body. If he removed them she might not be identified as easily. He wasn’t thinking clearly about the fact that this was the only body of a little girl in an area where a little girl was missing.  That alone would easily identify her.  But he wasn’t worried about that right now.  He imagined that it would be years and years before she was found.  

  He also just wanted the jewelry. He wanted a souvenir that he could keep. He had enjoyed reliving the excitement he felt when he remembered what he had done.  The jewelry would enhance that.  He felt so powerful. He had this new amazing secret and it had changed his life. He could keep the ring in his pocket at work and touch it throughout the day.  In this fantasy world he felt like he was smarter than everyone else and that he would get away with this.  Things had always worked out before.  Why not now?

    Still he worried about the bullet. Days later it occurred to him that he could just get rid of all his current ammunition at home and replace it with a different brand.  That way it would not match the brand name of the bullet in the body.  “It couldn’t be my bullet because I only have this other brand.” It wasn’t a perfect solution but it was something.  Maybe after the Summer he would go and check the body again and see if it was skeletal then.  Maybe he could easily get the bullet out then.