Alex Standall's Arc

Chapter 4 of 4

The holding cell smelled like bleach and old coffee. Alex sat on the metal bench and counted the cinder blocks in the far wall. Patience was his one trick. But patience did nothing here. He had no money for bail. The trespass charge stuck, and the deputy kept him locked away from the woods. The grave sat out there, and someone else could find it first. Samantha Evans built her case at her insurance shop. The red brick building buzzed with clients who trusted her. She sat behind her desk with her phone open, staring at the video. The bird on Alex's roof. Its beak moving. Its voice saying his name. She had cut that part out for the deputy. A talking bird made her look crazy. Alex looked guilty without it. Then the call came. Another body in the woods. Caved chest. No animal tracks. Drag marks in the dirt. Samantha set the phone down. Alex had been in a cell all night. He could not have done this. The whole case she built cracked in one moment. She drove to the cottage. The black and red bird waited on the silver stone wall, still, watching her come. She stopped at the edge of the yard. "You," she said. "Talk. I know you can." The cockatoo tilted its head. "You saw the truth," it said. "You just didn't want it." The tiny necklace at its throat caught the light. "The killer lives in your town. It walks like a man. It isn't Alex." Samantha's hand shook. She had spent weeks hunting the wrong person. "Show me," she said. The bird flew toward the tree line. She followed. It landed above a patch of turned earth. A shallow grave. A second body, half buried, chest crushed the same way. No tracks. Just drag marks leading deeper into the trees. Everything Alex had claimed. Everything she had called a lie. She recorded it all. Then she drove to the station. The deputy looked up when she walked in. "I was wrong," Samantha said. "He was locked in your cell when this one died. Same wounds. Same tricks. He didn't do any of them." She dropped a check on the counter. "Bail. And drop the trespass. I filed the complaint. I'm withdrawing it." The deputy studied her, then reached for his keys. The cell door opened. Alex stood, stiff from the bench. Samantha waited in the hall, arms crossed, jaw tight. She hated needing him. "You cost me a night," Alex said. "You cost me a month." She held up her phone. "There's a second body. I found it. Your bird showed me." She looked away, then back. "I don't trust you. But you didn't lie. So we do this together." Alex rubbed his wrists. The woods waited. The killer was still out there, and now he had a partner who could open doors he couldn't. "Fine," he said. "Let's go dig up the truth."