Willie M. Joseph - Summary of the Secret Witness by Victor Methos

Summary of The Secret Witness

By

Victor Methos

(Shepard & Gray Book 1)

Willie M. Joseph

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T his is an unofficial summary & analysis of Victor Methoss The Secret Witness (Shepard & Gray Book 1) designed to enrich your reading experience. Buy the original book

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The motion detector in the backyard turned on again, waking Otto Murray from a deep sleep. He debated whether to get a gun, but cougars and bears lived close to the West Mountains in Utah. A bear had even recently ripped off the door of a minivan to get to the McDonald's Happy Meal inside. Otto looked out the window and saw no one in the yard. The house was an unfinished house with an unfinished yard in an undeveloped neighborhood.

He wondered if it was too cold or a predator had gone silent, since people attacked by bears had reported the forest going silent right before. Before the last time, he'd seen a shape moving in the dark. It was nearer the property line, toward a grouping of trees. He decided to go back to bed and worry about it tomorrow. The shape pulled out a knife in one powerful jerk, and then, grunting, swung it over and over again, plunging the blade into Otto's flesh.

He fell to his knees, his hands going instinctively to the wound, trying to hold back the blood. The first round tore through her shoulder, spinning her like a top. She managed to get to her knees, chanting, "No, no, no," as if the words would stop the bullets. Another shot tore into her body, and she collapsed for good. He'd picked up a fare at two in the morning and was driving along State Street when he heard a voice behind him say, "Up the street".

He hadn't seen her since he was lying in a hospital bed with tubes sticking out of him and unsure if he would ever walk again. "I hope it's okay I just showed up," he said, looking out over the Tooele Valley. Law enforcement initially believed the murders were committed by a satanic cult. There seemed to be no pattern, no method, and no coherence to anything the Reaper did. The county was gripped by fear.

Gun sales tripled, women's mixed martial arts classes were full. "No one knows this case better than you," Billie said as she held up the photos in front of his face. Solomon didn't move when Billie touched his shoulder. He hadn't been touched by another human being in years. In his closet, on the top shelf, was a transparent plastic bin with the word REAPER written in bold lettering across its lid.

Solomon was listening to Norwegian death metal on his balcony when he heard knocking at his door. He looked through the peephole and saw Kelly standing there. "I was about to start eating paint chips," he said, as he turned down the music. She gave him a five-dollar bill and asked him to buy peanut butter and jelly for her. He read Billie's text asking him to go for a walk while he thought about the murders.

The fear that bubbled inside his guts felt like ice water. He had just agreed to go into a world he'd thought wasn't part of his life anymore.

Every Wednesday evening after dinner, he sent donuts to the kids who stayed at the shelter. He liked watching them sit on the front steps and talk while they ate their donuts. Solomon had nightmares about the Reaper showing up at his funeral. Ahmad was 180 pounds and healthy but had been caught by surprise. Solomon remembered going to the scene and seeing the emergency lights of the cab flicker in the darkness, possibly a joke from the killer to law enforcement.

Solomon pictured the killer as a black mist without form. He wasn't sure that, even if they did have a suspect, they'd have enough for a search warrant. The world was too complex and crowded a place for complete secrecy anymore. Sometimes witnesses just didn't realize they were witnesses. It was a photocopy of a crime scene photo, somewhere outside the Wagners' house. The wind blew it free, and it drifted to the pavement below.

Dax was still soundly snoring in his bed. She put on her holster with her 9mm and then clipped her shield to her waistband. Pioneer Park was riddled with needles, used condoms, and empty bottles of booze. Solomon had sold his car after he got out of the hospital because it did nothing but gather dust. So to be back out driving had an exhilaration he'd never noticed before.

The ground was dirt sprinkled randomly with weeds and tall grass. They came to a wide clearing above a ravine and a dried streambed. About a hundred yards away was a home surrounded by grass that abruptly ended in dirt. Solomon and Billie walked through the grass near where Allyx Murray's body was found. There was nothing left to analyze here but randomness.

The criminalists had done a poor job with the images, and it looked like they didn't have any floodlights. It was an upside-down cross on a branch that looked like it could have been carved by a skilled archer. The Reaper might be able to stop killing for years if he knew what he was doing. He printed out a photo of her from his computer and put it on his desk. She had been stunning in her youth, and he wondered if her killer had noticed her beauty.

They were going to visit Bigfoot Tommy, an old friend of Billie's. Tommy had been raised by one of the most violent biker gangs in the southwest United States. He had been a suspect in the original Reaper case. Tommy hung a man upside down and tortured another man with a machete. He attacked his own men while high out of his mind on meth, but no one would testify against him.

Solomon and Billie went to the house of Bigfoot Tommy, who lived near massive copper mines and vast fields of nothing but tall grass. Bigfoot Tommy looked even bigger than the last time they'd seen him; he was over six foot five and puffed up. Solomon met a man who had no fear of the badge or prison. Bigfoot Tommy tilted his head like a dog seeing something curious. Solomon felt a shard of fear and got angry at the fear.