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hhaTThe Case of Kate Blackwell: Cloud Nine

The Case of Kate Blackwell: Cloud Nine

10/31/2017 6:07 pm

Log book of Det. Ryan Snow

Case #2798 :he Appalachian Murders

I have finished my investigation into Cloud Nine Vacation Rentals and the results have turned up rather inconclusive to say the least. I'm hoping my request to speak with Mr. Raines being held in an Asheville prison will be accepted and I get answers from him soon. My mysterious caller has not tried reaching out for me and Ms. Blackwell, under Mrs. Mayfield's supervision, has been sending me updates on any unknown phone calls she's been receiving. Luckily, each number has either led to spam or a nosy reporter.

As for Cloud Nine, I was able to find a headquarters in North Carolina. I made my way there early in the morning, wanting to return to the station should I get another call or have my request for Mr. Raines either approved or refused. I've never been the biggest fan of realtors and this company just made that distaste grow.

Once I made my way into the lobby and showed the lady at the front desk my badge, she immediately went on about overdue bills and how she swore the money they owed had been put in the mail. I assured her that I wasn't there for fraud charges or for any kind of investigation on sexual harassment accusations when she asked if I was here for that instead. Note to self: look into this place once things settle down.

I then asked if the person in charge of the cabins in the Appalachian Mountains was in and if I could speak to them. The front desk attendant then guided me to a Ms. Darla Lincoln, the real estate agent who oversaw most cabins in the mountains, the three cabins included. She had assumed I was there to get myself a mountainside getaway, but I immediately made it clear that I was there on business. She had quickly lost her sweet, southern facade when I told her I was here to discuss Cabin #2 nd the murders that occurred there. I then asked to record our conversation, but she refused, only accepting I write everything down as she didn't like recording her voice for "untoward means."

[WRITTEN RECORDING OF QUESTIONING A MS. DARLA LINCOLN, CLOUD NINE REAL ESTATE AGENT IN CHARGE OF THE CABINS INVOLVED IN THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS]

DET. SNOW: Ms. Lincoln, you are aware of the murders that occurred on the properties owned by Cloud Nine Vacation Rentals in the Appalachians correct?

MS. LINCOLN: I'm aware and we have absolutely nothing to do with it!

DET. SNOW: I never said you did. I'm just trying to understand what's been happening in those mountains. As far as I know, Cabin #2 as been the epicenter of several missing persons cases and at least two murders now. What do you know about them?

MS. LINCOLN: Just that all those cases when we became the legal owners of that property were all squatters!

DET. SNOW: Squatters?

MS. LINCOLN: The man who killed his wife and now this Blackbell psychopath, they never booked that cabin through us! I can give you all the logs of all the clients who booked every last cabin under our name, not one of these nasty crimes happened with our clients!

DET. SNOW: I'll need a file on every client that's stayed in any of the three cabins under the company's name. So, you're saying that Ms. Blackwell never booked with Cloud Nine?

MS. LINCOLN: That's correct!

DET. SNOW: I don't suppose you know of Mrs. Larson, the original owner of those cabins?

MS. LINCOLN: Heard of her, but never had the pleasure of meeting the old bag. All I know was that she died alone up in those mountains and there was no one to lay claim on all that potential real estate. Sure it's got a past, but a bunch of supernatural freaks eat shit like that up and pay a hefty price to stay there and catch a "real" ghost!

DET. SNOW: Supernatural... Ms. Lincoln are you aware of the Ouija board in the attic of Cabin #2 ?

MS. LINCOLN: We left almost everything the old woman had in those cabins. The only stuff we updated was the furniture and the decorations. No one's allowed in that attic anyway, everything up there is stuff owned by that old woman that were never bought in auctions or estate sales.

DET. SNOW: You wouldn't happen to know anyone else who would have access to booking those cabins?

MS. LINCOLN: We just chalk all the ones who didn't book through us as squatters who just took the place during slow seasons. We also just leave all of that to the police since we don't like the idea of dealing with crazy killers on our properties! Scares the regulars away.

DET. SNOW: You don't look into these "squatter" murders and missing persons cases that happen on your properties?

MS. LINCOLN: Booking not done under Cloud Nine's name, not our problem!

DET. SNOW: How are these squatters able to get into the cabins? Don't most your clients need a key? There were no signs of breaking and entering.

MS. LINCOLN: All our properties have spares hidden somewhere around the area. We just assume they found the spares and got in that way. Before you ask, yes we do offer clients keys once they book, we mail it straight to their homes along with the rules of the homes. We only have spares for cases of emergency.

DET. SNOW: Missing people and murders don't count as emergencies?

MS. LINCOLN: Emergencies concerning customers who pay, not homeless looking to get a free home through squatter's rights.

I decided to end my interview here. It was obvious this company wasn't going to take these cases seriously if they were not booked through them. I would have to discuss this place with the sheriff when I had the chance, look into their fraud concerns and lack of keeping track on who was and wasn't in their rentals. I thanked Ms. Lincoln for her time and asked for the files on each client who stayed in the cabins.

After some extensive reading and some phone calls to these clients, I came up with nothing. No leads, no actual clients who noticed anything odd or out of place when they stayed, no mystery woman in the abandoned house who was believed to be the land lord. Just a whole bunch of customers complaining about the shoddy service of Cloud Nine and how they were expecting a more luxurious cabin in the woods over the "Shitty Shacks" they were given. The ones who stayed in Cabin #2 ad given the same responses, not bothering to leave a note in the guest book as they had hoped their demands for a refund would be enough to tell the company how they felt.

When I got back to the station, I was handed a stack of mail by front desk. Officer Olson telling me I had gotten some letters from the parents of the victims of the Appalachian murders and my response to having a meeting with Mr. Raines. I quickly made my way to my office and immediately went for the response from the prison in Asheville. I had been approved to meet with the convict, Mr. Raines himself telling the warden he didn't mind speaking to me so long as I brought some cigarettes for him. Lucky for him, I have yet to quit myself.

I then moved my attention to the letters from the parents. They were character letters about Ms. Blackwell. Something normally reserved for the judge pending judgment of the accused. However, I suspected that this was their way of convincing me to look to someone else as the murderer and that Ms. Blackwell was a victim herself. Each one practically begging for her to be allowed freedom from her house arrest. I had attached these letters to my report of the case. I had dealt with cases where the accused had been known to the community as a stand up character who wouldn't even hurt a fly only for them to spontaneously snap and kill for no real reason. This case feels different. I still can't rule out Ms. Blackwell. But if she was the killer, she definitely had these people fooled for years.

[CHARACTER LETTERS OF KATE BLACKWELL FROM THE PARENTS OF THE VICTIMS OF THE APPALACHIAN MURDERS]

[FIRST LETTER]
Detective Snow,

You don't know me, but I'm Logan Steele, Jasper Steele's father.

I worked with Kate Blackwell's dad for years before my retirement, knowing of his daughter since the day we met. She's his whole world and that world is being treated like a monster by the community. I hear people talking about her when I have the strength to leave my house and it takes everything I got not to cause a scene. My daughters are usually there to keep me calm, but neither one of us have been able to sleep. All we can think about is Jasper and what whoever killed those kids did to him. Kate would never do something so grotesque to him to anyone! Please, find the real killer. Put this sick fuck away and get my son the justice he deserves.

Sincerely,
Jason Steele

[SECOND LETTER]
To whom it may concern,

My name is Thomas Billings. My son was Luke Billings, one of the kids killed in the Appalachians.

I was told that the suspect is Kate Blackwell.

I've never met her, but I've seen her every once in a while spending time with my son and his girlfriend. How she could be the killer or even be accused of being one is baffling. I remember seeing her once and thinking that if someone weren't careful she'd snap like a twig. The idea of someone like that taking a life, let alone four all in one night just doesn't make sense to me. Sonja even told me how this kid couldn't even watch those fucking dog movies because she knew she'd cry. Said she doesn't know how to hold a gun. The fact you would believe my son could have been killed by a little thing like her is offensive.

The real killer is out there and you're wasting your time with this Blackwell girl. Just let her go and do your God damned job. Waste of my fucking taxes.

Thomas.

[THIRD LETTER]
Dear Det. Snow,

I'm the mother of Paul Woolfe, Sarah Woolfe.

I remember every second spent with my son because we only ever had each other. He barely ever knew his father, my brothers being the closest thing to a father figure he's ever known. I did everything I could to be a good mother and now, I'll never know if I did my job.

This leads me to your investigation into Kate Blackwell. I've met that girl several times over the years my son's been friends with her. She's the sweetest, most respectable little angel I've ever met. Paul would talk for hours about her, I was pretty convinced that he had a crush on her. I always hoped he'd finally grow a pair and tell her, but now he'll never get that chance. He always wanted a family, to be the father his never was.

Detective, please, let Kate go. She can't be the killer. My son was more violent than she could ever be and he was always so gentle with animals and when he'd rough house with his uncles. This girl could barely pick up a gallon of milk when she'd helped me bake. A tiny thing like her would've been overpowered by Paul in the blink of an eye.

My son's killer is out there and they're not Kate Blackwell. Someone has framed her and you're wasting your time and efforts on Kate.

Sincerely,

Sarah Woolfe

[FOURTH LETTER]
Det. Snow,

I'm Marie Greymoore, Sonja Greymoore's step-mother. I was Kate Blackwell's fourth grade teacher.

Sonja and Kate had been friends since they met in my fourth grade classroom. Practically sisters.

I've watched Kate grow from that little, quiet, shy girl who hid away from the rest of the class to a bright, optimistic woman alongside our Sonja. I've known her family for years.

How you can accuse her to be the killer is beyond my and my family. She couldn't even hurt a fly and would never have the ability to kill her own friends.

My Sonja's future was taken by someone sick and someone still free to kill again out there.

Don't take the future of Kate away too. Give her the future my Sonja lost. Please. Catch the real killer.

God bless,

Marie Greymoore

I placed each letter in a stack near where I placed everything on the case concerning Ms. Blackwell. Most letters or contact I had with victims' families were usually about how I'd failed to solve their cases quick enough or that I should try getting the supposed suspect put on death row. It was rare to get character letters in favor of the suspect. Ms. Blackwell's past was definitely checking out, but I still couldn't just dismiss the idea that she could have snapped. She is the one who invited her friends up to that mountain as a last get together before they all went their seperate ways to college. She was afraid of being left behind and being alone. Now she was the only survivor and witness to each of their deaths. It was my job as a detective to be suspicious of all these pieces to this odd puzzle.

Among the letters and my approval to meet with Mr. Raines was another envelope, this one unmarked. No return address, nothing hinting it was addressed to me. Just a blank envelope. I had asked the front desk after reading the contents of the envelope if the mail man had delivered this particular letter to me and they told me that they hadn’t even noticed it among my pile of mail. I will need to hand this in to forensics to see if they can get any kind of DNA matches in our system to find out who had sent this to me. It was typed and after a careful examination, I couldn’t detect any signs of it being laced. I thought it may have been another letter from someone who knew Ms. Blackwell, but they wanted to keep themselves anonymous and slipped it into my stack among the other letters without anyone noticing.

After reading it, I realized that was definitely not the case.

[UNMARKED LETTER]

Lucky Dime,

I need her back. She needs to come back. Please give her back. I would have taken the other girl’s, but I couldn’t find her. I couldn’t find the other girl before your police officers took her. Now it’s too cold and they took it. I need it warm. Need it fresh. I can’t take from men. It has to be girl. I need the girl who left. I need her, Lucky Dime. Please bring her back. Please. I can’t steal from the morgue, it’s too cold now. I need it warm. Little bird is still alive. It’s still warm. Still fresh. I need her back. Please bring her back. If you don’t, you’ll ruin everything. The cabins can’t be used because of you. I can’t get more. I need her. If she dies, your case will be closed right? We can help each other. I get it and you don’t have to worry about this case anymore. If you don’t bring her back, it will be unforgivable.

Unforgivable.

Unforgivable.

Unforgivable.

Unforgivable.

[REST OF LETTER ENDS WITH ‘UNFORGIVABLE’]

Based on how the writer had typed out the letter, I safely assumed this had to be my mysterious caller from the other day. I will send the letter to forensics and see if they can find out where the envelope and paper came from, see if they can find any fingerprints that aren’t mine on the letter or spit from the seal of the envelope. I will also need to request for surveillance on the Blackwell home. Why he could only contact me through the station and not my home or the Blackwell home was beyond my understanding. However, he knew where I worked, so it couldn’t be long before he could find Ms. Blackwell. As for the “it” he needed from Ms. Blackwell or why he needed “it” from a girl. The other girl he was talking about had to be Ms. Greymoore, Ms. Blackwell burying her someplace before making her way to the roads. Why he needed Ms. Blackwell returned to the mountains to get “it” was also confusing. Why did she need to go back? Why did he need to”it” so badly?

I need to speak to the sheriff and get a 24/7 watch on the Blackwell home. I need to speak to Mr. Raines and find out what he knows about what happened during his own visit up those mountains. I need to put an end to Cloud Nine Vacation Rentals and their crappy handling of these cases on their properties. And I need to find this mysterious Mrs. Larson impersonator. Whether or not she’s to blame for all of these strange things happening, there was someone messing with these people in those cabins and most likely were responsible for the missing people and murders.
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