Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 126060 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126060 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
It was Emmanuelle who continued with the reading of the extremely thorough report. “Hamish and Felicia Boutler had three sons. Lewis, Nate and Rogan. All three married and had children. They were trained as shadow riders and the women they married were shadow riders. They appeared quite close to the coastal Boutlers. Despite the distance, they were able to get together often presumably using shadows to travel back and forth. Brielle even uncovered several old photographs of family celebrations.”
Geno studied the faces. The pictures were grainy and in black and white. Not really black and white, more like faded brown.
“Despite the condition of the photographs, the resemblance of Hamish and Theo to the assassin who murdered the younger Australian woman on Miranda’s back porch is uncanny,” Geno told the others. “He was in his late fifties or early sixties, and very experienced at riding the shadows.”
Geno frowned down at the report. He almost wanted to snatch it away from Amaranthe as she studied it. The conclusions he was drawing, he knew she would come up with as well. How could she not? She was looking at it the same as Elie Archambault was. Geno figured he may as well just put it out there as calmly and matter-of-factly as if his parents weren’t part of some huge criminal conspiracy that had unimaginable repercussions eighteen years later.
“The same night Papa’s leg was amputated, there were twelve members of the Boutler family killed in accidents or assassinations. They were scattered all over Europe, which was why no one caught it. Some weren’t riders. Some were former riders. But all were members of the Boutler family formerly from Queensland.”
“Erik Boutler was the oldest of the five coastal brothers. He’d just turned seventy and resided in Vietnam. As a highly sought-after engineering professor, he taught at one of the universities in Vietnam. He took a fall from a third-story balcony. There wasn’t a hint of drugs or alcohol in his system. Erik was the only brother that married. He had seven sons and a daughter. Three sets of male twins and the girl. His wife died in a climbing accident, and it was right after that when his daughter, Rowina, left.”
“A climbing accident?” Stefano echoed. He tapped the table. “That doesn’t seem likely for a rider. “I’m not certain I buy that. Was her death investigated?”
“They lived in Queensland, far away from everyone else. No one raised questions about her death that I can see,” Elie said. “Brielle noted she was a little suspicious, but there was no way to investigate further.”
“Jerico Boutler had a small farm in Costa Rica. He was in his sixties. He’d never married, and he’d been a rider for years in Queensland,” Stefano said. He frowned down at the report in front of him. “He died in his field when he was off his tractor, and it somehow continued moving and ran right over him. It was ruled a freak accident as no one was around.”
“Shawn Boutler lived alone in Indonesia,” Lucca added. “He was very wealthy, owned a thriving farm and employed quite a few locals. He was also in his sixties and one of Theo and Meghan’s sons. He died in his shower. The door was locked, and he was alone. It appeared that he slipped and fell on the wet tiles. His neck was broken.”
Valentino looked up. “Percy Boutler, in his sixties, also one of the brothers, lived alone in India. He ran a brothel there. He was found in the street just outside his home. It appeared as if he had been in a very vicious fight. There was a knife in his hand, but no blood on the blade. He had been beaten and he had several broken bones. He died of a blow to the chest hard enough that it literally stopped his heart. Whoever killed him was immensely strong.”
Geno glanced at Amaranthe. “These are classic kills.”
She shook her head. “Not classic, but the deaths seem to be planned and carried out all on the same timeline. The same night.”
“Then there was Arlo, the youngest of the five Boutler brothers,” Geno continued. “He lived in Thailand. Like his brother in India, he ran a brothel, but this one included underage children. It seems the Boutler brothers weren’t very socially conscious. Arlo was killed inside the brothel in the common bath. Arlo was drowned. That’s all five boys Theo and Meghan gave birth to. They all died on the same night no matter where they were living.”
“The only inland Boulter from that generation who died that night was Nate Boutler,” Dario said. “He was sixty-five, living in Pakistan. His wife left him when their sons, Mitchel and Monti, were teens. He was unable to ride the shadows, and she had nothing to do with the family, unable to remember them obviously. She died several months later in a horse-riding accident. The boys lived in Pakistan with Nate until they went off to college, still training as riders, but they never returned to Queensland. Nate died hard, of several stab wounds, mostly in the genital area. It looked as if it was a very personal attack. No witnesses and the murder occurred in his home.”