Cop, the Chase, and the Dead Lady

Sheriff Carpenter is a pillar of his small community: he upholds the law not only with passion but also compassion.  But when one case hits too close to home, the sheriff finds himself going down a rabbit hole: and spiraling out of control in the process.  Up until this point, Carpenter had been able to apply cool-headed logic and down-to-earth common sense to his cases – but the deaths of two cousins just don't add up.  No matter what way he looks at it.   When a psychic purports to have answers, the sheriff is, of course, loathe to pay him any heed… except the dead play by their rules.  Sheriff Carpenter is left with the impossible choice: do his duty as the chief law enforcement official of his small town, or save the soul of a murder victim who meant so much to him.—This story wasn't really planned.  Though a standalone, it was just an add on to the end of The Head in the Tree – and of course ended up being about 5 times longer.  We wanted to do a story that takes place in the aftermath of the horror.  What would the cops do in the wake of a classic Jason or Freddie murder spree?  Of course, The Head in the Tree and The Longest Ride with a Dead Stranger have a significantly lower body count than your typical slasher: we still imagined that would kind of drive a community a little insane.  This is supposed to be a small town after all, even one grisly murder is more than enough to keep everyone talking for years.