Page 53 of Her Last Whisper

McGaven laughed. “You know, Katie, you’re hard to figure out sometimes.”

“What’s so funny?”

“You. You really don’t know how great you are. Do you? You have a gift and a sixth sense that goes way past a gut instinct.”

“McGaven, I appreciate the compliment, but I need—”

“You need to stay with this investigation and work through it your way—thorough and methodical.” He gestured to the preliminary profile. “This,” he emphasized, “is what is going to drive this investigation. I know you take everything to heart, too much at times, but you will get through this andwe willfind the killer.”

Katie dropped her files on the desk, then went to the cabinets to search for something.

“What are you looking for?” he asked.

She kept rifling through drawers and empty boxes until she found what she was looking for. “Aha,” she said, pulling out an empty coffee can that had been there quite some time, by the looks of it. Placing it down on the desk she spent a minute or so working at it with a piece of masking tape, large black marker, and a pair of scissors before presenting it to McGaven.Psych Outsit said along the masking tape, and there was a slot cut in the plastic lid.

“I changed my mind. You’re just crazy,” he said.

Katie reached into her pocket and pulled out a dollar bill and dropped it in the can. “This, my friend, is when one of us needs a pep talk or is feeling like they aren’t doing the job. Now, who do you think is the crazy one?” She smiled and felt better. “Thanks, I needed that pep talk.”

“So who gets the money when it’s full?” he asked.

“I was thinking it could go for beers, something along those lines.”

“Sounds good to me.” He dropped another couple of dollars in the can. “Just moving it along a little faster.”

“Okay, back to the case.” She turned her attention to her working board. “I found out some interesting information from the county building and planning department.”

“How long was I going to have to wait?”

“The Basin Woods Development was originally called Woodland Pines Project and it was supposed to be an upper-middle-class type of neighborhood, but funds fell through. Seems like there was all types of corruption going on at all levels. But the Basin Woods Development was finally given the green light and built in 1990.”

“Okay, what does this have to do with the investigation?”

“The Magna Group was the first contract and the president was Kenneth Jamison, Sr.”

“Whoa, related to Dr. Jamison?”

“I need you to check it out, but I believe so.”

“I’m going to say again. What does this have to do with the investigation?”

“I’m not sure—yet.”

“Fair enough.” McGaven sat down at his desk, taking notes.

“But… it’stoocoincidental.”

McGaven got up from his desk and dropped a dollar bill into the Psych Out can.

“What was that for?” Katie asked.

“Words that never should be uttered during a police investigation—too coincidental.”

“Okay, fair enough,” Katie laughed. “If that’s Dr. Jamison’s father and it was for a building project that now is in ruins… and his co-worker claimed to have been held captive there… Sounds a bit hinky. I can use the word hinky right?”

“Borderline.”

“Really, what are the odds? The researcher is sending over copies tomorrow of everything and a list of the last residents before it was deemed unlivable.”