Page 89 of Her Last Whisper

“Life comes around full circle, the beginning and the end,” Katie stated. “Haven’t you ever heard that before?” She looked up from her computer.

“Like from a fortune cookie?” replied McGaven with a smirk on his face. “Like yin and yang?”

Katie laughed. “Put five bucks into the Psych Out can for that remark.”

“What do you mean?”

“Take five dollars from your pocket and put it into the can.”

“No, I mean about the full circle.” He smiled but searched his pockets for a few dollar bills.

“I read this great article written by a profiler, criminalist guy. I think his name was Dr. Chip Palmer—some crime scene genius that lives near the coast, I think. Well, basically, he claims that by working a crime scene backwards it will take you full circle. He also stressed the importance and attention needed at the physical crime scenes, claiming so much about the perpetrator gets overlooked. Everything investigators need to know is at the scene, just secondary to the body,” she explained.

“Don’t most investigators do that?”

“I think the author of the article means really study the crime scene area—whether it’s primary or secondary—it’s the beginning and the end for the murder. Don’t overlook anything. And I love one of his points aboutnotfinding anything at a crime scene is a big clue and not to be dismissed. Everything fits together if you know where to look.”

Gesturing to the overcrowded board and map, he said, “I think you’re covering every base.”

“Okay, got it,” she said and pressed print. “Let’s take a look at your list and see what we have,” she said with a hopeful tone.

McGaven rolled his chair closer to Katie’s desk. He gave one set of copies to her and took one set himself.

“Cross your fingers,” she said.

Katie used her right index finger and slowly dragged it down the page, comparing the alphabetized names. She found one name and wrote it down, and continued to scan the list. When she finished, she had three names. She got up from her desk as she waited for McGaven to finish. She wrote the three names that were on both lists on the board—hospital worker and residents of Basin Woods Development.

Robert Glen Sykes – custodian at hospital, worked on construction crew to tear down a few of the houses at the Basin Woods Development.

Sebastian Harding – part-time intern at the morgue – resident at Basin Woods Development.

Chris D. Randall – resident at Basin Woods Development – maintenance trainee from eight years ago.

“You beat me, but yeah, I have those three names too.”

“There could be other connections,” she said, still studying the board.

“Like Dr. Jamison?”

“We don’t rule him out.” She put his name on the list with an asterisk next to it. “I couldn’t find anything that connected Marco Ellis to the Basin Woods Development. I’m going to add him to the suspect list with an asterisk.”

“He definitely should be considered, since he was Amanda’s last known boyfriend.”

“Okay, here’s our list,” she said.

“I haven’t heard you state the obvious,” he said.

“What do you mean?”

“We could be looking at the name of a serial killer.”

The reality of another serial killer hit Katie with a vengeance. She swallowed hard. They had to stop him before he killed another woman.

She tried to block out of her mind the memory of the desperate expression Jane Doe—Madeline—had on her face. And Amanda’s fearful declaration:He will come for me. And I know that he will eventually kill me.

The reality that woke her up was the abduction of Tess Regan. From everything they had so far, it led to the extreme possibility that she had been taken by a serial killer.

Tess, we will find you…