Page 11 of Last Girls Alive

“Here’s the information from Detective Hamilton from the Elm Hill place.” She put the file on Katie’s desk.

“Thanks,” Katie said.

“And, I was supposed to tell you both that the sheriff wants daily updates—beginning at the end of today.”

Katie groaned.

“Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.”

“No, you’re not,” said Katie. “It’s just that this was supposed to be Hamilton’s case and we don’t even know the identity of the victim yet. Well, we do, I guess, but it’s not official.”

“And on that note,” said Denise. “I’ll let you two get back to work.”

“Bye, babe,” said McGaven. “I mean, Denise.”

“Bye,” she said and was gone.

“Oh brother,” Katie said.

“What?”

“You guys are too cute.”

“Give me a break…”

Flipping open Hamilton’s case file, Katie quickly perused the information. “There’s not much here beyond what we already know. Except he has the names of all the workers and the foreman. But…”

“But what?” McGaven asked looking at Katie.

“You said Magnum Development?”

“Yeah.”

“Here, it says that the demo company is Edison, Fullerton, and Taylor Demolition Company.”

McGaven scrolled through the computer. “I don’t see that name anywhere connected with Elm Hill Project.”

“Maybe it’s nothing, but…”

The internal office phone rang.

Katie picked up the receiver, “Scott.”

“Detective Scott, this is Dr. Dean.”

“Yes, Dr. Dean, what can we do for you?” Katie’s heart skipped a beat. For the medical examiner to call her this quickly, it meant something very important.

“Do you have time to come to the morgue?” he asked.

“Of course, we’ll be right there.”

“See you soon,” the medical examiner said. “Bye.” He hung up.

Katie returned the phone to its cradle on the desk.

“What?” McGaven impatiently asked, waiting for her response.

“We’ve been summoned to the morgue,” she said.