Page 79 of Little Girls Sleeping

McGaven turned his attention back to the road. It wasn’t clear if he agreed with her or not, but he didn’t argue.

Katie navigated onto a narrow gravel track, the big SUV taking the bumpy and uneven terrain with ease. Charles lived at the end of a long road that opened into a farm. From what Katie remembered, his family had owned the twenty acres through three generations.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been out here,” said McGaven.

“I think I was a kid the last time I was here. He helped us build a tree house and fixed our bicycles.”

“I was here about five years ago.”

“What do you mean?” Katie asked.

“When his wife passed away. So sad…” McGaven’s voice drifted off.

“There’s no other family?”

“I think he has a son and a couple of grandkids who visit about once a year, but they live in New York.”

The narrow drive opened into a large area in front of the farmhouse. It was a spacious and well-kept yellow house with two stories of balconies. There were two barns further away on the property.

Katie parked to one side of the area and turned off the engine. She sat for a moment, then grabbed a file folder before exiting the vehicle.

Charles walked out of the house and hurried to greet them. “Hello,” he said. He shook McGaven’s hand—“It’s nice to see you, Deputy.”—then turned and smiled at Katie. It reminded her of the many times she’d seen him when she was a teenager; he still appeared warm and friendly. “Katie, it’s always a pleasure.”

“Thank you for seeing us,” she said.

“Anything I can do,” he replied. “C’mon in.”

Katie and McGaven followed him toward the house.

“Mr. Rey…” She corrected herself. “Charles, we have some photos that we need your opinion on.”

“Oh?” he said.

“It’s about evidence from a couple of cases we’re working,” she explained.

“You’ve got my interest. Well, why don’t we go to the barn?”

“Sure. That would probably be best.”

Charles changed direction and followed a well-maintained path along to the workshop. There were all types of equipment stored neatly to one side, everything from small tools to pickers and backhoes. The path was lined with carefully tended flowers.

When they reached the large barn, he opened the big doors, the hinges squeaking. Immediately Katie thought about the barn at the Haven farm. She glanced at McGaven and noticed he had a frown on his face; most likely he was thinking the same thing.

Inside was a typical farm barn with bales of hay, tools, and a large workstation.

“So what do you have for me?” asked Charles.

“What I’m going to show you needs to be in confidence because of the ongoing case,” Katie said. “Please don’t share with anyone what you’re about to see.”

“Of course,” he replied.

In the file folder there were several eight-by-ten photographs of the coffins from various angles, close-up pictures as well as overall depictions. Katie took each photo and laid them out on the flat surface.

Charles put on his reading glasses and examined them. One in particular seemed to catch his interest.

“Is there anything that stands out to you?” said Katie. “Anything unusual?”

“These are coffins?” he said with a tightness to his voice.