Page 89 of Little Girls Sleeping

The door buzzed and unlocked, opening a couple of inches. He pushed it wide.

“Blackburn, you around?” he said as he moved forward.

He peered into several offices and one exam room, but they were all empty.

“Hello?” he said.

Jamie, a forensic tech, emerged from a door to his left.

“Is Blackburn here?” McGaven asked.

“Uh, no, he hasn’t come in yet.”

“Have you seen Detective Scott today?”

“No, I haven’t seen her since the crime scene,” Jamie replied with a quizzical expression.

McGaven turned and hurried from the lab.

At the main doors of the morgue, McGaven abruptly stopped. The various cleaning smells and the gurneys shuffling dead people gave him the chills. He hated being inside the building of the dead more than anything, but as a police officer, he knew it was part of the job.

Luck was on his side and he saw the ME leaving one of the exam rooms carrying some file folders.

“Dr. Dean,” he said.

“Ah, Deputy McGaven, what can I do for you?” The man always seemed to sound cheerful, even after dissecting a body and weighing human organs.

“Have you seen Detective Scott?”

“You mean since the two of you were here yesterday?”

“Yes.”

“Curious question.” The doctor studied McGaven closely. “Everything okay?”

“Don’t know,” said the deputy. “Have you been here all day?”

“Well, yes, and I haven’t seen the detective.”

“Thanks for your time,” McGaven said, and turned to leave.

“Deputy?”

He turned back. “Yes,” he said, trying to sound calm.

“Detective Scott has a gift. Whatever you’re fretting about, she’ll be just fine.”

The deputy didn’t know what to say. He nodded, then headed out of the morgue to check in with the sheriff.

Sheriff Scott decided to park close to the house. It wasn’t clear if anyone was home.

As he and Chad walked toward the barn behind the house, the sheriff’s cell phone rang. He stopped walking and listened to the caller. “Stay at the department and wait for further instructions.”

“What did McGaven find out?” asked Chad.

“Negative.”

“Were Blackburn and Dr. Dean there?”