Page 100 of Pretty Broken Dolls

“That was her bad day.”

Katie opened the file and began organizing the articles. Some were a year old and the oldest went back forty years. They were interesting to say the least, but the more she filtered through them, the more she began to feel like she might be looking for a needle in a haystack. But she pressed on, reading headlines and skimming articles, looking for anything that might break the investigation.

Katie’s cell phone buzzed with a text. She hoped it was John saying he had some news.

It read:Dead and gone. Now the house is going too.

The text was from Sadie Caldwell.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Thursday 1815 hours

Katie and McGaven raced to Raven Woods to meet up with Sadie Caldwell after notifying the police department, fire, and the county mental health services. They didn’t know what they would find, but made it to Fox Hunt Drive in record time.

As soon as Katie turned down the usually quiet road, they were greeted with the flashing lights of the first responders as smoke billowed from the house.

“She did it,” said Katie, breaking the silence.

“She killed Jeanine Trenton?” asked McGaven.

“No. She burned the house to get rid of the voices.” She sighed. “I should’ve informed health services to do a welfare check.”

“You didn’t know that she was capable of arson.”

“I feel bad for her, you know? With the homicide investigation aside, I think there should be some type of investigation into her previous workplace.”

“That will go over well,” he said with emphasized sarcasm.

Katie parked a few houses away from the scene. She and McGaven hurried to the person in charge, which was the fire captain.

“How bad is it?” asked Katie, watching the firefighters continue to shoot water into the windows. “Sorry—Detective Scott, PV Sheriff’s Department.”

He looked at her badge. “Nothing left. As soon as the smoke subsides, it will be just a shell. She started it with gasoline and a lighter.”

Katie looked at him.

“She left everything in the backyard. All the evidence is there for the fire inspector.”

“Where is she?”

He pointed to the front porch of her house.

Katie looked at McGaven and they both went to see Sadie.

The woman was sitting on the porch step as one of the deputies stood nearby. “I told you…I told you,” she kept murmuring, wringing her hands.

“Sadie,” said Katie as she sat down next to her. “What happened?”

“Thank you for coming, Detective Scott. Thank you…thank you…”

“Why didn’t you wait for me?”

“I knew you wouldn’t want me to do it, but I had to get rid of it. Bad things there…such bad things.” Her face had softened as if she were a little girl watching the flames and smoke.

“Sadie, do you know who killed Jeanine?”

“Such bad people…they are everywhere…they tell me things…dead and gone.”