Page 17 of Pretty Broken Dolls

“Yep.”

Katie turned her attention to the house.

What was so imperative that the killer, or someone else, didn’t want them to see?

“What?”

“I’ll be right back,” she said.

Katie went to the deputies and requested that they have forensics dust for any prints around the front door area. One deputy nodded and put in the call.

“Detective Scott?” said Fire Captain Anderson.

“Yes?”

“Glad you’re feeling better. Any longer, and you and your partner would be in the hospital right now—or worse. Someone had jammed the front door with a stone.”

“What about the gas line?”

“It had been tampered with recently and turned back on, but there wasn’t anything in the kitchen to hook it up to. The gas caps had been removed, so it just flowed in.”

“How can you tell?” she said.

“This house had the electricity and gas turned off more than six months ago, according the utility company.”

Katie frowned. “What does it take to turn it back on?”

“The gas is on and available. It just depends if it’s turned on for each residence. Someone would need just a wrench to reconnect it to the line.”

“I see.”

“So you’re taking over the homicide case?” he asked with curiosity.

“Yes, we’re looking into it.”

“Good to know,” he said. “Poor girl, she deserves some justice.”

“Were you on the original call?”

He looked down. “Unfortunately. Not something you easily forget.”

“No, it isn’t. Thank you, Captain, for the update.”

“If you need anything else…”

“No, we’re good for now.”

Katie took another look at the house. The windows were now open for ventilation and a couple of firefighters were still checking everything. Suddenly, she saw something underneath the eaves. At first, she thought it was some type of connection for cable or the internet. Then she realized it was a small security camera. Not wanting to bring attention to it, at least for now, she kept walking and returned to McGaven, making a mental note that she wanted to see footage from the camera and find out where was it streaming.

“What’s up?” he said. He looked back to his usual self.

“Someone intentionally tried to gas us to death.”

“Oh, is that all?”

“You’re right. Someone really didn’t want us here—they wanted to kill us, or at least take us out of the game.”

“Game?”