Page 48 of Pretty Broken Dolls

“She made sure her curtains and blinds facing her neighbor’s house were always closed. She would hurry me inside and close the door quickly, locking it immediately. Just little things like that.”

“If we have some follow-up questions, may we call you?”

“Of course,” she said. Then Mandy took McGaven’s arm. “Please, please find out who did this. I miss her every day.”

McGaven stood up. “We are doing everything we can. Thank you, Ms. Davis.”

Mandy hesitated for a moment, as if she wanted to tell them something more, and then decided against it. She turned and headed back to work.

Katie joined McGaven.

“What do you think?” she said.

“She’s evasive and telling partial truths. She seemed hesitant with questions that were more routine and averted her eyes when she explained what happened.”

“You think she’s hiding something?”

“Yes, but it’s something that she doesn’t want us to know. My guess, it’s something personal.”

Katie glanced at a few people passing by. “I think she tried too hard to put suspicion on the neighbor.”

Katie received a text message from John. It said:No prints or evidence at the Trenton house.

“What’s up?” he said.

“John couldn’t find any fingerprints at Jeanine Trenton’s house.” She was disappointed. Although it would be too easy.

“Too bad. Just means we need to keep digging.”

They briskly walked back to the sedan and got inside to get out of the cold.

Katie drove out of the parking lot, heading to the Community Health Alliance where Jeanine had worked, to see what they could find out.

“So,” said McGaven. “We have the best friend who can’t commit to the exact time that she came over, tried to make it seem like when her best friend dated her boyfriend it wasn’t any big deal, and tried to divert suspicion to the neighbor. That about right?”

“Just about.” Katie rolled what Mandy Davis had to say through her mind and found herself unconvinced that she was telling them everything.

“We have our work cut out for us.”

McGaven received a text. “Looks like we have been given the green light to take a look at Jeanine Trenton’s personal belongings.”

“Well, let’s make that our first stop,” said Katie.

Chapter Seventeen

Friday 1305 hours

After Katie and McGaven picked up a key from Daniels & Smith, Attorneys at Law, they headed to the storage facility to have a look at Jeanine Trenton’s personal belongings. Her things were being held in probate until the state could sell everything, including the house. She had no immediate family, but the probate attorneys were doing their due diligence in case there was a family member not listed.

Katie and McGaven had received permission to look through Jeanine’s belongings as part of the murder investigation, and anything they took would be factored into the probate.

As McGaven drove to the storage unit, Katie remained quiet. She was thinking about the military K9 facility and wondered what experiences Jeanine Trenton had had there as a trainer. It was clear that Sergeant Serrano had feelings for her, but there was no mention of it to her best friend. Why?

“I wonder what secrets are going to tumble out?” said McGaven.

“We’ll see.”

“Why are you so quiet? That big detective brain of yours working overtime?”