Page 86 of Pretty Broken Dolls

Chapter Thirty-Two

Wednesday 1045 hours

Laughing to herself at McGaven’s bad sense of humor, Katie hurried to the office, eager to get to work. The text from McGaven angered her at first because she felt he was making light of the investigation, but then she realized he was most likely trying to lighten things a bit. She pushed it from her mind. There was so much to do that she didn’t want to stop and think about how overwhelmingly complex this investigative puzzle was—they had so many pieces and now they had to figure out how to put it all together, to lead them to the killer. After she updated McGaven on her chat with John and the forensics findings, they moved forward and tracked down Darla Winchell’s background.

Katie’s cell phone rang.

“Detective Scott,” she answered. “Yes, hello, Dr. Dean.” She listened intently for a minute. “Thank you so much.” She ended the call.

“What?”

“Dr. Dean said, having looked at the files for the first two victims’ autopsies—Nancy Day and Gwen Sanderson—he is confident that while Gwen’s chest injuries are consistent with those sustained by Jeanine Trenton and Darla Winchell, Nancy’s seemed to have been caused more by a fall, perhaps.”

“That’s a signature for the last three murders. And it backs up the theory that Gwen killed Nancy.”

“Yep. I think we’re closing in,” she said. “Slowly, but we’re getting somewhere.”

“So what’s your take on Agent Campbell now?” McGaven asked.

“I don’t know…sometimes I think he’s just desperate to get a lead to close his cases after having so many investigators work on them. But…”

“But you still have that gut feeling that something’s not right?”

“Yes.”

“I’m with you. What do we have?”

Katie picked up the marker and began to make a list. “Okay, we have the Jeanine Trenton and Darla Winchell cases. And here’s what we know.”

Jeanine Trenton, 27, brunette, blue eyes, born in Wisconsin, single, lived alone, no boyfriend, worked as a health care specialist at Community Health Alliance, gifted her home in Raven Woods, no debts, no health issues, no family, harassed by next-door neighbor Sadie Caldwell who has mental health issues, had get-togethers, people coming and going from her house, harassed by co-workers, found murdered with chest impression and throat cut, found by best friend Mandy Davis because missed party. *joined army—K9 trainer

Persons of Interest:

Mandy Davis, best friend, Jeanine hooked up with her boyfriend

Sadie Caldwell, neighbor, mental dysfunction

Co-worker, Virginia Rodriguez

Ex-boyfriend

Family member

Stranger—someone following her fixated

Unknown or K9 training facility

Darla Winchell, 34, executive, First Community Bank, found at the fairgrounds on the Ferris wheel, chest impressions, throat cut.

Crime scene characteristics in common:

Bodies posed, drama, heavy makeup, like characters in a play or on a game board, throats cut, impacts on chests before death, jewelry hanging by a ribbon (trophy?), nautical-style knots?

Crime scene differences:

Level of ability, brunette versus blonde victim, knife incision neat versus ragged, one left in place where she would be discovered quickly, other on private land, crime scene getting bigger and more complex. Same killer? Possible copycat?

“Was Darla Winchell reported as a missing person?” she asked.