Page 95 of Pretty Broken Dolls

“Can you figure out where it came from?” said Katie.

“It looks like it was a temporary email—like those generic ones you get in spam. I can’t tell where it came from.” He clicked on a few more things without luck.

Katie wrote down the message in her notebook with the date and initials so she wouldn’t forget it:You know what you did. You can’t take it back. The finale is coming.

“Now we need to find out what Darla did—or what someone thinks she did.”

“We need to check the emails of the other victims.” Katie was hopeful—finally, they had a big break.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Thursday 1410 hours

Katie was quiet at the lunch break with McGaven. They had stopped at her favorite burger place before visiting the First Community Bank of Pine Valley where Darla Winchell worked, but she was preoccupied with the email message and being in Darla’s home. It was as if she were connected to her, and the other victims, due to the military K9 link. She wondered if she was too close to the cases to be completely objective. She had skimmed through Darla’s personal letters, but there wasn’t anything that stood out or was connected to her time in K9—most were just letters from an old boyfriend. She would have McGaven take a look at them back at the office.

“Are you going to eat your fries?” asked McGaven.

“What? Oh, go for it.” Her appetite wasn’t what it usually was when she was working on a case.

“I know that I’m not one of your gal pals but if you have something on your mind, you know you can trust me.” He looked at Katie with a sincere expression.

Katie knew how lucky she was to have a great partner—they had been through so much together and she knew she could trust him. But sometimes she just had to let herself work through things in her own time. “I’m fine, really. I appreciate the concern.”

“Is it Chad?”

Katie couldn’t lie. “Yes, but… we'll just have to see."

“I know the cases are difficult, but we are moving nearer to a closure.” He dipped another French fry into catsup. “It always feels like this in the middle of wading through everything—trying to figure out what’s pertinent and what isn’t. It’s the game we play.”

“It’s true.”

McGaven looked at his watch. “We should probably head over to the bank.”

* * *

The First Community Bank of Pine Valley was a medium-sized bank located in the main part of town and was a popular place for most of the local residents. Darla Winchell had worked for them for six years, working her way up from a teller to an executive, handling business accounts.

Katie and McGaven entered the bank and hovered around the entrance trying to figure out where to go to meet with the president. The security guard immediately spotted them and made his way over to greet them. Katie opened her jacket to reveal her badge. He made a waving gesture with his hand, indicating he understood, and went back to his post.

Katie saw the various desks behind partitions and walked over to ask if she could meet with Michael Raines, the president of the branch. A young woman wearing a burgundy dress went to alert Mr. Raines that two police detectives wanted to talk with him.

They didn’t have to wait long. A serious-looking, dark-haired man wearing glasses and a dark suit with a red tie headed toward them. He moved with purpose and projected an all-business attitude.

“Hello, I’m Michael Raines, the president of the bank.”

“I’m Detective Scott and this is Deputy McGaven.”

“Pleased to meet you both,” he said and shook their hands. “Let’s talk in my office.”

They followed him through an area where there were four desks. The employees looked at Katie and McGaven with some interest, but mostly concern.

The big corner office was where they were headed. It was sparsely decorated, with a large desk, comfortable leather chair, and two smaller chairs for customers to sit down.

As soon as they were seated, Katie began.

“Mr. Raines, thank you for seeing us on such short notice.”

“You said it had to do with Darla Winchell.”