Page 14 of The Whispering Girls (Detective Katie Scott #14)

THIRTEEN

Katie and McGaven along with Cisco drove in the Jeep following Officer Clark in his cruiser.

As soon as Katie heard the news that a young female was found near a park hiking trail, she had visions of the victim from the day before hanging from a tree.

But the report Officer Clark received didn’t state anything about a hanging.

Katie quickly updated McGaven about the first crime scene. He had many questions, as did she, but they would be addressing them when they were set up at the lodge.

“You okay?” said McGaven.

Katie took a corner behind the patrol car—the red brake lights flooded her vision. “Yes and no. Is that a good enough answer?” She hydroplaned the Jeep a bit on the wet pavement, but then straightened and was now falling a little farther behind Clark.

“Whoa, Detective Katie Scott is back,” Gav said smiling. “Echo Forest won’t know what hit it.” He kept the mood light, knowing that they were headed to something disturbing .

“Did I say I’m glad you’re here?”

“Indeed you did.”

Katie smiled and accelerated once again.

She wondered about the crime scene, knowing they didn’t have the proper tools needed to conduct the investigation properly.

Her mind then wandered to the first victim, Theresa Jamison, in the refrigerator at the vet’s office.

There were many aspects of the case that seemed to be against them.

She slowed, taking her foot off the accelerator. “Is that it?” The area looked extremely overgrown and parking was limited. Gravel, torn-up asphalt pieces, and two large boulders that had once been used as barriers was what was left.

McGaven lowered his window and leaned out slightly. “There’s the sign: Mountain Trail Pass,” he said.

Officer Clark’s patrol car had slowed and continued around a narrow path, passing two picnic tables.

The wooden tables had become severely dilapidated due to the elements—one seating area was completely gone.

There were green and black spray-painted letters and abstract symbols on what was left of the furniture.

Katie pulled into an area near the police car.

“What do you think?” said McGaven.

Katie knew that wasn’t a simple question but rather an overall theory of the area and how difficult it must’ve been to get a body here unless the victim was murdered on scene.

She worried about potential tire tracks they might have destroyed driving to the location.

It was dark and she hoped Clark had some spotlights.

“I don’t know if Dr. Thomas is going to get here to do the crime scene, but there are gloves, evidence markers, and some bags in the back,” she said.

Cisco whined and spun around twice on the back seat.

Katie opened the car door and stepped out. The air was cold, but not as much as it was the day before. Hoping that the weather would ease up on the frigid temperature, they had to act fast and be as thorough as possible.

Opening the hatch of the Jeep, McGaven rummaged in a plastic storage box for what they might need. Katie quickly changed into hiking boots and a heavy coat. It took most of the chill away, but the prickly goosebumps weren’t from the cold but from the setting and what they were going to witness.

“Detectives,” said Clark as he approached, now wearing a heavy police coat.

“Who called it in?” said McGaven.

“Don’t know. They didn’t give their name.”

“Man, woman?”

“Libby said it sounded like a man. And he said the body was between two main trees near the entrance trail.”

“Libby?” said McGaven.

“She’s our administrative assistant. We don’t have any other information.”

Katie thought that was suspicious, but didn’t want to spend any more time on it at the moment. “Do you have mobile lights?”

The officer nodded. “I have two.”

“We’re going to need them. Gav and I are going to do a preliminary search,” she said. “We’ll let you know when we need them.” She hated working a crime scene at night with lights because it was easy to miss evidence.

The officer nodded. He appeared nervous, most likely due to the fact he hadn’t any experience in homicides.

“Clark, we need you to be first officer on the scene. Can you do that?” she said.

“Yeah. I remember from the police academy.”

“What about Dr. Thomas?”

“Jack? ”

“Yes. Has he been contacted?” she said.

“It’s protocol. Libby should have called or messaged him.”

Katie shut the Jeep hatch and looked at Cisco, who seemed to have made himself comfortable on a blanket. “Okay,” she said, readying her flashlight. “We’re going to begin the crime scene investigation until he arrives.”

Clark went to his patrol car to prepare the lights as Katie and McGaven headed to the area where the body had been found.

Katie slowed her pace and noticed typical groupings of dense trees, but due to the clouds parting the half-moon illuminated an open area between two huge pine trees.

She stopped. It was quiet. She couldn’t detect any breeze.

Closing her eyes, she gathered her wits, her skills, and prepared herself for what she was about to see.

McGaven had stopped six feet behind her, allowing his partner to approach the crime scene first. Then they would search and scrutinize everything as a team.

Officer Clark observed the detectives but remained at his location.

Katie opened her eyes and pulled on her gloves.

She switched on her heavy-duty flashlight and pointed it in front of her, spotlighting the area between the two large trees.

It was a small clearing that appeared to be natural and not prepared as a stage setting.

She could see the outline of what looked like a body in the distance.

Pushing everything from her mind, Katie walked forward slowly, making sure her path was consistent and not contaminating possible evidence.

It was so quiet she was aware of her breathing, which was even and calm.

She noticed the area was mostly dirt with mixed small rocks in between remnants of snow.

It was a little tricky to keep a straight line as she walked in.

About ten feet in, the ground beneath her feet became low dead weeds mixed with soil.

Katie fanned the light back and forth, and didn’t see anything but the rural landscape.

She kept moving forward. As with any crime scene, she examined everything leading up to viewing the body.

It not only kept any potential evidence in mind, but it also prepared her to view the body and to look directly at the victim.

It would always be difficult, but Katie had to keep her thoughts objective no matter how disturbing things could be.

There was a female body lying flat on the ground.

The victim’s pale skin highlighted the scene.

Dressed only in panties and a T-shirt, the body was positioned with the arms straight out away from the body and legs straight and unbending, as if she had fallen backward in a trust fall.

Katie’s first thought was that the positioning of the body was directly opposed to the first victim hanging in the tree, and wondered if it was significant.

It also seemed that there was some type of material covering the woman’s face—only long blonde hair was visible. It looked wet and matted.

Katie stopped.

There were three pine cones positioned together on top of a low pile of pine needles.

There was something sparkly around the gathering, and Katie saw there were also some leather strings tied securely in a knot around the pine cones.

There was something familiar about this particular grouping, which wasn’t more than five feet away from the body.

Katie finally stood over the victim. The ashen skin with bluish marks on the upper thighs and along the inside of the arms looked oddly out of place.

There was the usual discoloring of a deceased individual, but these prominent darker bluish-black intertwining patterns were that of livor mortis, the pooling of blood after death.

Katie would know more after the medical examiner did a full examination and autopsy, but she surmised it could mean that the body was transported or stored for a short period of time before being set in its final resting place.

Katie examined the body; there were no obvious indications of punctures or means of death. She bent down and took her thumb and forefinger to the burlap fabric—then she cautiously folded it away from the victim’s face.

Katie abruptly stood up. This time she was staring into the face of TJ, the young woman who had knocked on her cabin door.