Page 19 of The Whispering Girls (Detective Katie Scott #14)

EIGHTEEN

Katie and McGaven drove down the long road called Pine Cone Way. Devin Bradley’s cabin was farther than they had originally anticipated and that made Katie question his answers, motive, and opportunity. The detectives updated each other on what Devin and various residents had told each of them.

Cisco let out an anxious snort, pushing his wet nose toward the side of Katie’s face.

“Looks like a good place out here for Cisco to get some exercise,” said McGaven scrutinizing the landscape. There were wide open spaces with scattered trees, making it very quiet and private.

Katie nodded. She was still thinking about Devin and wondered if his descriptions of things that were missing from his place were a desperate attempt to keep suspicion away from him.

“Okay, you’ve been quiet all the way out here,” McGaven added, watching his partner. “Care to share?”

“Don’t you think it’s a little bit convenient that Devin told me about those missing items? There’s no way to verify what he had or if it went missing.”

Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, a small cabin came into view. It wasn’t anything that would qualify as quaint or cozy—simply put, it was old and run-down. There was also a large barn structure that dwarfed the size of the cabin.

“That’s not quite what I had envisioned,” she said.

McGaven had been searching for the address, along with surrounding properties, and found out it was owned by Robert and Ida Bradley. “Appears that the thirty acres and two structures are owned by family, most likely Devin’s parents.”

Since Devin was back at the restaurant, the detectives knew that they most likely wouldn’t be interrupted. There weren’t any cars or trucks, in fact, no other type of vehicles in view. It would also be, as McGaven said, a good space for Cisco to run around in.

Katie pulled up thirty feet from the cabin. She quickly got out, followed closely by Cisco.

The afternoon air was moderate. It was quite comfortable for now, but there would be more cold fronts moving through in the next few days. For now, the slight breeze blew around the acreage.

Katie stood in front of the Jeep, carefully assessing the surrounding area. If she didn’t know better, it would seem as if they were out in the middle of nowhere a hundred miles away from civilization.

Cisco romped around smelling everything new. He was still never far from Katie and he usually faced her. His jet-black coat glistened in the sun, showing off his gorgeous fur as he moved.

“What’s up?” said McGaven.

“Just getting a feel for the place.”

“Seems familiar, doesn’t it?”

“It does, but we can’t search anything that’s not in plain view and where there’s an expectation of privacy. ”

“Too bad,” said McGaven sarcastically. “What if the front door is open?” He raised his eyebrows.

“Seriously?” Katie turned to her partner; he rarely reacted to cases with cynicism. There was something about this town. And there was definitely a strange vibe where they were standing.

“I know, I know.” He rolled his eyes.

“But I think we can get a feel…”

Cisco returned to Katie’s side, tail wagging, with what looked like part of an old Frisbee covered in dirt and slobber.

“Ugh…” said Katie. “That’s disgusting.”

“He seems to like it,” laughed McGaven.

“ Aus ,” said Katie making Cisco drop the plastic. She turned her attention again to the property. It was vast, but nothing seemed ominous or of the criminal element.

“What has you so cautious?” he said.

“Do I need to remind you of some of the places we’ve experienced problems?”

“No,” he said. “No, you don’t.”

“Why would Devin want to live out here?” she asked.

“It’s owned by family—so it’s free probably.”

“True. But there has to be another reason.”

“I wonder if Theresa stayed out here with him?” said McGaven.

“Most likely. Let’s go find out.”

Katie walked toward the small cabin, remaining cautious and alert. McGaven remained quiet, and he too seemed watchful as they approached the house. She noticed some digging had been done close to the two structures. The trenches were long and approximately five feet deep.

“What are these for?” she said.

McGaven walked right up to them and studied the channels. “Hard to say, but they don’t look recent. Looks like there’s been a lot of water, you can see where the rain or snow had saturated it. It could be new drainage or some type of installed electrical or piping lines. It could be anything.”

Katie stood next to him. She wasn’t so sure. “Take some photos. Maybe the chief or Jack might know?”

McGaven swiped his phone from his pocket and took several photos.

Katie turned to the tiny cabin. It was only a studio or possibly had one small bedroom. Something shiny caught her eye. A small window facing them had an object hanging as a decoration.

She moved closer, mindful of not disturbing anything since they hadn’t received permission to be here. Once at the window, Katie saw the object was an intricately cut crystal diffracting light and producing a rainbow of colors. It reminded her of the cut-glass pieces on Theresa’s dresser.

Standing on her tiptoes, Katie peered inside.

The cabin was basically one room with a closet and another door she assumed to be the bathroom.

It wasn’t decorated. There were a couple piles of clothes, dishes on a table, and a large, full garbage can.

Not exactly a place where someone would have their girlfriend hang out.

“Anything?”

Katie startled for a second.

“Sorry. Didn’t know you were so high strung today.”

She turned to her partner. “This place makes me jumpy and the deep forest hiking trails here creep me out. There…I said it.”

She expected McGaven to laugh or make a joke, but he didn’t.

“I’m beginning to see this place is a little unnerving,” he said.

“It’s just a guy’s place. There’s nothing in there to suggest Theresa would be staying here. My feeling is he would stay with her at her apartment. ”

McGaven looked around. “Yeah, it seems that Devin doesn’t come out here often. It’s just a place to crash when he needs to…”

“Or where anyone could crash…” said Katie. “Let’s check out the barn. Did you get a photo of the cabin?”

“Yep.” McGaven then took several pictures of the barn structure and more of the general area and landscape. It had been overgrown, but there were signs it had been partially mowed.

Katie went into the barn followed closely by Cisco. The two huge doors were wide open and secured by two large blocks of wood. It appeared they had been there for quite some time as they had heavy dirt on them and splintered ends.

The fleeting thought of how she was supposed to be on a two-week vacation, not working, entered her mind. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to be somewhere relaxing and not investigating a murder. But here she was in the moment—looking for clues and a killer.

“You okay?” said McGaven.

“Yes. If I’m not, you’ll be the first to know…”

“After Cisco,” he said and smiled.

Cisco’s ears perked up and he stared at McGaven.

Katie appreciated people caring about her, but sometimes it made her feel inadequate and unable to do her job. She pushed her vulnerable feelings aside and examined the interior of the barn. It wasn’t what she’d expected.

“Wow,” said McGaven mirroring Katie’s thoughts.

“This is the most organized I’ve ever seen a barn…”

“The time it must’ve taken.”

“But think about the time you would save when everything had its place,” she said.

The detectives were mesmerized by the meticulous organization on the walls.

Every single tool such as wrenches, screwdrivers, handsaws, outdoor shears, and even larger items like chainsaws, brooms, and shovels were hanging on the walls with an outline around them so you would always know where they went.

“Gives new meaning to being organized,” he said.

Katie nodded. “Look here.” She pointed to an area where wound-up rope once seemed to be kept.

“And here,” said McGaven. “Looks like two large screwdrivers and cutting shears are missing. I guess they could be somewhere else.”

Katie looked at her partner. “Someone who spends this much time organizing isn’t going to leave tools lying around somewhere else.”

“See your point.”

“Devin told me things were missing. And this seems to match up with what he said.” Katie made another once-over and took a few photos. “The way I see it, he either told me as information or he told me to throw the investigation off track.”

“You think Devin is the killer?”

“It’s not likely, but we have to treat everyone as a suspect. I don’t see the killer being someone from out of town—it’s someone who knows this area or has ties to it.”

McGaven remained quiet, looking around, but everything inside the barn was visible and nothing appeared to be hidden.

“Although…” she said.

“What?”

“Devin does know the area and obviously he knows the trails well… The killer knew where to leave the bodies…”

The detectives took another couple of minutes to check if there were storage areas or even a secret room. The barn proved to be nothing more than what it was used for—there wasn’t anything sinister or out of place.

Cisco barked from the yard.

Katie knew that particular bark; it meant something serious. She hurried outside where Cisco was standing with his head down, pawing at the ground.

“Cisco,” she said softly, “ Zurück. ”

The dog backed away from the area. Kneeling down, she could see there were rocks lined up, as if someone had been attempting to make a decorative outline along a flowerbed.

“What is it?”

“I’m not sure, but…” Katie looked closer. “Rocks are missing.”

“Anything could have caused that and they might not have been there in the first place.”

“True…but there were rocks similar to these at both crime scenes.”

“Do we take one to compare?” McGaven frowned.

“Let’s get some photos,” she said. “You notice that the items taken are general items, making it difficult to identify if they belong here.” Katie sat back and thought about everything. Then she stood up and faced her partner.

“I can see the wheels turning again.”

“What does this represent?” she asked.

“What do you mean?”

“This. The property way out here. The missing tools… This whole area?”

“A place to look for clues?”

“Yes… But doesn’t it seem like we’re on a wild goose chase?”

“Who would do that?” he said.

“Besides the killer? I’m not sure.”

“What you’re saying is that someone doesn’t want us poking around.”

“They know we'll investigate, but once we can’t come up with a definite suspect or person of interest…eventually the leads will stop and then we’ll go home.”

“So who wants us to go home?” McGaven said.

“At least so far, I think it's possible we’re up against two people. A killer and someone who doesn’t want us to find the killer. It's a working theory.”

Katie took a few photos of the rock area before they headed back to the Jeep.

All of a sudden two shotgun blasts came from near the row of trees one hundred yards away.

Instinctively, Katie, McGaven, and Cisco jumped down into the ditch.