Page 20 of The Whispering Girls (Detective Katie Scott #14)

NINETEEN

Katie’s heart pounded relentlessly in her chest as she sat in a crouched position in the dugout gully at the cabin.

She didn’t immediately hear McGaven talking to her.

Her memories of her time in the Army during maneuvers into enemy territories had taken over: hearing gunfire and bomb blasts, she would never forget the sounds, the heat, and the heavily grimy environment.

Her vision became dark and the colors around her were almost in black and white.

The constant stress and fear infused into her soul of being captured, tortured, and killed never left her mind.

As she took a few breaths, Katie’s pulse lowered and she felt the warmth and heartbeat of Cisco’s body pressed against her side. The shotgun blasts had brought back their time in unfriendly circumstances, but this time McGaven was with them. It helped to ease the anxiety.

“Katie, you okay?” said McGaven. His hand was on her arm as if he’d tried to shake her back into reality.

Katie turned her head and looked at her partner. With his strong face and his eyes emanating deep concern as he continued to speak more to her, she realized that the gunfire was farther away than she had first thought.

“It came from that large cluster of trees,” she managed to say, still feeling unsteady.

“I don’t think anyone was aiming at us.”

“Probably hunters,” she agreed.

The Jeep wasn’t far, so they all cautiously got out of the ditch and made their way to it.

“We’re just a bit jumpy,” he said.

Katie tried to sound relaxed. “I guess it’s because of our previous experiences with someone shooting at us.”

McGaven grabbed a pair of binoculars and looked in the direction of the loud shotgun blasts.

Three more shots sounded.

“I think there are two hunters,” he said. “I can’t see clearly because we’re losing daylight, but I can see orange and camouflage clothing.”

Katie hadn’t realized how much shorter the afternoons were and how the light could change quickly. It was nearly dusk and fiery color peeked between the trees.

Katie glanced at the time. “We have that appointment with the chief soon.”

As they neared the lodge, Katie saw one of the police cars leaving.

Her mind finally snapped back into reality.

For some reason, it was difficult to keep her head in the game with the two crime scenes.

She wasn’t sure if her brain was exhausted and screaming for a need for rest or if it was the strange circumstances of the town.

Even at the diner, there seemed to be something amiss.

The locals were nice, but there was something else just beneath the surface that troubled her.

“Back at the lodge,” said McGaven. His usual calm voice and demeanor helped to continue to center Katie .

“Yep.”

“Wasn’t that Clark leaving?”

“Not sure.” She parked the Jeep and noticed that Jack’s truck was there along with another SUV. She assumed it was a late patient.

Cisco ran ahead of Katie and McGaven up the stairs wagging his tail as he patiently waited at the top. Katie punched in the code and the main door opened. The beauty of the lodge reminded her how fortunate they were to have such a great place to work.

“Hey. Check this out,” said McGaven. He picked up a large pile of reports on the table.

“What is it?”

Thumbing through the files and clipped reports, McGaven said, “Looks like the forensic and autopsy reports. And a note, saying they’ve also been emailed. That’s what I call speedy service.”

“Great. Let’s get these organized. I guess Officer Clark brought these as soon as they received them.”

“They must’ve fast-tracked them.”

Both detectives jumped right in to read reports and add information to the appropriate crime scene boards.

Katie looked at the autopsy report for Theresa Jamison. She quickly read through it once and then a second time more slowly, digesting everything.

“Okay,” she said as she stood up and updated the board. “Do you think it’s a good idea to have the murder investigation board in this front open area?”

“It’s not like there are other guests. It’s just the cops and Jack.” He studied his partner. “Why do I get the feeling you’re not telling me something?”

“It may be nothing, but I want to make sure everything is kept confidential.”

McGaven moved closer to Katie. “What’ s going on?”

“Besides being stuck in this town with these two homicides?”

“That’s not the Katie I know… You jump at solving a case.”

She sighed. “Ever since I got here, things are…”

“Things are what?”

“Things seem off. Like it’s all orchestrated. It’s weird. I feel like I’m on the outside looking in. I don’t know how else to describe it.”

McGaven stared at her for a moment.

“Follow me,” she said. She showed him the unusual hidden door in the kitchen and the stairs that led down to the veterinary office.

“I see what you’re saying, but doesn’t it seem normal that this two-story warehouse had inside stairs?”

“Okay, fine.”

“Wait,” he said. “Let’s still seal it up temporarily or put a lock on it.”

Katie looked around the kitchen. “Sure. We can do that later.”

“And if you think we should have the murder board somewhere else, like one of our suites, then let’s do it. We can move the files and table too.”

Katie and McGaven walked back into the main area. Cisco was stretched out on the large sofa.

“Hey,” Gav said. “Whatever is bothering you—let’s take it out of the equation. We have a lot to deal with. Okay?”

Katie thought about it and nodded. “Okay.”

“That’s my partner. What do we have for Theresa Jamison?”

Katie felt a little bit better. She hated feeling vulnerable, trying to explain why things were bothering her, things that didn’t seem to fit.

“I can’t believe the autopsies were done so quickly,” he said. “I guess they didn’t have many others ahead of them. ”

To Katie, that seemed like another incident that was unusual.

“Most likely it had to be a priority with it being a homicide,” she said. “Okay, according to the county medical examiner, Dr. Kylie Baxter, cause of death was strangulation, and manner of death homicide. There were indications of sexual assault postmortem.”

McGaven took to the board and began listing things.

“Theresa Jamison, nineteen years old, good health, no scarring from any apparent operations, all four wisdom teeth had been removed, there were scars on her left upper arm and right knee,” recited Katie.

“That’s thorough. I’m not sure if it’s important or not,” said McGaven.

“It may give an indication to her lifestyle.” She kept reading. “They did a toxicology report and it was clean. No medications. No illegal drugs.”

“Okay,” said McGaven as he continued the visual list.

“And…”

McGaven turned. “And what?”

“I’m looking for fingernail scrapings.” Katie skimmed through some forensic papers. “It seems that human skin and tiny glass particles were found underneath her nails.”

“DNA?”

“No, this was preliminary from the Sacramento County Forensic Laboratory… It’s going to take some time for DNA testing. And the glass fragments also had blood…human…which will take some time too.” Katie looked up and marveled at how neat McGaven’s printing was.

“So far…” he said.

Katie stared at the list. It seemed vague, but the DNA and glass were interesting. “Theresa obviously struggled with her killer, but what were the glass particles from? ”

“Don’t forget if the killer isn’t in the system or we don’t have a suspect, we may not know who left behind blood and skin.”

“It says there wasn’t any semen, so the killer wore a condom,” she said. “And like I said, it was postmortem.”

“What does that say about a killer?”

“There’re definitely familiar characteristics on the body and scene. Her face was covered, which usually indicates a psychological element to the killer—it can be good or bad.”

“And the area in which Theresa was left?” he said.

“The drama and specifics of the totem left behind indicate a connection between crime scene and victim.” Katie studied the board. There were things she needed to add for the killer’s signature as well as behavioral evidence.

“So the killer is telling a story,” said McGaven.

“Jack told me Officer Clark recognized the girl as a friend of his sister,” she said. “And that’s how they were able to contact family so quickly.”

“I see.”

“Everything is beginning to show how close-knit this area is and how unwittingly the local townspeople might be protecting the killer.”

“You really think so?”

“It’s a working theory, but we have to be open to anything. But that’s not what bothers me the most.”

McGaven stopped writing on the board and turned to his partner.

“What really bothers me is that we have two victims who look so much alike. No one recognizes TJ—or Jane Doe—so how did she get here or where did she stay? There’s a host of other questions.”

“What did the autopsy report say about TJ?” he said.

“Nothing. It’s in progress and so is the forensic examination. But I do hope we get it soon.”

“I suppose they only picked up the body this morning.”

“I know. Maybe the chief will have some answers.”