Page 39 of The Whispering Girls (Detective Katie Scott #14)

“Looks like Westin had been jailed for theft and trespass, but nothing violent. He’s single, but there could be a girlfriend,” said McGaven.

The detectives waited for twenty minutes. There wasn’t any movement until all of a sudden a blue sedan pulled up. A woman with short brown hair got out of the car and cautiously looked in both directions before continuing. She hurried to Westin’s front door.

“Uh, we have an interesting visitor,” said Katie, peering through the binoculars.

“Who is that?” said McGaven, squinting. “She looks familiar.”

Katie gave McGaven the binoculars as Libby hugged Westin.

“Now that’s interesting,” he said. “Very interesting.”

“I wonder what Libby is doing here. From the background check we did, she has a husband and it’s definitely not that guy.”

“Nope.”

“And wasn’t she the one who said someone, anonymously, called in TJ’s crime scene and she wasn’t sure if it was a man or woman?”

“That’s right.”

“But how does she fit into all of this?” said Katie.

“Well, she’s worked for the chief for a while.”

“The more information we have, the more it has the chief in common,” she said.

“I still don’t see him as a killer, especially with this much crime scene orchestration.”

Katie had an epiphany. “We’ve been approaching this all wrong.”

Turning toward her, McGaven said, “How do you mean?”

“I think we’ve been a bit jaded. We’ve been working on serial killer cases too long.

Even though I believe these homicides are connected, and there is only one killer—at least at this point.

These murders have been made to look like a serial killer,” she said.

“To throw off the investigation and to potentially send us on a wild goose chase.”

“So once we find the main links…”

“It will lead us to the killer,” she said. “Let have a little chat with Westin.” Katie started the Jeep and pulled out onto the street in front of Westin’s house.

The detectives got out of the car and hurried to the door. Katie knocked.

The door immediately opened and Libby stood there. She recognized the detectives and looked both surprised and embarrassed.

“Detectives Scott and McGaven. We need to speak with Bill Westin. Official business,” said Katie.

“Uh, he’s not here,” stammered Libby.

“Nice try. We saw you both barely twenty minutes ago,” she said. “We just have a few questions.”

“Okay,” said Libby, shamefaced, and opened the door wider for the detectives to enter.

Westin emerged from the living room. “What can I do for you?” he said. His stiff body language and inability to keep eye contact with the detectives showed his nerves.

“Where were you on Tuesday morning around 6 a.m.?” said Katie.

Westin shrugged. “Sleeping. My alarm goes off at seven. What’s this about?”

“What time did you go to bed Monday night?”

“I dunno, around eleven, I guess.”

“You slept the entire night?”

“Yeah.”

“I see. You work for Crane Flooring?”

“Yes.”

“For how long?”

“About ten years. What’s this about?”

“When was the last time you used their van?” she said.

McGaven casually looked around the small home, moving away from his partner.

“I’m not sure.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“Wait,” he said and went to the kitchen where his cell phone was lying on the table. He opened an application. “Here, see.”

Katie took the cell phone and saw the app was a type of spreadsheet for checking the van in and out.

“You can’t get the keys for the truck unless you sign in to the app. It will give you the digital combination to get the keys. It changes every day,” he said.

McGaven joined his partner. “That’s interesting. ”

“Yeah, my boss is very protective and tries to keep misuse down. Our installers have their own vehicle.”

Katie saw that Westin’s last sign-in was ten days ago and the notation said “dump run.” But there was a sign-out on Monday evening with no name. “What’s this?”

Westin looked at the log. “I don’t know. It could be my boss, but I swear to you I haven’t used the van in more than a week.”

“Do you know anything about green carpet remnants?” she said.

“I saw some in the cage out back, but I don’t know anything about it. There’s all kinds of carpet pieces and I don’t pay much attention.” He paced and realized what the detectives were there about. “Wait, is this about that girl who was killed? I had nothing to do with it.”

Katie studied Westin for a moment and she glanced at Libby. They both didn’t seem like they were hiding anything. “So what’s the connection between you two?”

Westin shrugged. “It’s personal.”

Katie remained quiet and decided that was enough—for now. “Thank you both for your time,” she said. “If we need anything else, we’ll be in touch.”

The detectives walked back to the front door.

“Detective,” said Libby. “Anything about my boss?” Her eyes were glassy and it was clear she was genuinely worried.

“Not yet,” said Katie.

Katie and McGaven walked back to the Jeep.

“What do you think?” said McGaven.

“I think he’s telling the truth, but there’s more to this. The van was taken out the night before we found Theresa’s body…We need to figure out by who.”