Page 93 of The Whispering Girls

“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.”

THIRTY-SIX

Saturday 1415 hours

Katie, McGaven, and John compared notes.

“I was able to get through to the medical examiner’s office and they were able to confirm DNA from both Theresa and TJ,” said John. “And you were right, Katie, they are sisters.”