Page 14 of Three Girls Gone (Detective Amanda Steele #14)

TWELVE

Amanda met with voicemail all three times she tried Katherine’s number on the way to the diner. “There’s no answer,” she told Trent.

“We need to let Malone know what’s going on. You don’t want him to find out from Rideout before he’s heard it from you.”

“Which would be another shitstorm. And he can never know that I’ve been helping her.”

“I’m with you on that. He’s going to be pissed enough that a civilian is investigating a police case. And if Malone or the chief, or even the brass at the NYPD sees her as interfering…”

“I know,” she repeated. The consequence would be Katherine behind bars while a killer roamed free, able to torture and kill little girls.

“Then you’re going to call Malone?”

“After we talk to Katherine.”

“And if we can’t reach her?”

“I’ll deal with that if and when.” She tried the diner this time, and after a few rings, the line was answered. “Is Katherine in? ”

“Yeah, just a sec.” The call was put on hold, and a broadcaster from a local radio station was soon talking in her ear.

“She’s at the diner,” she told Trent, breathing easier.

“Good.”

“Hello, this is Katherine.”

“Kat, it’s Amanda.” Since Katherine confided in Amanda, they’d become friends. Given how they’d started off it was hard to imagine a close relationship was even possible. When Malone took a brief medical leave, Katherine came in as interim sergeant. Amanda and she had bashed heads.

“Hey, how are you?” Her friendly tone held a leery note. Amanda never called in the middle of the afternoon during the workweek.

“Not good. Trent and I are on our way to talk with you.”

“Now you have me worried.”

Amanda wished she could assure her it wasn’t anything horrible, but that would be a blatant lie. “We’ll be there soon.”

“Okay.” Katherine dragged out the word and ended the call.

“She has no idea what’s coming her way,” Trent said, keeping his gaze out the windshield.

“How could anyone conjure this?”

They passed the rest of the short drive in silence. Her thoughts were on two little girls victimized by a monster without a conscience. Even if they caught this guy, there would be nothing to truly explain why this happened.

Trent pulled into the lot for Hannah’s Diner, and when they stepped through the doors, Katherine was standing right there.

“I’m not waiting a second longer than necessary,” she told them.

“Do you have an office where we can talk in private?” Amanda asked, and Katherine took them into the back.

They passed May on their way, and she bunched her forehead in confusion, then followed them .

“I just need to talk with Amanda and Trent for a few minutes alone.” Katherine stared down her aunt until the older woman consented and walked off.

Katherine closed the door behind them and sat at the desk. She pointed at two chairs in the room, where Amanda and Trent sat down.

“You both look pale, like someone ran over your dog. But neither of you have one.” Katherine traced her gaze over the two of them. “Talk.”

Amanda took a long breath. “There’s been a development in the Hailey Tanner investigation.”

“I heard her body was found. Customers have been talking about it all afternoon,” Katherine said without emotion. It showed the hardened side of her cop shell.

“Unfortunately, she was, but there’s far more to it.” Amanda wasn’t sure whether to dance around it, filling in some details and then landing with the gut punch or whether she should go right for it.

“Just spit it out, Amanda,” Katherine said, as if reading Amanda’s mind. “What does her murder have to do with me?”

Amanda had to be careful about what she disclosed because it was an open police investigation. Now sitting across from Katherine, she wished she had called Malone first. “A piece of evidence led us to you. A note essentially calling you out.”

“I don’t understand.” She paled and blinked slowly. Two tiny tells that spoke volumes. She was piecing it together. “Is this about…?”

Amanda nodded. “We believe that whoever killed Hailey Tanner also killed Julie Gilbert.” She told her the gist of the note.

“Dear God, that girl’s death is my fault.

” Katherine touched her stomach in a fleeting motion, then tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

The latter was a rare trait and alerted Amanda that she was shaken.

“Was she…?” Tears beaded in Katherine’s ey es, but they were extinguished when her gaze became fire, and her mouth set in a firm line.

Amanda nodded, assuming the question was whether she’d been violated. “Have you been looking into the Gilbert case recently?”

“Not for months. I’ve just been so busy with the diner.”

“When you say months ? The start of the year? Last year?” Trent asked.

“Late fall, a week or two before Thanksgiving.”

Amanda looked at Trent. That gave the killer time to find his way down here and even attend The Nutcracker .

“But if I triggered this guy, why not come after me? Why kill another poor, innocent child?” Katherine swallowed roughly.

“This person’s clearly a sick individual. Also a coward. A child makes an easier target.” Amanda empathized with what her friend must be feeling.

“This sick freak wants to feel powerful,” Katherine said.

“It’s important that you tell us what you were focused on then,” Trent said.

“You know I had five men pegged as suspects?”

“Yes. The men on your suspect board in the storage unit,” Trent said.

“That’s right. I had three with names, two without. Since then, I’ve identified both the nameless men and cleared them. Trust me, completely cleared. But one identity came to me when I made an appeal on the website I set up.”

“ Justice for Julie ,” Amanda inserted for Trent.

“I posted his picture and asked if anyone could ID the man. I got a response. Hank Dickson, of Brooklyn. I drove up to his home and had a long talk with him. He’s not behind this.”

“It’s possible our killer ID’d Dickson,” Trent pointed out. “How did this person contact you? ”

“They filled in the online contact form, leaving the name field blank.”

“Tell us more about this picture? Which one was it?” Amanda remembered two.

“The one of a man looking at Julie over his shoulder. It had a creepy feel to it without knowing the context. I found out that pic had been taken at the NYC venue during Julie’s last pageant.

It was in a cordoned-off area reserved for those with the show who had clearance.

Well, Dickson was a janitor there for five years.

Looking closer at the shot you can see that he’s holding a mop, and a corner of a bucket is visible in front of him.

He was called out to clean up a mess made by one of the mothers. ”

“Where did the photo of him come from in the first place?” Trent asked.

“It was enclosed in a tri-folded white piece of paper inside of an envelope, delivered to the Gilberts’ home.”

“That’s quite a red flag,” Trent said.

“Agreed. The Gilbert case was nationwide news, so a lot of people mailed the family letters and photographs of the girl. But with this one not having any postmark or return address, it stood out.”

“I assume it was processed for prints?” Trent asked.

“It was, and there weren’t any. All this was back when I was officially on the case. I didn’t like the angle of the shot either. Most of the shots of Julie were of her performing on stage. This was more intimate, behind the scenes.”

“Then you never found out who took the picture?” Amanda said.

“Nope, and after talking with Dickson, that drove me crazy. The photographer must be someone with backstage access.”

“Right, so pageant contestants, their mothers, agents…?” Trent rattled off.

“Whoever was an integral part of the entourage. So I also considered cosmeticians and costume designers,” Katherine put in.

“Costume designers…” Amanda said. It might not hurt to disclose one thing about the Tanner case. “The note that Rideout found was stitched into the hem of Hailey’s dress. I don’t know if it looked professional or not but…”

Trent shook his head at her. She might have crossed the line by disclosing that.

“There were a few male costume designers. I’ve got their names on my laptop in the storage unit.”

“We’ll want them,” Trent said. “Did you ever question them for Julie’s murder?”

“I did. None of them flagged as suspicious. Maybe I made a mistake in assuming that.”

Amanda laid her hand over Katherine’s, and her friend looked at her. “There’s only so much time,” Amanda assured her. “You follow the strongest leads you have. Now we know more, it will help us look at things differently.”

“Now you have another victim you mean. All because of me.”

“The only thing you’re responsible for is trying to find justice for a little girl,” Amanda said with conviction.

Katherine pulled her hand back and nodded. “So it was after talking with Dickson, part of what I did was reach out to the NYC venue again for employee names. I figured they’d have access backstage.”

“And you have those?” Amanda asked.

“I do, and they matched what I already had, which was disheartening. I haven’t had a chance to go any further than that.”

“The killer is likely someone who knew your interest in those backstage,” Amanda said.

“That is a lot of names with no way of narrowing them down. ”

“Let’s say the killer was also Dickson’s photographer, what’s his end game? Why submit the photo?” Amanda asked.

“We know most killers have egos and God complexes,” Katherine said. “It’s a game to him. He’d have to know the photo would flag as suspicious. I think it was to steer the investigation away from himself.”

“And they go as far as calling in the tip,” Trent said.