Page 23 of Three Girls Gone (Detective Amanda Steele #14)

NINETEEN

Katherine watched Amanda and Trent enter the conference room. Amanda’s posture became a touch more rigid when she saw the chief, and she gave him a tight smile in response to him dipping his head in greeting.

“If we could get this meeting started, I have another appointment in thirty minutes.” Buchanan made a show of looking at his watch by flinging his arm out. His sleeve shimmied up his arm and exposed some fancy timepiece.

“Yes, of course.” Malone gestured for Amanda and Trent to sit down.

They sat across from Malone and Buchanan, while Katherine was at the head of the table.

“Considering my familiarity with the Gilbert case, selecting key points was challenging, but I think it’s best to establish the basics of the investigation.

Julie was found the morning after the Gilberts held a party at their home in NYC.

She had been sexually assaulted and strangled. She was only six years old.”

“Was the party for any specific reason?” Trent asked.

“Not really. More or less to blow off steam. The pageant had wrapped up that day. Julie didn’t win, but the Gilberts wanted to connect with the parents and guardians of the contestants, also the judges.”

“A political move,” Buchanan said.

“That’s right. Somewhere along the lines of keep your enemies close.”

“The way you put that, it sounds like the Gilberts didn’t get along with others in the competition,” Amanda said.

“They got along to get along, but that said, there were no deep animosities between them either. Relatives and friends were investigated with scrutiny.”

“Help me understand how the parents lost track of their child?” Buchanan asked.

“There was a lot of drinking and Julie was left to entertain herself,” Katherine said.

“Were there other children at this party?” Malone asked.

“Just adults, except for Julie. Later that night, Dawn Gilbert, Julie’s mother, told Julie she could sleep in the treehouse in the backyard.

After the guests left, the Gilberts stumbled to their bed.

” After finding out Julie was her biological daughter, it took years for Katherine to forgive the Gilberts for that negligence.

“Not exactly parents of the year,” Trent put in. “Unbelievable. You invested time looking into friends and family, but did you question the party guests? I’m just thinking it would make sense considering when Julie was murdered.”

“I did my best, but it was a rather open invite extended to everyone with the pageant. Many of the people who we got names for are from other parts of the country. Of course they were pursued as much as possible, but it only led to dead ends.”

“I can see how something like this could go cold. Just so many places to look.” The chief crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. His earlier desire to rush out of there must have left.

“Yes, and with an open invite, it was impossible to track down everyone who was there,” Katherine said.

“But it’s important to focus on what we think triggered this person back into action.

The consensus seems that it’s related to inquiries I made last fall.

I was interested in those with backstage access at the NYC venue for Julie’s last pageant, stemming from this photograph.

” Katherine turned her laptop to face those in the room.

It showed a man in his late forties looking over his shoulder at Julie, who was mid-twirl.

“He doesn’t look like he’s up to any good,” Buchanan said.

“Which is what I thought, but that’s Hank Dickson.”

“Who you cleared?” When she nodded, Buchanan added, “Malone briefed me on that.”

Katherine flipped her laptop around and closed the lid. “After the note in the hem of Hailey’s tutu, attention shifted to male costume designers.”

Buchanan raised a pointed finger. “Did you speak with these people in the fall?”

“I did.”

“All right. Go on.” Buchanan gestured for her to continue.

“After I was cleared last night, I reached out to the people who employed these male costume designers, viewing this as a workaround. Just in case. It could still give me an idea of what they were like. I had to leave some messages, but I’d like to pull their backgrounds. ” Katherine looked at Malone.

“I’ll make sure you get the IT permissions right after we’re finished here,” Malone said. “Just tell me if anyone flags.”

“Will do,” Katherine told him.

Buchanan sat back in his chair, clasped his hands over his stomach. “I must admit that I have mixed opinions about your assisting with this case in any capacity.”

Her stomach dropped out. Is he going to take this away from me now?

Buchanan continued. “After all, the killer’s note makes it quite clear what they will do if you are involved.

But with that said, I believe the threat is misleading.

This person is wired differently than the rest of us.

They’ve done this at least twice that we know of, and there is very little chance of rehabilitation in this type of individual.

That reality is why I consented to your help, but I can’t stress enough that you need to watch your back.

” Buchanan glanced over at Malone. “Did you arrange a protective detail for her when she’s not at the station? ”

“I have,” Malone confirmed.

Katherine shifted on her chair, uncomfortable being discussed as if she wasn’t in the room.

But that wasn’t the only thing making her uneasy.

Her next admission was going to rip at her pride.

How she might have focused on the wrong avenue for the past twelve years.

That was unforgiveable. But she had no choice but to set her ego aside.

Not if speaking up meant justice for Julie.

No one was speaking, so this was her opportunity.

“As I mentioned at the onset, Julie was sexually assaulted, but no DNA was left behind.”

“The same is true for Hailey Tanner,” Amanda said.

This revelation had Katherine going cold. “Then we could be looking at a woman.”

Everyone’s head turned to her.

“I think with a crime like this one, it’s more likely a man,” Buchanan said.

“Well, that’s what I’d always thought, but there’s nothing pointing to a man directly, just probability.

It might be time to open our minds. In that endeavor, I’ve flagged someone as a person of interest.” Now the words were out, she wished she’d held off until she’d gathered more to support her suspicion.

But was there any time to waste? “I told you a moment ago that I called the employers of costume designers. Well, one of those mothers ended up letting something slip.” She told them about Anne Harrington’s alleged affair with Evan Gilbert, how it had been on and off again for years and how Harrington had been present backstage at Julie’s last pageant.

She stressed again that this was when and where the photo of Dickson was taken.

She disclosed the restraining orders against the woman and how she had Detective Ryan pull the background.

She concluded with, “I have Detective Fitz with the NYPD stopping by her place, seeing if we can tie her to Woodbridge.”

“But surely there must be more than that,” Malone put in. “What would make this woman target and hurt children? With that said, you must have established a profile?”

Katherine nodded. “We worked with the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit.

They put a profile together for us. They figured male, in his early to mid-thirties, likely someone who suffered abuse as a child or was from a broken home with exposure to domestic violence.

This person may battle mental health issues and have low self-esteem.

They may feel incompetent and harbor shame, and as a result are socially awkward.

He will have little going for him in his personal and professional lives, so this reinforces his beliefs of worthlessness.

He abuses children to feel a sense of control, as if that can somehow mend his own pain. ”

“If that’s the case, we could be looking at more girls we don’t know about,” Amanda said, her face pale.

“We could be.” Katherine met her friend’s gaze. “But going back to Harrington, I’d like to dig into her past more.”

Buchanan tapped the edge of the table and got up. “Definitely keep on that, and keep me posted.” With that, the chief swept out of the room.

Malone followed soon after with Trent at his heels.

Amanda came over and put her hand on Katherine’s shoulder. “We’ll find this person. Man or woman.”

Katherine wished she felt that confidence, but twelve years of hard work hadn’t accomplished that.