Page 60 of Little Girls Sleeping
Thirty-Two
“Why are we here?” asked McGaven as they walked up to the Haven barn. “He committed suicide. The way I hear it, Detective Templeton is saying it’s possible Price killed those girls. But he has a fixation on the Comptons for some reason—trying to make a connection to the Myers girl.”
“If that’s his opinion, then every victim’s family had better worry,” muttered Katie. She thought Templeton was flying all over the map and not making sound investigative moves based on evidence.
The deputy walked around the barn, going through the motions, but his mind wasn’t really there because as far as he was concerned, everything was already done. He stood and stared at a large broken spider web.
The barn doors gently opened and shut with the breeze. When they were open, light spilled inside, cutting off when they closed, giving a strobe-light effect.
“So you don’t think Price had anything to do with Chelsea Compton’s disappearance and murder?” the deputy asked almost as an afterthought, still looking at the broken web.
“I didn’t say that,” Katie said.
Cracks in the roof and gaps in the beams sifted sunlight throughout the barn. The far corners also oozed light.
“So what made him kill himself less than twenty-four hours after the bodies were found?” he insisted, not looking directly at her.
Katie climbed up to the loft area; she moved carefully and made sure she didn’t miss anything. “There are several possible reasons.”
“Like?”
“The obvious one would be that he was the killer and didn’t want to get caught, which is the easiest to conclude—as long as you don’t mind having no corroborating evidence. Another would be that his mental illness finally took its toll on him. And…” She stopped.
McGaven turned and looked upward. “And what?”
Katie had noticed unusual scrape marks on the wooden boards—short, disconnected—and then deep indentations. She took out her cell phone and documented them to the best of her ability. Returning the phone to her pocket, she said, “There’s something odd up here. These marks in the wood seem recent.”
“What kind of marks?” he asked.
“Like drag marks. It’s impossible to tell if they’re from something like tools, or if they’re from a human.”
Her words hung in the air. There was something about Terrance Price’s death that bothered her—tugged at her intuition. It was too convenient. Too opportune. There was something more than the obvious suicide. It felt staged, as if it was something everyone wassupposedto see.
She stood up and followed the trail. “They lead over here.”
McGaven stood underneath Katie, next to the broken cobweb. “Anything else?” he asked, now completely attentive.
“I think it’s possible—I mean very possible—that Price was murdered because he was…” Katie’s voice trailed off. She’d realized the significance of the barn suicide.
Could it be that simple? Was it possible?
“What? What do you think?” probed the deputy.
She explained slowly. “Price was possibly an accomplice, and although he didn’t witness Chelsea being taken, he knew it was going to happen. It’s just a theory—don’t hold me to it.”
McGaven stepped back as if the idea was plausible. “So you think, based on your…” He couldn’t finish the sentence, because a loud noise rattled the barn with excessive force.
Katie’s first thought was that it was a thunder storm crashing down on top of the building. She immediately climbed down and ran for the entrance, followed closely by McGaven. But when she got there, she found the doors were secured. Both of them tried to open them, but they still wouldn’t budge.
McGaven took out his service revolver to shoot the hinges.
“No,” ordered Katie. “No,” she repeated. She cocked her head to one side and smelled a familiar odor.
McGaven gave her a quizzical look.
Katie didn’t waste any time explaining; she grabbed hold of the deputy’s jacket and pulled him with her across the barn.
Before they had even reached the far side, a loud explosion rocked the ground and deafened them. They both dropped down and covered their heads, waiting for the next assault. For a moment Katie was back on the battlefield. Vivid memories assailed her mind. Smells that she would never forget. Then she snapped back to reality.
