Page 24 of Her Last Whisper
“So why is her hair so wet?” She leaned forward and smelled Amanda’s hair. It had a strange chemical smell, almost like rotten eggs. Like the smell that they use for propane so that you can detect gas leaks. “Her hair smells like sulfur.”
Katie stood up and began to survey the area. The body was far away from anywhere where a car could easily park without being seen. Looking around her and following the most probable path, she jogged up a small hill where a car would have been able to park and dump a body early in the morning.
“What’s up?” Hamilton shouted up to her.
“Why aren’t there any drag marks leading to the body? The grass is flattened where someone walked, but no identifying shoe or tire marks.” She slowly walked back toward the body studying the ground. “I think the killer must have carried her to this spot. I think the location is strategic for him. I don’t know why—yet. But with the extra weight, why no footprints? Unless they wore something to cover their shoes.”
“Like crime scene or hospital booties?”
“Yeah. Our killer is cautious and mindful of what he’s doing. Everything is so neat. It’s calculated, know what I mean?” she said.
“Very impressive analysis for a rookie detective. No offense.”
Katie laughed; it helped to relieve some of her tension. “None taken, Detective. We need to cover the body in case this wind kicks up any harder so that we won’t lose any potential evidence. I would also increase the search area by fifty percent.”
Detective Hamilton made a couple more notes and snapped his notebook shut. Katie took one last look at Amanda, glad that her eyes were closed, and not staring at her as if to say, “why didn’t you help me?”
Fourteen
Thursday 1415 hours
“Hi,” said Katie to the sheriff’s assistant. “He wanted to see me.”
She replied with a smile, “Go right in, they’re waiting for you.”
Katie continued toward the partially closed office door where she heard several men’s voices. She opened the door and saw her uncle, Detective Hamilton, and Deputy McGaven standing together. They turned at the interruption.
“Hi, everyone,” she managed.
“Please come in and close the door,” the sheriff said. “Take a seat.”
Everyone followed suit and sat down. No one spoke, waiting for the sheriff to make his point.
“Okay, we’re all busy so I promise this will be short and sweet,” he said with a crisp authority to his voice. “I’ve given this a lot of thought and I think this is the best and most efficient way to proceed.”
Katie felt reassured that both Hamilton and McGaven appeared to be just as much in the dark as she was about the meeting.
“Amanda Payton was originally a kidnapping cold-case being investigated by Detective Scott,” the sheriff began.
Hamilton and Katie nodded in agreement.
“So what I would like to do is to have Katie take lead on her homicide.” He paused.“And I would like for Hamilton to take over lead on the serial burglary and assault cases that are pending.”
Everyone remained quiet—each digesting what the sheriff had just told them.
Detective Hamilton shifted his weight in his seat, but he remained silent.
“But I have no problem with—” Katie started to say.
“I know you don’t want to step on anyone’s toes,” the sheriff quickly countered. “I really want Detective Hamilton to oversee these other cases, and the Payton homicide needs someone’s full attention. It’s no secret that we’ve lost a lead detective recently due to misconduct during the missing girls’ case, and the budget isn’t getting any closer to allowing for me to hire or promote the two additional detectives we so desperately need.”
Katie sat quietly; she wasn’t sure if she agreed with her uncle’s decision.
“So why am I here?” asked McGaven, cutting the tension in the room.
The sheriff laughed. “I haven’t forgotten you, McGaven. I would like for you to partner with Detective Scott on this case. There’s plenty of work for the both of you and you seem to work well together. I’ve spoken to both your patrol sergeant and the watch commander, so they can make the appropriate scheduling modifications in your temporary absence. You’ll need to complete the special assignment you had been working on first, but that shouldn’t take more than a day or so.”
Katie smiled. She knew that he would be the best partner for her and was glad that her uncle had appointed him to her case. McGaven had been assigned to work with her in her first case for Pine Valley PD. It had been a rocky start, but they both managed to work things out.
