Page 81 of Her Last Whisper
“Dr. Jamison, is your father’s name Kenneth Jamison senior?” Katie changed tack, trying to knock the doctor off balance.
“What?”
“Kenneth Jamison senior?”
“Yes.”
“What does your father do?”
“He died two years ago. What does this have to do with…?”
“What did he do for a living?”
He hesitated, clearly confused. “He was a real estate developer.”
“Here in this county?” she said.
“Yes.”
“The Magna Group?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Have you heard of the Woodland Pines Project, which is now the Basin Woods Development—what’s left of it.”
“I don’t understand what this has to do with Emily’s death.”
“Did you know that Amanda Payton was kidnapped, taken hostage, and held in one of the abandoned houses in Basin Woods?”
Dr. Jamison still seemed confused, but he knew what Katie was talking about. “You’re talking about a project of my father’s when I was a kid.”
“But you are aware of the area, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Had Emily had any problems lately? Anything she was upset about?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“Did Amanda ever come to you, or confide in you, about anything that was bothering her?”
“I don’t know… maybe… like what?” He began to let his frustration show.
Not missing a beat, she said: “Anything that happened to her that she was upset about?”
“Amanda? I don’t know. She was moody, you can ask anyone at the hospital,” he replied.
“C’mon, Doctor, what was the gossip around the hospital?”
“What I heard was she was attacked and there was talk about an old boyfriend. But we had not had any relations way before all that happened, then she quit. I never saw her again.” He shifted in his chair, not looking at Katie or McGaven.
McGaven budged his chair closer to the doctor. It was an old technique when interviewing suspects, when a detective would take away space around them—giving the person of interest the squeeze. It was doubly effective because McGaven was a big officer.
Katie stood up and sat on the edge of the table. “Did you care about Emily?”
“Of course.”
“Did you have the same affection for Amanda?”
