Page 84 of Her Last Whisper
“As I was beginning the examination of the evidence from Emily Day’s crime scene, I saw something unusual on her hoodie left on the balcony.”
Katie waited barely breathing.
“This same chemical combination was also on Emily Day’s hoodie,” he said. “I haven’t completed it yet, but it seems to be consistent.”
“Well, she was a nurse at the same hospital as Amanda.”
“Someone had contact with all three women—or they were all in the same place. It would make sense with Amanda and Emily, but where does Jane Doe come in? There’s linkage,” said McGaven. He looked as eager as Katie looking at the computer screen.
This was the first big break in the investigation. Katie was running on adrenalin now and could barely contain her excitement. She forgot all about John in the room as her mind raced.
“Do you have a list of employees at the First Memorial Hospital?” Katie asked McGaven.
“Yes, but it’s not a complete list.”
“Get it, but for now, we need to eliminate female personnel and non-medical personnel. Unless they would have regular access to the operating rooms, patient rooms, maintenance, or morgue as part of their job. This is the first pass for background checks. I need to see who is on that list.”
“Got it,” McGaven said. “This is going to take a bit of time.”
“Something else has been bothering me for a while, but I want to look into Dr. Smith from the psychiatric hospital.”
“And the employees?” McGaven asked.
“Yes and—” she said almost breathlessly.
“I have one more thing,” interrupted John.
Katie and McGaven looked at him with questioning expressions.
John laughed at their reactions. “I do have one more thing—trust me, it’s a good one.”
“I’m sorry, John,” said Katie, slightly embarrassed by her excitement, because she was thinking about the hospital employees and the possibility that the killer was among them.
He turned to another computer that ran the Integrated Automatic Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS). “We found a match from the beautiful right index fingerprint lifted from your watch. It came back to a Madeline Jean Thomas, thirty-four, and she lives not far from here in the brick district.”
Katie was excited as she leaned forward. “Can you pull up a photo?”
“Already ahead of you,” he said as he made a few mouse clicks, bringing another window open.
Madeline’s photo and identification from her driver’s license appeared. She was an attractive brunette with dark green eyes. Her smile was friendly, much different from her pathetic condition at the mental health facility.
“That’s her,” Katie said.
“Do we identify her officially?” McGaven asked.
“For right now, unfortunately, she’s safer in there than out. We can at least begin a background on her.” She turned to the forensic supervisor. “John, you’ve done an incredible job as always. Thank you.”
“Still working on the prints from your Jeep… something should hit soon.”
Katie and McGaven turned to leave and head to their office when Katie’s cell phone buzzed. The text was from Detective Ames from Missing Persons. Katie had contacted him a few days earlier, asking that if any woman fitting the description and age of Amanda went missing to please forward the information to her. It read:
Tess Regan reported missing, kidnapped by force from her home. See report in email.
Forty-Nine
Thursday 1735 hours
Back in the office, McGaven hung up the phone from talking with the First Memorial Hospital administrator with the promise that they would email over the complete list of employees in a spreadsheet. As he waited for the information, he thought that he would put a call in to Randy, the security guard, to ask him a couple of follow-up questions.
