Page 38 of The Whispering Girls
“I know, I know.” He rolled his eyes.
“But I think we can get a feel…”
Cisco returned to Katie’s side, tail wagging, with what looked like part of an old Frisbee covered in dirt and slobber.
“Ugh…” said Katie. “That’s disgusting.”
“He seems to like it,” laughed McGaven.
“Aus,” said Katie making Cisco drop the plastic. She turned her attention again to the property. It was vast, but nothing seemed ominous or of the criminal element.
“What has you so cautious?” he said.
“Do I need to remind you of some of the places we’ve experienced problems?”
“No,” he said. “No, you don’t.”
“Why would Devin want to live out here?” she asked.
“It’s owned by family—so it’s free probably.”
“True. But there has to be another reason.”
“I wonder if Theresa stayed out here with him?” said McGaven.
“Most likely. Let’s go find out.”
Katie walked toward the small cabin, remaining cautious and alert. McGaven remained quiet, and he too seemed watchful as they approached the house. She noticed some digging had been done close to the two structures. The trenches were long and approximately five feet deep.
“What are these for?” she said.
McGaven walked right up to them and studied the channels. “Hard to say, but they don’t look recent. Looks like there’s been a lot of water, you can see where the rain or snow hadsaturated it. It could be new drainage or some type of installed electrical or piping lines. It could be anything.”
Katie stood next to him. She wasn’t so sure. “Take some photos. Maybe the chief or Jack might know?”
McGaven swiped his phone from his pocket and took several photos.
Katie turned to the tiny cabin. It was only a studio or possibly had one small bedroom. Something shiny caught her eye. A small window facing them had an object hanging as a decoration.
She moved closer, mindful of not disturbing anything since they hadn’t received permission to be here. Once at the window, Katie saw the object was an intricately cut crystal diffracting light and producing a rainbow of colors. It reminded her of the cut-glass pieces on Theresa’s dresser.
Standing on her tiptoes, Katie peered inside. The cabin was basically one room with a closet and another door she assumed to be the bathroom. It wasn’t decorated. There were a couple piles of clothes, dishes on a table, and a large, full garbage can. Not exactly a place where someone would have their girlfriend hang out.
“Anything?”
Katie startled for a second.
“Sorry. Didn’t know you were so high strung today.”
She turned to her partner. “This place makes me jumpy and the deep forest hiking trails here creep me out. There…I said it.”
She expected McGaven to laugh or make a joke, but he didn’t.
“I’m beginning to see this place is a little unnerving,” he said.
“It’s just a guy’s place. There’s nothing in there to suggest Theresa would be staying here. My feeling is he would stay with her at her apartment.”
McGaven looked around. “Yeah, it seems that Devin doesn’t come out here often. It’s just a place to crash when he needs to…”
