Page 4 of The Whispering Girls
But the more Katie looked at it—the more her gut instinct told her the killer had left it.
It was a totem of some sort, which meant that the killer was trying to tell them something that only made sense to him—ormaybe it was a warning. Katie didn’t want to think the worst, but she was afraid that there would be more victims.
She quickly took another photo and then turned to talk to TJ, but she was gone.
“TJ?” She jogged around the area where she’d last seen her. “TJ?”
Making her way back to the cabin there was no sign of the girl.
The Woodsman…
Even as Katie thought of the name there seemed to be a faint whisper in the trees. The temperature dropped, which caused snow flurries to float around her.
THREE
Tuesday 0850 hours
Katie had returned to the cabin and was able to get through to the Echo Forest Police Department. She spoke with a young woman who was obviously the receptionist. The woman had identified herself as Libby and assured Katie that Chief Cooper was on his way.
Katie decided to wait at the cabin for the police. She didn’t want to leave the body and crime scene unattended, but she didn’t have any way of sending a GPS marker of the exact location in the forest due to the spotty reception. She would have to lead the chief to the area. She paced back and forth as the minutes ticked down. There were no sirens or cars approaching. She looked at the photos of the victim, area, and the totem several times, trying to put together some type of preliminary profile, but there wasn’t enough evidence yet to do so.
Snow began to fall. Light fluffy pieces.
“Oh no,” she whispered. She needed to get something to cover the scene otherwise the snow would either bury any significant evidence or soak it. She ran into the cabinfollowed closely by Cisco, who sniffed her with interest. “You have to stay here,” she said.
She searched for anything she could use. Finally, in the kitchen storage cupboard she found several tarps still in their bags. She grabbed them, some bungee cords, a hammer and nails, and a tent complete with poles, then left the cabin, running as fast as she could back to the crime scene. If the police came in the meantime, they would have to wait for her at the cabin.
She worked quickly, assembling a makeshift covering to protect as much as she could. She was able to drape the tree trunk and use the tent poles with the tarps and nails to keep the snow off the hanging body. Another tarp covered the totem area. That was the best she could do for the obvious evidence, but she cringed about other possible evidence that wasn’t immediately visible.
Katie then jogged back to the cabin, expecting to see the police, but there was no one. She sighed and dialed the police department, but this time the phone went immediately to voicemail. She wondered where they were.
Almost forty-five minutes had passed since Katie had spoken to Libby and before she had secured the crime scene. The snow flurries had stopped, which was the only good thing. Katie walked back and forth, inside and outside, the cabin—pacing and processing what she had seen, trying to make sense of everything.
She finally heard cars approaching. One moment they seemed close, but then they seemed to be farther away. She had forgotten that the town was called Echo Forest because sound traveled strangely around the area. Realizing the truth of the name, she continued to wait for the police.
Finally, two police sedans arrived along with a large white truck. It was more than Katie expected, which was definitely a good thing. A tall man in his fifties wearing a police uniform gotout of the lead car. His shaggy brown hair seemed out of place, with most police officers wearing their hair short or in crew cuts. He casually looked around and then fixed his attention directly on Katie.
“Detective?” said the first man. “I’m Chief Cooper.” He extended his hand.
The sound of Cisco barking from inside the cabin cut the awkward silence. Another police officer exited his vehicle. The stocky man walked up the driveway.
The chief turned as the man built like a tank joined them. “This is one of my officers, Banning.”
Katie nodded and shook both of their hands. She couldn’t help but notice that they scrutinized her almost in a way that a cop would a suspect.
“I just arrived yesterday and I’ll be staying here for two weeks. I’m Katie Scott, a detective from the Pine Valley Sheriff’s Department.”
“Reason for your visit?” said the chief.
Katie was taken aback. That was hardly a priority at the moment. “Vacation time,” she said.
“Seems odd.” His tone was officious.
“What do you mean?”
“Two weeks is a long time. Most would go somewhere that was more of a vacation area,” said the chief. “Not much to do here.”
“I needed some peace and quiet.” Katie was becoming more suspicious about the line of questioning and didn’t appreciate having to explain herself. And why hadn’t the chief immediately asked about the body? That seemed very odd to her.
