Page 87 of The Whispering Girls
“We haven’t seen or heard from the police chief or his two officers for more than twenty-four hours,” said McGaven.
Katie glanced at her partner. When he said those words aloud, it sounded bad—really bad.
“What have you uncovered?” said the sheriff, taking a breath as if to calm his growing irritation.
Katie was worried he was going to pull them and order the state police and investigators to take over. She couldn’t blame him, but they’d started this and she wanted to finish it.
“We have a couple of new leads as well as some suspicions that we wanted to pursue, sir,” said McGaven.
“Which are?”
“Which are…a forensic lead we need to run down. A piece of carpet fiber that was found at the crime scene. And there’s a trail. And there is a connection to a cold case here from fifteen years ago,” she said, flinching slightly because she’d made it all sound too trivial.
“And you think this will solidify your case?”
“Yes, sir. There are town secrets and it’s been difficult to get people to open up, but we are slowly breaking down barriers.”
Sheriff Scott took a moment, never averting his gaze from his detectives. “I’ll give you forty-eight hours to produce a suspect or an arrest. Not a minute longer. I will have the backup agencies on standby,” he said. “I hope I won’t regret this because by all accounts I should be pulling you out and letting state authorities take over right now. I need to hear from you any way you see fit—text, email, phone call—every six to eight hours. No exceptions. If I don’t hear from you, I’ll be calling in reinforcements immediately.”
The signal on the conference blurred again as if on cue for the magnitude of the situation.
Katie was relieved they had more time, but she also knew it was a big risk. “Thank you, sir,” she said.
“Be careful,” he said and then looked at Katie directly. “Take care of each other.”
The call disconnected.
Katie sat there staring at a blank screen. She’d noted the tone of his voice when he told them to take care of one another.
“You heard the boss, forty-eight hours,” said McGaven.
“And not a minute more,” she said.
“Wow, that was intense,” said John.
“He’s tough, I know, but he cares about all his officers and detectives,” she said. “How do you want to do this? We need to find out about Bill Westin and a few others.”
“I’m getting closer to finding out the make and model of the tire impressions. It’s a bit more complicated when I don’t have my lab to work in,” said John.
“I’ll look up background and addresses for both work and home on some of these persons of interest,” said McGaven.
Katie glanced at the time. It was prudent to research before they left. It would allow the snow to melt and perhaps recede from roadways. Turning to McGaven, she said, “Areyou okay to go out and conduct surveillance? Maybe even investigate?”
“I’m fine. My chest still hurts once in a while, but really, I’m fine,” he said.
“When you’re done with the searches, I want you to change bandages.”
“Look who’s talking?” he said.
Katie let out a loud breath. “I will change mine too.”
While McGaven and John searched and examined their assignments, Katie decided to take the time to concentrate on the killer who had set out to murder Theresa, TJ, and Natalie. It looked as though the other nurse and security guard had unfortunately been collateral damage, helping to set the stage and leaving no witnesses.
Katie uncovered the murder board and stood for a moment studying it. They didn’t have all the information they should, so she had to work with what they had. Katie turned and watched McGaven and John for a moment. Through all the unusual, strange, and terrifying moments in Echo Forest, she wouldn’t want any other team with her. Under difficult situations, sometimes we forget to be thankful and mindful for what we have.
Looking at each crime scene and victim, Katie could see a transformation in the killer. It was clear from the behavioral evidence that they were evolving. The how and why the killer conducted himself was like a behavioral fingerprint. How they chose to murder. The level of force used—low level to overkill. How they set the scene. Why they did what they did. If you looked close enough and scrutinized every clue and surrounding area, a story began to develop.
Katie made notes for herself. Theresa’s murder appeared to be carefully planned and her body left in a shocking display. The totem was unusual, but telling as well. It was made up with items from the victim, but it didn’t seem cohesive. There was possibly some deception in the staging. Herface being covered either meant the killer knew her or they didn’t want to look at their victim. It showed some remorse and that the killer knew the depth of the act they had committed.
