Katie had decided that she and Cisco should start the search on the opposite side of the property that day, going east to west and back again in a narrow grid search. They found nothing unusual, even when they searched through the area where the equipment was and the foundation had been started. Cisco didn’t indicate there was anything out of the ordinary. At least they could cross these areas off the list and move on.
As Katie trailed behind Cisco near the tree where she’d seen the cowboy-boot footprints, the dog slowed but didn’t alert.
“Anything?” said McGaven, a few steps behind them.
“Cisco shows interest, but it’s not enough for an alert.”
“Let’s check it out.”
“It’s where the boot imprints were and John didn’t find anything else yesterday.”
McGaven frowned. The detectives and Cisco moved on.
Katie and Cisco finally reached the area where the trap was located, and Cisco slowed his pace drastically. It made Katie extra vigilant; her stomach felt as if it dropped momentarily, making her legs feel weak.
“Wait,” she said.
“What?”
“Let’s just search this area without Cisco.” She turned to the dog and said, “Platz.”
Cisco stopped and downed immediately, waiting for her next command.
McGaven nodded and followed his partner’s lead. He seemed to understand that Cisco’s alert was based on all the action yesterday and searching by themselves would most likely prove more efficient.
The area had clearly been trampled. There were dozens of tactical-boot impressions, and some of the surrounding foliage had also been compressed and now leaned in a southern direction. Katie sighed, but she wasn’t going to give up.
“Looks like the guys were thorough,” said McGaven, trying to lighten the situation.
“Looks like,” she replied, still trying to scrutinize the area.
“What do you think we’ll find?”
“It could be anything, but I want to do our due diligence by eliminating the area before we can move on.”
McGaven nodded and took slow strides as he searched. He assessed everything, not knowing what he was looking for, but keeping his focus on what might be there.
Katie saw something in the sticker-ridden brush. After pulling on her gloves, she reached in slowly and retrieved a few threads. Angling them at the sunlight, they appeared to be blue. She wondered if they would match the remaining threads onthe third victim’s shirt. And if so, why were they also at this location?
She carefully put the threads into an evidence bag. She would fill out the information when they got back to the car.
The detectives spent another twenty minutes searching, but they didn’t find anything. The area had been contaminated by SWAT doing their job. It had been a long shot, but they’d needed to try. It was another check off the list.
McGaven stood up and sighed. “Well, I think we’re done here.”
“I agree,” she said. “We should get this evidence back to the lab for John to compare to the John Doe’s shirt.”
The detectives and Cisco walked back to the car.
When Katie and McGaven returned to their office, having dropped Cisco back home, there was a yellow sticky note on the table. It read:Retired Detective Gino Ralph Ventura residence 1775 Maple Street, Room 310.
“What’s that?” said McGaven as he entered the room.
“Looks like we have the full name and residence of the detective who took the missing persons report for Misty,” Katie said, tapping the small note against her other hand.
McGaven turned back toward the door. “Well, it’s good timing until we have more information and test results back. Let’s roll.”
Once in the car and behind the wheel, Katie asked her partner, “So what do you think?”
