“He was a heavy user and his system began shutting down after his overdose.”
“Makes sense. But now who is going to answer questions about that room?” she said.
“Maybe we can find out who else was staying here?” he said.
“Yep, good idea,” she said, taking in the news. “We keep moving forward, digging through everything—I know the answers are right in front of us.”
“This is aweirdinvestigation,” said McGaven.
“Normally I would disagree with you, but that is a perfect description for it.”
“We need to seal this house up completely until John has time to come out,” said McGaven.
“And we need more hands on deck,” she said. “I’ll talk to the sheriff.” This case was becoming bigger by the hour and they needed to get to the bottom of it; having more hands and eyes would benefit the investigation.
The detectives and deputy carefully made sure the house and basement room were secured. The light was beginning to fade a bit. They had spent several hours there. McGaven had two trail cameras in the trunk of their vehicle and put them inplaces where they could view both the front and back of the property—just to be safe. As he placed the cameras, Katie walked the perimeter of the property. Something tugged at her. Most of their clues seemed to lead back to the Collins family and property. They needed to go back to it—this time with Cisco.
THIRTY-FOUR
Saturday 0745 hours
Her dreams bothered her. This case concerned her. The suspects troubled her. The crime scenes disturbed her.
Katie ran faster. The case unsettled her mind and soul. Who should she believe? What was her instinct telling her? By the chain of events, it appeared that one of the later victims had murdered Meredith and Misty. Where was the justice in that? Or was there justice?
Katie ran even faster as Cisco kept up at her side. The big black dog kept glancing up at her as if to say,Everything is going to be okay.
She couldn’t help but feel that they were going in circles and rounding back again with the investigation. Just when they had a great lead, something happened to derail everything. Frustration was her constant companion at the moment and she didn’t like it.
Katie followed the familiar trail as it got steeper. She tried to shake some sense into herself. Just moments from the top, she pushed harder, pumped her arms, and maintained long strides.
Once at the top, she caught her breath and looked at the view from the top of Hunter’s Point. It was one of her favorite runs. She paced back and forth as her heart rate settled back to normal. Cisco took his rest seriously as he trotted over and checked out nearby bushes and trees.
It was Saturday. Almost a week since three bodies had been found at the construction site for the new emergency services facility. Taking deep slow breaths, her head seemed to magically clear as it usually did when she pushed her body on a run. With hands on her hips, she scrutinized everything they had learned so far in the investigation. She’d been through it all so often it was becoming like an old movie sputtering in her head.
Cisco came up to her wanting a pet.
“Good boy, Cisco. We’re going to work this out together.” She stood at the edge of the valley. Along the way trees lined the sides so densely you couldn’t see anything else. It was truly a magnificent view. She took a moment to be grateful for everything she had. Even though she missed her parents terribly, she still had her uncle and family at the department.
Katie sat on a granite rock. She decided to call the hospital to check on Buck.
“ICU,” answered a nurse.
“This is Detective Scott from Pine Valley Sheriff’s Department. I was checking on a patient, Raymond Young.”
“One moment.” The nurse put her on hold. Within a few minutes, she returned. “He’s left.”
“When?” said Katie.
“Early this morning. Without being discharged.”
“Oh, I see. Thank you.” The call disconnected.
Katie was disappointed, but not surprised Buck had gotten out of the hospital as soon as he could.
Her phone rang.
“Scott,” she answered.
