Katie jogged back to her Jeep where McGaven had been packing the car. “You need to come see this.”
The detectives hurried back to the line of dug holes, where McGaven immediately kneeled down.
“These look like someone dug them recently.”
“You don’t think…” said Katie.
“More bodies? No, they’re too small and have a more rounded shape. Maybe someone was looking for something?” he said.
“I thought the same thing.”
“But we still need to dig to see if there’s anything else here.”
Katie nodded.
Standing back up, McGaven said, “We need some reinforcement with shovels.”
While he called in two deputies to help, Katie walked most of the property looking for any other disturbed areas, but didn’t find any. She made her way back to the Jeep to give Cisco a break.
“We have Deputies Andrews and Blake on their way,” said McGaven.
As Katie gave the dog water, she looked around. They already knew something bad had happened on the property. But she had a strong feeling there were many more secrets to discover.
THIRTY-SIX
Saturday 1330 hours
While the detectives waited for the deputies to arrive at the Collins property, Katie decided to have Cisco sweep the area for anything they might’ve missed. She let Cisco out and it was clear the dog was absolutely happy and wanted to work. He circled around and gave a couple of happy barks. She put a basic search harness on him since the area was open and without many trees or thick areas.
“Do you need me to cover you guys?” said McGaven.
“I think we’re fine. You’ll be able to see us. I just want to do a sweep in case we missed something.”
“I’ll wait for the deputies,” he said as he pulled a shovel from the Jeep. “I didn’t sign up for this today.” He laughed.
“You’ll be home in time to spend the evening with Denise and Lizzie.” Katie smiled. She thought how nice it would be to come home to a family waiting for her. Her cards had been dealt, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t change it.
“Okay, Cisco,” she said. “Such.”
They began at the barn site and conducted a spiral search,gradually making the circle bigger. She spent more time than usual at the building areas, letting Cisco check each nook and cranny, then started to fan out. With each circle becoming bigger and bigger, they found themselves at the dug holes. Cisco showed interest in the disturbed earth, but nothing that would qualify as an alert.
Katie and Cisco spent about an hour searching and nothing seemed interesting to the dog. She brought him back to the Jeep, gave him water, and put him inside.
The two officers had arrived and had begun digging in the holes to see if there was any more evidence related to their investigation.
“Anything?” said Katie.
“No,” said McGaven who was now covered in loose dirt. “You want to try?”
“I don’t think so.”
“So you get the easy job following around a German shepherd?” He half smiled.
“It’s difficult. I just make it look easy.”
“I have something,” said Deputy Andrews.
The detectives went to see. The deputy too was covered in a light dusting of soil. Katie leaned down to have a closer look. It appeared to be some type of old lock.
