Parents: William and Brenda Collins.
What caught Katie’s eye was that Ian Griffin had one son, Ian Griffin Jr. That was a new development. She quickly did some local searches, but the only Ian Griffin who came up was the dead man. She tried looking up Ian GriffinJr.to see if he had a record—and he did. He had done some time for burglary, assault, and battery.
“Interesting,” she said to herself.
Katie accessed a photo of Griffin Sr. and split-screened that with an image of Griffin Jr.
She did various searches for property, employment, and credit reports, but nothing popped up. Griffin Jr. would be forty-one and it was possible that he could be the man in black, but she couldn’t find a death certificate or marriage license on filein the county. She thought about where and how they could find him.
Katie went back through his criminal record, which was from five years ago. She saw a last-known address: 1822 Branch Rd., Space 12. That address was on the east side of town, a trailer park that had been condemned and closed for the past year.
She stared at Griffin Jr.’s photo and decided to send it to John to see if he could compare it to the image caught on video at the coffee place. It was a long shot, but it would make sense if it was him, and there could be a motive of either greed or money if there had been family “treasure.” They just hadn’t yet figured out what was so valuable. Buried money or coins? Mineral rights? Some type of artifacts? Paperwork, deeds, bank accounts, investments?
Katie thought about the silver bracelets found on the skeletons of Misty and Meredith.
She dug through other reports and updated the board, rolling ideas through her mind. There were definitely some big puzzle pieces missing but she could almost feel her fingertips grasping the clue that could break the case wide open.
She continued to go through the background records of the property and found that the Collins property had gone through some type of litigation. There was an identification number: COL-1744. Katie would have McGaven pull this information. It may be nothing, but she knew that often when someone died and there were no heirs listed it reverted to being foreclosed with the bank—and investors often tried various ways to obtain the property.
The older property records they had found in the underground secret basement gave her pause too. They may play a role in all that. Roberts had just recently been hired to work on the construction project for the police and fire training centers. Why? Was it a coincidence? Perhaps the land and surroundingproperties had some kind of secret or property disputes. It definitely seemed to be an interest of his.
Katie made some notes regarding land ownership, litigation, and who was against the building construction project. She glanced at the time and realized she had been working for a few hours.
The door opened and John stepped in. “Hey, you’re working late. And on the weekend. Where’s McGaven?”
“He’s doing what most people are—spending time with their family.”
John smiled and gently pulled Katie up from her chair. “So that means we’re alone.”
She was relieved and happy to see John. His presence made her relax and feel safe. “Eva gone home?”
“Yep, she’s been working a lot of overtime, so I told her to go,” he said.
Katie wrapped her arms around him. “I say it’s break time.”
John kissed her gently and then with more passion. It suddenly hit Katie that she didn’t want to start something that she couldn’t finish—especially at work.
“Are you at a place where you can leave for the day?” She playfully took his hands.
John kissed her again. “What are you thinking?”
“You know.”
He smiled. “Pizza?”
“Of course, but also something else.”
“Let me close some things down. I got your photo file of Griffin Jr. to compare to the unknown man in black.”
That ignited her investigative thought process, but as much as she wanted to work on it, she wanted to spend time with John more. “First thing Monday morning?”
“Of course.” He caressed her face. “You look tired. You need some rest.”
Katie nodded.
“And…”
She chuckled. “Never too tired for that.”
