Page 81 of Race to Save Her

“Good question. We’re going to get some answers.”

“At least we seem to be on the right trail,” he said. “What does it take for decomp to reach this stage?”

“Three to maybe seven days. I’m not sure. The medical examiner will have to answer that one.”

“I’ll call it in.” McGaven pulled his phone out of his pocket.

“We need to have extra officers searching the area,” she said. “We need to search his house and vehicle. Make sure an electronic search warrant is in place.”

“Yep.”

“This shows us that this property is somehow connected,” she said. “I wonder if that black truck has ever been seen here? The one Ames said he saw.”

“What about using Cisco?”

“We’ll see. I want him to rest for now.”

Three patrol cruisers, the morgue van, and the crime scene unit had all arrived and were fanned out in front of the cabin. Yellow crime scene tape had been wrapped around the cabin and railing.

Katie was instructing the deputies where the search needed to be done. “Okay, since we only have three of you…” she began. Then she saw Chris driving in and she raised a hand in acknowledgment. “Scratch that, we have four now. I want two teams—one person slightly in front of the other. Space yourselves about three feet apart. I need you to begin behind the cabin and then on both sides.”

“How far?” said one of the deputies.

“We need to cover as much as we can on this property. Bring water with you.”

“What are we primarily looking for?”

“Anything that doesn’t seem to need to be there. But what we need is something the owner or our suspected killer might have left behind. Nothing is too insignificant. Once you find something don’t touch it, but report to John. Be careful.”

The officers left to pair up and begin their search. The morgue had bagged and taken the body and was in the process of loading what was left of it into the van.

“You ready?” said McGaven.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

After getting gloves and some strong ointment with menthol and camphor for their nasal passages, they were prepared to enter the cabin.

John joined them for a moment. “You guys good?”

“Yep,” said McGaven.

“Be careful in the kitchen. Don’t step past the small cones.”

Katie nodded. She and John shared a quick smile, then he left to go about his duties outside.

“Ladies first,” said McGaven with his usual sense of humor to help lighten the heaviness of one of the worst aspects of the job.

This was not what Katie had thought they were going to be doing today. She felt a twinge of anxiety from yesterday, but today was another piece of the puzzle and they had to figure out where it fit—if at all.

Katie took a deep breath, filling her nose with a pleasant effervescence. She stood in the doorway and noticed the interior of the cabin was very modern and seemed to have been built within the last decade. The logs were exposed along the walls and high ceiling as part of the esthetic. It was small and she estimated the entire cabin to be approximately twelve hundred square feet.

She walked into the living room. The sofa and two chairs were modern, along with the prints on the wall. It was decorated in a simple way with no pretty pillows or delicate framed photos, which led Katie to believe there was just a man living there. Nothing seemed to be out of place.

“If the person was murdered, it didn’t happen in here,” she said.

There were two bedrooms and a bath along with the kitchen, breakfast nook, and a small office alcove. Katie moved toward the kitchen area, which told a completely different story. Cupboards were open, dishes were broken, and the refrigerator was partly open due to grocery items blocking the door from closing. A knife block that had six slots was on the floor and the knives weren’t immediately visible.

“Maybe the vic, Sills, was killed with a knife?” she said.