Pretty Broken Dolls by Jennifer Chase

Chapter Twenty-Four

Sunday 1345 hours

Katie made it home and quickly jumped into the shower to heat up and to relieve her sore muscles. It took several minutes to feel warm and back to her usual self. The heat and steam wiped away any anxious symptoms she had.

She couldn’t get Agent Campbell out of her mind. He was acting strange. His explanations were smooth and gave the impression he was honest—but was he?

Was he still following her?

Why did he really want her and McGaven on the case?

The more she rehashed every meeting she’d had with him, the more she thought that things didn’t ring true. She couldn’t figure out how or why the Pine Valley Sheriff’s Department was brought into the cases. Her uncle didn't give her any indication that there was more she didn't know.

Katie quickly dressed and took care of Cisco, leaving him home.

“I’ll be back in about an hour,” she said as she closed the front door.

* * *

Katie drove in the small parking lot for Tiny’s Diner and immediately spotted Campbell’s large white SUV along with several other cars. She parked and quickly got out, heading to the front door.

It had been a while since she had been to the diner, but it had been around for as long as she could remember. Ever since she was a kid, they’d had the best milkshakes and cheeseburgers.

She pushed open the glass door with an old “Open” sign that had been hanging there for years. It was crinkled and worn around the edges from years of being exposed to the sun. As she stepped inside she was greeted with the smell of coffee and the daily chili special. She saw Campbell right away. He waved to her as she approached the red booth. She quickly rethought the wisdom of meeting him outside of typical business hours. She felt a drop in her stomach and a familiar tension in her neck and back that usually meant trouble—but she was also curious about what he had to say.

“Detective,” he said. There were already two menus on the table. “Nice of you to make it. I thought maybe you would stand me up.”

Katie sat down. “No, I gave you my word so here I am. What do you have to tell me?”

“No ‘Hello, how are you doing?’ first? By the way, you look great considering I just saw you barely an hour ago.”

Katie remained quiet, staring at him.

“You want to look at the menu?”

“Just coffee.”

“Okay,” he said and waved over the server. “Two coffees please.” Turning back to Katie, he said, “Good?”

She nodded but thought that she was making a mistake meeting him like this. Thinking that McGaven should be there hearing the information too, perhaps she should excuse herself and reconvene the meeting tomorrow. “I think it would be—”

“I have reason to believe,” he blurted out, interrupting her, “that we’re looking at two killers. Let me rephrase that… an original killer and a copycat.”

That was not what Katie had expected. It was like he dropped a bomb on her and the investigation.

“Wait a minute. How long have you known this?” she asked as their coffees arrived.

“We had our suspicions, but nothing solid. That’s why it wasn’t in the paperwork.”

“Suspicions? Did you think about letting us in on it?”

“There was nothing concrete—yet. I don’t like spinning tales or spreading gossip that will run investigators down false paths.”

“What changed?” Katie kept her composure, glancing around at the restaurant and noticing that no one was paying them any attention—most were engaged in their own conversations.

“I know you have had your hands full,” he said. “I wanted to update you as soon as possible so that nothing would slow down the current investigation. It’s another angle that you might want to entertain.”

Entertain?

She waited to hear more details.

“You haven’t spent much time on the first two victims, Nancy Day and Gwen Sanderson.”

Katie shook her head. “Just through the military K9 facility, but not much information that would help us.” She had skimmed the material but decided to start with the cold case in her county jurisdiction—a decision with which Sheriff Scott had agreed.

“Our second victim Gwen Sanderson killed Nancy Day.”

“What?” Katie managed to say. It was a stunning, but an interesting realization. But she didn’t know how they could have come to that conclusion. It seemed to be pulled out of thin air.

“A couple of us had our suspicions when Gwen Sanderson was killed. Some things didn’t look right with the execution of the murder, despite the general theme being close—the pose, a dramatic scene, and the jewelry being highlighted.”

“What convinced you?”

“One of my investigators noticed that Nancy Day’s scene was neat and tidy, the makeup was perfect, her hair was styled, whereas with the second and third murders, the makeup was poorly executed and the victims were made to look ugly. Also, the bruising to Nancy’s chest looked accidental, but the others seemed deliberate.”

Despite her mistrust of the man, Katie was intrigued because she had noticed some anomalies herself.

Campbell added more sugar to his coffee than he should. “We were checking what these two women were doing on the day each was murdered, and a few days before—a victimology timeline. And that’s when we noticed some strange things that led us to analyzing Sanderson and what she was doing on the day of Day’s murder.”

“What made you check Sanderson’s schedule?”

“Gwen Sanderson’s alibi for the day that Nancy Day was murdered seemed legit—three investigators checked on this. But, everything that she told her friends and family was a lie. She seemed to be leading a double life. When so many small things began to fall apart, we looked further.”

“What evidence makes you think that Gwen Sanderson killed Nancy Day? What proof?” she said, still not believing that this was a solid lead.

He leaned back, almost as if he couldn’t believe that she didn’t immediately agree with his findings. “One, Sanderson had no alibi and she was within the vicinity of the crime scene during the time of the murder. Two, knives were found near her residence that had Day’s blood on them.”

“Why wasn’t she arrested at the time?”

“Her possible involvement wasn’t brought to our attention until after her murder.”

“Theoretically, the only way that could happen is if the women knew each other. But why the copycat? Who would do that? Someone following the cases?” Katie felt like she was on an amusement park ride with all of the information spinning around her at breakneck speed.

“I knew you’d understand what I’m talking about.”

“I think, Agent Campbell, that you are grasping at straws without any solid evidence or link. So now what you’re telling me is that Nancy Day’s murder is solved because Gwen Sanderson did it. But her murder, as well as Jeanine Trenton’s, and the Jane Doe at the fairgrounds are all the work of a copycat?” Katie shook her head in disbelief.

“Look closer at the crime scenes,” he urged. “We’re close.”

“What was the reason or motive for Sanderson to kill Day?” she said.

Taking a sip of coffee, a little too loud for Katie’s taste, he said simply, “I don’t think we’ll ever really know. But, for the other murders…”

“Yes?”

“My theory? And it’s a theory, don’t forget.”

“Please… keep going.”

“Someone who is trying to make themselves a household one. Someone who read about Nancy’s case and wanted to continue for whatever reason—fame, revenge, or out of hatred.”

“I see.”

“Look, Detective, I know that you are a by-the-book investigator. And you’ve proven how good you really are in a short period of time.”

Katie still couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being set up and was being fed disinformation—her instincts told her to keep to her investigation.

“We’re relying on you and your partner to find the killer. The copycat killer.”

“I’m working the two cases now in my jurisdiction; however, that’s not to say I’m not going to look over the first two.”

“Of course not.”

Katie slowly digested the information. Her head spun. She needed to verify the new information about Sanderson. “When did you come to this theory?” she said.

“When my entire team couldn’t go any further, it pushed me to look outside of the box.”

“I see.” Although Katie didn’t see.

“I can tell you’re not completely on board with us.”

“I need to see for myself,” was all that she could say. She needed to talk to McGaven.

“Absolutely. I know you want the training videos from the military K9 facility and I’ll also get you the list of recruits who made the cut—and the ones that didn’t.”

“I have one question and I really need for you to be transparent—and give me an honest answer. There are many detectives and investigators you could have gone to and you obviously have in the past.” She took a breath and felt she needed to brace herself. “Why did you choose me?”

Special Agent Campbell leaned forward and lowered his voice. “That’s easy. And that’s why we’re keeping such close tabs on you. Your proven skills. Haven’t you and McGaven solved every case—so far? Well, there’s also your military background in K9 explosives training and your above average investigative skills… of course.” He watched her closely.

“It almost sounds to me that you’re using me as bait because I have the military K9 background similar to the victims.”

"That's one possible way."