PART III Chapter Twenty-six
Kate went to the lab as soon as Alan left and Megan was waiting because she knew her mother wouldn’t waste any time getting there.
Megan said, “We easily extracted prints from the glass and the photos and are checking for a match now. We are going through the contents of the phone and we are plotting the phone’s location to see where it was at the time of our crimes.”
Kate asked, “Do you have any idea of when you will have some answers for me?”
Megan said, “It will take a little time, this is real life and not a movie set. I think we should have answers about prints tomorrow. It will take some time to plot phone locations. I applied for a warrant just to make sure the evidence won’t be discarded on a technicality.”
Kate replied, “That is probably a good idea. I just want to get everything the right way without tipping off Alan in the process.”
Kate was going back through her evidence when Megan called her.
Megan said, “We got the info back from the prints. Alan was a match to the prints on the weapons and the shells loaded in each one.”
Kate said, “That is a good start, we got prints that match. We also discovered the tires on his 4Runner match the tracks at one victim’s house.”
It had been a long journey that Kate had tirelessly been involved with. Long days mixed with some longer nights had been the story of the investigation. Kate had also had the privilege of being able to work the investigation with the help of her daughter, who she was proud to say was of vital importance.
Megan had also been able to extract DNA evidence from the bottle Alan had drunk from. Since they had clothes and boots from the crime as well that she could attempt an extraction from to compare with their other evidence.
Kate knew DNA comparisons would take some time and she needed the information the lab was working on before she moved forward. She decided she would go home and she told Megan she was going to cook at home for dinner.
Kate began her plan for dinner. She decided they needed fish for dinner. She always pushed for Megan to eat healthier but she understood that at Megan’s age she wasn’t thinking ahead about being healthy.
Kate told Megan she would see her at home and Megan was eager to eat something cooked at home. Kate used to cook a lot at home when Megan was younger but after they both started working together time was always short and didn’t permit them to cook much.
Megan came home after a long day of collecting and testing items from a crime scene. In most cases it was items from multiple crime scenes even though she spent a lot of time expediting things for Kate. When Megan entered the house the aromas from the kitchen had filled the house.
Kate made a clam chowder appetizer and fried clams with french-fries as an entree. The two women sat and ate while they discussed the case at hand and the potential outcomes. With prints that match on the weapons and a ballistic match linking the weapons to the two crimes. The evidence they already had was very compelling. Phone location evidence would help as would DNA matches from clothes found at the house they searched.
The evening was spent with speculation on what they expected to find with their other evidence. Kate sat and reviewed evidence and Megan went to her room to read. Kate turned in early but had trouble going to sleep. The excitement of being close to finding her killer kept her mind too busy to allow her to drift off to sleep.
When Kate ran the next morning she returned to find Megan already gone. Megan left a note telling Kate that she was having breakfast with Jordan. Kate finished getting ready and decided to grab something for breakfast on the way to work. Kate didn’t want to make breakfast just for her so it was a lot easier for her to just grab something from a drive through.
Kate sat in the parking lot and ate the breakfast she bought on the way before walking the few hundred steps that led to the back entrance to the station most of the officers used, leaving the front entrance clear for the public. She made her way to her desk and took a seat ready to review the evidence once again.
Megan walked to Kate’s desk holding a folder full of papers. She laid it on Kate’s desk with a smile very prominent on her face.
Megan said, “The phone ping information shows us that Alan’s phone was close to both crime scenes at the time of the murders. With weapon links and a match of his tires to the first crime scenes we have a pretty solid case. We are still testing DNA from some of the clothing but we did find GSR from the sleeves of two of the shirts.”
Kate sat in disbelief, everything was now coming together. It was almost feeling too easy. They had so much evidence it worried Kate. She would feel more relaxed after they had confirmation from the prosecutor's office that they intended to prosecute.
Megan said, “The boots we found at the house matched the prints on the door at Susan’s house. We really need the DNA from the clothes to match what we got off of the water bottle and our case is almost bullet proof.”
Kate was excited for the first time since she started the investigations. She could see this case ending very soon. She wanted to interview Alan again soon. This time her questions would be more pointed. She would wait till he showed up to make sure she didn’t tip her hand too soon. She watched the monitors to see when Alan showed up at the front entrance and she walked quickly to that entrance to lead him back.
They exchanged pleasantries and Kate opened the door to the interview room. She pointed out the chair for him to take a seat and then she took her seat ready to ask the questions she knew would surprise Alan. Kate already knew that Alan was aware of Tim’s women on the side and had taken a personal interest in those women he knew were having an affair with his brother-in-law. What Kate didn’t know was how much participation did Tim’s wife, Christine have in the case. Was Alan acting alone or did Christine ask him to intervene?
Kate didn’t have any DNA matches back yet but the other evidence she had was very compelling.
Kate asked, “Alan, can you tell me what you know about the family cabin your family uses for a getaway?”
Alan replied, “There’s not much to tell. The cabin has been in my family since my grandfather built it fifty years ago. We all use it but we have to tell everyone else in the family when we plan on being there.”
Kate questioned, “I assume that Tim had access to that cabin.”
Alan responded, “Yes, by virtue of being married to my sister he was part of the family and Tim could use the cabin.”
Kate left a lot of time between questions to let Alan think about his answers before answering the questions.
Kate asked, “Do you think Tim ever used the cabin to entertain his girlfriends?”
Alan replied, “I don’t think so, the odds of him getting caught was too great. He had plenty of other places to go, including bank owned property.”
Kate acted like she was writing notes after Alan answered each question. It was a ploy to keep Alan at ease. Kate didn’t want it to sink in yet that Alan was a suspect. For the present it was just two people talking about the misdeeds of someone both of them knew. That scenario would soon disappear as her questions became more centered on what Alan was doing at the time of the murders.
Kate asked, “When did you discover Tim’s after hour activities?”
Alan said, “It was several months ago. I saw Tim at a restaurant having dinner with some girl. At first I thought it was probably a client but as I watched them I saw how overly friendly they appeared to be. There was a lot of touching and some hand holding. It was much too friendly for a client relationship. When they left the restaurant I followed them.”
Kate asked, “Did they ever seem aware that you were following them.”
Alan replied, “They never acknowledged that I was there. I think they were too involved with their own relationship; it didn’t seem to occur to them that anyone was watching.”
Kate asked, “When did you tell Christine about Tim’s decadent behavior?”
Alan answered, “I told her that very night. I took photos of Tim and his girlfriend in several situations to show her as evidence. She was understandably upset and asked me if I could keep following him for a while and take photos. She was planning on divorcing him and wanted all the evidence she could get.”
While Kate was asking questions she had some other members of the department busy running background checks on Alan. She wanted to know all about him, his background and any activity she might consider would show any violent past endeavors.