PART II Chapter Sixteen
Megan was up cooking dinner when Kate arrived home. Kate was surprised not seeing her usual depressed daughter when she walked in.
Kate asked, “What’s going on?”
Megan replied, “I decided to make dinner, it is good practice and if I stay busy I don’t think as much about what happened to me.”
Kate replied, “I think that is a great idea, and it smells great.”
Megan replied, “It really isn’t a big deal. Just a salad, spaghetti and garlic bread. I made brownies for dessert.”
Kate said, “Since we are having spaghetti I think we should have wine with it. I will open a bottle.”
Kate and Megan sat, ate dinner and engaged in small talk. Megan asked, “Has there been any developments in my case?”
Kate replied, “We have put the photo of the guy from Carol’s party that was murdered out in the media to see if anyone knows him. If someone responds to that we may get more information that could lead us to the people he worked for.”
Megan asked, “Do those media photo posts ever really work?”
Kate answered, “Yes we usually get lots of replies from those posts, but we also get a lot of false information.”
Megan said, “I just want you to keep me informed if you get any new relevant information.”
Kate responded, “I would have without you asking. I understand your need to know what happened. That was why I told you about the porn operation that we found.”
Kate helped Megan clean up the kitchen. It was a rare time when they worked together as a team and the job was finished quickly. Kate sat in the living room looking over her notes in the William Duncan case. She had noted the need to find out who William’s partner had been. She also needed to know what happened to the stocks and gold coins.
While Kate was working on her notes, she got a call from Cindy.
Cindy said, “We just had a young woman call in about our young murdered victim. She said she wanted to come in and tell her story.”
Kate asked, “Did you ask her to come in?”
Cindy replied, “I did ask and she is coming in tomorrow. She said she had a lot to tell us. I told her to come in the morning.”
Kate replied, “That sounds great. I will see you in the morning.”
Kate closed her folder with the notes and decided it was time to go to bed. Megan had already said goodnight and went to her room. Kate poured a glass of Jameson to help her relax and shut her mind down. She considered Jameson to be more natural for sleep than pills.
Kate fell asleep and woke refreshed and alert. She decided to go for her run. Megan was still asleep when she came back inside. She made a quick breakfast and then went in and showered before getting dressed and as the final touch, put on her shoulder holster with her Glock nineteen.
Megan was just coming out of her room when Kate walked out the door. It would be an interesting day Kate hoped. She had high hopes they would get some useful information from the girl she would interview this morning. Cindy was in the parking lot when Kate pulled into her space.
Cindy asked, “Are you ready to do this?”
Kate replied, “I am very ready. Let’s go in and get started.”
Kate and Cindy sat across the table from a young woman who introduced herself as Abby James. Abby’s identification said she was a nineteen year old student at the same college Megan attended. When Kate asked, Abby said she did not know Megan.
Kate said, “Just tell us your story as completely as possible. Remember that details can be important so take your time. You have no enemies here, we want to hear what you have to say.”
Abby began, “I was at a club with two of my friends. We were sitting at a table talking, having a few drinks and checking out the guys. This guy came over right up to me and asked me to dance. That’s what guys do and I was flattered he chose me with the other two girls sitting there.”
Cindy asked, “Did it make you feel somehow superior to be chosen over the other two girls?”
Abby replied, “Yes, I am embarrassed to admit that I felt like the hot girl because he chose me, even though the other girls may have turned him down, I was the one he asked first.”
Kate said, “Okay, go on. Did he give you a name?”
Abby responded, “Yes, he said his name was Jason and if he gave a last name I don’t remember what it was. We danced to a couple more songs and he bought me a couple more drinks. He was cordial and a gentleman. He wasn’t all touchy like a lot of guys get. I trusted him.”
Cindy replied, “It sounds like that was the plan, to gain your trust.”
Abby continued, “The last drink he brought me tasted a little different, but I just thought the bartender was off his game and continued to drink. After I drank about half of that drink I began feeling kind of strange, like I was going to pass out. I told him I needed to go home because I wasn’t feeling well and he said he would make sure I got home safely.”
Kate asked, “Did he escort you out at that point?”
Abby answered, “Yes, I was very dizzy. I laid my head against his chest and he kept his arms wrapped around me as we made our way outside. He even grabbed my purse on the way out. When we got into the car, I blacked out. I think there must have been an hour or two unaccounted for.”
Kate said, “Tell me about waking up. What do you remember?”
Abby continued, “It was cold. I woke up with no clothes on and there were other people there who were also naked.”
Kate asked, “Were the other naked people male, female, young or old. Describe what you remember about them.”
Abby said, “The people I saw clearly were young and a mixture of male and female. There were bright lights shining on them and cameras recording what they were doing. It was obvious they were having sex. I could feel wetness between my legs and I think something happened to me but I don’t remember any of whatever it was.”
Kate asked, “Was the guy there that you left with?”
Abby replied, “Yes, he was part of the crowd I saw being recorded. I faded in and out of consciousness and when I came too I was home. I was in my own bed, still naked, and trying to figure out what had happened.”
Kate asked, “Are you sure it wasn’t all just a weird dream?”
Abby replied, “I got up and went to take a shower and male semen dripped out of me. I know that wasn’t a dream. I never saw Jason before but I recognized his picture when the police posted it in the media.”
Kate asked, “Did you ever see him again?”
Abby replied, “I never went back to that club and I never accepted a drink again from a stranger, in fact I pretty much stopped drinking at all.”
Cindy asked, “You never asked him what happened?”
Abby replied, “When I came to, he was gone, I was too out of it when we were around the other group.”
Kate asked, “Do you remember enough of the place you woke up naked to describe it to one of our sketch artists?”
Abby replied, “I think I can, I want to try to.”
Abby sat with the sketch artist for over an hour and when they emerged from the graphics room the artist gave the drawing to Kate. Kate and Cindy looked at the sketch and Kate laid some photos on a table in front of Abby and asked, “Do you remember this as the place you were taken?”
Abby answered, “Yes, that was the place where I was.”
Kate looked at Abby and said, “It wasn’t a dream, it really happened and you were there.”
Abby gave Kate a hug and her face was covered with tears. She said, “I thought I was losing my mind. I didn’t know what was real and what was something my mind made up.”
Kate replied, “You were brave telling us your story and you have been a bigger help than you will ever know. Thank you.”
This witness did what she was supposed to do, she tied their dead guy to the porn industry. Their next step was to tie him to whomever he was working for.