PART III Chapter Two
Kate pulled into the parking lot of the coroner’s office and prepared to go in and see if there had been any information uncovered. Kate hoped for the best but was skeptical there would be anything she didn’t already know. She had history with most of the staff at the coroner’s office and could usually be candid with any of them.
Kate was welcomed by the newest member of the coroner’s office, thirty six year old Colleen McCarthy, who had been a member of the coroner’s office for three months. Colleen handed the printed copy to Kate but then verbally explained what was in writing.
Colleen said, “I found one gunshot wound in the upper forehead that travelled downward to the back of the skull where I extracted a nine millimeter shell. The trajectory indicated a tall shooter who fired while standing. No signs of a struggle and nothing found under her fingernails. Our conclusion is that she was surprised by the attack and the shot was fired quickly leaving no time for a reaction. She was shot and fell to the floor right after. I heard about her call to 911 and frankly can’t figure out how she did that.”
Kate said, “I know, she must have been in a lot of pain at that time.”
Colleen replied, “It would have been a miracle. That girl lost a lot of blood and the bullet severed an area that controlled some motor function, a massive headache and dizziness from blood loss, and despite all of that she crawled to get her phone and called in the emergency.”
Kate had read that part in the printed version and was digesting the information given to her so far. She knew there was more and was listening intently for Colleen to continue giving her verbal report. Although Kate had the printed version in her hands, she always made notes in her personal notebook for her own conclusions.
Colleen continued, “There were signs of sexual activity earlier in the afternoon but the amount of time that had passed made the activity most likely not related to the murder. We found male DNA on and in her but not likely the DNA of the killer. I think he shot and then quickly left. It does tell us that she had a male friend of some kind, maybe one who would have information about who her other friends are.”
Kate replied, “That is good information to know. We will certainly try to find out who that person is. I have learned over the years, the more complete a picture you can paint of the victim, the more likely we will be to find out who would want to see her meet her demise.”
Colleen added, “I found contents in her stomach that indicated she had eaten just an hour or so before she was shot. She had tuna, onions, mayo, capers and bread, indicative of a tuna sandwich.”
Kate responded, “We will re-examine the crime scene to see if there are signs that she ate at home or ate out somewhere there may be witnesses who could have seen her and who she may have been with.”
Kate thanked Colleen and asked if the body was ready to release to the family. Colleen told her there were just a few loose ends that needed to be finished but that should be done soon. Kate took the report and thumbed through it slowly as she walked to her car still parked outside. Kate opened her car door and climbed inside. She laid the report in the seat next to her but the contents of it stayed on her mind.
Kate thought about that young girl, started in the night by an intruder and then when she goes to investigate she is executed and left for dead, but this young girl manages to crawl to her phone and call to save her own life. That call gave them a head start, otherwise a day or two may have passed before the body would be found.
Kate headed back to the station but she knew that Susan Warren deserved to get justice. There would be a family somewhere that would be looking for answers and she wanted to give them the closure they would be seeking. At twenty eight Susan had her whole life ahead of her before someone deliberately ended it. It was easy to take some cases personally and Kate knew that having a daughter made the death of this young girl a personal thing with her.
Kate pulled into the parking lot at the station and found her assigned spot. She grabbed the report and went inside to see if Cindy or Megan had anything new to add to what was on the report. Megan was in the lab testing the items found at the crime scene and Cindy was doing background checks to find family members they could talk to for clues. Kate knew they would return to the crime scene to look around and talk to the neighbors. That would be set for the next day early enough to work in a daylight setting.
This day was about to end and they would put all of their info on the back burner and return to their personal life, even though Kate knew this case would creep into their personal life. She knew that detectives brought their job home with them, it was an occupational hazard. It was a frequent occurrence that Cindy, Kate and Megan would eat dinner together at some local establishment and they would talk about the case. They had done that a lot when Megan was still in high school.
After Megan graduated and got the job at the police force, she continued to live with her mother. It made perfect economic sense for them and their relationship had changed a lot since Megan was a girl. They lived together now more like roommates than mother and daughter. They were colleagues now, but Megan still looked to Kate for advice about both personal and professional issues. Kate was mother, mentor and boss and happily accepted that role she had earned.
Kate asked Cindy and Megan to meet for dinner to eat and discuss their case. Both other women agreed and they decided to go to “West on Center” because it was close to the station. Kate and Megan came in separate cars today but often travel together since they lived together and worked at the same place. Kate suggested the other girls ride with her to make parking easier and she could take them back to their cars after they ate.
Megan and Cindy climbed into the car with Kate and she made the short trip to the restaurant. They parked and got out with a folder in hand. They were regulars at the restaurant and were seated quickly. They placed their orders and got a bottle of wine to share. Megan felt like an equal now when she went with her mom and Cindy.
The waiter brought their wine and while they waited for food they sipped their wine while they talked about what they knew about the case.
Kate said, “We need to go back to the crime scene and look for some items. The coroner found some food contents so we need to look at the trash and see if we can find signs that she ate at home or ate out somewhere that may have video of her dining with someone.”
Megan said, “Two of my techs found trash containing discarded remnants of food prepared and eaten at home. No dishes left out, evidently she cleaned up after eating and put dishes away.”
Cindy responded, “I am compiling a list of family members that we can contact and I guess we can go interview neighbors tomorrow to see if anyone knows anything.”
Megan said, “I got some DNA swabs from the coroner’s office that I can run to get a profile from. Evidently the victim had sex that day but unrelated to the murder. I think perhaps he may know something about the victim that could help us.”
While they were reviewing the case their dinner order arrived. They closed the folders they had open and started to eat their meal. Kate knew this wasn’t the last time they would have a meal together. She had sat many times with her former partner Sean at a restaurant while they discussed a case. She hadn’t been in the limelight as much lately and welcomed the lack of notoriety she had experienced in the past.
The women finished their meal and then walked with Kate back to her car. Kate drove back to the station so Megan and Cindy could get their own cars. She said goodbye to Cindy and then told Megan she would see her at home. Kate drove off after waiting to make sure the other two women’s cars started. Kate pulled into her driveway and Megan pulled in just a couple of minutes later.
Kate and Megan had a simple life. Megan was concentrating on her new career and hadn’t been dating for a while and Kate hadn’t dated for years but Megan had been after her to start again. She was constantly telling her mother that she should date again. Megan told her it was time. Kate had only one response and was quoted as saying she would rather poke her eyes out with an icepick than to date in the current times.
Megan was getting used to being a roommate with Kate and not just as her mother. It was good to have another set of eyes focused on the same case she was. They sat more and talked together now than they ever did when Megan was a teenager. Kate was available for career advice since she had a lot of experience at the department and knew the people that were Megan’s supervisors. She wanted Megan to know she would still be available for mother advice as well.
The two women sat together on the couch. Sometimes they discussed cases and sometimes they just watched some chick flick on television. Megan told Kate they were going through the victim’s phone and should have a list of people from her contacts soon that she can question. Kate loved having someone on the inside of the lab.
Megan said, “From text messages we found and the contact list we have isolated her parents, a brother and a sister. We will give you a complete official list tomorrow but I can give you immediate family tonight.”
Kate asked, “Why didn’t you share that at dinner tonight?”
Megan replied, “I didn’t want to share the information in front of Cindy but you can if you want. I just wanted to give you the information and let you decide what to do with it.”
Kate replied, “Thank you for that. I think it is safe to let Cindy in on the information but I would like to look over everything first so thanks for giving me that chance.”
Megan said, “All of her immediate family live in the area. Her dad is Patrick Warren, her mother is Caitlin Warren. She has a younger brother Conner and a sister Amy who still lives at home. I have a folder with the address and other contact info I can give you now or in the morning at work.”
Kate said, “Let’s just do it at work so Cindy will be in on it. We will both be in on the interviews of the family. For tonight we should get some rest and be ready to attack all of the info in the morning. Goodnight.”
Megan replied, “Goodnight.” Then she headed to bed.
Kate put away the folders and went in to get ready for bed. It was a good night to read a little before bed, especially since she struggles with sleep so much these days. Her colleagues would say she had a guilty conscience but the truth was she just couldn’t always get her mind to let go of the thoughts it had wrestled with all day. The thoughts she had now were that a good book would help get her mind away from the case even though it would only be a temporary reprieve.