PART III Chapter Three
Kate and Megan got up in the mornings now and ran together. It was not only good exercise for them but it provided them with something to keep them close. They talked during the entire run, exchanging ideas and talking about whatever case they were working on. They had talked about this case a lot last night. There wasn’t much left for the morning run. After their run they made breakfast and finished getting ready for work.
When Kate and Megan drove into the station parking lot, Cindy had already parked and walked over to meet the two. Kate had plans to go back to the crime scene to interview neighbors and Megan had to stay at the lab to process the rest of the evidence and get a contact list for her mom and Cindy. Kate caught Cindy up on the family members that Megan told her about.
Kate and Cindy went back to Susan Warren’s house to do another examination. The bloodstain there on the floor still painted a picture of what happened. Kate looked through the kitchen and found a trash can. Kate sat and dug through the contents of the trash and the odor of tuna was evident even before Kate found the can it came from. There were some peelings from an onion there as well. It was obvious to Kate that Susan ate her last meal at home. Kate noticed some items had been picked over and she knew Megan had already told her the crew had found the food evidence and had bagged some of it.
There was no sign of anything missing from the home although without the owner there they couldn’t be certain of that. Kate went through all of the paperwork she could find and she found a file cabinet with tax info in one drawer. By examining a prior year tax return, Kate found that Susan worked for a local Citizens Bank as a teller. A few phone calls later and Kate knew which branch Susan worked at. A visit would be in order to talk with anyone who worked with Susan, but family interviews would come first.
Kate walked to the house next door and knocked on the door. An elderly woman opened the door and greeted Kate. The woman introduced herself as Sarah Duncan. Kate didn’t ask Sarah’s age but guessed her to be in her eighties. She was thin and bent over with a quiet disposition. Sarah invited Kate inside and turned to walk back into the house. Sarah walked with a walker and moved slowly but Kate wasn’t in that big of a hurry. When it came to solving crimes Kate was more interested in getting it right. Kate followed the elderly woman into the den and sat in a chair opposite of the chair where Sarah took her seat. Kate took out her notes and began with questions.
Kate asked, “Did you hear anything unusual last night?”
Sarah replied, “I am sorry, my hearing isn’t so good nowadays and I didn’t hear anything.”
Kate asked, “Have you heard about the death of your neighbor sometime in the night?”
Sarah replied, “I saw the police cars over there and went to ask one of the officers what happened. The officer told me he wasn’t at liberty to give out any information but I saw the ambulance come and pick up the girl. It didn’t take rocket science to know the girl was in very bad shape.”
Kate asked, “Did you know the girl very well?”
Sarah answered, “The girl came over a lot when she first moved in and I talked to her several times a week. She had just moved out on her own and got her first job. She seemed like a sweet girl and I can’t imagine anyone wanting to harm her.”
Kate continued, “Do you know anything about her friends and family? Does she have any boyfriends?”
Sarah answered, “She does have a young man she sees and it seems to be serious. She told me they were talking about getting married. I am not sure what his name was, my memory isn’t what it used to be.”
Kate said, “Don’t worry we will find him. Do you know anyone who would want to harm Susan Warren?”
Sarah replied, “I can’t think of anyone that would want to harm Susan, she was such a sweet girl. There wasn’t an evil bone in her body.”
The answer didn’t surprise Kate, it was one she heard all the time. The victim was sweet and had no enemies. Kate thought, “She must have had one.” Kate thanked Sarah for talking with her and told her she would be in the neighborhood for a few days.
Kate handed Sarah a card and told her if she thought of anything else that might help to please feel free to call. Kate walked across again to the victim’s house and met Cindy coming back from the neighbor’s house on the other side. Cindy walked over to Kate and told her the people she talked to heard a banging sound but thought it was a car backfiring. Kate told Cindy the woman next door was in her eighties and couldn’t hear much.
Kate said, “The neighbor did tell me that our victim had a boyfriend but she didn’t know his name. She didn’t know anyone who would harm Susan of course.”
Cindy said, “Of course, victims never have any enemies. The people on the other side didn’t know the victim and didn’t know much about her. They were a couple with kids, probably too busy to keep up with the victim.”
Kate said, “Our best bet for the moment I think, is to interview the family. They will probably have more information than anyone else. Although, they may not have all the information about a boyfriend.”
Kate and Cindy contacted the victim’s mother and father to make an appointment to talk about their daughter. The parents were available so Kate and Cindy drove over to their house. The family had been notified about the death and were advised about the body being released after the autopsy. Kate knocked on the door and a middle aged woman answered the door.
Kate introduced herself and the woman told Kate her name was Caitlin Warren. Caitlin invited Kate and Cindy inside and offered them a seat. While they sat and talked, Caitlin’s husband came in and introduced himself as Patrick. The parents were visibly shaken as they discussed what they knew about their daughter.
Kate asked, “Do you know anything about Susan’s boyfriends and acquaintances? We didn’t find any engagements or wedding rings.”
Caitlin replied, “Susan was seeing a young man who worked at the bank where she worked. I believe his name is Todd Carter. He has joined us for dinner a few times and seemed to be a nice young man. You don’t think he is involved do you?”
Kate responded, “We will look at everyone and talk to everyone. We just need to find out who was close to Susan and who may know what happened. We start with those closest and work our way out to other friends and witnesses.”
Kate asked, “Was the relationship between them serious?”
Caitlin replied, “They weren’t engaged yet but they were talking about getting married. They seemed well suited for each other.”
Cindy asked about Susan’s siblings and was told they both lived in town. Twenty six year old Connor worked at a local real estate office and twenty year old Amy is a student at Boston College. The parents told the detectives that the siblings lived together in a rental house that Connor had arranged from his job. Cindy asked about other friends that Susan may know and her parents told them she had a few but none that they had met. Caitlin told them she thought Susan told her siblings more about her personal life.
Kate didn’t get Todd Carter’s address from the family because she knew she could get it. His phone number was on Susan’s contact list and his address may be there. They would want to call him first before going over anyway and a background check would give her all of the information she needed before talking with him.
Kate and Cindy decided to interview the boyfriend before talking to the siblings. The contacts list on Susan’s phone gave them the information they needed. They called and made an appointment then drove to Todd’s house for the interview. Cindy knocked on the door and Todd answered quickly. He invited them in and offered them a seat.
Kate noticed his eyes were wet and damp. With obvious signs he had been crying. Kate and Cindy introduced themselves and began asking questions.
Kate asked, “I am sure you have heard about Susan by now?”
Todd replied, “Yes, I had been trying to call her but she didn’t answer. I called her brother Connor to see if he knew what was going on and he told me all about it.”
Kate asked, “What can you tell me about your relationship with Susan? Were there any problems?”
Todd answered, “We were good, and there were no problems. We were talking about getting married and were looking at rings. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to harm her. Did they steal anything?”
Kate replied, “We didn’t find any big things missing but without someone telling us what was there we can’t know if anything was gone, perhaps you could come and see if you notice anything missing.”
Todd replied, “I am not sure I can take it. It would be a bad memory of that place. I have been having a hard time sleeping already. She was my true love. I guess I owe it to Susan to help you so count me in.”
Kate could tell the emotions she was seeing from Todd were genuine and she had no qualms about taking his name off of the suspect list. She would want to check his alibi first before clearing him but barring anything else showing up she knew he wasn’t their guy.