PART III Chapter Nine
It was Monday morning, Kate and Megan were scrambling to get ready for work and the restart of their investigation. They would simply start over and see if the evidence led them in the same direction. They had created theories about what happened but so far there were missing pieces and the other pieces needed something extra in order to fit together. A review of evidence was a common practice and Kate thought it was needed in this case.
Kate and Cindy went back to the crime scene to do a walk through like the first day of discovery. Megan stayed behind to finish lab work on another case. Kate wanted to walk through listing the evidence as they knew it and see if something stood out that hadn’t previously been considered.
Kate said, “Okay we know we have a twenty eight year old victim who was shot in the head, in what I would consider execution style. It was a nine millimeter weapon and two other shots were fired but missed. We can assume the last shot was the fatal one.”
Cindy added, “The shooter entered the home by kicking in the back door and leaving his footprints on the door as well as through the back yard. I say “his”, I suppose it could be a woman but with the height of the kick and size of the prints, I doubt it was a female shooter.”
Kate said, “The victim was most likely startled and maybe even frozen in place when the door was kicked in. The shooter stood and shot downward according to the autopsy report.”
Cindy said, “We know Susan was a bank teller as was her boyfriend Todd. We know they had sex earlier in the day and there was no sign of any sexual assault of the victim. We know that the bank had been robbed and Susan was a witness that was due to testify which we deemed as a motive but we haven’t investigated any previous boyfriends or any other possible motive.”
Kate said, “No signs of sexual assault, nothing missing from the home. Somebody simply wanted this girl dead and I am guessing they stayed and made sure she was. It was personal, like an old boyfriend or someone afraid she would testify.”
Cindy said, “The bank robbery witness theory didn’t go anywhere, I guess we should see what ex-boyfriends we can find. We can ask her friends and her family.”
Kate said, “The girl wasn’t very old and may not have many ex-boyfriends. Maybe one of them was jealous of her current boyfriend. Her family should know who her ex-boyfriends were. Her parents may not but her siblings would most likely know.”
Kate and Cindy went back to the house shared by Susan’s brother Connor and sister Amy. Kate and Cindy separated the siblings and questioned each separately in case one knew about a secret romance the other didn’t know about.
Kate interviewed Amy and Cindy interviewed Connor. Kate invited Amy to go outside and sit in her car while Cindy interviewed Connor in the house. Kate and Amy sat in the front seat of the car while Cindy and Connor sat across from each other in the living area of their home.
Kate asked Amy, “Did you know of any ex-boyfriends Susan had?”
Amy replied, “I didn’t know many recent ones. The ones that I knew were from high school. She didn’t tell me much about her dating life after she moved out on her own. I know she had boyfriends but I never met any. I met her current one only twice and I wasn’t sure she wanted me to even then.”
Kate asked, “Who was her closest girl friend? They would probably know.”
Amy replied, “She had a couple friends she knew with her boyfriend Todd but I don’t know about anyone else. I am sure she had someone from work that she was close to but I never visited her there and she never mentioned anyone to me.”
Kate didn’t derive any information from the interview. Amy was the youngest in the family and Susan obviously didn’t confide any information to her. She doubted she shared any personal information with her brother either and Kate was figuring they would have to talk to people at the bank who worked beside her. She would wait to see what Cindy learned but she didn’t have very high expectations from that interview.
Cindy asked Conner, “Do you know any of Susan’s ex-boyfriends?”
Conner replied, “I didn’t know all of them but I double dated with her once and a guy named James Gabel. That was the only time I ever met him and I don’t know if she ever went out with him again.”
Cindy asked, “Is there anything that stood out about him, distinguishing features or mannerisms?”
Connor replied, “He was a perfect gentleman as far as I could tell. He opened doors for Susan, both the car and the place we ate. He was attentive to things she said and they seemed to get along well. I don’t know why he became an ex. Susan is the only one who would know that and I am guessing she isn’t talking.”
Cindy asked, “Do you know how to get in touch with James?”
Connor replied, “Like I said, I only met him once and he was already at her house when I picked them up.”
Cindy said, “We can find him. What was his age range?”
Connor replied, “I think he was about twenty five.”
Cindy thanked Connor and went out to compare notes with Kate. She told Kate about James Gabel and they began the search to find him for an interview. They didn’t know if anything would come of it but they knew it was a lead they had to follow to find out what evidence may lie there.
Their search uncovered a local man about the correct age. He didn’t have any SUVs registered in his name but they wanted to interview him and see what information he could offer. It was possibly a wild goose chase but most police work was. You follow the leads and see where they go.
James lived in an apartment building and Kate hated those. It was dangerous to go to a building you weren’t familiar with; it was easy to be ambushed because there were other apartments surrounding the one you were going to. Kate told Cindy to keep her eyes open and be safe. They walked through a maze of apartments separated into eight unit buildings, with a courtyard between them. Each courtyard opened to a central communal area with a pool, tennis courts and a clubhouse.
Kate and Cindy followed the numbers on the apartments until they found the one where James lived. Kate stood on the left side of the door and Cindy stood on the right side of the door; Kate knocked on the door and James answered quickly. Kate had called ahead to explain what the subject of the interview was. James told Kate he didn't have much information but would be happy to tell her what he knew.
James invited Kate and Cindy inside and offered them a chair across from the couch that he sat on. James offered the officers a cup of coffee which they both declined.
Kate asked, "How long ago did you date Susan?"
James replied, "It was several years ago, we were both pretty young. I know I wasn't ready to settle down and I don't think she was either."
Kate asked, "Have you seen Susan since you broke up?"
James answered, "I saw her once or twice at a restaurant and we exchanged hellos but nothing else transpired.”
Kate asked James about where he was when Susan was killed and James offered a solid alibi that Kate would certainly check out. The detectives spent about two hours talking to James but Kate didn't think there was anything that pointed to James as the killer. James did tell Kate that Susan had to work late a lot when they were together and that was one of the reasons why their relationship failed.
Kate gave James her card and told him to call if he thought of anything that might be relevant. Kate smiled but knew as soon as she left that James would toss the card in the trash. She had enough experience to know that most of the cards she handed out would end up in the same place.
Kate and Cindy made their way through rush hour traffic back to the station. Kate carried her notebook with her as she and Cindy walked through the corridors of the station. It was almost time to go home for the day, assuming an eight to five job but Kate and Cindy both knew their day didn’t exactly end at five o’clock.