PART III Chapter Seventeen
Kate and Megan had been up late sorting out suspects and were still not quite awake. Kate got out early to go for her run and Megan was right behind her. Kate knew there was nothing like a quick run to wake you up in the morning. Kate loved the feel of the cool air hitting her in the face as she ran at top speeds.
After their run, Kate and Megan both worked as a team to prepare their breakfast. They ate, and then got ready for work before grabbing their final stack of Tim Thomas possibles. Their list was narrowed down to twenty seven. They would get printouts of the photos and set them up in six photo sets and Kate would let Alana go through to see if she recognized any of them.
Cindy had been working on the Susan Warren murder and keeping Kate posted on any new information. Cindy was busy interviewing people who worked with Susan and some of her neighbors. The slow process of interviewing possible witnesses is the bulk of police work. Kate and Cindy both knew it was long, tedious and boring but very necessary.
Kate had put together her photo lineup of the Tim Thomas’s she had found. She would call Alana to make an appointment for her to see if she could identify someone from these groups.
Megan called Kate to inform her that Shannon’s family were having her funeral later that afternoon. Kate wanted to go to observe the other people attending. The killer often comes to the funerals of their victims for many reasons. Returning to the scene of the crime was a common term but sometimes that includes returning to wherever their victim was, including funerals.
Kate kept a dress and matching shoes at the office for emergency use. Megan elected not to go, she still had some tests to run for several crimes she had in the lab. Kate changed her clothes and headed to the funeral. She always arrived late so she could stay in the back and observe. The church was crowded and Kate remained standing. She looked around the room and saw a lot of people were visibly shaken. Shannon’s parents and lone sibling had broken down. Kate didn’t find that unexpected at all but the gentleman sitting in the seat just ahead of her who showed no emotion was of great interest to her.
Kate watched the stoic man as he looked around the room. She maneuvered to a seat closer to the man in hopes of sneaking a cell phone photo to compare with the photos in her lineup she had just recently assembled. Kate carefully focused her cell phone camera and quickly shot photos of the gentleman just in front of her.
Kate saw Alana in the crowd just behind the family. Kate noticed that Alana had also discovered the man not far from her. In fact she noticed Alana had stared at him several times. Kate thought this man might be the Tim Thomas she was looking for. She planned on trying to get Alana alone later and ask if she recognized him as Shannon’s boyfriend.
The service was short, compared to many she had been to, and it wasn’t long before the visitors began walking past the open casket on their way out. Kate walked to the end of the line and looked for Alana on her way out. There wasn’t a need to view the body, she had seen all she wanted at the morgue. Alana was standing by the family exchanging hugs.
Kate waited for Alana to walk away from Shannon’s family and head for her car. Kate rapidly walked to catch up with her and called out for her to stop. Kate and Alana talked for several minutes and Kate asked her if she saw Shannon’s boyfriend, Tim Thomas, at the funeral.
Alana said, “That was the Tim Thomas I saw at Shannon’s house. I was sure to get a good look to make sure.”
Kate asked, “If I presented you with a photo lineup, would you be able to pick Tim from the group?”
Alana responded, “If his photo is in the group, I can pick him out.”
Kate invited Alana to stop by the station the next day to look at the photos.
Kate was waiting at the station when Alana appeared on the video monitor coming through the front door. The photo lineups were ready, spread out on the table, when Kate led Alana to the interview room. Alana sat in a chair on the side of the table where the photos were turned right side up while Kate sat on the opposite side.
Alana was taking her time carefully reviewing each photo. Kate was happy that Alana was trying to be certain about her identification. Alana paused for a moment on the photo that Kate was sure she would pick out but she kept looking at the other photos before finally returning back to the photo of the Tim Thomas that both of the women saw at the funeral.
After a few minutes, Alana pointed a single finger at the photo Kate knew was the right one.
Alana said, “That is the one. He is the one I have seen at Shannon’s house and he is the one I saw at the funeral yesterday.”
Kate thanked Alana for her help. She led her back to the front entrance and watched her slowly walk to her car. Kate went back inside to find the address information she had on the back of each photo. Her next step was to try to talk to Tim Thomas. She had to be careful because Tim was under no requirement to answer any questions and she didn’t have any evidence to get a search warrant.
Kate shared her information with Cindy and explained what they had discovered so far. A direct conversation with Tim Thomas was the most important thing she had to do at the current time. Kate knew she had to play it cool when she talked to Tim. She didn’t want to tip her hand too soon, letting Tim know what evidence they had.
Kate called Tim and asked him to come to the station for a few questions. She told him that he was in Shannon Graves’ contact list and she was calling everyone on that list. Tim agreed to come in and didn’t demonstrate any reservations about the invitation Kate had presented.
Kate asked Tim to come in after lunch and she would be ready for him. She sat and carefully wrote out her questions; she wanted to be ready for his anticipated answers. She understood the dance, she would ask the questions and he would sidestep and explain away anything that pointed a finger at him. She watched the security monitor when it got closer to time for the interview. She didn’t take time for lunch today. She wanted to concentrate on the questions.
Kate had finished the questions and waited patiently for Tim to arrive. A lot of the detectives had gone to lunch or were out on a case as were the patrol officers. It was still a few hours before time for a shift change and it was quiet in the station. A few officers worked the property room and front desk with office personnel scattered around a few desks.
Kate watched the monitor as Tim entered the front lobby and stopped by the front desk where the shift commander had positioned himself while waiting for other officers to return to duty. Tim obviously asked the commander where to go for an interview with detective Murphy and the commander pointed the direction with one hand. Tim walked slowly toward the interview room and Kate could see he looked like he was going through answers in his head to questions she had yet to ask.
Kate left the door open on purpose but quickly walked out to greet Tim so he wouldn’t have to search for the proper place. Kate recognized him instantly as the man from the lineup and the man she saw at the funeral. Kate led Tim back into the room and pointed to a small hardwood chair on the other side of the table that would separate them.
The chair Kate saved for herself had cushions and would be a lot more comfortable than the hardwood straight back chair she pointed for Tim to sit in. It was standard practice to make the suspect as uncomfortable as possible. Kate asked Tim if he wanted anything to drink. He asked for water and Kate called for a patrol officer to bring in a bottle of water. Kate didn’t rush things, she knew what she was doing, including gathering the water bottle to test for DNA after Tim finished with it. She wanted to get him to relax so that maybe he would answer more honestly. She would ply him with alcohol if it wasn’t against department policy.
Kate sat with her list of questions in front of her, but maintained eye contact throughout. When Tim seemed ready, Kate began her questions.
Kate asked, “How do you know Shannon Graves?”
Tim replied, “We met once at a fundraiser to feed needy kids. We hit it off and became friends.”
Kate inquired, “Were you ever more than just friends?”
Tim answered, “No, we never crossed that line. I am married and Shannon and I just had things in common, like charities.”
Kate knew Tim was trying to distance himself from anything that connected him with Shannon in more than a casual way. Kate also knew that Tim was in full blown liar mode. She wouldn’t push it for now until she had a chance to do a DNA comparison from the sample she intended to gather from the water bottle.
Kate asked, “Have you ever been to Shannon’s house?”
Tim answered, “No I haven’t; we weren’t that kind of friends.”
Kate said, “That’s interesting. I have some neighbors who have seen you there on several occasions.
Tim responded, “I think I stopped by a couple of times to deliver invitations to some charity events. I don’t remember if I ever went inside the house.”
Kate didn’t push the question any farther. She wanted to wait until she verified the DNA match to the fetus inside Shannon. She let Tim leave with the understanding that she may want him to return for more questions later.