by Robin Mahle
***
Gibbons pulled his car around the corner of the police station. Night had already settled in and still several media personnel skulked about as if waiting for their prey. “I got a feeling it’s gonna be a long night.”
Scarborough peered through the passenger window as they rolled on. “I’m used to it.” He turned to Gibbons. “You still got Shalot in custody?”
“I spoke to my partner earlier and he confirmed Shalot will be staying overnight, but if we can’t bring charges by end of day tomorrow, he’ll be released.” Gibbons turned the wheel, driving into the first floor of the parking garage.
“I’d like to talk to Reid, if possible. I’m having trouble thinking Shalot’s our guy. You remember what Dr. Napier said about the depth of the cut?”
“Yeah.”
“The other victims’ were much worse. They’d been carved much deeper, even penetrating some of the organs. And, the others had been cleaned up. Minimal blood had been found at the scenes.” Nick paused for a moment, considering the possibility. “Someone leaked information. There’s just no other answer that makes any kind of sense. They leaked it and now we’ve got someone out there trying to get in the spotlight. I don’t know if Katie can give us any more insight into Shalot than she already has, but I’d still like to speak with her.”
“I’m sure Detective Avery will want to be in on that conversation. He doesn’t let her out of his sight much. I don’t think he’s gotten over what happened to her last year.” Gibbons stepped out of the car and glanced over the rooftop as Scarborough emerged. “But then, you know all about that, don’t you?”
***
Katie caught sight of Marshall walking down the corridor towards her cubicle. She’d spent most of the day entering a portion of the evidence collected on scene from the Brown investigation into the database for the lab. She thought his approach meant that Scarborough was here and ready to talk. It would be a welcome break from her present task.
“Hey. Scarborough and Gibbons just came in. You wanna come over to my office so you can talk with him?”
She hadn’t seen him in a long time and only recently had heard his voice again. It brought back a lot of memories; ones she wasn’t prepared to recall. There were others, however, that outweighed those and she called on them now to help settle her nerves. Nick had seen her through a great deal and that thought was what propelled her from the chair, allowing her to follow Marshall back to his office.
The two passed by the captain’s office, where the FBI agent and Detective Gibbons were presumably briefing Hearn. Scarborough noticed Katie and tipped his head in acknowledgment. Katie picked up on his subtle smile and returned it in kind. He’d been reluctant, she recalled, during the Hendrickson investigation, but had come to see Katie for who she really was: an intelligent and intuitive woman who had proven herself to be more than useful.
On arrival at Marshall’s office, he closed the door after Katie stepped inside. “They’ll be finished soon, I’m guessing. Has Scarborough contacted you today?”
“No. I sent him a text after you and I talked about Shalot. I let him know that I knew the guy, but he didn’t respond.” Katie dropped into the seat and pushed her fingers through her hair.
“You look tired,” Marshall said as he took a seat behind his desk. “You sure you’re feeling all right?”
“Yes. I’m fine. I promise.” Her eyes crinkled as the corners of her mouth upturned slightly. “I’m just having a hard time processing this whole Shalot thing. Do you think he killed that girl?”
“I don’t know, Kate. I can’t wrap my head around the fact that she’d filed a restraining order against him, then he just shows up and finds her dead?” The familiar grunt that had become his trademark of frustration sounded. “Just doesn’t make sense, but I suppose we’ll know more after Scarborough and Gibbons arrive. I’m sure Scarborough’s team is already knee-deep in Shalot’s background.”
The men appeared outside the glass door and Scarborough waved to make their presence known.
“Nick.” Katie rose from her chair and pulled the door open, greeting the man with a temperate hug. “It’s so good to see you.”
“It’s great to see you too, Katie. You cut your hair?” Scarborough replied.
“I guess I needed a change.” She took a section of her brunette locks, which were now shoulder length, and pulled it out to emphasize her new look.
“It suits you very well.” Nick turned his attention to Marshall. “Detective Avery. How the hell are you, man?” He extended a greeting. “Last time I saw you, you were just getting out of the hospital.”
Marshall took hold of the agent’s hand and patted his shoulder with the other. “Good to see you, man.” He began to smooth down his shirt. “Yeah. Let’s just say I’m doing a hell of a lot better now. Take a seat, please.” He looked to Gibbons. “I’ll go grab another chair.”
“No, no. I’m fine. I’ll just park it over here.”
“So, Katie, what do you know about Edward Shalot?” Nick began.
“Not much, I’m afraid. I told Detective Gibbons that I have a class with him, but that’s about it really.”
“So you’ve gone back to school?” Nick asked.
“I’m getting my graduate degree in Criminal Justice. I’ve just got a few more months left.”
“Well, congratulations. I’m glad to hear it.” Nick returned to the more pressing situation. “Have you talked with this guy much? Have you had any other contact with him, apart from in class?”
“No. Not really. He’s approached me maybe two or three times about studying after class, grabbing a coffee, but that’s it. I gotta tell you, though, he doesn’t strike me as a killer.”
“No. He doesn’t,” Gibbons interrupted. “Brown’s roommate talked to my partner earlier today. Said Shalot threatened Brown the other night at his apartment. Brown wasn’t going to do anything about it, except the roommate convinced her to file a restraining order against him. She said she had a bad feeling about the guy. We’re still digging into his background, but haven’t turned up anything that would raise any red flags. No priors, hardly even a speeding ticket.”
“So we’re going to release him then; is that right?” Marshall asked.
“Unless we get the ME’s report indicating differently,” Scarborough started. “But I doubt that’ll be ready before tomorrow. Hell, I’m still waiting on the tox screen and DNA from my Colorado victim.”
“We’ll put surveillance on him until we get something definitive from the lab.” Scarborough continued. “Whoever did this had to know the roommate was out of the house, but the timing of this is what really gets me. The victim in Colorado was most certainly killed by the person I’m looking for. What I can’t figure out is, if this guy is a copycat, how the hell did he know the details we kept from the media?”
“Speaking of details, you plan on letting us in on your investigation?” Gibbons crossed his arms as he leaned against the filing cabinet. “If we got the Highway Hunter in town, might be nice to know what exactly we’re dealing with.”
Katie was reluctant to mention the fact that Nick had emailed her the files late last night. She’d only had time to save them to her flash drive and had planned on reviewing them tonight. But that was before Shalot. Now, she was unsure of where she stood on the matter and needed to speak to Nick in private.
That might prove difficult with Gibbons, who was hungry for a good collar, and Marshall, who had difficulty letting Katie run on matters of this nature. She’d given him reason to be nervous, of course. It seemed he still hadn’t quite forgiven her for taking off to Sacramento and meeting up with Aguilar without his knowledge. But it had been the only way, in her mind, to find out what Chief Wilson had been hiding. In the end, she was right to do what she did, but sometimes, she didn’t think Marshall believed it had been.
Nick lifted his cell phone from his shirt pocket. “The rest of my team should be here by now. We need to speak with Agent Myers.
She’s put together a detailed profile of what we know now. I expected her to meet us on scene this afternoon, but I haven’t heard back from her.” He scrolled through his calls and messages, double checking that he hadn’t missed her call. “Damn. Excuse me for a minute while I put a call in to her to find out what’s going on.” Scarborough stepped out.
“So what do you think, Avery?” Gibbons asked. “You think he’s gonna take this over?”
“Once his team arrives, my guess is they will. I don’t know what more information we can provide. And, to be honest, I’m not sure we really want to be handling this one. The media’s been all over it. Calls have already been flooding the front desk. I’d just as soon they get what they need here and move on.”
“You know the guy, Katie. What’s your take on it?” Gibbons asked.
She looked to Marshall. “I, for one, would like to know more about Shalot. We’ve got a connection to him. Me. Can you get me in to talk to him while he’s still in custody?”
Katie expected push back from Marshall straight away. Instead, she watched as he seemed to be considering the proposition.
“I think it may be our best chance to determine what we’re dealing with before Scarborough and his people take over,” Marshall replied.
Did he just agree with her? That definitely came as a surprise. It felt good to have him on her side, instead of keeping her in the background. “Great.” Katie looked to Detective Gibbons. “Let’s not waste any more time.”
“What do you think our FBI agent is gonna say about this?” Gibbons replied.
Katie made a move towards the door. “He’ll support it. So long as he gets to listen in. Scarborough’s a good man. He’ll take whatever help is offered and, right now, Shalot is still in our custody, not the FBI’s.”
The two men followed her out, lagging behind a little. Gibbons grinned at Marshall, slapping his back.
“That’s quite a woman you got there.”
They caught up to Agent Scarborough and filled him in on the idea. Katie was right. He agreed without hesitation and they now stood outside the interrogation room.
Marshall placed his hand on the door knob, knowing Shalot waited on the other side. “Gibbons will be in there with you. So just keep your cool, ask him what we discussed, and if it starts to go south, he’ll get you out of there. Got it?”
“Got it,” Katie replied.
Although Shalot hadn’t been officially charged with anything as of yet and was considered “a person of interest,” it was still the first time Katie had been allowed to question a potential suspect.
Marshall opened the door for them and Katie thought, just for a moment, that he might be reconsidering his earlier hasty agreement.
“Katie.” Shalot stood from his chair. “What are you doing here?” His eyes shifted between the two of them.
“Ms. Reid works for the department, in forensics, but since she knows you, she wanted to come and have a word and ask you a few things about Ms. Brown.”
“Katie, I swear to you, I didn’t kill Lindsay. You know me. I just went to her house to tell her I was sorry for the other night.”
“No one’s saying you killed her, Edward. These guys just need to be sure you don’t have any other information pertaining to what happened to her.” Katie sat down opposite Shalot while Gibbons stood behind him.
“You know Katie from a class at UCSD?” Gibbons asked.
“Yes.” Edward returned his attention to Katie. “I knew you worked here, but I thought you were like a clerk or something.”
“‘Or something’ pretty much sums up what I do here. I’m an evidence technician. But I’ve worked here for a while now and these guys have put a great deal of trust in me.” She placed her forearms on the table, lacing her fingers. “You don’t have to say anything, Edward. You haven’t been charged with a crime and you have no lawyer present.” Katie glanced at her watch. “And by this time tomorrow, you’ll probably be home.”
Gibbons’ eyes sharpened as he appeared to focus on one of the cameras in the corner.
In the adjacent room, Marshall and Agent Scarborough sat in front of the monitors and picked up on Gibbons’ concern.
Scarborough folded his arms and waited.
Marshall seemed to have the same sentiments. “She’s good.”
“That she is,” Scarborough replied.
Katie gauged his reaction. She attempted to put him at ease, wanting to convince him that she was on his side and was no threat. It seemed her technique might have worked. “They need to find the person who killed Lindsay and they think you can help. Can you help us, Edward?”
Shalot’s eyes softened and his face relaxed. “I don’t know what more I can tell you that I haven’t already told Detective Gibbons.”
“You’ve always been very kind to me, Edward. I can’t imagine a reason why Lindsay would have filed a restraining order against you. Is there anything you can tell us about that?”
He seemed to stiffen at this inquiry. “I don’t know why she did that. Sure, we had a little argument last week, but no harm done. She went home and that was that. Then the sheriff’s department shows up at my door, handing me a restraining order.” Edward began to shift in his seat. “Look, I just went to her house this morning to see if I could clear things up with her. That’s all.” His sigh was audible. “You know what having this on my record will do to my career, Katie? I just had to convince her that I was sorry for the disagreement.” His shoulders fell and his head dropped into his hands. “Christ. I didn’t kill her, Katie.” He closed his eyes for a moment. “You should have seen her body. Who the hell could do that?”
Katie looked to Gibbons, who seemed to be thinking the same thing. Was Edward Shalot just at the wrong place at the wrong time? There was still one question that Katie needed to ask.
“I don’t know, Edward, but that’s what we’re trying to find out.” She paused for a moment. “Can you tell me, did anyone else know you were dating Lindsay? Any of your friends or other classmates?”
“We’d only gone out a few times. I hadn’t mentioned it to anyone that I can recall. Her roommate knew, of course.” He seemed to turn a shade darker. “I know she was the one who told her to file that damn order against me.” Edward looked straight into Katie’s eyes now.
“You gotta help me, Katie. My career will be over before it has even started if my name isn’t cleared. Just please get me out of here.”
“I’ll do what I can, Edward. I promise.” Katie looked to Gibbons, signaling that she was finished. “Just hang in there, okay? This will all be over soon.”
Gibbons held the door open and Katie did a final turn to Edward. “Thank you for talking to me, Edward. You’ve been a great help.”
They walked into the monitoring room, leaving Shalot on his own.
Katie wasn’t sure if she’d accomplished all that had been set out, but she felt as though the others would see what she had seen.
“That was very well executed, Kate. I don’t think I could have done a better job,” Marshall said.
“Yes. Very impressive, actually.” Scarborough looked to the other detectives. “I don’t know what you two think, but I don’t think Shalot’s our guy.”
“No.” Gibbons stared at the monitors and watched Edward. He was shifting, knocking his knees, and maybe even had a little sweat building on his forehead. It was clear the man was nervous and terrified. “He didn’t do it. He’d have to be a complete idiot to kill her after a restraining order, then show up the next morning to call it in. But I still think he’s holding something back from us. Did you see how he reacted at the mention of the roommate?” He cast his glance to the others once again. “Any chance we can get into his house before he’s released?”
Marshall looked to Scarborough. “The guy had a restraining order filed against him from the victim. We had cause to bring him in. We’re not going to need a warrant to get into his house with probable cause.”
“You’re right, but we nee
d to act with extreme caution here. Get a judge to issue one anyway. I want to be sure our bases are covered. No charges have been filed against him yet. It might be a gray area, since he won’t be present at the time of the search.” He looked to Gibbons. “My team is here and I’ve got to meet them on scene in thirty minutes.”
“Okay, boss,” Marshall began. “Gibbons and I will handle the warrant. In the meantime, Kate, why don’t you accompany Agent Scarborough, since you’re already familiar with the scene. I’d still like to have a local presence there for the time being.”
“I agree,” Scarborough replied. “Would be glad to have you with us, Katie.”
9
A RUNDOWN MOBILE home perched on top of rusted jacks was one of only a handful still remaining in the otherwise abandoned trailer park on the outskirts of town. The men inside, two millennials who were still wandering through life, assuming that the world had given them the shaft, sat on a stained floral couch amid a cloud of smoke.
“We gotta go soon if we’re gonna do this tonight.” Ty wrapped his lips around the joint again and inhaled deeply.
“Yeah, all right. You’re not too fucked up, are you? Can’t screw around with this shit, you know that.” Marcus extinguished the joint, waving the smoke away from him. “Let’s get the hell out of here, then.”
There were no street lamps along the adjacent road and only a couple of windows were illuminated from the other derelict trailers. When they stepped outside, the air was still warm, hardly cooling at all from the heat of the day.
“Jesus, I don’t remember it staying as warm as it has this late in the fall.” Ty walked the few steps over to their car and inserted the key into the door lock. “You ready to do this?”
“I’m ready.” Marcus yanked on the door, its hinges squeaking loudly enough for everyone in the park to hear. “Let’s go.”