by Robin Mahle
The police and protective services arrived at the Thompson home shortly after the mother’s call. The report indicated that the other children were questioned separately, but nothing arose of any material significance. It was also noted that the mother, claiming to have been at work, could not explain the late hour at which she called 911. It was 8 p.m., two hours after her shift was over.
It was becoming clear that Susan’s cautioning was warranted. Based on the information in these files, anyone would feel a little unnerved at the possibility of who was responsible for Isabelle’s disappearance.
“Katie, are you coming to bed?” Spencer rubbed his eyes as they adjusted to the light in the living room.
She looked up at the wall clock; it was nearly 1 a.m. “Oh, I had no idea it was so late.” She closed the lid of her laptop and rose from the couch. “Yes. I’m coming.”
The San Diego police station was thick with the frenetic pace of officers, civilian staff, and what she assumed were detainees when Katie arrived the next morning. She had expected to find only a few cops here and there, exchanging whimsical gibes with one another, but then remembered that this wasn’t a movie.
Susan sent her to the station to have Detective Avery sign off on some requisitions for the Thompson case.
“Excuse me,” Katie said to the officer behind the front desk. “I’m looking for Detective Avery. I have a 10:00 appointment with him.”
“Can I get your name, please?”
“It’s Katie Reid, from the Advocacy Group, regarding the Thompson case.”
The office raised the phone receiver and pressed a few buttons. “Detective Avery, there’s a Miss Katie Reid here to see you. She says she has an appointment.”
Katie watched as the officer nodded and put down the phone.
“You can go on back. Andrews, can you show this young lady where Detective Avery’s office is?” he asked the officer sitting at a desk in what appeared to be a sort of bull pen area.
“Sure. Come on back with me, miss.”
Katie followed Officer Andrews through the maze of hallways. They passed a holding room, the break room, and finally arrived at Detective Avery’s office.
“Thank you, officer.”
Andrews nodded, made a brief gesture of acknowledgement to Detective Avery, and then disappeared.
“Come in, Katie and have a seat. I understand you have a few things for me to sign?”
“Good morning, Detective Avery. Yes, I have a couple of things for you.”
“Please, call me Marshall.” He motioned her to sit.
Katie pulled out a manila envelope from her carrier bag and handed it to him. “Here you go, Detective, I mean, Marshall.” She watched as he read through the paperwork. He was older than she was, by at least ten years, she guessed. His light brown hair was longer than that of the other officers’, not long, but not crew cut either, more styled. He wore street clothes, a blue polo that was sharply pressed and khaki pants with a perfect crease down the middle of each leg. It was late April in San Diego, rarely did men dress in suits, with the possible exception of lawyers.
She noticed his brow furrow with every signature, as if he objected in some way. Katie was just the messenger, so she was not privy to the contents of the requisitions. The detective picked up the newly signed papers, straightened them on his desk and slid them back into the envelope. When he handed it back to her, Katie finally got a full view of his face. Up until that point, he had only briefly made eye contact with her when he introduced himself. Even as they stood in the parking lot yesterday, he was fumbling with his keys as he spoke.
His olive skin stood in stark contrast to his light hair and bright green eyes. They were so perfectly green, she wondered if they were contacts. Although he didn’t seem the type of man to wear colored contacts. No, that had to be his God-given color, beautiful in their shade and tired in their appearance.
“Detective—I’m sorry—Marshall, can I ask how long you’ve been a police officer?”
Marshall’s eyes narrowed at the question. “Seventeen years.”
“So, you must have been what, about twenty then?”
A hint of a smile crossed his face. “Yes, that’s right. I joined the force when I was twenty. That’s very perceptive of you.”
“I guess you could say I’m pretty good at reading people. Did you start off as a beat cop, I think they call it?”
“Sounds like you watch a lot of cop shows on TV, but yes, most of us start on the streets.”
Katie felt at ease with the detective and wanted to inquire further about unsolved cases. “I suppose I do watch a few.” She paused briefly. “I was wondering if you knew anything about when a case goes from active to unsolved and then is filed away. I was curious as to how long it would take and what the criteria would be for a case to be considered cold.”
“That’s a good question. Typically, a cold case is a murder or other felony that has no statute of limitations. Disappearances or cases where a suspect has yet to be identified could be considered cold cases as well. That just means new evidence could present itself, like DNA. Now that we have this technology, it’s not uncommon for police to re-open a cold case if other forensic or DNA evidence becomes available.
“A case would probably turn cold if all leads had been exhausted and no new evidence came into play. The length of time would be determined by the officers in charge of the investigation. They would know the most about it and be able to make that call.”
Katie was engrossed in the detective’s every word, so much so that she hadn’t realized it was her turn to speak.
“Katie?”
“Oh, yes, thank you, Detective Avery. You’ve been a tremendous help.” She gathered her things and made her way to the door.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” He held out the manila folder.
“Thank you,” she said, slightly embarrassed.
“Have a good day and tell Susan ‘hello’ for me.”
“Of course, and thank you again.” She quickly made for the exit.
“Do you have the signatures?” Susan lowered her reading glasses and raised her head above the computer screen, catching sight of Katie as she walked in.
“Yes. Here they are.” She handed her the envelope.
“Great. Thank you. I’d like you to make a few calls to the school for me. Here are the people I need you to contact.” Susan handed over about a dozen business cards. “There’ve been some students having a difficult time and they’d like us to arrange the counselor to come down again. Could you coordinate that for me, please?”
“I’ll get started on it now.”
The coordination effort managed to take up much of the rest of her day. By the time she was finished, she had just enough time to touch base with Jennifer, then she headed for home.
It was nice that the days were getting just a little bit longer. Katie enjoyed watching the sun set on her drive home, instead of it already being dark by the time she left the office. It had a calming effect on her.
She opened the door to her apartment to find Spencer already home. He was rarely home before 8 p.m. and here it was only 7:00.
“Hi there. I didn’t expect you to be home so early. I guess we can sit down for a nice home-cooked meal tonight then?”
“So, I’ll be doing the cooking?” He greeted her with a kiss.
“Ha ha, very funny; but hey, if you’re volunteering?”
Spencer walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. “How was your day?”
“It was good. I’m really enjoying this work. How about you?” She followed him into the kitchen and grabbed a large pot. “How about pasta?” It was her go-to meal.
“Sure. That sounds good.” He took some meat out of the freezer and stuck it in the microwave. “It was busy today, but since I had gone in early, I was able to wrap things up a little earlier than usual.”
“So you got your depositions?” Katie filled the pot with water and set it on the gas s
tove.
“Yep. It was tedious, but we got what we needed. Oh, before I forget, I’ve rescheduled us to review the invitation proofs tomorrow night, instead of Sunday, if that’s okay?”
“Yeah, of course; that should be fine.” Katie actually felt a little excited about seeing how the invitations turned out. Megan, the wedding planner, had sent some samples the other day via e-mail. She forwarded the message to Spencer and left it up to him to make the final decision.
Spencer brought two large plates of pasta to the table while Katie took the bread out of the oven.
“Let me get that for you,” he said, taking the breadbasket from her. “You feel like opening a bottle?”
“Sure. You don’t have to ask me twice.” Katie was beginning to feel that things were getting back to normal between the two of them. They sat down to a pleasant meal where the conversation flowed as freely as the wine.
“That was wonderful, Katie. But I thought you were hungry? You hardly touched your plate.”
“Are you kidding me? Did you see how much you piled on? You’d have thought I was eating for two, which I’m not, so don’t freak out. Besides, I’m supposed to be picking out a dress soon, if you’ll recall. But I enjoyed dinner too, thank you.”
“It was nice to be cooking together, you know. It’s been a while.”
Katie reached for Spencer’s hand. “I know. You know what else would be nice?” She placed her napkin on the table and rose from her chair. “How about I go run us a hot bath?”
Spencer raised an eyebrow. “Should I bring the wine?”
“Meet me in the tub in ten minutes, and yes, bring the wine.” Katie winked as she sauntered into the bedroom.
A small package waited on Katie’s desk when she arrived at work this morning. She picked it up and searched for a name on it. In the top corner was a SDPD stamp.
Inside the brown paper wrapping was a book, a textbook on researching cold cases. When she opened the cover, a note fell out.
“This might help you with whatever it is you’re working on.” It was signed, Marshall Avery.
Apparently, she wasn’t the only one who could read people. She opened up her e-mail and began drafting a message to him.
“Thank you so much for the resource book. I guess I wasn’t very good at hiding my agenda. I’ll return it once I have finished reading it. I’m sure it will be a great tool to aid in my research. Thanks again, Katie.”
She walked into the kitchen for a cup of coffee and on her return, Detective Avery had already sent a reply.
“No problem, Katie. If you need anything or I can be of assistance, outside of the Thompson case, please don’t hesitate to let me know. I am happy to help and enjoy sharing what I’ve learned over the years. Have a good day, Marshall.”
The day seemed to have flown at break-neck speed. When Katie finally had a chance to look at her watch, it was almost five o’clock. She hadn’t forgotten about the appointment at the printers, but still had some time to finish a few things before heading out.
“Katie,” Jennifer called in on the speaker. “Don’t forget you have to leave on time tonight.”
“Thank you for reminding me!”
Just as Katie was packing up for the day, Spencer sent her a text message. “You’re still planning on being there at 6:00, right?”
“Of course! Wouldn’t miss it. C U soon,” she replied and headed out the door.
Traffic was proving to be troublesome, but Katie managed to find an alternate route and made it to the printer’s right at 6:00, as promised. In fact, she was the first to arrive, although Spencer wasn’t far behind. She spotted his car pull into the parking lot as she walked to the entrance of the building.
“Oh good, you made it on time,” she said.
“Yes, well, I did have a longer commute. Shall we go in?” He opened the door, allowing Katie to walk in as he followed closely behind.
“Hi there,” Katie greeted the receptionist. I’m Katie and this is my fiancé, Spencer. We’re here to view our invitation proofs.”
“Hello. I’ll call back to Maggie and she’ll get them for you,” the receptionist replied.
The two of them sat down, waiting for the lady with the proofs. There were samples of several beautiful invitations in a book that sat on the lobby table. Katie began flipping through them to kill time.
The words were almost all the same. “Bobby and Suzy, together with their parents, request the honor of your presence.” Or “Please join Bobby and Suzy as they exchange vows in front of their friends and family.” This one had to be Katie’s favorite and only wished she had thought of it first. “After several years, Bobby has finally asked Suzy for her hand in marriage. Please join…..” Katie chuckled as she showed it to Spencer.
“Are you trying to say something?”
She continued to look through the book, wondering about married life. What would happen after the wedding, when they were expected to live a normal life? She wasn’t even sure what normal was. Her parents certainly weren’t shining examples of a happy marriage. Of course, now she understood why, but the fact remained, unexpected things, dreadful and painful things happen during the course of a marriage. How would she get through it when she was put to the test? Spencer’s parents remained happily married and so, of course, he seemed to have no reservations at all. But Katie was afraid—afraid of failing.
“Katie, Spencer?”
They both glanced up to see a woman holding a brown box.
“Why don’t you two come back with me and we’ll get started.”
Spencer led Katie toward the back office where Maggie was headed. She opened the box and pulled out the proofs.
“Oh my gosh, these look beautiful.” Katie pulled one closer to get a better look.
“Spencer James Harris and Katherine Grace Reid
Together with their parents
Request the honor of your presence…”
“They look amazing,” Spencer said.
Katie had chosen ivory and sage for the colors and she was thrilled with the result. “Yes, these will do, Maggie. Thank you.”
“Okay then. We’ll just need the remainder of the balance in order to go to print. It should take about two weeks.”
Katie was beginning to feel reassured about the wedding. Seeing the invitations made it real for the first time. She loved Spencer and was happy.
Friday morning had arrived and Katie reminded Spencer of her appointment with Dr. Reyes after work. It was supposed to be date night, but Spencer insisted she keep her appointment.
On her way in to work, she remembered the book from Detective Avery. She reached over onto the passenger seat, where her laptop bag rested. In the front pocket was the book, Researching the Cold Case: An Investigative Guide.
The thick textbook must have weighed a couple of pounds. She glanced briefly at the cover and then set it beside the bag. It would make for interesting reading over lunch later today.
The office was quiet when she arrived, which was fairly typical for a Friday. Many of the employees had flexible schedules and Fridays and Mondays tended to be slow. Katie put her bag on the lateral file cabinet behind her desk and then switched on her computer. Before she could sit down, her intercom buzzed in.
“Katie?”
“Yes?”
“Can you come into my office?”
It was Susan. It must be important because she would have sent an e-mail otherwise.
“Of course; I’ll be right in.” Katie grabbed a notebook and pen and joined Susan in her office.
“Good morning. I know you just got here and probably haven’t even gotten your coffee yet, but I’ve been on the phone with Detective Avery and the DA’s office.” Susan started clicking on her computer, appearing to look for something.
Katie’s interest was piqued as she waited for Susan to continue.
“Ah. Here it is.” Susan began reading from the screen. “The department has just received an anonymous tip regarding Isabelle Thompso
n. We will make every effort to exhaust this lead. As our resources will be stretched, we are asking everyone involved with the case to continue their due diligence and assist in any way as may be required by the department. We thank you in advance for your continued support.
“This e-mail was from Detective Avery. I don’t know what new information they’ve received, but we will continue to move things forward on our end. Now, if the detective needs help with any of the data we’ve collected so far, I want you to be at his beck and call. Are you good with that?”
Katie was ecstatic. This was exactly what she wanted, to be more involved and work more closely with the detective. This was her opportunity to learn from him.
“Of course, yes. I’m more than happy to step in and help where I can.”
“Will this be a problem with Richard? It will likely mean less time in his department.”
“I’ll talk with him about it this morning. I’m sure it will be fine.”
Katie wasn’t sure at all. In fact, she suspected it might be a problem. Jennifer could only handle so much.
“Great. I’ll let the detective know he can count on us. In the meantime, continue with compiling the week’s reports for submittal. They’re due by the end of today.”
“I will. Thank you, Susan.” Katie returned to her office. She would have to let Richard know what was going on. That would be the tough part. She began to draft an e-mail, then thought better of it. This would require a conversation in person. Katie buzzed his office. “Richard, do you have a minute?”
“I have a feeling I may already know what’s coming, but yes. Come on up.”