by Robin Mahle
“Don’t worry about it, Kate. I’m not easily offended. This is your first go around and it’s understandable that you’d have questions.”
The more people they spoke with, the more at ease Katie felt. Detective Avery handled each of them with respect and kindness. It became obvious that the more comfortable they felt, the more willing they were to answer his questions. Still, they weren’t any closer to finding the owner of the truck parked on Isabelle’s street that day.
“Listen; let’s go grab a bite for lunch. It’s already 1:00 and I’m sure you must be starving. After that, we only have two more people to question.”
“That sounds good. I am hungry.”
“There’s a great food truck that stops at G Street. We aren’t too far from there and they have the best barbeque pulled pork anywhere in town.”
Katie had never eaten from a food truck, but there was a first time for everything, as she was finding out.
Detective Avery left the truck holding two baskets and approached the table where Katie sat. “I’ll be right back with the drinks.”
Katie looked at the gooey sandwich with barbeque sauce oozing out of the bun. It was piled high with pork.
He set the drinks down and climbed over the bench to sit. “What are you waiting for? Dig in.”
She hesitantly picked up the enormous sandwich and proceeded to take a bite. The thing wouldn’t even fit in her mouth, so she was only able to pick off some of the meat.
“It’s good, right?” Detective Avery said, wiping sauce off the corner of his mouth.
The two were eating and not much was spoken for several minutes. It wasn’t until the detective finished that he finally broke the silence.
“So, what do you think of the book I left for you? Have you had a chance to get into it yet?”
Katie wasn’t quite finished, but it was too big to eat all of it anyway, so she set it down and placed her napkin over top of it. “A little bit, yeah; I took a look at it on Saturday morning and it’s really fascinating. Unfortunately, I’ve got a million things going on right now, so I didn’t get to read too far into it, but I’m hoping to this week.”
“So, you married, Kate?” Detective Avery asked, glancing down at her ring.
“Engaged; due to be married at the end of the year.”
“Congratulations. That must be one of the million things you’ve got going on.”
“Yes, part of it.” She grinned.
“And the rest of it? You mentioned going back to school or something and studying forensics?”
Katie felt guilty for lying to him after their first meeting. After watching him question people all morning, she spotted the same look in his eyes when he asked her about this. He was looking for something she might be concealing.
She never was a very good liar and cast her eyes downward, searching for an answer he would buy. “Yeah. I was thinking about it. I’m not sure yet. With the wedding and all, I’ve been pretty busy.”
“Uh huh,” the detective nodded. “You know, I thought it was interesting that you requested to join this case. Didn’t you work in what--fund raising or something—for the Advocacy Group before?”
“Yes, I did some research too, but I was looking to make a difference and find something more rewarding.” Katie thought she sounded as though she was interviewing for a job.
“After you asked me for help the other day, I went back through my collection and found that book. Then I thought, cold cases are an interesting and very specialized unit; not a common subject for someone wanting to study forensics.”
Katie’s pulse began to rise, wondering if he knew. It wouldn’t take much to run her name through a database. Although she had been a minor, her parents would have been on record for filing the missing person’s report, not to mention the local media stories. She wasn’t ready to tell anyone else about what happened to her. Certainly not someone she’d only met a few weeks ago.
“Well, anyway, I hope the book helps. Don’t hesitate to ask me anything. I’m not an expert in that area, but I can point you in the right direction. I’ll help where I can, Kate.”
She heard the sincerity in his voice and was grateful he didn’t pursue the issue any further.
“You ready to get out of here? We still have a couple of people to talk to, then I’ll let you be on your way.” Detective Avery gathered the baskets, tossing the trash away and returned the baskets to the truck. The shade from the trees lined the sidewalk on his return and his face was obscured in shadow.
She watched his approach carefully. He walked with such confidence. The man was proving to be a very fascinating individual. It was as though he could look right through a person; see their true intentions. Something she’d have to keep an eye on the more closely they worked.
The two drove off to speak to the next person on the list. Katie had been unable to decide and Detective Avery was unwilling to reveal which of the leads had been the sex offenders. Her assumption was that it would be obvious, but so far, she had been wrong about many things today.
Approaching the door, Detective Avery cautiously glanced into the front window. The curtains were pulled back slightly, which only allowed him to see a small section of the living room.
He knocked on the screen door. “San Diego Police. I’d like to ask you a few questions, Mr. Johansen.
They stood there for a few moments, with no reply. He knocked again.
“Mr. Johansen, this is Detective Avery from the San Diego Police Department, can I speak with you, sir?”
He looked back at Katie and nodded, as if to say, everything’s fine. Had she appeared nervous?
Just as they were about to leave, the door opened. A man, appearing to be in his mid to late twenties stood in a t-shirt and denim shorts, looking like a surfer. He was clean shaven with short, highlighted hair. The screen door remained closed as Detective Avery began questioning the man.
He behaved differently, more guarded than the others. But surely, he was not one of them, not this handsome, albeit thin, man around the same age as she was. Maybe his behavior was just reactive, as if he was used to the police coming to his door.
“Sir, can you tell me if you were in the vicinity of San Miguel Drive on April 10th?”
“No, I was at work, like I am every day. What is this about, Detective…?”
“Avery. Were you in possession of your vehicle on that day? The white Chevy pickup?”
“No, sir; I let a friend borrow it a few weeks ago. Dumbass let it get jacked a few days later.”
“Stolen? And has it since been recovered?” Detective Avery asked.
“Hell no, I’ve had to bum rides for the past two weeks. You find it, you let me know, detective.”
“Of course. Thank you, Mr. Johansen. I appreciate your time. By the way, is there any way to reach your friend who borrowed the truck? I’d like to ask him some questions.”
“Good luck trying to find him. He lets my ride get stolen, then skips out on the 200 bucks he owes me.”
“Does this friend have a name?”
“Hernandez. Steven Hernandez.”
“Thank you, Mr. Johansen.” Detective Avery motioned Katie to follow as they walked back to his car.
Katie got back into the passenger seat. Detective Avery said nothing more. He started the car and pulled away. It wasn’t for several more minutes that he began to speak.
“Michael Johansen said his truck was stolen a few weeks ago. That would have been somewhere around the 12th or 13th, a few days after Isabelle disappeared.”
“Right,” she said, waiting for further explanation.
“The witness said the truck had been there at that same time for at least two days. This guy’s friend is nowhere to be found, no truck to be found, either. I never said why I was there. I only asked whether he was around San Miguel on the 10th.”
“Okay, I’m not sure I follow you exactly.” Katie was good at figuring things out, but this was well beyond her reach. She didn’t think
like a detective; she couldn’t even tell whether this man was one of the offenders. This was far outside her wheelhouse and it scared her.
“This case has been all over the news, but we usually leave details out, in this case, where the victim lives. As far as the general public knows, Isabelle was taken on her way to school; they don’t know she lived on San Miguel. The neighbors do, of course, but certainly Johansen, who lives several blocks away, wouldn’t know that unless he knew her. So, she disappeared on the 10th. Doesn’t it seem a little strange that Johansen said his ‘friend’ had borrowed his truck and a few days later it was stolen? The timing of his story seems a little too suspicious. Nope, I’ve got a bad feeling about this one.
It won’t be hard to find out where he works, since he’s registered. And, he never reported the truck stolen because it would have come up on the search.”
“He’s registered?” she asked.
“He’s a Level 2 sex-offender. We know everything about him. It’s getting late in the day, I can handle the last one. I’ll go ahead and take you back to the station. You’ll need time to draft the reports from the interviews.”
* * *
With little time left, she returned to her office to write up the reports. The day had proven to be more difficult than at the onset. Her eagerness to learn from the detective ended with her exposing an apprehensive and naïve girl who had no business entering a world of which she knew nothing. He must have seen as much.
As she compiled the interview with Johansen, it occurred to her that if she continued on this path to finding her captor, it would likely be someone far worse than Michael Johansen. This wasn’t a game; this was real and she would be dealing with a very real and very dangerous individual. Spencer was right to be concerned.
“I hear you did a great job today.”
Susan stood in the doorway, startling Katie.
“Sorry about that, didn’t mean to scare you. I got a call from Detective Avery. He said you handled yourself extremely well today and he was very impressed.” Susan walked into the office. “You know, he doesn’t usually call on us to accompany him on interviews personally. We usually get assigned a section of the search area to speak with the neighbors and gather as much information as we can. The leads are handled directly by the police. You must have made quite an impression on him last week.”
“I did tell him that I was interested in studying forensics. I suppose he wanted to show me what I’d be dealing with. It was… intense.” That was putting it mildly.
“Well, he was certainly pleased. I’ll let you finish up the reports. Once I’ve approved them, I’ll send them off to Avery. Thanks for representing us well out there today. I’m sure this will have a positive impact when it comes time for budgeting.”
Katie graciously nodded her head and continued with her reports.
She had missed her deadline by an hour. It was already six and Susan had gone home along with most everyone else in the office. But she said nothing on her way out and so Katie assumed the detective’s high praise gave her a pass. Susan was not the type to give out passes often and so Katie would not test her goodwill again.
It was still light when she arrived back at the apartment that evening, signaling that spring was nearing its end and summer was coming. Spencer would be home late as his team prepared for trial. Such was the life with which she would grow accustomed. However, this gift horse would provide her an opportunity to continue perusing the cold case textbook Detective Avery lent her.
Continuing where she left off, Katie read about something called NamUs, the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. This system was available to the general public in addition to coroners, medical examiners, and law enforcement. There were three separate databases that could be searched: The Missing Persons database, in which anyone could enter information about a missing person, but it had to be verified by NamUs first; then, there was the Unidentified Persons database, which could also be searched by anyone, and contained data on bodies that have not been identified. Finally, the Unclaimed Persons database, for people who had been identified, but no next of kin had been found.
She began to think of the possibilities. Could the other children, whose disappearance the police suspected had been connected with hers, be included in one of these databases? Was it likely though? Given the fact that the reports had been filed on each victim long ago and if a body was discovered, the local police would easily be able to identify them; unless, of course, identification was impossible. The thought sent a chill through her body.
Katie didn’t know if anything that happened in her dreams actually occurred or not, save for the escape, but the thought of what could have happened to those other poor kids who didn’t escape, well, it was too much to think about.
The focus had to be on how this information could help her. Was it possible to dig up any information that would give cause to the Rio Dell police department to reopen the investigation? Was this what she really wanted, especially after today?
Katie set the book down and walked into the kitchen to pour herself a glass of wine. With her wheels spinning, she thought perhaps she did have something. Now that she could recall at least some details albeit uncertain of what happened and what didn’t; would that be enough to reopen the case?
What do I have, really? Some random memories about being chased in the woods? That I had a scarf tied around my eyes and I was kept in a dark room? Frustration grew at the seemingly wasted time spent on her hypnotherapy. Nothing of any significance had been uncovered.
It was in that moment that she knew. Oh my God, the necklace. The missing girl from Arcata wore a necklace in her school picture. I remember now. It was a heart pendant; something as ordinary as a little girl’s heart pendant necklace in a school picture. It was the same one I saw in the dark room during my last session. And, the necklace I saw on that woman at the fundraiser. God, my mind has been trying to show me this whole time. How could I have not seen it before? What was it about the necklace? Does this connect our two cases?
13
KATIE VACILLATED BACK and forth for the next few days as she tried to figure out how to handle this newly unveiled information. This would be a giant step in getting the case reopened and that would have dramatic consequences on her relationship. Spencer would not be supportive of her flying home and digging up more of her past. And, would it be possible to continue to be productive on the Thompson case while her mind was occupied with her own abduction?
Maybe it was time to ask someone who was detached from the situation; someone who could offer realistic advice as to whether she had enough to warrant a new investigation. She trusted Detective Avery and that was whom she needed to consult, even if it meant sacrificing the responsibilities of her new position.
* * *
Thursday morning, Katie e-mailed Detective Avery to request a meeting. She hadn’t heard from him all week and wondered how the investigation was going and if Michael Johansen had been a legitimate lead. There was still no word on Isabelle’s whereabouts. It had been nearly three weeks since she went missing and the media had all but forgotten about her. Everyone involved was still doing their part, but it was becoming apparent that the case was growing cold. Especially if what Detective Avery said was true, in that a child’s best chance of returning home alive was only within a three-hour window, then this might just be a recovery mission at this point. That made it all the more important to Katie to continue her own search. Detective Avery would have the answer.
Later that day, he responded to her e-mail and set up a meeting for Friday morning, after the team meeting held at her office. After days of uncertainty, she would learn the course of her actions with his help.
* * *
Katie sat in the conference room, waiting for the rest to arrive as she had before. Punctuality was one of her strong suits. However, Detective Avery was not far behind.
“Good morning, Kate. Nice to see you again.”
“Good mo
rning, Detective Avery.”
“It’s Marshall, remember?”
“Of course, Marshall; can I get you some coffee?” Katie walked over to the credenza at the back of the conference room where a coffee bar had been set out for the meeting. “I’m getting one for myself, if you’d like one.”
“Sure, that’d be great. Black, one sugar, please.”
Katie handed Marshall his coffee and took her seat. Susan arrived, followed by the assistant district attorney.
“Good morning, everyone. Why don’t we get started?” Susan opened the meeting and began going through the agenda.
This meeting was only a formality to ensure the proper channels were being followed as they related to community relations and media press releases. The assistant DA knew the case was heading towards a dead end, with one exception; Detective Avery’s lead on Johansen.
“Detective Avery, I understand you and your team have been working diligently on the Johansen lead. According to Captain Hearn, you are still exploring this lead?”
“That’s right. We haven’t ruled him out just yet,” Marshall replied.
“And, from your standpoint, Susan, your team is assisting the detective with documenting neighbor interviews? We need to be sure we are letting the public know that the Victim Assistance Coordinating Council is out there to help anyone who feels they might have any information on Isabelle’s location.”
“Yes; we are at the detective’s beck and call and are assisting in any way possible. The public coordinating effort has helped ease the tensions between the community and the Thompson mother. As I’m sure you are aware, the media has swayed the public point of view in such a manner as to condemn the mother, justifiably so or not,” Susan replied.
Detective Avery jumped in. “We haven’t ruled out the mother yet, either. She remains an investigative lead along with the others.”
“We’d like more than just leads at this point, Detective. I’ve got the mayor and the city manager breathing down my neck about the negative press. With tourist season kicking into high gear, they’ve made it clear they do not want this blemish on the city,” The assistant DA replied.