Chapter 19
NINETEEN
Katie sipped a beer until Arson Investigator Ames showed up.
When she had spoken to him on the phone earlier, he had agreed to chat tonight and suggested the Night Owl.
It was as good a place as any and no one would pay them any attention; a cop meeting up with an arson investigator for a drink after a long shift.
Katie tapped the side of her bottle impatiently.
He was already ten minutes late. At least it gave her time to think about the case, which was always on her mind anyway.
She thought over whether the same person had left all the body parts and what the significance was of Rockview and Pine Valley for them.
“Hey,” said Ames, a little breathless as he sat down. “Sorry I’m late.”
“It’s okay. Thank you for seeing me,” she said.
Katie noticed Ames had showered, his hair was still slightly wet, and he had on a clean shirt and pants. He ordered a beer then turned to Katie.
“I’m assuming you want to talk about what I found on my run.”
Katie nodded. She couldn’t help but notice his intense dark-blue eyes. She wasn’t quite sure how to broach the subject that his blood was found near the crime scene without sounding like she was making an accusation. “We found something interesting.”
Ames took a swig of his beer. “Sounds ominous.”
“I wanted to talk to you first and let you know.”
“I don’t understand.”
Katie knew she was stalling. She had to be professional and just tell him. “Cisco and I did a search to try to find where the perpetrator might have entered and exited the scene.”
“Okay,” he said. “What did you find?”
It was as if he was trying to help her get to the point.
“Cisco found a napkin with blood on it, so we took it to the lab and they found a match.”
He watched her closely. It was unclear if he was curious or already knew what she had discovered.
“The blood type and DNA matches yours,” she said.
“What? The blood was mine?”
She nodded.
Ames leaned back, thinking. Katie thought he was going to get mad.
But instead, he laughed. “You do realize I run in that area almost every day.”
Katie nodded and sipped her beer.
“Detective, it was probably in my pocket and somehow fell out and got taken by the wind to land near the crime scene.”
Katie chose her words carefully. “It is slightly plausible that a napkin with your blood on it would end up at a crime scene that you called in.” She hesitated. “Did you have the napkin in your pocket when you found the dismembered arm? Where does the blood come from?”
Ames laughed. It seemed honest and lighthearted. Katie was surprised, but very curious about his reaction.
“Am I on your list of suspects?” he said, diverting the question.
“No. But we have to look at everything.”
“And did you report this to my supervisor?” His face was serious and it was as if he stared through her.
“No. Three of us know—my partner and our head of forensics… and now you.”
“I see.”
“I will need to put my findings in a report for the sheriff at some point.”
“But you haven’t yet?” he said, moving a little closer.
“No. I wanted to talk to you first.”
There were loud voices as two people entered the bar.
“Do you think I’m dangerous?” he said with little expression, testing her boundaries.
“At this point—no.”
He laughed again, but there was something different in his tone this time. The way he looked at her made her feel uncomfortable.
“Look, Detective, I grab things to eat all the time. That napkin probably ended up in my pocket when I was running.”
Katie remained quiet.
“I have a usual running area and that day I changed it up a bit.”
“That doesn’t help. It shows that the day you changed your route was the day you found the arm.”
“What, like I was giving myself an alibi?” He softened his demeanor. “Detective, you are welcome to check out my house, what I was wearing, the station, whatever you want to that will help you see I’m not involved.”
“Thank you,” was all that she managed to say. “Why was there blood?”
Ames pulled up a sleeve to reveal a mess of scabs and scarring on the arm with a bandage. Katie assumed they were from burns and decided not to ask. It might be a difficult incident that he might not want to share.
“In my line of work you get injuries all the time—and sometimes worse. It was part of the job before I became an arson investigator.”
Katie felt a twinge in her gut. She almost felt bad. But she had to check out every single clue. “Okay.”
“Another please,” said Ames to the bartender. He looked back at Katie, studying her. “You look like you run.”
“Yes.”
“Come on my run with me and you can time how long it takes to get from the firehouse to the crime scene.”
“I don’t know if that would be necessary,” she said.
“And I’ll do you one better. See this watch?”
Katie knew it was an advanced fitness watch—it recorded all sorts of information and was fairly accurate.
“I have my miles, destination, and my physical responses recorded for that day. I’ll download that day’s data and email you the results. Sound good?” he said.
Katie nodded. “That would be great.”
Ames grabbed the fresh beer and took a long drink. Katie wasn’t sure if he was angry, concerned, or even annoyed. Either way, she would be able to cross off the arson investigator once and for all.
“When’s the next time you run?” he said.
“I try to run every day—work and weather permitting.”
“I’m off for the next twenty-four hours. Meet me at the firehouse and I’ll take you on the run I did on Saturday. You can verify the information from my watch.”
“I don’t—”
“C’mon, Detective, you run anyway—this time it’s part work.”
“Can Cisco come?” she said.
“Your war dog?”
“Yes.” Katie thought it was strange he knew Cisco was with her in the military.
“Of course. If that makes you feel safer,” he said, showing a boyish and almost mischievous smile.
“Firehouse 0700,” she said.
“Affirmative, Detective.”
Katie didn’t want to run with Ames, but anything for the case. She could handle an hour in his company.
“Goodnight,” she said.
“Sleep well, Detective.”
Katie left the bar and walked to her car. She couldn’t place why she felt a pit in her stomach. She wasn’t typically anxious, but she had a sense she was waiting for the sky to fall. Or tomorrow to throw up another body part.