Chapter 28
TWENTY-EIGHT
Katie quickly found Shelby’s little house, which appeared more like a bungalow.
It was an older home along a quiet, tree-lined street.
Most of the other houses were bigger and remodeled to more of an updated standard.
There was no driveway, so Katie parked on the street.
McGaven downed the last bit of his coffee.
The detectives got out of the car, surveying the area up and down the quaint street. It seemed like a little jewel in the middle of the city.
“Nice,” said McGaven.
Katie thought so too. The small front yard consisted of creative stepping stones with colorful accents.
Along the front of the small bungalow was greenery that would reveal beautiful flowers in spring.
The front windows were dark as the drapes were pulled tightly.
Since they didn’t know the exact timing of the abduction, it was unclear if she was taken from her home or somewhere between there and work.
The detectives walked from the sidewalk across the stepping stones. Katie moved slowly, paying attention to the ground to see anything Shelby or someone else might have dropped. But there was nothing out of the ordinary.
There was a small colorful welcome mat with cute faces of cats. Katie knocked on the door.
The detectives waited and listened. Nothing. Just quiet. It was what they had expected.
She shrugged to her partner and then inserted the key into the lock and turned. The ornate antique door disengaged and Katie pushed open the door. It was dark inside. The curtains were drawn, filling the room with creepy shadows from the furniture.
The detectives stood at the entry, pulling on their gloves. They didn’t know what they were stepping into but it was important not to disturb anything unnecessarily.
Katie moved ahead and turned on a table lamp, revealing one large room resembling a retro cabin.
Katie looked around, getting an overview of the residence.
It had a part-antique and part-modern twist. Katie assumed the furniture and lamps were what had been provided and the other personal things belonged to Shelby.
Nothing appeared to indicate a struggle or something more sinister.
The room was divided into three main areas: bedroom, living room, and kitchen with a small bathroom at the end of the house.
The sofa, coffee table, two end tables, and dining table seemed to be antique pieces of furniture while the decoration like pillows, blankets, and decorations in the kitchen appeared to be more personal.
Katie took a closer look at everything in the living room and realized there were books and other items missing from the shelf.
There were definite spots where she could see something had sat, due to the heavier dust around them.
Why? She checked behind the pillows and in drawers.
Nothing was hidden or seemed out of place.
She moved to the kitchen. It was clean, no dishes in the sink or drying rack, indicating that the last time Shelby was home she cleaned up everything before leaving. When she opened the small refrigerator, the awful smell of spoiled food hit her.
“Yuck. That’s rank,” said McGaven.
She quickly shut it. The smell seemed to float around the place. “I think it’s been about two months.” Katie wrinkled her nose and tried to get away from the stench of obvious old garbage.
“So we can’t pinpoint it,” he said. “But maybe receipts in the trash or takeout boxes might help?”
“I don’t see any photos—do you?” she said, looking around.
“No.”
Katie moved to the bedroom area behind an intricate beige folding screen.
She looked through drawers and a small box on top of the dresser.
There were only a few pieces of jewelry—a watch, two bracelets, and a necklace.
There were two empty picture frames that were still not put back together correctly, as if someone had been in a hurry to take out the photo.
There were empty envelopes that could have held photos too.
“She seemed to be either really frugal or she was keeping things simple.”
“Like she could leave anytime?”
“I don’t know…” said Katie.
“The yoga studio owner said she was in debt. It makes sense she was on a strict budget.” He looked around more. “When I get back to the office I’ll run a background check and see what shakes out.”
Katie was just about to wrap up and get ready to leave when they heard a loud bang and then the screech of a window.
They both instinctively drew their guns and slowly headed toward the bathroom. The door was partway closed. There was another bang.
The detectives were on each side of the doorway.
Katie gave a nod and she kicked the door open. With her gun directed forward, she saw a young man with short dark hair dressed in a T-shirt and jeans straddling the windowsill. He had one tattoo on his inside arm of a wolf and the other appeared to be some type of tribal pattern.
“Don’t move!” said Katie. She couldn’t believe someone was breaking in.
As if he had read Katie’s mind, he said, “I’m not breaking in. I’ve been looking for Shelby.”
McGaven moved forward and pulled the man inside. “Who are you?”
“I’m Tyler,” he said with his voice shaking.
“Tyler what?”
“Tyler Brandt.”
McGaven turned him around and did a quick search for any weapon.
“What are you doing here?” she said.
“I’m trying to find Shelby…” Tyler was clearly upset.
“C’mon,” said Katie and steered him toward the living room.
The detectives studied the young man as he sat on the couch staring back.
“Are you Shelby’s boyfriend?”
“No, well, kinda.”
“Yes or no,” said McGaven. “If we don’t like the answers, we can take you in.”
“Look,” Tyler began. “We hang out together. I really like her.”
“When was the last time you saw her?” said Katie.
“It’s been a while, which doesn’t make sense.”
“How long is a while?”
“About two months… We were supposed to meet at this coffee place.”
“On Pine?”
“Yeah, how did you know?”
“When she got off work?”
“Yeah… she’s a yoga instructor.”
Katie sighed. “So why are you here?”
“I’ve checked places where she would go and I haven’t seen her. Her phone went directly to voicemail and now nothing…”
Katie eased up a bit and holstered her weapon. “Look at this from our point of view.”
“I know… but if you’re here… then that means… Oh God… something happened to her.”
McGaven holstered his weapon and sat next to the devastated young man. “Tyler, we’re sorry to have to tell you this but Shelby is dead,” he said.
“No… no…” He started to cry. “How? When?”
Katie looked at her partner. “We can’t divulge the details yet due to the ongoing investigation.”
“Which means… it’s bad, really bad.”
Katie softened her voice and sat in a chair across from him. “We’re working hard to try to find out who did this. What can you tell us about Shelby? Anything different? Anything bothering her recently? New people in her life?”
“No. Everything seemed fine. She is such a… was a great person and honestly cared about others. Even though she didn’t have any family, she still cared about other people.” He wiped his face and tried to pull himself together.
“How did you meet her?” said Katie.
“At the coffee house about two years ago.”
“Has anyone ever bothered her there?”
“No. Like I said, everything seemed normal…” He fidgeted. “I can’t believe she’s gone.”
“Okay, Tyler, we need you to come down to the department and make a statement. Can you do that?”
“Of course.”
Katie pulled out her small notebook. “We need your full name, home address, and where you work.”
Tyler nodded. “Tyler Anthony Brandt. My address is 1299 Brown Valley Road, apartment 6.”
“Where do you work?”
“Carriage House Restaurant.”
“Waiter?”
“Yeah.”
“Did Shelby visit you at the restaurant?” said Katie.
“Sure. She would wait for my shift to end and then we would go next door to the hotel and have a drink or sit at the pool area. Sometimes talking for hours.” He tried to smile.
Katie could see how much he was grieving. She knew that hotel; it was a high-end establishment. “Tyler, did anything unusual ever happen at the restaurant or hotel when you were there with Shelby?”
He shook his head. “No. Oh wait. There was a guy who would watch us at the hotel sometimes. The only reason I noticed was he wore thick clothes when it was warm… strange stuff like that.”
“How often?”
“Not every time.”
“Did Shelby notice him?”
“I don’t think so. She never said anything and I didn’t want to draw attention to him.”
“What did he look like?” said McGaven.
“Average. Dark hair, I think. He always had a baseball cap on or a hood. Sometimes a leather jacket. I got a feeling he was hiding something or he didn’t want to be seen.”
“How old?”
“I don’t know… I’m not good at that. Thirty maybe forty?”
“Where can we take you?” said Katie.
“My car is down the street.”
“Okay. Please go to the department to make that statement today.”
“Otherwise, we will find you,” said McGaven.
Tyler stood up. “Of course.”
“Here’s my card,” said Katie. “Call us if you remember anything or see that man again. Understand?”
Tyler nodded. “Can I go?”
The detectives escorted him to the front door.
“Detectives? Please find who killed Shelby.” He looked at each of them and then left.
Katie stayed quiet for a moment. “What do you think? Maybe a good person for Deputy Anderson to watch?”
“Absolutely,” said McGaven.