Chapter 48
FORTY-EIGHT
Katie and McGaven found themselves near the crime scene on Heritage Drive.
They had located Martin Sills and were on their way to meet with him.
Officially, he was the owner of the land on Heritage Drive, though it still wasn’t completely clear what his connection to the property was, but the attorney wasn’t available and they kept getting the runaround. They’d soon find out the truth.
“I’m beginning to think that first property has some link to the case besides the obvious,” said Katie. “I’m beginning to think that everyone isn’t who they say they are.”
“I can see those wheels turning again,” McGaven said as he took a right turn onto Bella Lane.
“There are too many things that are unusual, but in a weird sort of way they’re beginning to fit like some type of puzzle.”
“A killer’s puzzle?”
“Everything that’s going on is crazy,” she said.
“Maybe talking to the property owner will help.”
“You spoke to him?”
“Yeah, he said he was Martin Sills.”
“How big is the land?” said Katie.
“A little over twenty-five acres.”
McGaven kept driving as the private road narrowed.
There were tire tracks coming and going, so it was being used; the fine gravel crunched under the sedan’s tires as they slowly moved forward.
The overgrowth became denser and made you feel as if you couldn’t tell where you were going. It was claustrophobic.
“Are you on the right road?” said Katie.
Trees and heavy brush surrounded them for a while longer until they finally drove into a small clearing with a modern log cabin.
It wasn’t a large house by any means, but it appeared to have been built recently with new logs and fresh walkways.
There was a small white older-model pickup truck parked.
“Did you know about this cabin?” she said.
“No. He made it seem like he was meeting us in a field. Nothing about a house.” McGaven pulled up in front. “Well, let’s see what’s going on,” he said.
The detectives got out of the car and slowly walked toward the entrance. There was no sound, which seemed odd. There were no other buildings, storages, or garage. It almost felt like they were in a soundproof area due to the surrounding trees, bushes, and foliage.
Katie shrugged and walked to the front door and knocked. She stepped to the side of the doorway and waited. She thought she heard movement, but wasn’t sure. McGaven made a wide walk around to see if there was anyone about. It was a place where they could easily be ambushed.
Katie knocked again and then eyed McGaven. She knew her partner felt a strange unease because she did too.
Still no answer, so Katie joined McGaven.
“What do you think?” she said, keeping watch.
“I think we’ve been played.”
“But why?” After she said that, she knew. That man, the killer she chased, was still a few steps ahead of them.
“Let’s look around,” McGaven said.
She nodded.
Katie went to the truck and casually looked in the windows.
The vehicle was clean and empty. She touched the hood; it was cold.
There was nothing in the bed. She decided to call in the license plate to find out the registered owner.
As she waited for dispatch she kept a visual on McGaven, who slowly walked a grid, which she thought was interesting.
“Three-six-nine-two. The vehicle, a 2014 Toyota truck, is registered to a Martin Sills, PO Box 178, Pine Valley.”
“Thank you. Ten-four.” She met up with McGaven. “The truck is registered to Martin Sills.”
“So where is he?”
“Let’s look around more. I’ll take the cabin.”
Her partner nodded.
Katie walked cautiously and unholstered her weapon, but kept it pointed down—for now. There was a soft breeze blowing away from her, which caused movement in the trees and she could distinctly smell the fragrance of wild jasmine. It was nice and even a bit relaxing, but then the scent changed.
Katie went around the cabin to a small backyard with a wooden deck.
She saw the evidence first before the smell.
There was a shattered back window that had left glass on the decking with the heavy, distinct smell of a decomposing body.
Covering her nose with one hand, she kept her weapon ready in the other.
She stepped onto the deck and moved toward the broken window—and that’s when she saw it. A dead body that had been there for a while on its side in the kitchen. Gases had built up during decomposition and the pressure ultimately exploded out, causing the window to shatter.
“Ugh,” said Katie and she turned to get her partner.
“What is it?” said McGaven, seeing her jog toward him. He hurried to meet her and stopped. “Oh,” he said knowing what it was.
“We have to call this in,” she said.
“Who is it?”
“I don’t know. I can’t tell if it’s male or female. It’s pretty bad.”
McGaven wrinkled his nose as they moved toward the truck. “If that’s Sills, then who did I talk to?”
“Good question. We’re going to get some answers.”
“At least we seem to be on the right trail,” he said. “What does it take for decomp to reach this stage?”
“Three to maybe seven days. I’m not sure. The medical examiner will have to answer that one.”
“I’ll call it in.” McGaven pulled his phone out of his pocket.
“We need to have extra officers searching the area,” she said. “We need to search his house and vehicle. Make sure an electronic search warrant is in place.”
“Yep.”
“This shows us that this property is somehow connected,” she said. “I wonder if that black truck has ever been seen here? The one Ames said he saw.”
“What about using Cisco?”
“We’ll see. I want him to rest for now.”
Three patrol cruisers, the morgue van, and the crime scene unit had all arrived and were fanned out in front of the cabin. Yellow crime scene tape had been wrapped around the cabin and railing.
Katie was instructing the deputies where the search needed to be done.
“Okay, since we only have three of you…” she began.
Then she saw Chris driving in and she raised a hand in acknowledgment.
“Scratch that, we have four now. I want two teams—one person slightly in front of the other. Space yourselves about three feet apart. I need you to begin behind the cabin and then on both sides.”
“How far?” said one of the deputies.
“We need to cover as much as we can on this property. Bring water with you.”
“What are we primarily looking for?”
“Anything that doesn’t seem to need to be there. But what we need is something the owner or our suspected killer might have left behind. Nothing is too insignificant. Once you find something don’t touch it, but report to John. Be careful.”
The officers left to pair up and begin their search. The morgue had bagged and taken the body and was in the process of loading what was left of it into the van.
“You ready?” said McGaven.
“Ready as I’ll ever be.”
After getting gloves and some strong ointment with menthol and camphor for their nasal passages, they were prepared to enter the cabin.
John joined them for a moment. “You guys good?”
“Yep,” said McGaven.
“Be careful in the kitchen. Don’t step past the small cones.”
Katie nodded. She and John shared a quick smile, then he left to go about his duties outside.
“Ladies first,” said McGaven with his usual sense of humor to help lighten the heaviness of one of the worst aspects of the job.
This was not what Katie had thought they were going to be doing today. She felt a twinge of anxiety from yesterday, but today was another piece of the puzzle and they had to figure out where it fit—if at all.
Katie took a deep breath, filling her nose with a pleasant effervescence.
She stood in the doorway and noticed the interior of the cabin was very modern and seemed to have been built within the last decade.
The logs were exposed along the walls and high ceiling as part of the esthetic.
It was small and she estimated the entire cabin to be approximately twelve hundred square feet.
She walked into the living room. The sofa and two chairs were modern, along with the prints on the wall. It was decorated in a simple way with no pretty pillows or delicate framed photos, which led Katie to believe there was just a man living there. Nothing seemed to be out of place.
“If the person was murdered, it didn’t happen in here,” she said.
There were two bedrooms and a bath along with the kitchen, breakfast nook, and a small office alcove.
Katie moved toward the kitchen area, which told a completely different story.
Cupboards were open, dishes were broken, and the refrigerator was partly open due to grocery items blocking the door from closing.
A knife block that had six slots was on the floor and the knives weren’t immediately visible.
“Maybe the vic, Sills, was killed with a knife?” she said.
“There was no way of telling how he died, but judging by this mess. There had to be a struggle.”
“How old was Sills?”
“Fifty-two, widowed, and retired from the construction trade.”
Katie thought about that and wondered if he had gotten involved in something that turned deadly or if he was just an unsuspecting victim in a web of lies and murder.
There was a notepad on the floor that was covered in blood and decomposition fluids. “John needs to document and collect this,” she said.
McGaven took notes.
Katie went to the first bedroom, which appeared to be a guest room. A bed, small dresser, and a rocking chair were the only things in the room. There was no nightstand or lamp.
Katie slowly walked down the hallway and stopped at a closed door. It appeared to be the bathroom. She opened the door and then quickly stepped back.
“What’s up?” McGaven said.
Katie moved to let her partner see the room. “We need this processed carefully. I don’t want to contaminate or be exposed to this.”
McGaven looked into the carnage. There was blood spattered on the walls, sink, toilet, across the shower doors. There was a dismembered arm lying in the shower, which appeared to have been decomposing for a day or two.
“Did not expect this,” he said.
“This killer isn’t going to stop,” said Katie. “He’s like a runaway train and he’s getting more brazen. We all need to be careful.”