McGaven drove to St. Joseph’s Church located in downtown Pine Valley. He was scheduled to meet with semi-retired Detective Richard Jamison—who handled most of the church’s local donations and headed up the support groups for police officers. He had been the detective assigned to the missing person’s case for Abigail Andrews. It was customary in the opening of cold cases, if at all possible, to speak with the investigating officer at the time of the report. McGaven’s mind wasn’t completely on the case as his thoughts fell back to how Katie was doing in the search and if there was progress being made. He had sent her a text earlier but hadn’t heard back. She was in a rural area and the signal was most likely sketchy. There was only a sprinkling of cars in the church’s parking lot. McGaven stepped out of the sedan, glancing around him. The area was quiet and deserted. Walking to the back door entrance, there was a large white pickup truck with boxes neatly stacked in the back. The door was slightly ajar, so McGaven pushed it open. “Hello? Detective Jamison?” “Yeah, come on in,” came a voice. McGaven walked through the back area where boxes, bins, and large storage containers were organized by group and size. He still didn’t see the detective. “I’m over here,” said the voice. McGaven passed boxes identified as household, kitchen, clothes, and medical, until he came across a man in a corner organizing more boxes. He looked to be in his late fifties, heavyset around the middle, and wearing jeans and a T-shirt. His silver hair made him seem older, but his young-looking face said otherwise. “Detective Jamison?” said McGaven. “I’m Detective Sean McGaven.” “Yes,” he replied and came to McGaven to shake his hand. “Nice to meet you.” “You too. Need a hand?” “No, thank you. I’m just getting some boxes ready for pick up.” McGaven looked around and was impressed by the dedication that the former detective had put into this work. “I just made some coffee. Would you like a cup?” Jamieson asked. “No, thank you, I’m fine,” said McGaven. “I’ve had four cups already this morning.” “Where’s your partner?” “She’s on a special assignment today.” “Too bad. I wanted to meet her. You know… you two are quite the topic among us old-timers.” He smiled and moved a box to sit down on and gestured for McGaven to do the same. “Really?” “Of course. A one hundred percent cold-case solve rate is impressive… and not to mention Detective Scott is quite the dedicated officer.” McGaven laughed. There had been so many situations they had been involved in—and some he hadn’t been sure they would survive. “Yes, she sure is…”
“So, what’s on your mind about the Abigail Andrews case?” the older detective asked. McGaven coordinated his thoughts. “Well, we just reopened the case and have spoken to Mrs. Andrews and looked through some of Abigail’s things. We’ve read through the reports.” “And you want to know my gut on the case. My impressions.” “That would about sum it up. If you can remember.” “Oh, I remember everything about my cases, especially when they were like the Andrews case.” “What do you mean?” asked McGaven, his curiosity piqued. “Everything about the case seemed off. The initial report, the car location, and the area around it.” “We visited the area where the car was found, and it did seem strange. If there was foul play, why didn’t the perp hide the car? It would have been easy and probably no one would have ever noticed it—especially at that location.” “You mean down the ravine?” “Yes.” McGaven reached for his phone and pulled up a photo of the butterfly necklace. He showed it to the retired detective. Jamison put on his glasses and looked at the photo. “You found it where?” “Down that slight hillside.” “I see.” He nodded. “I remember those butterfly pieces of jewelry in her room at her mom’s house.” He examined the photo longer. “You think this was the girl’s?” “Don’t know for sure. But one of the forensic techs is searching the area—just in case there is anything else that might have belonged to her. It could answer some questions, like if there was indeed foul play or not.” “What else could it be?” said Jamison as he looked at McGaven over the top of his glasses. “We’re just reviewing evidence and eliminating things—trying to generate new leads.” The older detective sighed.
“Not to rain on your parade of a perfect cold-case solve rate, but this may be the case you can’t crack.” McGaven chuckled. “I’ve thought that same thing about some of our other cases, but we manage to solve them. But we can only try.” He wasn’t going let anyone derail their cold case at the beginning. Jamison scrutinized McGaven for a moment. “I like your attitude and your resourcefulness.” “What other things stuck out to you?” “Well, the victim’s friends for one. We couldn’t really get solid alibis, but we searched both of their homes and work. Nothing we found seemed suspicious. But each one had the opportunity to make her disappear.” “You mean Anthony Drake and Teri Butler?” “Yeah. Teri seemed genuinely upset that Abigail had gone missing and her car was found. But the boyfriend—Drake—acted a bit cagey about some of the questions we asked. I think it was more due to the fact he had been arrested on some minor substance use charges.” “What about the mom?” “Nothing panned out from there. She seemed truthful and there was nothing that waved a red flag. And don’t forget Mr. Andrews was still alive then. He was angry and frustrated. I get it. I’ve had my own problems with my kids in the past. Thankfully they’ve straightened up and are living great lives now.” He smoothed some tape on a box and seemed to be rehashing things from the investigation over in his mind.
“Do you think that whatever happened to Abigail was because of her lifestyle? Or was it something else? Like wrong place, wrong time?” “At the time I leaned toward her lifestyle. We couldn’t get a beat on why she was at that location to begin with. We worked the case from the perspective that it had been someone close to her, like family and friends. I actually thought we’d find her body too.” “That’s what makes this case difficult,” said McGaven. “The body is everything. It’s what puts the pieces together of what happened and then leaves the who and why for us to figure out.” McGaven thought that was a good way of describing it. “If you were working the case today… what would you revisit first?” He waited patiently for the detective to answer. He already knew what he and Katie were going to do, but still, he respected the detective’s opinion and experience. “I think it starts at the car and finding a connection to it, whether it be some other location, someone who was linked to it, or one of the farms near where it was found. We did a canvass twice, but never turned up anything.” He took his phone and made a note in his day reminder. “I have some of my personal notes from my cases that might have something that would help your case. I’ll email them to you.” “Thank you.”
McGaven felt that Detective Jamison had been consistent with the reports, which meant he did remember his cases well. “Was there anything about the car you noticed at the time? Like if there’d been car trouble?” “No, the keys were in it, which seemed odd.” “Did it start?” said McGaven. “It did, but there was an intermittent starter problem. You know, like when the alternator is failing. It was possibly what happened to her that day.” McGaven nodded and thought it was an interesting point. “Anything I can do, let me know,” said Jamison. “And if I remember anything else that might help, I’ll be sure to contact you directly.” “Thank you, that would be great. It seems like this case doesn’t have much to go on, but I’m optimistic we’ll find something.” McGaven smiled. “After hearing and reading about your partner, I don’t doubt it.” He stood up. “I’m sorry that I wasn’t more helpful. Oh, and please, let me know if you solve it.” “Of course.”
“It would put an unsolved case to bed for me. One less thing to obsess about. You’ll understand when you get older or when you retire. There are always those cases that haunt you.” “I appreciate your time. And it helps to get more perspective on the case. Thanks again.” As McGaven walked back to the car, Detective Jamison’s words rolled through his mind. The body is everything. It’s what puts the pieces together of what happened and then leaves the who and why for us to figure out.
~~~
So many books, so little time! I've been reading Jennifer Chase books for nearly 15 years and have always enjoyed them. (Search Jennifer Chase in the right-hand column to find reviews of other books.) But, as her talent, experience, and creativity has grown, so has her completed books! Wow, The First Girl is an outstanding thriller! It is complex, excellent with location scene descriptions, and keeps readers hooked until the very last page! If I were younger, I would start from the beginning and move through to catch up on this series. Above is the trailer for the 10th book where you will find that the main character, Katie Scott's fiancée has disappeared... So readers will be hearing of Katie's emotional loss as she strives to keep her mind on her latest cold case.
And, as Katie finds it harder to keep her mind on point, I, too, found a reminder as the evil is discovered that has gone on for years resulting in violence--death--against others... Hamas terrorists merged with what was happening in the book...
Detective McGaven are a duo that can't be beat. Scott has an intuitive methodology to her actions, while McGaven provides the logical, the rules-based point of view. I chose the lead characters from the earlier television show Ghost Whisperer, where the roles seem to match the book description of the two... The team are permanently assigned to cold cases. One of the reasons is that Katie is related to the head of the office and other officers have had feelings of nepotism... In this book, though, as things get extremely complex, one officer, in particular, began to see exactly who and why Katie is in her position, and it has nothing to do with anything other than her unique qualities...
But in this book, perhaps as a carry over from the previous, the villain is exceptionally conniving, so much so that Katie has been unable to grab hold of any pieces of the puzzle to begin to put the case together... Until she realizes that they couldn't look just at what was happening. They needed to go back to The First Girl--the beginning and then move forward.
Deep investigation resulted in a possible location where the villain once lived. Katy was once again instrumental in using her extraordinary perception tools, finding a hidden basement which led outside into an area where bodies were found... This was after an accidental location of burial of a girl and her dog was discovered. Only to learn that these were not the only sites of burial... Indeed, still another site was discovered when they found Katie's fiancée, who had been held for months, until he had worked to sharpen plasticware from previous meals and was ready the next time that somebody came...
Readers are left up in the air, though, because almost immediately Chad left to recuperate at his mother's home... But how could Katie recuperate. After all, she had been just as affected about Chad's abduction. And, once he was discovered, there were times when somebody was following Katie and even ran her off the road... Who was doing this--and for which case!??
And then there is the star of the show for everyone... Meet Cisco, a K9 dog with whom Katie served with in the military and who is now constantly by her side... In fact, it was through his efforts that the first site find was made...
...[from] his ex-workers, he confirmed that Dayton would probably stay close and not completely leave the area.” “Why? It seems stupid.” “People who get away with things so long, like Dayton has, have this arrogance and high-mindedness that they like to sit back and watch the police—even clean up clues or people who might get in the way.” “Well, he’s sitting back now.” “Take me to him,” she said. “I don’t know. Shouldn’t you call it in?” “I’m not calling it in until I have proof. Then we would be bringing all the cops here attracting too much attention.” Katie was ready to go, and she wanted to get her hands on Dayton. She could never get the images of those bodies out of her head. She wanted to get this guy no matter what it took. Nick studied her for a moment. “We need to check things out, but you have to promise me that you will call in your troops.” “Of course.” “I mean it, Scotty.” “I will,” she insisted. “I don’t want anything to go wrong to make this guy walk.” “Okay.” “What about Cisco?” “I wanted you to bring him so that you wouldn’t be alone.” “You mean so I would have backup.” She smiled.
And, of course, the statement about getting away with things reminded me of the anniversary, tomorrow, of the January 6th Insurrection... Remember, there are ongoing arrests, but there are still many who have not yet made it into the courts for the accountability that we all want, but is still being denied by MAGA minority followers.
For me, reading fiction novels where the police work to bring the guilty in for accountability is ensured is not only important but gives us a sense of satisfaction which we greatly need these days... And, Jennifer Chase gives me those respites from reality that is needed to keep going, knowing that we must work to ensure accountability continues in America as many are using disinformation across the nation to create a violent atmosphere, which, has proven to be a continuous period in today's world that must be stopped! Watch our President on television today remembering what happened on January 6th!
God Bless,
Gabby
No comments:
Post a Comment