Page 56 of Race to Save Her

“They’re going to have to have someone with some type of electric shears or saw to free Shelby.”

“If we don’t have the proper tool, maybe fire does?” he said.

“Good point.”

Katie headed back to see if they could find anything else of interest before Shelby was removed and taken to the medical examiner’s office. She looked at the metal restraint again and was extremely interested in seeing it completely. The flat metal had unusual corners that weren’t squared, looking as if a piece of it had been removed for a specific reason. It was an important clue, but she didn’t quite know how or why yet. How did everything they were discovering link up?

The detectives spent another half hour looking at every detail and for clues close to the body, near the edge, but nothing else seemed to come to light. A fire department unit in a pickup truck came to the scene to assist releasing Shelby with the least amount of disturbance to the body and any potential clues.

Katie approached John. “Is there any way they can keep that metal piece whole?”

“I don’t know. It’ll have to be sawed in half most likely, but we’ll do the best we can.”

She nodded. “Thanks.”

The detectives walked back to their cars. Katie caught up McGaven on what had happened at Ames’s house the night before.

“One thing is for sure,” said McGaven. “This case has a lot of moving parts.”

THIRTY-THREE

Thursday 1045 hours

Katie and McGaven went straight to work once they arrived back at their office. Katie worked on the crime scene photos, locations, and potential persons of interest, while McGaven searched databases and law enforcement files for any other cases with some of the same aspects as theirs.

Katie lined up photos and attached them to the wall—in order. It was horrible scrutinizing human limbs and wondering what had happened to the rest of the bodies. And why were they hidden in a special place under the floorboards? And who had built it?

She stood back looking at her work. “What are we missing?” she said.

“And why is the killer taunting you?” added McGaven.

“Maybe they’re related to someone we arrested in the past,” she said.

“Like a family member?”

“Maybe. What are we missing?” She pointed to the photo showing the trailer and makeshift hidden compartments. “Someone had to have built these. They’re crudely constructed… but…”

“Not standard for manufactured homes?” muttered McGaven.

“And why this home?” she said.

“Obviously Bates knows this person and isn’t giving him up.”

Moving closer to the wall, Katie said, “Not necessarily. He could have met Bates or observed him and then used him as a scapegoat. Can we possibly get a blueprint of this type of manufactured home?” she said.

“I don’t see why not.”

“I want to see how they’re put together.”

“Any particular reason?”

“Just a hunch.”

“Your wish is my command,” said McGaven as he began searching for companies that produced and installed those types of homes. “And of course I’ll also try to find out if anyone recently bought plans for them or asked a lot of questions.”

“We’re on the same page.”

“We should be receiving the missing women reports for the past couple of years soon.”