All the Shiny Things: A Kate Reid Novel (Kate Reid Series Book 1) (10 page)

“I guess you could say I’m pretty good at reading people. Did you start off as a beat cop, I think they call it?”

“Sounds like you watch a lot of cop shows on TV, but yes, most of us start on the streets.”

Katie felt at ease with the detective and wanted to inquire further about unsolved cases. “I suppose I do watch a few.” She paused briefly. “I was wondering if you knew anything about when a case goes from active to unsolved, and then is filed away. I was curious as to how long it would take and what the criteria would be for a case to be considered cold.”

“That’s a good question. Typically, a cold case is a murder or other felony that has no statute of limitations. Disappearances or cases where a suspect has yet to be identified could be considered cold cases as well. That just means new evidence could present itself, like DNA. Now that we have this technology, it’s not uncommon for police to re-open a cold case if other forensic or DNA evidence becomes available.

“A case would probably turn cold if all leads had been exhausted and no new evidence came into play. The length of time would be determined by the officers in charge of the investigation. They would know the most about it and be able to make that call.”

Katie was engrossed in the detective’s every word. So much so that she hadn’t realized it was her turn to speak.

“Katie?”

“Oh, yes, thank you, Detective Avery. You’ve been a tremendous help.” She gathered her things and made her way to the door.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” He held out the manila folder.

“Thank you,” she said, slightly embarrassed.

“Have a good day and tell Susan ‘hello’ for me.”

“Of course, and thank you again.” She quickly made for the exit.

» » »

“Do you have the signatures?” Susan lowered her reading glasses and raised her head above the computer screen, catching sight of Katie as she walked in.

“Yes. Here they are.” She handed her the envelope.

“Great. Thank you. I’d like you to make a few calls to the school for me. Here are the people I need you to contact.” Susan handed over about a dozen business cards. “There’ve been some students having a difficult time and they’d like us to arrange the counselor to come down again. Could you coordinate that for me, please?”

“I’ll get started on it now.”

The coordination effort managed to take up much of the rest of her day. By the time she was finished, she had just enough time to touch base with Jennifer, then she headed for home.

It was nice that the days were getting just a little bit longer. Katie enjoyed watching the sun set on her drive home, instead of it already being dark by the time she left the office. It had a calming effect on her.

She opened the door to her apartment to find Spencer already home. He was rarely home before 8 p.m. and here it was only 7:00.

“Hi there. I didn’t expect you to be home so early. I guess we can sit down for a nice home-cooked meal tonight then?” she asked.

“So, I’ll be doing the cooking?” he replied, greeting her with a kiss.

“Ha ha, very funny; but hey, if you’re volunteering?”

Spencer walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. “How was your day?” he asked.

“It was good. I’m really enjoying this work. How about you?” She followed him into the kitchen and grabbed a large pot. “How about pasta?” It was her go-to meal.

“Sure. That sounds good.” He took some meat out of the freezer and stuck it in the microwave. “It was busy today, but since I had gone in early, I was able to wrap things up a little earlier than usual.”

“So you got your depositions?” Katie filled the pot with water and set it on the gas stove.

“Yep. It was tedious, but we got what we needed. Oh, before I forget, I’ve rescheduled us to review the invitation proofs tomorrow night, instead of Sunday, if that’s okay?”

“Yeah, of course; that should be fine.” Katie actually felt a little excited about seeing how the invitations turned out. Megan, the wedding planner, had sent some samples the other day via e-mail. She forwarded the message to Spencer and left it up to him to make the final decision.

Spencer brought two large plates of pasta to the table while Katie took the bread out of the oven.

“Let me get that for you,” Spencer said, taking the breadbasket from her. “You feel like opening a bottle?”

“Sure. You don’t have to ask me twice.” Katie was beginning to feel that things were getting back to normal between the two of them. They sat down to a pleasant meal where the conversation flowed as freely as the wine.

“That was wonderful, Katie. But I thought you were hungry; you hardly touched your plate.”

“Are you kidding me? Did you see how much you piled on? You’d have thought I was eating for two, which I’m not, so don’t freak out. Besides, I’m supposed to be picking out a dress soon, if you’ll recall. But I enjoyed dinner too, thank you.”

“It was nice to be cooking together, you know. It’s been a while.”

Katie reached for Spencer’s hand. “I know. You know what else would be nice?” She placed her napkin on the table and rose from her chair. “How about I go run us a hot bath?”

Spencer raised an eyebrow. “Should I bring the wine?”

“Meet me in the tub in ten minutes, and yes, bring the wine.” Katie winked as she sauntered into the bedroom.

» » »

A small package waited on Katie’s desk when she’d arrived at work this morning. She picked it up and searched for a name on it. In the top corner was a SDPD stamp.

Inside the brown paper wrapping was a book, a textbook on researching cold cases. When she opened the cover, a note fell out.

“This might help you with whatever it is you’re working on.”
It was signed, Marshall Avery.

Apparently, she wasn’t the only one who could read people. She opened up her e-mail and began drafting a message to him.

“Thank you so much for the resource book. I guess I wasn’t very good at hiding my agenda. I’ll return it once I have finished reading it. I’m sure it will be a great tool to aid in my research. Thanks again, Katie.”

She walked into the kitchen for a cup of coffee and on her return, Detective Avery had already sent a reply.

“No problem, Katie. If you need anything or I can be of assistance, outside of the Thompson case, please don’t hesitate to let me know. I am happy to help and enjoy sharing what I’ve learned over the years. Have a good day, Marshall.”

The day seemed to have flown at break-neck speed. When Katie finally had a chance to look at her watch, it was almost five o’clock. She hadn’t forgotten about the appointment at the printers, but still had some time to finish a few things before heading out.

“Katie,” Jennifer called in on the speaker. “Don’t forget you have to leave on time tonight.”

“Thank you for reminding me!”

Just as Katie was packing up for the day, Spencer sent her a text message.
“You’re still planning on being there at 6:00, right?”

“Of course! Wouldn’t miss it. C U soon,”
she replied and headed out the door.

Traffic was proving to be troublesome, but Katie managed to find an alternate route and made it to the printer’s right at 6:00, as promised. In fact, she was the first to arrive, although Spencer wasn’t far behind. She spotted his car pull into the parking lot as she walked to the entrance of the building.

“Oh good, you made it on time,” she said mockingly.

“Yes, well, I did have a longer commute. Shall we go in?” He opened the door, allowing Katie to walk in as he followed closely behind.

“Hi there,” Katie greeted the receptionist. I’m Katie and this is my fiancé, Spencer. We’re here to view our invitation proofs.”

“Hello. I’ll call back to Maggie and she’ll get them for you,” the receptionist replied.

The two of them sat down, waiting for the lady with the proofs. There were samples of several beautiful invitations in a book that sat on the lobby table. Katie began flipping through them to kill time.

The words were almost all the same.
“Bobby and Suzy, together with their parents, request the honor of your presence.”
Or
“Please join Bobby and Suzy as they exchange vows in front of their friends and family.”
This one had to be Katie’s favorite and only wished she had thought of it first. “
After several years, Bobby has finally asked Suzy for her hand in marriage. Please join…..”
Katie chuckled as she showed it to Spencer.

“Are you trying to say something?”

She continued to look through the book, wondering about married life. What would happen after the wedding, when they were expected to live a normal life? She wasn’t even sure what normal was. Her parents certainly weren’t shining examples of a happy marriage. Of course, now she understood why, but the fact remained; unexpected things, dreadful and painful things happen during the course of a marriage. How would she get through it when she was put to the test? Spencer’s parents remained happily married and so, of course, he seemed to have no reservations at all. But Katie was afraid; afraid of failing.

“Katie, Spencer?”

They both glanced up to see a woman holding a brown box.

“Why don’t you two come back with me and we’ll get started.”

Spencer led Katie toward the back office where Maggie was headed. She opened the box and pulled out the proofs.

“Oh my gosh, these look beautiful,” Katie said, pulling one closer to get a better look.

“Spencer James Harris and Katherine Grace Reid

Together with their parents

Request the honor of your presence…”

“They look amazing,” Spencer said.

Katie had chosen ivory and sage for the colors and she was thrilled with the result. “Yes, these will do, Maggie. Thank you.”

“Okay then. We’ll just need the remainder of the balance in order to go to print. It should take about two weeks.”

Katie was beginning to feel reassured about the wedding. Seeing the invitations made it real for the first time. She loved Spencer and was happy.

» » »

Friday morning had arrived and Katie reminded Spencer of her appointment with Dr. Reyes after work. It was supposed to be date night, but Spencer insisted she keep her appointment.

On her way in to work, she remembered the book from Detective Avery. She reached over onto the passenger seat, where her laptop bag rested. In the front pocket was the book,
Researching the Cold Case: An Investigative Guide.

The thick textbook must have weighed a couple of pounds. She glanced briefly at the cover and then set it beside the bag. It would make for interesting reading over lunch later today.

The office was quiet when she arrived, which was fairly typical for a Friday. Many of the employees had flexible schedules and Fridays and Mondays tended to be slow. Katie put her bag on the lateral file cabinet behind her desk and then switched on her computer. Before she could sit down, her intercom buzzed in.

“Katie?”

“Yes?”

“Can you come into my office?”

It was Susan. It must be important because she would have sent an e-mail otherwise.

“Of course; I’ll be right in.” Katie grabbed a notebook and pen and joined Susan in her office.

“Good morning, Katie. I know you just got here and probably haven’t even gotten your coffee yet, but I’ve been on the phone with Detective Avery and the DA’s office.” Susan started clicking on her computer, appearing to look for something.

Katie’s interest was piqued as she waited for Susan to continue.

“Ah. Here it is.” Susan began reading from the screen.
The department has just received an anonymous tip regarding Isabelle Thompson. We will make every effort to exhaust this lead. As our resources will be stretched, we are asking everyone involved with the case to continue their due diligence and assist in any way as may be required by the department. We thank you in advance for your continued support
.

“This e-mail was from Detective Avery. I don’t know what new information they’ve received, but we will continue to move things forward on our end. Now, if the detective needs help with any of the data we’ve collected so far, I want you to be at his beck and call. Are you good with that?”

Katie was ecstatic. This was exactly what she wanted, to be more involved and work more closely with the detective. This was her opportunity to learn from him.

“Of course, yes. I’m more than happy to step in and help where I can.”

“Will this be a problem with Richard? It will likely mean less time in his department,” Susan said.

“I’ll talk with him about it this morning. I’m sure it will be fine.”

Katie wasn’t sure at all. In fact, she suspected it might be a problem. Jennifer could only handle so much.