For My Brother by John C. Dalglish Read Free Book Online

driveway, and entered through the side door to the garage. When she got to the utility room door, she found it locked.
    Chelsea had shown her where she kept the spare key, and she opened the door to find the house dark. Something felt very wrong.
    “Chelsea!”
    No answer, no sound at all. Mugsy, Chelsea’s cat, came around the corner.
    “Hi, Mugsy.” She reached down and scratched him on the head. “Chelsea!”
    She stuck her head in the door, looking toward the kitchen. Nothing. She walked through the entire house. The litter box in the kitchen was full and hadn’t been cleaned in days. The cat’s water was empty.
    “Chelsea!”
    Convinced her friend wasn’t there, she took out her phone and dialed 911.
     
    *******
     
    Jason and Nina had started first thing in the morning on the task of finding out everything they could about Ed Garland. They went to where he worked, and to the golf club where he was to meet Jerry Baker. No one had seen the missing man.
    Nina had managed to get a check on his debit and credit card activity. Neither had been used in three days.
    They arrived back at the station around three-thirty in the afternoon. Jason had one stop he wanted to make before briefing Lieutenant Banks.
    “I’m going to see Doc Josie.”
    Nina didn’t want to face Sarah Banks alone.
    “Mind if I tag along?”
    “Fine with me.”
    They took the stairs down to the basement and went through the double glass doors leading into the forensic department.
    Affectionately called ‘Doc Josie,’ Dr. Jocelyn Carter was the head of the Forensic Science Department. Short with curly, brown hair and black, wire-framed glasses around blue eyes, she looked like the classic college professor. Some might describe her as ‘frumpy,’ but she’s brilliant. The detectives found her sitting at her desk.
    “Josie. How we doin’?”
    “Jason. What a nice surprise.”
    “You’ve met Nina Jefferson?”
    “Yes, of course. Hi, Nina.”
    Nina gave the doc a smile as Jason sat down in one of the two chairs facing Doc Josie’s desk.
    “So Doc, what did your crew find at the Garland house?”
    “Not much. We found prints on the ledge and a doorknob, neither of which belonged to Mr. Garland. We ran them through the AFIS fingerprint system, but no luck. Evidently, the person who left the prints doesn’t have a record.”
    Jason had figured the fingerprint database would be useless. He knew most people who didn’t conceal their prints did so because they knew there was no record of them.
    “What about the shoe print?”
    “Size nine running shoe. Nike, but not rare enough to be much help except as a match to the correct shoe.”
    “Okay. Well, not much to go on. Thanks.”
    “No problem. Always glad to see you.”
     
    *******
     
    Jason and Nina found Lieutenant Banks sitting in her office. Nina rapped on the doorframe before entering. The lieutenant glanced up, before her eyes turned back to her paperwork. “What’s up?”
    Nina stayed by the door, and Jason had to slip past her to speak to the lieutenant. He gave Nina a knowing smile.
    Afraid to go into the lion’s den, huh?
    Jason pulled up a chair. “Just wanted to give you an update on the Garland case.”
    “Okay, shoot.”
    He informed her they had subpoenaed Garland’s phone records, and shared the news from Doc Josie. When he was done, she looked up from her paperwork and crossed her arms.
    “Not much. Any ideas besides the phone records?”
    Before Jason could answer, the phone rang. The lieutenant pushed the speaker button.
    “Banks.”
    “Lieutenant, this is Doc Josie.”
    “Yeah, Doc. What’s up?”
    “The car we recovered this afternoon from the missing Morris woman, it’s got prints that don’t belong to her.”
    “Got an ID?”
    “Sort of.”
    “Can you be more specific, Doctor?”
    “Sure. By the way, do you know where Detective Strong is?”
    “As a matter of fact, I do. He’s sitting here, listening to our conversation.”
    “Oh. Hey,