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

door.
    “Hello?”
    From a somewhere in the back, they heard a woman’s voice.
    “Be right there!”
    While they waited, Nina watched as Jason scanned the photos on the wall.
    “Looking for something?”
    “Yeah. Thought they might have your detention records framed.”
    “Hey! I was a good girl.”
    Jason rolled his eyes and laughed.
    A woman dressed in gray slacks came into the room. “May I help you?”
    She wore a black, button-down blouse, and black, patent leather shoes. With short, brown hair and hazel eyes, she carried herself with an official bearing. Jason guessed her to be in her early fifties.
    “I hope so. My name is Detective Strong, and this is my partner Detective Jefferson. We’re with SAPD.”
    They both showed their badges.
    “I’m Janice Hayes, the principal’s secretary. Is there a problem?”
    “No. We’re involved in an investigation, and the number of McCollum High has showed up on a couple phone records. The calls were outgoing from here. We’d like to find out who made the calls and why they were made.”
    “Do you have the numbers called?”
    Nina took the phone records out of a manila folder she was carrying and handed them to the secretary. “I’ve highlighted them.”
    Janice Hayes followed the highlighted numbers with her finger, across to the names. “I made both calls, Chelsea Morris and Ed Garland were on my list.”
    Nina took the reports back and put them in the folder. “Your list?”
    “Yes. I’m helping with notifications of the ten-year class reunion coming up. The class president gave me some of the names. I told her I had some extra time and I’d be glad to help.”
    “May we see the list?”
    “Sure. I’ll be right back.”
    Janice Hayes returned in less than a minute with two sheets of paper.
    “I have about fifty names to call. We use email for most of the notifications, but these are the ones we only have phone numbers for.”
    Jason took one sheet and Nina the other. Jason found one of the names immediately. “Ed Garland, fifth name down on this sheet.”
    Nina’s sheet had the other. “Chelsea Morris, near the bottom.”
    Jason gave his sheet back to the secretary. “Can we get a copy of these?”
    The secretary took Nina’s, as well. “Sure. Give me a couple minutes.”
    When she was gone, Jason started thinking aloud.
    “Okay. Both victims received calls about the reunion, along with about fifty others on these lists. In addition, there’s the list the class president is calling. Assuming it’s roughly the same size, that’s somewhere around a hundred names.”
    “That’s just the call list. There’s apparently an email list also.”
    Jason nodded.
    “I’m thinking we start with the call list. Nothing has showed on the email list that we know of. Until there’s a connection to that list, we need to limit our search as much as possible.”
    “So, you think the connection between victims is the reunion?”
    “It’s about all we’ve got for right now.”
    Nina was skeptical. “Okay, following that logic, our killer’s name should also be on these lists.”
    “Maybe, but not necessarily. If he’s targeting this group, or some of the group, it might be because he’s not on the list. When we get back, we need to run a record check on all the names on this list.”
    Janice Hayes returned with four pages. “I copied both my list and the class president’s.”
    She handed them to Nina, who put them in the folder. “Who is the class president, anyway?”
    “Cindy Butler. Her name’s at the top of each sheet, along with her phone number.”
    “And when is the reunion?” Nina asked.
    “The fifth of next month, here in the gym.”
    “Thank you. We’ll be in touch if we need anything else.”
    The secretary looked at Jason. “Can I ask why Ed Garland and Chelsea Morris are of particular interest?”
    “They’re missing.”
    “Missing? Both of them?”
    “Yes, ma’am. Both of them.”

 
     
    Chapter 12
     
     
    Donnie