GONE GIRL GONE

"Why isn't someone answering the damn phone? What do I have an office staff for? Jerry! Mattie! Someone pick up the damn phone!"

Ed Brown woke with a jerk. He'd been dreaming, but the phone was ringing. He grabbed it just before it went to message. "Brown."

"Ed, it's Jason Morales, Denver Fire. Sorry, I woke you, but I need you. I've already called Arson, Homicide, the ME, and CSI in on this, but I wanted you to know there's been a bad fire, and I've got a couple of bodies. The address is 1728 Calle. Cross street is Bunker. Neighbors said they heard gunfire before the house went up in flames."

Damnit. He hated these early morning calls, especially from the new fire chief. It only meant something really awful had happened. Gently disentangling himself from Fran, he grabbed his clothes and slipped into the bathroom to dress, trying not to wake his wife. Finished, he went out to the kitchen to make a quick cup of coffee and found himself greeted with a kiss and a steaming mug of coffee from the Keurig, his wife still dressed in the San Francisco 49ers jersey she'd gone to bed in earlier that night. She was making a carafe of coffee in the drip coffee maker.

"I used to get those calls too, remember? I heard the first ring. They never call artists this early in the morning, so I knew it was for you."

Ed nodded as he drank.

"What's happened?"

"Fire, possibly arson, with two bodies; the neighbors said there were gunshots before the fire. It's not going to be pretty."

"They never are." She found a thermos in the cupboard and poured the pot into it. "Did you call Jerry yet?"

"I'll call him on my way in. I'll take the truck."

"Want company?"

"I would, but not this time. Can we have lunch later today?"

"Yes, that would be good. My schedule is light; just working on the exhibit. I can meet you somewhere downtown." Fran replied.

Ed kissed her. "I'll call you later, ok?"

"I love you."

"Me too."

"Stay away from the balconies, will you?" Fran laughed, but her face was serious. It was her way of asking him to be safe. She said it every time he went out on a call. It was nice to be reminded to take care.

"Definitely."

"I'll be up. Someone's got to help Patrice with the critters now that you're taking off early. Call me when you can."

Ed took the thermos, and Fran soon heard the sound of the truck leaving.

"It's a quarter to three. There's no one in the joint. So set 'em up, Joe. One for my baby and one for the road," she sang as she made another pot of coffee. Patrice would be in the kitchen at 4:30 to start his day. Not too long from now. It was going to be a long day, she thought.

Ed made good time to the scene. As he pulled up, he realized that the house that was now in danger of collapse was the house Catalina Montez lived in. His stomach sank. How could he tell Fran that the young girl they had shared dinner with last night was now dead? He closed his eyes, said a prayer, and got out of the truck, where he was met by Fire Chief Morales and his sergeant, Jerry Abbey.

"What do you know?"

"It's not good, Ed. We got two bodies; the ME is pretty sure they're adults and thinks that they were shot in the living room before the house went up. Neighbors said there's a kid. Don't have him accounted for yet."

"Her. The kid is a girl. Her name is Catalina." Ed corrected the Chief.

"You want to fill me in on how you know this fact, Ed," Morales asked.

"Jerry and I were playing ball at Cesar Chavez yesterday. Catalina lost track of the time. Fran, my wife, found her in the bleachers. We called the parents, got her some dinner, and took her home."

"Neighbors said the dad got into an argument with someone after the kid came home. You know anything about it?"

"He was going to hit the kid and insulted Fran. He yelled I didn't. I gave him my card and offered to help find him a job. He was going to call me today about some construction work I knew about. If you can find the card, you might see some of the note that I scribbled on it."

"Internal Affairs Division is going to be called in, you know that boss," Jerry said quietly as he sidled up alongside his boss.

"Yeah, well, Sgt. Abbey, we'll just take it as it comes. Go find the ME for me and see what he knows."

Jerry found the medical examiner and brought him over to the truck.

"What do I know right now, Chief Brown?" Dr. Brinton said. "Two adults shot in the back of the head at close range, sex, race, and age unknown. That's what I think helped kill them. It was a pretty hot fire. I think I'll probably find powder residue on the bodies. I'll know more after the autopsy."

"How long before you'll have an idea?" Ed asked.

"Monday at the earliest."

"No third body? No child? "

"No, just the adults. Why?"

"We've just added a missing person case to arson and homicide," Ed said. He looked around him, locating his sergeant. "Jerry, we need to find Catalina and fast. She may be the only one who knows what happened. I'll be in the office as soon as I can. He took his service revolver out of his holster, butt end first, using his fingertips to put it in a plastic bag he kept in the truck for that purpose. He did the same with his throwdown. "Get these to the lab for a firing test NOW. Techs should know immediately they haven't been fired, but have them run the damn test. I want my guns cleared before I get back to the office. Understood. Do what you have to do to run a lab test now, not later. Pick them up at their house, dress them for work, buy them coffee, breakfast, or donuts; sweep their office for them after they get the test done. Take them out dancing tonight if you have to. Get this done before 8 am, and I want you there, Sergeant, for the entire test. My guns do not leave your sight at any time."

"On it, boss." Jerry took the bags, got in his car, and left.

"McGill!" Ed shouted. "McGill. Over here now".

McGill was thin and balding and ran the Crime Scene Unit for the Denver Police like a Drill Sergeant. Ed knew that if anyone could find something, Mc Gill and his team could.

"Whatcha need, Ed?"

Brown pulled out one of his cards and one of Fran's. Two things, Harry. First, last night my wife and I were both here. Fran gave one of her cards to Catalina Montez, and I gave mine to her father. I'm hoping we can find a fragment of one, the other, or both; I need to know if there's any trace of an eleven-year-old having been here during the fire or, with luck, escaping.

"Needle in a haystack is what we do the best, Boss."

"I know that, Harry. Thanks"

McGill trotted off barking orders to his team. They were eager to find any clue that would help find Catalina.

"Thompson," he brayed. "Get the uniforms knocking on the doors. Anything strange or unusual happening between 9 pm and the time of hearing the gunshots, I want to know pronto."

"You heard the boss. Baker, Manny, Green, Izzo, get going on the doors. No one leaves this neighborhood until we clear it."

Ed thought of how he would tell Fran. She would be heartbroken.

"We got a photo of the girl Sarge? That would help." One of the uniforms asked.

Then he knew he needed her help. He dialed home. "Morning Ma. Yeah, Fran told you, huh? It's bad. She still there? Thanks".

He looked up at the blue-black sky, waiting for his wife to pick up the phone. Most likely, she was in the barn grooming the horses. "Hey Fran, it's me," he sighed. "Yes, and it's even worse; it's Catalina's house."

He heard the sharp intake of air from the other end. Ed plunged on. "How soon can you get over here? The uniforms are going to start door to door. I need a sketch of Cat. You're the only one who could do it, and the sketch artist would take forever, and we'd have to….Yeah, the crime scene van has a copier."

"What do you mean, be quiet and give you the address?" He smiled."1728 Calle. Cross street Bunker. I love you too." Disconnecting, he felt the spark of pleasure that he and Fran were working on a case again. She just didn't know it.

Twenty minutes later, he heard the familiar sound of Fran's Jeep. "How is it you got here so fast?" he asked.

Fran reached up by the visor, and he saw the flash of the light bar and heard a short whoop of a siren. She smiled. "You might need to get somewhere fast in this car some time, and I wouldn't want you to get a ticket."

"Impersonating an officer, Dr. Brown?"

"No impersonation about it at all. I was one once. I'll take it up with the Chief tonight. Beg for leniency."

They walked over to the crime scene van. "What do you need to get this done?" he asked her.

"How many do you have knocking?"

"About fifteen or twenty."

She sat on the edge of the van. "I've got one sketch already." Looking into the van, she said, "Make twenty-five copies of this and get it out to the uniforms, will you?" She handed over the sketch to a disembodied voice who took the sketch with a "Yes, ma'am."

Fran took out her sketchbook and began penciling. "If she cuts her hair, she could look like this; she finished it giving it again to the disembodied voice. The sound of the copier was heard in the background. She finished one last sketch. It was how he remembered Cat last night at the drive-in.

"I'm betting she's still wearing last night's clothes."

"Probably right." His wife said as she began the third sketch. "I called into the museum, and left a message that I'd been asked to assist with the police department today."

"Henrietta will like that one," Ed smiled. Henrietta was Fran's secretary and loved hearing police gossip.

"Ed, since I went ahead and assigned myself to you for the day, I think I'll head towards the school after it opens. She might be around there. She knows me and hopefully trusts me. It saves taking a uniform from this search."

Brown agreed with his wife's logic. She handed over the third sketch as she kissed him goodbye.

"Stay away from the balconies, will you?"

"Definitely. And I'm using the Police Department parking permit too." She roared off in the Jeep.

Ed shook his head. If anyone could find Catalina Montez today, he was betting it would be Fran. She loved kids and had a special affinity for lost ones. She'd been one herself after her mother had died. Family was exceptionally important to her, and she knew Catalina felt the same. That's why they so quickly bonded. They both had been very close to their parents. He took a breath, let it out, and told McGill he was headed for the office. He'd been away long enough, and now he got to deal with the bureaucrats. It was going to be a long, long day.