Chapter 13
Mika Parsons was down in forensics bugging Kelly to sift through the evidence for anything that looked like a planner. The temporary Head of Forensics said that she should be asking Jesse if he'd managed to crack into Tim Watkins' phone. The Special Victims detective knew that she needed sleep and smacked her own forehead. Kelly promised to dig through what they brought back from Tim's house just in case but she had something that might help the detective.
"The DNA on the envelope popped?" Mika asked.
"It popped all right, but not in the criminal database," Kelly said as she led the detective to the computer screen.
"Oh, that's just great," Mika heaved a sigh and put her hand to her forehead rubbing it.
"It's not a good thing?" Kelly was confused.
"Kelly, how could the DNA coming back to a dead serviceman be helpful?" The detective asked.
"I said it was a partial match. The person you're looking for is most likely a son or brother of our dead serviceman. I have his last address but you probably should dig a little bit to make sure that a member of the family lives there," Kelly explained.
"Ok, I really need to get some more coffee," Mika said.
"Why don't you try and get some sleep? You texted me at the butt crack of dawn this morning," Kelly gave her a look.
"Sorry about that. I'll go tell Joe. Maybe we can track this guy down and hopefully figure out who set up Danny Bauman to take the fall for Tim Watkins' death," she apologized.
"No worries, but I don't want you on the autopsy table. This guy has a shotgun somewhere and managed to get Danny to shoot three SJPD personnel," Kelly told her. Mika gave her a small smile and a pat on the back before heading out of the room. She dialed Charlie's number and without much surprise, he answered quickly.
"Hey Charlie, the DNA from the envelope popped as a partial match to a Captain Philip Blanchard. Now, poor Captain Blanchard was killed in the line of duty so we're looking for his brother or his son," she explained.
"Talk to Major Sheridan; I'll give you his number. He just retired and he might have known the Captain. If he didn't, then he might be able to reach out through his contacts to get a read on any of his family. Did Jesse find an address or family left behind?" Charlie asked.
"I'm on my way to talk to Jesse now. Kelly is looking for a planner but I forgot that Jesse had Tim Watkins' phone. We've been so busy with trying to figure out that guy in the photos, searching Danny's apartment, and trying to track down neighbors of the Bauman's, I forgot," the detective was angry with herself.
"You guys are trying to do so much. Need to slow down and take a step back. Maybe get some sleep," Charlie said.
"Yeah yeah, you should talk," Mika teased him.
"I know, but you have to figure that this guy thought he'd covered his tracks too well. He's more than likely not on the run because of it," he told her.
"Good point," Mika nodded even though he couldn't see it. Her phone buzzed in her ear and she quickly said goodbye to Charlie and answered the other call.
"Mika, we have something that you need to see," it was Joe.
"I'm almost there. Kelly got us a lead," Mika told him.
"Good because Jesse got us one too," Joe let her know. With that the call ended and the detective quickly got over to Major Crimes and beeped herself in. She felt her phone buzz and it was probably Charlie passing on Major Sheridan's number.
"Kelly got a partial match on the DNA. Did you manage to get into Tim Watkins' phone?" She asked.
"Yes, but first, I found a neighbor of the Bauman's – Ethel Bowles. She's coming in to look at some of the redacted photos," Jesse said.
"Fantastic. When will she be here?" Mika wanted to know.
"Twenty minutes. Partial DNA match you said?" He asked.
"Yes. A deceased serviceman – Captain Philip Blanchard is the father or brother of our suspect. Kelly had a last address and we need to check to see if the family still lives there. What about the phone?" She was excited that it all seemed to be coming together at once.
"I found his calendar app which was being backed up to the computer and the cloud. Our killer forgot to grab it," Jesse told her.
"Why was that? You search the house for the computer but not the phone?" Mika suddenly wondered.
"Kelly found it in the kitchen by the coffee maker, plugged into the same outlet. My guess is that our killer just immediately went for the computer. Could have been afraid that the shot had been heard? Muffling a shotgun blast isn't easy," Jesse said.
"Well, we got lucky that he wasn't as careful as he thought he was," Mika smirked.
"The schedule is code – I'm guessing initials of the patient," Jesse frowned.
"I'm going to talk to a judge to see if we can get the patient list. We don't want the records, just a list of names," Joe told them.
"Excellent. I'll talk to the neighbor when she comes in if you can get me names on any family of the Captain," Mika pulled out her phone and showed Jesse the message from Charlie before continuing,
"Major Sheridan might be able to help with that."
"I'll tell him Charlie sends his regards," Jesse smiled.
To Be Continued…