Page 21 of Their Haunted Hearts (Detectives Kane and Alton #27)
Twenty
Wednesday
Rio went to the whiteboard, picked up the pen and made a list of the suspects that Jenna had retrieved from the Triple Z Bar.
He’d arrived at the office at six-thirty that morning and spent his time hunting down any information he could dredge up from the files.
Sly Goldman, the cleaner at the Triple Z Bar, had been arrested in Blackwater a few times for petty crimes but had a rape case against him dropped, when the woman involved had refused to cooperate with the investigation.
As he could possibly be one of the last people to see Bunny alive, he would be someone they would need to investigate more closely.
He made the appropriate notes against Goldman’s name.
The horse breeder was easy to find. Bryce Withers had his own spread, known locally as the BW Ranch.
A search of his name brought up interesting articles about the charismatic man in his late thirties, who had plans to run for mayor one day.
He found no priors, not so much as a parking ticket.
He often hung out at the local bars too, as he was quoted in a recent article, “Get to know the working man.”
A background check on Dale Cash, a ranch hand working out on the Crazy K Cattle Ranch, proved to be more interesting.
His records showed juvenile misdemeanors, including drug possession, theft, and vandalism.
He had a current order against him for abusing his girlfriend.
The order had originated from the neighboring town of Louan six months previously.
The last man on his list, Daniel McCulloch, a maintenance man at the hospital, was a surprise.
A few years previously, after drugs were stolen from the local hospital, the background checks on employees had been tightened, and yet McCulloch had complaints against him, which had resulted in disciplinary actions or terminations from previous jobs.
It seemed unusual to him that the hospital would employ someone with obvious behavioral issues.
He rubbed his chin, thinking as he scanned the whiteboard, checking his entries.
The previous evening Jenna had given them their orders for the morning as she and Kane would be attending the autopsy.
He turned as Rowley walked into the conference room.
He looked tired and had a distinct smell of babies about him.
No doubt, he’d been up all night with a teething child.
He rubbed a hand under his nose. He didn’t envy him one bit.
Of late, he enjoyed being single and dating a variety of women.
Seeing Raven with his ex-girlfriend Emily didn’t bother him at all.
He cleared his throat. “Morning. I have some background information on the suspects and where we might find them this morning. I’ve uploaded the information onto the server.
If you download the files, we’ll head out and start interviewing them as potential suspects. ”
“Sure.” Rowley turned on his heel and headed back down the stairs.
Rio followed. He grabbed his coat and checked his weapon.
As usual, on the strike of seven Maggie walked through the door and beamed at him.
He handed her a list of the places they’d be heading.
“I’ll check in as we arrive and leave. When the sheriff arrives, tell her I’ve added everything I’ve found onto the whiteboard and the files have been updated. There’s nothing from Wolfe yet.”
“Okay, I’ll let her know.” Maggie dropped her bag on the counter and slid out of her heavy coat. “I figure snow is on the way. The sky is threatening.” She smiled at him. “Stay safe out there.”
He nodded and turned as Rowley came toward him, pulling on his coat. “First stop is the Crazy K Cattle Ranch.” He looked at Rowley. “Do you know where that is by chance?”
“Yeah.” Rowley pushed on his hat. “We’ll take my truck. It’s easier when I know the ranches. The Crazy K just happens to border my land.”
Rio followed him to his truck. “I hope one of these leads pans out. Whoever is doing this knows about leaving trace evidence. If Wolfe had found anything, he’d have called by now. Which means it’s going to be hard police work.”
“I don’t know how they do it but Jenna and Kane often see things I miss.” Rowley backed out and headed along Main. “You do too. It’s also the subtle things suspects say you all home in on and explore. I’ve seen Kane ask questions and the suspect seems to forget to lie or something.”
Rio smiled to himself. “It’s an interviewing technique.
Kane makes the suspect believe he is either on his side or he feels the same way.
I recall him getting down to a killer’s level to make him confide in him.
It worked and another killer is off the street.
” He looked at Rowley. “I figure he’s been trained in interrogation.
We know he is ex-military, not that he talks much about it, but I’m guessing that’s where it came from. ”
After looking at the images of the suspects, Rio had an idea. “Swing by the roadhouse. I want to show these pictures to the servers and see if any of our suspects dropped into the roadhouse on Sunday night.”
“I doubt it. The staff on duty at this time of day would be different than the ones who work nights and weekends.” Rowley kept driving. “Maybe try there after five, when the new shift takes over?”
Rio nodded. “Good thinking.”