“Chicken fluff up my snoozle,” Sophie said, evidently liking the sound of the words. She repeated it a couple times before starting to eat.
“Let’s hurry, Sophie, so I can take you to the clinic to see the chicks, and then I’ll drive you both up the lane to meet the bus. Will that work for you, Angel?” Cole asked.
“I’m ready to go. I want to see the chicks too.”
They hurried to finish breakfast, threw on jackets and grabbed backpacks, and then spilled through the garage door to load into the truck. And with that, the Walker family launched the day. Cole felt like the race was on—he had a busy day ahead of him.
Another sneeze from Sophie resounded from the back seat, and his phone jangled in his pocket. Pulling it out, he checked to see who was calling. Gus Tilley. Again.
Before they’d called it quits the night before, Rainbow had rounded up a dozen volunteers, some from the hot springs, others her friends from around town. It surprised Mattie that so many were willing to help her train Robo. He’d responded like Sergeant Madsen thought he would, and he was matching scent articles to humans consistently by the time they’d gone home for the night. He’d also learned to come back and sit beside Mattie when he couldn’t find a match. His new game made him wag his tail and grin every time he played it.
About half the volunteers had returned that morning so Stella and the sheriff could test Robo’s accuracy. He performed at one hundred percent, and they decided to go ahead with the lineup.
Sheriff McCoy had called parents and asked them to bring their sons to the station. By midmorning, the five high school boys stood in a lineup against the back wall, each about three feet apart. Mattie had placed Brooks Waverly squarely in the middle, where he stood with a bit of a smirk on his face, showing some attitude for the benefit of his peers.
The others’ expressions varied, from stony indifference to pasted-on smiles. Of the five, Casey Rhodes, whose father had seemed the strictest, appeared the most frightened. If they were looking for the one who acted guiltiest, he’d be it.
Mattie went to her office to get Robo. After sleeping through the night, he wasn’t the least bit tired, so he’d been concerned when she told him to stay on his bed. He was waiting and watching for her to return.
He jumped to his feet when she entered the room, but stayed where she’d put him. She crossed over to reinforce the “stay” rather than calling him to her. After a treat and a pat, she told him they were going to go find someone. Familiar with the drill, he pranced beside her back to the briefing room, his eyes on her face.
Edgy with nerves, Mattie paused and took a breath before entering the room, letting it out slowly to center herself. Stella, Sheriff McCoy, and Brody watched from the near wall, while the lineup stood against the back.
Mattie picked up the cap, still in its plastic evidence bag, and offered it to Robo to sniff. “Search. Show me.”
Robo trotted toward the lineup, tail waving, working right to left as he sniffed the air around each person. Brooks Waverly’s eyes narrowed as her dog worked the line, but he continued to cooperate, standing in place without moving. Robo went up to him, sniffed his feet, and then sat and stared at Mattie.
Though the room remained silent, Mattie felt as if a bomb had exploded. As she patted and praised Robo for doing his job, she looked to see her colleagues’ reactions. Their faces and body language were unreadable, but she would guess they felt as excited as she.
“Thank you for coming in today, gentlemen,” McCoy said. “Brooks, I want to visit with you and your father, so come with me. The rest of you are free to go. We’ll contact you if we want to interview you again.”
Stella gave Mattie a slight smile and quirked one brow in recognition of Robo’s prowess before following Brooks and the sheriff out of the room. Brody ushered the other boys out to the lobby, while Mattie took Robo to her office. Once within the privacy of the four walls, she grabbed Robo and hugged his neck, telling him what a good boy he was while he nibbled at her arm.
While she waited for Stella and the sheriff to interrogate Brooks, Mattie logged onto her computer and opened the detailed record from Merton Heath’s conviction that Brody had retrieved. Despite the successful ID during the scent lineup, the information she found in the record made her uneasy. Convicted of molesting a twelve-year-old girl, he’d served five years before being released on parole. No other priors.
Even though things were pointing toward Brooks Waverly at the moment, she couldn’t disregard the coincidence that she’d seen this pedophile in Timber Creek the day after Candace had been killed.
Soon after, Stella came into the room and leaned against the edge of Mattie’s desk, arms crossed. “He confessed that the cap is his. Says he lost it sometime last week while running on the hill for cross country training.”
“And he lied about it belonging to him because . . .”
“Says he was afraid we’d do exactly what we’re doing—pin the blame for Candace’s death on him. His words, not mine.”
Mattie fiddled with a pen while she thought. “He could be our guy, but we haven’t got a case against him yet. Did you take a look at Merton Heath’s record?”
“I did. He’s a strong person of interest, but so is our victim’s father. I called Juanita Banks, and she says her husband is at home this morning, so we could interview the two of them together. Can you come along with me now?”
“Sure.”
Mattie drove Stella to the Banks house. When they knocked on the door, Burt answered, a scowl on his face. “What do you want with me?”
“We want to talk to you about your daughter’s case, Mr. Banks,” Stella said, her voice mellow. “May we come in?”
“Fine.” He held the door long enough for Stella to catch it and then stepped back into the kitchen, where he circled the table and sat, reaching for a mug of steaming coffee that sat in front of him.
Mattie followed Stella, and they stood for a moment until Stella spoke. “Is it all right if we sit here with you, Mr. Banks?”
“Suit yourself.”
Juanita entered the kitchen through the door from the living room. “Please, sit.”
They settled into chairs, Mattie purposely taking a chair across from Stella so they wouldn’t be aligned on the same side.
After Juanita sat at the end of the table, Stella took the lead. “We’re following up on every bit of information we get about Candace so that we can find out what happened. We want to keep you informed as we go. Some of it won’t be pleasant to hear, but it’s important we get your opinions about it.”
“The wife already told me about Candace and the boys,” Burt said with a growl. “I’d like to get my hands on the little bastards.”
“Were you aware of her activity?” Stella asked.
He looked at her with disgust. “Hell, no! I would’ve put a stop to that in a New York minute.”
Juanita sighed, raising her eyes to the kitchen window and staring at it.
“To your knowledge, had Candace engaged in this sort of behavior with anyone else in the past?” Stella asked.
“No way. Candace just hit thirteen this year. She must have been experimenting. You know, hormones pop up about then and all that stuff.”
“Have you ever had any interactions of that nature with Candace, Mr. Banks?”
Burt stared at Stella for a beat before he unleashed a string of expletives. “What kind of a pervert would do a thing like that with his daughter?” he asked at the end of his rant. Mattie thought that Juanita was staring at her husband every bit as hard as Stella was.