Sheriff Lupo was a very no nonsense kind of guy, from Italian descent but raised in the suburbs of Savannah, he spoke no Italian but could understand some of the older family members that spoke a combination of English and Italian, he liked to call Itanglish. His father had served in Vietnam as a grunt, fighting the Viet Cong in the fields and villages all along the Laos and Cambodian borders. He’d returned home with two Purple Hearts, Silver and a Bronze Star and had taught his son the value of patriotism, love of country and the importance of selfless service. Angelo had learned at a young age that there was a time for patience and understanding and a time to kick some ass. Well into his third term for the people of Lowndes County, Sheriff Lupo was elected rather than appointed, he was not only respected but liked by the populous, and in the most recent election he had run unopposed.
Early in life his friends had nicknamed him ‘The Wolf’, as Lupo denotes wolf in Italian, but more for his tenacious personality, once he set his mind to something he wouldn’t leave it alone until he’d conquered it. This ‘never give up’ attribute had served him well as Sheriff. 'The Wolf' was a big man, 230 lbs, with a broad hairy chest, tight abs and arms that had done their share of lifting. Two tours of duty in Iraq with Delta Force had honed his skills and his compassion for the weak and oppressed. He’d seen battle not only in the streets of Baghdad and Tikrit, but also on almost every major military base on the planet. He’d held the Heavyweight Division Championship belt for 8 years running and his knockout record still held firm.
It had just been over 24 hours since they discovered Ms. Katherine Criddle lying near her entry on the floor, a small bruise on her temple but otherwise unharmed. Finding her living room in its reorganized state with the words emblazoned across her wall, ‘We’re Back’, was more than she could take and she had fainted, hitting her head on the edge of the television. First to arrive on the scene were the Valdosta PD, two squad cars blocked off the street and cordoned off the area so a thorough search could be conducted. Once they were confident that the perpetrator was no longer on the premises, they had allowed the ambulance crew into the house to assist Ms. Criddle and get her to the hospital for a complete assessment. The Sheriff’s Office arrived a short time later, Angelo taking command of the scene after extending his sincere thanks to the men and women who had been first to assist. No one was allowed into the house once the ambulance had departed except for Angelo who did a cursory walk through to get his first impressions while the scene was still untouched.
Several things stuck out in his mind, and without a statement from the owner, he was unsure if they were pertinent or not. She had said, as they were wheeling her to the ambulance, “He moved my furniture. Who does that? Who goes into a person’s home and rearranges their furniture?” It appeared the motive for the intrusion was not theft. Typically a burglar wants to get in and out in the least amount of time, capitalizing on small, expensive items that won’t slow him down as he makes his departure, but here it was in reverse. He still didn’t know if anything had been taken but the perp had spent hours in this home. It would take time and an agenda to perform such unusual tasks. He stood facing the text on the wall, saying the words over and over again, letting it sink in and trying to determine the meaning, “We’re back. We’re back…Who’s back?” He suspected this was in reference to the Riddle woman and the connection between the two, indicating that they had successfully pulled off another break and enter, but he still could not put his finger on a motive other than that which he alluded to with the press. Some individual or group was having some fun at the expense of these poor women and the authorities. Adding to the list in his head, he noted that the furniture was undamaged but simply moved about in what might be considered a functional layout for the items within the room, however, the kitchen was a different story.
'The Wolf' called the deputy with the digital camera into the kitchen, “Get some shots of this before forensics gets here.”
The deputy carefully and methodically photographed the entire kitchen, paying special attention to the table and chairs and the items sitting on the drying towel near the sink. Sitting toward the top of the chair pyramid was the small item that Katie had noted earlier in the day. It had not been disturbed. The Sheriff directed the deputy to get a couple pictures of the item before he reached up with a pair of rubber tipped tweezers to bring it down. He closely inspected the picture, checking the front and back of the Polaroid image before placing it into a clear, plastic evidence bag.
“Sheriff, Sheriff Lupo, the K-9 unit is here,” another deputy yelled from the driveway as a station wagon styled sheriff’s vehicle pulled in front of the house. A petite woman dressed in a uniform stepped out of the wagon and put on her hat, brown sun-streaked locks extended from the hat to her shoulders, framing a pretty face with an upturned, button nose. Her skin was darkly tanned with a golden hue accentuating taut, lean muscles. She stood five foot two and could not have weighed more than 120 lbs. Deputy Natalie Guest was the newest member of the department, with little experience but a fiery temperament.
The tiny young graduate had quickly won the respect of her male counterparts when, on her first day, one of the men had jokingly patted her on the bottom and said something about her small stature. Her response had been quick and decisive. She had spun, jumping in the same motion, bringing both legs high off the ground, whipping the right leg out with the foot extended to the height of the male officer's nose, breaking it across the bridge. Her skills, demonstrated for the office, left little doubt that the young officer could take care of herself. Being a black belt from the age of 17 had paid off on more than this occasion, but she had felt bad and admitted that it was an overreaction. The officer in question was now her most vocal supporter and he enjoyed the friendship that had developed since the incident.
Natalie had been hired to serve as a full time deputy based on one skill and one skill alone, she had an uncanny ability to communicate with dogs. Her reputation had preceded her with the highest recommendation from the academy where she had received her training. They had reported that it was almost magical the way she could read a dog's signals and the animals responded to her like no other trainee. 'The Wolf' had been looking for such an officer for some time and was happy to bring Ms. Guest into the fold. He suspected she would have to win the hearts and minds of the other officers, as each new recruit had done prior to her, but he was surprised in the manner in which it happened, however, a broken nose is much easier to deal with than a sexual harassment claim.
Officer Guest retrieved the shepherd from the back of the K-9 Unit and stood near the vehicle awaiting instructions from her boss. A moment later, the Sheriff exited the home and approached the small woman. Seeing the hulking frame of Angelo towering over Natalie was almost comical as the other officers looked on. Her size made absolutely no difference to Sheriff Lupo, he knew of her abilities and he intended to capitalize on them to help solve this crime.
“Officer Guest, we believe the intruder spent a fair amount of time in the house, so the dog should be able to start with a good scent. Spend a few minutes in there and once you’re satisfied that you’ve got the scent, lets see where it leads us. Based on our first assessment of the place it looks like he must have entered from the rear, probably crossed the fields behind, and jumped the fence. Anyway, take Officer Breland with you and see what you find. Must have had a car stashed somewhere nearby. Call if you find anything or need backup.”