Killing Trail: A Timber Creek K-9 Mystery

by Margaret Mizushima

  Again that guarded look. Mattie could tell the girl didn’t want to be seen by her peers as a narc. “Well, there’s rumors about Tommy O’Malley.”

  “Yeah, he’s been on my radar for a while now. I can tell you the kids in his posse, too.” Mattie rattled off a half-dozen names while Angela’s eyes widened almost imperceptibly, looking impressed. “So see, I know some things already, but if there’s a chance you could give us a lead we don’t know about and it ultimately reveals who killed Grace, that would be sweet. Can you think of anyone else?”

  It appeared that the girl was right with her. “I’ll think about it. If I come up with someone, can I call you?”

  “Of course, call me anytime about anything, even if you just want to talk about something that you’re not sure about. We never know in an investigation when something small turns into exactly the bit of information we need.” Mattie dug a business card out of her pocket, pulled out a pen to write a number on the back, and handed it to the girl. “That’s my cell phone number on the back. Don’t hesitate to use it. Talk things over with your dad, see what memories come up. Let us know about anything that concerns you, okay?”

  “Okay,” Angela said, looking down at the card.

  “Anything else, Detective?” Mattie asked, turning to Stella.

  “Not for now. We’ll be in touch.”

  “I may want to see you again tomorrow, Angela. By then we could have more questions.” Mattie looked at the doctor. “Can I call in the morning to set something up if we need to?”

  He nodded.

  “How’s Belle?” Mattie asked.

  Angela looked surprised. “Belle? That’s Belle you have up at the clinic?”

  “Yeah, Angel. I guess with you being so sick and everything, I forgot to mention it. Deputy Cobb brought Belle in because she’d been shot.”

  “Like Grace?”

  The doctor looked at Mattie, as if tossing the question to her.

  “Yes,” Mattie said. “It looks like she was with Grace, and they were both shot.”

  “Grace always had Belle with her.”

  “That’s what I’ve heard.”

  “Poor Belle!” The girl looked at her dad. “Dad, you can’t leave Belle at the clinic all by herself. You’ve got to bring her here to stay at the house.”

  Looking a bit besieged, the vet said, “She’s just coming out of the anesthesia, Angie. She needs to stay there for a while.”

  “Well, she’s not sleeping there by herself tonight. I’ll go and stay with her if I have to.”

  Relieved that the heroic dog had a champion, Mattie had to suppress a smile as she watched the father cave.

  “Oh, all right,” he said. “She has to stay there for a few more hours, but if she’s awake enough, I’ll bring her here for the night. I bet the Hartmans will want to pick her up tomorrow. I’ll call Garrett and see.” The grim expression had returned to his face, and Mattie knew that he was dreading the task.

  Mattie and Stella said good-bye and went back out to the cruiser. Robo stood up, yawning, obviously having napped while they were gone. The temperature in the car was cool enough, and after Robo took a few slurps of his water, Mattie emptied the rest, put the bowl away, and settled into the driver’s seat.

  “Now that is one good-looking hunk of male, Mattie. Makes me want to forget I’ve sworn off men lately,” Stella said, with a grin.

  Mattie shrugged. “I hadn’t noticed.”

  “What are you, blind, girl? Or just not interested?”

  Mattie had had her share of boyfriends in high school—that is, until Mama T put a kibosh on it. Once she got into junior college and police academy, she’d had a few longer-lasting relationships, but nothing permanent. Yeah, she found the vet extremely attractive, but that’s not what their relationship was about. “He’s married.”

  “He doesn’t wear a wedding ring.”

  Mattie could have sworn she’d seen one last night. “Well, I’m just not interested, I guess.”

  “Ha! You crack me up. You’re as easy to read as an Amber Alert. Of course you’re interested in the man.”

  Having had enough of the detective’s teasing, Mattie changed the subject. “Let’s get back to the office and check in. We need to tell the others about Mike Chadron’s relationship with our victim. Maybe Brody has a warrant by now and we can search his property.”

  Chapter 12

  When Mattie and Stella arrived at the station, they found Sheriff McCoy and Chief Deputy Brody in the report room together, and both were pretty well steamed. Evidently, Judge Taylor had denied their department a search warrant.

  “The judge is an old hunting buddy of Chadron’s dad,” Brody explained, his voice gruff. “Says we don’t have enough evidence to treat Mike like a common criminal.”

  “That’s one judge that needs to be voted out of office during the next election.” Stella paused, pursing her lips. “Well, the evidence against Mike Chadron is growing. We just learned that our victim followed him around in her car. Chances are good that she followed him up to that cabin.”

  “That’s significant,” McCoy said.

  “No word yet on the BOLO we put out on Grace’s car or Chadron’s truck?” Mattie asked.

  “None,” McCoy said. “I still believe her car got ditched near the crime scene. I heard from Ranger Benson. She handpicked some volunteers who know the area and won’t get lost to help them look for it, but they have a lot of country to cover. I don’t know why we can’t turn up Chadron’s truck, unless he switched license plates on it or something.”

  “You’d think the description of a truck and dog trailer would be enough. Not very common,” Stella said.

  McCoy nodded. “I think I’ll give Mike Chadron’s father a call and see if he knows where Mike is. I’ll avoid mentioning we suspect his son of illegal activity.”

  “Sounds like a good idea,” Stella said.

  McCoy looked at Mattie. “This afternoon, you and I are going to meet with John Brennaman at the school. He heard about Grace’s death and called me.”

  Mattie’s gut tightened.

  “Mr. Brennaman is pretty shaken up over the death of a student and wants to see if he can help. I figure there’s no time like the present to get him involved in our school drug intervention program. And we’ll see what he knows about Grace and her friends.”

  “When is our appointment?”

  “We have a little over an hour. Get some lunch and meet me at the school by two o’clock.”

  “I’ll be at the autopsy this afternoon,” said Stella. “Afterward I’ll interview our victim’s family. Unless I turn up something else to do today, I’ll go home for the night and be back tomorrow morning by seven.”

  “Okay, we have a plan,” McCoy said. “Let’s get to it.”

  On the way home, Mattie tried to ignore her dread. The run-ins with Brennaman happened a long time ago.

  You’d think I’d be over it by now.

  After pulling up in her front yard, she let Robo out the back of the cruiser. He bounded off toward the side gate.

  “You want that bone I gave you yesterday, don’t you? Come on through the house, and I’ll get you some fresh water first.”

  Inside, Robo rushed to the kitchen door and stood by it.

  Mattie picked up his water bowl and carried it over to the sink. “Just cool your jets—have some water. It’s starting to heat up outside.”

  Robo lapped a few times and then went back to the door.

  “One-track mind. Do you want to go outside?”

  He danced on his front paws.

  “Here you go.”

  Mattie stepped outside and stood on the porch to watch him.

  He darted toward the bone but, at the last second, crouched and slunk up to it, sniffing furiously. The shift in his demeanor made Mattie follow him out into the yard.

  He scooted around the bone, nose to the ground, and went out to the spruce tree as if on the trail of something. At the fence, he turned and
gave Mattie a quizzical look, then trotted back toward her. He gave the bone a soft touch with his mouth, sat, and stared at her.

  Mattie approached him and knelt to examine the bone. The bottom of it was plastered with hamburger meat, brown and dried at the edges. She knew it hadn’t been there last evening.

  Thoughts spun through Mattie’s mind. She’d heard that drug runners sometimes paid to have narcotics dogs killed. Had someone poisoned the hamburger meat to get rid of Robo?

  “Come with me.”

  Planning to have the meat tested, she carried the bone into the house and put it into a plastic bag. Sealing it, she leaned on the kitchen counter, her hands shaking. What might have happened if Robo didn’t have such a well-trained and sensitive nose?

  She took a moment to wash off any poison that might have lingered on her hands and then sank down on the kitchen floor, patting her leg. “Come here.”

  Robo leaned into Mattie as she hugged him, burying her nose in his silky fur.

  There’s nothing like the comfort of a good dog.

  “I’ll buy you another one.” After a few minutes of cuddling, she knew what she needed to do next. “You wait here.”

  Mattie went out to her car to get Robo’s work collar and leash. There would be no better way to assure his living quarters were poison free than to have him do a sweep of the area.

  Robo got excited when he saw his equipment. After putting it on him, Mattie picked up the bag holding the bone, opening it carefully. She held it so he could get a whiff without touching it.

  “Let’s go find the poison,” she told him.

  Going out into the yard, Mattie led Robo on a sweep of the area. He alerted once more by his water dish. Made sense.

  “Christ,” Mattie muttered as she led Robo back to the house so she could get a container for the water. She planned to put in a request for razor wire for the top of the fence first thing tomorrow. But now, she needed to call Sheriff McCoy to report this crime and file a report. An attempt on the life of a K-9 was serious criminal activity and needed to be handled as such.

  By this time, Mattie was no longer shaken; she was just plain mad. She vowed she’d find whoever had messed with her dog. She’d track him down and nail his hide.

  *

  After talking to the sheriff, Mattie felt too worked up to eat anything. She decided to give Robo a quick brushing so he wouldn’t shed while inside the school building. Then she changed into the newest everyday uniform she had in her closet, since her dress uniform had been trashed the day before. She had no time to style her hair, so she ran a comb through her short bob and tucked the sides behind her ears.

  As she drove, Mattie analyzed her nervousness. She knew it had everything to do with the past and nothing to do with the present. She was more confident in Robo’s performance now than she had been yesterday when she’d last faced this meeting. She knew he was capable of finding even invisible amounts of the drugs he’d been trained to detect, and his obedience training was spot on.

  But she couldn’t shake the memory of how Brennaman belittled her. Yes, she’d been a wild student, but an educator shouldn’t try to browbeat a kid into submission. Well, she’d have to show him that she’d changed. She’d hold her head up and show him she knew her business.

  Mattie pulled up to the school, a building made from brown native stone and cream-colored aluminum siding nestled against the hillside. The sheriff’s Jeep was already parked, and he was sitting inside it, talking on his cell phone. She parked beside him, got out of her cruiser, and released Robo from the back.

  Robo was beginning to prance in place to show how excited he was. Mattie snapped a leash onto his collar and ran through a few quick obedience drills to get him into the right mood.

  When Sheriff McCoy ended his call, he exited his vehicle, speaking to Mattie as they walked up to the building. “Mr. Chadron says that Mike is at a dog show and should be back late tonight.”

  “Why would he have been up in the mountains yesterday if he was headed for a dog show?”

  “Good question. I wish he was here so we could ask him.”

  They entered the building together, and Mattie saw that things hadn’t changed much in the past decade. The glass case filled with old trophies and framed photographs of past championship teams still sat against the wall, and the oak counter still separated the lobby from the administrative offices.

  The receptionist was new, a plump thirtysomething bottle blonde, with teased hair and a frazzled attitude. “You must be Sheriff McCoy,” she said. “I’m Betty Potts.”

  The two shook hands while McCoy introduced Mattie.

  “I feel just awful about not noticing that Grace was absent yesterday.” Betty shook her head, looking teary.

  “Were you expecting her?” McCoy asked.

  “Yes, she’s our student volunteer. At first I thought she was late, but I’ve been so swamped, and I got busy with things. And then I guess I forgot she was coming.”

  “Did you know Grace well?”

  “She started working for me just this week, so no, I didn’t know her well. But she seemed like such a good kid. Very respectful, responsible.”

  “Do you have any idea who might have hurt her?”

  Tears welled, and she brushed at them. “No, I’m sorry, but I don’t even know who her friends are or anything like that. School hasn’t started yet, and she wasn’t here in the office last year.”

  “Perhaps Mr. Brennaman can help us.”

  “Oh. Oh, yes. I’ll tell him you’re here.” She turned and hurried down a hallway leading toward the back of the office.

  Feeling a tug on the leash, Mattie glanced down at Robo. As typical, he’d picked up on her nerves and was trying to see around the end of the counter to keep an eye on Betty. She corrected him and told him to sit. By the time the receptionist returned, Robo was sitting at heel, panting.

  “Come with me back to the conference room. Mr. Brennaman will join you there.”

  Just shoot me.

  Keeping Robo in heel position, Mattie followed Sheriff McCoy down a long hallway and into a room that was carpeted in cheap-looking but serviceable brown Berber and dominated by a large, walnut-grain Formica-topped table.

  “Can I get you something to drink?” Betty asked, looking as if serving them was the last thing she wanted to do.

  “No, thank you,” McCoy said. “Deputy?”

  Mattie felt like she couldn’t swallow anything around the nervous lump in her throat. “No, I’m good. Thanks.”

  They sat in silence for a few minutes. Apparently growing antsy, McCoy pushed back his chair and got up to circle the room. Robo raised his head to watch, prompting Mattie to tell him, “Stay.”

  “This place hasn’t changed much,” McCoy said. “I’ve been here a few times since I graduated, but when I was a student here, I never knew this room existed.”

  Mattie was familiar with the room; the table was the same. “Mr. Brennaman put me in here for detention before I got on the track team and cleaned up my act.”

  The sheriff’s eyes narrowed as he came back around the table and took his seat. Mattie felt her cheeks flame with heat.

  “I thought you might need to know,” she said. She reached down and stroked Robo’s head.

  The door opened, and Brennaman bustled in. McCoy stood, so Mattie did, too. Robo stood when she did, and his hackles raised on his shoulders. She could see him assuming a “guard” position, so she quickly intervened and told him to sit. He obeyed, but his eyes remained pinned on the principal. She didn’t know why he was acting so protective, but it was probably her fault. Emotions from a handler ran right down the leash, and she assumed Robo could sense her nerves. She hoped no one else in the room could.

  Brennaman was dressed casually in denims and a light-blue shirt, probably since school wasn’t in session. Mattie would guess he was in his early sixties, and he was of average build though fit and muscular for his age. His gray hair was short, military style. “Sher
iff,” he said, offering a handshake. Then he turned and offered her one. “And is it Mattie Lu Cobb?”

  His grip felt solid and firm. Robo’s training held, and he remained seated at Mattie’s heel, hackles still raised. “Yes, Mr. Brennaman. Good to see you again.”

  “And you.” He turned his attention back to the sheriff and took a seat at the table, gesturing for them to be seated as well. “We’re terribly disturbed by this tragedy.”

  “It’s a blow to the whole community,” McCoy said.

  “I heard from Mr. Hartman that Grace was shot, buried in the mountains.”

  “That’s right.”

  “Terrible, just terrible,” Brennaman said, shaking his head. “I hope you find her killer and bring him to justice.”

  “We plan to.” The sheriff paused, spreading his hands out on the table in front of him. “What can you tell me about Grace Hartman?”

  “Well, let’s see. Grace would be a junior this year. She was bright, popular with both teachers and students, did well in her studies, and participated in sports.” He looked at Mattie. “Not as fast as you were, Mattie, but she did go out for track. This was her first year volunteering in the office, so I didn’t know her as well as I would have by the end of the year. Betty feels responsible for losing track of her yesterday morning, but things were hectic. I got called to an unplanned meeting, had to cancel the one I had with you.” He nodded at McCoy. “Well, these things happen. I’m glad you could come by today.”

  “Do you know of anyone who might have been mad at Grace? Anyone who might want to hurt her?”

  “No, no.” Brennaman was shaking his head. “We all loved Grace around here. I can’t even imagine anyone wanting to hurt that girl in any way.”

  McCoy nodded. “That’s what we’ve heard. Mr. Brennaman, I can tell you that our investigation has turned up the probability that Grace’s death is drug related.”

  Brennaman’s gray brows shot up. “Drugs? Grace?”

  “That surprises you.”

  “Of course it does! I can’t imagine Grace having anything to do with drugs.”