Deadly Aim: A Shandra Higheagle Mystery #3

by Paty Jager

  “Mrs. Randal, could we sit?” Ryan waved his hand toward the living area.

  “Yes, of course. How long have you been waiting in my foyer?” Her clipped, well-spoken words seemed out of place with her surroundings.

  “Not long.” Ryan waited for the two women to sit on the couch. He took a seat on a chair near the couch. “When was the last time you saw your husband?”

  “J.W.?” She tipped her head to the left. “Two days ago? He said he had a business meeting.”

  “Where was the meeting?” Ryan pulled out his notepad.

  Her gaze latched onto the notepad. “Why are you asking me these questions?”

  “Mrs. Randal, I’m afraid I have some bad news. Your husband’s body—”

  “Body? That means he’s…” Her right hand clenched the arm of the couch. The niece slid closer.

  “Yes. Your neighbor found J.W.’s body on her property yesterday.” Ryan wasn’t going to state his condition.

  “Why didn’t you contact me yesterday?” She leaned forward. “Why wait this long?”

  “It took us a while to determine who he was. He didn’t have any identification on him.”

  “But surely someone would have recognized him.” Instead of falling apart the woman was using anger.

  “He’d been in the woods long enough the animals…”

  Mrs. Randal closed her eyes and swallowed twice, loudly.

  “I’m sorry to have to give you the news. During the autopsy, death by natural causes was ruled out.” Ryan held his gaze on the two women, watching for anything that might lead him to believe one of them put the bullet through the man’s heart.

  “What does that mean?” Cecily asked.

  “He was killed by a bullet to the heart.”

  Mrs. Randal’s eyes widened for a moment, then shuttered away any thoughts she might be having.

  The younger woman gasped and raised a hand to her mouth.

  “Why would anyone put a bullet in Uncle John’s heart?” Cecily asked, peering at her aunt.

  Mrs. Randal shook her head and patted her niece’s hand.

  “Mrs. Randal, why would your husband be in the woods if he told you he was on a business trip?” Ryan wondered why the woman thought her husband was gone when he was only a couple miles away.

  The elk bugling sound vibrated through the house.

  “Who could that be? I don’t want to see anyone, Cecily. Tell them to go away.” Mrs. Randal waved her niece to answer the door.

  ~*~

  Shandra stood in front of two massive doors hosting twin stained-glass windows. The image on the glass appeared to be elk, a bull and a cow. When the door knocker sounded like an elk bugle, she confirmed her original assumption about J.W. Randal.

  A door opened. A young, gorgeous blonde with tear-filled eyes stood in the slight opening.

  “We aren’t taking visitors right now.” She moved to shut the door.

  Shandra shoved her body into the opening. “I’m not leaving here until I find out why someone has a path from this house through a hidden gate and onto my property.”

  The young woman tried to block her path, but Shandra was quicker. “I’d like to speak with Mr. or Mrs. Randal.” Her steps faltered when she spotted Ryan sitting in a chair and Mrs. Randal facing him from a couch.

  Ryan stood. “What are you doing here?”

  “I led the searchers to the site then followed my fence line and found a well-worn path from my property, through a hidden gate, and straight to the barn behind this house.” She glanced at Mrs. Randal and back at Ryan. From the somber atmosphere and the tears pooling in the women’s eyes, she’d bet her next vase the body she’d found was J.W.’s.

  Chapter Eight

  If the body was J.W. and he was found on the mountain, chances were the women didn’t have a clue about the path. Shandra tamped down the anger she’d fed as she and Apple followed the trail.

  “Mrs. Randal, I’m sorry for your loss.” She walked sedately down and stood next to Ryan. The tendon on the side of his jaw twitched. He wasn’t as happy to see her as she was to see him. It stung a bit. But she also understood he’d told her to not investigate on her own and here she was, popping into his questioning.

  “Mrs. Randal, Miss Higheagle is the person who found your husband’s body.” Ryan’s tone reflected his annoyance at her “dropping by”.

  Vivian glared up at Shandra. “What was he doing on your land?” she accused.

  “That’s what I’d like to know. Especially after finding that hidden gate and path.” Shandra could tell by the glint in the woman’s eye, she had the notion J.W. and Shandra were seeing one another. Which would lead to a lot of suspects if he had a roving eye.

  “Evidence shows he was killed on your property and animals dragged his body onto Miss Higheagle’s side of the fence.” Ryan motioned for Shandra to sit.

  She took the chair farthest away from the group. The young woman sat on the couch next to Vivian.

  “Mrs. Randal, your answers will help us find the person who killed your husband.” Ryan poised his pen over his notepad.

  A shiver slithered up Shandra’s backbone. So it was murder.

  “He told me Sunday evening that he would be out of town at a business meeting.” Vivian stole a quick glance at the young woman.

  “Did he say where the meeting would be?” Ryan’s gaze was locked on the woman.

  “No. He never told me about his meetings. He said the only business I needed to tend to was my own and to be a gracious hostess when he had big game hunters here on the weekends.”

  Shandra latched onto the contempt in her voice. This was an unhappy woman. Was she unhappy enough to want to be a widow rather than a divorcee?

  “What vehicle did he take for his business meeting?” Ryan continued with questions.

  Vivian stared at the young woman. “I haven’t been out of the house. Cecily, when you went to the resort yesterday, what vehicle was missing?”

  Cecily shook her head, making her long, blonde waves shudder. “All the cars were there. The Humvee, Jeep, BMW convertible, and my car.”

  “Where would your husband have been if he didn’t leave in a vehicle?” Ryan tapped the point of his pen on the notepad as he watched the two women.

  Shandra squirmed. She had questions of her own, but knew to open her mouth would only put more points against her.

  “Why did the lady who answered the door run out of here after letting me in?” Ryan asked.

  Vivian perked up. “June let you in?” Her face slowly darkened with anger. “That slut! I thought she’d been sleeping with J.W.” Vivian stood and paced the floor. “Cecily, call over to the cabin and tell June and Red to get over here.”

  “Don’t tell them why, just ask them to come over,” Ryan added.

  Cecily left the room. Shandra suspected it was to make the call on an intercom between the two residences. Her step-father had such a thing between his office and the foreman’s shack.

  Ryan couldn’t believe his good luck. Soon he’d have all the main suspects in this case in the same room. He glanced at Shandra. If she kept still, he might have a chance at cracking this case before his brother’s wedding. He’d hate to have to cancel when everyone, including himself, was anxious for him to escort Shandra to the wedding.

  Cecily returned. “I told Red you requested to see him and June.” She sat back down by her aunt.

  “Do you need to show them in?” Shandra asked.

  Ryan shook his head imperceptibly at the interfering woman.

  “No, they’ll come through the back door.” Cecily didn’t act as if her aunt’s outburst had been out of character, which didn’t fit the description Hazel gave him of Mrs. Randal. Perhaps she was one person in public and another in private.

  “Mrs. Randal!” a male voice called from the back of the house.

  “In the great room, Red,” Vivian called back.

  Ryan turned his attention to the couple walking down the hall. The man, Red,
was tall, trim, and muscular. He sported a red beard and close-cropped red hair. He wore the usual clothes of an outdoorsman. Jeans, flannel shirt, and cowboy boots. June wore a loose sweater over a blue T-shirt, jeans, and leather loafers. Her dark hair and exotic dark eyes were the opposite of Mrs. Randal’s polished make-up and bottle-blonde hair.

  “You wanted to speak to us?” Red asked, moving his wife into the room with a hand on her back.

  June’s eyes were red and swollen.

  “Actually, I would like to speak with you.” Ryan stood. “I’m Detective Greer of the Weippe County Sheriff’s Department.”

  Red looked down at his wife. “This have anything to do with J.W. being missing?”

  Ryan watched the couple. They had something they were keeping between them. “Yes. It does. Miss Higheagle found his body on her property yesterday.”

  June turned into her husband’s chest and wept.

  “You’ll have to excuse my wife, she’s real emotional these days.” Red wrapped his arms around June and stared back at Ryan.

  “Why would Mr. Randal tell his wife he was going away on business, not take a vehicle, and end up dead on his own property?” Ryan hoped Shandra was watching Vivian and Cecily because he was facing the Hastings.

  “Could be because he wanted to shoot a big bull he knew was on the property. Since he was hauled in for the illegal tags, he’s been obsessed with killing a six point he spotted while taking Mr. Takagi on a hunt.” Red’s voice held as much contempt as Vivian’s had.

  “I told him if he set foot on the mountain to kill another animal while all the investigating and trials were going on, I’d turn him in myself,” Vivian added.

  “He faked his trip just to go after an elk?” Shandra’s disbelief rang in her voice.

  “He had the fever bad,” Red added.

  “But an elk doesn’t shoot back.” Ryan shifted so he could keep an eye on all four of the suspects.

  “What do you mean?” Red asked, tightening his hold on his wife.

  “J.W. died from a bullet in the heart.”

  “No!” wailed June. She pushed out of her husband’s arms and stared up into his face. “Why?”

  Ryan found the result he was searching for.

  “You think I did it?” Red stared at his wife, his mouth open, his eyes beseeching.

  “You turned him in for the illegal hunts.” Her sobs muffled her words.

  Ryan understood enough to realize Red knew about his wife and his boss. “Red, were you with J.W. when he went on his last hunt?”

  “No. Until this morning, I’ve spent all week in this house repairing a water leak in the washroom.” He swept his arm toward Vivian and Cecily. “They know, they were complaining about the noise.”

  “That’s true, detective. Red finished the job last night.” Vivian smiled at Red. “And he did a wonderful job.”

  By the blush on the man’s cheeks, he either had a crush on the woman or the two were playing footsie just like his wife and her husband.

  Ryan’s phone vibrated. He glanced at the number. Rickman. “I have to take this.” He walked out into the foyer and slid his finger across the screen.

  “What else do you have for me?”

  Chapter Nine

  Shandra silently thanked whoever was calling Ryan and turned to Red. “I’m Shandra Higheagle. I own the property on the west side of here.”

  Red’s gaze bounced off her to the mantle behind.

  “This morning after taking the search party to the murder site, I decided to ride my fence line. I found a well-used trail from my property to the back of the barn here. At the fence, I discovered a cleverly hidden gate. Do you have any idea why someone from here would be coming onto my property?”

  Red cleared his throat but didn’t utter a word.

  “Red, what other illegal things had J.W. been doing? It seems I didn’t know the man I married at all,” Vivian said, standing and pacing between the couch and the large, river-rock fireplace.

  “Viv—Mrs. Randal, I hate to say this but I don’t think a penny of the money your husband has made was legally.” Red’s face turned a deep red with this statement.

  “What was he doing illegally on my property?” Shandra’s ire was up. The man was trespassing and he was doing something illegal.

  “He had that fake gate put in, so when a paying hunter was here and the elk were on your property or farther north, I could round them up and drive them back over here.” Red shook his head. “He knew it would be suspicious to put up a high fence to keep the animals in. He had wildlife cameras set up in all the places the elk liked to hang out, so we knew where they were most of the time.”

  “Are some of those cameras on my property?” Talk about invasion of privacy.

  “Yes, Ma’am. There are two up on the highest areas of your property. There’s a big herd likes to hang out on the edge of your property and the National Forest above you.”

  Knowing those cameras were on her property gave her a sense of vulnerability and creepiness. She faced Vivian. “I want any cameras your husband put up on my property removed today.”

  Vivian spoke to Red. “I want all cameras you installed for J.W. removed from Shandra’s and our property. There will be no more illegal anything going on here.”

  Ryan returned to the room. “Did I hear something about cameras? Where?”

  “Apparently all over Huckleberry Mountain,” Shandra said, glaring at Red. She knew the man was only following orders, but still.

  “Mr. Hastings what can you tell me about the cameras?” Ryan had his notepad out and pen perched above it.

  “J.W. had me place wildlife cameras in the areas the elk frequented most.”

  “Two are on my property.” Shandra still couldn’t believe the gall of her neighbor. “How long have they been up?”

  “About four years. We switched in new ones last year.” Red was becoming less embarrassed as they talked about the cameras.

  “How many are on this property?” Ryan asked. “And where?”

  “We set-up eight on J.W.’s property. They’re at every spot the elk cross the fences and one where they tend to bed down.”

  “How do you monitor their activity? Do you have to pick up the SD cards every day?” Ryan stared at the other man.

  Shandra could tell by the blankness on Ryan’s face he was asking an important question. A flash like lightning sparked in her head. If there was a camera near the murder site they’d get a look at the killer.

  Movement by the hallway caught her attention. Mrs. Hastings was headed down the hall. It wasn’t her place to call the woman back. Shandra moved closer to Ryan. He glanced at her and she nodded to the hall.

  “Mrs. Hastings, please remain with everyone else.” Ryan’s voice carried down the hall with authority.

  The woman jumped, pivoted, and scurried back to stand just behind her husband.

  “Mrs. Hastings, where were you going?” Ryan asked.

  Shandra watched the other woman. She was more shook up about J.W.’s death than the wife. There was no way the husband couldn’t see it. She studied Red. He didn’t appear to be upset by his wife’s crying over their boss. But he had said he’d turned his boss in for the illegal hunting. Was that his way of getting back at the man who was sleeping with his wife?

  “I wanted to check on some things I had started in the kitchen.” She wiped her runny nose with the sleeve of her sweater.

  Vivian made a sound akin to disgust.

  The two women were from completely different worlds. It was easy to see why J.W. married Vivian. The woman was the epitome of class and style. June reminded her of a favorite stuffed animal, snuggly and needing nurtured. Was that the appeal she had to both her husband and her boss?

  “I’m sure it’s nothing that will burn,” Vivian said, pacing once again. “Do you have any idea what he was doing on the mountain? And where did he stay if his car was in the garage?”

  June visibly shrank against her husband.

>   I have a pretty good idea where the man has been. Shandra wasn’t going to say anything to the group, but she’d voice her opinion to Ryan when they were alone.

  Ryan scanned the people in the room. The wife wasn’t as distraught as he’d expected. Her niece seemed to be there for Vivian. Knowing that, he decided to continue the interrogation with everyone present.

  “I’ve come to the assumption your husband was after that six-point Mr. Hastings said he’d been eyeing. From what we’ve discovered, the body was shot on this property next to a large bull elk missing his antlers.” Ryan studied Red. “It’s my belief whoever killed Mr. Randal has those antlers.”

  “There’s only one other person who knew about that six-point. Mr. Takagi,” Red said.

  “My uncle was talking on the phone to Mr. Takagi on Sunday,” Cecily added. “It sounded like they were going to meet somewhere.”

  Ryan jotted down the name. “Any idea how I can contact him?”

  Vivian stood. “J.W. kept a list of his shooting buddies in his office. I’ll get you the phone number.”

  “Thank you.” Ryan turned his attention to Red. “Mr. Hasting, what can you tell me about the wildlife cameras? How do you access the information on them?”

  “The cameras that are within two miles of the barn are set up on monitors, the others I have to gather the SD cards once a week, usually on Friday before hunters were coming in. That way J.W. knew where to take the hunters.”

  “When Mrs. Randal returns with the phone number, I want to see the monitors.” Ryan closed his notepad and motioned to Shandra. He led the woman to the foyer.

  “I want you to go back home. I’ll come by tonight and we can compare notes.” He leaned close and talked low. He didn’t want the others to know he bounced theories off the woman. And it gave him a chance to inhale her unique scent of earth, horse, and herbs.

  “I want to find the cameras on my property and destroy them.”

  The artist liked her privacy. Why else would she live at the end of a barely navigable road on the side of a mountain?

  “I’ll see that all the cameras are taken down. I’m hoping one will have our killer.”