“Well, I’m taking a portable, ground-penetrating radar unit up, so we can take a look with that after we excavate your victim.”
Mattie nodded. “I’ll be going to scout out the back of the ridge this morning, but Deputy Brody is already up at the crime scene. He can show you the area we’re talking about.”
“Sounds good.”
“Have a seat,” McCoy said, gesturing toward the food on the table. “My wife sent fruit Danish and we have fresh coffee.”
Mattie had already eaten breakfast but still helped herself, knowing that anything that came from Mrs. McCoy’s kitchen would be delicious.
Stella refilled her coffee cup. “The Byers County lab has sent tissue samples from the victim’s foot to a forensics lab in Denver. They’ll expedite searching for our victim through CODIS and the National DNA Index System. If we’re lucky enough for him to be in the database, we’ll have a match soon.”
CODIS, the Combined DNA Index System operated by the FBI, contained DNA profiles taken from crime scenes and from offenders who’d been arrested for or convicted of violent crimes such as rape or homicide. If this victim had been connected with such a crime anytime since the 1990s, he’d most likely be in the system. NDIS, or the National DNA Index System, provided for identifying missing persons and the unidentified. The search could also be broadened to include a DNA family match, which made the two databases even more effective.
McCoy cleared his throat, as if brushing away morning cobwebs. “We have horses arriving here soon. We’ll have two set up with pack saddles to pack in your gear,” he told Rick.
“That should do it.”
“Have you packed into a crime scene on horseback before?” Stella asked.
“Many times. It’s not too unusual to find bodies in remote places here in Colorado.”
Sam Corns rapped on the door and then peered inside. “Cole Walker and the rest of the cavalry are here.”
“Send them in,” McCoy said. “We’ll fortify with coffee and then load up so we can get on our way.”
This second trip up the mountain doesn’t seem nearly as scary, Mattie thought, relaxing in the saddle atop Mountaineer as she followed Stella and Honey upslope beneath the pines. Today she could even register the pine scent that saturated the forest, a scent she loved. Perhaps her nightmare had put everything into perspective—nothing in this reality could outdo the terror she’d felt in that dream.
Ed Lovejoy rode along with them, and he, Cole, and Mattie planned to split off from the other investigators halfway up the trail to go to the backside of the ridge. Mattie felt torn about not returning to the gravesite with the rest of the party, but she and Robo had searched as much of the surrounding area as they could yesterday and found nothing. Although the chance seemed remote that their victim’s killer might be the same person who killed the ram, it seemed important to find the spot where the shots came from, in case the shooter had left behind evidence that could be associated with their victim’s case. Besides, the gravesite excavation required a skill set different from hers and Robo’s. There would be little she could do to be of help there.
Within the hour, they came to the trail’s fork, and it took only moments for the party to get sorted out. Soon Mattie found herself riding up a new trail, this one steeper and rockier than the other.
Lovejoy took the lead and Cole the rear as they ascended, while Robo trotted out in front. Once, when they faced a particularly steep grade, Mattie heard Cole speak softly behind her. “Remember to lean forward when you go uphill.”
She tried to do what he said, but could feel her back stiffen when Mountaineer lurched and scrambled to climb, his hooves churning. She ended up clinging to the saddle horn like she’d done the day before.
The decades-old forest fire had not reached the backside of the ridge, so the trees grew dense along this narrow and seldom used access. She loved the mountains but the overhanging evergreens triggered her claustrophobia. Her sweaty palms grew slippery on the leather saddle horn, and she had to focus on slowing her breath. After what seemed like eons, the trail broke onto a granite slab that ran close to the top of the ridge. She breathed a sigh of relief as the space opened up and she could see again.
Lovejoy pointed to the top of a rise layered with rose-colored shale, too risky to reach on horseback. “We’re probably near the opposite side from where the ram and the herd were yesterday. We might have to scout the top on foot.”
“Let’s tie up here where the horses have some shade,” Cole said. “And where I can change into hiking boots.”
“Well, shee-ite, Doc. Did you bring me a pair?”
“Sorry, Ed. I guess you’re on your own.”
With a good-natured grimace, Lovejoy spat a brown stream of tobacco and went to tie his horse.
Once on the ground, Mattie felt back in her element. She offered Robo a drink of water from his collapsible bowl, and he lapped for a long time. When he’d finished, she put the collar that he wore for evidence detection on him and told him he was going to work. He waved his tail and gazed into her eyes, telling her he understood although his typical excitement seemed dampened by the amount of energy it had taken to reach this elevation.
When Cole arose, stamping his rugged boots as if to test the tread, Mattie finished up with Robo and put her water supply away in her backpack. Then she gave her dog the command reserved for evidence detection, “Seek,” which shifted him into sniffing mode.
Mattie had expanded Robo’s skills by training him to find newly spent casings and shotgun shells, the ammo commonly used around Timber Creek. Even though her dog wasn’t formally trained in explosives detection, she felt confident that he could scent gunpowder when she needed him to.
Cole and Lovejoy fell in behind while Mattie and Robo struck off toward the top of the ridge. She picked her way through boulders, sometimes leaning forward to get a handhold. Nose to the ground, Robo quartered the area in front of her, covering about twice the distance she did, while she kept a sharp eye out and scanned the same area visually.
Robo breached the top first and posed there against the skyline waiting for her. When she reached him, she could see that Lovejoy’s estimation of their location had been spot-on. From this pinnacle, the ridge fell away, offering her a clear view of the meadow below, filled with the brilliant red of the fireweed, as well as a panorama of the burned area and dozens of miles of rolling evergreen forest. About a hundred yards downhill, she spotted the ram’s carcass.
Cole came up beside her and handed her the binoculars. She focused and swept the sights along the ridgeline and below, and then pointed to an overlook about fifty yards away. “It looks like we could follow the ridge along the top, and then go downslope on that ledge. From there, we could pick our way through the boulders to get to the ram.”
Heaving for breath, Lovejoy finally made his way up to join them.
Cole was scoping the area. “I think you’re right, Mattie.”
“I’ll do a modified grid search on the ridgeline and see if Robo can find evidence that the shooter was here. Then we’ll take it from there.” Again, Mattie gave Robo the command to seek and followed him as closely as she could.
A tangle of slippery shale, rocks of all sizes, and huge boulders cluttered the topside of the ridge. She teetered from one rock to another, finding foothold after foothold, as she painstakingly searched the rugged terrain. Robo tiptoed easily ahead of her, searching with his nose.
After about fifty yards of careful examination, her dog came to the overlook that she’d spied through the binoculars. He poked his nose into a pile of rocks at the top part of the ledge, and then sat and turned his stare toward Mattie.