“We haven’t found a record on a John Carter of his age and description in the system,” Stella said.
“That’s not his real name. Violet Carter isn’t mine either. My real name is Virginia Carson, and I don’t have a criminal record. You can look me up in your system.”
“What’s his name?” Mattie asked.
Her eyes slipped sideways to connect with Mattie’s. “When I met him, he was doing time as John Cobb. He said he had a brother who was killed in prison here in Colorado.”
John Cobb. Mattie’s breath caught, and she had a terrible feeling about the answer to her next question. “The brother’s name?”
“Harold Cobb.”
My father. Heat flared in Mattie’s cheeks, making her cuts and scratches sting. “What was John doing time for?”
“Drugs.”
Not gunrunning, but a crime that could be related. Mattie’s head was spinning from the news that the man who’d tried to kill her was her uncle. She fell silent, letting Stella pick up the questioning.
“How did you end up here in Colorado?”
“John hooked up with someone that he said he used to do business with. He trailered a couple horses out here to Colorado, and I drove the Tahoe. He brought this other man with him.” She gazed at Stella with regret that might be genuine—hard to say. “I knew the man was unconscious, but I didn’t know what John was going to do to him. You’ve got to believe me. John told me to move the truck and trailer, but I didn’t know he was going to kill the guy. I found that out later.”
“So you know that John Cobb killed the man that he brought here from California?”
“That’s what John said.”
“And the name of this person he killed was?”
“I don’t know his name.” She pointed at Mattie. “Her brother.”
As horrible as her words were to listen to, they brought a sense of relief to Mattie. This witness could identify John Cobb as Willie’s killer, and she’d be much more credible on the stand than the victim’s sister. That should be enough to put him away.
“What was your plan for today?” Stella asked.
“John planned to meet me in the parking lot and we’d leave from there. Leave the horses and go.” Violet looked down at the table. “He wasn’t there when I got to the parking lot, and I was afraid someone would spot me. He would’ve killed me if I let that happen. I went up into the trees to hide.”
A frown furrowed Stella’s brow. “And what about Deputy Cobb? Was he planning to take her with you, too?”
Mattie figured Stella knew the answer to that question—John Cobb had planned to kill her.
Violet shifted in her chair. “I don’t know what he planned to do with her.”
“Hmm …” Stella paused, tapping a finger on the table. “Tell me. Why the attack on Deputy Cobb and her dog?”
“I’m not sure.”
“He must have told you something.”
Violet squirmed in her chair, her eyes cast away from Mattie. “He said she had information he wanted.”
“About?”
Violet seemed to have trouble meeting Stella’s gaze, and she looked down at the table instead. “I don’t know.”
Stella raised her hand to rub her cheekbone as if deep in thought, before turning to Mattie. “Deputy Cobb, had you ever met John Cobb before?”
“Not before I met him at the ice cream shop here in Timber Creek.”
“Then why would John think Deputy Cobb had information that he wanted?” Stella asked Violet.
Her eyes narrowed. “He wanted to find her mother. He thought she would know where she was.”
Mattie had regained her equilibrium, and she felt certain that Violet knew more about John Cobb’s agenda than she was saying. Robo had followed Violet’s scent into the forest, not John’s. She wanted to know if the woman had been in her backyard during the attack. “A dog with scent training can find people by following their scent trail. My dog can remember the scent of different people and can lead me right to the person I want to find. It’s amazing really.”
Now she had Violet’s full attention.
“In other words,” Mattie continued, “he can tell me if a person has been in a specific area, like my yard.”
“Tell us where you were last night around ten o’clock,” Stella said.
Violet slumped lower in her chair. “Okay, I was there. Outside the yard. But I didn’t shoot you or your dog with the dart gun. That was all John.”
“Where were you exactly?” Stella asked.
“At the side of the house by the gate. John told me to blow a dog whistle when you let your dog out into the yard. One of those high-pitched things that people can’t hear. The dog ran at me and John shot him. He planned to shoot you when you came outside to search for the dog. He didn’t know you’d be right there at the same time. He almost missed you.”
So the woman had helped execute the plan to attack a police officer and her K-9. Strange things could still happen, but Mattie was willing to bet that no one would be offering this prisoner much of a deal.
Placing her elbows on the table, Stella leaned forward and pinned Violet with her stare. “Would you be willing to testify against John Cobb?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know if you can protect me.” Violet cast her gaze around the room as if for a way out. “I want to talk to a lawyer.”
Game over. Time to move on to John.
Stella wrapped up with Violet, determining that the woman needed a public defender. Stella told her she would need to wait while they tried to reach him.
Out in the hallway, Stella clasped Mattie’s arm and drew her close, speaking in a quiet voice. “Our research into Harold Cobb didn’t bring up a brother as an associate.”
“Neither of them served time for gunrunning. They must have stayed ahead of the law.”
McCoy joined them in the hallway. He’d been watching the feed from the recording. “Found a California driver’s license for Virginia Carson. Photo looks like her and prints are a match. She told the truth about not having a record. John Cobb does have a record for serving time for drug possession and dealing, but still no affiliation with Harold Cobb.”
Stella acknowledged the information with a nod. “Mattie, are you up to talking to John Cobb now?”
“I have several questions for him.”
“Let me take the lead.” Stella opened the door of the next interrogation room, and Mattie followed her in.
John Cobb sat at the table, his hands in cuffs and chained to a steel eyebolt set in the floor. Deputy Johnson stood at the wall, keeping guard. A bright red cut adorned the top of John’s nose where Mattie had kicked the mask, and bruises darkened both his eyes and his throat. The EMT that cared for prisoners at the station had wrapped his arm with a bandage where no doubt Robo had left his mark.
It pleased Mattie that she and her dog had been able to get in their licks.
The recorder had been running since they’d put John in the room, so Stella repeated the Miranda warning and began the interview. “John Cobb, are you willing to answer a few questions?”
He eyed Stella before giving Mattie an insolent smile. “Depends.”
Stella placed her palms on the table. “We’ve spoken to Violet, also known as Virginia Carson. She wants to work with us. We’ve got your identity and your record, and we know you were responsible for William Cobb’s death.”
John shrugged, his cold eyes locked on Mattie.
“How did you find William Cobb?”
He gave Stella a scornful look.
“We know you killed him.”
His snake eyes traveled back to Mattie and fixed on her.
Mattie wasn’t afraid of him, and she wanted some answers. She leaned forward to take over. “Let’s talk about the three skeletons we found up on Redstone Ridge then. The weapon involved in those deaths has been traced to your brother, Harold Cobb.”