Stella looked at McClelland and then Jack Waverly. “I’d like your permission to search the car Brooks was driving this afternoon, Mr. Waverly. I understand it was this Toyota right here.”
McClelland answered for Jack. “No permission granted.”
It gave Mattie intense satisfaction to see Stella pull the warrant out from the inside pocket of her jacket.
“All right. I’ll execute this warrant then,” Stella said, handing it to McClelland. “As you can see, it gives us the right to search the vehicle with our K-9, and it includes the vehicle’s contents as well.”
The attorney’s frown darkened as he scanned the document. He nodded briefly at Jack and strode toward the Toyota.
“Wait right there, Justin,” Stella said in a cutting tone. “Please step away and let Deputy Cobb work unimpeded.”
He threw up his hands and went to stand beside Jack.
Mattie’s anxiety had built while she’d watched the exchange, and she was relieved to be able to get back in action. She hurried to the Explorer’s tailgate to get Robo. He’d been watching and seemed more than ready to go to work. It took her mere seconds to put on his equipment, and he jumped out, circling around her, looking up for his next instruction.
Her heart thudded as she prepped him and let him sniff the scent article. This was it. This would tell them what they were dealing with. Had Brooks Waverly taken Sophie, or had a stranger taken her? It was a toss-up as to which was worse.
“What is this, Detective?” Mattie heard McClelland say. “What’s she looking for?”
She tuned him out and focused on Robo. Opening the 4Runner door on the passenger side, she asked him to search and directed him to sniff the interior of the door before gesturing him into the car. The car was immaculate and free of clutter. He jumped in and whiffed both front seats and the floor, then jumped to the back. Mattie opened the back door, keeping an eye on him as he sniffed the bench seat and then the floor. Then he clambered into the rear compartment and circled, giving a box filled with packaged automotive parts a cursory sniff before moving back through the car to check where he’d been.
Mattie’s hopes fell as she realized he wasn’t going to give her a hit. Without a hit, they’d have to stop. There’d be no searching the rest of the property.
After Robo came back to her to signal he was finished, she opened the SUV’s tailgate and retrieved the receipt Stella wanted. She shook her head as Stella approached and handed it to her. The detective made eye contact and lifted one shoulder to acknowledge her disappointment. Feeling let down, Mattie hugged Robo to her knees and told him he’d done a good job.
Stella went back to the men with the receipt, holding it up so that she could read it under the bright light. “You were driving to Hightower at three o’clock this afternoon, but you didn’t check out at the store until five twenty. It only takes a half hour to get to Hightower, Brooks. What were you doing all that time?”
Brooks flushed and shot a glance at his dad. “Like I said. It took a while to find everything.”
“Two hours?”
“Don’t answer that, Brooks,” McClelland said. “I insist you tell me what’s going on, Detective, or this interview is over.”
“We have a missing child, Justin. One child dead two days ago and now another girl missing.”
McClelland let his surprise show before he recovered. “My client has nothing to do with your first case, Detective, and I’m willing to go out on a limb here and say he has nothing to do with your second one either.”
“I have a runner’s cap that Brooks lost near the Banks crime scene, and now he has a huge chunk of unaccounted for time right when our second child goes missing. So, Justin, do you see why I’m not willing to take your word for it?”
“Who is the missing girl?” Jack asked.
“Sophie Walker.”
Jack looked surprised. “Doc Walker’s daughter?”
“The younger one.”
“Did you find evidence of her being in that car?” Justin said, gesturing toward the 4Runner.
Stella shrugged.
“I guess not, or you would’ve made an arrest. Your work here is done. I’m ending this interview until I have a chance to speak with my clients.”
Stella backed away, her disgust evident. “Then go to it, Counselor, but I’ll tell you when our work is done. Deputy Cobb and I are going over this vehicle with a fine-tooth comb, and we won’t be leaving until we’re sure Sophie Walker hasn’t been in it.”
Mattie felt sick at heart as she drove Stella back to the station. They’d found nothing at the Waverly place that would lead them to Sophie.
“My gut tells me the person who took Sophie is also Candace’s killer,” Stella said.
“Brody and I think so too.”
“And if Candace’s death was accidental, we have hope that Sophie is still alive.”
Mattie nodded, unable to speak, thinking of sweet Sophie with her big grin and boisterous spirit.
“We need to keep an eye on Brooks Waverly,” Stella said. “I’m not sure how we’re going to do it.”
“Maybe Johnson?”
“I’ll talk to the sheriff. I’m just not sure how we can stake out that place.”
Even an unmarked car would be conspicuous parked on a highway with nothing but open meadowland on both sides.
“Might have to be satisfied with setting up a speed check between Timber Creek and watching for the Waverly vehicles that way,” Mattie suggested.
“At least that would tell us if and when Brooks drives into town. I don’t know what he was doing during that two-hour block of time, but I’ll see if I can find out what time he actually arrived at that store.”
“It’s a concern,” Mattie was saying when her cell phone rang. It was Jim Madsen, and she connected the call.
“I just passed the sign that said I’m ten miles from Timber Creek,” he said.
She gave him directions to Cole’s lane. “There’s a sign out by the highway that says Timber Creek Veterinary Clinic. It’ll be visible in your headlights.”
“I’ll be there soon.”
“We’ll meet you there.” Mattie flipped on her overheads and picked up speed as she spoke to Stella. “Sergeant Madsen will arrive with a bloodhound within the next few minutes.”
“Do you think this dog can come up with something when Robo couldn’t?”
“I don’t know, but bloodhounds have more scent cells than German shepherds. Let me call Brody and tell him Madsen’s almost here.”
Mattie hoped Jim’s dog would be able to find Sophie’s scent coming from the vehicle that had snatched her away. She knew that while most dogs had around 150 to 200 million olfactory receptors, some believed a bloodhound could have up to 300 million. The breed’s large, wet flews and folds of skin around their nose and ears helped scoop up scent particles in the air or on the ground. Bloodhounds could sometimes track a human scent trail that was over a week old.
By the time they arrived at the entry to Cole’s lane, Brody was already parked there with his lights flashing. Even as Mattie pulled in to park, an unmarked SUV drove up beside her. The combined lights on top of her vehicle and Brody’s created an eerie blue-and-red strobe that let her see Jim Madsen give her a brief salute as he parked.
“I’ll tell the sheriff we’re all here,” Stella said, reaching for her phone.
Mattie nodded and left the car. Robo bounced from side to side in his compartment, checking out Jim’s SUV. He’d evidently spotted the other dog. The bloodhound’s nose pressed up against the side window of his own compartment as he sat calmly and stared at Robo, placid and apparently less excitable than her dog. His soulful eyes in his droopy face shifted to stare at her for a moment, and then moved back to watch Robo. She wondered what difference there would be in handling this calm, collected animal rather than the raw bundle of energy that made up her German shepherd.