Brody parked and opened his car door, while the dog focused most of its attention on Robo. Brody would be armed with a Glock 17 pistol that he could handle like an expert.
“Brody’s in place,” she said to Stella. “Keep your distance from the subject.”
“I’ll start the talking. Jump in if you want,” Stella said before opening the door and stepping out. When Mattie did the same, the dog ran up to her, wagging its tail and then flopping onto its back for a belly rub.
No resistance from this one, Mattie thought, noticing the dog was a male. She spoke to him in a friendly tone but didn’t lean over to touch him, and she kept her eyes on Tilley.
“Dodger, come here,” Tilley said, and the dog scrambled to his feet, trotting off to join Tilley on the porch. There he stood, now quiet, tail still wagging.
Mattie mirrored Stella, moving to the front of their car but staying well away from the porch. “Are you Mr. Gus Tilley?” Stella asked.
“Who are you?”
Stella introduced herself and then Mattie and Brody. “We’d like to talk with you for a few minutes.”
“How do I know you’re who you say you are?” Tilley asked.
Mattie thought it was a strange question. They’d arrived in vehicles clearly marked with Timber Creek County Sheriff’s Department emblems. True, Stella was dressed in plain clothes, but Mattie and Brody wore uniforms.
“I’ll show you my identification. I’m going to pull back my coat,” Stella said as she slowly did so. “My badge is clipped to my belt.”
Tilley narrowed his eyes and stared at it. “I can’t see it from here.”
“Put the bat down and we’ll meet halfway. I can show it to you.”
Looking at Mattie, Tilley gestured toward her SUV with the bat. “You got a police service dog in there?”
“I do,” Mattie said, noting his use of the specific term. “Do you know something about police dogs?”
Tilley nodded.
“As you can see, my car has a Sheriff Department decal on it. Deputy Brody’s car is clearly marked too. We’re the real deal. And we came to talk with you about something.”
“Go ahead and talk.”
“Would you put the bat down, so we can all relax,” Mattie said. “I’d like to show you my dog, but I can’t take him out of the vehicle if you have something he might detect as a weapon in your hand. You know how these dogs are.” Robo had a way of making inroads with resistant people, and Mattie intended to exploit it.
Tilley looked like he was considering her words. “I’ve been having trouble with someone hurting my animals lately. Can’t be too careful.”
So I’ve heard, Mattie thought. “I’m sorry to hear that. Tell us what’s been going on.”
“I think someone put a chip in Dodger’s ear.” The dog looked up at him, sweeping the porch as he wagged his tail. “And someone hurt my horse’s eye.”
“I could look into that if you want me to.” Mattie hoped this would lead to his permission to search the barn and outbuildings. “I noticed that Dodger seemed to trust us when we arrived. He acts friendly.”
Tilley looked down at Dodger, who grinned up at him in an open-mouthed pant, and she could tell that she’d made her point: if his dog trusted them, maybe he should too.
Tilley leaned the bat against the wall of the house and stepped off the porch. “I’ll look at your identification now,” he said to Stella.
Stella unclipped her badge from her belt and held it where he could see it. He examined it carefully, stepped back, and nodded. “Why are you here?”
“We’re searching for a missing child—Sophie Walker,” Stella said.
“The lady that works at the clinic told me the doc was busy looking for his daughter, and that’s why he couldn’t talk to me himself.”
So much for the element of surprise, but it should be expected. By now, most of the townspeople knew Sophie was missing.
“Do you know Sophie?” Stella asked.
“I saw her a couple of times. She has some baby chicks. She showed them to me.”
“We’re talking with everyone who interacted with her yesterday. Do you have any idea where she might be?”
Surprise crossed Tilley’s face. “Why would I know?”
“We’re asking everyone, Mr. Tilley. We need to find this little girl as soon as possible,” Stella said.
“Sure, that makes sense,” he said, looking at Mattie. “Did she wander away from her house and get lost? The doc lives out there in the country by himself, you know. There’s a lot of hills and scrub around that area. Can your dog track her?”
Mattie decided to divulge a bit of information to see his reaction. “We did try that. He tracked her for a ways, but it looks like someone might have picked her up in a vehicle.”
“Who?”
“We don’t know.”
“Her mom?”
Mattie wondered if he knew that the mother wouldn’t be on the property after school. “No, not her mom.”
Tilley seemed to roll that information through his mind, and a horrified expression dawned on his face. “A stranger?”
“That’s what we’re afraid of.”
“Oh, no,” he said. “Oh, no . . . that’s awful.”
It was as if Mattie could see the man’s mind working, and he seemed truly upset. Then again, he might be a great actor.
“Can I do anything to help?” he asked.
“You can help us a great deal by talking to us like you are now,” Stella said. “You said you saw her at the vet clinic?”
“Yeah. She showed me her chicks and told me a story. She’s a nice little kid.”
“A story?” Stella said. “What about?”
“Chicken Little. You know it?”
“Sure do. What else did you talk about?”
“Just the chickens and how to take care of them. Doc came in, and he told her she needed to let me go home if I wanted to.”
“And?”
“Lucy was waiting in the trailer, so I said good-bye and left.”
“Lucy?”
“My horse.”
“The one with the eye injury?”
“Right.”
“Did you see Sophie again after that?”
“No.” He looked like a thought came to him. “Do you think the person that’s been hurting my animals could have taken her?”
Mattie didn’t know what to think. On the surface, this guy seemed simple and open, but on another level, and especially if he was projecting his own actions onto others, his words could be construed as suspicious and guilty. “What do you think?” she interjected before Stella could answer.
“Maybe so,” he said.
“Mr. Tilley,” Mattie said. “On the chance that you’re right, we need to look around.”
“Look around for what?”
How could she say it so that he wouldn’t decline permission? “We’re looking for anything that might help us find Sophie. Any clues that might tell us where to search.”
Interrupting her, headlights pierced the darkness out on the road and a vehicle turned in, pulling to a stop behind Brody’s.
Cole’s truck. What’s he doing here?
Cole jumped out from the driver’s side and barreled toward them, dodging around Brody as he tried to head him off. “Gus, do you know where Sophie is?” he called as he came.
Confusion filled Tilley’s face. “Hi, Doc. I was just talking to these people about that.”
Cole moved forward steadily despite Brody trying to edge him out. “What do you know, Gus?”
Mattie stepped between the two, blocking Cole.
Tilley showed no fear, only curiosity. “I don’t know anything about her. I haven’t seen her since I left your place yesterday. I was just saying that.”