“Lab tests are typically standard. The examination involves incisions, but they’ll be as noninvasive as possible.”
Mattie cringed inside at Stella’s stretching of the truth; Nate’s entire chest would be opened up and probed.
Stella continued. “Once Nate is dressed, you won’t be able to see the incisions.”
Lillian straightened, concern creasing her face. “Wait a minute. How do you know this person is Nate? Are you sure it’s him?”
“Leslie Hartman and Cole Walker identified him. And there was a wallet and driver’s license in his pocket.” Stella’s tone was laced with sympathy. “We’ll need a family member to go as soon as possible to confirm identity.”
Lillian slumped in defeat. Kasey leaned her head against her mother’s shoulder and patted her knee. “Oh, Mom,” she moaned, as if in sympathy that her mother had tried to fix things for her but failed.
Stella cleared her throat quietly. “Getting back to the panel van, Kasey. Is that your vehicle?”
“It is. That’s what he took to Sidney. You said it was burned?”
“Yes.”
Kasey shook her head. “I can’t imagine that. Why?”
“That’s what we’re going to find out,” Stella said. “Just a couple more questions, Kasey. Where do you work?”
“Here on the ranch.”
“I see. And I understand that you help your mom here at the house some evenings.”
Kasey directed a sad look toward her dad. “I eat dinner with my folks and stay here until we’re ready for bed every evening. Dad and I like to watch TV together, right, Dad?”
Mattie found it heartwarming to see how the Redman women tried to include the family patriarch in the conversation. They must love him very much to be so dedicated. Was there hope in her life to achieve a lasting kind of love like that?
“So were you here tonight?” Stella asked.
Lillian continued to hug her daughter close as she nodded, though Kasey was the one who answered. “Every night. Tonight included.”
“What time did you go to your own home?”
Kasey gazed at the floor again. “I don’t know for sure, but I stayed late. Dad didn’t want to go to bed. I’d only been home about a half hour or so and had just gone to sleep when Mom called.”
That matched what her mother had said earlier.
The double door slam reverberated from the kitchen, and a young man wearing jeans, a red plaid western shirt, and a billed cap walked into the room. “What’s going on, Mom?” he said, urgency in his voice. “Is it Dad?”
This must be Tyler Redman, Mattie thought.
Lillian spoke, rising from the sofa to greet her son. “Dad’s fine.”
Tyler looked around the room. “Why are the police here? What’s going on?”
The cap that Tyler wore said BEEF BUILDS BETTER BODIES. SEE BELOW. The body below might have once been hard and lean, but the years had gathered around Tyler’s middle to turn it soft and pudgy. He glanced at his mother and removed his cap, revealing a blond crew cut and a receding hairline. Still holding his cap, he stepped forward when his mother introduced him and offered a firm handshake.
Stella cut right to the chase. “We’re here to notify your family that your brother-in-law, Nate Fletcher, was shot and killed earlier this evening.”
Tyler frowned. “In Sidney?”
“No, right outside Timber Creek.”
“But Nate went to Nebraska, didn’t he?” He looked at Kasey for confirmation, but she was staring at the floor. He turned to his mother. “Didn’t he?”
Mattie thought Lillian looked like she was getting close to the end of her rope.
“That’s what we thought,” Lillian said as she sank back down on the sofa beside Kasey.
“Well, why wasn’t he where he said he’d be?” Tyler said, his frown deepening.
“That’s what we’d all like to know,” Eve said, rubbing Kasey’s knee. “Don’t make this any harder on Kasey than it has to be.”
Tyler’s expression appeared more confused than grief-stricken, which made Mattie wonder where he’d been earlier in the evening.
Evidently Stella did, too. “Tyler, we’re investigating Mr. Fletcher’s death and the circumstances around it to determine what happened, and right now, I need to establish where everyone was earlier tonight around eleven o’clock. Could you give me that information?”
Tyler raised a brow. “No problem. I was at the dance in Timber Creek with Jasmine Pierce until around ten thirty, and then I took her home to her place. I was there with her until I left to come here.”
“Which was what time?” Stella asked.
“Thirty minutes ago. I drove straight here.”
Mattie couldn’t recall seeing Tyler at the dance, but she hadn’t known him then and might not have noticed. She’d have to ask Cole if he’d seen him. “And where does Jasmine live, Tyler?”
“South of town on the trout farm.”
Mattie knew the place he was talking about, where the Pierce family had raised trout for stocking lakes and streams for years. “I’ll want to get her phone number from you before we leave.”
Tyler didn’t look too happy about it, but he read Jasmine’s phone number to her from his phone.
“And where do you live?”
Tyler raised a brow, as if surprised she didn’t know. “Here on the ranch, in the log cabin on the other side of Kasey’s house.”
Mattie made a quick decision to swab Tyler for gunshot residue. Odds were good that his alibi would hold up, but just in case, she didn’t want to neglect getting valuable information now that could be showered away by morning.
“In the interest of being thorough,” she said, “I need to run a quick test for gunshot residue. This is standard routine with cases like this, and all it involves is a swab like they do in airports. It helps us eliminate family so we can move on.” Mattie scanned the family’s faces but focused most of her attention on Tyler. “Is that all right with everyone?”
His frown had turned into a scowl. “I took a shot at a coyote yesterday. Is that going to show up as a positive?”
“We’ll keep that in mind.” Mattie stood to go retrieve the kits from the car.
“All of us handle guns now and then,” Eve said. “Except Mom and Dad. But go ahead, do your job.”
“Yes, sir,” Doyle said, adding his agreement.
Mattie glanced at Stella, who nodded, and then made her way out through the kitchen and porch to her Explorer. When she opened the door, Robo lurched to his feet, blinking his eyes. She put her hand through the mesh to stroke his fur. “We’ll be ready to go soon. You can go back to sleep.”
She grabbed several of the packaged swabs from the console and went back inside. It took mere seconds to determine that Tyler’s clothing and hands were negative for GSR, and so were all the women’s. Though Mattie didn’t intend to swab Doyle’s hands, he reached his left out to be tested, and she swiped it quickly so that he would feel included.
“Thank you,” Mattie told them. “These results will be logged as part of the investigatory record. That way, if someone questions it in the future, we can clearly state that the results were negative for all of you. Your cooperation is much appreciated.”
Stella spoke up. “Eve, we’ve established a time frame for everyone else this evening, but what about you? Could you share where you were earlier tonight?”
Lillian was quick to answer. “Eve went to bed around eight o’clock.”
“I can speak for myself, Mom. I’m not a child,” Eve said.
Lillian bowed her head in acquiescence. “I know you’re not. I just knew when you went to bed by what was on television at the time.”