Jasmine was in the red Kia playing music when Mattie stepped outside. The music ended abruptly, and Jasmine opened the car door to get out until Mattie raised a hand. “We’re almost done, Jasmine,” Mattie called. “Just a few more minutes.”
Jasmine frowned but settled back in her seat, closed the door, and turned her music back on.
As always, Robo appeared ecstatic when Mattie put on his narcotics search collar and let him out. She made sure he did his business outside the yard, sacrificing her own car tire, before putting him on a leash. After grabbing a consent form, she led him up the porch steps and let herself back into the house, Robo at heel.
Her short hair smashed against her head, Eve came through a doorway that was straight ahead on the other side of the hall, and Mattie glimpsed a bathroom beyond the open door. Eve’s sleepy eyes widened when she saw Robo. “What a gorgeous shepherd.”
Mattie smiled and gave a nod of acknowledgment. “I’m sorry to wake you up.”
“That’s okay. I should get ready to go home and help Mom anyway.” She headed toward the kitchen. “But first … caffeine.”
“Is Kasey back there?” Mattie asked Eve, gesturing toward the hallway.
“Yeah, the room on the right.”
Mattie followed the sound of Kasey’s voice into a room taken up for the most part by an old oak desk, and caught the tail end of the conversation.
“I have to go through with this fishing trip Nate scheduled,” Kasey was saying to Stella. “The clients paid for the trip in advance. We’ve put a lot of money into equipment for the business and I couldn’t afford to refund their payments, so Tyler said he’d run the trip for me.”
Kasey was sorting through a stack of papers, but when she glanced up, her eyes were drawn to Robo. She slumped in her chair and audibly exhaled as if all her steam leaked out with her breath. Tears filled her eyes. “He’s beautiful. We just lost our dog last winter, an Old English sheepdog.” Kasey took the permission form, signed it without reading it, and handed it back to Mattie. “I’m afraid you won’t find anything to help with your investigation here in my home, but you’re welcome to look.”
Mattie folded the form and tucked it into her shirt pocket. “We’ll start in the bedroom. Robo, come with me.”
As she left, she heard Stella ask a question that should be asked of any spouse in a murder investigation. “Did your husband have life insurance that will help with your expenses?”
Stella had couched the question in nonchallenging terms, and Mattie slowed to listen for Kasey’s reply.
“He did, but I’m not sure how much. His parents have the policy. You’ll have to ask them about it.”
Mattie went into the bedroom. A king-size bed dominated the floor, and its tangled taupe satin sheets looked nothing like the strips of white cotton used in the Molotov cocktail. She clipped Robo’s leash to the dead ring on his collar and led him in a counterclockwise sweep of the room’s perimeter, taking only a couple minutes for him to slink around, sniffing wherever she indicated, before heading out to the other rooms.
In the living room, a small bench sat beside the front door, boots and shoes scattered on the floor nearby. A pair of work gloves made of leather lay on the bench seat, and they appeared to be a size-small women’s glove. Mattie picked them up to keep them from sliding off and tilted open the seat to peer into the compartment. Gloves and hats of all kinds filled the storage space, but none of the gloves matched the one found at the roadside.
When she took Robo through a different internal doorway into the kitchen, she found a quaint and cozy room filled with older appliances, a retro gray-topped Formica table, and four red plastic chairs with aluminum ladder backs and legs. There was no room for a dishwasher in the small space, and dirty dishes filled the sink and cluttered the countertops. Like the rest of the house, the kitchen spoke of the couple’s attention being turned toward something other than housework.
Eve sat at the table drinking a cup of coffee. “Should I leave?” she asked.
“Not necessary. Just stay put, and he’ll sniff around you.”
Mattie and Robo worked the small room in a matter of seconds, swept the office and bathroom, and in the end Robo proved Kasey’s prediction to be true—the entire house was free of narcotics.
By this time, Stella and Kasey had come out from the office, Stella carrying paperwork that Mattie assumed belonged to the van.
Mattie made eye contact with Kasey. “You were right. Robo didn’t hit on anything here in your home.”
Her face filled with sorrow, Kasey nodded, apparently receiving the news graciously. “Do you need anything more from me?”
“Not now,” Stella said as she walked toward the door to leave. “I’ll be back in touch after I visit with the medical examiner.”
Eve came from the kitchen just as Mattie was about to follow Stella through the door. “Can I pet your shepherd?” she asked.
While Stella went ahead and stepped outside, Mattie stayed for a minute, letting both Eve and Kasey pet Robo before going out the door. Just as she stepped onto the porch, a silver Lexus pulled up next to her SUV and parked. A guy with white-blond hair and a ruddy complexion jumped from the driver’s side and jogged up the sidewalk. Kasey grabbed her shawl while Mattie stepped aside on the porch to give him room as he charged up the steps. Stella stayed below in the yard, one brow quirked in her bemused expression.
“Kasey!” He embraced her, both arms wrapped around hers while she clutched the shawl around her body. “Aw, Kasey, I’m so sorry. This is terrible.”
Kasey turned her face away from his chest, trying to pull away. He let go reluctantly and stepped back to gaze at her with a wounded expression, one hand outstretched for a second before he let it fall. “I came as soon as I heard.”
Kasey held the shawl closed at her chest, its edges bunched in her fists. “Thanks, Wilson. But there’s really no need.”
That felt like a strange response. The whole picture seemed like sort of a shutdown, and Mattie wondered who this Wilson guy was and what was his relationship to Kasey.
He looked hurt but tried to hide it. “I wanted to see if there’s something I could do to help.”
Kasey shook her head, looking downward as if avoiding eye contact. “There’s nothing anyone can do.”
She sounded lost, hopeless, and Mattie decided to intervene. She introduced herself and Stella. “We’re from the Timber Creek Sheriff’s Department. And your name, sir?”
“Excuse me, my head’s not on straight. This is all such a tragedy.” He offered a handshake, pumping Mattie’s arm twice with a firm grip before moving on to Stella. “I’m Wilson Nichol. I’ve known Tyler and Kasey since we were kids.”
Pulling on a jacket over her pajamas as she stepped out onto the porch, Eve stood beside her sister, looking at Wilson with a frown. Jasmine came from her car to join the group.
“Hey, Jasmine,” Wilson said to her.
“Wilson,” she replied, going up onto the porch to flank Kasey, she and Eve looking like bodyguards.
Since no one seemed happy to see this old friend, Mattie thought she’d better find out more about him. Could he have had something to do with Nate’s murder? “Do you live nearby, Mr. Nichol?”
“I live over in Willow Springs,” he said, taking out his wallet to hand her a business card. “I own Western Colorado Realty there. We specialize in farm and ranch properties.”
While Mattie reached for his card, Wilson’s eyes were drawn back to Kasey. Mattie recognized a quality in his gaze that she’d seen lately when Cole looked at her—a spark that went beyond friendship. Meanwhile, Kasey’s eyes remained downcast.
Eve was several inches taller than her older sister, and she placed an arm protectively around Kasey’s shoulders. “Wilson, Kasey and I haven’t had a chance to clean up yet, and we need to go over to Mom and Dad’s house. Thanks for stopping by, but we don’t have time to visit.”