Wilson stared at Eve for a few beats before he looked at Kasey. “I’ll come by later then. I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am about Nate. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”
“I will.” Kasey turned to go inside with Eve while Jasmine stayed on the porch.
As Wilson passed by on the way to his car, Robo sniffed at him, and his movement toward the man caught Mattie’s eye. Did her dog smell something that interested him, like gunpowder or dope? Or was he merely taking a whiff of a stranger?
She led Robo to her SUV, walking him past Wilson’s car to see if he would alert on something. Robo had done hundreds of vehicular drug sweeps since he’d come to work with her in Timber Creek, and it was routine for him to take a free sniff whenever he walked past a car. If Wilson’s SUV had transported drugs recently, Robo would tell her.
Her dog walked past the Lexus without interest, so she loaded him up in her unit. Stella had already settled into the passenger seat. But the scowl on Jasmine’s face as she watched Wilson turn around and drive away made it impossible for Mattie to leave without finding out what Kasey’s friend was thinking.
As Mattie walked back toward her, Jasmine lost the scowl. “Yes?”
Mattie thought she might as well just come right out with it. “I noticed you weren’t happy to have Wilson stop by.”
Jasmine shook her head. “Was it that obvious?”
Mattie nodded.
Jasmine sighed. “Wilson had a thing for Kasey in high school. They dated for a while, but Kasey ended it when she went to college. He’s still Tyler’s friend, though.”
When Jasmine paused, Mattie prompted her. “And?”
“I suppose Wilson thinks he can move back in on Kasey now that Nate’s gone, but she’s not interested. The sooner he figures that out, the better off we’ll be.”
Mattie was glad she’d stayed to ask. Jealousy was a strong motive, and it gave them a good lead to follow. She thanked Jasmine for her candor and left.
As she climbed into her SUV, Stella glanced up from the documents she’d been reading. “What’s up?”
Mattie told her about what she’d seen between Wilson and Kasey and what Jasmine had to say. “It strikes me as significant. Here’s a man looking at the new widow with love in his eyes. Seems like a motive to me.”
Stella pursed her lips and stared out the windshield as she thought about it. “Well, well. I’ll call Brody and see what he can find out about Wilson Nichol online. Then let’s figure out a time we can go talk to him.”
TEN
When Mattie and Stella cruised by the motel on their way through town, the Cadillac SUV was still absent, so they picked up sandwiches at the grocery store and then drove on to the station. Mattie took Robo to the staff office to call Cole. She’d been hesitant to contact him in front of Stella in case the conversation drifted to personal subjects.
He answered on the first ring. “The doctor just left, and I was about to call you.”
“How is Garrett doing?”
“Better. Looks like there’s been no more bleeding in his brain. He’s sleeping off and on. Still has vision problems, but the doctor is hopeful that will resolve.”
That news came as a relief. “Sounds good.”
“It’s the best we can hope for right now.”
She wondered when they might be able to interview Garrett and Leslie. “Does the doctor consider him stable?”
“Yeah, I’d say so.”
“How is Leslie holding up?”
“She’s exhausted, but relieved. She was dozing in the chair when I left the room.” Cole paused. “I need to figure out a way to get her vehicle over here so she’ll have transportation.”
“I might be able to help with that.” Mattie thought about it for a moment. “Stella and I need to talk with both Garrett and Leslie. Maybe one of us could drive her truck over to you.”
“I’ll be leaving here sometime today. We could time it so that I could give you a ride back home.”
“We’ll work it out. I’ll call you back.”
Cole sighed. “It’ll be good to see you.”
Mattie felt a tug in her midsection. “Same here. I’ll call you soon and let you know our plans.”
Mattie ended the call. Her body seemed to be pulling her toward Cole, even though it had been less than a day since she’d seen him. She missed him, but he was needed at the hospital. Cole was like family to the Hartmans. Thank goodness Leslie had him to help her at a time like this.
Thinking of family made her remember her search for her own. She opened her email on her computer to see if she’d received one about her DNA results, but she was disappointed to find there was still no word.
She joined Brody and Stella in the war room, where she chose a ham and Swiss on rye for lunch and Robo ducked under the table to lie down.
Brody pulled up Kasey’s Facebook page on his laptop and turned the computer so Mattie and Stella could see the screen. “Lucky for us, hardly anyone uses the privacy settings. Here’s the most interesting thing I’ve found.”
Kasey’s latest post had been made the previous week, and it was a shot of her from the past. Dressed in a pink tailored western suit and matching colored Stetson, she sat astride a handsome black-and-white paint horse, a banner proclaiming MISS TIMBER CREEK COUNTY stretched diagonally across her chest. Kasey’s caption stated, THOSE WERE THE DAYS! HERE I AM ON GOOD OLE BOSS, RODEO QUEEN MY SENIOR YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL.
“Take a look at the comments,” Brody said.
There it was, right at the top, a comment made by Wilson Nichoclass="underline" HEY, GORGEOUS. LOVED YOU THEN, STILL LOVE YOU NOW.
“Wears his heart on his sleeve, doesn’t he?” Stella muttered. “Wonder what Kasey and Nate thought of that.”
“Kasey liked the comment,” Brody said. “From what I can tell, though, Nate didn’t use Facebook much. He’s got a business page, but there’s very little on it. He didn’t comment on any of Kasey’s posts, so he might not have even seen it. Go ahead and read some of the others. There seems to be a lot of love going around in that group.”
Sure enough—many of the posts made by men and women alike expressed their love for Kasey. Mattie shrugged one shoulder. “Seems like most people love her. Friendship? Romance? Hard to say. But in Wilson’s case, considering what I saw and what Jasmine said, I’d bet on romance.”
Stella scrolled down Kasey’s Facebook page. “Yeah, but did she love him back? Knowing that would make a difference.”
“Jasmine says she doesn’t,” Mattie said.
Nodding acknowledgment, Stella rose from her chair to go to the whiteboard that held notes about Nate’s case. She picked up the marker and started to write. “I contacted Cabela’s in Sidney, where everyone thought Nate had gone, and they were willing to cooperate when I explained I was investigating his homicide. According to their records, there’s been no activity on Nate’s business account for months. If he was at their store yesterday, he didn’t purchase anything. So why wasn’t he where he was supposed to be?”
Mattie didn’t have the answer to that yet, but the question did stir up others. Had Nate been having an affair with someone? And what about Wilson? Had he killed Nate out of jealousy? Or did he know something about Nate that had enraged him enough to motivate him to homicide? “We’ve got to get to Wilson as soon as we can. Maybe he’ll give us some answers.”