The sheriff’s presence always lent a certain level of stability to their group. Mattie had learned something about “being grounded” during her weekly yoga lessons with Rainbow, and Sheriff McCoy was probably the most grounded individual she knew. And as far as she could tell, his unflappable nature came to him easily; she doubted he spent much time learning to steady himself with asana poses and meditation like she did.
But as she studied him, she had to wonder if he knew other secrets about her, leaving her with an unsettled feeling. She still suffered from repressed memories from her childhood, and it haunted her to think he might know more than she did about her past.
Stella was writing lists on the whiteboard she’d developed for Wilson Nichol. “All right, everyone, this is getting complicated. Two homicides, both with gunshot wounds. You’ve notified Wilson’s family, Sheriff?”
“His parents,” McCoy said. “They moved from here to Arizona last year and don’t seem to know much about his current life. They plan to come to Timber Creek as soon as they can make arrangements to be gone from their business.”
Stella turned to the whiteboard to review the points she’d written from the autopsy, ticking off each one with her marking pen. “There was one through-and-through gunshot wound to Nichol’s chest, going front to back. From the appearance of the exit wound, the bullet was designed to expand upon impact, similar to the hollow points found in Nate Fletcher.”
Stella moved on to the next point. “Examination of his organs and the cavity left by the predator indicates Nichol bled out and his heart had stopped beating before the cat got to him. The ME is listing the cause of death as exsanguination from a gunshot wound.”
Mattie had hoped that was the case, and she was relieved to hear it confirmed.
“Let’s move on to what we’ve learned about the evidence left at the scene.” Stella pointed to a photo of the boot prints found in the soil beside Wilson’s body. “These prints and the victim’s footwear don’t match, so let’s assume they were left by his killer. Of course we don’t know if the killer came up that close to Wilson during or after the shooting, but the trajectory of the bullet that Robo found in the willows matches with the position of the footprints. It looks like the shooter was standing right there when he shot Wilson.”
A little jolt of adrenaline did a lot to boost Mattie’s flagging energy level. This was good news. If the killer had been close in proximity when he’d shot Wilson and had used a handgun, the same MO had been used for both victims.
Stella went on. “Analysis suggests the prints are approximately a man’s size eight and a half to nine and a half, which converts to a woman’s size ten to eleven.”
Stella eyed her, and Mattie decided to voice what she figured the detective was thinking. “And I would guess Kasey Redman wears a shoe about my size, a size seven.”
“You read my mind,” Stella said. “When you take into consideration the dampness of the soil, it looks like this print was left by a man of slender build. Though I advise we take this with a grain of salt. It’s hard to read much into print depth in different soil types.”
“Agreed, but the glove found at Nate Fletcher’s scene was large enough to suggest a male killer, too.” Mattie scanned the list of persons of interest. “Tyler Redman is a husky guy, but Flint Thornton, Ben Underwood, and Zach Irving are all lean.”
“Right,” Stella said, shifting her gaze to Brody. “Brody, what’s your opinion of Flint Thornton as our killer?”
He scratched the stubble on his chin. “Flint has no history of violent crime. He was into petty theft, property damage, and smoking pot as a teenager, but we never busted him for any of the hard drugs. As far as I know, he’s kept his nose clean for years.”
Mattie would like to believe that a record of juvenile crime didn’t necessarily lead to a record as an adult, but in many cases it did. “We can’t eliminate him yet.”
Brody shrugged and looked at her with tired eyes. “No, we can’t.”
Mattie focused on the next point in Stella’s list. “Let’s talk about the revolver Robo found at Nate Fletcher’s crime scene.”
“Smith and Wesson .38 Special,” Stella said. “Four hollow-point rounds in the cylinder and two spent cartridges, which as you well know matches the number of shots used to kill Nate. The gun had been wiped clean: no prints.”
Mattie spun back to the evidence they’d found at Wilson’s place—the jars and the can of fuel. “We know now that the gun was registered to Wilson Nichol, and he reported it stolen a few weeks ago. That and the items we found behind his office point to someone trying to set Wilson up as Nate Fletcher’s killer.”
“I think it’s possible,” Stella agreed.
McCoy tapped a finger on the table. “Which begs the question: if the killer went to all the trouble to plant this evidence against Wilson, why did he turn right around and kill him?”
“True,” Stella said. “I wonder if something happened after Nate that made the shooter decide he needed to kill Wilson as well.”
During the silence that followed, Mattie wondered how they might find the answer to that question. “We need to trace Wilson’s activities between the filing of the report and the time of his death, especially focusing on these last few days,” she said at last. “We’ve got to see who he’s crossed paths with.”
“I’ve started that, but first let’s finish talking through our evidence,” Stella said. “Wilson’s fingerprints were the only ones found on the binoculars, so it’s safe to assume they belonged to him. And the scrolls found inside his car were blueprints of the Redman Ranch. One was of the buildings on the property, and one was the general layout of the entire acreage.”
“Why would he have those in his possession? And why was he carrying them around in his car?” Mattie paused to think for a moment. “Maybe the Redmans are planning to sell their place and use him as the agent. He could have been up there checking out the lay of the land.”
McCoy shifted in his chair. “We need to follow up with the Redmans to see if they plan to sell their property.”
“Already done,” Stella said. “I called Lillian; they have no desire or plan to sell their property.”
Mattie sorted through details she knew, trying to match the pieces. “All right, when we look at the real estate angle, here sits a valuable piece of property owned by Lillian and Doyle Redman. Wilson Nichol is in real estate sales, Zach Irving is a real estate developer and Ben Underwood a builder. That’s one way these three men tie in together.”
“Agreed,” Stella said. “But Lillian also told me she’d never met the two men from California until this morning when they left with Tyler to go fishing. As far as she knows, they’re merely Nate’s customers.”
Sheriff McCoy interjected by raising his hand. “I’ve got a warrant to search Wilson’s business and home to see if we can find anything associated with his death. Perhaps we can find something there that sheds light on Wilson’s relationship with these two men or anyone else on our list.”
Tyler Redman. He was Wilson’s friend. “What about Tyler?” Mattie said. “Could he be the one interested in selling the land?”
“And now he’s the one hobnobbing with the developers,” Brody added.
“Hard to say,” Stella said, “but that doesn’t provide motive for killing Nate or Wilson. In fact, killing Wilson would throw a wrench into that plan. We’ve still got to dig for motive, and I’ll execute that search warrant first thing tomorrow.”