Stella turned back to the whiteboard, putting her marker on the next point. “Let’s talk about this information from Wilson’s phone records.”
Stella had listed a phone number, and now Mattie took her notebook from her pocket to record it.
“This is the number for the last incoming call on Wilson’s cell phone. It’s the last person he talked to before he dialed nine-one-one.” Stella tapped the end of her marker against the number on the whiteboard. “We need to find out who called him.”
Mattie checked the records in her notebook. “And that number doesn’t match either Ben Underwood’s or Zach Irving’s.”
“Right. But I got some help from CBI tech support. The number isn’t registered to anyone and belongs to a prepaid phone. They’re trying to trace where the phone was sold, so we can find out if we can get a receipt or even the store’s CCTV recording of the person who bought it,” Stella said, referring to closed-circuit television used by security.
“That’s good work,” McCoy said in a low tone.
“Maybe it was Kasey,” Mattie said. “She’s another link between Nate and Wilson.”
“True,” Stella said, adding Kasey back on the Persons of Interest list. “We have to take another look at her, especially in light of the fact that she’s got a strong motive for Nate.”
It took a few minutes for Stella to update Brody on the information Nate’s parents had shared, giving Mattie time to think about the money.
She tried to draw the triangle she’d come up with for the others. “Kasey said earlier that she and Nate had all their assets tied up in his business. Now we find out she’s also buried in credit card debt due to his gambling. The insurance money gives her motive to kill Nate. And maybe Wilson found out, and she had to get rid of him.”
Stella nodded, her lips pursed. “And the fishermen are just who they say they are—Nate’s clients on a Colorado vacation?”
“Maybe.” Mattie brought up the point that still bothered her. “But Robo did find trace cocaine in Nate’s van. He’s been driving from California to Nebraska, which suggests drug running, and these two are from California. Perhaps Nate decided to take on drug trafficking to solve his money problems, and they’re part of it.”
Stella eyed the sheriff. “I know we hate to lean on the widow too hard, but we need to bring Kasey in and talk to her again.”
“I have no problem with that,” McCoy said, frowning. “But I want to protect Nate’s parents. Find a way to keep their suspicions confidential.”
“I can do that.”
A knock sounded outside, followed by Rainbow poking her head though the door’s opening. “Cole Walker and Glenna Dalton are here to see you, Sheriff.”
“Send them in,” he said, rising to help Stella wheel the two whiteboards around to face the wall. “And could you help me round up coffee for them?”
“Already done,” Rainbow said, giving him her cheerful smile before leaving.
As they shuffled around to make room at the table for more chairs, the heat on Mattie’s cheeks began to rise. Business as usual, she reminded herself, lowering her face as she pushed an empty chair up next to hers.
She’d hoped to use the cover of darkness tonight for her first face-to-face meeting with Cole, but no such luck. She’d tried to prepare for seeing him again, but she could feel her body starting to betray her before he even stepped into the room.
She needed to get past these feelings of being exposed soon—with her colleagues and with Cole—because they all had serious work to do together. And two murder cases to solve.
TWENTY
Mattie let Robo trot over to greet Cole when he entered the room. Cole bent to pet him, but his eyes went straight to hers, checking in silently to see how she was doing. Concern and fatigue lined his face, and she nodded, hoping to send the message that she was okay. Maybe a little bruised around the heart, but basically all right.
Though McCoy was quick to introduce Glenna, Cole mentioned that they’d met in the lobby. Stella stepped forward to shake hands, introducing herself before gesturing toward the table in an invitation to sit.
Cole took the seat beside Mattie and they settled in—Mattie painfully aware of where his arm brushed hers—while Robo went back to his place on the floor at her other side. He circled, lay down, and heaved a sigh as he relaxed his head down on his paws, everything apparently right in his world. She leaned down to stroke his back, once again taking a lesson from her dog: relax and rest when you can.
Glenna had taken a seat across the table, and she began to set up an iPad she’d carried in with her. “Could I have your Wi-Fi password?” she asked McCoy.
He gave it to her before addressing the group. “We all know why we’re here. We have a problem with this cougar, and I hope we can determine what we’re going to do about it.”
“Well,” Stella said, “we now know that Wilson Nichol died from a gunshot wound. So this isn’t a man-killing lion we’re dealing with. It’s just a man-eating one.”
Glenna looked up from her computer screen to look at Cole. “I’ve been doing some research this afternoon. This morning, I talked to Sheriff McCoy and Deputy …” Her eyes went to Mattie’s name tag.
“Mattie,” she told Glenna.
Glenna nodded at her before looking back at Cole. “We talked about how the paw prints of this cat didn’t match up with what I know about cougar prints, and how the growl Mattie heard didn’t match the scream of the cougar she’d heard in the past. So I did some research. Let me play some animal sounds I found on You Tube. Mattie, I want to see if one matches what you heard in the forest.”
Glenna tapped her screen, waited a few seconds for it to load, and tapped it again. A bloodcurdling screech filled the room, followed by throaty growls, none with the deep timbre Mattie remembered from last night. Robo scrambled to his feet to stand by Mattie. He cocked his head, his eyes homing in on the tablet.
“That’s a cougar,” Mattie said, putting her hand on Robo to soothe him.
“Right,” Glenna said. “How about this?”
A couple taps initiated a loud roar, followed by some chuffing growls.
“Not the same,” Mattie said, “and not what I heard yesterday. African lion?”
Glenna nodded. “Right. Now try this one.”
A deep, throaty growl emanated from the tablet’s speaker, making the skin on the back of Mattie’s neck crawl. Robo’s hackles stood on end and he barked, his shoulders shuddering beneath her hand. The growl from the iPad escalated into a roar and then lingered in a deep prolonged rattle that shook Mattie to her core.
“That’s it,” she said softly, meeting Glenna’s gaze. She sensed Cole turn in his seat to look at her. “That’s what I heard.”
“Siberian tiger,” Glenna responded.
Mattie’s heart thudded in her ears. She had no idea how a tiger could be loose in the Colorado mountains, but she had no doubt that Glenna had played a recording of the same growl she’d heard last night. Though hard to believe, she and Robo had been within yards of a Siberian tiger, a fearsome predator no matter where it was found.
Cole shifted in his chair, clearly uneasy. “How can that be?”
“That’s what I’d like to know,” Glenna said. “I checked on all the tiger permits in the state for zoos and wildlife parks. All tigers are present and accounted for, no reports of an escape.”
“It’s illegal to transport a tiger into the state,” Brody said, “much less release one into the mountains.”