Striking Range

by Margaret Mizushima

  Mattie sobered. “How did he sound?”

  “Not too bad, considering. He’s in a shitload of pain, but they’ve got him on a lot of different things to help with that. Right at the end of our conversation, a nurse came in to give him a dose of Dilaudid through his IV, so I’d guess he’s in la-la land right about now.”

  “Geez, I hope he heals okay.”

  “He told me the doc said nothing was broken that he couldn’t fix, so Johnson felt pretty hopeful.”

  Mattie let out a breath. “Thank goodness for that.”

  “And now we have a positive ID on the car that hit him. We just need to find out who was driving it.”

  Another thought had occurred to Mattie. “I wonder if this might not have been done by two people. The car was driven from Johnson’s location to Hightower and left behind the discount store. Where did the driver go from there? Was he on foot in the ice storm? Or did someone in another vehicle pick him up? And if someone picked him up, did he call someone already in Hightower for help, or did his friend follow him there to help him ditch the car?”

  Lost in thought, Stella took a sip of her coffee. “I like the theory of two people, especially when you think of ditching the car. It also makes sense that the car was used to dump Tonya’s body. But there was a long length of time between the body dump and Johnson’s hit-and-run—maybe around six hours. Where was Tonya’s car during that time?”

  “Right. And how does this affect our persons of interest from the campground?” Mattie already had an idea of who could be eliminated as a suspect.

  “It eliminates Dusty Spencer. Brody was with him for a long time, and he didn’t leave the campsite. But the other three are still on the list. I guess we should get started with their interviews.” Stella straightened and picked up her notebook. “They declined drinks. Do you want coffee?”

  “No, I’ve had enough.”

  Stella lifted her mug. “This is medicinal.”

  Mattie smiled. “I suppose so.”

  As she rose from her chair to leave, Robo jumped up from his cushion to go with her. His ears fell when she told him to lie down and stay. She’d skipped his run this morning, so this would be a test of his staying power, but he couldn’t join her in the interview room. If Dawson did confess to something, a defense attorney would have a heyday claiming intimidation.

  Mattie followed Stella into the hallway.

  “This is Reagan Dawson,” Stella murmured, stopping at the first door.

  The redheaded Dawson glanced up from the table to stare at them as they entered the room.

  “Thank you for coming in, Mr. Dawson. This is Deputy Cobb, our K-9 officer.”

  “We’ve met.” Dawson’s lips thinned in a downward arch. “The deputy already took one shot at my wallet.”

  Mattie gave him an unapologetic nod of acknowledgment.

  Stella dismissed his complaint by moving on. “We just want to talk with you this morning to get information about when you found the girl’s body last night. What led you to that part of the campground?”

  “I told you last night—I was looking for a place to set up camp.”

  “And where were your friends at the time?”

  “We’d parked and all split up to look for a good site. I don’t know for sure where they were at the time. You’d have to ask them.”

  “Okay. And up to the point when you parked, had you all been together in the same vehicle?”

  “Yes, we only have the one car. We spent Friday night in that town called Hightower.” He gave Mattie a hard look. “At Officer Cobb’s suggestion, we found a motel where we could use our weed without breaking any laws.”

  Mattie smiled at him this time, especially since he’d just admitted they’d been in Hightower. “Well done, Mr. Dawson. What time did you leave Hightower to drive back to Timber Creek?”

  “We got a late checkout and came back here in time to eat an early dinner at the pizza place. Then we went out to the campground. You know the rest.”

  Mattie continued with the questioning. “Had you ever seen or met the deceased woman before you found her?”

  “Never.”

  “And did you approach her or touch her after you found her?”

  He shook his head. “I got close enough to tell she was dead. I think I leaned over her to look at her real good, but I didn’t touch her.”

  A stray hair could’ve landed on Tonya’s sweater if he’d leaned close enough. Mattie wondered if he’d known he shouldn’t touch her skin since she was loaded with fentanyl. Most people would have probably at least checked her pulse. “Why didn’t you touch her?”

  He looked astonished. “Why would I touch a dead person? I figured I’d stumbled into a crime scene.”

  “What gave you that impression?”

  He gave Mattie a piercing look. “Didn’t you have the same impression? She was lying there like she’d been posed for someone to find.”

  That was an interesting observation on Dawson’s part. “How did you arrive at the conclusion that she’d been posed?”

  He shrugged. “You see it on TV all the time—all those mystery shows.”

  The influence of television. Mattie decided to turn the questioning a different way. “So you’re from Omaha. What do you do there?”

  “That’s where I grew up and where my parents live, so that’s what’s on my driver’s license. But I’m a student at the University of Nebraska, and most of the time I live in Lincoln.” He tapped a finger on the table repetitively as if using it as an outlet for his nerves. “It’s my senior year.”

  The same school that Tonya planned to attend and, more importantly, the one in which the baby’s father was already enrolled. “Do you know a student named Skylar Kincaid?”

  Dawson frowned. “Skylar is one of my fraternity brothers.”

  Mattie couldn’t help herself—her surprise made her glance at Stella, but the detective’s face remained as placid as a lazy summer day.

  “Have you seen Mr. Kincaid since you arrived here?” Stella asked.

  “No, but he’s supposed to be down here somewhere this weekend. I guess he’s got a meeting with his ex-girlfriend or something.”

  “Have the two of you spoken on the phone lately?”

  “Not at all.” He gave Stella a suspicious look. “Is Skylar in some kind of trouble?”

  “No trouble, Mr. Dawson.” Stella waited.

  “Okay … if you say so.” Evidently Dawson suspected there was more behind this line of questioning than Stella was willing to share—which there was. If these two men were friends, they might have acted together to ditch Tonya’s car.

  Stella continued along the same line. “So … have you ever met Mr. Kincaid’s ex-girlfriend?”

  He smirked. “Nope. But he’s her baby daddy, so I guess he knows her pretty well.”

  Mattie liked that Dawson seemed willing to talk. “When did you speak with him last?”

  He tipped his head back to look at the ceiling for a few seconds as if thinking. “I think we talked about a week ago. We’re in the same fraternity, but we don’t really hang out. He’s a couple years behind me.”

  She wondered if he’d used the delay to make up his answer. She changed the topic. “What do you study, Mr. Dawson?”

  His eyes shifted between Stella and Mattie. “I’m getting a degree in civil engineering and will graduate after the spring semester.”

  “And Mr. Kincaid?” Mattie decided to test the friend factor. “What’s he studying?”

  “I have no idea. Skylar hasn’t actually moved into the frat house, because it’s full of upperclassmen. He’ll be able to move in next year.”

  “Are Cutter Smith and Wyatt Turner students?” Stella asked.

  “No, they both graduated years ago. I just met Wyatt this weekend. He’s Cutter’s friend, and I met Cutter through an internship I did last summer.”

  Stella leaned forward, giving him her penetrating stare. “So after spending the night in Hightower Frida
y, what time did you leave there yesterday?”

  Stella’s intensity appeared to make Dawson squirm. “I don’t know.”

  “Think … when did you leave the motel?”

  “Well, we made a few stops after we left the motel, so I don’t know exactly when we left Hightower. We got a late checkout, so I guess we left around one.”

  “Did you go anywhere before you checked out?”

  He ran his hand through his red beard. “I went to that store next to the motel to get some snacks.”

  “Which store?” Stella asked.

  “Uh … I think it was called the Double Dollar?”

  The store where Tonya’s car was found. “What time?” Mattie asked.

  He shrugged. “Must have been around eleven.”

  Mattie made a mental note to check for him on the CCTV film. It would be easy enough to see if he was telling the truth.

  Stella jumped in again. “Where else did you go?”

  “That was it—to the Double Dollar and back. Why all these questions about my schedule yesterday? Am I a suspect or something?” His face flushed.

  Stella didn’t let up. “You left the motel about one. What stops did you make?”

  “We got gas.”

  “Where?” Mattie interjected.

  He blinked a couple times before answering. “That gas station right next to the store. I don’t know the name of it.”

  “And you were all together in the same car?”

  “Of course. I told you we only have one car.”

  Mattie didn’t like that these guys and Tonya had been in such close proximity before she was murdered, but even though they bombarded Dawson with repetitious questions for another ten minutes, and even though his nervousness seemed to escalate, he didn’t change his story and he said nothing to incriminate himself.

  And then Stella asked if she could take a DNA sample.

  His eyes opened wide in surprise. “Why do you want that?”

  “At this stage of the investigation, we need DNA from anyone who came close to our victim’s body. Even if it’s only to eliminate people.”

  They were under no obligation to provide their reason, but Stella’s answer had been, in part, true. Though Stella didn’t mention it, they needed to find out if Dawson had left the beard hair.

  “If I refuse, you’ll think I did it.” Dawson hesitated but then agreed to give a sample.

  Stella whisked a DNA kit from her jacket pocket and swabbed his cheek. As she sealed up the kit, she confirmed that she had his contact information and then asked what his plans were for the rest of the day.

  “We’re going to the campground to set up camp. I don’t want to, but the other guys are set on it.”

  Stella evidently wanted clarification. “You don’t want to because …”

  “Shit, dude. If you found a dead person somewhere, would you want to go back? I just want to forget what I saw.”

  We go back all the time, Mattie thought. We don’t have the luxury of being able to forget. As Stella wrapped up the interview, giving Dawson her card, Mattie remembered their victim, a lively girl who seemed to love her dog. She would never forget Tonya.

  TWENTY-TWO

  Cutter Smith looked as sure of himself as he’d been when Mattie stopped him on the highway. When she and Stella entered the room, he was leaning back in his chair, arms crossed over his chest, legs stretched out in front—a picture of relaxation, except that his narrowed eyes and scowl gave him away.

  “I’ve been waiting a long time,” he said.

  Stella looked unconcerned. “Sorry about the wait, but we needed to visit with Mr. Dawson first.”

  “We came down here to hunt, and we’re wasting another day.”

  And it’s really not our fault that you spent the entire morning smoking pot in your motel room yesterday, Mattie thought.

  “I appreciate you coming in this morning, and we won’t keep you much longer,” Stella said. “As with everyone else at the campground, I need to verify your schedule yesterday. Let’s start with where you stayed the night and go from there.”

  Smith frowned but didn’t hesitate. “We stayed at a cheap motel called the Overnight Inn.”

  “One room?”

  “Yeah, three of us in one room. We left there about one, stopped to get gas, and then drove here to Timber Creek. We got pizza and then went to the campground.”

  “Were you all three together all morning?”

  Smith raised a brow. “Yep.”

  “No one left the room?”

  He shook his head, looked down at the table, and then looked back at Stella. “Well, Reagan made a run to the store for snacks sometime before we checked out. Otherwise, we were all there. We watched a game on television.”

  Mattie interjected, asking for details. Turned out it was a college game between two rivals, University of Colorado and Colorado State. She already knew about it, and the time frame matched up. “How long was Mr. Dawson gone when he went to the store?”

  “About fifteen or twenty minutes. Our motel was right next door.” He gave Mattie a sour look. “He walked there, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  Driving while under the influence hadn’t been her immediate concern, but hearing the length of time Dawson had been away from the others made her think that either this group of men had nothing to do with Tonya or they all did. “Do you know Skylar Kincaid?”

  He met her gaze. “I don’t know anyone by that name.”

  “He’s a fraternity brother of Mr. Dawson’s.”

  Smith shook his head. “I’ve only known Reagan since he interned at my company earlier in the semester. We had talked about him joining me and Wyatt for this hunting trip, but I don’t know any of his buddies, if that’s what you’re asking about.”

  Mattie nodded, waiting to see if he’d say more.

  He leaned on the table with his elbows, his posture open. “Look, I know you’re concerned that Reagan found that girl yesterday, and I don’t blame you. We know you need to find out what happened to her. But Reagan didn’t have anything to do with her death. None of us did. We’ve been together all the time since we left Lincoln Friday morning, and I’m beginning to regret coming here. We have to go back on Tuesday, and we haven’t even set up camp.”

  Mattie didn’t feel sorry for him, but she hadn’t observed any deceptive behavior yet either. “And how do you know Wyatt Turner?” she asked.

  “We went to school together. He started a construction company in Lincoln, and I’m a civil engineer. We work on some of the same projects. I can give you character references if you want them … I’m just hoping to get out of here in time to set up camp and do some scouting before dusk.”

  “Character references would be good, Mr. Smith,” Stella said. “Just another question or two. Do you know a young woman by the name of Tonya Greenfield?”

  He shook his head. “Never heard that name before.”

  “She’s the deceased. She’s from Omaha and planning to move to Lincoln soon.”

  He looked puzzled. “I told you I didn’t recognize the dead girl last night. I’ve never heard her name either.”

  Smith made a more convincing witness than Dawson; he seemed less nervous and more confident, perhaps because of his extra years. Whatever the reason, Mattie believed him and felt they should move on. She was beginning to think these guys were innocent.

  Stella wrapped up the interview, gave Smith her card, and told him they would be able to leave soon. Wyatt Turner was now waiting in the same room where Dawson had been interviewed, and it took only about ten minutes to determine that his story matched that of the others and they could send them on their way.

  “Well, that seemed like a waste of time, but at least we can check them off our list,” Mattie said as Stella followed her into the staff office. Robo leapt to his feet, doing a happy dance on his cushion. Mattie released his stay, patting and praising him for waiting so long.

  Stella went to refill her mug. “I
don’t think I’ll cross them off yet.”

  “I meant cross them off our interview list.”

  “Oh, right.” Stella rubbed her neck. “I don’t like the fact that Dawson and Kincaid are fraternity brothers. And I still don’t like that there was a red beard hair on her sweater. What’s the likelihood of that happening unless he brushed against her while carrying her?”

  “It could happen. Stray hair falls all the time. But I agree that it’s odd that Kincaid and Dawson know each other. When we look at their stories, though, they were together except for a fifteen-minute window. If they’re our guys, I think it has to be all of them or none of them, and it just doesn’t make sense that the two older men were involved. What would be their motive to kill this girl?”

  “I know. I don’t have the answer to that yet.” Stella glanced at her notes. “I’ll follow up on Smith, make sure he’s the businessman he says he is, and I still need to research similar cases. And of course, we’ve got the CCTV tapes to look at.”

  “I can help with those.” Mattie had noticed that Robo had begun to pace back and forth between her and the door. “Robo really needs a run. It won’t take long.”

  As soon as she said the word run, Robo bounded toward the door, whirled, and went shoulders down in a play pose. Mattie knew she could put him off no longer.

  Stella smiled as she headed for the doorway. “I can see he’s excited about that. Take your time. I’ll get everything set up.”

  Robo trotted behind Stella while Mattie grabbed her jacket. Once outside, she went to the picnic table at the side of the building to do a quick stretch, and Robo capered in the grass, now wet from the melting snow. She told him to heel and headed down the sidewalk toward Main Street. He fell in beside her, a happy grin on his face as she picked up the pace to a fast jog.

  Main Street was quiet, with several cars parked at the diner, probably folks out for Sunday brunch. She passed Main and continued her quick pace toward the highway, running through the park on a gravel road littered with fallen leaves, and then took the sidewalk again toward Clucken House, where a group of local men often met for coffee each morning.

  When she entered the parking lot, intending to jog through and exit on the adjacent street, she spotted the two SUVs from Nebraska parked side by side—Skylar’s Jeep and Smith’s Lexus. The sight stopped her in her tracks. Robo halted and came back to stand by her side, looking up as if to see what she wanted him to do. She scanned the log building but didn’t see the men through any of the windows on this side.