Hunting Hour

by Margaret Mizushima

  “We’re searching for a missing child—Sophie Walker,” Stella said.

  “The lady that works at the clinic told me the doc was busy looking for his daughter, and that’s why he couldn’t talk to me himself.”

  So much for the element of surprise, but it should be expected. By now, most of the townspeople knew Sophie was missing.

  “Do you know Sophie?” Stella asked.

  “I saw her a couple of times. She has some baby chicks. She showed them to me.”

  “We’re talking with everyone who interacted with her yesterday. Do you have any idea where she might be?”

  Surprise crossed Tilley’s face. “Why would I know?”

  “We’re asking everyone, Mr. Tilley. We need to find this little girl as soon as possible,” Stella said.

  “Sure, that makes sense,” he said, looking at Mattie. “Did she wander away from her house and get lost? The doc lives out there in the country by himself, you know. There’s a lot of hills and scrub around that area. Can your dog track her?”

  Mattie decided to divulge a bit of information to see his reaction. “We did try that. He tracked her for a ways, but it looks like someone might have picked her up in a vehicle.”

  “Who?”

  “We don’t know.”

  “Her mom?”

  Mattie wondered if he knew that the mother wouldn’t be on the property after school. “No, not her mom.”

  Tilley seemed to roll that information through his mind, and a horrified expression dawned on his face. “A stranger?”

  “That’s what we’re afraid of.”

  “Oh, no,” he said. “Oh, no . . . that’s awful.”

  It was as if Mattie could see the man’s mind working, and he seemed truly upset. Then again, he might be a great actor.

  “Can I do anything to help?” he asked.

  “You can help us a great deal by talking to us like you are now,” Stella said. “You said you saw her at the vet clinic?”

  “Yeah. She showed me her chicks and told me a story. She’s a nice little kid.”

  “A story?” Stella said. “What about?”

  “Chicken Little. You know it?”

  “Sure do. What else did you talk about?”

  “Just the chickens and how to take care of them. Doc came in, and he told her she needed to let me go home if I wanted to.”

  “And?”

  “Lucy was waiting in the trailer, so I said good-bye and left.”

  “Lucy?”

  “My horse.”

  “The one with the eye injury?”

  “Right.”

  “Did you see Sophie again after that?”

  “No.” He looked like a thought came to him. “Do you think the person that’s been hurting my animals could have taken her?”

  Mattie didn’t know what to think. On the surface, this guy seemed simple and open, but on another level, and especially if he was projecting his own actions onto others, his words could be construed as suspicious and guilty. “What do you think?” she interjected before Stella could answer.

  “Maybe so,” he said.

  “Mr. Tilley,” Mattie said. “On the chance that you’re right, we need to look around.”

  “Look around for what?”

  How could she say it so that he wouldn’t decline permission? “We’re looking for anything that might help us find Sophie. Any clues that might tell us where to search.”

  Interrupting her, headlights pierced the darkness out on the road and a vehicle turned in, pulling to a stop behind Brody’s.

  Cole’s truck. What’s he doing here?

  Cole jumped out from the driver’s side and barreled toward them, dodging around Brody as he tried to head him off. “Gus, do you know where Sophie is?” he called as he came.

  Confusion filled Tilley’s face. “Hi, Doc. I was just talking to these people about that.”

  Cole moved forward steadily despite Brody trying to edge him out. “What do you know, Gus?”

  Mattie stepped between the two, blocking Cole.

  Tilley showed no fear, only curiosity. “I don’t know anything about her. I haven’t seen her since I left your place yesterday. I was just saying that.”

  She grasped Cole’s forearm to get his attention and locked eyes with him. “You need to let us do our job,” she said, her tone quiet but firm.

  He raised his hands and took a step back, lining up with Brody.

  She turned back to Tilley. “You can see how important it is to help us get Dr. Walker’s little girl back to him. In case we can find something that helps us, is it okay if my dog and I look around?”

  “You won’t find anything like that here.”

  “Maybe not, but if it’s all right with you, I’d like to look.”

  “Your dog won’t make a mess of my property, will he?”

  “No, he doesn’t dig or chew at things.”

  “Well, okay. I guess I can take your word for it.”

  “I need to get Robo out of the vehicle now, so could you put Dodger on a leash while my dog works?”

  “I’ve got a chain right here.” Tilley went to the porch and clipped a chain that was anchored at the bottom of one of the posts to Dodger’s collar.

  Turning to get Robo, Mattie signaled Cole to join her at the back of her vehicle. Brody came along with him. “What are you doing here, Cole? The sheriff told you to wait at home.”

  Illuminated by the yard light, Cole’s eyes were dark wells in the rigid planes of his face. “I never agreed to that. I have to be here, in case you find her.”

  “Dr. Walker, we can’t allow it. Your presence compromises our investigation,” Brody said.

  Cole stared at him, his jaw muscles working. “I have to be here.”

  Knowing she’d never be able to sit at home waiting either, Mattie grasped at a solution. “You can wait in Brody’s cruiser. If we find Sophie, we’ll notify you.”

  Cole studied her for a long moment, and she struggled to keep her cop face on. Finally, he nodded. “I’ll wait here, but come get me right away if you find her.” His gaze went to Brody. “Come get me.” She could read the underlying desperation in his words.

  “Come with me.” Brody stepped back, and Mattie could tell he wasn’t happy about letting Cole stay. He would need to keep an eye on him now, and that meant they were one man down for the search, keeping Brody from acting as backup. Not ideal.

  Before Cole turned away, he reached out to Mattie, and they clasped hands for a moment. He squeezed hers hard and then walked away.

  “I’ll call the sheriff and find out what happened,” Brody muttered before following Cole to his cruiser.

  Her nerves taut, she focused on the job and opened Robo’s compartment. He stood at the back waiting for her, and she buried her nose in the fur at his neck for a brief second before reaching for his tracking harness. As Tilley came toward the vehicle, Stella warned him to stay back, and they waited about ten feet away.

  Mattie began the patter that signaled to Robo that it was time to work. When he jumped from the vehicle, he stayed close to her and ignored the others.

  “Let’s start out at the barn,” she said, heading that way while Tilley and Stella followed. She had to depend on Stella keeping an eye on Tilley while she focused on Robo.

  When they breached the double doorway, Tilley flipped a switch on the inside wall, and overhead spotlights lit the building. Movement caught Mattie’s eye as several cats retreated into the haystack, their tails disappearing behind the bales.

  The barn was immaculate, tools put away neatly in a rack or hung on pegs, an empty wheelbarrow tipped up against a wall, a few bales of hay stacked by a box stall with nary a stray wisp on the ground. Raking had left straight rows of indentations, and Mattie could imagine the meticulous work required to do such a thorough job.

  She offered Sophie’s scent article, unclipped Robo’s leash, and asked him to search, following behind as he swept the alley. Mattie peeked into open box stal
ls as they went.

  A horse with a patch over its eye stuck its head through the opening over a stall door. Tilley went to stand by it and stroked its muzzle while he observed. The horse rested its head against his shoulder, and he smoothed the hair on its cheek.

  After a thorough search, Mattie decided that Sophie hadn’t been anywhere inside the barn. Calling Robo, she turned to go outside, where two vehicles and a trailer were parked at the back: a white horse trailer, a brown pickup truck . . . and a gray Jeep Wrangler, an older model.

  Taking Robo to the Jeep, Mattie led him to search the exterior. When he finished without detecting anything, she turned to Tilley, who, along with Stella, had followed her. “Can I search the inside of this vehicle?”

  “Okay,” he said, his agreement tentative, making her wonder if he had reason to hesitate.

  Mattie opened the unlocked door and asked Robo to search. He jumped inside, but once again, he didn’t hit on anything. Disappointed but wanting to be thorough, she directed him to the pickup truck, though she didn’t expect to find anything.

  Robo approached the passenger side and sniffed. His interest perked and he began to sniff in earnest, ears forward. He reared up and placed his paws on the open window, sniffing inside.

  Mattie’s heart rate kicked up a notch. “It’s okay to search the inside of this one, too, right?”

  “I guess so.”

  Mattie opened the door. Robo sniffed the door’s interior, again focusing his attention up high near the window. He turned and sat, staring at Mattie.

  He’s got a hit!

  Maybe the silver SUV the bus driver saw on the road had nothing to do with Sophie’s disappearance. Because she knew one thing for a fact—Sophie had once been inside this truck.

  Chapter 20

  Mattie didn’t need to say a word to Stella. The detective’s gaze sharpened, and she stepped forward to visually inspect the inside of the truck, not touching a thing, while Mattie moved Robo back to keep an eye on Tilley. He stood watching, apparently unalarmed.

  Brody strode into the light cast from atop the pole outside the barn. “Sheriff McCoy is here.”

  His statement confirmed her suspicion that Cole had somehow given the sheriff the slip earlier. Brody scanned the scene, his face registering recognition that they’d found something, and she nodded to answer his unspoken question.

  “Mr. Tilley,” Mattie said. “Robo and I need to search your house.”

  “Why?”

  “I want to see if we can find something in there.”

  He raised his brows. “You’re not gonna find anything in there.”

  Robo’s hit on the vehicle combined with something as serious as a missing child gave her exigent circumstances to search the premises. She didn’t need his permission. “We still need to look.”

  Tilley shifted his feet, his hands tightening into fists. Mattie glanced at Brody as he moved in closer.

  “What are you trying to do here?” Tilley took on a frightened expression, his eyes moving back and forth between her and Brody.

  “Robo smelled Sophie Walker’s scent on the inside of your truck, Mr. Tilley,” Stella said, coming from behind the truck to join them.

  “That can’t be. How do you know?”

  “We can tell. How did her scent get there?”

  He looked confused. “I don’t know. I have no idea.”

  “Was she inside your truck yesterday?”

  “No. She’s never been inside my truck.”

  “Then how do you explain it?” Mattie asked.

  “How should I know?” he said. “That little girl has never been inside my truck.”

  “Then how could her scent be there?” Brody asked, his deep voice a growl. He stepped in close.

  “You’re trying to set me up,” Tilley said, holding up his hands, his gaze bouncing around.

  “Mr. Tilley, when a K-9 hits on a scent that we’re looking for, it gives us the right to search your property. I’d appreciate it if you would cooperate and come with us,” Stella said.

  His eyes darted from one of them to another, and fear consumed his face. “You’ve got me trapped. I’m outnumbered.”

  “What are you afraid of?” Stella asked in a soothing tone, evidently trying to de-escalate the situation.

  Tilley’s gaze raced around the light’s perimeter, as if searching for a way to escape. “Stay away. Don’t touch me.”

  Stella exchanged a look with Brody, shaking her head slightly and sending the message to back off. But Tilley’s reaction led Mattie to believe he might be holding Sophie inside the house. All the more reason to get inside there and search.

  “No one’s going to touch you, Mr. Tilley. We’re not here to hurt you or your animals. We’re looking for a little girl. We need to find her, and we need to explore all the leads that come our way. Walk with me now. Let’s go to your house,” Stella said.

  Pressed to move forward, Mattie couldn’t understand why Stella was treating this suspect so gently. They had every right to search the premises, and if Tilley stood in the way, they could take him down and put him in cuffs.

  Stella turned and began walking toward the house. Tilley watched her leave, swept Mattie and Brody with a frightened gaze, and evidently decided the detective represented the least threatening choice. He followed her. Brody, Mattie, and Robo fell in behind, staying close.

  Sheriff McCoy’s Jeep had parked behind Cole’s truck, and Mattie could barely make out two silhouettes inside it. Not knowing what she’d find inside the house, her heart rose to her throat, and she wished Cole had stayed home, where he belonged.

  “I want you to sit out here on the porch with Dodger,” Stella said to Tilley when they reached the house. “Deputy Brody will wait with you.”

  “Don’t tear up my things.”

  “We won’t. Wait here.” Stella gave Mattie a look as she opened the door, standing at the threshold.

  Mattie moved forward, Robo at heel, and entered the house. The front door led into the kitchen, and she paused to take in her surroundings: slate-gray linoleum floor with a white fleck, aluminum table from a past decade with a Formica top and chairs upholstered in red plastic, immaculate light-gray laminate countertops, dishes drying in a rack.

  She leaned over and patted Robo’s side, ruffling up his fur and chattering about finding Sophie. Taking the scent article from a pouch on her belt, she gave him a whiff and then asked him to search. He rounded the kitchen and went through the door into the living room, another room filled with dated and worn furniture but clean and tidy.

  She looked at the windows to determine what had caused the light to be filtered in such a weird way. Stella came up behind her, and Mattie waved her hand toward the large picture window. “Check this out.”

  The windows were painted black.

  Stella nodded, and Mattie realized she’d already noticed the strange window dressing. She directed Robo to continue his search, moving from the living room toward the back of the house, where there were two more rooms, one set up as a bedroom with a double bed covered by a plain blue comforter that was pulled up and tucked neatly under two pillows.

  The other room seemed to be a catchall for storage, boxes stacked neatly against one wall, several old pieces of furniture in the middle as well as some odds and ends that looked like antiques—an old butter churn, an icebox, a bank safe with the door hanging open. The windows in both rooms were painted black like the ones in the living room. Mattie told Robo to search closets, and she looked for cracks that could indicate a trapdoor.

  Coming up with nothing, she went back to the hallway and spotted Stella in the bathroom, searching through the medicine cabinet above the sink. She held some prescription bottles in one hand, and she glanced at Mattie as she moved to the linen closet next to the tub. Stella opened its door and began searching inside.

  “Have you noticed that our suspect demonstrates odd behavior, Mattie?” Stella continued rifling through the things in the linen closet.
r />   “He acts like he’s hiding something.”

  “He thinks someone’s hurting his animals, he was afraid we weren’t who we said we were, he thinks someone’s out to get him. Paranoid behavior. And I might have found part of the reason.” She’d finished her search of the linen closet and closed the door. She extended the hand that held the prescription bottles. “If I’m not mistaken, these medications are prescribed for a serious mental illness, and they’re empty. I haven’t been able to find bottles that have been refilled. It wouldn’t be good to go off these meds cold turkey.”

  Impatience made Mattie edgy. “I don’t care about that. I think this guy took Sophie.”

  “Maybe.” Stella eyed her. “Stay objective, Deputy. Did Robo find scent here in the house?”

  “No, but he did in the truck.”

  “The inside of the truck has dog hair consistent with Dodger’s on the seat, but otherwise, it’s clean. No sign of a struggle. The tires aren’t even the same brand as those that laid the track at the Walker place, and the tread is very different.”

  Her words hit Mattie hard, and she searched for an explanation for the discrepancy. “Maybe we were wrong about the vehicle that turned around at the Walker property. Maybe it wasn’t the vehicle used to take Sophie.”

  “That’s possible, but I think Robo told us it was. And the bloodhound, Banjo, he seemed to indicate the same thing. That track beside the highway certainly looks like it matches the one on Walker’s property. I think when we find the vehicle that has the tires that match those tracks, we’ll have found our kidnapper. And Candace’s killer.”

  Mattie still didn’t believe the man was innocent. “How do you explain Sophie’s scent being inside Tilley’s truck?”

  “I don’t have an explanation for that, Mattie, but that truck was at Dr. Walker’s clinic yesterday, and maybe Sophie decided to explore it while the adults were inside. Children do that kind of thing. I need to ask Dr. Walker about it. And Mr. Tilley.” She paused, studying Mattie’s face. “I’m not going to dismiss the possibility of Tilley’s involvement yet, but I’m telling you, the evidence isn’t stacking up the way we expected it would, and you need to not jump to conclusions.”