by Kathi Daley
“I filled Dex in, but don’t worry, he and I both agree that we aren’t going to publish anything until you give us the green light to do so.”
“Thanks. I appreciate that. I know I won’t be able to keep the bones a secret for long, but I did want to speak to both Larry and Colin again before word gets out.”
“What about Toby?” I asked. “I know he was so much younger and really didn’t know much, but he is our friend, and he was involved. I think he should hear about the discovery of the bones from us.”
Cass sighed. He sounded tired. “I agree. If you want to stop by my office, we can do a conference call.”
“I’m at the newspaper office. I can come now.”
“Now works fine.”
I grabbed a couple files I wanted to take home with me and headed toward my car. Cass’s office was just down the block, so it didn’t take long for me to make the journey. When I arrived at his office, he was already set up with a phone in the conference room. I let him dial and make the connection while I waited.
“Toby, it’s Cass Wylander,” he jumped right in when Toby answered.
“Cass. How are you? Do you have news?”
“I do. Callie is here as well.”
“Hey, Toby,” I called out in greeting.
“Hey, Callie. So what’s up? Did you find out what happened to Austin?”
“Perhaps,” Cass answered.
He then took a few minutes to share the information we’d gotten from Larry about Colin giving a hallucinogen to Austin as a prank, and the discovery of the bones in the mineshaft.
“Oh, man,” Toby sounded both shocked and choked up. “Poor Austin. I had no idea.” He paused and took a deep breath. “The older boys did seem to have a secret, given all the snickering going on, but no one said a thing about drugging the guy.”
“So, you didn’t notice anything strange going on that day?” I asked.
“Not really. Like I said before, after they sent me to my tent, the older boys all started drinking and smoking weed. If they were trying to hide that fact, they weren’t doing a very good job of it. There was a lot of yelling and laughing, and I knew they were all going to be hungover the next day, but never in a million years would I have imagined something like this.” He paused briefly and then continued. “I can’t believe no one told me what was going on. Even Josh kept it from me. He was a lot older than I was, and I know he considered me a pest, but he also watched out for me. Like a little brother.” He blew out a breath. “I just can’t believe he never once told me what had really happened.”
“Austin went missing when Josh was thirteen, and you were seven,” I pointed out. “Josh died when he was just seventeen. By that point, you were what, eleven. I suspect he didn’t tell you what had really happened because he was protecting you.”
“Yeah. I guess you might be right.” He groaned. “I still can’t believe Colin would do that to Austin. I know Colin and Austin had this rivalry going on, but drugging someone without their knowledge is really over the line.”
I couldn’t agree more.
“Now that you know Austin had most likely been drugged by Colin, which,” Cass reminded him, “was a fact provided by Larry and has not been confirmed at this point, does anything stand out to you about that night that you might not have previously thought important?”
He paused. Cass and I waited for him to gather his thoughts. Eventually, he spoke. “It is really odd to me that the guys knew what had happened to Austin, but no one really let on that anything might be wrong. As I told you before, everyone wandered out of their tent one by one the morning after this would have occurred. Of course, no one knew Austin was missing until he never came out of his tent. I think Josh went to check on him at one point, but now that I know what I know, it seems to me that someone should have checked on him before that.” He paused again. “Do you get what I’m saying? If no one had any reason to suspect there might be a problem with Austin, then not checking on him until well after everyone else had gotten up doesn’t seem odd, but if the others had seen Austin run into the woods with an imaginary monster on his tail, then it seems as if someone would have checked to make sure he’d made it back right away.”
“You make a good point,” I said. “It does seem odd that one of the guys didn’t check on him first thing.”
“Did Austin or anyone say or do anything which would indicate that he’d found an entrance to the mine beneath the mountain?” Cass asked.
“No. I don’t remember anything about a mine. But it does seem that Austin would have told someone. Probably Josh. I mean, finding a secret entrance to a mine that is otherwise blocked from entry would be too cool not to share.”
“Other than Josh, can you think of anyone he might have shared his secret with?” Cass asked.
“Maybe, Bobby. Austin didn’t get along with Colin, so I don’t see him sharing with him, and I know he didn’t share the news with me. Larry was new in town and sort of quiet, but I guess Austin liked him okay. He might have shared the information with him, but he equally might not have.”
“So once it was realized that Austin was really missing and not just sulking, it would most likely have been Josh who would have thought to look in the mine,” Cass said.
“What are you saying?” Toby asked.
“It just seems that anyone who knew that Austin had found the entrance to the mine would have eventually thought to look in the mine once he went missing. It sounds like out of all his friends, Austin would most likely have shared his secret with Josh.”
“If Josh looked in the cave for Austin, he must not have noticed him down in that hole. Otherwise, he would have said something,” Toby insisted.
Cass hesitated briefly and then continued. “It actually makes more sense to me that Josh, and whoever else, if anyone, who might have known about the mine, probably did find the body of Austin Brady and made a decision not to tell anyone what they’d found. If Josh knew about the mine but didn’t find Austin, he most likely would have told the search and rescue team about the mine as well. I mean, if he didn’t know Austin was dead and that he couldn’t be helped, don’t you think he would have done whatever he could to help find him?”
Toby didn’t reply.
“I know this is a lot to swallow,” Cass said. “I know how much Josh meant to you, and I’m sure it’s hard to accept the fact that Josh knew what happened to Austin, and made the decision to cover it up for some reason.”
“Colin must have threatened him,” Toby insisted. “Josh would never cover something like that up if he didn’t have a really good reason to. Colin was a jerk, but Josh was a good guy.”
“I believe you,” Cass said. “At this point, we don’t know anything for sure, so it’s important that you don’t discuss this with anyone until we’re able to put all the pieces together and take the appropriate action.”
“I understand. I appreciate you guys filling me in.”
“And we appreciate you sharing what you know. If you think of anything else, you can call me anytime,” Cass said.
“I will. I don’t suppose you have any more information relating to Bobby’s death? The idea that his death could be related to Austin’s has been on my mind ever since I found out about it.”
“I’m looking at the homicide from a bunch of different angles,” Cass said. “Bobby’s relationship with Austin is just one of them. The only people who went on that campout and are still alive are you, Colin, and Larry. You are, of course, in Montana, I was able to verify Larry’s alibi on the day Bobby died, and Colin appears to have an alibi, but I haven’t been able to confirm the specifics yet. It really does seem that Bobby may have been killed due to a motive having nothing to do with Austin Brady’s death.”
“But it is possible that Colin is the bad guy here?” Toby asked. “It’s possible that he threatened the others to keep them quiet about what really happened, and it’s possible he killed Bobby if it looked like Bobby might talk after all these years.”
“Yes, it is possible,” Cass admitted.
“Do you think it’s possible that Colin killed Josh?” Toby asked.
“Josh died in a vehicle accident,” Cass reminded him.
“He did die as the result of a vehicle accident, but a witness saw a white sedan run the vehicle he was driving off the road. The white sedan was never identified.”
I looked at Cass. He was frowning.
“Cass?” Toby said over the phone. “Are you still there?”
“I’m here. I guess I didn’t realize that another driver caused Josh’s accident. To be honest, I was just a kid at the time, and don’t actually remember a whole lot about it, except for the effect his death had on the community.”
“Pull the police report. You’ll see. Someone ran Josh off the road and killed him.”
After we hung up with Toby, I looked at Cass. “So, what do you make of that?”
“I’m not sure,” he admitted. “But I find it hard to believe that something so horrific happened on a campout, that four years after the campout, one of the campers is intentionally run off the road, and then twenty-one years after that, a man is shot in his own home. The logical villain in this little drama is Colin, but keep in mind that he was just a kid when Austin went missing.”
“If not him, then who?” I asked. “As of this point, Austin, Josh, and Bobby are dead. Toby lives in Montana and has been gone from Foxtail Lake for quite some time, and Larry moved from the area before he even made it into high school. If someone did run Josh off the road, and that someone was one of the boys who were part of the fateful camping trip, it has to have been Colin.”
“But it seemed as if, while Austin and Colin didn’t get along, Austin and Colin were both tight with Josh. I just don’t see Colin killing Josh.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “That feels like a stretch for me as well. It seems like we’re missing a player. Someone who was around for everything that happened, but hasn’t been named.”
“Like who?” Cass asked.
“The seventh sandwich. We still don’t know who the seventh sandwich was meant for.”
“So there is this nameless, faceless someone lurking in the forest orchestrating everything that happened and no one at any point ever mentioned his presence or his name? That sounds unlikely.”
“The campsite by the river,” I reminded Cass. “It wasn’t far from the boy’s camp. Maybe some of the older kids had an even older friend who was lurking around. Maybe this friend sold Colin the pill to give to Austin. It could even have been this friend who grabbed Austin after he ran off and forced him into the mine.”
“And this friend. How did he get into the mine if he was larger than Austin, who most likely barely fit through the opening?” Cass asked.
“Maybe he didn’t go into the mine. Maybe he simply shoved Austin in and waited for him to fall.”
Cass put a hand over mine. “I appreciate you brainstorming with me, but there are so many holes in that theory that I’m not even going to point them all out.” He looked at his watch. “It’s almost time for your dog training shift at the shelter. Why don’t you go on ahead and I’ll try to meet you there for playtime. We can go to dinner after. Maybe talk things through a bit.”
I nodded. “Okay. That sounds like a good idea. Perhaps we need to take a step back and look at all the evidence logically. Maybe if we do, something will come to us. Something that isn’t riddled with holes that are too numerous to mention.”
Cass smiled. “I think that sounds like an excellent idea.”
Chapter 17
Naomi was working with Nala when I arrived, so I put my purse in the volunteer room and joined them. “How’s our girl doing today?” I asked.
“She’s doing really well. I’m very pleased with her progress in both the basic commands and scent training. I’ve already worked with her on scent today, but if you want to take over and work on the basics, that would be great.”
“Happy to.” I knelt down and ruffed Nala behind the ears.
“So do I dare ask how the Austin Brady story is coming along?” she asked.
“I actually have news.” I looked around. There were a few other trainers in the area. “It might be best if I came by your place after my shift. I think most of what we’ve found is still being kept under wraps.”
“Oh, I’m intrigued. And yes, do come by after your shift. You and Cass both if he makes it out. I’ll open a bottle of wine, and we can catch up.”
“Sounds good.”
Naomi turned to leave. “Oh, before I forget, we have two new arrivals I’d like for you and Cass to work with during your playtime. It’s a brother and sister, who, according to the man who dropped them off, are around nine-months-old. They’re very sweet, but also very timid. They seem to be afraid of the volunteers, afraid of the other dogs, afraid of everything. I’m hoping if you spend some time with them, they’ll begin to relax a bit.”
“I’d be happy to. What are their names?”
“Gus and Ginny.”
“Why were they surrendered?”
“The man who dropped them off told me that the dogs belonged to his neighbor, who up and moved and left them behind. They’ve been sitting on the porch of their old home for weeks. The neighbor was feeding them but said he can’t keep them. He finally decided they’d be better off with us and coaxed them into his car.”
“Poor things. Cass and I will make sure they know they are safe and loved here.”
“That’s what I’m hoping. They’re beautiful dogs. And young. I’m sure I can find them a wonderful home together, but first, I need for them to greet folks who stop to talk to them rather than shying away.”
“Maybe you can take them to your house for a few days,” I suggested.
“I’ll probably do that. I still have two other dogs in the house I’m trying to acclimate, so I’m not sure how that will go. But maybe. We’ll see how they do with the two of you.”
“Anything else?” I asked.
She shook her head. “No. I think that should do it for today. I’ll talk to you in a couple hours.”
The training session with Nala went smoothly. The dog really was a sweetie, and while I was rooting for her to find her forever family, I was sure I’d miss her once she was gone. Gus and Ginny were as shy and timid as Naomi said they’d be, but after I sat down on the floor and let them come to me, they seemed to open up a bit. Until Cass arrived, at which time they both ran and hid, and we needed to start all over again.
“I feel bad for the new pups,” Cass said. “They’ve obviously been treated badly by a human at one point or another.”
“Probably their prior owner. What sort of person would just up and move and leave them behind?”
“I don’t know. I guess there are all sorts of people in the world.”
I rested my back against the wall since I was still sitting on the floor, hoping the dogs would come out of hiding and approach once again. Cass sat on the floor next to me.
“I spoke briefly with Naomi when I first arrived. She’s offering wine if we want to stop by the house when we’re done here.”
“I’m guessing she wants something,” Cass smiled.
“I think she wants to be looped in on the Austin Brady case. I didn’t want to talk to her in the training room since there were other trainers around, so I told her we’d stop by when we were done here.”
“I guess I wouldn’t mind a glass of wine.”
“Do you have anything new?” I asked.
“Not relating to the Austin Brady case,” he answered. “To be honest, the reason I’m late is because I had to break up a brawl at Jack’s Place.”
“Brawl?” I asked. “Who was brawling?”
“A bunch of the guys. I guess someone spilled the beans about the new development that’s being proposed north of town. Of course, once the topic was introduced, those in the immediate area took sides. About half the patrons thought the development would be good for the town and good for
the local economy, and the other half felt the development would mean the end of Foxtail Lake and the way of life it represents.”
I held my breath as Ginny slinked out from behind the cabinet she was hiding behind and slowly walked over to me. “It sounds like this development is going to cause trouble before they even get started.”
“Development in the area is and has been a hot topic for years. There have been large companies who’ve tried to establish a foothold in the area in the past. So far, those who are against such large-scale development have managed to hold them off, but it seems you get rid of one developer, and another one appears. In my opinion, it’s only a matter of time before someone manages to push through all the opposition and gets their foot in the door. Who knows, it might even be one of the three or four developers currently sniffing around.”
“I have to admit I’m torn,” I said. “On the one hand, I do love Foxtail Lake’s small-town feel, but on the other hand, a large resort will bring jobs as well as upscale offerings such as the new wellness center. I have a feeling if the resort on the north end of town doesn’t manage to get built, the life of the wellness center will be a short one.”
“I agree. And it is a complex issue with no easy answers. I just hope I can keep the pro-growth residents and the anti-growth residents from killing each other while the whole thing is worked out.”
“Maybe each side should choose a champion. Put them in the ring and let them duke it out, winner takes all.”
Cass laughed. “If only it was that easy.”
I began to stroke Ginny after she finally made her way onto my lap. Gus noticed the attention his sister was getting and appeared to be considering an appearance as well. Cass made cooing sounds to lure him out. I didn’t think that was going to work, but eventually, Gus approached him.”
“Where’s Milo today?” I asked.