by Paty Jager
Her eyes lit up. “I knew that’s what you were thinking.”
Vivian’s heels clicked as she walked toward them. “Here is George Takagi’s number.” She stopped within arm’s length of him and Shandra. Dropping her voice she added. “I’d take a look at June. I think she’d been pressuring him to leave me.”
Ryan had thought as much.
Shandra’s eyebrows raised.
“Yes, I know the two have been fooling around. He couldn’t keep his hands off any female he knew was off limits. I caught him making passes at Cecily a month ago. I threatened to walk out on him and not help with his legal fees if he touched her again.” Vivian’s cheeks reddened. “I don’t want to sound like I killed him, but quite frankly, whoever killed him did me a favor.” She spun on her heel and rejoined her niece on the couch.
“Wow! Do you think she said that to throw suspicion off her?” Shandra whispered.
“We’ll soon see.” Ryan grasped the door knob and opened the door. “Go home.”
Shandra lingered beside him a moment as if undecided. Her face brightened. A wisp of a smile tipped her lips and she exited the house.
He didn’t know what she was up to, but he was pretty sure she wouldn’t just go home and leave solving the case to him.
Chapter Ten
Shandra mounted Apple and turned him back up the path she’d followed to the Randal barn. Was there a camera in the area they believed J.W. was shot? If so, had the search crew found it? Getting caught nosing around there would only make Ryan keep her in the dark. She’d check around the area of the hidden gate, though that wasn’t a spot she’d think elk would cross. But there had to be several spots above the murder site where they crossed her fence. Red said there were two cameras on her property.
Tomorrow, she’d take Lil with her and see if they could find the cameras. It was too late today to ride back to get Lil, ride the length of the fence line, and get back home before dark. With autumn coming the days grew shorter.
At the hidden gate, she snooped around the bushes and trees looking for a camera on both sides of the fence. Nothing. She climbed back up on Apple and made a straight line toward home. No sense in asking how the search was going, they wouldn’t tell her anything.
Sheba greeted her when she rode out of the trees.
“Hi girl!” Shandra dismounted and ruffled the dog’s ears. Sheba had been getting her morning snack from Lil when Shandra left. She hadn’t called the dog to go along.
“Where you been all morning? Doesn’t take that long to ride them searchers in and back.” Lil said, walking into the barn.
“I decided to ride the fence line down to the county road and discovered a gate and trail that took me to the Randal barn. Ryan was there. The body is J.W.’s.” She placed the saddle on the rack. “And he was killed.”
Lil nodded her head. “I believe that. He’s been a thorn in lots of people’s sides for a long time.”
“What really irks is he had wildlife cameras set up on my property. Red Hastings, his employee, told me. That’s why they put in the gate, to access the cameras and chase the elk to them.” Saying it again started her blood boiling. The nerve of the man!
“I believe he’d chase the animals over to shoot, and really, if a man stoops that low, I can believe the cameras as well.” Lil scooped grain and poured it in a bucket on the wall in front of Apple.
“It also seems J.W. liked the ladies. You heard any rumors about him fooling around?” Shandra planned to have a late lunch in town and see if she could find some gossip at Ruthie’s.
“Not so much rumors as seen him locking lips with a girl that looked too young.” Lil untied Apple and led him to the corral.
Vivian said he’d made moves on her niece. What other young girl had he been seeing?
“I’m heading to town. Do you need anything?” Shandra waited a beat. Lil didn’t reply, meaning she needed nothing. “Come on Sheba.” She hurried into the house, cleaned up, and she and Sheba hopped into the Jeep.
~*~
Ryan sat in a small room in the Randal barn studying the four monitors. “How come there isn’t a signal coming from this camera?” He pointed to the upper right monitor.
“Something could have happened to the camera.”
Red had been reluctant to allow Ryan into the room without a search warrant, but Mrs. Randal had ordered the man to allow Ryan access to anything he wanted.
“Do you have a map that shows where this camera is located?” Ryan’s gut said it would be near where the man was shot.
Red rummaged in a drawer and pulled out a geographic map. “Here.” He placed his finger in an area close to Shandra’s property line.
“That’s the area where Mr. Randal was shot.” Ryan watched the other man closely. He didn’t even twitch. Either he had more nerves than he’d displayed so far or the spot meant nothing to him.
Ryan pulled out a radio. With cell phones getting scanty reception on this side of the mountain, he’d brought the radio along to keep in contact with the searchers.
“Deputy Speaks, can you hear me, this is Detective Greer. Over.”
The radio crackled.
“Deputy Speaks, this is Detective Greer. Over.”
“This is Speaks. Over.”
“Have you found any wildlife cameras or surveillance cameras? Over.”
“Negative. Over.”
Ryan looked at Hastings. “How far from the fence line was it?”
“About twenty feet off the fence line. It was on the base of a fir tree.”
“Speaks, check a fir tree about twenty feet from the fence line. If the camera’s gone, the person who killed him knew it was there. Over.” He stared at Hastings. “Who besides you and Randal knew about the cameras?”
Hastings ran a hand over his face. “June, Mrs. Randal. I think Cecily knew about them but she wouldn’t know where they were. She isn’t the outdoor type.”
“No one else? What about hunters. Did Randal show them the cameras?” If the man said no, then the pool of suspects was small.
“Only two. Takagi who was fined and wasn’t happy when he found out about the illegal tags, and Todd Smith. But he’s the one who helped J.W. research and pick out the cameras.”
“Smith and Randal were friends?” Ryan jotted the name down on his notepad.
“Yeah, they go back clear to high school, I believe.” Red’s feet shuffled back and forth. “I don’t like leaving June alone.”
Ryan studied the man. “You knew your wife was sleeping with your employer.”
Hastings bit his lip and tears glistened in his eyes. “He gave her things I couldn’t. He wooed her with money and then the ability to give her a child.” He wiped a flannel sleeve under his nose. “She’s pregnant with his child, but I plan to help her raise it as if it’s ours.” He raised his chin. “Don’t tell Mrs. Randal. I don’t want her knowing.”
“You must love your wife very much to raise another man’s child. A child that was conceived through adultery.” Ryan wanted to see if the man would snap. If perhaps he had snapped and killed J.W. Randal in a fit of rage.
“I do love my wife. She’s wanted a child for years, but I couldn’t make it happen.”
“With Randal out of the way, you don’t have to worry about him coming along and taking your wife and child.” Rubbing salt into wounds wasn’t pleasant, but he had to see how much the man could take and not break.
“I didn’t want to kill him. I turned him in to Fish and Game. I wanted him to be financially unable to try and take June or the baby if he decided he wanted an heir.” Red waved a hand in front of the monitors. “You through in here?”
“I’ll have a deputy come over and go with you to collect all the cameras and these monitors.” Ryan stood, slid his notepad in his pocket, and walked out of the room.
Red closed the door and locked it.
The radio crackled. Ryan strode toward his vehicle before answering. “Greer. Over.”
“We found some w
ire around a tree but no camera. Over.”
“Bag it. I’m headed to town to start interviewing suspects. Send a deputy to the Randal house to collect the monitors and ride the mountain with Red Hasting to pick up the wildlife cameras scattered around. Over.”
“We’re about through here. I’ll send Trapp. The rest of us should be in town about dark. Over.”
Ryan climbed in his SUV and headed down the lane and out to the county road. He had a hard time passing Shandra’s driveway, but he needed to contact George Takagi, Fish and Game, and Todd Smith. He had to rule them out before he zeroed in on the family and employees of the murdered man.
Chapter Eleven
Shandra sat at the counter in Ruthie’s Café sipping on her caramel shake, waiting for her cheeseburger and sweet potato fries.
“What can you tell me about Vivian Randal?” Shandra asked Ruthie. It was mid-afternoon, and she was the only customer.
“That woman has her manicured fingers in every charity in this town.” Ruthie said through the window between the counter area and the kitchen.
“What’s your impression of her? You know, bossy, soft-spoken, egotistical?”
Ruthie laughed. “Why do you want to know my opinion of the woman?”
“Well, it doesn’t have to be your opinion. What have you heard others say about her?” Shandra wanted to learn more about the woman who, in her opinion, was cold enough to kill her husband.
“She doesn’t come in here much. I don’t think she’s the burger and shake type.” Ruthie placed Shandra’s meal in front of her, filled a glass with ice and water, and came around the counter to sit on the stool next to Shandra.
She swallowed half the water and set it down. Ruthie ran her fingers up and down the glass chasing the condensation. “June Hasting, who works for the Randals, comes in quite a bit. What I’ve heard from her is J.W. wasn’t nice to his wife, but he treated his help well. She said Mrs. Randal was confrontational and expected one woman to do the work of three.”
“What about the niece? Cicely, I think.” Shandra picked at her fries.
“She’s in here a lot. Usually with a different guy. I haven’t heard her say much about her aunt and uncle.” Ruthie took another swallow, set the glass down, and faced Shandra. “Why so many questions about the Randals?”
“It was J.W.’s body I found yesterday.” Shandra figured if Ruthie didn’t already know she would soon enough.
“I heard it was some hiker tangled with the wildlife.” Ruthie took another sip.
“Someone shot him and left him for the animals.” Shandra shivered. It was one cold-blooded human that murdered another.
“You think it was his wife?” Ruthie’s eyes widened.
“I don’t know. I was over there this morning when Ryan interviewed them. She didn’t seem too shook up about the whole thing.” But if he treated her poorly, perhaps his death was a relief.
Ruthie shook her head. “I can’t see Vivian Randal picking up a gun, let alone shooting someone.”
“You never know what some people are capable of.” Shandra thought of the professor in college she’d fallen in love with only to find out the hard way he hid a side no one knew about.
“Can you think of anyone who would like to shoot J.W.?” Shandra took a bite of her burger. Ruthie made the best cheeseburgers.
“There is probably a whole line. I’d think the first person on the list would be the Takagi fella who got caught in the illegal hunting-tag mess.”
The door jingled as an older couple wandered into the café.
Ruthie smiled. “Afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. Cyrus.” She picked up menus and sauntered over to the booth where the couple sat.
Shandra continued eating and puzzling things in her head. She’d noticed two pieces of art in the Randal home by an artist that her friends, Ted and Naomi Norton, supported in their gallery, Dimensions. That would be her next stop to learn more about the Randals.
~*~
Ryan drove down the main street of Huckleberry and spotted Shandra walking into Dimensions Gallery. He smiled remembering how tenacious she’d been protecting her friend Naomi Norton when she was the prime suspect in the murder where he and Shandra met.
He crept by the gallery, peering in the windows. The two women were hugging. Picking up speed, he headed the vehicle on through town and out to the Fish and Game building on the road toward the resort. Seemed odd to have the building close to the ski resort and not on the side of town that boasted the most National Forest land, but then this was the government they were talking about.
At the Fish and Game office, people moved about inside like an overstaffed restaurant. One young woman sat behind a desk at the front of all the activity.
“I’m Detective Greer with the Weippe County Sheriff’s Department. I’d like to speak with the person in charge of game violations, please.” Ryan smiled at the woman.
“That would be Tate Pearce.” She picked up a phone, tapped three numbers and waited.
“Mr. Pearce, there’s a Sheriff’s office Detective here to see you.” She nodded and replaced the phone. “He’ll be right out.”
Ryan scanned the beehive mentality of the building and asked, “Is it always this busy in here?”
The young woman nodded. “You’d think they could sit down and get more work done wouldn’t you?”
A man in his mid-thirties emerged from a door at the back of the building. He strode forward and extended his hand. “Tate Pearce. How can I help you?” He directed Ryan to walk outside with him.
“Mr. Pearce, I’d like to know the allegations and actions being taken against J.W. Randal and any accomplices.” Ryan fished his notepad out of his pocket and poised his pen ready to write.
Pearce whistled. “That’s an ongoing investigation. After the initial call and one of our officers investigated we discovered multiple infractions.”
“Who was the officer?” Ryan asked.
“Melvin Clower. He’s our best field officer.”
“I’d like to visit with him about J.W. Randal.” Ryan studied the man.
Pearce shook his head. “The case is confidential until it is all settled in court.”
“J.W. Randal was found dead in the forest. He’d been shot. I need to talk to Clower to see if one of the other people named in the investigation may have decided to take revenge on Randal.”
Pearce took a step back. “J.W. was killed? I heard there was a body brought out, but I figured it was a hiker. Man.” He spun toward the building. “I’ll get Melvin’s number for you. Damn. I wanted this investigation to go to court to scare other illegal hunters.”
Ryan followed the man into the building. Maybe if the poachers knew Randal was shot in the heart, they’d be less likely to take illegal game.
~*~
Shandra sat in the backroom of Dimensions Gallery visiting with her friends, Ted and Naomi. This was their first visit since Shandra’s return from the art show in New Mexico.
“How was the show? Did you pick up any more clients?” Ted asked, always thinking ahead to potential buyers.
“I sold one vase and handed out your cards to a couple-dozen people who were interested but wanted to talk it over either with significant others or business partners.” Shandra sipped the tea Naomi set to brewing after their initial hello.
“How did the classes you taught go?” Naomi asked. This was why the couple made great gallery owners. Naomi cared about the art and how each piece came to be, and Ted watched the numbers.
“I had enthusiastic students in both classes, but the all-day workshop at the reservation was by far the best part of the trip.” She’d contacted the school at the Apache Jicarillo Reservation about working with the children and how they can put emotion into clay.
“I bet you were a hit. You have a way with people.” Naomi patted her arm.
Shandra leaned back in her chair. “I noticed two pieces by Lionel over at the Randal house today. I know Mrs. Randal purchased one of my vases last year a
t the June event, what other art work does she like?”
Naomi raised an eyebrow. “What were you doing at Vivian Randal’s house?”
Leave it to her friend to pick up on that instead of answer the question, which she really didn’t want the answer to, but found it a good way to move into what she really wanted to ask.
“I discovered her husband’s body yesterday.”
“No! Not another body. Shandra you have to stop finding bodies, it will get back to your clients and they may—”
“Love it!” Ted looked up from the computer. “If you keep finding bodies, we can use that in promotion.” He moved his hand in the air as if reading a billboard. “Potter not only digs up clay but bodies.”
Shandra laughed. “No, thank you. I’d rather not have my art bought because I’m all of a sudden stumbling over bodies.”
“So why did you really bring up the art work at the Randals?” Naomi, straight to the point.
“I wanted your thoughts on the couple and each as an individual.” Shandra took a sip of tea.
“You think Vivian killed J.W.?” Naomi slid her chair closer, like two school girls gossiping.
“I don’t know. I just want to know more about them and the niece that lives with them.” She paused and smiled. “And their employees, June and Red Hasting.”
“I don’t know the Hastings other than seeing them in Ruthie’s now and then. I’ve not visited with the wife.” Naomi sipped her tea and continued. “The niece has come in here a couple times with Vivian. She was polite, gave her aunt her studied opinion on art pieces, and seemed nice.” She smiled. “Vivian…I’ve talked with her in public and private. She’s a woman who is better one on one than in a crowd. In a group setting she tends to shrink to the back.”
“I don’t understand. How can she be so busy and influential with all her charities if she shrinks to the background in group settings?” Shandra was having a hard time understanding the woman.
“She takes the other members to lunch, and gets someone who is good with crowds to do the mingling. But her name is listed on everything because she is good at opening pockets and check books.” Naomi frowned. “I have seen on a couple of occasions where J.W. treated her like a servant girl. His comments were nasty and cutting.” She tapped a finger against the teacup. “If I were Vivian, I’d have found a way to get rid of him long ago.”