by Paty Jager
They sat and ate.
“This is really good. What did you put in here besides nutmeg?” Shandra asked after eating a piece and putting another on her plate.
“A bit of almond extract. I was happy to see you had some.” Ryan took a drink of coffee.
“The two flavors work well together.” Shandra finished the bread on her plate and placed her dishes in the sink. She faced Ryan. “Are we riding horses or driving and then on foot?”
“We’ll take my rig. This excursion is part of the investigation. Mrs. Randal or Hasting can’t throw us off the property.” Ryan stood and deposited his dishes in the sink. “I’ll warm up the Tahoe.”
Shandra swung a dish rag at him. “Just because you cooked you think you don’t have to clean up the mess?”
“Exactly.” He laughed, ducked, and disappeared out the back door with Sheba on his heels.
“Even my dog left me to clean up the mess.” Shandra chuckled and cleaned up the dishes and kitchen. There wasn’t much to clean up. Ryan was a clean cook.
She grabbed her coat, scarf, stocking cap, and mittens. Frost covered the ground this morning, proving summer was slowly giving way to fall.
Ryan sat in his car talking on the phone. Sheba sat by the driver’s-side door peering up at the detective.
“Sheba, stay girl. You can visit Lil.” Shandra waved to the barn and the big dog bounded across the space from the vehicle to the barn and disappeared around the side.
Shandra opened the door and sat in the passenger seat.
“I won’t miss the rehearsal. Yes. You won’t let me forget I’m the best man. Conor, I have to go.” Ryan rolled his eyes then his face went stone still. “We’ll need two rooms. Yes, I’ll pay for both of them. I have to go.” He punched the button on his phone and slid it into the holder on his belt.
“What was that about two rooms?” Shandra had a feeling she knew but wanted it confirmed.
“I have to be at the rehearsal dinner in Coeur d’Alene on Saturday night. It’s ridiculous for us to drive back here afterward and turn around and go back the next morning.” Ryan put the vehicle in reverse and held his attention on the side mirrors as he backed up.
“That’s true, it is smarter and safer to stay in Coeur d’Alene. But you don’t have to pay for my room. I’ll take care of it myself.” She was glad he told his brother they’d be in separate rooms. They hadn’t known each other long enough or well enough to sleep together. She wasn’t like a lot of her classmates in college who slept with every male they went on a date with. She had to like the guy enough to want to be that intimate. There had only been two men she’d slept with and both had burned her.
“Your call. I just felt since you were going to the wedding as a favor to me, the least I could do was pay for your room.” Ryan headed the Tahoe down her lane.
“I’ll pay. I plan on talking to a couple galleries Sunday morning. I can write it off as a business expense.” She wanted to settle back in the seat but her mind and nerves buzzed just like when she came up with a new idea for a vase. They were going to find the SD card and it would reveal something the killer didn’t want known. She was sure of it.
“Don’t you want to get all gussied up for the wedding?” Ryan thought all women wanted to get their hair done and feel pampered on a wedding day.
“I’m not part of the wedding party. I’ve no need to be tortured. Everyone will be looking at the bride and her attendants. I’ll just sit in the sidelines.”
He had a feeling even if she wasn’t getting all dolled up, she would still catch attention.
Ryan turned onto the county road. They passed the Randal driveway. The wrought iron gate was closed.
A mile down the road, Shandra shifted in her seat. “There. See that road. That has to be the one on the map.”
He felt her anticipation. The energy she gave off started his adrenaline pumping. They could find the murderer or the identity of the murderer if they found the SD card. They crept up the old logging road avoiding pot holes and downed limbs. The vehicle swayed back and forth and rocked up and down as they travelled farther up the side of the mountain.
Time wise it felt as if they’d driven miles, but the end of the road arrived after a mile and a half.
Shandra bolted out of the vehicle the moment the engine died. “Did you think the map showed the spot almost directly above this road?”
Ryan smiled at her excitement. “Yes.” He pulled out a global-positioning device. “I have the coordinates in here.” He punched the button and started in the direction the device told him to go.
“Clever. Are the coordinates from the person who installed the cameras?” Her voice came directly behind him.
“Yes. He gave me all the information about the cameras.” Ryan noted the distance between them and the location. “We have about a half-mile hike.”
“Do you think I can’t make it?” she chided.
“No. Just letting you know it’s not around the next tree.”
They continued up the mountainside for twenty minutes before the device said they were in the area.
Ryan stopped. “It was around here.” He waved his hands out around him.
Shandra closed her eyes.
He waited, wondering if she was talking to her grandmother or just acclimating herself.
Her eyes opened and studied the area around them. She stared up at the tall pine and lodge pole. Walking around, her face pointed skyward, she stopped beside a tall pine and dropped to her knees.
“Here. It’s here.” She stirred the ground with her hands, raking her fingers back and forth in a two foot circle.
“How do you know that is the spot?” Ryan dropped to the ground and dug in the area she had cleared.
“In my dream, I looked up at this tree. The light shone down on this spot.”
Ryan couldn’t deny she had been right before, but he was skeptical that in all this forest she could find the exact spot from a dream. Then his finger touched something flat with hard, round corners. He scraped some more and there in the dirt, label side up, was an SD card.
“I have it.” He brushed the dirt off the card and held it up.
Shandra sat back on her haunches, smiling. “That will help you solve the murder.”
“I hope it does.” He turned it over in his hands. “There’s some damage. I’ll take it to the forensic lab right away.” Ryan held out a hand. “Come on. We both have work to do.” He helped Shandra stand and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “I don’t understand your dreams, but they are helping me solve crimes.”
“I don’t understand them either, but I’m beginning to believe in them.”
Ryan bagged and tagged the SD card and put it in a pocket of his backpack.
He led the way down the mountain, stopping now and then to discuss a plant or rock. The outing had turned into a nature walk by the time they returned to the Tahoe.
“I’ll drop you off at your place and head for Coeur d’Alene.” Ryan sat in the driver’s seat and started the engine.
“You can drop me off at the end of my driveway. I’d like to continue walking. I’ve had inspirations for a new piece of art.”
“As you wish.” Ryan navigated the rough logging road and dropped Shandra at her driveway. “I’ll call you when I find out anything.”
“You better. I’m vested in this. Not only did I find the body, but I’m having dreams about it.” Shandra exited the vehicle. “In case I don’t hear from you beforehand, what time are you picking me up Saturday?”
“Rehearsal is at five-thirty with dinner afterward.” Ryan wanted to say he’d pick her up at eight and spend the whole day with her, but he didn’t want her thinking he’d make her hang out with his family that much. “How about one? We’ll get there in time to settle into our rooms. I can make the rehearsal and then pick you up for the dinner.”
“I’ll be ready.” She closed the door and headed up the driveway.
Ryan watched her walk the first fifty feet
while calling the Sheriff’s office. It astonished him how she had such little faith in her dreams when they had proven correct every time she had one. Perhaps she’d have a dream about them that would help her lower her guard.
“Weippe County Sheriff’s Department, Officer Wyland speaking.”
Ryan was relieved to hear Charles’ voice. He wouldn’t have to dodge personal questions from his good-intentioned sister.
“Charles, this is Detective Greer. I’m taking evidence relevant to the murder investigation in Huckleberry to Coeur d’Alene.”
“I’ll tell the sheriff and let others on the case know.” Charles was all business.
“Thanks.” Ryan hung up the call and pulled back onto the county road. He shoved the accelerator down. The sooner they discovered what was on the SD card, the better. If he could close this case by early Saturday morning he could more thoroughly enjoy Conor’s wedding and his date.
Chapter Nineteen
Shandra strolled up the driveway, conjuring up the forest plants she and Ryan had stopped to discuss. The coming of fall didn’t create the same abundance of color that was found in spring and summer. The dull browns, tans, and fading greens weren’t usually something that captured her attention. She was partial to bright colors. Loved when the leaves turned bright shades of red, yellow, and orange. But seeing the plants through Ryan’s eyes had opened her to an idea for a vase.
Back at her studio, she immediately sat down and started molding clay and spinning it on her wheel. While her mind whirled with the drab tones she planned to use on the vase, flashes of brilliant blue, like the pendant she’d found, kept bursting into her mind.
“Why is the pendant on my mind?”
The door opened, allowing cold air to whisk around her. “Brrr. I think our Indian summer is about gone,” she said.
Lil stood inside the door. “Yep. It’s going to get cold tonight. I have the animals all set up in the barn.”
Sheba entered and collapsed in her usual spot under the cooling table.
Shandra looked up from her project and noted the darkness outside the window. She stood and stretched. “I didn’t realize I’d been at this all day.”
“I figured your trip this morning brought on an idea. You’ve been in here for hours.” Lil started tidying up the studio.
Shandra glanced at her vase. Another couple hours and it would be complete. She’d add the twig shaped handles tomorrow. Picking up a clean sheet, she settled the cloth over the vase. “I’ll finish this in the morning.”
“Good idea. I’ll clean up in here, you go get something to eat.” Lil shushed her out of the studio.
Sheba woofed and jogged out the door before Lil shut it.
“I think she just threw me out,” Shandra said as she patted Sheba’s head. “Come on. Let’s get some dinner.”
~*~
Ryan stood in the technology lab watching a forensic specialist clean up the SD card.
“You’re lucky, this small crack doesn’t appear to have damaged the data. If it had stayed in the ground through a rain storm more dirt would have compromised the data.” The specialist glanced up. “You know I can send you the photos when I get them downloaded.”
“I know. But I’m here and you said it would only take an hour. I’ll wait.” Ryan leaned against the wall, proving he had nowhere else to be.
“Suit yourself.” The specialist went back to cleaning the card.
Ryan’s phone buzzed. He glanced at the number and groaned. His little sister who lived in Coeur d’Alene. He stepped out of the lab and stood in the hallway.
“Hey Bridget, what’s up?”
“I heard you’re here, in town. Come by for dinner.” Her tone was too sweet. She had to be up to something.
“I really should get back to Huckleberry. I’m in the middle of a murder investigation.” She had to have found out about his trip to Coeur d’Alene from their sister Cathleen. She must have come on duty and saw the log book showing his whereabouts.
“You rarely have dinner with us. The kids are beginning to think Uncle Ryan doesn’t exist anymore.”
Tossing guilt on him with the nieces and nephew always worked. He had a soft spot for the little rug rats. “I’m not sure when I’ll get there. I’m waiting on evidence.”
“I’ll have a plate warming for you if you don’t make it by six.”
The phone went quiet. Something was up. Bridget never called and got off the phone in less than twenty minutes.
The lab door opened. The specialist working on the SD card poked his head out. “I’ve got it working.”
Ryan hurried into the lab. The first six photos were of animals, then a man and either a teenaged girl or a young woman dressed like most high schoolers showed up in the next seven frames. Each frame had the girl in less and less clothing and the man’s hands all over her. From the photos he’d seen at the Randal house and the newspaper articles, the man was J.W. Randal. There was never a clear photo of the girl. Her face was always turned from the camera, as if J.W. didn’t want her completely recognized. Because he knew the camera was there. What did he plan to do with the photos? Keep them? But the last photo…a blue, flower-shaped necklace hung down her bare back.
Blackmail.
The necklace had been placed for the camera to see for a reason.
But who?
“Send those photos to my phone.” He rattled off the number. That necklace was found at the murder site. Could that girl have been the murderer? If so, she appeared to be a minor. What happened to make her shoot the man? It didn’t look like she was forced to take off her clothes, but the photos only showed flashes of what could have been happening. There was a strong possibility J.W. may have been saying things that made her feel threatened.
“Send prints of those photos to me at the Huckleberry Police Station.” He studied the photo. “The man is the mauled victim from Huckleberry. Have techs use his size to determine the height and weight of the female. And if possible the age. I need all the info I can get to find her.”
“I’ll send this photo to Duncan, it has the best view of their height ratio.”
“Have him call me with his findings.” Ryan glanced at his watch. Mid-afternoon. He could be back in Huckleberry working the case in a little over an hour. It was three hours until dinner at Bridget’s. He’d swing by there, say hi to the kids, and leave.
They’d see him Saturday night and Sunday at the wedding.
~*~
Feeling restless, Shandra decided to sit outside and watch the stars. The cold air sent her back in to grab a wool blanket. She wrapped the bright-colored covering around her and settled on the patio swing. Sheba sat, then slowly lowered her body to the paving stones in front of the swing.
Ryan had yet to call. “Is it taking that long to clean the card and discover the information?” she asked Sheba, patting the dog’s head.
A muffled ragtime tune emitted from her blanket. Shandra reached into the pocket of the sweatshirt she wore and pulled out her phone.
Ryan.
“Hello,” she answered.
“Hi. Thought you’d want to know what the SD card showed.” His voice while warm held a bit of uncertainty.
“I was wondering. Did it take a long time to clean up the disk?” She wanted to know what he saw but from his greeting she wasn’t sure he knew anything.
“It didn’t take the techs long to bring up the photos. There are animals. Raccoons, deer, coyote, elk. What wasn’t expected were pictures of Randal fooling around with what the techs have determined is most likely a female, and a minor one at that.”
“I’m not surprised given what we already know about the man and Cecily’s experience with him.” She’d caught the word determined. “Why did they have to determine she was a minor?”
“There is never a clear picture of her face. Randal knew where the camera was and kept the girl turned. All that was captured on the card was her back.” Ryan blew out a breath. “She was wearing the blue necklace we f
ound.”
Shandra sat up. “You think the young woman killed him?”
“I’m not sure. The whole thing looks staged. The necklace was placed dangling down her back for whoever looked at the photos to see. It has a significance to…someone.” Ryan’s voice faded.
“You think he was setting up someone for blackmail?” From what she’d discovered of the man so far she was pretty sure he was not above blackmail.
“That’s what I’m thinking. He set the whole thing up to get the photos to blackmail someone. But I don’t understand why he didn’t get the card unless he didn’t want the girl to see she’d been photographed. So, whoever found the camera, saw the photos, and ground them into the dirt. The person he planned to blackmail or someone else?”
“If the pendant has a significance we should be able to track it down. Start with the jewelers in Huckleberry, then show it around town. Someone would know who wears it.” Shandra wanted to help him but wasn’t sure how he’d feel about her inviting herself to go along with him.
“That’s the plan for tomorrow. Want to meet me for lunch at Ruthie’s?”
The hopefulness in his voice made her smile.
“Yes. I started a piece after you left today. I can finish it up in the morning and meet you about noon.”
“Good. I’ll have you take a look at the photos. With your artist’s eye you might see something the techs missed.” A pause. “See you tomorrow.”
“Night.” Shandra pushed the off button and leaned her head back against the cushion. Ryan wanted her to look at the photos. I hope I can find something that helps.
Chapter Twenty
Shandra finished the vase and drove into Huckleberry. The piece had turned out better than she’d visualized in her mind. The lines evoked promise. She smiled. It was the easy comradery she felt with Ryan that had helped her transform the clay into an inviting piece. Once the drab fall colors were splashed with the bright blue it would show that out of the dark could come hope.
She arrived at Ruthie’s before Ryan.