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“Transmission fluid. We stopped by a snowdrift and when my dog rolled in the snow, he came up with this. Someone with a leaky transmission had parked at the same spot before us. But I don’t think it was the kids.”
White stopped writing and looked up at me. His expression screamed “What?” without saying a word. I felt compelled to explain. “I don’t think the truck they were driving had an automatic, so they couldn’t be the people who hiked to a nearby mine.”
“Someone parked a vehicle and then hiked over to a mine? I thought you said you hadn’t seen anyone?”
Bo
I tried to ease the situation by joking. “Officer White, this is Bo
White rose from his chair, and walked over to shake her hand. “Ah, the third member of the Three Musketeers. Glad to meet you, ma’am. Jake was just telling me about the trip the three of you took yesterday.”
She accepted his hand cautiously, as though she was afraid he’d snap handcuffs on her. “I thought Jake might be in trouble or something when I saw your truck drive by. He had a burglary a couple days ago so one can’t be too careful.”
White turned back toward me. “Burglary?”
“Yeah, someone broke down my lower door and stole a bunch of stuff. I reported it to the Jefferson County sheriff, but they never found the guy.”
“He even told them who it was, and they did nothing,” Bo
White wrote a couple more notes in his book while answering Bo
Her jaw literally dropped. I always thought the expression was nothing more than an idiom for unimaginative writers, but she was on the verge of losing her dentures. I jumped in before she could confess. “I think I heard about that. Wasn’t it over by Bailey?”
“Not even close. He lived right over the county line in Pine Junction,” Bob answered before Bo
“Those Datsuns didn’t have automatics,” Bo
“Datsuns?” White asked.
It was my turn to interrupt. “Your brother-in-law, Rick, told us the kids were driving a Datsun.”
“And Jake used to have one of them, so he figured out all by himself it wasn’t the kids.” Bo
White looked like he was getting upset. “Okay, maybe I will have that cup of coffee after all, and then we’ll start over but I only need one of you to tell me the story.”
“Do you mind Bon? You make better coffee than me anyway,” I said while leading Officer White back to my kitchen table.
Bo
***
“Do you think they’re on to us, Jake?” Bo
I didn’t bother acting a
“Bobwhite? Why did you call him that?”
“It’s his name,” I answered with a short laugh. “Officer Robert White, or as he prefers to be called, Bob.”
The irony of his name made her smile, but only for a moment.
“I only hope the burglary was discovered before the other deputy saw me there. Then there would be no reason to suspect me, unless the CBI finds some prints we missed when we tried to wipe the place down.”
“CBI?”
“Colorado’s version of the FBI. I doubt that Park County can afford a modern forensics lab, so I assume they outsource it to the state.”
Bo
Fred had been sitting and listening to every word, so I tried to lighten things up a bit. “What do you think about Mexico, Freddie? Would you like to meet a cute Chihuahua?”
Bo
“I’m sorry, Bon. Even if they do co
Her eyes began to swell with tears, and she spoke without looking at me. “I’m sorry I was so self-centered, Jake. You remind me so much of my Diane. She didn’t have a selfish bone in her body either.”
***
Fred and I finally made it to the lake after Bo
I kept Fred on his leash until we were once again on the backside of the lake. ‘Dogs must be on a leash’ was also on the list, but I knew it was more for the parks protection from lawsuits than anything else, for half the dogs there were Labs or Goldens, ru
I’d convinced myself they either made it down the trail to Leadville or had gone on to Breckenridge. Deputy White had said that none of the search teams found a trace of their Datsun, so I concluded they had probably run away, and left the state by now. I had to concentrate on finding Appleton’s killer before the CBI found Fred’s prints and came after me. Now I wished I’d taken the time to clean his tracks in the kitchen.
A young couple stopped to watch Fred swim after the stick I had been throwing for him. They reminded me of Craig and Shelia the last time I saw them together. Unlike Craig, this guy didn’t seem bothered by Fred being loose. He and his girlfriend were laughing and holding hands when Fred jumped in the water.
Thinking of Craig brought me back to the murders. I was sure he had killed Shelia and Appleton, but how could I prove it? I would look really foolish if I called Deputy White and told him that he should arrest Craig Renfield. Without motive and some proof that he did it, White would have me locked up, not for murder but for insanity.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized I was grasping at straws. But who else could have killed Appleton, and why? That’s when I realized I’d been playing detective all wrong. I needed to start with the why instead of the who.