“Yeah, and Hale still works with them today.” Rowley held up his tablet. “Dr. Hale is the veterinarian and Rick Talbot is a contract truck driver used for livestock deliveries. Talbot worked for Lawson for three years and then disappeared after the murders, but I tracked him down and he still lives in town.” He scrolled through his notes. “What made him interesting is, from Lawson’s diaries, he mentions Talbot specifically as owing him money. And his logbooks didn’t match his delivery schedule. Lawson assumed he might be smuggling livestock. It would have been easy enough for Talbot to add a couple of extra steers to his load.” He lifted his gaze to her. “The other thing is he disappeared forty-eight hours after the Lawsons’ murders. This is one of the things that Kalo discovered in the payroll books. He only lives in town and didn’t return to the ranch for his paycheck.”
Pleased by Rowley’s attention to detail, she nodded. “That’s interesting and something we will look at today.”
Jenna had a few things she needed to do and splitting up the interviews in town would give her more time at the ranch. She had no doubt the three FBI agents and Rhett would be organizing interviews with any people of interest on the ranch in her absence. “Do you know the veterinarian? He’s not the same person we take Duke to for his shots.”
“Yeah, I know him. He specializes in horses and cattle. Most of the ranches running livestock call him when they need help.” Rowley placed his tablet on his desk and looked at Jenna expectantly.
Jenna turned and looked at Rio, who stood and came toward her. “Rio, can you put out a media release? Ask if anyone saw anything unusual in the forest on the night that Zoe was kidnapped or if they’ve seen anything unusual over the last few days. People that seemed out of place, particularly men moving alone through the forest. Make a point of telling them not to approach anyone and report any unusual sightings to the hotline.”
“Copy that.” Rio returned to his desk and started hammering on his keyboard.
Turning back to Rowley and Raven, Jenna looked from one to the other. “We need information both past and present. When you speak to the veterinarian, get his take on what happened to the Lawsons. Ask him if he’s ever been called out to examine any dead cattle. Does Lawson’s Ridge have any problem with the health of their livestock? You can inform him he can divulge any information to you, as you have the permission of the owner, or if he’s concerned, he can call Rhett. Follow up your questions to include the timeline around Marie Reyes’ death and Zoe Carpenter’s abduction. Ask him obvious questions. For instance, is there anyone he would suspect might have been abusing women back then and now? I’ll go with Dave to speak to Rick Talbot and then we’re heading to Rhett’s ranch.”
“I’m ready to go.” Kane came up behind her.
She turned and smiled at him. “Okay.” She looked at her deputies. “Upload your files to the server so we can all be kept in the loop. If you discover anything significant, call me.” She turned and headed toward the front door, waving at Maggie along the way. “Raven is heading out with Rowley to interview the veterinarian, which leaves us Rick Talbot. He used to drive livestock delivery trucks for the Lawsons and then quit forty-eight hours after they died. His details should be on the server. I’ll access them the moment we’re inside the truck.”
“If he’s a driver, he could be anywhere in the state at the moment.” Kane cranked up the AC inside the Beast. “How old is this guy?”
Jenna scrolled through her tablet. “He is fifty-six, so likely still working. He lives over on Elm. Maybe we’ll be lucky and find him at home.”
“Okay, Elm it is.” Kane swung the truck around and headed toward Elm.
All the houses on Elm were spread apart. Many had horses grazing in corrals with barns or stables alongside. They found Talbot’s house easily enough and drove up a sweeping driveway to the front porch. The overgrown front yard spilled onto the driveway, and the large old house, constructed of red brick and obviously over one hundred years old, showed signs of disrepair. Jenna turned to Kane as they pulled up outside the front door. “I’m guessing there isn’t a Mrs. Talbot.”
“Hmm, that depends.” Kane frowned. “Sometimes people just don’t have the money to keep a place in pristine condition. Although, it does seem a shame not to maintain a grand old house like this one.”
She followed Kane to the front door, watching Duke for any signals of alarm, but he sniffed the air and seemed oblivious to everything. No threats. Standing to one side as Kane hammered on the front door, she noticed the curtain in the front window twitch. “He’s seen us.”
Instinctively they moved to each side of the front door, and moments later it opened a crack and a man shuffled toward them. Kane moved out to greet him, as usual using his body to protect her. She peered around him. “Mr. Talbot?”
“Yeah, that’s me. What can I do for you, Sheriff, Deputy?” He opened the door wide and leaned heavily on a walking stick.
Jenna exchanged a meaningful glance with Kane. This man looked as if he had been doing poorly for a time. “I believe you worked for Chris Lawson before he died. We’ve reason to believe that someone murdered him and his wife, so we’re hunting down people who worked for him back then to see if they have any memories from around that time.”
“Murdered?” Talbot reeled back in shock. “They were sheltering from a storm and the cabin was hit by lightning. No one murdered them. Everyone who worked at the ranch liked and respected them. How could you possibly believe they were murdered?”
“We’ve recently had a forensics team go over the cabin where they died.” Kane gave him a long searching look. “The cabin had been locked from the outside and the key is still in the lock after all this time. There could be no valid reason for anyone to lock the door of a burned-out cabin, so it’s reasonable to believe they were locked inside while sheltering from the rain. Soil samples have been taken and are currently undergoing testing for any sign of an accelerant. It’s more likely that someone set fire to the cabin with them inside, knowing that no one was around.”
“That’s not the story I heard.” Talbot looked from one to the other, eyebrows raised. “I came back the following day, just before Wade took a group of the hands out to search for them. It shocked everyone when they discovered their bodies in the burned-out cabin. They wouldn’t have found them at all if they hadn’t met the horses heading back to the ranch and followed their tracks. The ground was soft after the storm and the tracks took them back to the cabin.”
“You left soon after and didn’t return for your paycheck.” Kane straightened and rested his hand on the butt of his pistol. “Why is that?”
“I’d only worked for three days since being paid previously and I owed Mr. Lawson money.” He indicated to his leg. “I’d been taking a few extra jobs on the side for other ranches. I was young and foolish and had a gambling problem. A week or so after Lawson died, I was crushed loading a bull. If it had happened when I was working for Lawson, I’d been covered by his insurance, but I was moonlighting. I couldn’t work and haven’t since. I didn’t pick up my paycheck because I felt bad about Lawson dying with me owing him money and all.”
Frowning, Jenna looked at the man. She couldn’t decide if he was involved with any of the murders, past or present. She considered his memories of what had happened to be the truth as he remembered it. She had no further questions and glanced at Kane, but he just shook his head. She smiled at Talbot. “Thank you very much for the information. I really appreciate it.”
“I hope you find the dog that killed them.” Talbot shook his head sadly. “They were good folk.”
A warm breeze brushed her face as she followed Kane back to the truck. “So, you believe he was injured as he claims? It’s a good cover story, almost rehearsed.”
“I’ll do a little digging into his background over the last twenty years or so.” Kane smiled at her. “That limp could be phony. If he’s on disability, we’ll be able to find out. If he isn’t, he’s the first person found with an actual motive. He owed Lawson a ton of money, and Lawson believed that he was stealing his cattle.”
Running all the current information through her mind, Jenna nodded. “Yeah, I agree. I believe he was telling the truth about what happened after the fire, but that doesn’t say he wasn’t involved.” She sighed. “But it doesn’t take us any closer to the missing women back then and now. I’m concerned we might be looking at this case all wrong.” She turned in her seat to look at him. “What if the person who was killing women in the past did see Lawson watching him but dismissed it when he didn’t call the cops?” She tapped her bottom lip. “What if Lawson confronted Talbot about the missing cattle and maybe gave him a pass for now because he knew the local sheriff was crooked? Then coincidentally, Talbot seizes an opportunity to clear his name and debt by killing Lawson. He might have seen the Lawsons head out alone and followed them. When they took shelter in the cabin, he locked the door and set fire to it. I’ve seen keys hung outside the doors on nails all throughout this ranch. I know for a fact all the outlying cabins have spare fuel stored close by and there is a lean-to on the burned-out cabin.”
“Hmm.” Kane scratched his cheek thinking. “Lawson would be concerned about the killer seeing him watching him, enough to write that letter, but he might have believed he could deal with Talbot. So the killer back then walked free.” He gave her a long look. “If we can find any consistency in the times women went missing over twenty years, we have one killer. If they stop and start up again with years in between, we have two separate killers—or a copycat, a copycat who knew the original killer and may have helped him or seen him bury his victims.”
Thirty-Six
