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“It’s not because they think death is funny, it’s an emotional release to guard against overwhelming anxiety.” He disappeared inside the truck. “In our line of work, I guess it’s better to laugh once in a while than suffer from PTSD.” He backed out and examined something in his palm.
“What have you got there?”
“I found a thumb drive in the glove compartment. It might shed some light on his life, apart from the fact he liked takeout and bourbon.” Kane threw the junk back inside the vehicle and locked the door. “He has been here for a couple of days and lives on the mountain. Those places are pretty isolated and he might have livestock on his property that needs tending.”
“Yeah, most do up there. We’ll head back to the office see if Walters knows him or his relatives. He might have a family and they can handle any animals. I’ll see who lives close by as well and ask them.”
“Roger that.” Kane ripped off his mask and his lips curled into a smile. “If we don’t have any luck, I figure I’d enjoy a drive into the mountains, spectacular views, and all the peace and quiet you could wish for. We’ll be able to find the location of the victim’s house using the GPS.”
Jenna’s vacation plans would have to wait, but she had to admit the idea of getting away for a morning to enjoy the fresh mountain air sounded like bliss. “Sure, now can we stop daydreaming and get back to work?”
3
Thursday
Early the following morning, Kane leaned back in his office chair, gaping at the contents of the thumb drive he had found in Amos Price’s truck. He glanced away, sickened by the images in front of him. Almost a year earlier, Jenna had found similar images on the cellphone belonging to the ex-mayor’s son, but his father had destroyed his laptop, removing any clues to a potential child pornography ring working in the area. The FBI had become involved but even with their extensive resources they had uncovered zip. He figured Josh Rockford had acted alone, and with him in jail, they had solved the problem. Obviously not.
The find opened up a can of worms: If Price had been involved, then there could be others and yet nothing had come to light since his arrival in Black Rock Falls. He pushed to his feet and marched into Jenna’s office. “Excuse me, ma’am. I think you need to be aware of this information in the Amos Price case.”
“Come in and take a seat.” Jenna tossed a lock of glossy hair from her face and smiled at him. “What did you find?”
Kane winced. “Images of children. They all came from the camera on his cellphone, so he was involved. It looks like the same child.”
“Hmm, did he send them to anyone?”
“Nope.” Kane dropped into a chair opposite her desk. “Like the Josh Rockford case, he was too clever to use his cellphone to send the images. My guess is everything we need will be on a laptop somewhere. If news of his death leaks, we might have the same problem as we had with Rockford—one of his friends will take the hard drive and nuke it.”
Jenna tapped her pen on the desk. “Predators pop up all over the place but before we start checking out chat rooms for likely suspects, I’ll contact the FBI again and see if they have an ongoing investigation in the area.”
“Yeah, they wouldn’t be too happy if we ruined a sting operation.”
“Not only that, I want them involved. They have the resources and know where to look online.” She sighed.
A knock on the door heralded the arrival of Deputy Wolfe.
“Ah, Wolfe, you couldn’t have arrived at a better time.” Jenna’s smile was genuine; she obviously appreciated having him on the team. “What did the autopsy tell us?”
“Not much, I’m afraid.” Wolfe removed his hat and scratched his thick blond hair. “The cause of death is undetermined pending a toxicology report. Problem is the report takes about two to three weeks. We might hit pay dirt with
the stomach contents. He had taken a drink just prior to his death. Apart from the bourbon and cola, it had a very strong smell of cigarettes but his lungs appeared clean. I don’t think he smoked.”
Kane frowned. “I didn’t find any cigarettes in his truck either.”
“Or an empty can of cola inside the house.” Jenna’s white teeth closed on her bottom lip. “If he had a drink just before he died, what happened to the glass he used or the cola can?”
“Exactly. Everything I found points to poison as the cause of death, and from the contortions of his limbs, it was a very painful death. His body literally shut down in painful spasms. There are quite a few poisons that act immediately, for instance, arsenic, strychnine, and of course things like snakebite, but apart from them being difficult to obtain, they leave clues. Bite marks, for instance, and bleeding eyes or coughing blood. This was subtle. As I detected the high smell of tobacco, I asked the laboratory to check for nicotine sulfate. It’s a pesticide and extremely poisonous. It would produce the symptoms I detected in the victim. It is colorless and the taste could be disguised with bourbon.”
Kane rubbed the back of his neck. “So, this could be a homicide?”
“I’m not ruling that out.”
“If it is, then we have a motive.” Jenna’s dark eyebrows met in the middle in a frown. “He has images of children on his cellphone and it seems he took them himself. I can find no one within a few miles of Mr. Price’s cabin and none of the people I called are prepared to venture onto his land. I think we have three main objectives. The first is to hightail it up to his cabin and get his laptop to discover if anyone else is involved. If we find any clues, we’ll turn them over to the FBI to investigate. We need to concentrate on the murders and identify the child in the images. For all we know, Price’s death could be the parents taking the law into their own hands.”
“Yeah.” Wolfe’s pale eyes narrowed. “If I found someone messing with one of my girls, I might be tempted to pay him a visit too.”
“We do things straight down the line here, Deputy Wolfe.” Jenna’s expression hardened. “No matter who is involved, understand?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Wolfe rubbed the back of his neck. “By the way, I would consider poison to be usually a woman’s choice of weapon.” “He had an open bottle of bourbon but I tested it and it came up clean. There were glasses in a kitchen cupboard but they all appeared untouched. I will have them collected and test for residue but I doubt I will find anything. The trap under the kitchen sink came up clean. Whoever did this planned it well.”
