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All afternoon I’d been in and out, running petty errands for Jane, managing to sneak some peeks in Ray’s desk drawers here and there. Unfortunately, the only thing I’d found besides the ordinary desk-drawer paraphernalia was a Rec Center Programs’ schedule. While this piece of evidence had a possible tie-in to the pool, it wasn’t exactly a bloody knife.
Jeff had stopped by during one of my ins, signed the sales contract I’d typed up, and left his house key. He’d begged a favor—babysit Kelly tonight. Something about his brother over in Spearfish needing his help.
I’d agreed. For one, Kelly was already at Aunt Zoe’s, according to the last call I’d received from Layne requesting spaghetti for supper. Her spending the night caused no hardship for me and meant I could keep a close eye on her and my daughter. For two, I’d thought more this afternoon about Emma’s jacket, the one that Jeff had thrown out, as well as Doc’s description of Jeff—a sympathetic person-of-interest, and recognized a golden opportunity when it landed on my desk.
Jeff hadn’t blinked an eye when I’d asked his permission to pay a visit to his house this evening to assess what we’d need to do to prepare it for sale. Now, the only question was, did I have the guts to follow through and go play Miss Marple?
I flipped open my cell phone and dialed Harvey’s number. He picked it up on the third ring.
“Harvey, it’s Violet. I got Jeff’s house key, and I’m thinking about heading over to take a peek inside.” I’d feel more comfortable snooping while my backup sat waiting for me in my Bronco, his shotgun by his side. “What are you doing right now?”
“Talking to the cops.”
That made me blink. “What? Why?”
“I caught something in one of my traps. So I called Coop. He brought some friends to the party.”
“What did you catch?”
“An ear.”
Ear?“Like a coyote’s ear?”
“No. A human ear.”
I had to have heard that wrong. “Come again?”
“Part of the scalp, too. Looks like the trap tore it right off.”
I cringed. “Oh, Jesus.”
“But there’s something funny about it.”
“Besides the obvious?”
He grunted. “There’s no blood.”
“No blood?” I was still having trouble bending my mind around the first tidbit. An ear?
“Nope. It’s like it’s been licked clean.”
Yuck! My stomach clenched. “What the hell?”
“And it took the damned squirrel I used as bait to boot.” A voice mumbled something in the background. “I gotta go, Coop needs me out back.” The phone went quiet.
I sat there listening to the silence for another minute, wondering what was hiding in the hills behind Harvey’s barn and who was missing an ear.
Shaking the bizarre conversation with Harvey from my thoughts, I returned to the question at hand—was I going to go search Jeff’s place or not? As much as I hated to admit it, I wanted to call Doc, but he was at Natalie’s, having dinner. I didn’t want to think about what was for dessert.
I took a deep breath, grabbed my purse and the key, and headed for the back door.
As I climbed Jeff’s front porch and hauled open the duct-taped screen that had been hung back up, a cloud covered the sun. Figured. Just what I needed. Mother Nature to add some special effects to my task.
I steadied my hand, shoved the key in the lock, and turned the knob. The door popped open. The shadowed foyer waited beyond, exhaling stale cigarette smoke.
Coughing, I pushed the door wide. “Hello? Anyone home?”
The thump of the door against the wall behind it was my answer. I stepped inside. The screen door’s spring rasped with a metallic creak as it closed behind me, the latch clicking shut. I could have sworn it echoed.
