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Nate threw on some clothes and hurried to the front door, wondering why Peter didn’t just come in since he had a key to the place.
Looking through the security peephole, Nate made sure it was Peter and not Phil or any of his accomplices. When he saw it was the sheriff and Jake, Nate unlocked the door and let them in, glad it was just them.
“Hey,” Peter said, shaking his head.
“Yeah, we’re so sorry we had to come here like this,” Jake said, locking the door behind him.
“Bothering you again. A dozen men are out searching for them. Have you got the jewelry?” Peter asked.
“Yes,” Kayla said, dressed in shorts and a T-shirt, bringing the bag of jewelry out to him. “Take it with our deepest gratitude. We might have missed some.A ring had fallen out of the bag, which helped us to find the rest of it.”
“Kayla found it,” Nate said, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. Then they took their seats in the living room.
Peter got a call and said, “Okay, thanks.” He ended the call. “That was CJ calling; they were too late in coming and weren’t able to catch them. They didn’t find any vehicles in the area, so they assumed they’d gotten away,” Peter said. “Nate wasn’t able to say a whole lot to us about what had happened before we got here, except Phil had killed Manning and you’d found the jewelry. But I understand there’s more to the story than that.”
They both told him what they had heard while Peter recorded their testimony. Then he had them write up witness statements so that could be used to help build the case against the men.
“But it’s only our word against theirs,” Kayla said.
“Right, but we can try to lift prints off the jewelry and the bag,” Peter said.
“The problem with that is that they were probably wearing gloves when they committed the robbery,” Kayla said, getting everyone some water to drink.
“True. But you never know. We’ll attempt to lift fingerprints, just in case one of them did finger the jewelry afterward, figuring they’d never get caught,” Peter said. “Oh, and in other news—we searchedPhil’s parents’ property and discovered a black pickup truck, the same model and make as the one the two of you identified that had run you off the road in Green Valley. Manning’s luggage, cell phone, wallet, and ID were all in the back seat. The tires were gone, windshield and sides of vehicle bashed up good, the license plates removed, probably trying to make it look like it had been there forever. All kinds of old rusted farm equipment was out there and an old truck and car rusting away. A strand of trees hid the area from the farmhouses and the road.”
“So maybe Phil drove it there after he killed Manning,” Kayla said.
“I’d say so. A forensics team is going over it now, looking for fingerprints,” Peter said.
“What other evidence do we have against them?” Kayla asked, sounding disheartened that they hadn’t found any of the men in the area. At least they could have gotten them for trespassing again and then taken them in for questioning. “Anything?”
Nate smiled and slapped his thigh, remembering the gun. “Phil’s gun.” He motioned to the floor where he’d dropped it when he’d rushed through the wolf door so he could open the back door for Kayla. “Phil fired a shot using that gun. From what they said in the woods, it was the same gun Phil used to kill Manning. It will have a little wolf saliva on it though.”
Peter smiled. “Nowthatis just the evidence we need to put Phil away. The gun, of course. Not the wolf saliva.” He retrieved the gun and put it in an evidence bag. “Any other surprises?”
Nate laughed. “No, sorry. I had forgotten about it. I was just trying to get Kayla safely in the house, and then we needed to call you and wash off all the mud we’d been in.”
“No problem. As a sheriff, I love those kinds of surprises. Since Phil was shooting in the woods, we should be able to find a shell casing and a bullet.”
Their sense of smell was so sensitive that they could smell for the scent of gunfire and they should be able to locate the casing and bullet.
“Yeah, we sure will. And we’ll help you look for it in the morning,” Kayla said. “I shouldn’t have an issue with shifting, and I want to help.”
“Sounds good to me,” Nate said.
“The other thing was Phil said he was the one who solicited Manning to do the job with him and the rest of their friends. I’m sure Phil is the guy Roxie and I saw in the woods talking to Manning about a job while trespassing on our land. We were running as wolves at the time. One of them said they were doing it for Gerald’s uncle, so if Gerald only came for Manning’s keys at the lodge, his uncle is overall responsible. The man who came for the keys had a shaved head and face, but Gerald has red fuzzy hair now and he’s growing a beard. Irecognized his voice though from when he was at the lodge,” Kayla said. “And I smelled his scent.”
“He shaved off his beard and hair before he went to the lodge,” Peter said, nodding. “And that can make someone look really different.”
“Gerald’s hair was long, tied back in a ponytail, and he had a mustache and beard when Nicole and I spoke with him at his apartment about Phil going missing,” Nate said. “When I questioned him about what had happened to Phil, he was afraid he would be considered an accomplice. I thought it meant with respect to Phil’s disappearance. But now it seems he meant regarding soliciting Manning to do the heist with them when Phil’s attempt had failed.”
“If Gerald is on social media, you can probably see pictures of him with the old hairstyle and beard,” Kayla said.
Jake was already on his phone.
“They said they wondered if the jewelry had been hidden somewhere else,” Kayla said.
“The police have found some of it that the robbers sold at a pawn shop in one of the towns north of Green Valley,” Peter said. “That jewelry belonged to one of the shops at a town south of Green Valley. The police haven’t uncovered any of the rest of it, and we’ll need to identify which store these pieces are from. Then you’ll get your reward.” He smiled. “After all you’ve been through on your vacation, I’d say that you’re past due for it.”
