Shadows Reel (Joe Pickett #22)(54)

Several hours later, Joe sat outside his home at dusk in a rocking chair with a blanket on his lap and his twelve-gauge Remington Wingmaster shotgun across his thighs. Daisy was at his feet. He smoked a cigar and sipped on a tumbler of bourbon and water and watched errant strobes of red and blue lights flash across the tops of the trees in the direction of Lola Lowry’s trailer as sheriff’s department vehicles came and went.

The news about Lola had cast a definite pall on the festivities inside, although no one had yet left. He’d described what he found at the scene to hushed silence. His daughters, Liv, and Marybeth speculated on what had happened and what was going on around them. Two murders in two days in Twelve Sleep County was a remarkable and unwelcome development. Fong Chan quietly followed the discussion with wide eyes, suggesting that she couldn’t quite believe what a barbaric environment her sweet friend Lucy had come from.

Even though there were law enforcement vehicles on the access road, Joe kept a close eye on the wall of trees to the east in the direction of the county road. If the gargoyle that Marybeth saw that morning came creeping back, he was ready for him.

Joe had informed Sheriff Tibbs when he met him at the crime scene about the gargoyle, as well as the two men parked on the side of the county road he’d encountered the night before. He’d described the men—what he could see of them—and said the driver had heavy features that could be described as “gargoyle-like.” And he’d given a description of the SUV with Colorado plates.

Tibbs had taken down the information in a notebook, but in a dismissive and cursory fashion, Joe thought. As if Joe’s tip was just another item designed to complicate matters.

All Joe knew about the cause of death was Gary Norwood’s initial proclamation that it “wasn’t a gunshot wound.” The hole in her forehead had been caused by a sharp weapon yet to be determined.

That poor old lady, Joe thought. She was now the primary focus of a literal locked-room mystery scenario. Who could have killed her and how had the bad guy gotten into her trailer? And what was the motivation?



* * *



—

“Are you going to sit out here all night?” Sheridan asked in the dark. She slid a lawn chair over next to Joe and sat down.

“Probably for a while,” he said. “I hope I can head off any more surprises before they happen.”

“I didn’t know you smoked cigars.”

“This one was a gift. I checked on a bunch of hunters at an elk camp last week and one of them gave me a cigar. I kind of like it. He was probably guilty of something.”

“Mom told us about that Bert Kizer guy,” she said. “Do you think Lola’s murder is connected with him?”

“That’s what I’m trying to puzzle out. I don’t know if they even knew each other or why someone would go after them. Maybe they knew each other from the senior center? There are a lot of questions about what’s happened in the last two days and I don’t have any answers. Problem is, I don’t think the sheriff has any, either.”

“He isn’t really on the top of his game, is he?” Sheridan asked. She’d had experiences with the sheriff when Joe was lost in the mountains.

“He might surprise us,” Joe said.

“Doubtful.” Sheridan was a harsh judge of character, Joe thought. Like her mother.

“Are you going to investigate it yourself?” she asked.

“You know how that works. The sheriff has to invite me in. He hasn’t done that.”

“When has that ever stopped you before?”

Joe grinned. Good point.

“If you do decide to get involved, I hope you’ll let me know,” she said. “With Nate gone, I could be your partner.”

Joe was touched. He reached out and grasped her hand.

“You need to stay close to Liv and Kestrel and keep an eye on them,” he said. “That was the deal with Nate, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, even though Liv is tough and fully capable of handling herself.”

“But not Kestrel.”

Sheridan’s silence was an indication that she had to agree with her father.

“Not that I wouldn’t appreciate your company,” Joe said. “We’d make a pretty good team, I think.”

“I think so, too,” she said. “I learned a lot of things when I used to go on ride-alongs with you back in the day.”

Joe’s phone burred and he checked the screen. Deputy Bass.

Bass told Joe he was making the rounds at all of the lodging facilities in Saddlestring, looking for the SUV with Colorado plates that Joe had seen the night before. He hadn’t found a vehicle matching the description yet, but he’d put the word out county-wide and said he’d keep looking. If the vehicle couldn’t be found, he said, he’d do the same at the three motels and two bed-and-breakfast outfits in Winchester.

Joe thanked him for the update and punched off.



* * *



—

As it got darker outside and more still, Joe could hear the volume increase inside his house. His daughters had broken out board games and opened more bottles of wine, and there were whoops and shouts. He continued to watch the tree line and catch occasional flashes of wigwag lights from the crime scene.

Marybeth came outside and stopped abruptly as she looked around.