Her Shallow Grave (Detectives Kane and Alton)

“What were you doing in Colorado?” Jenna raised her pen. “On vacation?”

“I wish.” Claude shook his head. “I’m a long-haul trucker. I deliver and collect goods from all over. I drive for Jim Foxx Trucking out of the industrial area south of town.” He glanced behind him. “I gotta go. I have chores to do.”

Jenna nodded. Many long-haul truckers worked as a two-man team. One sleeping while the other drove. “Sure, just one more thing. Do you drive alone or do you have a partner?” She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, bending one knee to give a more casual pose.

“It depends on where they send me.” Claude lifted one shoulder as if reluctant to give her any more information. “I sometimes drive with Jo… ah, Josiah Brock. He was with me on that haul. He lives out on Snowberry Way. He’s a good guy and helps out at the soup kitchen a couple of times a week, when the weather causes road closures.”

“And where do you live?”

“Stanton Road, near town.” Claude flicked his eyes over her. “I’m not in any trouble am I, Sheriff?”

“No, but I need the details of the people I speak to. I’m sure you understand?” Jenna made a note of the man’s address. “Okay, thanks for your help.” She turned and headed back to the hall.

“I’ve asked everyone here. No luck.” Kane folded the flyers and pushed them inside his jacket.

“Okay, we’ll split up and show them around to everyone in the dining area.” Jenna looked at him. “You go ahead, I’ll inform the women with kids that they have a place to stay tonight.”

“More will be coming.” Kane scanned the room. “This place is bursting at the seams.”

Jenna pulled off her woolen cap and pushed a hand through her hair tucking it behind her ear. “I’ll speak to the media. I’ll ask them if they’ll do a follow-up story and make sure they make it clear we have no room here.”

“Father Derry will have them sleeping in the church before he turns anyone away.” Kane’s brow furrowed. “I’m not sure how long his supplies will last. Maybe ask the reporter to add that donations to the church are needed urgently.”

Jenna nodded. “I’ll call them when I get back to the office. I need to send copies of the missing persons flyers to Wolfe. We may have found the snowman victim. Go. I’ll catch up with you in a minute.”

She watched him go and, in her periphery, caught sight of Claude peering at her from a doorway. The hairs on the back of her neck raised in warning. Had she missed something? She ran the conversation through her mind and remembered the way he’d almost caressed the images of the tattoos, as if he had a connection to them. He drove a long-haul truck, traveled from state to state, and worked with the homeless. She sent the files to Wolfe with a brief message and then walked casually toward the women with children to give them the news but kept one eye on Claude Grady. Are you my first suspect?

Twenty

Snakeskin Gulley

It was late in the afternoon when Ty Carter picked up the phone on Jo’s desk and peered at the ID. “It’s Dave Kane, want me to take it?”

“Yeah thanks.”

Jo covered the mouthpiece on the landline and then went back to her heated conversation with the FBI Director.

“Dave, it’s Ty Carter. Jo’s tied up on the other line. Do you have information on the frozen ladies?”

“No, Wolfe will be conducting the autopsy tomorrow. It takes time for the bodies to thaw. I’ve sent you all his findings to date.” Kane cleared his throat. “The investigation is underway on the search for the killer, we have visited all the homeless shelters and asked about the tattoos. We got one possible and Jenna is hunting down that lead and we have a possible suspect. Rowley is on that now, but that’s not why I called. I needed to get Jo’s take on stalkers.”

Surprised, Ty raised his eyebrows. “Stalkers? They follow people around, man. Show up and cause trouble. Threaten to kill you or your family. You know that, right?”

“I know enough to charge one but this is personal. I’m wondering if I’m overreacting to a come on.”

Finding it difficult to understand Kane’s concern. Ty dropped into Jo’s office chair, leaned back, and crossed his booted feet on her desk. “How so?”

He listened with interest at Kane’s description of the kidnapping and drug arrest at the ski resort. “So what made you buckle and have a drink with her? You don’t seem the type to fall for a woman’s charms.” He bit back a grin. “She’s a babe, right?”

“Yeah, but it wasn’t about her looks. She was in shock after the fight. Her eyes were so wide I thought they’d pop right out of her head. When she called my room, crying, I considered it duty of care—she thought it was a date.”

Ty stared at the ceiling as Kane detailed his previous few days’ encounters with Kim. He dropped his feet from the desk as Jo walked over and stood beside him. “Jo’s here, I’ll bring her up to speed and then put her on.” He covered the mouthpiece and gave Jo the details. “So what do you think?”

“Harassment for sure and maybe a stalker in progress. Put the phone on speaker. I’ll talk to him.” Jo placed a cup of coffee on the table, pulled up another chair, and sat down. “Hi, Dave. As you suspected this is a classic obsession case but she’s escalating. The fact you shut her down in public and she completely discounted what you’d said and mentioned she’d call you later, was the flashing red light—making an excuse for your denial of her advances by bringing in Jenna might be a problem. If she threatens her, that’s lights and sirens.”

“She hasn’t threatened anyone yet. I admit, her attention was an ego stroke at first and I figured I was overreacting.” Kane let out a long sigh. “I don’t want to be rude to her but if I don’t put a stop to Kim’s infatuation it will as sure as hell cause problems between Jenna and me. She wasn’t impressed with her coming by the office bearing gifts.”

“Are you and Jenna in a relationship?” Jo raised one eyebrow at Ty.