Dead Hot Shot (Loon Lake Fishing Mysteries) (11 page)

One of the silhouetted heads turned out to be Frances Dark Sky, who was struggling to get out of the truck’s rear seat. She jumped from the passenger side only to turn an ankle as she landed, ending up on hands and knees. Before Osborne could rush down the porch steps to give her a hand, she had leapt to her feet.

“Frances, are you okay?” said Blue from behind Osborne. Frances gave an embarrassed wave of her hand and stepped back from the truck, eyes on the ground.

The driver’s side door opened slowly, music blaring into the deepening shadows of the afternoon. Out popped a short, chunky man with a head that seemed massive thanks to a halo of blonde curls in desperate need of a trim. He wore a denim jacket, the kind lined with fake sheepskin, which hung open to expose a shapeless grey wool sweater and baggy jeans riding low on his hips. Osborne guessed him to be somewhere in his early to mid-twenties.

“Jake Cahak?” said Lew, stepping down from the porch steps and advancing towards the man. “I’m Chief Ferris with the Loon Lake Police — like to ask you a few questions.”

“Yep, I’m Jake,” said the man with a grin. Opening his mouth exposed a cluster of bottom teeth rearranged by forces other than nature. An upper right incisor was missing as well. None of that affected his ability to chew as he managed to chomp away on a wad of gum. As Lew approached the truck, he thrust both hands into his jacket pockets and waited, eyes skittish as he looked from Lew to Osborne and back to Lew. “Just giving the girls here a ride over from the Murphy place.”

Lew walked to the back of the truck. “Big dogs. Friendly?” “Yep. Them’s the Reeces’. They love everbody. Just picked ‘em up at the kennel. Okay, to bring ‘em back here, ain’t it?” He looked past Osborne to where Blue was standing. “Thought your old man said it was okay. Right?”

“That’s fine,” said Blue. “You can let them out, Jake.” “And this here’s Josie and Frances,” said Jake as Josie let herself down from the high front seat of the truck. She dusted at the jeans she was wearing then turned a bright face towards Lew.

“I know Josie and Frances,” said Lew, her voice quiet and level. “This your truck or does it belong to the Reeces?”

“Oh, no, this is my baby,” said Jake, laying an affectionate hand on the door handle to the driver’s side.

“Good for you,” said Lew. “Trucks like this don’t come cheap. You live around here, Jake?”

“Got a place over in the cities,” said Jake, pointing to the west as if Minneapolis would suddenly pop up behind a stand of balsam, “but stay right down the road most of the time.” He tipped his head towards the drive. “Job comes with a cabin about a third of a mile that way.”

“And is that where you were the night before last?” Lew asked. “During the engagement party?”

“Oh, hell, no. I dropped the girls off and went on down to Jimmy’s Bar. Had a pizza, watched the — ah, the Bears game. Hung out there til Josie called and said it was time to take ‘em home.” “So you were at Jimmy’s, the bar right down the road here?” “Yep.”

“When can Francie and I go home, Chief Ferris?” said Josie, her whine interrupting Lew. “Do we have to stay here tonight? And my cell phone — when I can get my phone back?”

“Young lady,” said Lew, “I made it clear to you yesterday that you’ll be allowed back in Mildred Taggert’s house when the crime lab has finished inspecting the property and — ”

Before she could say more, the dogs set up another round of loud barking as a man emerged from the woods behind the garage. “Now who the hell?” Jake spun around. As he did, he reached into a long toolbox resting in the bed of his truck and pulled out a shotgun.

“Hey, take it easy. Put that gun down,” said Lew as Ray approached, the stuffed trout askew on his head, its earflaps down leaving the ties to flutter in the wind. No parka for Ray — he looked bulky but warm in layers of T-shirts over which he had pulled a worn red sweatshirt emblazoned with the slogan: Vegetarian: Old Indian word for Poor Hunter.

“You’re looking at one of my deputies, Ray Pradt. Mr. Cahak, did you hear me? Gun goes back in the truck — and what are you doing with an uncased gun in there anyway? That’s against the law, fella.”

“Whaddya mean? I’m security here. And damned spooked after what’s happened if you don’t mind my saying so.”

“No, Jake,” said Blue from the porch stairs, “you’re not security. You’re the caretaker.”

“Same goddamn thing.”

“Put the gun in its case and put it back in your truck,” said Lew. “This time — it’s a warning. Next time, it’s a fine and ten days in the Loon Lake jail.”

“Good food in the hoosegow,” offered Ray with a grin.

Turning towards the truck, Jake mumbled under his breath but everyone heard him anyway as he said, “Oh, yeah, I forgot. Loon Lake’s got women for cops.”

With that Osborne wondered if the guy wouldn’t be better off shooting himself instead of putting the gun away. Lew ignored the comment, waiting in silence as Jake rustled around until he located a canvas gun bag, slipped the gun inside, zipped it shut and laid it back in the toolbox.

Then he turned to Ray who was now standing nearby. “How far did you go back in there? That’s trespassing on private land, bud, and I worked damn hard planting young balsam all along that property line, so I don’t need no dumb shit tramping down all them saplings.”

Lew opened her mouth to speak but Ray raised a finger to stop her.

“Well — gotta tell ya,” said Ray, sounding as if he was just this side of a laugh, “I do know a new tree from an old tree so don’t you worry. Nothing disturbed. Now,” he raised a cautionary hand as Jake looked like he was about to unload again, “you asked what I was doing back there so let me tell you.

“Just as I was looking through those fancy cars they got parked in front of the garage there at the request of Chief Ferris — given this is a crime scene some of that has to happen, y’know — well — I happened to look up and guess what I saw staring at me?” Standing right by the drive there. a seven. point. buck. No kidding, man, that is premium venison.

“So, sir — ,” Ray waved a hand as if to forgive Jake his stupid behavior, “I understand your concern — no matter that. But tell you what — ,” he leaned towards the shorter man conspiratorially, “I followed that critter and stumbled onto some darn decent deer trails running back that way — ,” Ray turned and took his time to point towards the woods from where he had just emerged, “so took a few minutes to check ‘em out. Season’s open, y’know.” Ray raised his eyebrows as he grinned with anticipation.

“Not for you — this is private land. No one hunts there.” As he spoke, Jake took a step towards Ray, then stopped with his feet apart, hands on his hips.

“You are so belligerent,” said Ray with a laugh. “I’m just trying to point you in the right direction.”

“Now hold on, you two,” said Blue, running down the porch stairs. “Jake, Ray is a friend of mine. He can hunt this property if he wants.”

Jake threw up his hands in defeat, “Alright, alright, whatever you say. Jes’ tryin’ to do my job.”

“Hey, you razzbonya,” said Ray as Blue walked over to him. He put one arm around her shoulders and ran his knuckles lightly over her head as he said, “Nothin’ like a Chinese haircut — you feelin’ better?”

“Yeah,” said Blue with a slow smile and a shy eye that brought youth back into her face.

Jake moved to stand near Josie where he started bouncing lightly on his toes as if to keep his feet warm. Osborne watched as Jake bounced back behind Josie and with a quick motion slipped both his hands into the back pockets of her jeans.

“Hey!” she squealed, “stop that now.” She slapped half-heartedly at the invading hands and Jake backed off, blowing on his bare fingers.

“Jes’ tryin’ to keep warm,” he said with an impish grin. Osborne glanced over at Frances who was standing at distance from her sister and Jake, her arms crossed to pull her parka tight against the cold. She had seen Jake’s move. Her eyes were wary and worried. She was not amused.

The porch door banged open and Andy Reece stepped out of the house. “Jake, you’re back. Great — I need you inside right away. This new computer I got — can’t figure how to hook it into the router. Got a big bet going on a bass tournament in Arkansas and if I can’t get online, I may lose a couple thousand. Come on in and get me fixed up, will ya?”

That was all Jake needed to hear. Before Lew could stop him, he had run up the steps past Andy. Blue motioned for the girls to follow. “Frances, Josie — come inside while Jake gets Dad fixed up. You’re freezing out here.”

Lew waited for the door to close behind Frances, who lingered as if reluctant to follow her sister inside. Her eyes caught Osborne’s for a brief second and he wondered if she had something she wanted to say. But she looked away just as quickly and followed the others into the house.

“Andy, how long has Cahak worked for you?” asked Lew.

“Oh, ‘bout a year now,” said Andy, standing with the door open, eager to get back into the house. “Nolan hired an electrical contractor from the cities to design the computer systems that run the sound and lighting in the house. Jake was one of his guys. We kept him on because he knows what to do when things go haywire. Guy grew up on Lake Minnetonka — so he’s good at servicing all the boats, too.

“He actually asked us for the job,” said Andy. “Told us he loves to hunt and fish and could take care of the basics around here. Been a godsend for me every time that damn Internet goes down. Blue thinks I’m a gadget geek but that guy knows computers like you wouldn’t believe.”

• • •

As the porch door closed behind Andy, Ray waved Lew and Osborne away from the house and over towards the garage. “Follow me back here, will you?”

“Sounds like you found something?” asked Lew in a low tone.

“Plenty,” said Ray. They rounded the back of the garage to where Ray had set down two paper evidence bags and a two-by-four nearly three feet long.

“I started in from where we saw those tracks on the shoreline and did we get lucky. The deer have been feeding and you know how they leave jagged edges on everything. Well, whoever’s been back in there was wearing a burgundy and tan sweater because I found strands of yarn on a scattering of brush from the lakeside all the way up to the driveway. Whoever it was had to have ripped the hell out of their sweater, which means — to me anyway — they were running. Could have been running in the dark, which is why they barreled through brush like that. I harvested what I could find, marked the brush so you can see the pattern and put the strands of yarn in here” He handed one of the evidence bags to Lew

“But the pièce de résistance — ,” Ray paused to pick up the second bag and open it for Lew and Osborne to peer inside.

“Rubber gloves?” said Osborne, staring at the black gloves inside the bag.

“Yep, found ‘em shoved under a dead tree not far from the lake along with this big stick. Interesting, huh.”

“Let’s get back to the cruiser so I can check in with Doug Jesperson,” said Lew. “I hope he hasn’t left town yet. Like to see what he thinks the lab can do with those gloves and that two-by-four. Good work, Ray. Very good work.”

“You’re as welcome as the flowers, Chief. Mind if I head out now? I promised to take Gina to fish fry tonight and I. need to clean up. You two feel like joining us?”

“We’ll be there,” said Lew. “I already told Doc his dinner’s on me. You get going, I’ll call Doug Jesperson right now.”

Rubber gloves?” said Doug when Lew reached him on the police radio in the cruiser. “That could be a bonus, Lewellyn — if they were used by the killer. People think if they use rubber gloves that they won’t leave prints and they won’t. Better than that — they leave skin cells, DNA! But in order to have any match, we need to collect samples from any suspects you may have.”

“That’s why I’m calling. How soon can you get out here? I’ve got five people on-site right now, any one of whom might — ”

“Now?” Doug sounded exasperated. “This couldn’t wait until Monday? Half my holiday is shot already.”

“I thought you told me you volunteered for holidays, Doug. Come on now, no one handles evidence better than you and your team. Maybe send one of your people out here. I’ll keep everyone waiting.”

Silence. “All right, I’ll ask Bruce if he minds heading back your way.”

“Thank you very much,” said Lew. “I’ll wait for him. But, Doug, how long will it take to do the DNA testing?”

“We use private contractors these days. If I’m lucky I can find someone who’ll rush it through. Maybe a week or two?”

“No sooner than that?”

“You’ve been watching too much TV. Now, Lewellyn, we’re just about finished here,” said Doug, “but a couple things you need to know. First, we didn’t even try to dust for prints in the shop. So many people walk in and out of there, pick up stuff, lean on the counter — no point to it. We did dust the cash register. Have not removed the computer the old lady used for licenses — it’s specific to that purpose so I see no reason to rip it out of the countertop. And, yes, we dusted it for prints. Thing is, you didn’t tell me about the barn.”

“What about it?”

“You didn’t go to the second floor?”

“Doug, our investigation kept us there until close to midnight last night. Right or wrong, I chose to interrogate the neighbors. No, I did not go to the second floor of the barn. But I will — why?”

“It’s fully remodeled. Place looks like shit outside but the inside has been completely renovated. All new windows, the walls rebuilt. Two big fully furnished bedrooms and a study. One of the neighbors said your other victim, Nolan Reece, paid for the renovation. Wanted those girls to have a nice home. We’ve combed through there but nothing of note to report until we have lab results.”

“Are you saying I can let them back inside tonight?”

“I think so. I’ll know pretty soon if we’ve covered everything here. The first floor of the barn has been used strictly as a garage — the old lady parked that ancient Chevy of hers in there. But there is one odd thing that you need to watch out for. That upstairs study is wired for hi-speed Internet access with a router in place — but no computer. See if you can find the computer. Has to be one somewhere, otherwise — why the expense, y’know?”

“You got the girls’ cell phones that I left with the sheriff’s deputy?”

“We did. We’re heading into the weekend so not sure how quickly we can get back to you on that. You know, Lewellyn, if you listened to my jokes — ”

“Maybe next time, Doug,” said Lew, grimacing at Osborne. Jesperson grunted. “Seriously, I do appreciate you’re being willing to take the time there today.”

“Oh, and one more thing — the lab called me an hour ago. They identified the shavings under the nails of the Reece woman. Marine paint: sapphire blue.”

• • •

Osborne let Mike out of the yard and walked behind the dog down to the shoreline. He folded his arms to rest elbows and forearms on a section of dock, which had been pulled onshore and upended against a tree in preparation for the blasts of winter: furious winds determined to shovel slabs of ice up onto the banks of the lake.

As the dog ran sniffing after hints of squirrels and rabbits, Osborne leaned forward, chin on his gloved hands, ready to savor the early sunset. He could never get over the fact that late November days ended before five o’clock. So dark, so soon.

Enough light remained for him to see that even though there was open water a hundred feet out, ice now glazed the surfaces close to shore. But at the moment he was less interested in the spreading ice than thinking back over the last half hour he and Lew had spent at the Reeces’.

Lew, as eager as Osborne to end the long day, had made short order of the DNA sampling. True to his word, Jesperson had dispatched one of the young crime lab assistants who had arrived within fifteen minutes of the conversation between Chief Ferris and his boss. Once Lew made the point that everyone attending the party would have to be swabbed for DNA samples, no one had resisted except Jake Cahak.

He made the lame argument that he wasn’t invited to the dinner but Lew reminded him he had been on the premises that night. With a shrug, he had agreed. After the samples were taken, Lew checked with Jesperson one more time and was relieved to hear that the Dark Sky sisters could return to Mildred’s. That was when she said that since she had to drop Osborne off to get his car — she might as well give the girls a ride to town, too.

Leaning on the dock, Osborne thought back over that moment. Had he seen disappointment on Jake’s face? Or was he reading too much into the man’s expressions? He made a mental note to ask Lew if she had noticed a change when he learned he wouldn’t be the girls’ driver this time.

She may not have, as her attention had been drawn to Josie, who was lugging more than the overnight case and purse that Frances was carrying.

“Josie, what is that?” Lew had said as the girls were climbing into the back seat of the cruiser. She pointed to a flat plastic case that Josie had slung over one shoulder — bright blue with yellow and orange flowers.

“Oh, this? Just my school laptop,” said Josie.

“You have a computer in there?”

“Uh huh” Josie set the case on her lap and looked out the window as if the discussion was ended. Lew left it at that for the moment and turned the ignition key.

The four of them drove in silence until Lew turned onto Highway C. Then Josie had leaned forward from the back seat to say, “Chief Ferris, I remembered something that happened before dinner the other night.”

“Yes — ” Lew waited to hear.

Osborne turned sideways, eyes on Josie as she spoke. “I. well. I don’t want to get anyone in trouble.”

Lew glanced up at the rearview mirror to catch Josie’s expression and said, “Withholding information that might be important to the investigation is not wise, Josie. You can end up in more trouble than you might expect. Does this involve Jake Cahak?”

“No,” the girl said. Osborne saw Frances give her sister a look of surprise. “Blue and her mom had a big argument. Up in the guesthouse. I heard because I was in the bathroom fixing my hair.”

“Did you hear this, too, Frances?” said Lew.

“No,” said Frances in a low voice. “I wasn’t there.”

“Josie, what was the argument about — could you tell?”

“Yes, it was about money,” said Josie. “I couldn’t hear it all but Blue was real mad because her mother wouldn’t give her some. The door was closed so I couldn’t hear all the words real clear — but Blue screamed at her, then stomped out.”

“This was before the party?”

“It was when the party was just getting started ‘cause Blue got there late. Her mom was real mad about that.”

“Maybe that’s what the argument was all about,” said Lew.

“No. I heard them screaming at each other about money,” said Josie. “Mrs. Reece was shouting that she knew Blue was stealing money from her — maybe her purse or something? I couldn’t hear more than that.”

“They fought a lot, didn’t they?” said Lew.

“Not really,” said Frances, shifting on the car seat as if to distance herself from her sister. “Mrs. Reece could get pretty mean sometimes — to Blue and to Mr. Reece. But they were good about it.” Frances looked at Josie. “I never heard Blue get mad at her mother.”

“You weren’t there in the bathroom that night,” said Josie. “I know what I heard.”

“Whatever.” Frances turned her face away from her sister to stare out the car window.

Lew had decided to drop the girls off first and pulled into the drive alongside the door to the shop. “Mr. Jesperson from the Wausau Crime Lab said that he made sure the keys were left on the store counter. I’ll wait here to be sure you can get inside okay and in the morning, I’ll stop by. I would like to see all the work that’s been done in the barn for you girls. Is that where you sleep?”

“Josie sleeps there,” said Frances. “I like my room in the house.”

As Josie opened the car door to get out, Lew reached back over the seat and said, “I’ll take your laptop, Josie. You can leave that on the seat there.”

Josie clutched the case to her chest. “No, I have all my school work on this. I have to have it.” She was getting out of the car when Lew nudged Osborne. He opened the car door and stepped out to block Josie’s way.

“We’ll be very careful with it, Josie,” he said as he reached for the case, wondering if he would have to fight her for it. But she let the strap slip off her shoulder without resisting, a pout on her face.

Back in the cruiser after the girls entered the house, Lew looked over at Osborne and said, “Looks like we found the missing computer, doesn’t it? Jesperson’s not going to let me forget that I should’ve checked for this. Damn, I hate it when I overlook the obvious, you know?”

“Thing is, Lew,” said Osborne trying hard to remember the scene at Mildred’s as Blue picked up the girls. “I don’t think Josie had it with her that night. You had each girl pack an overnight bag and they each had a purse. I’m almost sure of that.”

“You’re right, Doc. I don’t remember seeing the case she carries it in either. She certainly didn’t leave it at the Reeces’ either because we would have seen it.”

“Guess you need to run this down to Wausau in the morning?” said Osborne.

“Let me talk to Gina first,” said Lew. “She does computer forensics. Rather pay for her time than that creep Jesperson.” “I don’t blame you.”

• • •

Osborne pushed back from the dock. He had an hour to shower and change before fish fry. Before calling the dog, he studied the ice along the shore where the setting sun had turned it rose pink. The fading light highlighted a series of circles that each held their own center with ripples radiating out. Were those caused by miniature springs bubbling up from the lake bottom? Or had a late hatch of insects enticed fish circling just under the thin crust of ice?

The thought of the insects reminded him of his winter surprise for Lew: he was going to use his own new laptop computer, a birthday gift from his daughters, to visit the Wisconsin Fly Fisherman’s website every week. Once there, he would go to their database of “Aquatic Insects of Wisconsin Trout Streams” with a goal of memorizing two names for each of the stoneflies listed: the Latin family name and the insect’s common name. Next winter he would do the mayflies and the winter after that — the caddisflies.

Or maybe just their common names. He had yet to determine how hard his plan was going to be. The Latin terms might be a struggle as it had been too many years since he had studied Latin in high school. But the insects’ common names were enchanting — so provocative they should be easy to remember: Pale Evening Dun, Black Quill, Summer Golden, Yellow Eyes, White Wulff, Blank Dance.

Yep, if he did this right, he might not cast like an expert but he sure could sound like one.

Smiling at the thought, he called the dog. “Here, Mike. Time for us to shower. Friday night, doncha know — fish fry!”