Chapter 17 - The Search Begins

By Monica Rose and Marina Kelly
Proofread by: Qmodo

Liz sat quietly, her arms wrapped around herself, knees pulled up on the chair. Even though the doctor had reported that things looked good for Samantha, she was still worried about her and probably would stay that way until she was able to see for herself.

"How long have you and Samantha known each other?" Leslie asked, doing her best to keep it from sounding like an interview. She asked partly to fill the silence and partly to get Liz outside of herself. Keeping her thinking and talking was better than allowing her to fret about Samantha.

"Sam and I grew up together," Liz began. "We've lived within a couple of miles of each other forever, but we have been together for about a year.

"I would see her around town and in the stores. I never really talked to her in school because we moved in different circles." She smiled a bit sadly and continued, "Everyone knew I was a lesbian and that made me an outcast with everyone. Your Emily was a couple of years behind me, but she was smart enough to keep it quiet and to avoid the boys."

Leslie wasn’t aware their relationship had become public knowledge. My Emily? Had they been that obvious to people?

Liz could tell by the look on Leslie’s face that she had both surprised her and scared her. She smiled weakly, "You can’t fool me. When you two are together, a blind man could see the attraction between you. You are one lucky lady. Emily is a good person. If she likes you, so are you."

Liz took a deep breath and continued, "She came into the diner one evening. She and Jackson had had a fight and she wanted to be somewhere with people while he was working the night shift. It was a really slow night and we got to talking. At closing time, she wasn’t ready to go home. We had a lot in common so I invited her back to my apartment. We talked for hours."

"She started coming over a lot back then and we would just talk. Jackson really was not very nice to her and talking with me made her feel better. I really liked being around her too. Over time, we realized that we liked being with each other and we spent even more time together. At first it was strictly platonic. It's wonderful to be with someone who wants to be with you just as much.”

Leslie smiled and nodded. She knew only too well how nice that feeling was.

Liz blinked back tears and looked up at Leslie. "Do you really think that she will be okay? I never thought that Jackson was the kind of person who would hurt Samantha. I don't want her to be hurt because of me." Tears were streaming down her cheeks. Her expression hardened as she said, “I’m not the pushover that Samantha was. I’m going to make Royce pay for hurting her.” Her voice had a dangerous tone to it.

Leslie pulled her into a hug and said, "The doctor said that she would come through this okay. We'll be able to talk to her in a little while.” Liz’s anger and threat concerned her. “I'll make sure that Jackson is put somewhere so that you and Samantha are safe. I don’t want you to do something "

She was interrupted by the appearance of another state police officer as he entered the waiting room. Seeing Leslie consoling Liz, he half-waved before backing out of the door. She patted Liz on the knee and left her to go outside.

Phil was waiting outside the emergency department when she stepped out. "Hello Lieutenant Caldwell, I haven’t seen you in a while. I’m guess you’re in charge for this.”

She nodded. "Hi Phil. I'm glad you were one of the guys that Captain Williams sent. I’ve been working this side of the state for the past couple of years. You must have been over on the west side."

Phil smiled. "Jack is outside with the car. The captain sent us on ahead of Sanders and Wilder. I'm supposed to tell you that Judge Anderson will be here by tonight." He grinned and said, "It looks like you've got a real bag of snakes on your hands."

Leslie nodded absently. "I know. Just when I think that I know who all of my suspects are and what they are capable of, they change the game on me and surprise me."

Phil looked at her, ready to go into action. "What do you want us to be doing? Anything special?"

She consulted a notebook she took out. "Sheriff Jackson is the main suspect in the assault upon his wife, so I want him brought in. His deputy was in their office when I stopped there about an hour ago. I'm not sure if he is involved or is just incompetent to not be aware of what has been going on around here."

She looked up at Phil and asked, "Do you have any idea when Jeff and Pete will be here?"

"The captain wanted all of us here by tonight, so they should be here in just a couple of hours." He grinned again. "I've never seen him so intense before. I don’t think that he was too happy to have to pull us back from here before because he sounded happy that you found a reason to bring us back. I’m supposed to tell you that Judge Anderson and his clerk will be here tonight."

Leslie returned his smile. "I didn't like having you guys pulled back either. The Kaylocks have a lot of clout in Cheyenne, but I suspect that is going to end tomorrow. First, I'd like you and Jack to track down the sheriff and then hold him and his deputy for questioning.

"You should be able to find the sheriff's car by tracking the GPS transponder. I doubt that he will go far from the car. Put out a bulletin for him in case he decides to leave the area, but I don't think that he will. He is probably hoping that Ron Kaylock can bail him out of this.

"I'm going to stay here until I know how Mrs. Jackson is doing and I'll try to take a statement from her."

"Yes, ma'am," Phil answered, giving her a half-salute. "I'll send a message back to dispatch to tell them what we’re doing."

Leslie pursed her lips and nodded. "That makes sense. I haven’t had a chance to report in, but I’ll try to keep dispatch updated."

"I’ll let you know as soon as we have news about the perp. Stay close to your radio."

Leslie nodded. "That sounds good. If I’m away from the car, I’ll have my cell with me."

Giving her a smile and another mock salute, Phil turned and headed out to meet up with his partner. Leslie watched him go with a smile of her own and she went back to sit with Liz.

About an hour later, the doctor came out to where they were waiting. Leslie would not be able to see Samantha for a few hours yet, but Liz was welcome to sit with her. It was obvious that Liz was more than just a friend and it would be good for Samantha to have her there when she finally woke up.

While a nurse took Liz off to be with her loved one, the doctor stayed to give his report to Leslie. "She didn't have internal injuries as such, but it was close. From the bruise on her side, it looks like she might have taken a hit or a kick that broke a rib. Another shot to the same place would have lacerated her lung. She has a mild concussion and we'll be watching her closely for the next several hours. That's one of the reasons why I let Miss McHenry sit with her.

"Her face is badly bruised and she appears to have some loose teeth. She does have a broken nose that we straightened and packed." He looked at Leslie with a sad expression. If he had been wearing spectacles, he would have been looking over the top. "She is going to want painkillers for the next few days, but she is going to be okay. Things looked worse at the beginning than they really were."

Leslie winced at his description of her injuries. Samantha must have taken some hard hits during her beating. It was obvious that whoever had hit her had been angry, which would explain the kick to her ribs. She was probably already on the floor at that point too.

"I'll let her rest then," she said. "I would like to make sure that she has no visitors other than Liz and members of the state police only." She looked the doctor in the eye and continued, "I have reason to believe that her husband might be a danger to her. Do I need to post a guard outside her door?"

The doctor's expression was very sober as he answered her. "No officer. We will be keeping her in intensive care for the next few days as a precaution. I'll make sure that she is not in the general computer system. That will prevent someone from calling in and finding out that she is a patient here."

"Very good," Leslie said. "I will get about my business and let you get back to yours." She held out her hand and they exchanged handshakes. “Do you have any information from her as to who hit her?”

"Officer Caldwell,” the doctor began. "Before we knocked Mrs. Jackson out, she mumbled something to the effect: ‘I kept trying to stop him but my husband was too strong and he kept calling me a fucking lesbian whore while he was beating me.’. I really hope that you nail the bastard." He said it with some vehemence. "Folks with alternate lifestyles haven't been treated very well in this town lately. But I can promise you that Sam will get the best care we can provide her."

"I will sir," Leslie replied. "I already have my own people looking for him. We won't stop until we have him in cuffs." She nodded her head firmly and headed out to her car.

* * * * *

Leslie drove back into town where she found the other two officers assigned to her team and a pair of suits from the State Attorney General's office. The lawyers were present to provide legal authority for the state police to take over law enforcement in the area. They would also be working with investigators who would be acting as Internal Affairs officers to look into what had been going on in the sheriff's office. Because federal crimes had been committed, the FBI would be making an appearance as well.

While they chatted over a quick cup of coffee, Pete Hendricks updated her on what had taken place so far. The deputy had been taken into custody for questioning, but had not been charged with a crime as yet. He was being treated as a material witness at the moment and was watching television from one of his own cells.

Phil Thompson reported in about half an hour later to report that the sheriff had been found. He had apparently gotten drunk and put his car into a ditch as he tried to make his way out of the state. He had been passed out in his car when they found him. He too would become a resident in his own jail after being checked out at the hospital. Leslie knew that she would not be involved in questioning the sheriff, which would be responsibility of the Internal Affairs folks. She had been subjected to their kind of treatment once and she had not enjoyed it.

Leslie was looking through the files Sheriff Jackson had compiled on gun registrations in the county. It was possible that it was an outsider who had shot at Mary Sue, but It was highly unlikely they would use an antique weapon, they were just too unreliable. Even then, there was no regulation that required a collectible rifle to be registered.

It took her only a couple of hours to scan through the hundreds of registrations to see that all the forms dealt with hunting rifles and various contemporary hand guns. She slid the file away from her, frustrated at the dead end, but not surprised.

As she pondered what her next avenue of investigation should be, if there was one, a cool draft moved through the room. The sudden change in temperature raised goosebumps on her arms. There was a hint of flowers in the air as the breeze intensified for a moment. Leslie shivered and looked up to see what could have caused the breeze. At that point, she noticed a form that had been blown off the sheriff’s desk.

It was immediately apparent that she was alone in the room, but the scent of flowers lingered in the air. The lawyers and the members of her team were drinking coffee out front and she thought perhaps that they had opened a window and that was the source of the lovely smell. As she picked up the form from the floor she saw that it was an old auto accident report that listed the accident party’s insurance companies. Leslie immediately realized that she was looking in the wrong place for the rifle. An antique gun would not be registered as a weapon, but it could be insured because of its value.

There was a phone number of the local insurance agent on form she held, so Leslie sat down to make the call. It turned out that the part-time fire chief was also the insurance agent and he was available to talk. It didn’t take much argument on Leslie’s part to get him to consult his records for the information she wanted. She was surprised to find that there were two antique guns in town. Not surprisingly, one belonged to the Kaylocks but the other belonged to Elizabeth McHenry.

Based upon what she knew about Liz McHenry, Leslie did not believe that she was involved in what was happening here, but it was always possible that she was. She knew that Liz would need to be interviewed again. Even though the Kaylocks appeared to be the better suspects, it was better to be thorough.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of her cell phone. Answering it, she found herself speaking with Judge Anderson's clerk. Leslie had heard that the judge and his clerk were practically inseparable. The judge depended heavily upon her organizational skills.

It was agreed that Leslie would meet with the judge the following morning. All of the evidence she had gathered was in the secure area of the trunk in her car. In fact, everything she had was in the car right now. She still did not have any kind of a base of operations established. It hadn't even occurred to her until now. A smile grew on her face. Maybe Emily wouldn't mind having her as a guest for a few more days.

Mentally, she reviewed what she had for the judge. Leslie hoped that it would be enough to merit further investigation. She knew in her gut that something was going on that involved Mary Sue's research, but it might not be enough to justify a search warrant. She had gotten warrants with less evidence in the past though. She had also had a lot more that had been refused too. It was all up to the judge.

* * * * *

She had plenty of experience in presenting evidence, even though she had never met with Judge Anderson before. She started with the arson report regarding the library, which was listed as a federal landmark. The door had been chained and locked with a security lock purchased directly by Tom Kaylock. The serial number on the lock had been documented on the purchase order that Tom had signed. The violence that had ensued after that seemed to center around the same two individuals. The sabotage of Mary Sue's brakes, but no evidence of who had committed the crime. Assault upon Patrick with threats being made which appeared to be linked to Mary Sue. Circumstantial evidence of a diamond from a ring had been found. The diamond that had been found was too large to be used in a traditional lady’s setting, she just hoped that the judge would not demand proof of something she was guessing at. She pointed out that the Kaylocks both wore signet rings with diamonds in them. The murder attempt upon Mary had used an antique rifle and she showed the judge the information she had discovered about the insured gun.

After she had laid out all of the physical evidence she had, outlined the circumstantial evidence, and her suspicions, Leslie sat quietly at the table with her hands folded before her as the judge did not need to ask for any additional information. He finally closed the folder she had presented to him and looked her in the eye.

"Lieutenant Caldwell, your physical evidence is good, but I'm concerned that there is no hard evidence to tie your suspects to the evidence and the crimes. Even so, I believe that there is enough evidence to justify a warrant. I’m going to issue two warrants however. One for the Kaylock ranch and the other for Ms. McHenry. There is too much involved here to not investigate both of them."

While he signed the warrants and accompanying documents, Judge Anderson outlined information that had come into his office by way of his contacts in the FBI. There was hearsay evidence, that had come to him via a wiretap that might be ruled as inadmissible by higher courts regarding the possibility of organized crime trying to take legal ownership of natural water supplies in the area.

Armed with this confidential knowledge and her search warrants, Leslie left the judge. She had put her men on notice that she might need them all when she was finished with her meeting. In addition, two more teams had arrived earlier to act as her back up as well. This would allow her to take her own men with her while someone guarded their prisoners and provided law enforcement coverage for the community. There were also FBI agents standing by to join her search.

While Liz’s apartment was here in town, it would take time to perform the search properly and Leslie would not need the small army that had massed here to do that search. So the Kaylock ranch would be her primary target and she and her deputies would serve the warrant on Liz tomorrow.

* * * * *

The cars made an impressive convoy as they pulled up in front of the Kaylock house. Of course, the FBI SUV's were black. Someone in the department either had a sense of humor or they had bought into the black helicopter mindset. The sight of every federal agent wearing a dark suit and sunglasses made her smile. Did they get a discount for buying entire racks of suits and cases of sunglasses?

The FBI agents were jumping out of their vehicles almost before they rolled to a stop and were running toward the outbuildings to secure anyone present. Because of the number of men estimated to be at the ranch, Leslie found herself in command of a sizeable number of agents and police officers.

There had been some question at the very beginning as to who was in command, which Leslie had very calmly and forcefully put down. She informed the federal agents that they were all acting under the authority of the warrant issued to her and the state police. While she was grateful for the support they offered, they would either take instruction from her or they would not participate. After a conference call with their superiors, the senior FBI agent was told to toe the line or get his behind back to his own office.

She had no intention of keeping the feds from doing their jobs, but Leslie was there to nail the Kaylocks for their local crimes. If their activities stepped on the toes of the federal government, the feds could have them when she was finished.

Ron Kaylock had been standing beside his pickup truck, speaking with one of his men as Leslie's car came to a stop. The other man started to move off, but was stopped by one of Leslie's deputies. While the rest of the cars started pulling in, a second deputy took Ron into temporary custody. Ron began to bluster but was smart enough to avoid getting physical.

Leslie waited until the lawyers reached her before she went over to Ron.

"Mr. Ron Kaylock," she held up the folder containing a copy of the search documents. She handed them to him as she said, "We are serving a search warrant upon this ranch, the people on the premises, and all property. Please go with the deputy and we will go about our jobs."

Leslie turned away as Ron started talking about illegal search and seizure. When he started yelling about lawsuits, the deputy said something to him about handcuffs and being locked in a cruiser until they were done. Ron either settled down or Leslie had moved out of earshot as she approached the house. Either way, she couldn't hear him any further and she did not bother to look back.

As the agents spread out among the various buildings in the compound with their guns drawn, Leslie led her team up to the main house. Someone must have been watching the activity going on in the courtyard because Tom Kaylock himself stomped onto the wrap-around porch of the ranch house as they stepped onto the porch themselves.

"What the hell is going on here?"

Leslie suppressed a smile as she walked up to him. From the amount of men and uniforms, it should have been obvious that she was not making a social call. If the elder Kaylock thought that he could somehow over-awe them by acting outraged, he was about to be seriously disappointed.

"Mr. Tom Kaylock," she began, "you are being served with a search warrant that authorizes us to search all buildings, vehicles, and persons on this property. The items and information we are looking for are detailed in the warrant."

As she finished speaking, one of the lawyers stepped forward to give him his own copy of the documents.

When faced by the number of people in front of him, some of them in State Police uniforms, Tom Kaylock did what most people do when faced with guns and uniforms: be scared and uncertain. Their drawn side arms added to the effect. He did try to rally himself by demanding that he be allowed to call his own lawyer before they began their search.

Leslie felt some satisfaction when she shut him down. "You are welcome to contact your attorney Mr. Kaylock, but we will not wait for him. This warrant would have been executed whether you were home or not. Your presence just means that we do not need to break the door down to get in."

She waved her hand, indicating the he should precede her back into the house. Once inside, he was directed to a hard-backed chair and was positioned so that he was in the middle of the room where he could be easily monitored. He was joined in just a few minutes by his son, Ron, and a very scared cook. Where the cook was completely intimidated by the mass of law enforcement, Ron was arrogant and uncooperative. Ron was warned once again to remain seated and quiet while the search took place.

When he was informed that one of the items listed in the warrant was the keys to the doors of the library, Tom willingly informed them that he had the keys and told them where to find them in his desk. Even though Leslie had already obtained proof that Tom had purchased a security lock like the one removed from the doors of the library, he still denied any knowledge of the lock. Leslie did not bother to tell him that the proof was already in hand.

She had a whole laundry list of things that she was looking for, some of which were not listed in the warrant. After all, what senior jurist would approve searching for a particular brand of lady's lingerie or lipstick? Of course, if she found those items during the performance of the search, she would be able to take them into evidence. Because of that, she was determined to search the senior Kaylock's private rooms herself.

She expected to find the underwear and makeup from Pat's assault in Tom's rooms, but it was a typical man’s bedroom. Right down to the pile of worn clothes. She was confused for a moment until one of her deputies reported that there was a bedroom that they could not get into.

Leslie went back to the living room and told Tom that she needed the keys to the room. A brief argument ensued, with Tom becoming increasing agitated. She could see that he was greatly upset, so much so that he was perspiring heavily and he could not remain still at the thought that someone would be going into that room. “No one goes into that room except me, not even the maids.”

She could read Tom well enough to see that he was not concerned about anything that might be found in the room, he appeared to just not want the room to be disturbed. He relaxed somewhat when she explained that they needed to search the room and that they fully intended to do so, but she was willing to allow him to watch them while they did their job. Tom retrieved a set of keys from the center drawer of his desk and handed them to Leslie.

To keep him from going off on another tirade, Leslie allowed Tom to accompany her. The bedroom was obviously a hospice room, probably where Tom’s wife had passed her final days, and it appeared that it had been untouched for years. Tom must have turned the room into a shrine to his dead wife and Leslie was sure that she would find what she was looking for here.

Tom objected to the deputies even taking pictures of the room, but they ignored his complaints as they worked. He was almost frantic when Leslie opened the drawers of the bureau. A potpourri sachet lay among the clothes and the strong smell wafted out. She only needed a single sniff to know that it was the same scent on the clothes Mary Sue had given to her from Pat Summerfield's assault. It was a flowery scent, but totally different from what she had been smelling lately.

"Leave that alone, that’s an invasion of my privacy!" Tom was practically frothing at the mouth. He would have charged across the room to shoulder them away from his wife's things, but the hand on his own shoulder prevented him from going far.

"Mr. Kaylock," Leslie began gently. She was not insensitive to the man's feelings, even though he was not really a likeable person. This room was a memorial to his dead wife and she did not intend to disrespect her memory. She was already sure that he was not the sole focus of her investigation and it just was not in her to be as heartless towards him as he presented himself to others.

"We can see that this is a special place as we are being careful to not disturb anything, but we do need to document what is there." Once she had Tom’s attention again, she continued. "I need to know if everything is in the drawers is owned by you.”

Tom was led over to the chest of drawers. He took one glance at the top drawer and the bottles arrayed on the top of the bureau and started yelling, “You didn’t need to dig through Rachel’s drawers! Those were her things!” The man was practically hysterical.

“Mr. Kaylock!” Leslie had to shout a second time to get the man’s attention. “We have not touched anything yet! We wanted you to look at things before we started our search.” As he settled down and looked at Leslie, she continued, “That is why I wanted you to tell me if everything was in order. We won’t disturb anything else, but I am going to have one of my men check for fingerprints. Can you tell me who else has been in here?”

“This was Rachel’s room and I’ve been the only one in here for years! You had to get the key from me to even get in here! No one else comes in here!” Tom was practically writhing in the grasp of the deputy who stood beside him.

Leslie nodded in acknowledgement and assured him that she would personally see to it that they would disturb things as little as possible. She had him taken back into the living room while she oversaw the gathering of fingerprints and a series of photographs. From his reactions, Leslie was sure that the elder Kaylock had not used the items in the room in the assault upon Pat Summerfield. But someone had.

Once Tom had been returned to the living room with her assurances that nothing more would be disturbed in his wife’s room, she went back to the bedroom. Her inspection of the drawer’s contents showed that the style of lingerie used in Pat’s assault matched up with Rachel Kaylock’s. From the patterns in the dust on the top of the bureau, Leslie could see that lipstick and perfume containers had been disturbed or were missing. She gave instructions that anything that was disturbed as part of their search was to be replaced as neatly as possible. She knew the team was disciplined enough to do just that.

The team determined that Rachel’s room was locked again and sealed with tape when they were done. In Tom Kaylock’s den was found a gun cabinet in which was displayed a set of antiquated guns. There was a space in the cabinet for a rifle. Tom was brought in and asked about the contents of the cabinet. When he was questioned about the missing firearm, he was both confused at its absence and nervous. He swore up and down that he did not know where the gun was.

The search progressed through the house and hit pay dirt again when they came to Ron Kaylock’s rooms. Ron actually occupied a bedroom, den, and a sitting room. A jewelry box in the bedroom held a family signet ring with an empty setting. They immediately reported the fact to Leslie who smiled tightly and nodded in satisfaction. An inscription on the inside band just said, “Ron.” The ring was bagged as evidence and documented with their growing collection.

Leslie was bewildered as a sweet perfume-like aroma floated through the room. It was out of place in a cowhand’s bedroom, she was trying to locate its origin when the thought struck her it was the same flowery scent that had been in the air the day before in the sheriff’s office only stronger here. As unlikely as it was, some said that the fragrance was linked to the investigation’s success.

Not surprisingly, here was no sign of the missing rifle that Leslie knew Ron owned. Considering the wealth of the Kaylock family, it was entirely conceivable that Ron would have disposed of it rather than keep it around. They could afford the loss.

Leslie was satisfied with the results of the search though. She had enough evidence to arrest both father and son on charges of conspiracy to commit assault, murder, and desecration of a state or federal landmark. Even though Tom was campaigning to become a Congressional election candidate, the number of charges involved precluded suppressing the news of the charges. But no one would go out of their way to publicize them to hurt Tom.

Leslie fully enjoyed reading Ron his Miranda rights and taking him into custody for assault and suspicion of attempted murder. She knew that the murder charge might not hold, but they would continue to search for the gun.

As she finished, one of her deputies, Jeff Adams, came to her about a floor safe that they had found set into the foundation of the house. Leslie returned to the living room to speak to Tom again. Asking for the combination to the safe caused Tom to go into another episode of agitation. It was obvious that she was not going to get any additional cooperation from Tom, so Leslie decided that it was time to take folks into custody and move them into town. If Judge Anderson determined that opening the safe was necessary, they would either prevail upon Tom to reveal the combination or send someone capable of forcing it open.

Tom was led outside where Leslie read him his rights. The stress and strain of the day’s events must have finally broke Tom down. His coloring was almost gray as he looked up at Leslie and said, “I give up Lieutenant Caldwell. I’ll tell you everything.” He had the bearing of a man who had been beaten.

Ron had been read his Miranda rights in the house and was being led out of the house as Tom stated his intent to confess. He lunged at his father with a shouted, “No!” His hands were up, as if he wanted to push his father away from Leslie. Regardless of his intentions, he shoved Tom hard. Tom was hit hard and he stumbled back. A dull thud sounded as Tom’s head impacted upon the wall and he crumpled slowly to the floor of the porch.

Officers were suddenly moving at high speed. Ron was practically tackled to bring him back under control and handcuffs were forced onto his wrists. Tom was laid out on the floor to check his condition. It was quickly apparent that Tom was in trouble. Emergency calls were sent out for an ambulance while officers attempted to render first aid and CPR. It quickly became apparent that Tom was beyond help as he was not responding to first aid.

Ron had been held to one side while the other officers worked to save Tom’s life. Instead of showing concern for his father, Ron almost seemed to be wanting him to not survive. It was only a few minutes later that it became apparent that Tom Kaylock was dead from either a heart attack or stroke. Ron’s reaction was to gloat quietly rather than grieve for his father.

Leslie was appalled at his behavior. What kind of man must Tom have been that could cause his own son to take such pleasure at his death? And what kind of man must Ron be to do that? Ron was taken to a cruiser for transport. Leslie found herself disgusted by his behavior and she did not want to be anywhere near him. Besides, she was still in charge of the search.

She was on her way back to the house when her attention was drawn to Ron’s truck by a small dust devil of purple flower petals that swirled beside it. It had become apparent that someone or something wanted her to pay attention to certain things and it was also becoming annoying. She did not like to be led around like she was playing a game of hot-and-cold with her.

The driver’s door was unlocked and the interior of the truck looked like it had just rolled off the dealer’s showroom, even though the exterior was covered in dust. While the rest of the interior was pristine, the area behind the driver’s seat was covered in flower petals. There was no way they could have drifted into the truck when she opened the door, at least not in the quantity that covered the floor and the bundle that was half under the bench seat. Instead of flowers, there was a strong smell of gun oil.

She smiled broadly as she took hold of the bundle. From the shape, it was either a fishing pole or a rifle. Considering how things had been happening lately, her money was on rifle and she had no double that this was the gun she was looking for.

She motioned for the deputy in the cruiser to come along with her as a witness. She could see Ron yelling at her from the back of the cruiser and she heard him yelling about the gun briefly and then the car door closed again. Leslie favored him with a smile as she and the deputy went into the house. She happily set the rifle down on the table so that it could be documented into evidence,

In the end, there were half a dozen men among the two dozen ranch hands that were not ranch hands. When all of the workers were taken in hand by the search team, only one had been foolish enough to attempt to pull a weapon. He had been arrested without a shot being fired and he would be spending time in a cell beside Ron and the sheriff. The remaining thugs drove away when they were allowed to leave.

The ranch foreman acted as a witness while Leslie and her team loaded their items of evidence and locked up the main house. The actual ranch hands agreed to remain on the job until the court could appoint an administrator. Leslie returned to town to report her findings to Judge Anderson and to begin the next step of her investigation.