The Doberman ran toward the smoldering house, sneezed once, and then slowed to a cautious hesitant walk, nose to the ground. Jo watched in awe as the dog moved meticulously from one area to the other. When he sat down and barked once, she noticed Carter tense beside her and then walk to Zorro. He pulled on gloves and bent down and examined a small piece of debris.
Jo’s heart pounded. “What is it?”
“Part of a secondary device. Stay back until I give the all-clear.” Carter repeated the signal to the dog and bagged the evidence. “He’s trained to recognize many types of explosives, which I’m told is unusual for a Doberman but he was top of his class and so was I. We’re a perfect match.” His eyes flashed in amusement and he headed toward his dog.
“Maybe you can teach him to cook and clean as well?” Jo ignored his snigger and turned her attention back to Zorro. She noticed the smile on Matt Thompson’s face and put distance between them. One arrogant man per day was enough to cope with, two, no way.
Taking on a case meant she had to make sure everything was considered, even the victim’s animals. She made her way to a corral. No livestock roamed anywhere and she found no signs of any close by.
“How are things working out?” Wolfe moved to her side.
Jo looked at him and shrugged. “Fine, I guess but we’ve only had one case of cattle rustling and another of a possible methamphetamine lab in six months, so we spend a great deal of time, working out and using the rifle range. I haven’t employed a receptionist yet as the phone isn’t exactly ringing off the hook.” She glanced at him. “The FBI should have given us a field office closer to Black Rock Falls. The cattle rustling, we handed over to the rangers and after investigating, found the meth lab was making hand sanitizer.”
“I meant with Ty.” Wolfe had dropped his voice. “All good?”
Jo pushed a hand through her hair and flicked her gaze back to Carter. He was following close behind Zorro and then when the dog barked, he bent and fiddled with something on the ground. “He’s arrogant, annoying, and he drives me insane but I figure that’s a wall he’s built around himself to hide behind. I know he’s damaged goods but I can handle him.”
“Just don’t regard him as a case.” Wolfe narrowed his gray eyes and looked at her. “He’s an asset and needs to learn how to get close to people again.”
Jo nodded. “This I know.” She gave him a bright smile. “Tell me about the girls.”
“Emily is at the office preparing for the victims’ bodies to arrive. She passed all her exams and is top of her class. She’ll be through her degree in no time flat. My other intern, Colt Webber, came a close second and he is in the van organizing body bags and the gurney.” A softness came over Wolfe’s face. “Julie is doing well, she’s pursuing a career in pediatrics and she loves art, so has a diversion. My little Anna is the light of our lives, smart, funny… She is horse mad and spends so much time with Dave and Jenna riding, I’m seriously thinking of buying a ranch house with stables. All the girls love horses but then I wouldn’t be close to town where I’m needed most.”
“There’s more to life than work.” Jo leaned back on the corral fence, one boot resting on the bottom rail. “There must be places close to town with grazing land?” She had an idea. “Maybe stable Anna’s pony and hire rides for the others, if or when they want to ride.”
“That’s an idea.” Wolfe smiled at her. “Although when I’m busy, having Jenna to babysit for me is a Godsend. My girls have become very attached to their Aunty Jenna.”
“All clear.” Carter gave them a wave.
Jo turned to Wolfe. “Okay, it’s your crime scene, how do you want to play it?”
“If you don’t have full body suits, I have some in the van. You’ll need them in there and I don’t want anyone contaminating the scene. It’s better if Webber films the entire scene before we enter. Fire conceals evidence. We’ll take shots of the scene and then I’ll go in and examine the bodies. From what I could see, there are three bodies, one I figure is a child. They’re seated around a table and their hands are tied. It looks like it’s staged for a reason. I’d suggest allowing Thompson to do his assessment with Carter as they’re both experts in their fields.”
Jo nodded. “Okay, I’ll come with you. The scene is very important, if someone planted a bomb and the scene was staged as you suggested. I want to discover the mindset of the person behind this crime and his motive for killing an entire family.”
Four
The smell of burning eased a little when Jo pulled on the hood of her protective suit and secured the facemask. She was just about to speak to Wolfe when her phone buzzed. She dragged off her hood and pressed the phone to her ear. “Agent Wells.”
“Hi, Jo it’s Bobby.” Kalo sounded like a kid on the phone. “I have the information on the family who owns the ranch, Isaac and Connie Wood. Both are social workers out of Louan. Not as much as a parking ticket between them and Isaac inherited the ranch from his pa and moved there from Blackwater recently.” He sighed. “You know, depending on where people work, there might be a small amount of people who have an ax to grind with social workers. I had a few on my case, and many don’t always tell the truth.” He cleared his throat. “No, I’m gonna tell it like it is, Jo, some of them downright lied about me and to a judge and all.”
Jo stared at the smoldering house and at the small wisps of smoke still escaping from the ruins. “Well, it’s just as well we found you, isn’t it? I’m on scene now, so I’ll have to go. Thanks for the info. I’ll talk to you soon, bye.” She disconnected and pushed her phone into her pocket. As she secured her hood and mask again, she walked to Wolfe’s side. “Both husband and wife were social workers, no rap sheets.”
“Good to know but it doesn’t explain why someone would want to blow them up.” Wolfe pulled on gloves.
After Colt Webber, Wolfe’s intern, had filmed what was left of the house and taken photographs, Jo waited for Wolfe’s go-ahead to enter the ruins. Dressed in what could only be described as hazmat suits, Carter and Matt Thompson, climbed over the rubble at the front of the house. They would evaluate the explosion, as well as the position and composition of the bomb, and then collect samples from the crater for forensics testing. With Carter’s expertise in explosives and the fire chief’s input, Jo would receive a comprehensive report. Her expertise leaned more to the profile of the bomber and the victims. She prepared herself for a gruesome scene and followed Wolfe and Webber round the back of the house. She slowed as they reached the open backdoor and waited for Wolfe to issue orders. She peered inside the ruins of a once beautiful ranch house. The green paint had bubbled on the door and carried a thick coating of soot. Fire had licked the wall above and dirty rivulets of water from the firehoses dripped down to form black ash-laden puddles underfoot. Jo sensed Wolfe’s reluctance to take her inside to view the blackened remains and she met his gaze. “Let’s do this, I have seen fire victims before, Shane.”