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Ryan stood three feet from the door, waiting for Shandra to exit the house. She strode out, past him, and into his truck before he had time to catch up to her.
He opened the passenger door and noticed the envelope in her hands. “What’s that?”
Her gaze didn’t leave the object. “Grandmother left it with Mrs. Rider to give to me.” Her head swiveled and she peered into his eyes. “I don’t know whether to open it, keep it and read later, or never open it.”
He put his hands over hers. “If your grandmother wanted you to have the letter, then you need to open it.”
She nodded. “But not here. At the ranch.” She slid the envelope into her purse.
“Do you want to go straight there or talk to your cousin?”
“Let’s see Wendy. The letter has kept this long, it can wait.” She pulled on her seatbelt and latched it.
“You’re the boss,” he said, kissing her lightly on the lips and heading to the driver’s side of the pickup.
She directed him to her Aunt Velma’s house. It was on the opposite side of Nespelem and had some acreage. A large barn stood behind the house.
“Wendy works on her projects in a section of the barn.” Shandra was unbuckled and her door opening before he had the vehicle in park.
“Whoa. Slow down.” He captured her arm before she slid off the seat. “Are you sure you don’t want to read that letter?”
Her gaze landed everywhere but her purse. “No. It can wait. We’re here and there’s no sense in missing a chance to ask Wendy questions.”
“Take a deep breath and wait for me to come to your side of the pickup.” He pocketed the keys and made his way around to the passenger side. “See that didn’t hurt to just sit there and relax.”
He grasped her hand, drew her out of the vehicle, and closed the door. “House or barn?”
“If we go to the house first, and Velma is there, she’ll follow us to the barn. Better try the barn and hope we only find Wendy and Velma didn’t see us drive up.” Shandra led him along the side of the house and out to the barn.
They entered through a man door beside two larger doors.
The smell of leather in all stages of tanning caught him off guard. He knew her cousin made traditional regalia for powwow dancers but hadn’t realized she did the full process.
He’d yet to meet this cousin and presumed it was the young woman leaning over a table that hit her above her waist. She pulled leather lacing through a garment.
“Hi Wendy,” Shandra said.
Wendy jumped, stared at them, then smiled timidly. “You startled me. Mother makes so much noise when she comes in I don’t think about anyone else sneaking up on me.”
Her cheeks blossomed a rosy color as she stepped out from behind the table. “If you’re Ryan, you can’t see what is on the table.”
“I am.” He held out his hand. They shook, and she drew him back toward the door.
“I’m working on Shandra’s dress.” Wendy nodded back to the table. “It’s bad luck for you to see her dress.”
“Does that hold true for your culture?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No, but you are honoring both cultures.”
“We are. I’m so happy you are working on my dress.” Shandra bestowed a smile that lit up her eyes and made his heart thump hard against his rib cage. It was the same smile that had concreted his notion he was falling in love with her.
“It’s a pleasure to make a dress that will not only be part of a wedding ceremony but will be kept in our family.” Wendy waved to half a dozen folding chairs leaning up against the wall. “Are you staying long enough to sit?”
“We are,” Shandra said.
Ryan took the hint and brought two chairs over. He unfolded them, and Wendy wiped the dust off as he grabbed a third chair. He glanced at the shelf above the chairs. Three antler-handled knives lay on the shelf. The blades shone like freshly honed steel. The handles were polished to a shine. He wondered if the hilt on one of them would match the bruising around the stab wound on the victim.
When they were all seated, Wendy glanced from one to the other. “Why did you come to see me? Have you decided to add more traditional clothing?” Her gaze landed on him.
“No, we have some questions for you.” Shandra faced her cousin. “I saw Tripp and Nelly arguing at the Community Center the morning she died. At the time I didn’t know it was her. Not until later when I saw the clothing she wore. But then later, when you left Aunt Jo’s office to go to the restroom, you were gone a long time. I went to wash my hands and you weren’t in the restroom. But I did see two people making out in Tripp’s pickup.” Shandra drew in a deep breath and said, “Did you see Tripp and Nelly in the pickup?”
Ryan knew it was hard for Shandra to see any of her family as a murderer. But he’d learned from all his years in law enforcement, the quiet ones were usually the most methodical when they killed.
Wendy laughed softly. “It wasn’t Nelly in the pickup with Tripp. It was me. When I came out of the restroom, he was walking toward the center. I met him, and we went to his pickup.” She blushed. “We don’t get many chances alone. My mother prefers her daughter be what other daughters are held up to.”
Ryan could see she didn’t like being the perfect daughter. Could that be why she crafted weapons under the guise of regalia? “Did you and Tripp talk about anything?”
“Nelly. He told me she’d asked him to go to Spokane with her. Like he’d leave drumming and me to follow her.” There was fire in her eyes. She didn’t like the idea of Nelly taking her man.
“Did he leave when you went back in the building?” Ryan asked, watching her.
“Yes.” She didn’t flinch.
“And you? Did you go straight into the building?” He saw her flick a gaze Shandra’s direction.
“I talked to Pim. Pim Solomon. She was coming out of the center.”
“What did she have to say?” Shandra jumped in.
Ryan studied his fiancée. She was interested in this Pim girl. Why?
“Not much. Said she’d heard you were giving out the scholarship but when she’d popped in no one had mentioned she’d received it.” Wendy picked at the seam of her jeans. “She seemed as if she wanted to say more, but I wasn’t in the mood to talk to her. Not after hearing what Nelly had said to Tripp and knowing you were giving the scholarship to her. I’d hoped the scholarship would get Nelly away from him.” She glanced at Ryan. “Pim and Tripp went out a time or two back in high school before she had to leave for a year.”
He nodded. It seemed Tripp had a lot of girls in his past. He wondered how many boys Wendy had dated. She seemed out of her league with a player like Tripp. “Did you see where Pim went?”
“No. I just hurried into the center and started measuring Shandra.”
Shandra nodded. “That’s when Moses came into the office and said he’d found Nelly.”
“Can you think of anyone who would hate Nelly enough to kill her?” he asked, knowing she’d probably come up with half a dozen names.
“Not really. Everyone pretty much felt sorry for her. Well, those of us who saw how pathetic she was,” Wendy said.
“What about all the girlfriends and wives of the men she’d slept with?” Ryan had his money on Duke, but he’d learned a long time ago, you didn’t leave any question unanswered or suspect unturned.
“Most of them realized in the end that if their man was dumb enough to sleep with Nelly, he deserved her and left him. In a way, she made it easier for women to find a good man.” Wendy frowned.
What she’d said must have sunk in. Tripp had slept with Nelly multiple times from what he could figure.
“Then maybe you should be looking for another boyfriend?” Shandra said softly.
Wendy’s eyes widened. “He said that was all before he started going out with me and realized he wanted better. Wanted a good future.”
“I hope that’s true for your sake,” Shandra said, glancing at Ryan.
The door opened and Velma stood in the doorway. “What are you doing huddled up out here? Come in the house for tea.”
“Thank you for the invite, Velma, but we need to get back to the ranch.” Shandra stood. She didn’t want to explain to her aunt why she and Ryan were talking to Wendy alone in the barn.
The large woman frowned. “Why did you come in here and talk to Wendy and not stop by the house?”
“Because we are running behind and had a couple of questions for Wendy,” Ryan said, grasping Shandra’s hand.
She smiled at him and stood. “I’ll come by and see you before we leave Sunday.”
“Sunday? You can’t leave until we know who killed Nelly and you pick another scholarship winner.” Velma put her hands on her hips and remained blocking the doorway.
“Haven’t you called Pim and told her she’s the scholarship recipient?” Shandra would have thought her aunt had called as soon as she knew Nelly wouldn’t be receiving it. After all, the young woman was Velma’s pick.
Velma’s stance slacked. “I’m thinking she shouldn’t have it.”
This shocked Shandra. “Why?”
“Because I didn’t like her showing up at the day and time we were going to give the scholarship to someone else. Someone who didn’t show because they were dead.” Velma shivered. “Seems off.”
“I agree.” Shandra tugged on Ryan’s hand, leading him over to the door. “I think we should go talk to Pim. Where does she live?”
Velma gave them directions to the Solomon house.
As they were parking in the driveway behind three vehicles on blocks and two with broken windows and smashed bodies, Ryan’s phone rang.
Shandra opened her door and Ryan grabbed her wrist, keeping her in the vehicle as he carried on the conversation. From his side, she gathered he was talking to someone about the evidence gathered at the crime scene.
She waited, noting there seemed to be no activity happening in the house. The curtains were open, and she hadn’t seen anyone moving about.
“Thanks. I’m going to owe you a favor or two after this.” He shoved his phone into the holster on his belt and studied the house.
“What did whoever that was have to say?” She was interested in all the facts they could find.
“As we suspected, she didn’t die right away. They found traces of hair on her clothing that wasn’t hers. It’s being checked for DNA. They did check the sweat lodge and found candy wrappers, beer bottles, and residue from drugs. Checking those for prints and DNA. Interesting fact. They didn’t find evidence of any vehicle tracks but lots of footprints, coming and going. Two sets from the back of the center, gymnasium area.”
“Were there return tracks?” Shandra asked, wondering if the killer had lured Nelly to the sweat lodge then arrived and killed her.
“No return tracks. Whoever walked to the area from the gym didn’t return the same way.” Ryan nodded to the house. “No one’s moved inside the whole time we’ve sat here. There may not be anyone home.”
“We won’t know until we try.” Shandra stepped out and waited for Ryan to join her before walking up to the bare wood door.
He knocked and they waited.
He knocked again.
“There’s no one here.” Ryan turned to walk back to the pickup.
Shandra stopped. “There’s a sound.”