The Calendri home was in the same neighborhood as the Eicklebaums’, though the house was larger, with more spectacular views. An attractive blonde answered the door, and her carefully groomed brows rose at the sight of two law enforcement officers on her doorstep. “Is something wrong?” she asked.
“Mrs. Calendri?” Ryder asked.
She nodded. “We’d like to speak to Pi,” Ryder said. “Um, that is, Giuseppe.”
“What is this about?”
“We have a few questions for him,” Gage said. “We’d like you and your husband, if he’s home, to be present while we talk to him, of course.”
“My husband isn’t here,” she said. “Should I call our lawyer?”
“It’s just a few questions,” Ryder said. “May we come in?”
She stepped back and allowed them to pass, then shut the door behind them. “Excuse me,” she said and hurried up the stairs to their left. A few moments later not-so-muffled tones of argument sounded overhead, though the words were too garbled for Ryder to make them out. A few seconds later mother and son descended the stairs.
“Hello, officers.” A handsome young man, neatly dressed in jeans and a button-down shirt, stepped forward and offered his hand. “My mother said you wanted to speak to me. Is this about that fender bender in the school parking lot yesterday afternoon? I’m afraid I wasn’t there. I had practice.”
“Pi is rehearsing for the school’s production of Guys and Dolls,” Mrs. Calendri said. “He has the male lead.”
“So you’re in drama,” Gage said. He and Ryder exchanged looks. A drama student would know how to change his appearance and assume a different identity.
“Yes, sir. You’re Ms. Renfro’s husband, aren’t you?” Pi asked.
“Yes.”
“Come into the living room and have a seat and tell us what this is all about.” Mrs. Calendri led them into a room that looked straight out of a top-end designer’s showroom—all leather and hammered copper and carved cedar. A fire crackled in a massive gas fireplace. A large white dog rose from a bed in front of the fire and padded over to greet them, tail slowly fanning back and forth.
“Beautiful dog,” Ryder said, scratching the animal’s ears.
“That’s Ghost,” Pi said. He sat on the end of the sofa. Ryder and Gage took chairs facing him. The dog sat beside the young man, who idly patted its back.
“You like dogs, I see,” Ryder said.
“Sure,” Pi said. “Who doesn’t?”
“What is this about?” Mrs. Calendri asked.
“I have a dog,” Gage said. “A chocolate Lab puppy, Admiral.”
“Labs are great dogs,” Pi said. “Do you plan to train him to hunt?”
“I hope to.” Gage scratched his chin. “Funny thing, though. Someone took Admiral out of my yard this afternoon.”
“That’s terrible.” Pi looked suitably shocked, though Ryder thought he wasn’t ready for his professional acting debut just yet. “Do you know who did it?”
“We have a very good idea,” Ryder said. “And we think you do, too.”
“Are you accusing Pi of taking your dog?” Mrs. Calendri poised on the edge of her seat as if prepared to leap up and do battle on behalf of her child.
“Funny thing about cops,” Gage said. “We’re very security conscious. And when you have a family, you can’t be too careful. Lots of us install security cameras in our homes.” Ryder noticed that Gage hadn’t said that he personally had a security camera, though he wanted Pi to think so.
“Not to mention, the receptionist at the vet clinic where you tried to pass off Admiral as your own made you for a teenager right away,” Ryder said.
Pi tried to hold his expression of surprise, but Ryder’s words broke his resolve. He slumped, head in his hands. “It was just supposed to be a joke,” he said. “I would never have hurt your dog, I promise. I would have returned him to your house before you even knew he was gone.”
“Giuseppe! What are you saying?” Mrs. Calendri glared at her son. “You stole this officer’s dog? Why?”
“You did it on a dare, didn’t you?” Ryder asked.
Pi nodded. “At first, the dare was just to snatch the dog. But there’s nothing really difficult or dangerous about taking a dog out of someone’s yard.” He sent Gage an apologetic look. “We didn’t know about the security camera. So then we decided it would be worth more points if I tried to pass the dog off as my own. So we thought I should take it to the vet. If I could have fooled her, I’d be way ahead of the other guys on points.”
“How many points would breaking into someone’s house be worth?” Ryder asked.
Pi flushed. “I don’t know anything about that.”
“Pi, what are you talking about?” Mrs. Calendri asked. “What other guys?”
“Greg Eicklebaum and Gus Elcott,” Ryder said. “They’ve been egging each other on in a series of dares, to see who can get away with various stunts without getting caught.” He turned back to Pi. “Who’s ahead?”
“Right now Gus is,” Pi said. “After he put the bear statue from the city park on the high school gym roof the week after Christmas. He was sure nobody could beat that. That’s why I had to do something really outrageous to top him.” He buried his head in his hands. “Am I in big trouble for taking your dog? I promise I wouldn’t have hurt him.”
“You could be,” Gage said. “That depends on whether or not you’re willing to help us in another matter.”
“Of course he’ll help you,” Mrs. Calendri said.
Pi sighed. “What do you want?”
“The night Christy O’Brien was killed—Tuesday, the fifth,” Gage said. “You and Greg and Gus were out that night, in the snowstorm.”
“I saw you in the parking lot of the grocery store,” Ryder said. “You stood out because almost no one else was out in that weather.”
“So? There’s no law against being out at night,” Pi said.
“Who else did you see that night? You may have seen the murderer, or his car.”
“We didn’t see anybody,” Pi said. “That’s the point, you know? Not to see anyone and not to let them see you.”
“Except the veterinarian, Darcy Marsh, came home and surprised you trying to break in to her house, and a little while later Fred Starling did the same,” Ryder said.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Pi said.
“We don’t care about that right now,” Gage said. “We want to know if you saw anyone else out that night. Any other car on the road, especially near Fred Starling’s place.”
“We weren’t near Fred Starling’s place,” Pi said. “I can’t help you.”
“How do you know where Fred Starling lives?” Ryder asked. “We didn’t mention an address.”
Pi scowled. “This town is like, three blocks wide. I grew up here. I know where everyone lives. Mr. Starling was my Cub Scout leader when I was in second grade.”
“He said he doesn’t know anything that can help you.” Mrs. Calendri stood. “If you want to talk to him anymore, you’ll have to wait and do it when his father and our lawyer are present.”
Ryder and Gage rose also and followed Mrs. Calendri to the door. In the hallway Gage turned back to Pi. “If you think of anything that might be helpful, call anytime,” he said. “Oh, and if anything else happens to my dog, I’ll come looking for you, and I won’t just ask questions.”
“I would never hurt a dog,” Pi said. “I promise you.”
Gage nodded, and both officers left.
When they were in Ryder’s Tahoe again, he leaned back against the driver’s seat and let out a long breath. “Those boys were responsible for both those attempted break-ins,” he said.
“We’ll never prove it,” Gage said. “But at least we know it wasn’t the murderer targeting Darcy.”
“The boys didn’t pretend to be an old woman with a dog, and I don’t think one of them ran her off the road,” Ryder said. “All three of them were playing on the varsity basketball team that night. I saw the roster when I checked Ken Rutledge’s alibi.”
“Right,” Gage said. “I’m still holding out hope they saw something that night that can help us. We’ll try questioning all three of them, but we’ll have to be careful—probably bring them in to the station with their parents and their attorneys. I’ll talk to Travis and see what he thinks.”
“Good idea.” Ryder started the Tahoe. “Want me to drop you at the station or your house?”
“My vehicle is at my house. And I need to check in with Maya and Casey. Casey isn’t going to want to let Admiral out of her sight for the next month.”
“I’m glad your dog is okay,” Ryder said.
“Me, too. I believe Pi when he said he wouldn’t hurt him, but we need to stop these stunts before somebody does get hurt.” He was silent a moment, then chuckled.
“What’s so funny?” Ryder asked.
“I can’t believe a high school kid got that bear statue up on the roof of the gym. The statue is made of bronze. It must weigh a ton. I took the call and the look on the principal’s face was priceless. It was all I could do to keep a straight face.”
“Maybe we can declare Gus the winner of the contest and put an end to the dares,” Ryder said.
“Yeah,” Gage agreed. “We’ve got better things to do than deal with high school delinquents.” They had a murderer to stop, and Ryder hated that it didn’t feel like they were any closer to him than they had ever been. It was only a matter of time before he struck again, and every woman in town was vulnerable—even, or especially, Darcy.
* * *
DARCY WASN’T SURPRISED to see Ryder waiting for her as she ushered her last patient of the day back into the lobby. She busied herself removing her lab coat and smoothing her hair while the woman paid her bill. As soon as the door shut behind the woman, Stacy demanded, “Well? Did you find out who took Gage’s pup?”
“It was a high school kid,” Ryder said.
“I knew it!” Stacy pumped her fist.
“What did he want with Gage’s dog?” Darcy asked.
“He did it on a dare.” Ryder came around the counter to join them in the little office space. “We think he and his friends were behind the attempted break-in at your house, and at another house, the night Christy O’Brien was killed.”
Darcy sagged against the counter. “That’s a relief,” she said. “I mean, to know it was just a bunch of kids.” And not the killer—though she couldn’t bring herself to say the words out loud.
“Yes and no,” Ryder said. “The kids aren’t dangerous, but this does show how vulnerable you are to someone who could mean harm. Especially while we’ve got a killer running loose, you should be wary of new clients.”
“I’m not going to turn away paying customers—or hurt animals,” Darcy said.
He opened his mouth to protest and she rushed to cut him off. She wasn’t going to debate her business practices. “I’ve already made a policy of not going on any more house calls for new patients,” she said. “And I won’t see anyone if I’m here alone.”
“I’ll start asking every new patient for a copy of their driver’s license,” Stacy said. “They do it at my doctor’s office—I don’t see why I can’t do it here.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” Darcy said. “We’ll be careful, I promise.”
Ryder studied her, clearly displeased, but not saying anything. Stacy slung her purse over her shoulder. “I think I’ll head home now.” She looked from Ryder to Darcy. “You two don’t need me here.”
When she was gone Darcy steeled herself to argue with Ryder. “I can’t shut down my business or put my life on hold because of the killer,” she said. “Of course I’ll be careful, but teenagers playing pranks don’t have anything to do with that. They’re a nuisance, but they’re not dangerous.”
“They aren’t the ones who ran you off the road when you went on that bogus call,” Ryder said. “We still don’t know who was responsible for that. They might try again.”
Her stomach hurt, the old fear squeezing at her. But she couldn’t let fear run her life. If Ryder had his way, he’d want her to shut down the practice and move into a spare cell at the sheriff’s department. As pleasant as it was to know he was concerned for her, she couldn’t live like that. “I’ll be careful,” she said, softening her voice. “It’s all any of us can do.”
He nodded. “That doesn’t mean I won’t worry.”
“And I think your worrying is sweet.” She reached for her coat and he took it and held it while she slipped her arms into the sleeves. It was a little gesture, but it touched her. She turned and put her hands on his chest. “It means a lot to me,” she said. “Knowing you care. But it unsettles me a little, too. I’m not used to that.”
He covered her hands with his own. “I hope you could get used to it.”
“Maybe I can. But I need time. And I need space, too. Okay?”
He looked into her eyes. Searching for what? she wondered. He stepped back. “Okay,” he said. “I’ll walk you to your car, then I have to get back to work. I won’t rest easy until we’ve found this guy.”
“I think all of us can say that,” she said. And she wouldn’t deny that it was comforting to have him walk her to her car—to have him watching over her.
* * *
RYDER REMINDED HIMSELF that Darcy was a smart, careful woman who would be on her guard against anyone who might harm her. She was perfectly capable of looking out for herself, and he really ought to be concentrating on the case. He’d always made it a point to seek out easy, uncomplicated relationships—that worked out best for everyone involved. But there was nothing easy or uncomplicated about Darcy. Yet, the thought of distancing himself from her set up a physical ache in his chest.
He tried to push the thought aside as he headed back to the sheriff’s department—his home away from home these days, since his regular office on the other side of Dixon Pass was off-limits due to the still-closed roads. Gage saluted him with a slice of pizza. “There’s more in the break room, if you hurry,” he said.
Ryder helped himself to the pizza. “I thought you’d be home with your dog,” he said when he rejoined Gage in his office.
“I’m on duty this evening,” Gage said. “And the dog is fine—being showered with treats by Maya and Casey, who have vowed not to let him out of their sight.”
Ryder sank into the chair across from Gage’s desk. “I don’t even know why I’m here,” he said. “Except I keep hoping for a break in the case.”
“You can help sort through the calls we’ve had from the public.” Gage picked up the top sheet from a stack of printouts on his desk. “‘My neighbor has a lot of guns and looks at me funny whenever I go out to my car. Maybe he’s your killer.’” He tossed that sheet aside and selected another. “‘I overheard a man at the café the other morning tell his wife that Fiona Winslow probably got in trouble because she was such a big flirt. I didn’t get a good look at him, but if you find him, maybe he knows something.’”
“Are they all like that?” Ryder asked.
“So far. But we have to look at them all. Someone might come up with something. Oh, and I almost forgot.” He pulled another sheet of paper from a different stack. “This came into the office for you this morning.”
Ryder set aside the half-eaten slice of pizza and took the paper—a printout from the Colorado Department of Corrections. “Who is Jay Leverett and why do you want to know if he’s been released from prison or not?” Gage asked.
“It’s a man Darcy dated in Fort Collins,” Ryder said. “The relationship didn’t end well.”
“And you thought he might have tracked her down here?”
“It’s always possible.” He glanced up. “You saw what he served time for?”
Gage nodded. “Sexual assault. And he was released two months ago.”
“And the DOC has no idea where he is now.” Ryder tossed the paper back onto the desk. “Do you know of anyone in town who fits his description?”
“Not offhand,” Gage said. “But we have a lot of strangers stranded here by the storms. He could be one of them.”
“And he could be our killer,” Ryder said. “Or not. But it’s one more lead to follow.”
Adelaide appeared in the doorway. “If you men are finished stuffing your faces, there’s someone here who wants to speak with an officer,” she said. “Actually, two someones. Tourists.”
“I’ll take this,” Gage said.
Ryder and Dwight followed Gage and Adelaide to the lobby, where Tim and Alex stood, studying the photographs displayed on the walls. “Hey, long time no see,” Alex said.
“Adelaide said you wanted to talk to an officer?” Gage asked.
“Yeah,” Tim said. “We want to report a crime.”
“What sort of crime?” Gage asked.
“Someone tried to kill us,” Alex said. “You’ve got a lunatic running around in your little town.”