WANTING TO BE REASONABLY PRESENTABLE BY THE TIME THE PAXTONS showed up, Joanna took a quick shower and dabbed on some makeup. While doing so, she toyed with the idea of maybe packing up both kids and driving out to the crime scene along with everyone else that afternoon—just to take a look at things and get the lay of the land.
In the quiet of her steamy bathroom, it seemed like a reasonable enough idea—tempting, even. After all, how bad could it be? She’d be driving her own vehicle, and if the kids were with her, she wouldn’t hang around for very long. She was still on maternity leave. It wasn’t like she intended to go out stomping around in the desert looking for evidence. She knew for a fact, however, that if Butch were home, he’d be firmly opposed to the idea.
Postponing a final decision, she went out to the living room, where, with a few quiet moments to herself, Joanna logged onto the Bisbee Bee’s Web site. As soon as she saw the lead headline, she knew exactly where the Tucson news feeds were getting their information.
CCSD Investigating
Multiple Homicide
by
Marliss Shackleford
Sources close to the Cochise County Sheriff’s Department, speaking on the condition of confidentiality, report that homicide detectives are investigating a site in a remote area east of Douglas where evidence suggests the presence of several dead bodies in various stages of decay.
According to the anonymous source, the most recent victim is reported to be a young, unidentified Hispanic female. Her remains were located in the foothills of the Peloncillo Mountains on Saturday morning under what are described to be somewhat mysterious circumstances. Other remains found nearby are said to be skeletal in nature and are thought to belong to several other as-yet-unidentified individuals.
Currently all of the remains are being held at the Cochise County Medical Examiner’s office in Bisbee, Arizona, where autopsies are due to be scheduled. As of this time, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Kendra Baldwin has released no information concerning the incident.
According to the source, the cache of remains suggests the possibility that this is what homicide investigators refer to as a “dump site,” a place favored by serial killers as disposal locations for the remains of multiple victims.
Newly reelected sheriff Joanna Brady is currently on maternity leave, so the investigation is being handled by her second-in-command, Chief Deputy Thomas Hadlock.
This is a developing story. A press briefing is scheduled to occur at the Cochise County Justice Center later today. Further updates will be provided as additional information becomes available.
Joanna finished reading and then sat staring at the words “Sources close to the Cochise County Sheriff’s Department.” So who the hell are those sources? she wondered furiously.
Which of her deputies or clerks or detectives had Marliss Shackleford on speed dial in order to spill the beans about ongoing investigations? Obviously someone either in or close to her department couldn’t be trusted, and Joanna wanted to know who that person was.
Picking up her phone, she dialed Tom. “Who’s the leak?” she demanded.
“I don’t have a clue,” he muttered. “That article is enough to piss off the Good Fairy. As soon as I saw it, I asked myself the same question. Problem is, Ernie’s about to do his first presser. The conference room is full to the brim. We’re going to tape it. Do you want me to send you a copy?”
“Please,” she said.
She was just going to tell him about her back-door approach on the profiler situation when the dogs set up a chorus of barking out in the yard. Seconds later Denny dashed into the house. “Mommy, Mommy!” he yelled as the door slammed shut behind him. “The people with the cadavel dogs are here. They’re out front. Do you want to come see them?”
The dog people had arrived a good hour earlier than Joanna had expected. “I’ll be right out,” she told Denny. “Since there are other dogs, can you lock Lady and Lucky in the garage?”
“I think so,” Denny said.
To Tom she said, “The Paxtons are here. I’ve gotta go.”
Wrapping Sage in an extra layer of blanket, she stepped out onto the front porch. With the dogs successfully contained, Denny came racing back around the house in time to accompany his mother down the walkway toward the front gate.
The new arrivals consisted of an older, white-haired woman walking toward the gate with two enormous, wrinkle-faced, flop-eared hounds on leashes.
“Sit,” the woman commanded, and both dogs instantly complied.
“Good dogs,” Joanna observed.
The woman nodded. “It’s a good thing, too. The leashes are mostly for show. They each outweigh me by twenty-five pounds. If they took a mind to, they could turn me into a flying human dogsled in a down-home minute. You must be Sheriff Brady,” she added, offering her hand. “I’m Patricia Paxton. Most people call me Li’l Pat for obvious reasons.”
The obvious reason had to do with the fact that Li’l Pat was tiny and probably didn’t weigh ninety pounds soaking wet. All her life Joanna had been accustomed to being the shortest person at any given gathering, but that wasn’t the case here. Even in cowboy boots with two-inch heels, Li’l Pat was at least three inches shorter than Joanna’s diminutive five-four.
Patricia Paxton appeared to be somewhere in her late sixties or early seventies, with a suntanned, leathery complexion that spoke to lots of time spent in the great outdoors. Dressed in faded jeans, a plaid flannel work shirt, and worn boots, she looked ready to set off on a daylong trail ride at a moment’s notice.
“And who might you be, young man?” Li’l Pat asked, turning a pair of intense blue eyes on Dennis and offering him her hand.
“I’m Dennis Dixon,” he replied gravely, standing up straight and squaring his shoulders to return the handshake. “Everyone calls me Denny. Do your dogs have names?”
“Yes they do. This one is Stormin’ Norman,” Li’l Pat answered, nodding toward the dog on the right. “The one on the left is Big Red.”
“Can I pet them?” Denny asked.
“That depends,” Li’l Pat said. “Are you afraid of dogs?”
“No, ma’am,” Denny said. “I’m good with dogs. My big sister showed me how to meet new dogs, by holding out the back of my hand for them to sniff.”
“Sounds like your sister’s got it just about right,” Li’l Pat said. “If it’s okay with your mommy for you to pet them, it’s okay with me.”
Dennis looked up at Joanna. When she nodded her assent, he let himself out through the gate and cautiously approached the dogs, carefully proffering the back of his hand. As he got closer, both dogs thumped their tails on the ground in greeting.
While Denny knelt to pet the dogs, Li’l Pat smiled reassuringly at Joanna. “Don’t worry,” she said. “They’ll be fine. And that’s one handsome baby you’ve got there. How old, and is it a boy or a girl?”
“A girl,” Joanna replied, feeling instantly at ease. “Her name is Sage, and she’s not quite two weeks old. Now, about your dogs. How are they around livestock—say, with cattle and horses?”
“They spend a lot of time on our ranch on the Hassayampa up near Wickenburg,” Li’l Pat answered. “They’re both accustomed to horses. As for cattle? A couple of years back, Stormin’ Norman here got himself all tangled up with a Brahma bull we were boarding temporarily for one of the traveling rodeo companies. I’m afraid that one encounter cured this poor old guy of any interest in cattle whatsoever.”
“You’re welcome to let them off leash, then,” Joanna said. “We’ve got our own two dogs locked inside.”
“Where would you like my husband to park?”
Out in the driveway, a man sat behind the wheel of an idling Sprinter. When Joanna approached the vehicle, the driver rolled down his window and tipped a worn Stetson in greeting.
“I’m Joanna Brady,” she said. “Welcome to High Lonesome Ranch.”
“Good morning, ma’am,” he said. “Dwayne Paxton at your service. Glad to make your acquaintance. Do you want me to stash this rig anywhere in particular?”
“Do you see that utility pole over by the barn?” Joanna asked, pointing. “There’s an RV pad there equipped with both electricity and a water hookup.”
“Sounds good. Once I get parked, I’ll unhook the Jeep and get it out of the way so we don’t take up too much room.”
The Sprinter was shiny and appeared to be brand-new. The Jeep Wrangler it was towing was a battered old warhorse that clearly had seen plenty of hard use. After expertly positioning the Sprinter on the concrete pad, Dwayne switched off the engine, opened the door, unfolded himself, and stepped down to the ground. When he did so, Joanna found herself staring up at a man who was well over six feet. Considering how tiny Li’l Pat was, Joanna was surprised that her husband was so tall.
“That’s right,” he said with a grin, as though reading her mind. “Me and Li’l Pat there make for a regular Mutt-and-Jeff team. Now, if you’ll just give me a minute, I’ll get that Jeep unhitched.”
As an embarrassed flush spread up Joanna’s face, she was grateful that his attention was focused on the tow bar rather than on her.
“I understand the crime scene’s some distance from here?” he asked over his shoulder.
“Fifty miles, give or take,” Joanna told him, “and a lot of it on less-than-wonderful roads.”
“Will you be leading us there, or will someone else?”
“I’m currently on maternity leave. I let Tom Hadlock, my chief deputy, know you’re here. He should be sending someone to get you.”
“Fair enough,” Dwayne said. “We need to head out as soon as possible. With the days as short as they are, we’d best get started before we lose the light.”
Once the Jeep was unhitched, Joanna showed Dwayne how to set up the utility connections while Denny bustled around helping Li’l Pat put out food and water for the dogs.
“When cadavel dogs find bodies, do they eat them?” he asked.
Li’l Pat shot a quick look in Joanna’s direction, but she replied without making a fuss about the boy’s mispronunciation.
“No,” she answered. “When it comes to smell, dog noses are way better than human noses, and dogs can be trained to look for certain things—like drugs or bombs or runaway suspects. Cadaver dogs are trained to search out human remains, and they bark to let us know once they’ve found something so we can come tag it.”
“You mean like evidence and stuff so Mommy can catch the people who do bad things?”
“Exactly.”
About that time Tom Hadlock sped into the yard, kicking up a rooster tail of dust. Joanna had spoken to him by phone only minutes earlier. Walking over to greet him, she was surprised that he was there so soon. “Is the press conference done already?” she asked.
“Nope,” he said. “I’m sure it’s still going hot and heavy. We snuck out early and left poor Ernie holding the bag. I wanted us to be well on our way before he cuts loose that flock of reporters.”
“Who’s ‘we’?” Joanna asked.
Tom nodded. “Dave Hollicker and I drew the short straws when it comes to working the crime scene. Deputy Raymond went home to grab some sleep while Deputy Hernandez is currently out there standing guard. Since we probably won’t finish up processing the scene before dark today, I’ve asked Deputy Raymond to plan on being back on duty at sundown. In the meantime I’ve got everyone else hitting the bricks on the canvassing job. This evening the team will reassemble at the department for a debriefing so we can figure out what’s to be done tomorrow.”
With both Dave Hollicker and Tom Hadlock heading for the crime scene, there was no longer any valid reason for Joanna herself to show up there. Reluctantly letting go of that idea, she changed the subject.
“How’s Ernie doing with the media assault?” she asked.
“Like gangbusters,” Tom replied with a grin. “If you put the guy in front of a microphone, unlike me, he’s a natural. You’d think he’s been working Media Relations all his life. On the other hand, he’s all thumbs when it comes to operating the electronic equipment, so I asked Kristin to come in and help out. She’s spent all morning fielding phone calls from the media outfits that weren’t able to have people covering the press conference in person. She’ll be sending out copies of the presser to them and to you as well.”
“Okay, then,” Joanna said. “Let me introduce you to the Paxtons so you can get under way.”