Page 21 of Hunting the Crossbow Killer

Aidan motioned toward the pile in the middle of the table. “The dog led us to a creek at the outer edge of my property. He lost the trail after that, likely because the suspect crossed the creek or maybe walked in it to help dilute his scent. We’d have split up and kept going, figuring we could catch up to him even without the dog’s help. But it was getting dark, too dangerous. Most of my land has been left in its natural state.”

“Meaning,” Dawson added, “it’s full of thick brush, downed trees and steep drop-offs. Far too dangerous in bad lighting. We’ll search again tomorrow in case he comes back, or has hunkered down somewhere and never left. Speaking of which, O’Brien, you might want to stay at the B and B for a few days, at least until we catch this fool. Him shooting Malone when you were with me means he knows the game is up, that trying to frame you any longer isn’t going to work. I think he took that first shot by the SUV to get us into the woods and give him time to get away. I’d rather you not be here alone without a gun to defend yourself if he comes back tonight.”

“I can stay and guard him,” Grace offered.

Aidan’s jaw tightened. “I’m not going to cower behind—”

“A woman?” Grace snapped. “I’m perfectly capable of defending you, myself or anyone else.”

Collier raised his hand. “I can attest to that.”

“I was going to say that I’m not going to cower behind anyone else putting their lives on the line for me. I’ll call Stella, see if there’s a room available. If there is, I’ll stay downtown for a fewdays. That should free up my cabin as a base of operations for the search tomorrow. I can give you a key, Dawson.”

“I appreciate that. I’d also appreciate it if you help with the search. But only if we can keep you safe in the process. We’ll discuss it in the morning.”

“I’d definitely like to help,” Aidan said.

“You don’t have to call the B and B,” Grace told him. “I reserved three rooms for the next three days. One is for me and the others are for more agents if I prove the real Crossbow Killer is operating here. We won’t likely have that answer until the lab comparisons between the original arrows and the ones you found today come back. They’re also running prints and DNA. I’ll go online tomorrow and see if any results are ready. But I doubt it.”

He nodded his thanks. “I’ll pack a bag.” He pushed up from the table and headed up the stairs.

Dawson motioned toward the arrows and the paintbrush. “I’m no expert, but these look the same to me as the ones from earlier. What’s your take on these, Malone?”

“I didn’t bring any gloves. Does anyone have a…” She laughed as all three of them offered her some latex gloves. “You run a tight ship, Dawson. Always be prepared, right?”

“Always.”

She took the pair that Fletcher offered, thanking her as she pulled them on. Careful not to touch anything more than she had to, she picked the items up in the least likely places where the suspect might have touched them so that she could try to avoid destroying any viable latent prints.

After a careful examination, she set the evidence down and took a picture of the paint can to send to the lab, as well as the arrows.

“I can have this all couriered to the FBI lab tomorrow morning if you’re okay with that.”

“I was hoping you’d offer,” Dawson said. “But I’d like to dust one of these arrows for prints locally to see if we get anything and put it into IAFIS. We’ve collected several arrows, so destroying any DNA on just one of them should be an acceptable trade-off to try to get a leg up and speed this along.”

“I agree,” she said. “For now, since we can’t prove or disprove that the suspect is or isn’t the Crossbow Killer, we can work on this as a team if, again Chief, you’re okay with that.”

“Absolutely. We’ve already set our other investigations aside to focus on this. The more resources we have the more likely we’ll be to wrap this up sooner rather than later.” He checked the time on his phone. “Speaking of later, it’s been a long day for all of us. I recommend we head down the mountain and get a good night’s sleep. We’ll meet up early to continue the investigation.”

“What about the search?” she asked. “You can’t run an investigation and a full-blown search at the same time. You need more people.”

“Which is why I told Ortiz to contact the sheriff’s office to get some bodies up here. Ortiz will be the liaison for our department and manage the search along with whoever Sheriff Galloway puts in charge from his side. He’ll also make some casts of the shoe prints we found tonight. Justin will be here with his scent dog again, too. He already agreed to that. We have search-and-rescue volunteers we can call in a pinch. But this guy is dangerous and I don’t want civilians out here as more innocent targets for him.”

“Sounds like a well-thought-out plan. With Ortiz up here tomorrow, that leaves a desk free at your station. Mind if I operate out of there? I’ve got my own laptop and can show you the results as soon as the lab uploads them to our portal.”

“Of course. Use anything you need. If you want the conference room, consider it yours, as well.”

Fletcher grinned. “You might prefer the conference room, honestly. Ortiz is a bit of a slob. You’d be wiping crumbs off your nice blouse and slacks.”

Grace looked down, making a face at her clothes. “They used to be nice. That tumble on the gravel driveway earlier pretty much ruined them. But I brought several more changes of clothes with me.”

Fletcher gave her a commiserating look and stood. “Since Ortiz was my ride up here, boss, I’m going to have to bum a ride back with you.”

“What about me?” Collier asked. “I can give you a ride.”

“I’ll ride with the boss.” Fletcher made a face at Collier as she gathered up the paint can and brush again.

He rolled his eyes.

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