Page 23 of Hunting the Truth
“I understand that too. We both know, though, that alcohol doesn’t make you quit feeling. It just hides it to come out another day. This is a nasty scene. I don’t like it either, but it comes with our jobs.”
“I know,” Maya said. “I hope Juniper can find something on our evidence search.”
“I do too,” Josh said, as they approached the sound of flies buzzing again. This time Maya knew what was around the bend.
Chapter Eleven
Maya stopped Juniper and checked her equipment to put off seeing the murder scene again. She even checked her phone again in case Lucas had called. Nothing. She took a deep sigh and started directing Juniper, telling her to “seek.”
Juniper put her nose to the ground and started sucking in air. Maya took a large loop around the crime scene to start. Juniper hadn’t alerted on any evidence during their track, but Maya was hoping that maybe the suspect made a mistake and had tried to hide or dropped something that would help them solve the case.
Josh was staying out of the way. He had his hand resting on his firearm just in case the suspect came back, since the person had been hanging around when they had first arrived. Maya directed Juniper toward different areas where a suspect might try to dispose of evidence, like bushes and rocky areas. Juniper followed Maya’s instructions and happily bounded around stopping to sniff branches or even small holes in the dirt. But her body language didn’t change, and after she checked an area, she continued on.
They’d just about done a full loop and come back around to where they’d started their track earlier when Juniper hesitated near a large rock that was close to the trail. Maya was wondering if Juniper would pick up the track again as it was still fresh, but then Juniper paused and turned back in the direction she’d just come from.
Juniper continued the back-and-forth pattern. Maya sucked in her breath, trying to stay neutral and just let the dog work, but she knew she’d caught an odor and was working a scent cone. Juniper would go back and forth in the scent pool until she could pinpoint the odor exactly.
Suddenly, Juniper went behind the rock and then lay down.
“Is that an alert?” Josh asked.
“It is. I added to her training, and I’ve been working on her lying down for an evidence alert and sitting for a narcotics alert. Lets me know better what I’m dealing with.”
“Pretty amazing,” Josh said.
“Thanks. Let’s see what she found.”
Maya stepped around Juniper, who stared intently at some tall grass behind the rock. Her tail wagged. Maya was proud of her. Maybe Juniper wasn’t testing her as much as she thought.
After pulling out some gloves, Maya put them on and then carefully moved the grass until she saw an object on the ground. It had a long blade, orange handle and was in a T shape. The blade was covered in blood. “I think I just found Sofia’s tree borer and it’s all bloody.”
“Okay, once you get Juniper away, I’ll mark it and we’ll make sure it’s inside the crime scene line.”
Maya stepped back and threw Juniper her favorite ball with a large rope. She had been trying out different toys with Juniper. If a dog liked one toy over the other, then sometimes it would help bring up their drive more. Not that Juniper ever needed a ton of encouragement with her energy level, but rather her focus.
Juniper snatched the toy and started squeaking it, moving out of her down-stay alert and running around Maya. The dog tossed her ball and then pounced on it, repeating this several times before bringing it to Maya and shoving it against her leg. This meant Juniper wanted to play tug. Maya obliged by grabbing the rope and pulling on it. Juniper wagged her tail and got into the game, tugging with all her might.
Maya let go. “You’re too strong for me, girly,” she said.
Josh had put the marker down and was watching them with a grin. “You two always make my day better.”
“Thanks,” Maya said, attempting to get the toy back from Juniper. At first Juniper played a little bit of keep-away. Maya stayed firm in her request for the toy back, but she didn’t escalate anything. There was no reason to fight with Juniper. This was all part of the testing process.
After a few seconds, Juniper relented, but she kept her golden eyes trained on the ball as Maya put it away in her BDU pants pocket. Juniper licked her chops and then let her tongue hang, panting in the warm day.
Maya unclipped the portable bowl from her duty belt and poured in some of the water that Josh had brought down, giving Juniper a quick drink. After splashing water everywhere, Juniper looked at Maya, telling her she was ready to go again.
Maya and Juniper continued checking the area but didn’t find any new evidence. Maya hoped the tree borer would have a fingerprint or DNA. Something that they could use to identify who did this. Could Sofia be messing with them and be the suspect? Maya doubted it, but it wouldn’t be the first time a suspect had done something like that. Some of them liked inserting themselves in the investigations.
“I have a text from Miranda. She’s just about here. She started at the other scene and didn’t find much, but she did do a cast on the tire tracks and took an oil sample just in case,” Josh said.
“Great. I’ll take Juniper back up and meet her at the parking lot. I can help her bring things down the trail after I put Juniper away to rest.”
“I’ll wait here then to keep the scene secure,” Josh said.
Maya was grateful she didn’t have to wait at the scene as she and Juniper headed back up the trail. Maybe tonight, after all this exercise, they would sleep well. She figured she’d have to call Todd and let him know she hadn’t made it to Deer Valley Pass to check on more booby traps, though.
A thought did enter her mind: Would someone who tortured their victims want to set booby traps too?
