Page 39 of Breaking Rules

Sam frowned. “Too much for one old lady.”

“She must have been doing that for a long time,” Kevin said.

Wyatt was still staring at the graves. “Or she had help.”

Suddenly, Lucy started chuffing and digging in the snow. They all headed over to the spot which was in an area dense with underbrush.

Jo moved closer, her boots sinking into the powdery snow. “What is it, girl?”

Lucy barked excitedly, her tail wagging as she looked at Wyatt.

“You think I need to use this?” Wyatt asked, turning on the metal detector and sweeping it over the area.

Suddenly, the detector let out a sharp ping. “There’s something here,” Wyatt said, his brow furrowed in concentration. “Let’s see if we can narrow it down.”

He handed a long, thin device to Kevin and instructed, “When I sweep over the area and the detector goes off, I’ll move it in circles to locate the center. Then you can go in with the smaller instrument to find the exact spot.”

They worked together, Wyatt moving the detector in ever-tightening circles until Kevin marked a spot. He brushed the snow away carefully, using the device again to make sure he hadn’t cleared away the target.

“I think I’ve got it.” Kevin held up a small object about the size of a dime. They wiped away the grime to reveal a gold pin. In the center was a tiny pinhead-sized ruby, glinting in the weak winter sunlight. Engraved on the pin were the number ten and a delicate tree design.

“Probably someone lost that in the woods,” Jo said, examining the pin. “Likely not related to the case.”

Harry held out his hand. “Let me see that.” He squinted at the pin, turning it over in his fingers. “Why, that’s an old service pin.”

Wyatt frowned. “What in the world is a service pin?”

Harry explained, “They don’t do it much anymore, but back in my day, companies used to give out pins for years of service.”

Jo’s eyes widened. “So this could be from the time of the robbery?”

Harry nodded. “It could be.”

Sam’s brow furrowed. “But is it related?”

Harry shrugged. “That’s a good question. If it fell off of someone on the helicopter, it could be.”

Harry shrugged. “More likely, it’s just been sitting here.”

“Probably, but Lucy thought enough about it to alert us, so we might as well bag it up as evidence.”

Harry nodded and handed it to Kevin, who had produced an evidence bag. “Can’t hurt.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Sam, Jo, Kevin, Wyatt, and Harry trudged into the police station, snow clinging to their boots. Lucy bounded ahead, her tail wagging as she spotted Major perched on Reese’s desk. The cat bent his head down, and Lucy raised hers so the two could sniff each other.

Reese looked up from her paperwork. “Did you guys find anything good out there?”

Kevin held up an evidence bag containing the small gold pin. “Just this old service pin. Might be related to the robbery. Might not be.”

Reese examined the pin through the plastic. “So we aren’t sure if this is part of the case?”

“We’ll have to investigate further to determine if it’s connected,” Sam said.

Harry’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He fished it out and glanced at the screen. “It’s the wife. She’s requesting me home for lunch.”

He answered the call, his voice softening. “Right away, dear.” Hanging up, he turned to Sam with a conspiratorial grin. “The wife doesn’t need to know about our little foray into the woods today, does she?”

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