Page 14 of The Killing Plains

“Cottonmouths are the only dangerous water snakes around here, and they stay on the surface.”

“Okay. But I won’t force anything.”

With the sound of Avery’s camera shutter in her ears, Colly wriggled one hand through the opening and cautiously groped around. “There’s a couple hardcover books. Pages are mush, butthe covers feel intact.” She explored further. “I’ve got something stiff and leathery. Baseball glove, maybe.”

“Denny played Little League,” Jimmy said. “My cousin Tom’s his coach.”

“Anything you can pull out?” Russ asked.

Avery looked up from her camera. “Little stuff’ll be at the bottom.”

Colly reached deeper and her fingers closed on something hard. She pulled it through the opening. A Swiss Army knife.

Russ handed her a bag. “We’ll find out if it’s Denny’s.”

Another search produced a camo-colored wallet and a fob with what looked like the key to a bike lock.

Colly gave the wallet to Russ, who opened the Velcro flap. “Bingo. School ID for ‘Dennis G. Knox.’ Plus, six bucks, cash. Robbery wasn’t the motive, then. Anything else?”

“I don’t think so.” Colly did a final check. “Hold on.”

She pulled out a small, rubbery object. It was horseshoe-shaped and made of blue silicone.

“What the hell’s that?” Russ demanded.

Colly turned it in her fingers. “No clue.”

“Parker?”

Avery hunched her shoulders. “Looks medical. Some kind of mouth guard?”

“Gibbins, Meggs, take a look.” Russ waved the officers closer.

“That’s a shoe insert,” Gibbins said immediately. “Got some like ’em for my plantar fasciitis. That one’s smaller than mine.”

Russ pushed up the brim of his Stetson. “Weird thing for a kid to carry.”

Colly dropped the object into an evidence bag. “Did Denny have foot problems?”

“We can ask Jolene,” Avery said.

The sun was now high, the mud around the shoreline beginning to crack in the unseasonable heat. Two piebald longhorns had come to the far side of the pond to drink. As Colly stood, they raised their heads to watch her, water dripping from their muzzles.

Colly peeled off her gloves. “Okay, Russ, walk me through the scene.”

After sending Meggs and Gibbins back to town with the evidence, Russ led Colly to a spot near the edge of the water.

“Denny’s body was here. Felix found it just after dawn. Said he didn’t go near it.”

“Think that’s true?”

Russ nodded. “You could tell by his footprints.”

There had been a clear set of prints around the body, though—presumably the killer’s—made by a pair of men’s rubber boots or waders, size ten.

“What size was Willis?”

“Ten.” Russ rubbed the bridge of his nose. “So are Lowell and me, for what it’s worth. It’s a common size.”

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