Page 38 of Scent of Peril

“Tell me about those classmates of yours.” Wayne pulled a small notebook from his pocket. “Start with those closest to the Dover siblings.”

“Ella, Julie Plumber, Cindy Deets, and I were all relatively close,” Jessica said when Logan didn’t immediately respond. “I knew Ethan because he was in Chase’s class.” She winced, belatedly realizing she’d added another connection between the Sullivans and the Dovers.

“Go on,” Wayne said when she fell silent.

She swallowed hard. It was too late to go back. And as Logan said, everyone knew everyone else here. “Ethan was also friends with Julie’s older brother, Greg Plumber.” She tried to think about who else to include. “I believe Matt Salvatore was another friend of theirs. To be honest, I’ve lost touch withmany of my former classmates. First, I moved away to work in Cheyenne, then more recently as we’ve started taking on more and more search and rescue missions.” She figured it wouldn’t hurt to reinforce the good things her family had done for the community, especially over these past five years. “Living on the ranch can be isolating.”

“What about you?” Wayne shifted to look at Logan.

“Greg served time in the army,” Logan said. “I didn’t know Matt very well. But Ella dated Andy Tolliver before me.”

“Andy was another friend of ours. He was super smart; he got a full ride to Montana State University.” Jess smiled at the memory. Andy was deemed the most successful of their senior class. “But like the others, I don’t know where he is now.”

Wayne continued scribbling in his notebook. When their server brought his hamburger, he nodded in thanks, tried a french fry, then stared back down at his notebook. “I’m sure I can find out where these kids are now.” He looked up. “Any of them involved in drugs? Or were there other kids that were known to use?”

“Sure, there were kids that smoked pot,” Logan said. “I don’t know of anyone doing major drugs like cocaine, heroin, meth, or fentanyl.”

“Me either,” Jess agreed. “Could be the potheads did other stuff too, but if so, they kept it quiet.”

“Ella would have had to get drugs from someone,” Wayne pointed out. He pushed his notebook aside to take a bite of his burger.

“The cops asked me about that back when she died.” Logan’s tone had a hard edge to it. “I told them the same thing I’m telling you now. Ella may have gone to the potheads for information related to buying drugs. That seems the most logical avenue. But I have no knowledge of that. She never used drugs with me. And I never saw her impaired from drugs.” He grimaced, and added,“I did see her drinking one night at a party. But that was the extent of the illegal activity I was aware of.”

“What party?” Jess stared at Logan. “I don’t know anything about that.”

“It was after one of the football games.” He shifted in his seat and sighed. “We argued that night. I wanted to leave; she didn’t. I felt obligated to stay to make sure she got home safely.”

“Which game?” She was trying to figure out why she hadn’t been there. Then she remembered. “It must have been the one I missed because of my sprained my knee. I remember having to sit home all weekend alternating ice and heat.”

“Yep.” Logan nodded. “I remember you weren’t around. That guy you used to date, Jerrod, was at the party, though. He seemed to be quite cozy with Nina Jenson.”

She shrugged. “Jerrod was free to cozy up to whomever he wanted. Didn’t matter to me. We were broken up by then.” She frowned, then added, “I remember that my knee was still sore at Ella’s funeral, so the party must have been what, two weeks before her death?”

“Yes, about that,” Logan agreed. “Which is exactly what I told the police back then.”

“I reviewed the police reports, and I was struck by the way you mentioned that you only saw Ella drinking that one time at the party. Not at any other after-school event.” Wayne eyed them skeptically. “Give me a break. I know high school kids, and I am convinced there must have been other parties where kids were drinking.”

“Oh, there were plenty of parties,” Jess said with a nod. “And sure, there were lots of kids who drank and smoked pot. But I wasn’t one of them. I didn’t like to get drunk.”

“And why was that?” Wayne asked.

“For me, it was a control thing.” She glanced at Logan. “I seem to remember you didn’t do much partying either.”

“You’re right, I didn’t.” Logan shrugged. “To be honest, the one time I got drunk, I was so sick the next day I thought I was going to die. Avoiding alcohol was easy after that. Just smelling it made me nauseous. And I never liked the smell of pot either. Since my goal was to fly planes, I told everyone I had to stay sober to keep my pilot’s license.” He offered a wry smile. “I preferred taking on the role of designated driver.”

Jess hadn’t known about his hangover, but it made sense.

“Lots of kids drink or do drugs to release their inhibitions.” Wayne looked from her to Logan and back. “It stands to reason that could be why Ella sought out some drugs after that night of partying.”

Logan sighed and shook his head. “That’s not the Ella I remember.”

She understood his frustration. Anything was possible, but speculating wasn’t helpful. She turned her attention to Wayne. “From what Ethan told me, Ella didn’t have the physical signs of long-term drug use.”

“I know she didn’t have needle marks or anything like that,” Logan said. “Not while we were together.”

“That’s true. I read her autopsy report,” Wayne agreed. “No needle marks or other physical evidence to indicate she used drugs. And to be honest, her brother’s death is very similar in that way, at least from what I can tell. We’ll have to wait on the autopsy results to know that for sure.”

“Are you suggesting they were murdered?” Logan’s expression was shocked.

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