Page 42 of Scent of Peril

“That was the plan.” She rested her hand on Teddy’s head. “We heard about Ethan Dover’s death and thought it might be helpful to have Teddy search for drugs.”

Burt scowled. “Did Wayne agree to that?”

“We reached out to him.” She glanced at Logan who pulled out his phone, then shook his head. “Not yet. But it stands to reason that if Ethan had overdosed on drugs, there would be some here at his place.”

Burt heaved a sigh. “We got a call about someone lurking near the property. When we realized it was Ethan’s house, we quickly responded.”

“Did the caller report one person or two?” Logan asked. “Because Teddy began to growl and bark shortly before you headed over. We believe he caught the scent of the gunman.”

“Two people.” Tim, the rookie waved at them. “And a dog. We thought it might be you.”

“Too bad, I was hoping for a description of the gunman.” Logan scowled.

Burt eyed Teddy, then glanced at his rookie partner. “I’ve seen the Sullivan K9s in action. If they think the dog alerted on someone, then I believe them. Let’s do a sweep of the property to check things out.”

Tim looked slightly annoyed but didn’t argue. She and Logan waited as the two officers spread out and looked around the exterior of the house and garage.

Logan’s phone rang, and from his wry expression, she deduced the caller was Wayne. “This is Fletcher, and yes, I’m here with Jess and Teddy at Ethan’s house.” He winced and held the phone from his ear. “No need to yell, we just thought it would be helpful to ask Teddy to search for drugs.”

No surprise the cops were upset with their interference in their investigation. Yet in their defense, it was Wayne who’d asked for a meeting. And who had informed them of Ethan’s death due to a drug overdose.

Not to mention they were the ones being hunted by some unknown gunman.

“Yes, the offer stands. We’ll wait here. Thanks.” Logan lowered the phone. “Wayne has reluctantly agreed to use Teddy to search the house for drugs. He had to get a search warrant but is on his way.”

“Great.” She stroked Teddy’s fur. “I hope he finds something useful.”

“Me too,” Logan agreed.

Burt and Tim returned a few minutes later. “I found a set of footprints in the snow behind the garage. Do you want to take a look?”

“Yes.” Logan reached for her hand. “Did you take pictures of them?”

“Of course, but they’re not very clear. Looks like the guy came in from the street behind the house, then retraced his footsteps back out again.”

“Same way he did at the park, which proves Teddy alerted on the gunman’s scent.” Jess was concerned about how close they were to being shot. As they rounded the corner of the garage, she noticed the prints stopped about six feet from the garage. Easy to imagine the gunman freezing in place upon hearing Teddy’s barking. He must have quickly changed his mind and turned to leave.

“I agree, there aren’t any clear prints,” Logan said with a frown. “Although the size is approximately a men’s eleven.”

“Like that will narrow down our perp,” Tim said in a snide tone.

For a rookie, he had quite the attitude. Jess held Tim’s gaze for a long moment. “I’m sure you realize that the print will be more helpful once you have someone in custody.”

The rookie shrugged and looked away. “Whatever.”

Logan took pictures as well—why, she wasn’t sure—then they all headed back to the front of the house. Teddy hadn’t alerted on drugs outside the structures, which left the inside.

And if that was clean, she would lean toward Ethan’s death being murder rather than an accidental drug overdose.

Five minutes later, Wayne arrived. He did not look the least bit happy to see her and Logan. He gestured to his officers who crossed over to join him. The three men spoke in low voices for a moment.

“Okay, Jess. We’re going to access the house. We’ll need you and Logan to stay back until we’ve cleared the place. I’ll let you know when we’re ready for Teddy to do his thing.”

“Sounds good.” She smiled, but Wayne didn’t return the sentiment. He used a key that he must have gotten from Ethan’s pocket to get inside. Burt and Tim followed him.

“We owe Teddy a big steak for alerting us to the danger,” Logan said when they were alone outside the squad.

“No steak, it’s not good for him, but maybe a sweet potato treat, hmm?” She bent to pat Teddy’s head. “Anna bakes them by the dozen, and the dogs love them.” She grinned. “People can eat them too.”

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