Page 7 of Midnight Ride

Virge drove for another half mile, and they spotted two pickups parked off the road at the edge of an open field.

Travis pointed. “Let’s try back there and see what we get. We’re looking for more than a couple of guys. Billy said he figured there were three tents at the crime scene.”

“Two pickups,” said Virge. “Could be enough.”

“Yeah, let’s see how many hunters are back there.”

Since Travis was shot, he wasn’t fast on his feet. The bullet that lodged in his side had taken a lot out of him and slowed him down.

Virgil walked slow enough and when he got a little ahead of Travis, he slowed down out of respect. “I can smell smoke.”

“Yeah, they’ve got a campfire going,” said Travis. “Good. That means they haven’t gone hunting yet and we can talk to them.”

As they neared the camp they could hear the men talking and laughing. They shut right up, a little startled when Travis and Virgil appeared through the trees.

“Hey, sheriff. Good morning to you. Like a coffee?”

“Nope. We’re good, thanks. Just checking some campsites today. How many here in your group?”

“We’ve got five. Haven’t had any luck so far, but we just got here and set up last night.”

“Where y’all from?”

“Colorado. We come up here every year for the elk season. Good vacation for all of us.”

“Wish y’all good luck this year. Might see y’all at the Dry Run if y’all come into town.”

One of the hunters laughed. “Definitely you’ll see us there when we get thirsty.”

On the walk back to the truck, Virgil asked, “You sure it wasn’t them?”

“Yep. Pretty sure.”

They were piling into the squad when Wyatt Thompson phoned from the paper in Cut Bank.

“Hey, Wyatt. How you been?”

“Good, and you?”

“Not so bad. Can I help you with something?”

“I’m always checking with Doctor Olson since the morgue is only across the street from my office and he has a murder victim in the cooler. Can you talk about it?”

“Only what you would read in the autopsy report so far, Wyatt. Working on it this morning. The fellow was a hunter fromIdaho. The notification has been done and at this point, you know as much as I do. No progress so far.”

“I’ll buy you lunch when you have a story for me.”

“Looking forward to it.”

“That the guy from the paper?” asked Virgil. He started the Bronco and pointed at the gas gauge. “We need a fill-up.”

“Back to town and we’ll fill up for our next run.”

Elwell Lake Road.

Ted pointed to a spot in the river as they drove by. “That’s where we found the drowned woman a couple of years ago. Remember that, Tammy?”

“Don’t think I was with y’all, Ted, and glad of it. I don’t think I’d take to seeing me a floater all bloated up and like that.”

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