Page 35 of Scent of Death

“I was thinking about that too.” Alexis frowned. “We’ve been focused on Greybull because that’s where Wendy went missing. But the town of Shell isn’t that far. It’s way smaller, but not having a large population may work to his advantage.”

He gave her an admiring look. “That’s a good point. There are probably other small towns that are barely a dot on the map as well. However, that doesn’t explain his taking victims from Jackson and Casper.”

“Maybe he’s a truck driver,” Alexis suggested. “Or has a sales job that forces him to travel across the state.”

“Those are good possibilities.” He shook his head wearily. “I wish we had more to go on. Having fingerprints that aren’t in the system isn’t helpful.”

“That eliminates anyone who has been in the military, law enforcement, or a government job.” Alexis sighed. “That doesn’t help, as most of the people in Wyoming have never worked in any of those professions.”

“I’m aware.” Running federal investigations in Wyoming had many disadvantages. Between the weather, the spread-out communities, and the wilderness, he often felt as if closing cases took forever.

And Wendy Evers had paid the price.

He gestured toward the gravesite. “The crime scene techs and local police are on the way. So is the medical examiner. I’m not sure if Dr. Klem has finished the autopsies of the first two victims.” He’d intended to stop by to get the results for himself, but the shooting at the hotel had interrupted his plan.

“That’s good they’ll be here soon.” Alexis made her way through the woods to a fallen log. “Denali alerted here, but I don’t see anything that resembles evidence.”

Griff knelt to inspect the ground. It was covered with fallen leaves, twigs, and a smattering of pine needles. “I don’t see anything either.”

“You can see the third grave from here.” Alexis dropped down onto the log. Denali stretched out on the ground beside her. “I believe he sat here to rest and admire his work.”

Griff nodded. “Then he rode his four-wheeler out of here.” He abruptly straightened. “We’ll need to get back to the campground. Maybe someone noticed a man putting an ATV on a trailer.”

“That sounds like a possibility.” She gazed up at him, and for a moment, he was lost in the memory of their kiss. Then he shook it off as she added, “I can’t imagine there are many four-wheelers in the campground. I’m sure someone riding it would have been noticed.”

He wanted to head out immediately to begin interviewing campers, but they needed to wait until the local police arrived. It would be nice to talk to the medical examiner too.

Hurry and wait, he thought with a sigh.

He joined Alexis on the fallen log. No sense in standing around. They could keep an eye on the gravesite and were protected from the sun by the tree canopy overhead.

“Water?” Alexis offered a half-finished bottle.

“Thanks.” He drank, leaving the last quarter for her. “I hope the deputies get here soon.”

“They will.” She finished the water and carefully tucked the empty bottle in the pack. “They’re familiar with the area this time.”

“Yeah.” They sat in silence for a few minutes. Then he caught movement from across the field. He shot to his feet and narrowed his gaze. “I think they’ve arrived.”

“Great.” She rose, and Denali jumped to her feet too. They crossed the field just as deputies Paul Holland and Cameron Newton emerged from the woods.

“Sorry to drag you out here again,” Griff said by way of greeting. He gestured to the gravesite. “We found Wendy Evers over there.”

“A fresh grave this time,” Cameron said. “Considering we were here most of the day and into the evening, he must have done this in the dark.”

“That’s my assessment,” Griff agreed. “And we know he showed up at the Greybull hotel at three in the morning. That narrows the time frame even more.”

“The hotel?” Paul frowned.

“Denali alerted us to his scent,” Alexis said. “He fired at us and escaped. She tracked his scent to a dead-end road where we assume he had a car waiting.”

Paul and Cameron exchanged looks. “You didn’t call it in?”

Griff shook his head. “There’s no reason to wake everyone up. The lab was able to lift fingerprints from the shell casings but didn’t get any hits when they ran them through the system.” He shrugged. “We still don’t have much to go on.”

“We did find a tire track from an ATV,” Alexis said. “Denali alerted there, so I believe the killer used that to bring his victims here to bury.”

“I should have thought of that,” Paul said with a frown.

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