Page 38 of Scent of Death

He nodded and reached for his phone. “I’ll call the office now to request DMV records for white, silver, and gray Ram trucks. The list may be long, so this may not help as much as we hope. But it’s a starting place for sure.”

Large trucks were highly popular in Wyoming. She waited as Griff made the call, stroking Denali’s fur as the dog sat beside her. When he finished, she asked, “Do you think there’s a chance this guy is from out of state?”

“Anything is possible, but I hope not.” Griff sighed and shifted the pack. “Let’s go. We have more people to talk to.”

She nodded, surprised they’d gotten so much information from the first family they approached. If not for Tim and Darla’s late-night walk, they wouldn’t have learned anything new. “Come, Denali.”

She and Griff made their way through the campground. Several people mentioned hearing the sound of an engine that could have belonged to the four-wheeler but claimed they didn’t see the ATV itself or who was riding it. They found Darla and her parents, who were also not happy to learn of her late-night walk with Tim. Darla was a pretty girl with long dark hair, but as Griff questioned her about the ATV, she couldn’t provide anything more than they’d learned from Tim.

“I didn’t even know it was a Ram truck,” she said.

“Thanks.” Griff offered another of his business cards. “If you think of anything else, please let me know.”

“And if you see the man riding the ATV again, stay away,” Alexis added. “We’re concerned he may have hurt another girl.”

Darla’s mother drew her close. “Thanks for the warning.”

Griff nodded, and they moved on. “I’m glad you mentioned that,” he confided when they were out of earshot. “I didn’t want to cause alarm, but I should have warned the people here to stay far away from him.”

She grimaced. “I’m not sure he’ll be back. Even if he didn’t notice Tim and Darla in the trees, he won’t want to risk coming here again. Especially not once he realizes we’ve found Wendy Evers’s body.”

Griff sighed. “You’re probably right, although I hope he does come back, or putting up those trail cameras was a fruitless effort.” He glanced at his watch. “Let’s keep going. We’re almost finished covering the campground.”

She nodded. Denali was a trouper, staying close and sniffing the air with interest as they passed people cooking over a campfire.

By the time they’d returned to the parking lot, the hour was going on noon. Griff stood for a minute surveying the space. “What are you thinking?” she asked when he didn’t say anything for a long moment.

“I was debating taking down license plate numbers to make sure we talk to everyone who was here.” He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m not sure they’d have any more information, though. And I’m starving. I’d rather head to Shell for lunch.”

She nodded. “I agree that Tim and Darla are the key witnesses. It sounds like they were alone here; their parents didn’t even know they were gone.”

“Yeah.” Griff hesitated, then quickly pulled out his phone. “I’ll take pictures of the plates. If the DMV list of Ram trucks doesn’t reveal anything to go on, I can reach out to the owners of these cars.”

“Okay.” As he did that, she opened the rear hatch of the SUV for Denali. Thanks to the July sun, it was hot and stuffy inside, so she opened all four doors too. Then she started the car, cranking the air-conditioning on high.

She gave Denali water, then signaled for the K9 to get in. The interior of the vehicle was tolerable by the time Griff finished. He tossed the backpack onto the floor of the back seat.

“I’ll drive if you don’t mind.” Alexis quickly slid in behind the wheel. “If that list comes through, you can start reviewing it.”

“That may take time, but I have the autopsy reports to read.” He went around to the passenger side and got in. He peered at his phone as she headed toward Shell. “I hate knowing these girls have been drugged, then assaulted and murdered. This guy is a predator. I need to get him off the street as soon as possible.”

She nodded. It had been difficult to look at Wendy Evers’s face. Knowing their names made it more personal. “Griff?” When he looked up from his phone, she said, “You need to talk to Wendy’s grandmother.”

A pained expression creased his face. “I know. We’ll head back to Greybull soon. Thankfully, the media hasn’t been around yet, but I’m sure that will happen soon enough. I feel the need to check Shell, see if there’s any reason to suspect our guy has a place there.”

“Sounds good.”

Shell was smaller than she’d remembered. Alexis had driven through without paying much attention in the past, but seeing it now, she realized there were probably fewer than a hundred people living there.

As with every small town, there was a restaurant/bar and a gas station. No doubt the town survived on the spattering of tourists who visited the Bighorns in the summer and the hunters who flocked to the area in the fall. As she pulled into the restaurant parking lot, Griff looked up from his phone.

“Wow, this place is tiny, huh?” He looked disappointed.

“Yep.” She opened the back hatch for Denali and slid out of the seat. “If we had a better description of this guy, we’d probably be able to rule this place out. I’m sure the residents here know each other pretty well.”

Griff sighed and joined her behind the SUV. Denali stretched, then stood with her nose up, sniffing the air. “I guess this is a wasted trip. I don’t see a Ram truck, and I doubt this guy is sitting inside the restaurant. I’m too hungry to head back to Greybull without eating.”

She glanced at her K9, then reached into the back seat for the piggy. “Let’s see if Denali alerts on his scent.” She hunkered down near the dog. “Are you ready to search? Huh, girl? Search bad guy!”

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