This is Bisbee,â Chief Bernard said. âWe donât have four-wheel-drive anything.â
âThe road out here is rough. You might want to send Keller down to the Justice Center so he can hitch a ride out to the crime scene with Jaime Carbajal. Iâll tell him to wait until Matt shows up.â
âIâll get right on it,â Bernard said. âThanks for letting me know.â
After calling Larry Kendrick back with a request that Jaime wait for Detective Keller, Joanna turned to her daughter. Jenny and Kiddo were standing on the far side of the wash, where Kiddo was contentedly munching on several carrots Jenny had brought along in her pocket.
âAre you okay?â Joanna asked.
âIâm fine, Mom,â Jenny said. âI mean, Iâve seen something dead before.â
âSomeone,â Joanna corrected, âand so have I. But to see someone shot like this? Itâs still upsetting.â
âEven for you?â
âEven for me.â
Jenny took a bite out of a carrot and passed the remainder to Kiddo. Joanna managed to keep from asking if Jenny had washed the carrots before sticking them in her pocket.
âHow did the bad guy leave?â Jenny asked. âIf his getaway car was stuck in the wash, where did he go?â
âHe must have left on foot,â Joanna said.
That made it possible that the killer had walked right past High Lonesome Ranch. Not a comforting thought, but Joanna needed to know for sure.
âThatâs why I called for the K-9 unit,â Joanna continued. âTerry and Spike might be able to pick up his trail and at least give us an idea of which direction he went.â
âWhat if he walked by our house?â
Not for the first time, Joanna was forced to consider the mysterious workings of DNA. Jenny seemed to have a mental GPS that was following her motherâs every thought, spoken or unspoken.
âIf he had come anywhere near the house, Iâm sure Lady would have raised a fuss, and just because Lucky happens to be deaf doesnât mean he isnât up to the job. If someone posed a threat to you or anyone else in the family, I have a feeling that big black lug of yours would tear the bad guy limb from limb.â
Jenny nodded. âProbably,â she said.
âSpeaking of dogs,â Joanna said. âDid you see any dog prints around here?â
Jenny shook her head. âWhy?â
âI understand Ms. Highsmith had a dog.â
âGiles,â Jenny said. âThatâs the name of her dog.â
âYou knew Ms. Highsmithâs dog?â
âI only saw him one time. His first owner, a guy out at Fort Huachuca, was being deployed and had to get rid of himâfree to a good home. Ms. Highsmith brought him to the clinic for a checkup, to update his shots, and to have him chipped. Heâs a Doberman. He looks fierce, but heâs a good dog.â
Joanna spent a few minutes looking but could find no visible dog prints. She had the sick feeling that if Debra Highsmith was dead, so was her dog.
Finally, Joanna turned back to Jenny. âYou and Kiddo should probably head home,â Joanna said. âThe crime scene team will be here soon.â
âWonât somebody need to interview me?â Jenny asked. âI mean, on TV the cops always interview the person who finds the body. The person calling it in usually turns out to be some kind of suspect or something.â
âThe person who finds the body usually isnât my daughter,â Joanna responded. âIf anyone besides me needs to interview you, Iâll send them by the house.â
âOkay,â Jenny said, but she clearly wasnât happy about it. She turned away from Joanna, put a foot in the stirrup, and then vaulted easily up into the saddle. She was doing exactly what Joanna had asked her to do, yet somehow it felt like a rebuke.
âIâm your mother,â Joanna said. âIâm