Part 24 (2/2)
”Josh Landry was pretty famous,” he reminded her. ”And you're right. The media is all over the story. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if John wasn't helping the chief there to compose his official statement.”
”How long does it take to say 'no comment'?”
A helicopter hovered overhead.
”See what I mean?” He looked skyward. ”Network news is already in on it.”
”What do you suppose is going on out there?” She nodded to the tree line, where a number of officers had gathered.
”Let's go find out.”
They trudged across the field to the edge of the woods.
”What do you have?” Will asked as they approached the small group.
”Looks like the killer had the house under watch for a few days. Lots of different prints out here in the field, but the ones around the trees there, they look like they might have been made with the same shoe, but on different days. See here.” The tech knelt down and pointed to the ground. ”There are several prints, some are deeper than others, but they're the same tread. It rained earlier in the week, the ground would have been soft, the impression would have been deeper than a print made yesterday would have been.”
”Because yesterday the ground was dry.” Miranda nodded.
”Right.” The tech stood up and pointed along the edge of the field. ”We're casting them just to make sure; could be some might have been made by kids, but I don't think so. Then there are the prints from the police officers who checked the woods the other day. And there are a number of deer prints; most of them are pretty much in a steady line. Creatures of habits, deer are. But the footprints, they go all the way back to the road on the other side of the woods.”
”So someone might have parked a car over there and walked here?” Miranda thought aloud.
”Maybe. More likely he'd have left it down the road about a quarter mile. There's a little side road; someone could have left a car there. If he'd left it here, out in the open, someone would have reported a car parked there for too long at a time. We don't have any such reports.” The young man removed his hat, smoothed back his hair, and replaced the hat. ”There are tracks along the side of the road. Not sure it's worth casting them, too. There are cars going back and forth all the time.”
”If he was walking a quarter mile back and forth on this road, maybe someone saw him,” Will noted.
”Could be. We'll be stopping cars for the next few days, see if anyone remembers seeing someone walking along the road, or a vehicle parked up along that dirt road. This narrow old road is mostly used by the old-timers around here. Most of the new folks going between Plainsville and Route One will use the PlainsvilleJunction Road. A guy travels this road every day for fifty years, he'll know when he sees something that's out of place. We're setting up an officer right now to stop cars and start asking questions. Best we can hope for is that someone will have seen something that struck him or her as being unusual. Maybe get a description we can go with.”
”You'll keep our office apprised of your findings?” Will asked.
”Sure thing.” The tech nodded, then went back to work.
”How did Lowell do this, Will? He doesn't drive,” she reminded him as they walked back toward the barn. ”How did he get here? How did he go back and forth from wherever he's staying? How is he getting around?”
”Your guess is as good as mine.” They walked along, both thinking. Finally, Will said, ”I think it's time to put out an APB on Lowell.”
”I totally agree. Let's see if we can flush him out. I do think we should check in with the boss, though, find out what his thoughts are. He still may not want to publicly connect Lowell with Unger. The bra.s.s at the Bureau has to be feeling real touchy about this.”
”Well, there's John, at the back of the barn. Looks like he finished his little chat with the chief.”
”He's looking at us.” Miranda waved, and John lifted a hand in response.
”He's waiting for us,” Will murmured.
”Sure looks like it. You think that's a good thing, or a bad thing?”
”Only one way to find out.” He quickened his stride, and she moved a little faster to keep up with him.
”Hey,” she called as they drew nearer.
”Anything interesting out there?” John nodded in the direction of the trees.
”Lots of footprints. Looks like the killer-whom we presume to be Archer-spent a lot of time out there, just watching the farm. Of course, it would have been nice if the police had been watching him as carefully, but I guess that's something that you'll have to take up with their chief, seeing as how you're his new best friend,” Will said dryly.
Before John could react to that, Miranda jumped in. ”The techs have tracked the footprints back and forth through the woods. They think he might have parked whatever he was driving on a small access road off the county road that runs parallel to the one we drove in on.” She paused long enough for John to notice.
”What?” he asked.
”Archer Lowell doesn't drive,” she told him.
”Archer Lowell doesn't have a driver's license,” Will corrected her. ”People get stopped driving without a license every day. You think he cares about that?”
”He would know that if he got caught driving, he'd be pulled in, which will violate his probation.”
”Do you honestly think he cares about that now?” Will laughed out loud. ”He's just killed killed two people.” two people.”
”I think he believes he'll get away with the killings. But he won't be able to find a way around the probation violations once they go on his record.”
”You have to be kidding.” Will stared at her.
”Look, we're talking about a really unsophisticated kid here. He thinks he's already gotten away with murder, Will. I really think he believes if he can avoid drawing attention to himself, he'll be fine.”
”Well, there is one other possibility,” Will said.
”What's that?”
”Maybe someone's helping him.”
”Someone?” Miranda frowned. ”Someone like who? You think there was a fourth person involved?”
”I think we were right all along about Lowell not being smart enough to pull all this off on his own. I think someone's been giving him a little guidance. And that same person may be acting as his chauffeur.”
”You could be right, Will.” John nodded. ”We're putting out an all points for Lowell. As a 'person of interest.' If we can bag him, maybe we'll bag our mystery man at the same time.”
”Are you going to publicly connect the Landry murder to Al Unger's?” Miranda asked.
”Not yet.” He shook his head. ”Hey, not my decision. I don't think it matters, but there are those who think it will make the Bureau look really stupid. And we all know how much the higher-ups at the Bureau like to avoid looking stupid at all costs.”
”But his picture is going out, right? So that people in Ohio will see it . . .” Miranda grabbed his arm.
”There's going to be a press conference at seven tonight, then again at nine in the morning. We're going to have Archer Lowell's picture in every newspaper on the East Coast,” John a.s.sured her. ”Someone has to have seen him.”
”Ohio is not on the East Coast,” Miranda reminded him.
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