and on the counter. “I’ve got a half a pot of coffee from breakfast this morning. I can warm it in the microwave if you care for a cup.”
“No thank you, Jacob. Or do you go by Jake?”
“Everyone, except my ex, calls me Jake. I won’t repeat what she calls me.” I no sooner let it out my mouth when I realized how dumb the cliché sounded. I chalked it up to nerves.
“I’m sorry to bother you, Jake, but we need to follow up all possible leads in a case like this. My brother-in-law owns a service station in Fairplay, and claims a man and older woman with a Golden, like the one that greeted me, stopped at his place yesterday asking questions about a couple kids. My captain was wondering if you saw them on your trip up to Mosquito Pass.”
His brother-in-law? It made me wonder if his captain was some relation too. I thought I’d left nepotism back in the Ozarks. “We didn’t get very far. My Jeep overheated and by the time it cooled off it was too late to go any further. But I can tell you we never saw the kids, or anyone else. Why do you ask? Did they rob a bank or something?”
He missed my futile attempt at humor, and hesitated before answering. It was obvious he was considering his words carefully. “They’ve been reported missing.”
I got up from the table when I heard the microwave beep. I had put a cup in for myself even if he didn’t want one. “Sure I can’t warm you up a cup, Officer?”
“Bob. You can call me Bob, no need to be formal. I only want to ask a few questions.”
I almost laughed when he said his name was Bob, but caught myself in time.
Officer White saw through me. “I know, Jake. I’ve heard more jokes about bobwhites than I can count. My parents had a cruel sense of humor.”
Fred scratched at the door, so I went over to let him in before I made a total fool of myself. “Oh, we did find this,” I said reaching down to rub my hand on Fred’s back. I was too tired to give Fred a bath after our failed treasure hunt and was hoping his swim in the lake would clean off the oil. Now I was glad I hadn’t destroyed what might be evidence.
White looked at my oily hand without touching it. “I’m afraid I don’t understand.”
“Transmission fluid. We stopped by a snowdrift and when my dog rolled in the snow, he came up with this. Someone with a leaky transmission had parked at the same spot before us. But I don’t think it was the kids.”
White stopped writing and looked up at me. His expression screamed “What?” without saying a word. I felt compelled to explain. “I don’t think the truck they were driving had an automatic, so they couldn’t be the people who hiked to a nearby mine.”
“Someone parked a vehicle and then hiked over to a mine? I thought you said you hadn’t seen anyone?”
Bonnie walked in before I could answer. “You all right, Jake?” She was as white as one of my printer papers, and her face was just as blank.
I tried to ease the situation by joking. “Officer White, this is Bonnie, my partner in crime.” Dracula couldn’t have done a better job in draining what little blood that was left in her face.
White rose from his chair, and walked over to shake her hand. “Ah, the third member of the Three Musketeers. Glad to meet you, ma’am. Jake was just telling me about the trip the three of you took yesterday.”
She accepted his hand cautiously, as though she was afraid he’d snap handcuffs on her. “I thought Jake might be in trouble or something when I saw your truck drive by. He had a burglary a couple days ago so one can’t be too careful.”
White turned back toward me. “Burglary?”
“Yeah, someone broke down my lower door and stole a bunch of stuff. I reported it to the Jefferson County sheriff, but they never found the guy.”
“He even told them who it was, and they did nothing,” Bonnie said.
White wrote a couple more notes in his book while answering Bonnie. “I’m sure they haven’t forgotten. Jeffco has a
“No thank you, Jacob. Or do you go by Jake?”
“Everyone, except my ex, calls me Jake. I won’t repeat what she calls me.” I no sooner let it out my mouth when I realized how dumb the cliché sounded. I chalked it up to nerves.
“I’m sorry to bother you, Jake, but we need to follow up all possible leads in a case like this. My brother-in-law owns a service station in Fairplay, and claims a man and older woman with a Golden, like the one that greeted me, stopped at his place yesterday asking questions about a couple kids. My captain was wondering if you saw them on your trip up to Mosquito Pass.”
His brother-in-law? It made me wonder if his captain was some relation too. I thought I’d left nepotism back in the Ozarks. “We didn’t get very far. My Jeep overheated and by the time it cooled off it was too late to go any further. But I can tell you we never saw the kids, or anyone else. Why do you ask? Did they rob a bank or something?”
He missed my futile attempt at humor, and hesitated before answering. It was obvious he was considering his words carefully. “They’ve been reported missing.”
I got up from the table when I heard the microwave beep. I had put a cup in for myself even if he didn’t want one. “Sure I can’t warm you up a cup, Officer?”
“Bob. You can call me Bob, no need to be formal. I only want to ask a few questions.”
I almost laughed when he said his name was Bob, but caught myself in time.
Officer White saw through me. “I know, Jake. I’ve heard more jokes about bobwhites than I can count. My parents had a cruel sense of humor.”
Fred scratched at the door, so I went over to let him in before I made a total fool of myself. “Oh, we did find this,” I said reaching down to rub my hand on Fred’s back. I was too tired to give Fred a bath after our failed treasure hunt and was hoping his swim in the lake would clean off the oil. Now I was glad I hadn’t destroyed what might be evidence.
White looked at my oily hand without touching it. “I’m afraid I don’t understand.”
“Transmission fluid. We stopped by a snowdrift and when my dog rolled in the snow, he came up with this. Someone with a leaky transmission had parked at the same spot before us. But I don’t think it was the kids.”
White stopped writing and looked up at me. His expression screamed “What?” without saying a word. I felt compelled to explain. “I don’t think the truck they were driving had an automatic, so they couldn’t be the people who hiked to a nearby mine.”
“Someone parked a vehicle and then hiked over to a mine? I thought you said you hadn’t seen anyone?”
Bonnie walked in before I could answer. “You all right, Jake?” She was as white as one of my printer papers, and her face was just as blank.
I tried to ease the situation by joking. “Officer White, this is Bonnie, my partner in crime.” Dracula couldn’t have done a better job in draining what little blood that was left in her face.
White rose from his chair, and walked over to shake her hand. “Ah, the third member of the Three Musketeers. Glad to meet you, ma’am. Jake was just telling me about the trip the three of you took yesterday.”
She accepted his hand cautiously, as though she was afraid he’d snap handcuffs on her. “I thought Jake might be in trouble or something when I saw your truck drive by. He had a burglary a couple days ago so one can’t be too careful.”
White turned back toward me. “Burglary?”
“Yeah, someone broke down my lower door and stole a bunch of stuff. I reported it to the Jefferson County sheriff, but they never found the guy.”
“He even told them who it was, and they did nothing,” Bonnie said.
White wrote a couple more notes in his book while answering Bonnie. “I’m sure they haven’t forgotten. Jeffco has a
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