At Risk by Kit Ehrman Page B

us, carrying a black duffel
bag with HCPD stenciled on the side in one hand and a heavy-looking
aluminum case in the other, we walked into the barn.
    I glanced over my shoulder when one of them
whistled.
    The uniformed cop adjusted his mirrored
sunglasses. "How many horses you got in this place?"
    "In both barns, one hundred and ninety
three."
    He whistled again, then grinned at his
partner. "Look like they're in jail, don't they?"
    The plainclothes cop didn't respond, and I
wondered what was eating him. We stopped at the tack room door.
    "They broke in here," I said. "But we can get
in through the undamaged door in the other aisle. I nailed this one
shut, because I didn't want the employees or boarders to see what's
inside."
    "And what's that?" the uniformed cop
said.
    I glanced at my reflection in his glasses and
realized how disconnected I felt because I couldn't see his eyes. I
told him about Boris. "I was hoping to keep it quiet. Some of the
boarders loved that cat."
    "Did you touch anything?"
    "No. Oh, yeah. The light switch."
    "Humph. We'll start processing the scene, but
I can't guarantee we'll be done in time for what you want."
    I skirted a puddle in the wash rack and
ducked under the divider that allowed two horses to be bathed at
once. "We can cut through here," I said over my shoulder, "to get
to the other aisle." I turned in time to see them hesitate. The
grumpy guy crinkled his nose and proceeded as if he were in alien
territory. Smiling to myself, I took the opportunity to rinse my
hands under the spigot. A minty scent, left over from liniments and
leg braces, clung to the walls.
    The uniformed cop stood beside me as I
unlocked the door. "You'll need to make a preliminary list of the
items that were stolen and their estimated value."
    "It'll be a rough estimate," I said. "Very
rough, like not even in the ballpark kind of rough."
    He grinned. "That'll do for now. You can
submit a more accurate inventory later."
    As I opened the door and stepped back, a dark
green Crown Victoria pulled alongside the patrol car. Detective
Ralston climbed out and clicked the door shut. His wrinkled suit
hung loosely off his shoulders. He looked as if he hadn't made it
to bed the night before, or if he had, he'd slept in his
clothes.
    He introduced himself to his Howard County
counterparts, mentioned Detective Linquist, then looked at me.
"What've we got, Steve?"
    For an answer, I pushed the door open with my
boot. Detective Ralston walked inside, looked around, and came back
out.
    He yawned. "Did you touch anything?"
    I rubbed my thumb across my fingertips. "The
light switch." I pointed across the room. "Over there." He looked
at me as if I should have known better. "I didn't in the other tack
rooms, though," I said and thought I saw a glimmer of amusement in
his eyes.
    "How many people have access to this
room?"
    "Fifty-plus."
    Ralston grunted, and the plainclothes cop,
who was standing behind him, scowled. His expression said loud and
clear that he thought he was wasting his time.
    "If the burglars had any sense," Ralston
continued, "they wore gloves."
    "Even if they didn't," the plainclothes cop
said, "with all that traffic, it won't matter."
    Ralston looked at the man, and a muscle
twitched in his jaw. "When's Gary gonna show?" he said.
    The cop shrugged.
    After the Howard County team stepped into the
tack room and dumped their equipment on the floor, Ralston went
back to his car. I separated out four flakes of hay, fed the last
two horses at the far end of the aisle, and squinted at Ralston's
car. He was on the phone, and I would have bet half my paycheck
that he was bending Detective Sgt. Gary Linquist's ear.
    Five minutes later, Ralston strolled back
into the barn and stood looking into the tack room. He folded his
arms across his chest and watched the uniformed officer take
pictures. The glare of the flash bounced off the walls and the
ceiling . . . and Boris. I checked my watch. Seven-ten. It would be
a miracle if the crew