Silence. “I hadn’t thought about that,” Larry said.
“Just a second,” Cody said, clicking again on the calendar. “What is it, the thirtieth of June today?”
Larry chuckled. “Yes.”
“Well, according to the calendar, the biggest and longest trip of the year is this one called ‘Back of Beyond: The Ultimate Yellowstone Backcountry Adventure.’ A whole bunch of nights in the middle of nowhere.” Cody paused. “It leaves tomorrow, July 1.”
Said Larry, “So if our man was headed south to Yellowstone to go on a trip with Jed McCarthy, even five nights ago, this would be the only one he could go on now.”
“Yeah,” Cody said, “because according to this calendar, Jed was finishing up the Hoodoo Basin Trip then. He couldn’t have been on that.”
“Boy,” Larry said, “we’re taking a mighty leap here. Just because Hank was looking at a Web site on the night he died, we’re saying the killer was headed to Yellowstone. I’m not sure I can buy that one without some kind of corroboration.”
Cody groaned his assent. Then: “I wish that damned trip didn’t leave tomorrow morning. I wonder if it’s possible to get ahold of Jed and find out who’s on it? See if Hank’s name is on his guest list? Jed probably has a pretty complete manifest or whatever you call it. We can run all the names and see if any of them came from this direction, or if anyone has a record, or if we can link him up with Hank in any way.”
“And how do you propose to do
“Police work,” Cody said.
“Ha ha.”
“Don’t go anywhere,” Cody said, “I’ll call you right back.”
He punched in the telephone number for Wilderness Adventures. They were based in Bozeman, meaning their headquarters was well outside the northern border of the park. If Jed was leading the trip the next morning, it was unlikely he’d be in Bozeman, but…
Cody got a voice mail. An erudite man’s voice with a touch of country twang: “You’ve reached the voice mail of Jed McCarthy’s Wilderness Adventures, the home of the only licensed multinight outfitter in Yellowstone National Park. We’re on a pack trip right now so we’re unable to take your call. And because of the nature of the trip, I won’t be able to check messages for a week. Please go to our Web site and-”
He hung up and called Larry back.
“No one is there,” Cody said.
“It’s ten at night, Cody. What did you expect? I’m sure there’ll be an office manager or somebody there tomorrow.”
“Don’t be so sure,” Cody said. “These outfitter types are generally mom-and-pop operations. Believe me, I know. I grew up with them. My uncle Jeter used to manage his whole outfitting operation from scraps of paper he carried around in his shirt pocket. Jed is probably more sophisticated than that, but what if there isn’t anyone to check the files tomorrow and see who is on the trip? We can’t wait a week to find out who went. What if our killer is on this backcountry trip?”
“Then he’ll still be there when they come back,” Larry said. “If any of this pans out we can be waiting for them wherever Jed’s base camp is located. That’ll give us time to run this all down, see if any of it makes sense. Then we’ll need to bring in the state boys and the Park Service rangers. We can’t just go charging down there.”
“Hmmpf.”
“You know we need more time and a hell of a lot more corroboration,” Larry said. “We start in Bozeman, at his office. He’s got to have someone there answering phones and keeping the business running while he’s out on a trip. Probably a receptionist or bookkeeper. We can call down and ask the sheriff or PD in Bozeman to be there when they open tomorrow morning.”
Cody moaned.
Larry said, “This is quite a leap, Cody. Just because that page was on his computer doesn’t mean the killer is on the trip.”
“I
Larry said, “If somebody, say Dougherty, brought to you what we’ve got so far I can hear you laughing your head off.”
Cody snorted. “I hate it when you’re right.”
“I know.”
Cody suddenly wanted a tall triple bourbon and water. He said, “If this killer is on the trip, though, how do we know he won’t be a danger to everyone else on it? This Web site says the trip is full. So we’re talking maybe a dozen people. It would be horrible if this guy is some kind of psycho-like the kind of person who would kill the most gentle man in the world and burn his place down around him. If we don’t go at this angle hard we may be putting innocent people in harm’s way.”
“There’s that,” Larry said. “But still… I mean, I can’t spend all night on this and you got yourself suspended.”
“I know,” Cody said gruffly. “Jeez, I hate being in my house now. Can I ask you a favor?”
Larry sighed. “Man, I’m doing overtime
“We need to play catch-up,” Cody said, ignoring him. “Call RMIN and ViCAP, see if there are any other crimes similar to the Winters murder.”
RMIN (pronounced “Rimin”) was the Rocky Mountain Information Network, a regional clearinghouse of incidents recorded in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and New Mexico. ViCAP was the Violent Criminal Apprehension Program of the FBI. Both organizations had analysts on staff who could research similar crimes. ViCAP had profilers available as well as a password-protected Web site that could be accessed by law enforcement agencies after hours.
“You’re grasping at straws,” Larry said. “We can’t do much more until tomorrow, Cody. Once we talk to the receptionist and hear back from RMIN and ViCAP,
“I know. But that trip leaves tomorrow morning. Call those guys, Larry. Get things going.”
“You owe me so many dinners,” Larry said, and slammed down his phone.
While he waited, he did another Google search on the outfitting company, hoping he could find another contact, maybe an after-hours number. He assumed Jed and his people and horses were already in Yellowstone at their base camp, likely out of cell phone range. But surely he would have a way to communicate with his office, Cody thought. Like to check on clients who were late or didn’t show up? Although he couldn’t find any way to make contact other than the office number, e-mail address, and Web site, he did find an old online article from the Bozeman
Even though he couldn’t see how it would be of much help, Cody read it. It was from February, five years before.
Bozeman newcomer Jedediah McCarthy announced on Wednesday that he was awaiting National Park Service approval to acquire the assets of Wilderness Adventures, the longtime outfitting operation specializing in Yellowstone Park pack trips. McCarthy said he intended to continue the legacy established by Frank “Bull” Mitchell, who ran the company for the past 32 years.
McCarthy stated he planned to maintain the quality of the company and perhaps-with NPS approval-expand the available multiday excursions into the most remote reaches of Yellowstone Park.
“It’s time,” Mitchell told the
