When the man said nothing more, Wolf said, “Yeah? What’s that?”
“I took an old broom handle and drilled a hole in it. Screwed an old bowl of mine onto the end. Now I just fill it up with food, push it under, pull it back. Hah!” The man clapped with delight. When he laughed it sounded like an engine failing to turn over. His eyes landed on Deputy Cain. “Well, hello. Who’s this?”
"When did Mr. Hammes leave?" Wolf asked.
The man cocked his head and pulled up his pants high on his hips. "Heck must've been…what’s today?”
“Tuesday,” Rachette said.
“Then it was a week ago. He left last Tuesday. No, Wednesday.”
“And you’re not sure if it was Aspen or Vail?” Wolf asked.
The man thought. “Vail. Definitely Vail. Because he mentioned Edwards, too. You know, the town down the highway from Vail? Got that real expensive hoity-toity ski resort there. Beaver Creek. I used to ski there before they had all the ritzy places that cost ten-grand a night, or whatever it is.” He looked at Cain. “I used to be a ski patroller back in my day for Rocky Points.”
Wolf cleared his throat. “Are you sure he’s been gone since last Tuesday or Wednesday? Did he come back at any time?”
"You know, funny you should ask that. The dog barks if a squirrel farts, you know what I’m saying? But he really goes off if somebody comes over. That’s what brought me out to look and see what you guys were doing. Anyway, I heard the dog barking like this last night. I was in bed and it woke me up. I was going to come see what was going on, but he stopped before I got my shoes on. Only person in the world that can get that thing to shut up is Rick. He said he was coming back today or tomorrow, so I figured he might have been back.”
“Did you see anybody?” Wolf asked. “Did you come out and look?”
“Nah. Once the dog shut up I went back to sleep. Besides, I can’t see my wiener from my face at night. Probably for the better.” He looked at Rachette and laughed heartily again.
Rachette gave him a thumbs up.
“Did you hear anybody?” Wolf asked. “A vehicle?”
“Nah.”
The man eyed Deputy Cain again, looking like he was going to say something.
"We appreciate you speaking with us, sir.” Wolf pulled a card from his back pocket and handed it over. “Could you please give me a call if you see or hear Rick Hammes come home again?"
“Yeah, sure. You got it, Sheriff…David Wolf?”
“That’s right.” Wolf shook his hand. “And I’m sorry I didn’t ask you your name.”
“I’m Ned. Ned Larson. Say, you related to Dan Wolf? Sheriff from way back?”
Wolf nodded. “That was my father.”
“He was a good man.”
“Yes, sir. He was, thanks for saying. And if you could give me a call I’d appreciate it.”
“Right. You got it.” The man turned to Piper Cain and winked.
She pulled Rachette’s move and gave Ned a thumbs up.
They parted with the neighbor and walked back toward house. The dog had stopped barking as it squatted down and relieved itself once again.
“Got the shits, buddy?” Rachette asked.
Wolf averted his eyes as they walked past, because clearly Rachette was right on the money.
Yates put his phone to his ear, plugging the other with a finger as the barking started back up. After a brief conversation he hung up and turned to them. “That was Lorber. They’re almost at Mary Dimitri’s.”
Chapter 13
Wolf’s feet hurt from standing for over an hour in front of Mary Ellen Dimitri’s house. He rolled his neck, sneaking a glance toward the group of deputies talking near the side fence. He could have joined them, but while the deputies let off some steam, he felt obligated to maintain a vigil against the growing number of neighbors gathering on the street. They kept their distance, but Wolf had already turned away one overly curious man.
Deputy Cain was laughing heartily as Yates told a story, and Wolf wondered if she was interested in the detective. She was probably closer to Yates’s age than his. She seemed to be in her mid-thirties, but she had that ageless quality about her. She must have eaten incredibly healthy.
On his next inhale Wolf felt his own gut push against his belt. Over the last year his activity level had definitely dropped. He was going to get back into the gym as soon as this case was over.
“Stop staring.”
Wolf started and turned to see Lorber standing next to him, somehow appearing from the thin Colorado air.
“What did you find in there?” Wolf asked, ignoring the smirk on Lorber’s lips.
When Lorber’s grin disappeared the exhaustion shone through again. “I’m setting time of death at twenty-four to forty-eight hours. I’ll be able to get more specific once I get her on the slab and cut into her.”
Lorber had a way with objectifying the dead like no other. Wolf had once decided this was the man’s defense mechanism that allowed him to do the job.
Another smattering of raindrops fell from the sky and Wolf zipped his jacket a few inches to his chin. Behind the clouds the sun was dropping lower in the sky, and with it the temperature.
“Daphne will crack into the phone,” Lorber said, “but I agree with you: it’s an older model so it shouldn’t be able to hold a charge very long. It was sitting at about nineteen-percent power when we bagged it. I’m leaning more towards she was killed last night. We’ll get an outgoing text or call. We’ll probably be able to pinpoint time of death by that alone. Nobody goes more than a second without messing with those devices anymore, and
