“What’s good about finding these old kills—” Steve held up an evidence bag—“is we recovered more bullet fragments. They can be compared against everything else we’ve recovered. There will be a landslide of evidence when we catch him.”

“All you need is the gun,” Tess observed. “What exactly is the profile of a poacher?” she asked.

“Blakely.” Steve and Yarrow spoke in unison.

“Ken’s no dummy.” Steve cast a glance at Yarrow. “He was born and raised here, probably knows the terrain better than anyone. I grew up with him. He killed his first deer when we were twelve.”

“He worked at the butcher shop before he got arrested and sent to prison,” Yarrow added, “so he knows how to cut up an animal. I’m convinced he has his weapon or weapons stashed somewhere. There’s also a good chance that he’s set up a hunting blind in the forest, and that’s where he’s hiding stuff. I’ll find it if it’s the last thing I do.”

Steve hooked his thumbs in his belt. “I can’t say I know everyone in Rogue’s Hollow, but no one name jumps out at me like Ken’s. He came out of prison a different man, more angry and difficult. Living on disability now, claims he can’t work because of headaches. Poaching would supplement his income. Just to cover all the bases, we’re going to talk to Victor Camus. He might have heard something different, or maybe he’s noticed something off. He’s in the forest a lot.”

Tess agreed with that. As a local hunting guide, Victor knew the forest even better than Yarrow. “What should I be looking for?”

“Someone like Ken who doesn’t work suddenly having money,” Yarrow said. “That’s an expensive truck he drives around. Someone good with a gun—the newer kills were spot-on; the guy’s aim is dead-on.”

“Ken was always a good shot.”

Yarrow nodded in agreement. “I want to put up some trail cams.”

He walked to the map of Jackson County hanging on Tess’s office wall. He pointed to a couple of spots on the border of Rogue’s Hollow and BLM property. It was rough country and had partially escaped the fire. “Because of the fire, he’s lost some hunting ground. If he is based here in the Hollow, odds are good that he’ll make his way along these trails eventually. They lead to bear territory.”

“Fine, I don’t have a problem with that.”

“Thanks,” Yarrow said.

“Is there anything else I can help you with?” Tess asked.

“I’ll be sure and let you know if I think of something,” he said and left.

Logan lingered. “How are you doing, Tess? That fire was something.”

“Oh yeah. It could have been much worse. We were lucky that the resources were close, and it was a freak late-season fire.”