Carlos translated. “This is where the sick cows came to get treated.” He pointed at the two men who’d led them to the barn and said, “Señor Garcia only let Ramon and Francisco in here, because he didn’t want his secrets stolen.”

“Makes sense,” Nate said as he entered the large odd-smelling barn and wrinkled his nose. “It almost smells like spilled beer in here.”

One of the brothers smiled and put a finger to his lips. The translator relayed, “A secret ingredient. Makes the cow hungry. The Japanese do similar things.”

Scanning the vast, nearly empty barn, he spotted a large wooden barrel and pointed in its direction. “Is this what you give the sick cows?”

The brothers led them to the barrel. Its lid was locked in place with a heavy padlock. They removed the lock, then opened the lid.

The musty stench of old beer and urine wafted upward. The brothers chuckled when Alex made a gagging sound, handed Nate the evidence collection bag, and backed away with a look of disgust.

Opening the duffel, Nate gave her a sideways glance and muttered, “I’m guessing you want me to do this?”

Alex fled to the far end of the barn without even answering.

Inside the barrel was a brown sludge. One of the men handed Nate a ladle, and he used it to scoop up some of the wretched goop.

“Do you know any of what’s in this?” Nate asked.

Carlos went back and forth with the brothers for a minute. “It contains beer, water, and ‘traditional herbs’—though they claim they don’t know what those herbs were.”

Nate sealed up a sample of the “medicine,” and the brothers locked up the barrel.

“What’s this?” Alex said from across the barn. She was standing beside a small metal box with a spout on one side.

The brothers began talking, and Carlos said, “It was left over from when Señor Garcia had cancer. It had his medicine.”

Nate walked over and studied the thing. It was roughly the size of a desktop computer, painted black, with a chrome spout that had a twist handle. A hose extended from the back and attached to a water tap.

Alex leaned in and whispered, “I saw something like this on the O’Reillys’ kitchen counter.”

Nate’s pulse quickened.

He turned to the two brothers. “We’re taking this in for evidence.”

###

“Good to see you, Juan,” said Nate Carrington as he walked into the FBI lab with a large cardboard box.

“It would be better if it could have waited until morning,” Juan said, bleary-eyed. He had been sound asleep when Nate called and asked to meet him at the lab right away.