“Let me guess,” Isaac said. “Wiped clean.”

40

DENTON

With Shelby out of my hospital room and sharing the company of one of the officers, I shared some of what I’d learned. “Arthur Shell was a local. In and out of jail. Eli Chandler, on the other hand, is a murder suspect in Florida and California. Not enough evidence to arrest him. Did eighteen months in Kentucky for assault and robbery. Had a string of arrests.” I paused. “He gets around, and we lost our chance to question him.”

“For now,” Isaac said. “I have a personal reason for bringing him in.”

Sheriff Wendall paced. “I pulled up that much. What are you keepin’ from Shelby?”

“Clay Pearce hired Chandler after Shelby was sentenced. He worked at the bakery for six months.”

The sheriff stopped. “Fired or quit?”

“Fired.”

“You indicated Clay Pearce is a rule keeper . . . so much his shoes squeak. Is this his cover?”

“Sheriff, if he’s our man, he’s done a good job of covering it up. I saw the exterior of his bakery, his car and house. Impossible to believe he’s linked to a money embezzlement scheme.”

The sheriff eyed me. “I used to have a dog, sweetest little boy you’d ever want. But at night he killed my chickens and whittled down my cat population. Thought I had me a coyote or a fox. Took me a long time to figure him out ’cause I didn’t suspect him.”

He made sense. “I’ll dig deeper as soon as I get out of here.” Once they left, I’d contact the FIG—Field Intelligence Group—for any and every trace of information available on Eli Chandler and Clay Pearce. And any links between them and Travis Stover.

“Denton, we’re taking off.” Isaac frowned. “You need your rest and trust me when I say, you look like roadkill.”

“I’ve heard the same thing from a couple of others. Are you heading to Houston?”

“Right. Taking Shelby with me. I can protect her while she’s concerned about Aaron. I need to check on him, be there with his wife and son until he’s out of the woods.”

“Give them my best.”

“Sure.” Isaac paused. “One more thing. I’ve been thinking about a remark Shelby made last night. When she called me about the firefight and Aaron’s condition, I told her to take his gun and use it to protect herself. She said she didn’t know how.”

I startled. “Impossible.”

“Right. How does a person kill a man and not know how to use a gun?”

“She has the faith thing going on, so maybe she vowed never to touch one again. But her answer was strange.” I stuck this tidbit into a process-later file, the one labeled Unusual Info about Shelby Pearce.

After Shelby, Sheriff Wendall, and Isaac left, and before I gave in to summoning Nurse Giggles for another shot of relief, Mike Kruse called me. At first I thought he’d heard about the accident, but his reason to reach out took me down a different path.