He nodded. “It’s human nature. There would be signs of a struggle.”
“It’s possible they were strung up before they were killed,” I suggested.
“Not likely,” Landon replied. “It’s harder to pull up dead weight, but a human being isn’t going to sit there and let themselves be strung up to a tree like that. It’s just not plausible.”
“It’s not,” Evan agreed. “I’ve been looking for tracks. I’m not the world’s best tracker by any stretch of the imagination—not even close—but I can read certain things … like footprints in the dirt. There’s only one set out here.”
Landon jerked up his chin. “You found tracks?”
Evan nodded.
“Where?” I asked.
The vampire motioned for us to follow him. “This way.”
He led us through a narrow opening, then stopped at the base of a huge maple tree. “Look here.” He pointed at the ground.
Landon aimed his flashlight at the spot Evan indicated and frowned. “I thought you said you found tracks.”
“What do you think that is?” Evan pointed to the soft earth, where one track was clearly visible.
“Doesn’t look like a boot track.”
“That’s because it’s a bare foot … and it slid.” Evan demonstrated by leaning back and stretching his left foot out. “Someone was in a hurry and the ground is wet from the winter thaw. I believe this track was made on the escape. Whoever it was heard you coming through the woods.”
“You didn’t see anything?” I challenged.
Evan shook his head. “I thought—maybe just for a second—that I smelled something weird. It was fleeting.”
“What might you have smelled?” Landon asked.
Evan extended his hands. “It was a weird earthy scent, almost like mud.”
“Is there a body of water around here?” Landon asked. The question was pointed at me.
“There is,” I replied. “There’s a lake that way, about half a mile away. There’s a river there somewhere.” I gestured to the west. “There are little tributaries that branch off from the river.”
Landon nodded. “Could that be what you smelled?”
“Neither the river nor the lake is close enough for me to smell mud,” Evan replied. “I’m good, but not that good unless we’re dealing with blood.”
“You scented the blood right away,” I realized. “You knew they were dead before you even left to look for them.”
“I suspected they were dead,” Evan clarified. “I couldn’t differentiate between the blood. I thought that one of them died, but when I saw the scene, I knew.”
I nodded, my gaze going back in the direction of the bodies. “So all we have is a weird footprint that looks mostly human but maybe not and three men who were likely lured from their vehicle into the woods, killed, and strung up in a matter of minutes.”
Landon placed a small flag in the ground. When the crime scene team came through, they would photograph and measure the footprint.
“What are you thinking?” Evan asked him after a few seconds.
“I’m working through it,” Landon said. “The investigator in me thinks this should be the work of several men. The husband of a witch thinks we’re dealing with some crazy paranormal that is going to terrorize the town before my wife has to take it down.”
“I could just as easily take it down as your wife,” Evan drawled. “Don’t fixate on that part if it’s going to upset you.”
Landon chuckled hollowly. “I don’t know what to think about it,” he admitted. “It’s weird.”
“Let’s go back to the bodies,” I prodded. “I think there’s something there yet.”
