“At home. Only Bo was there, drunk and ornery.”
“So you’re going back to talk to Wyatt later?”
“He’s just a kid.”
“A kid who trespasses on my property and shoots at my dog.”
“Probably thought it was a deer.”
“He shouldn’t be on my property, period. And what happened to gun safety?”
Warnock sighed. “Guess I’ll have to speak with him.”
“Sometime today would be good,” I said, unable to hold my tongue any longer. “And you should check the property for clear glass bottles and gasoline.”
“Ma’am, most everyone in the county has a can of gasoline on their property.”
“Well, Bo won’t, not if he or one of his kids threw it at Nolan’s cottage last night.”
“Uh…right.”
“So you should get back out there and take a look before he sobers up enough to drive to the gas station for more.”
“Wouldn’t I need a warrant for that?”
“Yes, but you can ask to take a look around, and if he says no, then it’s more likely he has something to hide, isn’t it?”
“I guess so.” Warnock nodded slowly. “Then what should I do?”
“What do you think you should do?”
Didn’t they have training for this? Like, cop school? Even Uncle Porter was easier to work with than this fool—at least Porter was vaguely smart and sneaky as fuck.
“Uh, I should ask Wyatt where he was at last night?”
“And…”
“And?”
“And do you just believe everything he tells you?”
“I guess I’d better try to verify that information.”
“Exactly.” I flicked my wrist toward the patrol car. “And don’t forget to interview Marielle Marten as well—she did a less-than-stellar job with the decorating, and we cancelled her contract last week.” Jez, Storm, and I had discussed whether to mention Marielle, but as it seemed she’d been bad-mouthing Nolan around town, keeping quiet about the dispute would only attract suspicion. Or maybe not, with these doofuses. Whatever, she wouldn’t be answering questions anyway. “Off you go.”
“Take backup when you speak with Bo,” Nolan advised. “Get Buddy Eames to go with you.”
The idiot headed for his car.
I was damn glad Ari was here. If Deputy Warnock were in charge of the investigation, the case would never get solved, would it? The sheriff’s office barely had a dozen brain cells between them, and Warnock seemed to have left most of them in his locker this morning. In between researching Marielle and the Hayes family, I’d looked up the twenty-nine deputies who worked in Amador County, and their solve rate was pitiful. At least Deputy Eames was big enough to be intimidating and soft enough to take a punch without suffering serious damage.
Now, Ari sidled over. “That was painful to listen to.”
“We don’t get much crime out here,” Nolan said. “Most folks are just glad that Deputy Warnock prefers sleeping to traffic enforcement.”
“At least if he’s focusing on the Hayes family, he’ll be out of the way. And from what Alexa says, they’re guilty of something, even if it’s not hurling a fire bomb.”
“You’re sure it wasn’t Wyatt? Or even Tucker? He’s younger, but he’s still trouble.”
