“We need her, too. Our tech guy has sent us close-ups of the tattoo.”
Jess is in the bathroom throwing water on her face. I tell her who it is and what it’s about while she dries up with a towel. “I’ll be right out,” she says.
Alderson doesn’t wait for Jess. “In addition to the overlap list you created for us, we’ve added all the individuals you arrested while you were on the force,” he says. “We need you and Jess to look through it and identify anyone Jess might have also known in some way.”
A flash of Coleman hitting the ground, a bloom of red spreading from his chest to the carpet, the knife on the floor when he smashed the coffee table on his way down. It all comes zinging back into my mind, even the tequila and lime slices flinging into the air like they’re in slow motion. The smell of nitro. The metallic scent of Coleman’s blood.
Of course, Coleman was never arrested. Railes took that opportunity away from him, so even though Jess and I both knew him insome way, he is not on the list and is not an issue here and now.
They’ve taken seats in Jess’s living room like they belong. Greene on the sofa, Alderson in the easy chair. I’m sitting next to Greene to leave space to my right for Jess. Greene shifts closer to the armrest as if I’m invading her space. She grabs her laptop while Alderson opens a briefcase and fishes out some paper.
He hands me a printout and pulls out another one.
“Here are names of all the people that your sister worked on at Rotical in which either of you enlisted their help or they enlisted yours once you opened your PI practice. Study each name and tell us if there was anything that occurred that could make any of them angry. And we need you to tell us if there’s anyone suspicious that you know of who is not on the list.”
In addition to Paxton’s name, the list has only about ten other names.
“Or anything that jumps out at you for any reason at all would be useful,” Alderson continues. “You both know that with investigative work, sometimes the smallest, oddest thing can lead you somewhere.”
Jess walks into the room as he hands me the second paper. I try to read her, but her face is blank, still drained. The sky outside has become dark and bruised, so I ask her if she can switch on the light so we both can see the lists better. I get through the second sheet of names quickly and hand it to Jess. There’s nothing about anyone that strikes a chord with me other than Paxton. Then I study the one with all my arrests, which is also short. When I see no connection to Jess in any of these names, either, I ask, “What about the tattoo?”
“Yep. Just came through.” Greene angles her laptop toward me.
It’s a little blurry, but it’s a rough, almost hieroglyphic capitalR, depending on how you view it from the position of his arm. On the image, because his arm is reaching for the ground, the letter is upside down, but if the owner of the tattoo were looking down at his own arm, it would be right side up.
“Have you seen this before?”
I squint at the screen.
Greene clicks a button and enlarges it.
“Son of a bitch,” I say, shaking my head in annoyance. “The Crazy R.”
“Clearly anR,” Greene says. “Butcrazy?”
“Yeah, I remember it from when I went to the Ridgeways’ ranch. Just a few days before the sketch came out. TheRis supposed to be viewed by others, so it’s meant to be upside down. An upside-down letter in ranching often meanscrazy. It’s basic, almost a cave-like design, because to brand cattle you have to keep it simple since you’re burning hide. The more complex, the bigger the risk of infection.”
“The Ridgeways?” Jess asks. “You mean Clarissa Haynes’s case?”
“Yes,” I say.
Alderson turns to Jess. “This whole Ridgeway thing. Crosbie has told us about Clarissa, and we’ve got someone from the agency pulling records of Teton Valley’s investigation of it. But how exactly do you know him?”
“Clarissa and her brother, Paxton Rhoads, contacted me initially because of my work at Rotical to see if they actually were blood relatives in addition to being foster siblings. Later, after Clarissa passed away, Crosbie advertised her new PI services on my show. So Paxton called me to see if I thought she might be able to help him. When I spoke highly of Cros, he called her.”
“And this guy”—Alderson points at the screen—“whoever he is, has Ridgeway’s ranch logo on his arm?”
“Yes, apparently,” I say.
“Does Ridgeway have a tattoo like this?” Greene asks.
“No, not on his arm anyway. When I went over to the ranch to talk to him, it was a warm day and he had his sleeves rolled up. I’d recall if he did.”
“Did you notice if anyone else there on the ranch had one?”
“I didn’t see anyone else besides Ridgeway.” I think about surveilling Lasserio the night before. He was wearing a long-sleeve thermal-type shirt. His sleeves were down the entire time.
“Did you look into the forensics reports from Teton County on Clarissa’s investigation like I asked you to?” I ask.
