Chapter 5

Travis and Elwood had hidden in their cabin since raping and killing Cathy Melton. They had spent the first couple of days laughing and bragging, exchanging crude and insulting remarks about the dead woman. But, by now, the thrill had largely worn off and the two were simply horny again.

"You gotta admit though Travis, she was purty tight, especially at first."

"Well the next one is gonna be even tighter."

"We gonna git us another one?"

"Sure. They's plenty whur she come from. But this time we need us a plan. We ain't always gonna be so lucky as to find 'em waitin' beside the road for us."

Gina had two concerns. As well as a murder investigation, she was now having to deal with the media which had swooped into town like vultures. It seemed every one of them wanted an interview, especially the sleazy tabloids. Gina was not used to the notoriety and shunned it whenever possible for she also knew that this was not the time for her relationship with Kim to be made public. They would have to be even more careful.

"Morning Maggie, what you got?" she asked as she entered the office, shooing out two or three reporters.

"Got the results back from the Denver crime lab. The victim died from the arrows, the first one was to the lower abdomen and would have eventually killed her, but it was the second one that killed her instantly."

"Not much new there," mused Gina.

"She was raped orally, anally and vaginally. Semen indicated two rapists. They got enough for DNA samples, so when we catch the SOBs..."

"What about the other stuff?"

"The rope, you can buy at any hardware store. All blood stains were from the victim. The clothes didn't lead anywhere either. The arrows are standard hunting arrows, aluminum shaft with quad points. The points are worn from use and have been sharpened with a file on several occasions which means they weren't purchased recently. You can get them at any sporting goods store or discount department store. There was a partial thumb print on one of them, but too badly smudged to be of any use."

"Do you have any good news?" asked Gina as hopes of an early solution to the case were fleeing rapidly.

"Well, sort of. The boot sole pattern is from a cheap, off brand of boot made in an Indonesian sweat shop. Common as dirt. Every K-Mart in Colorado sells thousands of them."

"And that's your good news?"

"Well, one of the boot soles has an irregular chunk of the sole missing. The crime lab thinks maybe a sharp rock or piece of glass may have cut it away. Anyway, they say if you find the boot, they can match it."

"Oh, great, all we have to do is inspect fifty thousand pairs of boots," Gina said in frustration.

"Maybe not. I saved the best until last. The partial tire impression Sam found may be our best bet. Turns out the tread is fairly new."

"A specialty tire of some sort?" Gina hoped aloud.

"No, it's a cheap, medium duty replacement tire. But it's a truck tire and guess what kind of truck uses a medium duty tire?"

"Pickup," said Gina, "That narrows it down to a few thousand."

"It gets a little better. The tread is from a recap. Lucky for us, there aren't that many recappers still in business. There are only two in the state. The crime lab got a tread match on a tire made by a company over in Owenton. They grind out a lot of tires, but since this one is fairly new and if the perps are from this general area, we might get lucky."

"We need some luck. Can they supply us with dealerships."

"Well, now the bad news. They do have some dealerships they deal with on a regular basis. But they also sell in large lots to independent dealers who back a big truck right up to their door and load a truck full at a time. These independent dealers then drive all over, selling a few tires here, a few there."

"Then how... ?"

"Even the independents have to keep records. There are five in a hundred mile radius. It's gonna take some time but..."

"OK, let me know what you find? If you need some help I'll get Sam to give you a hand."

"Let me see what I get into first. If it looks like it's gonna get unmanageable, I'll holler."

"Anything else?" asked Gina.

"Well, since the tire is a replacement tire..."

"The pickup is probably an older model," deduced Gina.

"And since they are using a very cheap replacement tire on the truck..."

"It's probably an old clunker that isn't driven much at highway speeds."

"Which tells us... ? encouraged Maggie.

"These guys aren't rich and they probably live out in the country."

"And?"

"And what?" asked Gina.

"Put that together with hunting, not target arrows that are used a great deal and..."

"These guys are probably not ranchers. Most ranchers hunt with bows just for sport and only in season. If these guys use bows a lot... they must actually hunt for food."