“It’s hard to say. I would have to go along with what the coroner said as far as the drowning being accidental unless we find evidence that says otherwise. They were fully clothed. I’ve got the pictures of them after the one man was pulled from the water. The others were already decomposing on the riverbank.”
“Okay. So they weren’t swimming if they were wearing all their clothes.”
“I would say more likely they were boating, maybe fishing when their craft overturned and none of them were wearing life jackets. They were wearing lightweight jackets, sneakers, socks, T-shirts, and jeans.”
“Wedding rings?”
“There was no jewelry found on any of them.”
“Wallets?”
“No. They might have left them in a cabin or a car, not wanting to get them wet or lose them. We’re checking all the area cabins but haven’t succeeded in locating where the men might have been staying. No cars in the vicinity that would have belonged to them either. All were accounted for.”
“No boat found?”
“No. Which makes it my case. I’ve been looking into any stolen boats that might be resold in the area. The whole scenario leads me to believe someone found the boat downriver and took it. I can’t think of any other explanation.”
“But no one has reported the men missing.”
“Which leads me to believe they were here on a fishing trip and aren’t expected to return for a while. Maybe they didn’t tell anyone where they were going to be. Hopefully, once you’re able to draw the sketches and we share them with the public, we can get somewhere with the case.”
“What about DNA?”
“That’ll take a while, and if they’re not in any system, it won’t lead us anywhere either.”
“Okay, then I guess it’s up to me to help you learn who they are.”
He smiled at her. “Exactly.”
As soon as they arrived back at the bureau, a brunette dressed in a brown suit and sensible shoes hurried to catch up to them. She was all smiles.
“You’re taking Willy’s place, aren’t you?” the woman asked, joining them and offering her hand. “You’ve got to do it.”
Sierra shook her hand and smiled. “You must be Tori.” Sierra hadn’t ever seen her before, but she smelled like a red wolf.
“Yes, and you must be Sierra. I’m so glad to meet you. Adam’s told me all about you.”
Sierra glanced at Adam. His ears turned a little red. She hoped he hadn’t told everyone about her failed relationship.
“Well, not everything. He just mentioned you had retired from the army and your brother’s here too. And your parents are still living in San Antonio. Here it is, my first day on the job, and Adam hands me all his casework and tells me to get right on it and solve them.”
That didn’t sound like Adam.
“Your brother had called him, tasking him with locating you. That was most important, for sure. Adam spent most of the day calling airlines, then hotels.” Tori smiled. “If I ever go missing, I hope someone is that dedicated in searching for me.”
“With a pack behind you, you can count on it,” Sierra said, not wanting Tori to get the wrong impression about Adam. What if he wanted to date Tori? “Adam said your household goods are being delivered on the weekend. If you need some assistance in sorting things out, I would love to help. I just went through that rigmarole a while ago myself.”
Tori smiled and looked relieved at the same time. “I’d love that. I absolutely hate moves, and if I had to do this by myself, half the boxes won’t be unpacked for over a year.”
Sierra laughed. She liked the pretty brunette already.
“I’ll help too, if you think I won’t be in the way,” Adam said.
“Nope, that works for me too. Maybe we can order sandwiches for lunch while we’re emptying boxes,” Tori said. “My treat.”
“Sounds good to me,” Sierra said.
Adam agreed.
“I guess I’d better work on these sketches if you could give me the photos of the men when they were first found, Adam,” Sierra said.
Adam went over to his desk and found the file on them, then handed them to her.
She glanced at the new arrivals walking into the police bureau.
“It looks like an eyewitness just came in for you to do your magic, Sierra,” Adam said.
“Okay, that first then.” She took the files and set them on her new desk.
A police officer was escorting a teen and a middle-aged woman who looked like an older version of the girl, both blond, both blue eyed, both anxious-looking as the mother rubbed her hands and the teen looked nervously about.
The officer escorting them said to Sierra, “She witnessed a robbery at a drugstore. Can you draw a sketch of the alleged assailant?”
Now that, she could do.
* * *
Tori sat down at her desk and got on the phone to check on a case while Adam was drawn to watch the way Sierra put her young witness at ease. She began by asking her about hobbies and what her favorite books were and what she loved to watch on TV.
He was much more cut to the chase. Nothing but the facts, ma’am. So it was interesting to see how she worked a witness. The teen had been nervous, subdued, but now she was smiling, animated, talking about everything…but the robbery.
Tori joined him at his desk and smiled down at him. “She’s good at it, isn’t she? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a sketch artist who could bring a traumatized witness out of his or her shell that fast.”
“Yeah, she’s good. That’s why she likes to do the sketches of eyewitness accounts.”
Sierra talked to the girl for a long time and continued to work on the sketch. Then she showed it to the witness. She pointed at the nose and Sierra erased and worked over it again. Then she showed the girl the picture again.
The girl nodded. Sierra had her sign the picture on the back, behind the area of the face so that no one would see it or reveal the witness’s name when the picture was scanned. Since it was considered official police evidence, it had to adhere to the chain of command. Sierra thanked the girl and her mother, and they left the building while Sierra handed the sketch to Adam. He scanned it into the system, and the original would be kept on file in the evidence room.
He’d heard the girl remark that the man had a mole on his chin, but Sierra hadn’t added it. “No mole, eh?”
“No. As much as I want to really make these look exactly like the person that is described to me, if someone doesn’t recall the mole or some other feature I’ve added, they might think it’s not the right person, when it really is. It makes it less likely for the public as a whole to recognize the alleged assailant. More of a sketch makes it better.”