Dead Even - Mariah Stewart [83]
“If he was walking a quarter mile back and forth on this road, maybe someone saw him,” Will noted.
“Could be. We’ll be stopping cars for the next few days, see if anyone remembers seeing someone walking along the road, or a vehicle parked up along that dirt road. This narrow old road is mostly used by the old-timers around here. Most of the new folks going between Plainsville and Route One will use the Plainsville–Junction Road. A guy travels this road every day for fifty years, he’ll know when he sees something that’s out of place. We’re setting up an officer right now to stop cars and start asking questions. Best we can hope for is that someone will have seen something that struck him or her as being unusual. Maybe get a description we can go with.”
“You’ll keep our office apprised of your findings?” Will asked.
“Sure thing.” The tech nodded, then went back to work.
“How did Lowell do this, Will? He doesn’t drive,” she reminded him as they walked back toward the barn. “How did he get here? How did he go back and forth from wherever he’s staying? How is he getting around?”
“Your guess is as good as mine.” They walked along, both thinking. Finally, Will said, “I think it’s time to put out an APB on Lowell.”
“I totally agree. Let’s see if we can flush him out. I do think we should check in with the boss, though, find out what his thoughts are. He still may not want to publicly connect Lowell with Unger. The brass at the Bureau has to be feeling real touchy about this.”
“Well, there’s John, at the back of the barn. Looks like he finished his little chat with the chief.”
“He’s looking at us.” Miranda waved, and John lifted a hand in response.
“He’s waiting for us,” Will murmured.
“Sure looks like it. You think that’s a good thing, or a bad thing?”
“Only one way to find out.” He quickened his stride, and she moved a little faster to keep up with him.
“Hey,” she called as they drew nearer.
“Anything interesting out there?” John nodded in the direction of the trees.
“Lots of footprints. Looks like the killer—whom we presume to be Archer—spent a lot of time out there, just watching the farm. Of course, it would have been nice if the police had been watching him as carefully, but I guess that’s something that you’ll have to take up with their chief, seeing as how you’re his new best friend,” Will said dryly.
Before John could react to that, Miranda jumped in. “The techs have tracked the footprints back and forth through the woods. They think he might have parked whatever he was driving on a small access road off the county road that runs parallel to the one we drove in on.” She paused long enough for John to notice.
“What?” he asked.
“Archer Lowell doesn’t drive,” she told him.
“Archer Lowell doesn’t have a driver’s license,” Will corrected her. “People get stopped driving without a license every day. You think he cares about that?”
“He would know that if he got caught driving, he’d be pulled in, which will violate his probation.”
“Do you honestly think he cares about that now?” Will laughed out loud. “He’s just killed two people.”
“I think he believes he’ll get away with the killings. But he won’t be able to find a way around the probation violations once they go on his record.”
“You have to be kidding.” Will stared at her.
“Look, we’re talking about a really unsophisticated kid here. He thinks he’s already gotten away with murder, Will. I really think he believes if he can avoid drawing attention to himself, he’ll be fine.”
“Well, there is one other possibility,” Will said.
“What’s that?”
“Maybe someone’s helping him.”
“Someone?” Miranda frowned. “Someone like who? You think there was a fourth person involved?”
“I think we were right all along about Lowell not being smart enough to pull all this off on his own. I think someone’s been giving him a little guidance. And that same person may be acting as his chauffeur.”
“You could be right, Will.” John nodded. “We’re putting out an all points for Lowell. As a ‘person of interest.’ If we can bag him, maybe we’ll bag