Land of Wolves by Johnson Craig

Author:Johnson, Craig
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2019-09-16T16:00:00+00:00

9

“Did you check the room?”

“No, I talked to the woman at the front desk who reported the car and then came up here and knocked on the door, but nobody answered.”

Pulling the magnetic card from the paper sleeve, I held it in my hand as I rapped on the wooden surface of room 214. “Mr. Lott, it’s Walt Longmire, the sheriff.” There was no answer, so I knocked again. “Mr. Lott?” I slipped the card through the lock mechanism and pushed the door open wide.

The room was clean, but he’d been here.

The bed had been slept in, and there was a sports duffel sitting on a chair; a laptop on the desk nearby. Taking a few steps farther, I walked into the bathroom and could see that his personal items and a Dopp kit were on the shelf above the sink. He’d taken a shower, a damp towel still hanging over the edge of the tub.

Turning around, I could see Sancho taking a closer look at the nightstand. “Something?”

“A notepad with a local number written on it.”

“Mobile phone?”

“Nope.”

“We’ll have to check if he made any calls through the front.”

He gestured toward the desk. “What about the computer?”

“We’ll look at it, but only after we’re sure he’s really missing.”

“Want me to phone the number into Ruby and find out who it is?”

“I’ve got a suspicion, but go ahead.”

He got out his cell and followed me as I vacated the room, careful to close the door behind us. Walking down the steps, I stopped at the front desk and spoke with the perky young woman there who was inordinately excited to be in on the crime of the century. “He only paid for the one night?”

She nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, but that’s not unusual. Sometimes people aren’t sure what they’re doing and then pay for another night. Housekeeping knocked on the door, but there was no answer, so they opened up and saw all the personal items and immediately closed it.”

I propped an elbow onto the counter. “When was the last time you saw him?”

“I didn’t, but Bobby checked him in last night. I came in at eight this morning, but I never saw him at the breakfast buffet or anything.”

“Is Bobby around?”

“No, but I can get him on the phone.” She reached for the receiver and dialed. “Normally I don’t make much of a fuss, but the car had been there all day and I was getting worried, so I kept calling up to the room and when nobody answered . . .” Her attention returned to the phone. “Bobby, the sheriff is here, and he wants to talk to you.”

She handed me the phone. “Hey, Bobby, Walt Longmire. You checked Mr. Lott in last night?”

The voice was young and sounded tired. “Uh huh.”

“And what time was that?”

He thought about it. “Late, like after midnight.”

“Did you ever hear or see anything of him after that?”

“No, not a peep.”

“Okay. Well, if you think of something, could you give me a call?” I handed the phone back to the young woman.

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