Nalchek shrugged. “We’ll see.” He moved ahead of them down the trail.
“Hi.” Margaret smiled at them as they came into view. “Isn’t it pretty here?” She was sitting cross-legged on the bank of the stream as they turned the bend of the trail. “It’s like a secret garden. Not like the one in the book. A sort of misty green haven. I bet you’ve been here before, Nalchek.”
“A couple times.”
“I thought so. Since you said it was your grandfather’s land.”
“Even though he owned it, I wasn’t given any more privileges than the town kids. He treated this forest as open land, and anyone who respected the environment was allowed to use it.”
“Sounds like a nice guy.” She looked at the stream. “I like it here.”
“You covered a lot of ground to get here,” Nalchek said without expression.
“I was tracking. I didn’t know where he was going to lead me.”
“Who was going to lead you?” Eve asked quietly.
“Can I make a guess?” Nalchek asked.
Margaret smiled. “Tell me.”
“A coyote.”
Margaret chuckled. “You did take those soil samples.”
He nodded. “I put a rush on them, and they came back genus Canis latrans. Coyote. Not that it means anything.”
“No, because it’s not quite accurate,” she said. “Sajan is half-coyote, half-wolf. The two don’t mate very often, but it happened in this case. Though I think Sajan considers himself a coyote. Coyotes are fairly solitary animals. But when he hunts in a pack, it’s with coyotes.”
“Sajan,” Joe repeated. “Your coyote has a name.”
“Maybe. In a way. It’s how he thinks of himself. Or how I interpret it.” She looked back at the stream. “He likes it here. He often hunts small rodents and stays here by the stream for days.”
“When he’s not guarding the grave?” Nalchek asked.
“You’re having trouble with that,” Margaret said soberly. “So am I. So is he.”
“Yeah, you said he didn’t know why he was still guarding the grave after Jenny’s bones were removed,” Eve said. “And he didn’t see Jenny die?”
“No, only afterward, when her killer was digging the grave and placing her in it. I believe he felt … drawn. It confused him. He didn’t know why he was there. And afterward, it would have been natural for him to just wander away.” She shook her head. “That didn’t happen. He stayed close to her. He protected the grave. He thought it might have something to do with the man, the killer.”
“What?”
“Because he kept coming back here.”
“To the grave?”
“Yes. It went on for years. He wouldn’t come for months at a time, then he’d be back.”
“No other reason? He was just checking on the grave?”
“Yes, it made Sajan nervous. He didn’t know what he was supposed to do if the killer started to disturb the grave. But he never did. That’s it. I’ve told you all I know. All he knows.” She made a face. “It’s not much, is it?” Her gaze shifted to Nalchek. “But it might tell you why Jenny’s killer was nervous about your wandering around the woods looking for evidence and was keeping an eye on you.”
“You’re saying he might have not been sure that he hadn’t lost something that might have incriminated him?” Nalchek said.
“I’m not saying anything except that he was on guard while he was in those woods. Perhaps he was worried you might find something that would have given you a hint about Jenny’s identity.”
“Then he might be back,” Joe said. “Maybe all we have to do is wait.”
Eve shook her head. “We don’t know what he’s going to do. That might not be at the top of his agenda.”
“The little girl…” Margaret said. “You believe he’ll go after her first?”
“What little girl?” Nalchek said sharply. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“I’ll tell you in just a minute,” Eve said. “It’s part of—”