Read Online Nothing To Sniff At (Animal Instincts Book 5) by Chloe Kendrick - Free Book Online
Authors: Chloe Kendrick
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forensics.
Instead, I opted to go with the one area that I knew best – the dog. Someone had bought a dog for the express purpose of swapping dogs with Barkley. I could continue to follow those clues, which technically were not associated with an active police case.
Feeling more confident, I headed back to the breeder’s house to ask some questions.
The old man was at the door this time when I got out of my car. “Well?” Johnson asked, expecting a full story from that one word.
I explained that I’d found Barkley at the second house on the list, and he’d been returned to the police. I also told him that the house had been cleared out and that there were no signs of either the buyer or the dog now. I wanted to learn why he’d switched dogs so that I could make sure that Barkley stayed safe.
He made a noise and motioned for me to follow him. I walked down the hall of the main level of the house. I still had yet to see or hear a Beagle, despite his status as a breeder. We entered the same room we entered during my last visit. He pulled up the keyboard and started typing.
In a few seconds, he’d pulled up a record. I was looking at a lot of data and a copy of an Ohio’s driver’s license. I had been so sure that the buyer would have used a fake name that I’d geared myself up for a massive hunt for his real name and location. Yet here it was.
“I always keep records on my buyers, especially those I haven’t done business with before. Most of the time they’re hunters, but the requirement of making them give me a valid driver’s license keeps them from using the dogs for fighting. Beagles aren’t good fighters, but anything can fight if they’re hungry and mistreated. Ain’t happening to one of mine.”
He hit the print button and pages whirred out of the machine. I picked them up and began to read. Jackson Troxel had purchased the dog six months ago. He’d paid in cash, but this was his first purchase so Mr. Johnson had required a driver’s license.
“Why did you have a dog of that age here? I thought you sold most of them as puppies,” I asked, realizing that this dog had to have been about three years old when he was sold.
“He was sold as a pup, but he got sent back. The poor little guy was gun-shy. That’s not a lot of help to men who buy a Beagle for hunting. The pup ran and hid every time a gun went off. So I gave him a refund, and he bought another one of my Beagles instead.”
“You’d never met Troxel before?”
“Nope, never heard from him before or since. I asked where he heard of me, but he just mentioned he’d heard my name from some hunter friends. All the more reason for me to get an ID.” He stood up and waited for me to take the hint. I had enough information to start with, and I thanked him on the way out.
Since Troxel had left the house so abruptly, I figured that he’d been renting and was not the owner of the home. That meant it was time for me to visit the neighbors of the house in Onyx. I had found over the course of several cases that nothing was more helpful to an investigation than asking the neighbors.
I drove back to Onyx and parked on the street. Two doors down from the Troxel house a curtain moved aside and then fell back into place. I had my starting point. I looked around the Troxel house and then checked the mailbox which was empty. If things looked too bleak for Officer Brate, I could always suggest a forwarding address check for Troxel.
After looking around, I made a pretense of walking up and down the street. I stopped at the house two doors down and knocked on the door. An older woman answered the door almost immediately. She was dressed properly in a dress and hat, like she was going somewhere fancy. I wondered what places in Toledo still wanted a woman to wear a hat. I doubted that many of them did. Hats were mostly for Easter and summer days at the beach.
“Hi, I’m looking for some –“ I started.
I didn’t get to finish. “You’re
Instead, I opted to go with the one area that I knew best – the dog. Someone had bought a dog for the express purpose of swapping dogs with Barkley. I could continue to follow those clues, which technically were not associated with an active police case.
Feeling more confident, I headed back to the breeder’s house to ask some questions.
The old man was at the door this time when I got out of my car. “Well?” Johnson asked, expecting a full story from that one word.
I explained that I’d found Barkley at the second house on the list, and he’d been returned to the police. I also told him that the house had been cleared out and that there were no signs of either the buyer or the dog now. I wanted to learn why he’d switched dogs so that I could make sure that Barkley stayed safe.
He made a noise and motioned for me to follow him. I walked down the hall of the main level of the house. I still had yet to see or hear a Beagle, despite his status as a breeder. We entered the same room we entered during my last visit. He pulled up the keyboard and started typing.
In a few seconds, he’d pulled up a record. I was looking at a lot of data and a copy of an Ohio’s driver’s license. I had been so sure that the buyer would have used a fake name that I’d geared myself up for a massive hunt for his real name and location. Yet here it was.
“I always keep records on my buyers, especially those I haven’t done business with before. Most of the time they’re hunters, but the requirement of making them give me a valid driver’s license keeps them from using the dogs for fighting. Beagles aren’t good fighters, but anything can fight if they’re hungry and mistreated. Ain’t happening to one of mine.”
He hit the print button and pages whirred out of the machine. I picked them up and began to read. Jackson Troxel had purchased the dog six months ago. He’d paid in cash, but this was his first purchase so Mr. Johnson had required a driver’s license.
“Why did you have a dog of that age here? I thought you sold most of them as puppies,” I asked, realizing that this dog had to have been about three years old when he was sold.
“He was sold as a pup, but he got sent back. The poor little guy was gun-shy. That’s not a lot of help to men who buy a Beagle for hunting. The pup ran and hid every time a gun went off. So I gave him a refund, and he bought another one of my Beagles instead.”
“You’d never met Troxel before?”
“Nope, never heard from him before or since. I asked where he heard of me, but he just mentioned he’d heard my name from some hunter friends. All the more reason for me to get an ID.” He stood up and waited for me to take the hint. I had enough information to start with, and I thanked him on the way out.
Since Troxel had left the house so abruptly, I figured that he’d been renting and was not the owner of the home. That meant it was time for me to visit the neighbors of the house in Onyx. I had found over the course of several cases that nothing was more helpful to an investigation than asking the neighbors.
I drove back to Onyx and parked on the street. Two doors down from the Troxel house a curtain moved aside and then fell back into place. I had my starting point. I looked around the Troxel house and then checked the mailbox which was empty. If things looked too bleak for Officer Brate, I could always suggest a forwarding address check for Troxel.
After looking around, I made a pretense of walking up and down the street. I stopped at the house two doors down and knocked on the door. An older woman answered the door almost immediately. She was dressed properly in a dress and hat, like she was going somewhere fancy. I wondered what places in Toledo still wanted a woman to wear a hat. I doubted that many of them did. Hats were mostly for Easter and summer days at the beach.
“Hi, I’m looking for some –“ I started.
I didn’t get to finish. “You’re
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