Chapter 34
Thirty-Four
Lawson’s Ridge
Wednesday
Something niggled Carter about the Cutters and needed more information.
He rose at sunup and, after speaking to Bowman, made his way to the small cabin where Ms. Cutter lived with her son, Branch.
The woman apparently had a small office at the front where she worked on the payroll.
She would prepare all the checks and pass them over to Bowman to pay the seasonal hands and, once the rancher signed off on the payroll, she’d transfer the month’s pay into the other hands’ bank accounts.
He’d hoped to find mother and son both eating breakfast. He knew that the hands all started very early in the morning.
He hadn’t eaten himself yet, preferring to eat his breakfast at eight, along with the others.
No doubt that would change when Rhett started a new position in Black Rock Falls.
Carter scratched his head. He couldn’t understand why a wealthy man with a huge spread didn’t want to become involved.
To him it seemed like the dream job of a lifetime.
Fresh air and views that went on forever seemed mighty fine to him.
He climbed the porch steps of the Cutters’ cabin and knocked on the door.
The door flew open and a man with dark hair hanging over his collar stared at him with intense deep brown eyes.
He wore an old T-shirt, tight Wranglers, and cowboy boots worn down at the heels.
Carter allowed his jacket to fall open to display his shoulder holster.
If this young man wanted trouble, he needed to press his advantage from the get-go.
“Morning. Branch? I’m Special Agent Ty Carter.
I would like a word with you and your mother if you have a moment. ”
“I know who you are.” Branch stood in the doorway glaring at him. “We already told the other deputies that we don’t know nothing about that girl buried in the cattle grave. Did some SOB tell you we did?”
Surprised by his aggression, Carter stood his ground and met his gaze.
“The thing is, Branch, no one on this spread seems to know anything about what’s going on around here.
Everyone is deaf, dumb, and blind. The problem with that is, it means we need to interview everyone.
You have lived here since Rhett’s father was alive, so you might have some information that would be helpful to us.
Do you mind if I come inside, rather than speaking to you here where everyone can see us? ”
“Ma, there’s an FBI agent out here wanting to come in and have a word with you.” Branch turned and sneered at Carter. “We’re not obliged to speak to him or invite him into the house. I know my rights.”
“I guess you better let him in.” A skinny woman with blonde hair and blue eyes peered from behind him.
“How many times have I told you that you attract more bees with honey than vinegar?” She peered at Carter.
“I’ve just brewed a fresh pot of coffee.
Why don’t you come in and say your piece while I make breakfast? ”
Carter tipped up his cowboy hat and offered her his best smile. “That’s mighty kind of you, ma’am.” He stepped inside the front door and followed her along a hallway and into a kitchen. Behind him Branch’s steel-tipped cowboy boots tapped on the wooden floors.
He took a seat with his back against the wall, not trusting either of them.
Jenna hadn’t asked him to interview this pair and he’d gotten up too early to mention it to the others.
In fact, no one knew he was there. It was a rookie mistake, but he’d noticed that none of the hands carried sidearms. He waited for Ms. Cutter to pour him a cup of coffee and leveled his gaze on Branch.
“Do you know Marie Reyes or Zoe Carpenter?”
“Yeah, I’ve run into Zoe a few times.” Branch added the fixings to his coffee. “She worked hard. Some of the other women mentioned that she vanished the other night. Has she turned up yet?”
Carter ignored his question. “And Marie Reyes, the young woman buried alive in the cattle grave. Surely you would have met her at one time or another?”
“Can’t say that I did.” Branch sipped his coffee.
“Do you have any idea how many seasonal workers come and go here weekly? You’d be surprised how many of them don’t make a month.
Some of them leave and don’t even bother to collect their pay.
I can’t think of a reason for this because the pay here is the best in town. ”
Nodding, Carter took a sip of the coffee, finding the rich flavor extremely good. “How would you know about them leaving without collecting their pay?”
“Ma is the pay clerk. She tells me things.” Branch looked at his mother, who turned and slid a plate of eggs and bacon in front of him. “There’s not much to talk about round here, so when women take off sudden like, it causes gossip.”
“Can I offer you a plate?” Ms. Cutter turned to look at Carter.
He shook his head. “No thanks, ma’am. Breakfast is waiting for me at the ranch house.” He swung his gaze back to Branch. “What kind of gossip? Were they having problems with the men?”
“Some did, I guess.” Branch shrugged. “We get all types coming through that door during the summer season. Hands are needed for at least three months. So, Bowman takes whoever he can. If they cause a problem, he fires them. Most times with the women it’s just trash talking.”
Carter placed his cup on the table. “Do you recall if either of the women were subjected to this trash talking?”
“Nope. Neither of them came to speak to me, but I’m not the person they’d put in a complaint to. It’s usually the leading hand in whatever section they’re working. I’m a wrangler, not one of the bosses.”
Thinking through his questions, Carter paused for a beat. “Do you drive any of the machinery? Have you ever dug a hole to bury dead cattle?”
“Sure, many a time.” Branch smiled. “But not the one they found that young woman in.”
Carter nodded. “Do you know who did?”
“Nope.” Branch opened his hands. “Like I said, I’m a wrangler. I work with the horses. I wouldn’t be one of the people called to bury a dead steer.”
Not able to get any further with Branch, Carter turned his attention to his mother. Ms. Cutter sat at the table in silence eating her eggs. “Did your husband ever mention Chris Lawson having concerns about missing women?”
“No, can’t say that he did.” She frowned at him. “It was over twenty years ago. He talked about the ranch but most times I didn’t listen to his complaints. I kind of tuned out, if you know what I mean?”
She seemed to be telling the truth and Carter nodded. “How long have you kept the books for Lawson’s Ridge?”
“Since my husband was the rancher.” Ms. Cutter had been pretty once, but her face had now taken on a hard appearance. He’d seen photographs of her with her husband and they’d made quite a handsome pair.
Sipping the remainder of his coffee, Carter nodded. “So, you’d know everyone working on the ranch, by name at least. Do you recall anyone by the name of Paloma Cortes from the early days or Bonnie Jacques?”
“That was a long time ago.” Ms. Cutter scooped up forkfuls of eggs, keeping her eyes down.
Her body language told Carter a story. She knew something or had something to hide.
“As you know, we’ve been looking over the payroll records, and these two women came up as not collecting their paychecks before they left.
They’re listed as seasonal workers. Is it unusual for seasonal workers to leave without collecting their paychecks? ”
“To me, most of them were just names in a book.” Ms. Cutter shrugged and went back to eating.
A long pause ensued before she looked back at Carter.
“I would write out the checks and give them to Wade for Mr. Lawson to sign. They’d come back to me and I’d put them into envelopes, add the names to the front, and Wade would give them out.
This only happens to the seasonal workers now as some of them only stay here for between one and three months.
Some of them can’t take it for more than a week and just leave without telling anyone.
They forfeit their paycheck. The other hands, I pay the money directly into their bank accounts. ”
As Jenna had said, there were many ways a payroll clerk could alter records.
On a ranch as busy as this one it was doubtful that anyone would notice a single seasonal worker not collecting their paycheck—or one deliberately not issued.
With her husband overseeing everything, she could cover up missing women very easily.
Carter’s mind went to the driver’s license Lawson had discovered and hidden in the tin box in the safe.
As paychecks could be cashed in various places in Black Rock Falls using ID, it made him wonder just when Paloma Cortes had actually gone missing.
He noticed how irritated Branch had become over the last few minutes. He turned his attention toward him. “I imagine you must have been quite young when your father died. Do you recall much about him at all?”
“I recall him taking off his belt to me.” Branch eyed him over the edge of his cup. “That’s just about all. I hope you’ve finished hassling my mom. I can assure you she doesn’t know how to drive machinery and would have no reason to murder one of the seasonal workers.”
Shaking his head, Carter looked at him. “That was the furthest thing from my mind. We’re interviewing everyone from around the time that the Lawsons were murdered.
” When the color drained from both their faces, he knew he’d struck a nerve.
“Oh, you didn’t know they were murdered?
Lawson left a letter with his lawyer. It was given to Rhett at the time of reading the will.
After reading this letter we decided to investigate, and when we examined the cabin where they died, we found the key in the lock on the outside.
If anybody had bothered to call out a forensics team or even someone from the fire brigade to examine the burned-out cabin, this would have come to light, but we can’t find any records to support this action.
” He swung his gaze to Ms. Cutter. “Can you give me your recollections for around this time? It must have been a very traumatic time for you as I gather you would have known the Lawsons really well and also it was around the time your husband took his own life.”
“As far as I’m aware, the cabin was struck by lightning.
” Ms. Cutter leaned back in her chair with her coffee cup in one hand.
“We could smell the cabin the following morning. Most folks around here believed that one of the steers had been struck. That smell of roasting meat hung around for days. When Wade went out to look for the Lawsons, he took a number of men with him. There would have been no need for them to try and open a door. From all the reports I remember, most of the cabin was razed to the ground. Wade told me the Lawsons were just curled up all black and smiling at him. He had nightmares and called out in his sleep. He told me he kept seeing them. One night I found him banging his head on the wall. He just couldn’t get them out of his mind.
” She shook her head slowly. “It was only a week or two after that that he took his own life.”
Carter frowned. “Did you identify his body?”
“No.” Ms. Cutter placed her cup back on the table, stood, and collected the plates.
She lifted her gaze to him and swallowed hard.
“He blew his brains out and there wasn’t much of him to identify—and I didn’t want to see what was left of him.
If it hadn’t been for Ed—Mr. Bowman—I don’t know what I’d have done. He handled everything.”
Standing, Carter hadn’t finished yet. “Where is he buried?”
“In the forest—it’s what he wanted.” She collected his cup and turned back to the sink. “Is that all? Talking about Wade brings back bad memories. He could have gotten help but he left me with a baby—he didn’t even say goodbye.” She turned to him and tears glistened on her cheeks.
Carter touched his hat. “I’m sorry, ma’am. Thanks for your help. I can see myself out.”
As he walked back to the ranch house, he made a mental note of everything he needed to chase down.
It made sense, if Bowman murdered Cutter to stop him from killing, that his so-called suicide wasn’t mentioned in any of the day-to-day journals.
The death wasn’t reported to the sheriff because everyone on the ranch believed Bowman when he told them about the suicide.
Carter rubbed his chin. He’d need to keep a close eye on Bowman.