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voice made Tom close his mouth.
    Marshall turned from the Lieutenant’s desk, George at his heels. It was the second time in just as many days that people were bringing up her memory. He was reminded of the saying, “You can never escape your past.” Well, that might be true, but he could ignore it until he stopped remembering.
    Marshall stormed past desks and offices as he made his way to Detective Lanner’s office. The door was open and the big man sat behind his desk, hunched over a pile of paperwork. Marshall knocked on the door. Lanner looked up, gray piercing eyes locking onto Marshall. “What do you want?”
    “Can I come in? I have a few questions.”
    “What about?”
    Marshall took this as an invitation to walk into the office, although he still hadn’t officially been welcomed. “You were the lead detective on Barbara Summers’ death yesterday. You opened and closed the case in one day. Don’t you think that was a bit rash? I mean, how much investigative work could you have done in one day?”
    The large man eyed Marshall like he was an alien. Lanner was built like a linebacker, with blond hair he combed to the side and a nose that looked like it had been broken more than its fair share of times. “Not that I need to explain anything to you, but it was an easy case. The precinct tends to hand you those when you first get back to work from a forced leave of absence.”
    Marshall was shocked by the man’s blunt honesty. Lanner caught the look on Marshall’s face and grinned. “I have nothing to hide. I’m not trying to impress you or anyone else. The girl got hit by a car. Hit and runs are almost impossible to track if there are no witnesses. Case closed.”
    “And you’re sure she died of a hit and run?”
    “Yeah, that’s what the report said. I asked around and there were no witnesses to say different.”
    “You interviewed her friends and family?”
    Irritation became more apparent in the Detective’s voice. “Yes. You may be surprised to know that I do understand how to do my job. She had no family, and no one that wanted to cause her harm.”
    The men were both interrupted by George’s loud sniffing around the office as he made the best out of the length of leash he was given. Lanner was the first to snap back. “Is that all? I have a lot to do. You can imagine being away for alcohol abuse has put my career behind a few years.”
    Marshall knew he wasn’t going to get anymore out of the Detective. It seemed like Lanner was content with the job he’d done and there was no pushing the man into reopening the case. “Yes, thank you.”
    Lanner went back to work without a good-bye as Marshall and George left the room. “Well, that was absolutely no help,” he whispered to George.
    The two made their way back through the precinct and to the car. Marshall knew the exact location of the canyon Barbara’s body had been found in from the pictures he had seen on the news. He turned his car away from the Hermes and headed toward Wakan Canyon.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 6
     
     
    Marshall rolled down the window for George and his beagle ears flapped in the wind. Morning traffic was at its peak, and once again Marshall found himself forced to sit in traffic and endure California’s renowned bad drivers. The cream of the crop was an elderly man who could barely see above the steering wheel and a diva applying generous amounts of makeup as she changed lanes and chatted on the phone with one hand. When they finally did reach the canyon, Marshall drove his car along the curvy one lane road and searched for the area where Barbara’s body had been found.
    The road was uneven and Marshall had to wonder what Barbara was doing walking a road like this at any hour, let alone at night. Every house they passed was run down, and most of them were fenced or gated off with Beware of Dog signs and trespassing warnings.
    Marshall had grown up in the area, so he was no stranger to the canyon,