The Canyon Creek Murders

*Chapter 35 *

Sam and Hank teamed up and spent the rest of the day, plus the entirety of the following day, researching and digging up as much information as they possibly could regarding their potential new suspect. After which they had retired to Sam's trailer to wait for Sarah's return. Both detectives were looking forward to sharing what they had discovered having had what they considered a rather successful search. Meanwhile, of course, Sam had his own very different reasons to be excited about seeing his new girlfriend again after almost three days away. The sun was just beginning to drop over the horizon when the door finally opened.

"Urgh, at last," Sarah groaned as she entered the trailer and dropped a small grocery bag onto the kitchen counter before throwing her arms around Sam.

"Evening gorgeous," he greeted her as she returned the compliment, pulling her towards himself for a hug and planting her with a loving welcome home kiss.

"Mmm, perfect greeting," she smiled. "But I hope you two have some good information for me," she added, wagging a finger between the two of them.

"Of course," Sam nodded. "Would I let you down?" he joked, holding his arms out wide and tilting his head to one side. There may well have been an element of jest in Sarah's question, but Sam was confident they had the answers she was hoping for.

"Oh yes, I think you're going to like this," Hank offered backing his partner up.

"Great! I can't wait to hear all about it," Sarah beamed. "But first...," she added, kicking her shoes off and heading back towards the kitchen. "It's been a very tiring day and I have an important appointment with a little cheeky red," she told them, pulling a bottle of wine from the grocery bag. "Now, either or both of you, are more than welcome to join me but please remember I only have the one bottle."

"Well, there are some beers in the refrigerator that Hank and I could share if you like?" Sam offered, looking towards his partner.

"Sounds good to me," Hank responded. "Or alternatively, I have another bottle of wine back at mine that we can add to the mix if you want to join in and make an evening out of it?" Hank queried. "Not quite the same as Sarah's one but it's still a good one." Sam pondered that for a moment while Sarah's facial expression hinted that she was rather keen on the idea. After a brief pause, Hank continued further. "In fact," he added, squinting his eyes and looking closer at the bottle Sarah was holding, "I also have a decent block of cheese that would accompany both of them rather well."

"Oh, cheese n' wine night. Now you're talking," Sarah enthused rather excitedly as she sat back on the sofa, lifting her feet up into Sam's lap. After the short trip back to his own trailer, Hank returned with the supplies and the three of them sat back, sipping wine and nibbling the cheese while discussing the information Sam and Hank had discovered during Sarah's long drive home.

"Your first impressions of this guy seem to be spot on," Sam told her. "During his teenage years especially. To say he had a run-in with the local law enforcement would be an understatement. In actual fact, his rap sheet reads like a bingo list of misdemeanors. All of which led to him doing time at a juvenile detention center."

'I knew it,' Sarah thought to herself taking a bite out the chunk of cheese in front of her, while Hank picked up the story. "During his time there, he studied educational courses in motor vehicle maintenance and metalworking. The certificate he was awarded for doing so wasn't quite a recognized qualification or anything, but it was enough to land him a job at a scrapyard in Oakridge upon his release. Mind you, the guy that hired him for that very job was the same guy that designed the exact same course that he studied."

Sarah stopped mid-chew at that comment and looked on in amazement. "He what?" she mumbled. She had meant to say that in her head, but the shock had caused her to spurt it out loud, giving both Sam and Hank a bit of a chuckle.

"Gregory Venton, I believe," Sam added.

"That's him yes, that's the guy I met," Sarah gasped, still open-mouthed although now free of cheese.

"A former convict himself, he is now an advocate for prisoner education and reform," Sam continued. "Having previously served time for aggravated assault, he finally made good after his own release, working his way through the ranks at a local scrapyard in his hometown before moving to Oakridge and going it alone a few years back. He has since designed and taught several prison education classes at both adult and youth levels."

"Wow. You guys weren't kidding," Sarah claimed. "This is brilliant work, great job."

"Well actually, that may not be all," Hank chirped up.

Sarah's eyes opened wide at that suggestion. "Wait. You have more?"

"Hopefully," Hank added. "It may be something, maybe nothing but I've been looking into the records at the detention center. Seems there was a female inmate there named Christy Norwood with an absolute string of shoplifting convictions behind her. She would have been detained and held there at around the same time that our Wayne Kiffler would have served. In fact, her release date was only around about three months after Kiffler got out. Interestingly, she was also registered for the metalworking class so if she completed or maybe even attended a part of that, then she would have almost certainly come into contact with our guy."

"Great. And yes, that certainly needs investigating further." She smiled excitedly while reaching for the table. "I'll raise a glass to that," she added, lifting her wine glass. The three of them then shared a toast before sitting back to enjoy the rest of the evening.