Convicted by Jan Burke Read Free Book Online Page A

bathroom—”
    â€œLooked like somebody had washed up in there,” Collier said. “Towels were a little damp. May have bandaged a wound—there were fragments of gauze in the wastebasket.”
    Ben raised a brow and turned to Frank. “Toothbrush or fireplace poker—you want the child or the suspect?”
    â€œBoth, but the boy is our first concern.”
    â€œToothbrush it is, then,” he said, and went into the bathroom. He used gloves to take the child-sized toothbrush from its holder and placed it in a plastic bag. They walked out to the shady spot where another officer—a dog lover who had worked with Ben on previous cases—was keeping an eye on the crated dogs.
    Bingle greeted him with a little song of anticipation, perhaps already smelling Toller’s body. Like Bool, Bingle was trained in cadaver work, and probably thought this would be an easy day’s work. But it was big, drooling, sweet-natured Bool he’d work with first today.
    Frank held the toothbrush bag while Ben put on a daypack with water and other basic supplies for the search. He clipped a small two-way radio on his belt, gave the other one to Frank, and put Bool in his working harness. The harness was necessary for any control over Bool—and for the safety of both Ben and the dog. Once on the trail, the big bloodhound would become oblivious to everything but the scent—he’d walk out into traffic if he was trailing someone who had stepped into the street. David had once told Ben of a time when Bool had been following the trail of a lost hiker, and had gone halfway over a cliffside before David managed to haul him back—the hiker, it turned out, had fallen to his death at the same spot several hours earlier.
    Ben wasn’t very optimistic about what they’d find in this type of search environment today—concrete and asphalt wouldn’t hold the scent the way a more natural environment would. But Bool had surprised him before.
    â€œSince we’ve got blood drops in the hallway leading toward the back door,” he said, “let’s start on the back porch.”
    Frank had done search work with Ben in the past, and knew that his role would be that of “second man.” Ben would be focused on the dog, while Frank followed at a short distance to ensure Ben’s safety. He’d keep a clear view of the search terrain, call for backup if needed, and take control of the dog if Ben was hurt. With luck, he’d also have the role of helping Lex Toller once he was found. If a suspect was with Lex, Frank would be the one to apprehend him.
    When they reached the Tollers’ back porch, Ben took the plastic bag from Frank and removed the toothbrush. Making sure the dog had his nose directly over the bristles, Ben said, “Find ’em, Bool!”
    With Bool, this pre-scenting—giving the dog a “sample” of Lex’s scent to work with—was essential. The dog put his nose to the porch and immediately caught a trail, almost pulling Ben off his feet as he headed to the side of the house. From there, he quickly found a small opening and was ready to burrow under the porch before Ben called him back and praised him.
    A burly uniformed officer who had been watching them with some curiosity said, “He’s not under there. That’s one of the first places we looked.”
    â€œYou looked under the house?”
    â€œYes, sir. Figured if he was scared, that’s where he might hide. I didn’t crawl, but I used a flashlight—”
    â€œLet’s take another look,” Frank said.
    â€œHold Bool,” Ben said. “I’m in jeans, you’re in a suit. Let me crawl.”
    â€œThere’s no one under there,” the officer said again.
    Frank said, “Maybe you should be the one to crawl.”
    â€œI’ll go,” Ben said again, to the officer’s relief. “I took up anthropology knowing