bathroomââ
âLooked like somebody had washed up in there,â Collier said. âTowels were a little damp. May have bandaged a woundâthere were fragments of gauze in the wastebasket.â
Ben raised a brow and turned to Frank. âToothbrush or fireplace pokerâyou want the child or the suspect?â
âBoth, but the boy is our first concern.â
âToothbrush it is, then,â 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 officerâa dog lover who had worked with Ben on previous casesâwas keeping an eye on the crated dogs.
Bingle greeted him with a little song of anticipation, perhaps already smelling Tollerâs body. Like Bool, Bingle was trained in cadaver work, and probably thought this would be an easy dayâs work. But it was big, drooling, sweet-natured Bool heâd 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 Boolâand for the safety of both Ben and the dog. Once on the trail, the big bloodhound would become oblivious to everything but the scentâheâd 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 backâthe hiker, it turned out, had fallen to his death at the same spot several hours earlier.
Ben wasnât very optimistic about what theyâd find in this type of search environment todayâconcrete and asphalt wouldnât hold the scent the way a more natural environment would. But Bool had surprised him before.
âSince weâve got blood drops in the hallway leading toward the back door,â he said, âletâs start on the back porch.â
Frank had done search work with Ben in the past, and knew that his role would be that of âsecond man.â Ben would be focused on the dog, while Frank followed at a short distance to ensure Benâs safety. Heâd 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, heâd 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 Tollersâ 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, âFind âem, Bool!â
With Bool, this pre-scentingâgiving the dog a âsampleâ of Lexâs scent to work withâwas 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, âHeâs not under there. Thatâs one of the first places we looked.â
âYou looked under the house?â
âYes, sir. Figured if he was scared, thatâs where he might hide. I didnât crawl, but I used a flashlightââ
âLetâs take another look,â Frank said.
âHold Bool,â Ben said. âIâm in jeans, youâre in a suit. Let me crawl.â
âThereâs no one under there,â the officer said again.
Frank said, âMaybe you should be the one to crawl.â
âIâll go,â Ben said again, to the officerâs relief. âI took up anthropology knowing