Page 47 of No Rules

“Okay. Let me call him for you.”

After only a minute, a middle-aged detective with thinning hair and a weary expression appeared. He shook their hands firmly as they introduced themselves. “Follow me,” he said, leading them to a desk where piles of paperwork threatened to topple over. “Don’t mind the mess. They’re replacing our filing cabinets, so I can’t put the stuff anywhere else at the moment.”

They sat in the two seats across the desk, and Baxter lowered himself into a creaky desk chair. “So you’re the private investigators Ms. Vandervliet hired, huh? Gotta say I’m not sure what you think you’ll find that we haven’t already covered.”

“We’re not here to step on any toes,” Ryan said, using a placating tone. “We want to make sure every angle’s been explored. Marilyn deserves a fair shot at proving her innocence.”

“Her innocence?” Baxter scoffed. “I hadn’t pegged you as that naïve, considering your experience.”

Experience? Oh, the detective must’ve looked Ryan up and discovered he’d been a homicide detective back in Austin.

But Ryan didn’t take offense. He chuckled. “Naïve? I can’t remember the last time someone called me that. No, Detective, it’s not about being naïve. It’s about following the evidence. Just because there isn’t an obvious other suspect doesn’t mean Ms. Vandervliet is guilty. She has a solid reputation as an animal lover and advocate for animal rights. She’s donated a lot of money to animal welfare organizations for years, and she’s been known to go above and beyond to ensure the well-being of her horses. Now, why would someone like that harm one of her prized racehorses? It doesn’t make sense.”

“How’s money for a motive? She would’ve made a tidy sum from his death had the insurance paid out.”

“Insurance money wouldn’t even come close to covering the potential loss in winnings and stud fees,” Alex said.

Baxter shrugged. “Maybe she knew something we didn’t, like him having some kind of health issue that would’ve prevented him from being that successful.”

“Did the necropsy find any evidence of that?”

“No.”

“Even if he did, she could’ve still used him to breed,” Alex pointed out. “That would’ve made her far more money than the insurance payout.”

Baxter sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. “I have to admit that part has us stumped as well.”

“Have you considered any other suspects?” Ryan asked.

Baxter threw up his hands. “Do you think we’re rookies here? Of course we did. We checked out every possible lead, but none of them got us anywhere. There’s no one else with a motive to harm that horse…except for Marilyn Vandervliet.” He narrowed his eyes. “Unless you’ve stumbled across something?”

At least he was now considering the possibility they might’ve found something he and his colleagues had overlooked. That was progress, right?

“We’re still exploring several avenues,” Ryan said smoothly. “And we haven’t ruled anything out yet…other than that, we don’t believe Ms. Vandervliet is guilty. And we’re not expecting you to change your mind right now. All we’re asking is that you give us a chance to explore other possibilities and keep an open mind while we look into other suspects. Maybe we find something you missed, and maybe we don’t. But either way, at least we can say we tried.”

Baxter eyed them both, and Alex could almost see the gears turning in his head as he weighed their request. “What are you asking for, exactly?”

“Any documentation you can legally share with us. The necropsy report would be a good place to start. Ms. Vandervliet never received a copy despite requesting it several times.”

For a long moment, Baxter stared at them. “I can do that. What else?”

“Information on the bets placed that day. We’re not getting anywhere without a warrant, but we’re sure you’ve looked into this.”

“I’d have to black out the names.”

“That’s fine. Even better would be to code them so we can at least see if someone made multiple bets.”

“We looked into the betting angle, you know.”

“I’m sure you did. We always follow the money.”

Ryan was smart, connecting with Baxter like that. If the man started seeing Ryan as a fellow detective rather than a PI, he’d be much more likely to be in a cooperative mood.

Baxter nodded. “And there’s a lot of money involved in these races.”

“Did you find anything suspicious?” Alex asked.

“Nothing out of the ordinary. Lots of bets and a few people made good money betting against Sam’s Promise, but none of them had motives.”