Dark Intentions

Chapter 11

Twenty-four hours later, Dan, Mac, and Lieutenant Miller were back in the conference room.

The lieutenant spoke first. “I’m sure you guys are doing all you can, but Deputy Chief Sawyer is asking for the status of this investigation. So I need to hear where things stand.”

Mac answered, “We understand. Dan and I’ve been following up on different angles and are now coming together with what we found. After this interview, and the discussion, maybe you’ll think of something we didn’t.”

Dan nodded his agreement. His ego could handle someone else’s perspective on his work.

“Let’s get started,” Miller said.

Mac logged into the laptop, opened her email, and clicked on the link she’d received. As she did, she explained, “I spent the day contacting all the veterinary centers, ranches, and zoos in the area. This one is the only one that has experienced a break-in recently.”

The logo for Wildwood Veterinary Services was displayed on the large wall-mounted monitor.

Seconds later, a middle-aged, balding Hispanic man appeared on the screen. “Hello, this is Dr. Cruz,” the man said.

“Hello, Doctor. I’m Detective Mackenzie Bell with the Tucson Police Department. I’m here with some of my colleagues to discuss a recent break-in reported at your facility. Your assistant confirmed the break-in for me but said you’d have the details.”

The doctor nodded a greeting to the two men sitting with Mac. “That’s correct. There was a robbery here a few weeks ago.”

“Doctor, can you give us a brief overview of what you and your business do?” Mac asked.

“I’m the director and senior veterinarian here at Wildwood. We provide veterinary services for non-domestic animals. Our typical patients are horses, cattle, bison, and the occasional bear. We frequently go on-site to ranches and farms and occasionally assist at local zoos.”

“So, you would regularly use drugs such as carfentanil and ketamine?” Dan asked.

“Ketamine for certain. Carfentanil much less often, but occasionally.”

“And both were stolen in the robbery three weeks ago. Correct?” Mac verified.

“Correct. We assumed it was someone wanting to get high. That occasionally happens, even though we keep all controlled medications locked and secure. If someone wants them bad enough, they’ll find a way to get to them.”

“Were any other drugs taken?” Mac asked.

“Unfortunately. The thieves ripped the locked cabinet off the wall and took it with them. The report we filed with the sheriff’s department has the entire list of everything taken.”

“We’ve been in touch with the sheriff’s department, and they’ll send the report over. It hasn’t arrived yet. If the list isn’t included, will you be able to get it for me?” Mac asked.

“Yeah, if needed, we can get a copy for you. I had to submit that complete list to the DEA. When multiple controlled substances go missing, it needs to be reported at the federal level,” the director said.

“Do you recall how much of the carfentanil and ketamine was taken?” Dan questioned.

“I’d have to check the report to be sure, but I believe it was four 10ml vials of carfentanil and four 30ml vials of ketamine.

“One last question. Was anything else taken in the robbery?” Mac asked.

“One tranquilizer gun and two boxes of darts were taken, too.”

Dan asked, “How many darts are in a box?”

“Twelve. Each box has four packs of three darts.”

“Did the darts have blue fins?” Mac asked.

“Yes, the brand we use are blue.”

The people in the conference room all looked at one another. They were convinced.

“Nothing else was taken?” Dan asked.

“Nothing that we were able to find,” Dr. Cruz answered.

“What about surveillance cameras? Were there any in the area where the drugs were taken?” Lieutenant Miller asked.

“No. We didn’t have any cameras in that area. We have since had some installed. The insurance company required it.”

Mac glanced around the room and saw from the men’s expressions that there were no other questions.

“Thank you for your time today, Dr. Cruz. Please let us know if you think of anything more. We might be in touch later if we have any more questions,” Mac added.

“You know where to find me. Good luck finding this guy.”

A few seconds later, Mac disconnected the session.

“Well, I guess we know where our subject got the drugs,” Dan said.

The others nodded.

“Were you able to track him to any emergency rooms? We know he had injuries,” Mac asked.

“No. I contacted all the area hospitals and clinics. I was able to rule out the few cases with injuries similar to what we expected. However, I had the lab rush the DNA processing on the blood found at the scene. I just forwarded the results to you.”

Mac opened the file on the laptop so they could see it on the large screen.

Dan explained, “From the blood left at the last scene and the DNA analysis, we know he’s a male who stands about six foot tall with brown hair and blue eyes. His blood type is O negative. The DNA suggests he’s mostly of European descent with about one-eighth Native American ancestry. Therefore he’s Caucasian.”

Lieutenant Miller nodded. “That isn’t very specific, but a lot more than you had before. Is there any other new information?”

“Actually, there is,” Dan said. “Officers found a smashed stopwatch near the first scene. The final report is back; there are no finger prints and no DNA. There is nothing to tie it to the case. For all we know, it could have been out there all night. Also, we just got the lab results back on the piece of spray foam the ME sent in from the first victim. The product is called FoamX. There are many brands of spray foam, and FoamX is the market leader. It’s available in almost every hardware store and major retailers. I’m not sure how much help that information will be, but we know what he’s using.”

Miller replied, “It’s another piece of information. Good progress, guys. You two keep at this and let me know what else turns up. Also, remember to keep in touch with the detective at the sheriff"s department. If I have any other suggestions, I’ll let you know.”