We returned to the hotel later that afternoon after a fruitless day of searching for the suspects. Inspector Teixeira greeted me as I entered the makeshift operations center. “How did it go?” he asked.
“Nothing much to report,” I replied. “Any luck here?”
“Three of the other men we were looking for came forward,” he replied. “They saw their photos plastered all over the TV and just about crapped themselves. Seems like they met a local rancher on the flight who was looking for a few farmhands. That’s the reason why they overstayed their visas and never checked into the cheap hotel that they’d booked.”
“Are we sure about their story?” I asked.
“Absolutely,” Teixeira answered. “We verified everything with the ranch owner and Special Agent Shaw ran a background check on them. No known ties
