“Yes,” Bree said. “Please don’t talk about what you’ve seen. We’d like to contact Mr. Northcott’s family before they learn about his death accidentally.”
“I don’t want to talk about it to anyone.” Susan rubbed her hands together. “I excel at two things: cleaning and minding my own business.”
“Thank you for your cooperation.” Bree stepped out. After the warmth of the car, the cold outside air hit her like a slap. Drying sweat under her uniform and body armor had left her clammy.
Bree recognized the animal control officer as Cody Pinter. She had worked with him before, but typically they responded to aggressive dogs and feral cat complaints. As the sheriff, Bree was responsible for everything from the county jail to the animal shelter.
Bree met him behind his vehicle. “You’re comfortable catching a rattlesnake?”
Cody nodded. “We just have to be careful not to agitate it. The snake will probably find somewhere to hide. They’re usually only aggressive if they feel threatened.”
“I must have startled it.” Bree gave him a quick rundown.
“I’m wearing my snake boots.” Cody tapped a toe.
“Indeed.” Bree paused. “Fair warning: there’s also a dead body in the house. This is a crime scene, so the less you disturb the scene, the better.”
“And I thought my morning was going to be dull.” Cody paused, thoughtful. “Snakes should be hibernating this time of year. Do you have any idea how it got inside the house?”
Bree said, “Someone put it there.”
Cody’s head snapped around. “That’s crazy.”
“No argument,” Bree agreed.
Cody retrieved a plastic storage bin with tiny holes poked in the sides from the cargo area of his vehicle. Next, he lifted out two long poles with metal hooks at the end. He carried his equipment toward the house. Bree followed.
“I’ll go with you, just in case.” She pulled out her Glock. The last thing she wanted to do was go back into the house, but keeping her employees safe was her responsibility.
Cody frowned at the gun. “Let’s hope you don’t need that.”
“Always,” Bree said. “But it already tried to bite me. I won’t take any chances.”
“A rattlesnake bite isn’t usually fatal as long as you get treatment. FYI, don’t use a tourniquet or suck on the wound. Just be as still as possible. The faster your heart beats, the quicker the venom is pumped through your body. I don’t want to get bitten, but it’s not usually a death sentence with prompt medical treatment.” Cody sounded rational.
Bree felt less so. “Good to know.” She wiped a sweaty palm on her leg. She could ask Matt or another deputy to have Cody’s back, but passing off a dangerous duty didn’t feel right. She was learning to delegate and trust her officers with responsibility. But she would not ask them to perform a duty because she was too afraid to do her damned job.
At the door, Cody held up one hand. “Move slowly.”
Fresh sweat trickled down Bree’s back. “The snake was in the den, which is at the end of the hall on the left.”
Cody eased forward. He stopped a few feet shy of the kitchen and tilted his head as if he were listening. Bree strained her ears, but she heard no slithering, hissing, or rattling, just her heart doing an are you crazy? dance.
He stood in the doorway to the den for a few long minutes. He paid no attention to the body but scanned the floor. A gotcha smile curled the corners of his mouth. “I see it. Timber rattler.”
Bree tensed. “Where?”
“Other side of the room, next to its tank. He or she might be looking for heat. Snakes can’t maintain their body temperature without help. They get sluggish in the cold.”
Cody walked around the couch. He set down the container and removed the lid. Bree stayed put, but she aimed her gun at the reptile. The snake slithered farther into the corner. Was it afraid? Or did it sense the presence of someone it couldn’t intimidate?
Cody used a long-handled hook to lift the snake a few inches off the ground, but it slithered out of the hook and struck at the wooden stick. It hissed and coiled backward.
Bree made a startled noise.
“Easy there, little buddy,” Cody soothed. “I want to get you somewhere warm.”
Little buddy?
Cody blocked the snake’s forward movement with the rounded back of the hook, not letting it come any closer. “It’s important to be calm. Animals can sense tension.”
“Seems like.”
Cody chuckled. “I guarantee that snake is more scared of us than we are of it.”
Bree thought Cody could speak for himself. Part of her didn’t want to hurt the creature. The other part wanted to shoot it until it was completely obliterated.
“His striking distance is only about half the length of his body.” Either Cody was completely confident in his ability, or he was one hell of an actor.
More sweat trickled down Bree’s back.
Before she could breathe, Cody scooped up the snake, deftly juggled it between the two hooks as it tried to slither away, and placed it in the container. He snapped the lid into place with a smile. “There we go.” He patted the top of the tub almost as if he were petting the snake.
“I owe you.” Bree’s muscles loosened as her tension ebbed.
“Nah. It’s what I do.” Cody turned toward the body, his expression shifting from triumph to grim, as if he were just taking in the details now that the snake had been captured. “You have the harder job. I’ll take animals over humans any day. Animals aren’t evil.”
Bree didn’t argue. “Can I carry something? Not the snake.”
Cody handed her the hooks while he hefted the container. At the end of the hall, she opened the door for him, and he carried the plastic tub to his vehicle.
“How did it go?” Matt scanned them both. “No one got bit?”
Cody laughed and nodded toward the container. “We got him. He was just scared.”
“There was no we.” Bree swallowed. “Cody gets a hundred percent of the credit.”
“I couldn’t get a hold of the zookeeper. I left a message,” Matt said.
Cody lifted his container. “I’ll find a home for it.”
“You can’t just release it?” Bree eyed the closed container.
“No,” Cody said. “For one, it’s too cold. The snake wouldn’t have time to find a place to hibernate. Second, it could be carrying a virus or parasite. We wouldn’t want to compromise the local snake population. Considering the timber rattler is a threatened species, a zoo might want it. I’d better get it out of the cold.” He closed the cargo door of his vehicle.
After he drove away, Matt leaned closer. “How did it really go?”
“Rattlesnake. One star. Do not recommend.” Bree gave herself a little shake. “Now let’s get back to the body.”
Todd joined them.
Bree said, “As soon as we have an approximate window for time of death, we’ll start knocking on doors. Houses are close together in this neighborhood. Chances are, someone saw something.”
News vans parked on the street. Within minutes, reporters went on air. They stayed off the property, so there wasn’t anything Bree could do about their presence.