Determined to Find Wes

Ernie was only slightly comforted to learn that the investigative team on site was as stumped as he was to determine how, when, and with whom Wes had left the property. They had found no clues, no suspicious footprints, and no trail of blood. The search dogs proved to be no help because Wes's scent was everywhere inside the house and nowhere outside.

Known by sight to most of the officers combing the ranch for clues, Ernie was free to go almost wherever he pleased. So he began his own intensive reexamination of the scene, beginning from the center and working outward. Ernie moved furniture and opened drawers and closets to examine every individual item in each room. He looked high and low from the crawl space under the house to the spacious attic above the laundry room but he found nothing.

Having been awake since two-thirty that morning, Ernie was dog tired. But he could not rest now. There were outbuildings to check: a gardening shed, a pump house for the well, a barn and an old pickup. Ernie thought he could finish them before dark. Tomorrow and the next day he would walk the property. Ernie was determined to find Wes or wear himself out trying.