“Doc just confirmed it’s Minor,” Gage said.
“No food in the lab,” Dr. Butler said. “Back in the hallway.”
Vega glanced at his coffee cups as if he were sending old friends away. “Sure thing, Doc.” He left, returned seconds later empty-handed.
Dr. Butler nodded. “Thanks.”
Vega shook his head. “You’re a hard man, Doc, separating a man from his coffee this early in the morning.”
Gage drew in a measured breath. “So you think a gunshot to the head killed her?”
Dr. Butler nodded. “I had a look at the bones last night. As you know, the skull was shattered by Miller’s shovel. I pieced it back together and it appears one gunshot entered her brain at the base of her skull and came outside of her right eye socket. She was dead before she hit the ground.”
“Tess didn’t find a bullet,” Gage said.
“No. Likely it’s lodged in a wall or tree near where she was killed.”
Vega rolled his shoulders to release tension. “No soft tissue remains.”
“None,” Dr. Butler said.
“That unusual?”
“Not considering the hot, moist summers we’ve had the last couple of years. Perfect conditions for decomposition. It’s impossible to tell if any kind of sexual assault occurred. I can tell you that her right hand was broken. It was a significant break that probably happened a few days before her death.”
“How can you tell?” Gage said.
“Signs that the bone was healing and starting to knit.” He moved to the top of the table where the body lay and reached for a saw. “As you can see, I’m backed up and I’ve just not had a chance yet to do a thorough workup.”
Gage shifted his gaze away from the saw. “Tess has called me twice this morning. She’s anxious to begin work.”
“So am I. I’d have been out there at first light if not for this autopsy.”
Gage noted the bags under Dr. Butler’s eyes. “When is the last time you had a full eight hours?”
Dr. Butler scrunched his face in thought. “High school. No, elementary school, I think.”
Adrianna arrived at the Thornton estate just after eleven. She’d spent part of the night arranging Frances’s ten ledgers in chronological order and leafing through the yellowed pages of the first and second ones, which dated back almost forty years. In a neat, controlled handwriting Frances had kept meticulous details of the daily expenses of the estate.
Fresh flowers. Robert’s favorite wines. Art. Painting. New furniture.
The only thing she’d gleaned from those first two ledgers, which spanned five years, was that Frances and Robert had expensive tastes.
After reading until one, she’d turned off the light and fallen into a hard sleep. The alarm had gone off at five and she’d forced herself out of bed and into the shower. After coffee and an omelet, she’d headed to the office, cleared up a few details, and then headed east to the estate.
As she pulled through the front gates of the Colonies, she realized just how hopeful she’d been yesterday morning when she’d driven out here. The house and land were sold and still the Thorntons had found a way to hold on to her.
The honk of a horn had her starting and looking in her rearview mirror. A Wells Moving van pulled up behind her car. She smiled, instantly relaxing.
Ben and Dwayne Wells got out of the front cab. Both were tall burly men—like father like son. Ben wore his dark hair slicked back and a goatee accentuated his full face. He had thick forearms and a chest that stretched under a yellow Wells Moving T-shirt.
Dwayne was in his sixties and an older version of his son. “Good morning, Adrianna. How are you doing after yesterday’s excitement?”
She grinned. “Excitement. Dwayne, I can always count on you to put a positive spin on things.”
Dwayne laughed. “I do try. Cops said anything more to you?”
“Nothing.”
“They came by and talked to Marie and me last night. We had nothing but good things to say about you and Craig.”
“Thanks, Dwayne.”
Ben held out his hand to her. “Morning. Good day to move some art.”
She accepted Ben’s hand, noting his strength. “Hey, Ben.”
“So,” Dwayne said. “You want the art moved to the auction house?”
“That’s right. After that you can get the furniture to Mazur’s storage facility.”
“Cops give the all clear?” Ben said.
“They haven’t secured the house and didn’t say I couldn’t move furniture.”
“Better to get forgiveness rather than permission, I always say,” Dwayne said.
Adrianna suspected Gage was just as short on forgiveness as permission.
“How long will it take?”
“These old pieces can’t be rushed and they are heavy as lead. I’ve got extra men coming in about an hour, but it’s gonna take time to move most of the pieces.”
With the graveyard relocation suspended, it didn’t much matter. “Sounds good.”
“We’ll do an extra, extra good job for you, Adrianna,” Ben said.
Adrianna returned his smile. “You always do.”
Ben grinned and lumbered into the house.
Dwayne watched his son move up the stairs. “He’s good at heart but he’s not the brightest star in the sky.”
“He’s always been polite and respectful when Wells Moving has worked for Barrington Designs.”
Adrianna had suspected Ben had slight developmental delays but had never asked.
“That’s good to hear. Marie and I are always drilling into him that he’s got to be polite. The guy is as strong as an ox and doesn’t have much common sense.”
“He lives with you? I thought he’d gotten his own place last year.”
“He did. It’s the apartment in our basement. He’s doing real well with it.” Pride shone in his eyes.
The old man loved his son. It was one of the traits that drew Adrianna to Dwayne. “He’s lucky to have you.”
A hint of color tinted the older man’s cheeks as if he wasn’t accustomed to compliments. “We’ll load the pictures this morning and deliver them to the auction house. If we’re lucky we can take our first load of furniture today as well.”
Knowing some progress was being made soothed Adrianna’s nerves. “And the auction house isn’t giving you any trouble?”
“Nope. All the insurance paperwork cleared without a problem.”
“Great. At least I can check something off the list.”
He frowned. “So what’s the deal with those graves? Freaky stuff.”
She sighed. “You’re telling me.”
A bead of sweat trickled down his left temple and he swiped it away. “It’s going to cause a lot of delays.”
“Has news reached town yet?”
“No. Hudson’s done a good job of keeping the lid on things. I was in the coffee shop in town this morning and not a word was mentioned.”
“Good.”
“It’s real good. There could be trouble when word does leak out. Some feel like it’s bad luck when you disturb the dead.”
The card on her windshield and the scent of Craig’s aftershave still had her unsettled. “Are you sure no one knows? Someone put a card on my windshield yesterday. It was an anniversary card and signed
Craig
.”
Dwayne frowned. “Damn. I’m sorry. Bad joke.”
“And it’s not funny. When folks do find out and start asking, make sure you tell everyone that I’m not going to be intimidated. I’m not backing down.”
I can’t back down.
“Some folks are a little backward in these parts. They have a few drinks and then everyone is talking tough. They’ll get over it.” He pulled off his cap and smoothed a gnarled hand over his bald head. “I do wonder about that Dr. Heckman. If there ever was a nut.”
She was a bit surprised at Dwayne’s appraisal. “He’s passionate about his cause. And I do sympathize, but he’s been ordered to stay off the land. If you see him, run him off.”
Dwayne sniffed. “Consider it done. I’ll tell Marie to do the same.”
Knowing Dwayne and Marie were behind her warmed Adrianna. These last couple of years, she’d been on her own. At times, she was terrified. But she’d grown up. Grown stronger. But when Dwayne or someone else offered help, she took it. Occasionally, it was nice not to carry all the weight.
“Marie called me and said the cops arrived minutes ago. They’re digging into that second mound.”
“Did she say if they’ve found another body or not?”
“She says everyone’s tight-lipped about it.”
“Right.”
“Marie says Hudson has arrived.”
“The guy gets around.” She tried to keep her voice neutral, but the mention of his name tipped her a little off balance.
“Hudson reminds me of a dog with a bone. He’s not leaving this property or any one of us alone until he’s squeezed out every answer.”
“I’ve no doubt.”
Tess had only been able to grab a couple of hours of sleep after she’d left the medical examiner’s office. She’d been jazzed when she pushed through the front door of her small apartment, cluttered with books, magazines, and a couple of weeks’ worth of laundry. Tidying had made sense but hadn’t appealed, so she’d sat up until three a.m. watching an old John Wayne classic and eating rocky road ice cream.
Now the lack of sleep was biting her in the ass. Too bad she’d passed on the fourth cup of coffee.
She groaned when she saw the collection of cop cars. There had to be eight or nine. Crap. Didn’t these guys have work to do?
Gage sat in his car, his phone pressed to his ear. He waved to her but didn’t get out. She waved back, but couldn’t scrounge a smile.
“Hey, Kier, what do you think you’ll find today?” The question came from one of the cops. Brady somebody.
“Can’t say, man.” She called half the guys on the force
man
because she couldn’t remember names so well. She remembered the emotions cops showed at a crime scene. At a tough scene she could feel emotions rolling around her like the ocean, but the names were forgotten almost as soon as she heard them.
Dr. Alex Butler was one of the few she couldn’t read. A cool blank slate that didn’t give her a hint as to what was happening on the inside. She couldn’t decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
“So you think it’s another victim?” Brady said.
“Your guess is as good as mine.” That wasn’t true. She was certain something or someone had been buried in the spot.
“Any word on cause of death on the first victim?” another said.
“Nope.” She didn’t break stride as she passed them.
“Can we get a closer look?”
“Stay out of my crime scene.”
“Just a peek?” He was goading her to see if he could stir a reaction. “Pretty please.”
“Bite me.” She’d learned long ago not to show any softness in this business.
Laughter rumbled through the cops until Gage got out of his car, and suddenly the men got quiet.
Gage moved toward her, his cowboy boots eating up the distance. Even in a suit, he always looked out of place here, like he belonged on the open range. “You’re in a sweet mood this morning.”
“Tell me what I don’t know,” she said.
Gage cocked an eyebrow, clearly put off by her tone. Tess understood that she was a hard person to like. Abrasive was her stock in trade. But she’d decided long ago she’d rather be respected than liked. Nice people just got run over.
“Jesus, it’s going to be a circus today,” she said.
“Hopefully, it’ll die down soon. Everybody here has a job to do.”
“Just keep them out of my crime scene.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“What about the press?”
“No sign yet. But that’s a matter of time. Too many people know about this.”
“Right.”
“Dr. Butler is here.”
“I figured I’d beat him.”
“Not today.”
She nodded and turned toward the crime scene. The doctor was already at the second mound, oblivious to everyone else. He’d assembled his digging tools and laid them out neatly beside the site. He reminded her of a surgeon. Head bent, long fingers tucked into the pockets of his khakis as he studied the earth.
She pushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear and ducked under the tape. “Dr. Butler.”
“Tess Kier.” He glanced up at her, his gaze accessing and critical. “Did you sleep at all last night?”
Defenses rose. “You saying I look bad?”
“Yes.”
His honesty caught her off guard. “Boy, you know how to make a girl feel good.”
“I’m stating the obvious. You look exhausted.”
“Don’t you ever sleep?”
“I don’t need much sleep. Three hours seems to be my limit. You, I suspect, need six to eight.”
Nine was better, but it had been a while since she’d enjoyed a full night. She rubbed itchy eyes under her glasses. Too bad she wasn’t a robot like the good doctor. She needed her Z’s. That should have made her mad but instead she laughed. “You always tell the truth?”
“Yes.”
“Can’t say I always want to hear it, especially when it comes to my appearance, but if I had to choose between brutally honest and a guy who told me only what I wanted to hear, I’ll take brutally honest.” Her ex had been a smooth number. Made her feel like a million bucks. And in the end had mangled the hell out of her heart when he’d started sleeping with one of his graduate students.
“Good. I think.” He shifted his attention back to the uneven ground and the spotty vegetation. “Today is going to be long, the process as slow as yesterday.”
“I suspected as much. Did you identify the first skeleton?”
“Yes.” He knelt and checked his tools. “Hudson was right.”
Knowing that one of the victims had been identified lifted her mood a fraction. “That’s something, at least. One step closer to catching her killer.”
“Let’s hope.”
“Where do we start?”
“I start scraping the dirt. You sift. Just like yesterday.”
“Hold tight while I take a few more pictures.”
“You photographed yesterday.”
She raised the camera to her face and started clicking. “You’d be surprised how the time of day can change perspective.” And honestly, she felt a little less intimidated by Dr. Butler hiding behind the lens of a camera.
Dr. Butler glanced at a tree that grew very close to the site. “We may be in luck with this tree.”
“How so?”
“The roots. If the roots have grown up through a skeleton it may help us figure out how long the body was in the ground.”