12
Mandy was tired, because that’s what staying up half the evening staring at a disarticulated corpse did to a person.
Not to mention grabbing a mere three hours of sleep before returning to the scene, which appeared just as ominous by the thin light of daybreak as it did during the oppressive dark of nightfall.
The fire chief, Austin Dekes, was already there.
A bit of a legend around town, Austin had passed his younger years as a drunken, drug-fueled reprobate—a story that was unfortunately too common in these parts.
After the proverbial bottoming out, however, he’d painstakingly turned things around, becoming something of an icon for his short-on-words-but-long-on-empathy approach.
In a crisis, he was absolutely the man you wanted in charge, and the fact his loyal band of volunteer firefighters would follow him anywhere didn’t hurt.
Upon arrival, he’d taken it upon himself to erect some temporary wooden barriers around the pit as a matter of safety.
He’d also changed out the batteries on the RDLs, as it required the full intensity of the high-powered beams to penetrate to the bottom of the gloomy well.
Now he was scratching his gray-tinged beard while chatting with the petite older woman beside him—Betty, who’d apparently replaced her usual gossip-filled village loop with a personal walkabout of the Collinses’ property. But of course.
“Should you be here?” Mandy asked Betty with a stern look. Like anything could keep the retired postmistress away.
Betty smiled brilliantly. Austin shrugged.
All right then.
“Heard from the state,” Mandy supplied briskly.
“The local ADME should be arriving shortly.” Local being a relative term.
There were ten assistant deputy medical examiners.
Of that number, two handled the entire north country, which might be short on population but was large on terrain.
Whoever got this callout would probably have been driving since oh-dark-thirty this morning.
As a courtesy, Mandy had loaded up two extra thermoses of coffee from the local deli, where she’d encountered the WMUR news vans, the crew trying to chat up Richie as he frothed lattes and pointedly ignored them. Good man, Richie.
The sound of more vehicles rolling down the dirt drive behind them.
“I remember walking this land four or five times back in the day,” Betty was saying. “Most of us from the town assisted with the search. I must’ve passed right over this spot numerous times. Never had a clue.”
“Turned out a few times myself.” Austin nodded. “Though my memory’s a bit hazy on the subject, given that was at the height of my troubles.”
His euphemism for his addiction-fueled younger days.
“According to Theo Collins,” Mandy supplied, “a couple of inches of sod covered the entire structure. Basically, the field had reclaimed its own.”
“Why didn’t the search dogs ever get interested?” Betty mused. “Isn’t that the point—the nose knows?”
Exactly, Mandy thought, especially given the new visiting stray had apparently come straight here and started digging.
But Austin was shaking his head. “State used bloodhounds. Advantage is they’re scent specific, which is what you want when trying to track a known target. But also means the hounds weren’t searching for just any human; they were on the trail for the Dixons. This isn’t that.”
“I thought a team came in with air-scenting SAR dogs later on.” Mandy frowned.
“Focused on the surrounding area. People’d already searched this meadow; in theory, had seen what there was to see. The SAR dogs worked the surrounding woodlands, looking for what we couldn’t see. Again, this isn’t that.”
“So what is this?” Betty asked.
Mandy turned around to face the growing number of official vehicles piling up in front of the Dixon/Collins house, including the WMUR news van. She couldn’t help one last fatalistic sigh. “This is a fucking mess.” Then she trudged back to the residence to meet her fate.
Theo emerged on the front porch. He offered the assembled masses a brilliant smile. Then he promptly advised the reporter and attending cameraperson that this was private property and no, they were not welcome.
Which earned him cajoling and pleading from the smartly dressed female reporter—you know everyone is interested in this house and its infamous legacy. Come on, just give us a quick tour. A word or two? Your own guess on what you’ve discovered?
That earned her a second grin. Nothing more.
“Damn, he’s good,” Betty whispered, coming up behind Mandy. “Why, if I was twenty years—”
“Forty?”
“Thirty years younger…”
Mandy was saved from further postulating by a string of other arrivals.
A detective from Major Crimes, three volunteer firefighters, and yes, a mud-splattered red Subaru bearing a middle-aged woman who wasted no time unloading a digital camera and battered black backpack.
According to the official ID dangling around Pam Schwartz’s neck, all hail the ADME.
She and Mandy made a point of ignoring the news team as they shook hands.
“Reached out to Dr. Mahone from UNH’s FAIR lab—Forensic Anthropology Identification and Recovery,” Schwartz rattled off.
“She handles skeletal remains for us and hopes to join shortly. We can get started, however; the scene belongs to the ME’s office.
Dr. Mahone will be able to answer more of our questions in real time, though, whereas I can only box up the remains and escort ’em to Concord. ”
Mandy nodded, impressed by the woman’s no-nonsense approach. She made a quick round of introductions, then led Schwartz back to the meadow, Theo and Betty in tow.
“What exactly do you do?” Theo asked Schwartz.
“Visit the scene, gather information, write up a report.”
“Cool.” Theo sounded totally enthralled. “And in your go-bag? You carry, like, evidence bags, brushes for dusting off the bones, mesh screens for sifting the surrounding dirt?”
The ADME gave him a look. “I’m packing my lunch. Not to mention handwarmers, gloves, extra socks, a hat, and thermos of hot soup. In case you haven’t noticed, it’s damn cold out here.”
“Supposed to snow by end of week,” Betty chimed in.
“And you would be?”
“Betty Jenkins. Consider me an official representative of the town.”
Theo regarded the older woman curiously. “Wait, didn’t you drop off a casserole—”
“Will reheat perfectly for dinner tonight,” Betty assured him. “You’re certainly going to have a very busy day. And your lovely wife?”
Theo’s expression tightened for the first time. “As you say, it’s damn cold out here.”
They arrived at the site, joining the cluster of already gathered law enforcement. Apparently other crime was taking the day off.
Schwartz slipped around the wooden barriers, taking up position on the edge of the pit and peering straight down. Mandy joined her, careful to watch her footing.
“How do you want to proceed?” Mandy asked the ADME.
“First step, send someone down to snap photos in situ. Then…” A shrug. “Collect the bones, bring them up top. Hopefully, Debs will have arrived by then.”
“Wait.” Theo raised a hand. “Don’t you have to, like, examine them in place before carefully extracting them one by one, while sifting the surrounding soil through increasingly finer layers of mesh screens?”
“How much TV do you watch?”
Theo appeared so crestfallen Mandy almost felt sorry for him.
“I don’t have rope training.” Schwartz was addressing Mandy now. “Your team?”
Mandy shook her head. While some of her officers had experience rappelling due to their personal hobbies, it was hardly a job requirement. The fire department, on the other hand…
She glanced at Austin.
“Caleb,” he called out promptly.
One of the younger guys came trotting over.
“Got your gear? We need someone to go down, handle the remains.”
“Wait.” Theo again. “I don’t mind descending—”
“No!” Mandy didn’t even have to raise her voice as Austin and Schwartz were already echoing her response.
“You’re not law enforcement,” Mandy continued more moderately.
“Neither is he.”
“Hey!”
“He’s certified.” Austin turned on Theo sternly. “You’re the homeowner. Go home. Own some things.”
Now Theo appeared offended.
“All right, all right.” Mandy raised a hand before the situation totally deteriorated. “ADME’s scene, ADME’s call. Caleb, retrieve what you need. You’ll descend as Schwartz’s representative, do whatever she deems appropriate.”
Caleb was already jogging back to his truck, while Schwartz set down her pack. Mandy turned back to Theo and offered up a consolation prize.
“Why don’t you show the ADME the boards from the well covering?”
“Oh.” Theo’s eyes widened in understanding. He gestured for Schwartz to follow. Mandy counted down in her head. Five, four, three, two…
Then Schwartz’s voice, carrying across the frosty field: “Holy shit.”
Mandy stuck her freezing hands in her heavy jacket and prepared for a long day ahead.