3 #2
Evan stood and pulled off his gloves, leaving them on the blue cloth the techs had spread next to the grave. He joined Noelle. “Implants,” he said, his gaze reflecting the excitement Noelle had felt at the discovery.
“I saw that,” she said. “That and a bullet will give the investigation a good start.”
“The lieutenant called. I told him I wanted you on this case with me. He gave the go-ahead.”
Noelle nodded. She’d been prepared to fight for the case if Lieutenant Ogden suggested giving it to someone else. “Good. I wanted it. How fast can we get the serial numbers?”
He winced. “Dr. Ruiz didn’t care for my suggestion that he remove an implant on-site. He said he’d do it as soon as she gets to the morgue. After that it shouldn’t take long.”
“I wonder if all the victims will be women,” Noelle said in a low voice.
“Odds are they will be.” Evan’s mouth tightened, but then his gaze went past her, and his expression lightened a fraction.
She turned to see the Eagle’s Nest police chief approaching. Truman Daly. A friend of both hers and Evan’s. She and Max often went out with Truman, his wife Mercy, and Evan and Rowan. Dinners, hikes, barbecues, wine tasting. The six of them had grown close.
“Afternoon, Noelle. Evan.” He touched the brim of his hat.
“Truman.” Noelle smiled as she and Evan shook his hand. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised to see you here,” she said. “Eagle’s Nest is the closest town—even though it’s not that close.”
The chief’s son, Ollie, stopped beside him. His face was stoic, but his nostrils flared slightly at the odors, and a bit of a dazed look entered his eyes. He politely shook hands with Noelle and Evan.
She liked Ollie. He was a good kid.
Kid? He’s got to be nearly twenty.
“I like to know what’s happening in my backyard,” said Truman, removing his cowboy hat and looking past Evan and Noelle at the ongoing recoveries. “How many vics?”
“Five. It appears they might have been here different lengths of time,” said Evan. He pointed at Dr. Ruiz, who was at the first site. “That one appears to be the freshest. Then we’ve got two that are fully skeletonized.”
“Male? Female?” asked Truman.
“Not sure yet,” said Noelle. “The one by Dr. Ruiz is most likely a woman.”
“Need any more hands?” asked the chief.
“I think we’re good for now,” said Noelle, knowing the chief’s small department didn’t have the manpower to spare.
“I brought Ollie along because he knows this area like the back of his hand,” said Truman. “Has hiked and snowmobiled through most of the woods around here. You got questions about the terrain, ask him. Probably more accurate than any topographical maps or Google view of the area.”
“I wouldn’t say that.” Ollie reddened.
Noelle studied the young man. “Do you know of any cabins or outbuildings nearby?” She’d already studied satellite photos of the area, but the trees were too dense for her to make out any structures.
“I found one ancient building a few years back,” Ollie said slowly. “But after that it was thoroughly examined by the FBI, and they took everything out of it. It was on private property. Probably five miles from here.” He glanced uncomfortably at Truman.
“The FBI? Why?” Noelle’s mind went to Max again. Her personal FBI agent.
“Ollie here has a bad habit of stumbling over dead bodies,” said Truman. “I think he’s found three since I’ve known him. But that time, the remains he’d discovered were skeletal.”
Ollie met Noelle’s gaze. “The remains had been there for thirty years. They were linked to an armored car heist.”
Something clicked in the back of Noelle’s brain. “You worked on that case,” she said to Evan.
“Mercy did too,” said Evan, referring to the chief’s wife, who worked for the FBI.
“I’m not aware of any buildings closer than that one,” said Ollie.
“But doesn’t mean there aren’t any.” He pointed past the crime scene.
“There’s a cliff about a hundred yards that way.
Impossible to get up or down without climbing equipment.
” He gestured behind him and then to the north.
“Both those directions are gradual climbs, pretty gentle. Solid trees except for the forest road, though it only goes another two miles or so. South of here the trees thin after several miles and you get down to the main road. Not much else around.”
“So most likely, this old road was the only way in. Thanks, Ollie,” said Noelle. “Think you could help with the grid search for a bit?”
“You bet.” He took off toward the deputies doing their slow walk through the brush.
Noelle glanced at Evan and then asked Truman, “Any missing persons from your town? We don’t have a time frame yet, although it’s possible that the one by Dr. Ruiz is less than a week old.”
“Nothing lately. But Ben can recite the missing persons of the last few decades if you want.” Ben Cooley, one of Truman’s officers, had been with the department for more than thirty years.
“We’ll let you know,” said Evan, raising his brows. “We’ll pull from the missing persons database first.”
Truman grinned. “But that doesn’t give you the local opinions of the person’s character and what the town thinks could have happened to them. The good stuff.”
“We’ll call Ben if we need more information.” Noelle liked Ben, but he did have a tendency to talk a lot and rather loudly. She looked around at the activity and checked the sun. “Looks like we’ve got a long way to go. We’ll be here late into the evening.”
Is there a serial killer running around?