Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 105868 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105868 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Ophelia drew out her phone and started taking pictures. “I already have a full set of shots of the entire scene, but I’ll take another set before the wind destroys everything.” Her hair blew wildly in the breeze, thick and black. She pivoted slowly, methodical, documenting every angle. The creek, the disturbed pebbles, the flattened weeds. Her expression stayed neutral and controlled.
“Did you find anything around the body?” May asked.
“Not a thing,” Dutch said. “Didn’t even find a beer bottle.”
May took a deep breath of the pine-scented air, fighting the urge to close the woman’s eyes. That wasn’t her job, and she couldn’t get in the way of the medical examiner. “I can declare time of death as of now.” May looked at her watch and gave the time. “But that’s about all I can do.” Although she’d bet on the cause.
“What else do you observe?” Dutch asked.
“Just that she…” May exhaled slowly. “I’m not a medical examiner, Dutch. The procedure is to send the body to Fairbanks. They’ll do a good job.”
“I know. She’s so young,” he said softly.
May swallowed. The woman had to be in her early twenties, with blonde hair and blue eyes. She looked like the girl next door. The kind who should’ve been laughing somewhere, complaining about the rain, not lying still on a cold patch of river stones. Her face had already gone waxy. No life left in those eyes. “She fought back.”
May gingerly lifted the girl’s arm to reveal bruises and scrapes on both arms as well as her hands. “Gave it a good fight. There are several defensive wounds on her fingers, knuckles, and hands, as well as her other arm. There’s hopefully trace evidence under her fingernails.”
The wind gusted again, colder now. Rain thickened with the drops landing heavier and faster. The smell of wet earth intensified.
May lifted her head. “Hey, Brock. Tell me you have paper bags.”
“I do.” Brock lumbered down the embankment just as the rain began to fall in earnest. His jacket glistened with moisture as he handed the over the bags.
May quickly secured the paper bags over the woman’s hands, sealing them carefully, protecting any evidence that might be on them or under her nails. “Do we know who she is?”
“Yeah,” Brock said. “Laura Jordan from Montana State. She and a bunch of friends came up to camp for a week.”
May’s heart clutched, but she kept her movements steady. This part never got easier. “Let’s get her into the body bag as smoothly as we can.” They’d have the body flown to Fairbanks for an autopsy.
Brock laid the bag down on a clear area and pulled on fresh gloves. He crouched, his movements respectful and controlled. He gingerly picked the woman up and placed her inside. The zipper slid closed just as a heavier rain began to fall.
Ophelia instantly took pictures of the ground where the woman had lain. “I don’t see anything here but small pebbles and dirt.”
Rain hammered down now, drumming against their jackets and soaking the earth. The creek surged louder, water churning white against rock. The wind tore through the brush, bending tall grass flat.
“We’ll put her in the cooler in the back of the hospital and will fly her out as soon as we can later today,” Dutch said grimly.
May’s heart hurt. The woman had been so young. What a tragedy.
Dutch cleared his throat. “May? We need you to come in for a formal interview.”
May blinked. “A formal interview? Why?”
“We need to talk about Ace,” he said.
Chapter Seven
Late afternoon, Ace kicked back in a wooden chair in the sheriff’s one interrogation room, facing Alaska State Trooper Paige Johnson and her partner, Jeb Pontevo. They sat across a beaten wooden table from each other, and the troopers were fully dressed in their uniforms. He couldn’t believe this.
“Excuse me. Excuse me,” Daisy said as she walked inside.
Ace pulled out the chair next to him. “Daisy? What are you doing?”
“Hey there.” Daisy Bennett wore an impressive mint-green skirt suit with a white shell beneath the jacket. Her posture was straight and her green eyes focused, although the frizz in her lighter red hair showed she’d been in a hurry. She didn’t hesitate. “Please do not ask my client a question without my presence.”
Ace frowned. “I didn’t hire you.”
“Your business partner did,” she said calmly.
He stared at her. “When did you get back in town?”
She turned toward the troopers, her expression smoothing into polite professionalism. “It’s good to see you again, Troopers.”
“You too,” Paige said dryly. The trooper had her darker red hair pulled back into a bun. She had to be in her forties and appeared to be in good shape. Her hat sat on the table in front of her, next to a notepad and three pens, one blue, one red, and one black.
Ace had no clue what the different colors signified. He studied his lawyer. “I thought you were out of town.”