Page 30 of Cold, Cold Bones

“That explains his interest. Detective Slidell managed to get to the bottom of the Belmont Abbey situation.” In case I was unclear, she added, “The remains you recovered from the outhouse.”

I nodded.

“The victim was not a pregnant student as Detective Slidell first suspected. In fact, he has been unable to find any link to the monastery, the college, or MiraVia. But he is still investigating that angle.”

Nguyen has one annoying trait. She speaks very precisely and approaches topics in her own way. OK. That’s two.

“Actually, once Detective Henry had the dental information, it was she who got the match through NamUS. Detective Henry gave the name to Detective Slidell, and he carried on.”

I felt like employing a prod. Finally, Nguyen got to the ID.

“The woman’s name is Veronica Justine Kwalwasser. Your age estimate was quite accurate. Kwalwasser was forty-two at the time of her passing.”

“Which was when?”

“August 18, 2020.”

“How did she die?”

“Metastatic breast cancer.”

I didn’t see that coming.

“Yes.” Nguyen read my face. “I was surprised, too. Until I heard the whole story.”

Nguyen glanced at her scribbled notes.

“Do you recall an exposé about a crematorium found to be improperly handling bodies?”

“The Tri-State Crematory in Georgia?”

“No. Right here in Mecklenburg County. The story made the news about two years ago. The incident occurred before I was hired.”

“Right. Happy Trails Cremation Services. Their ads promised the cheapest rates in town.”

Nguyen nodded. “That’s the one. Instead of cremating, the owner was simply stacking the bodies in his garage. When the EPA finally investigated, they found forty-seven corpses in varying stages of decomposition. The man claimed his cremator had stopped functioning properly.”

“Wasn’t Happy Trails located off Monroe Road?”

“Yes.”

“It was shut down.”

“Yes. The owner was charged with theft by deception, giving false statements, abusing a corpse, and various burial service–related frauds.”

I was out of the country at the time, so members of theregional DMORT—Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team—convened to sort through and identify the deceased. Can’t say I was sorry to miss that one.

Nguyen again consulted her notes.

“I’m unclear about his process, but Detective Slidell ran the name Kwalwasser through his cold case database. When he pulled and read the file, he found mention of Happy Trails.”

“No shit.”

Censorious glance due to my language?

“It seems Ms. Kwalwasser’s brother, Mr. Kenneth Kwalwasser, engaged the services of Happy Trails following his sister’s death. As next of kin, he was contacted concerning the malpractice at the crematorium. Furious, he visited the facility frequently throughout the DMORT operation. Much to the annoyance of those involved in the process. On two occasions, the man had to be forcibly removed.”

I had no idea where this was going.