Page 61 of Cold, Cold Bones

Next, I dialed a number at the violent crimes unit.

“Detective Henry.”

“Tempe Brennan here.”

“Wowza. Howareyou, Doc?”

“Peachy,” I said.

“I figured you’d take a couple days off.”

Great. Henry knew about yesterday. That meant everyone did.

“It was no big deal. Free dermabrasion.”

“Ha! Good one. Detective Slidell said you looked like—”

“Did he tell you to run the guy who buried the buses? Bobby Karl Smith. Looks like he’s a prepper.”

“Yes. And I did. Nothing popped.”

“Nothing?”

“Zip.”

“Find out who owns the property. Track the buses. Where they were purchased, who—”

“I’m on all that. Not sure why he wants it. I guess he thinks Smith’s the douchecanoe who cracked you in the noggin?”

“Mmm.”

“You figure this Boldonado’s your hanging dude?”

“It’s a possibility.”

“As soon as Hawkins shoots me the prints, I’ll run them through AFIS.” She referred to the Automated Fingerprint Identification System database.”

“Keep me looped in.”

“Roger that.”

After disconnecting, I checked my mobile for missed calls. Slidell had phoned at seven-forty, again at eight. Left no message either time.

That made three calls, two to my cell, one to the switchboard.

I sat a moment, fingers massaging the sides of my noggin,resisting the urge to poke at my cheek. Then I opened and read the requests.

Two pathologists needed anthro expertise. The first case, MCME 239-22, was in the morgue. I read the synopsis twice, not believing the story the first time through.

The facts were as follows:

A woman in Mount Holly was struck by a falling object while wrapping burlap around shrubs in her yard. The object was a small sack. The woman opened the sack. Inside were charred bone fragments and other debris. The woman called the police. The police traced the sack to a crematorium offering aerial scattering over the locale of your choice.

Winds were erratic on the day of the shrub wrapping. Up above, as the plane’s hatch opened to release the contents of the about-to-be-untied sack, the aircraft was caught in a sudden updraft. The sack slipped from the grip of the person holding it, and the dearly departed plummeted to earth.

The family was not happy, and litigation loomed.

The remains were human, so the Mount Holly cops had sent them to the MCME.