Page 16 of The Graveyard Girls (Detective Ellie Reeves #11)

FIFTEEN

Crooked Creek Police Station

Ellie met Cord, her boss and deputies Shondra Eastwood and Heath Landrum in the conference room at eight a.m. While they helped themselves to coffee and pastries Landrum had picked up from the Corner Café, she tacked pictures of Green Gardens Cemetery on the whiteboard then added shots of the area locals called No Man’s Land where their victim’s body had been discovered.

“Morning, everyone. Our quiet reprieve has ended. Yesterday, female skeletal remains were found by a travel photographer named Emanuel Black who claimed he grew up in the area and was in Brambletown to see the memorial honoring victims of the coal mountain fire. According to him, his family died in the fire and he sustained burns himself. I asked him not to leave town in case we needed to speak to him again.”

“Is he a person of interest?” Deputy Eastwood asked.

Ellie gave a small shrug. “At this point, it’s difficult to say. But it’s possible he committed the crime then returned to watch us investigate or distract us.” She glanced at Landrum. “Deputy Landrum, see what you can dig up on him and his past.”

“On it,” the deputy said, making a note on his pad.

“Was there anything helpful on the memory card of his camera?” Ellie asked.

“Not really,” Deputy Landrum said. “He did photograph the area where he found the remains, but didn’t catch anyone running or lurking around in the shots.”

A dead end, Ellie thought.

“Dr. Whitefeather and her forensic anthropologist assistant should be working on the autopsy today, so we’ll know more then. She did speculate that the girl was a teenager but not how long the remains had been there so hopefully she can narrow that down and get us an ID.”

Captain Hale addressed the room. “Everyone know the history of Brambletown?”

Deputy Eastwood nodded and spoke up, “Some folks are lobbying for the government to finally clean up the toxins. The killer may have left the body on that land to draw attention to the cause or speed up decomp and throw us off with the timeline.”

The captain frowned and popped a mint in his mouth. “The fire and toxins aren’t the only problem in Brambletown.”

“I didn’t grow up around here. Fill me in,” Deputy Landrum said.

Ellie responded. “Fifteen years ago, a teenager girl named Ruth Higgins, the mayor’s daughter, disappeared from Brambletown. Police investigated and searched but her body was never recovered. They speculated she was murdered but found no proof.”

“There’s miles and miles of untamed land where her body could have been dumped or buried,” Cord said. “Or she could have simply run away.”

“True, and the police considered every theory, but eventually the case went cold.”

Shondra rolled a pen between her fingers. “Do you think our body is the Higgins girl?”

“I don’t know,” Ellie said honestly. “Again, we’re waiting on an ID.

It’s possible it’s Ruth or also possible it’s someone else.

It has been a decade and a half since Ruth Higgins disappeared.

If the cases are related, it might suggest a repeat offender.

If so, where has he been? Serial predators usually don’t wait that long in between kills.

” She took a sip of her coffee then set it down.

“This may be an isolated event so let’s start with identifying the girl, then locating her family and friends.

They may know something about how she wound up dead in the mountains. ”

She angled her head toward Deputy Eastwood. “Shondra, while Landrum looks into Emanuel Black, pull all the files on the investigation into the Higgins girl. In town, we may come across some of those questioned in that investigation and if so, I want to know background information in advance.”

“Copy that,” Shondra said.

“So far no missing persons reports have come in from Brambletown so if the body isn’t Ruth, the girl may not be a local,” Captain Hale said.

“I’ll search missing persons reports across the state,” Ellie said.

“Shondra, once I look at those and you study the files on the Higgins’ investigation, let’s head to Brambletown and talk to the locals.

Ranger McClain, arrange a search team, expand the search grid and look for anything in those woods that seems suspicious.

A button off a shirt, cigarette butt, soda can, something that could have belonged to the killer. ”

“ERT combed the area,” he said gruffly.

She narrowed her eyes. “I know, but they might have missed something. Even the smallest clue could help us figure out what happened in those woods.”