Page 6 of The Graveyard Girls (Detective Ellie Reeves #11)

FIVE

Ellie turned back to Black. “Sir, we’ll need you to stick around town for a while. We might have more questions later.”

His eyes narrowed to slits, then a tiny smile twisted his lips, making the burn scars on his face redden. “Of course.”

Ellie gestured to the sheriff. “See that ERT prints him and collect a DNA swab.” She lowered her voice. “Also get a shoe print.” If Cord found footprints in the woods, they could compare.

“You don’t need to give me orders,” Sheriff Wallace growled. “I know how to run an investigation.”

Ellie barely resisted rolling her eyes. Gawd. Men and their egos.

Thankfully a car engine sounded, and she glanced back to see the medical examiner’s car approaching. “That’s our ME, Dr. Laney Whitefeather,” Ellie said. “I’ll show her to the scene.”

The sheriff stayed with Black and motioned one of the crime techs to come over, while she hurried to meet Laney.

Dried leaves crackled beneath her boots, the scent of death suffusing the air as the wind picked up.

Above storm clouds gathered, heavy and gray, making it urgent they recover the body and process the scene before the clouds unleashed rain and washed away evidence.

Laney slid from the vehicle, tugging on her rain slicker, her reddish-brown hair secured at the nape of her neck with a leather tie. In one hand she held her crime kit while pulling latex gloves from the pocket of her jacket with the other.

They traded hellos, then Laney quickly glanced up at the memorial in front of the little church on the hill with a frown. The sight of those stones and their proximity to the toxic land wasn’t lost on either of them. “What do we have here?”

Ellie indicated the photographer. “The man with the camera, Emanuel Black, found bones. I haven’t seen them yet, but ERT is photographing the area and Cord and crime techs are searching the woods.”

Behind Laney, a young man in his twenties appeared wearing jeans and an ERT cap, his name tag reading Tad Phelps. “This is my new forensic anthropology assistant,” Laney said then introduced Ellie. “He’s here to assist in recovering the remains.”

Ellie gave a nod of understanding. The bones had to be carefully extracted to ensure evidence wasn’t destroyed or compromised in the process. “Let’s go see what we have.”

Laney and Phelps followed Ellie across the barren ground to the crime scene tape where the sheriff’s deputy stood guard.

The sheriff might seem ornery, but at least he’d followed protocol to preserve the scene.

Dusk had set in, although she’d heard this land was bathed in a perpetual gray and she believed it. Leaves and dead brush dotted the ground, but it was obvious grass hadn’t grown here in a long time. The dirt seemed dry, the Georgia red clay hard and packed.

They paused by the deputy and surveyed the scene, the sight of a finger poking through the soil confirming Black’s story. Three more fingers were also evident.

A shudder rippled through Ellie. Looking at skeletal remains was never easy.

“I’ll retrieve our equipment, lights and a tarp to spread the bones on as we recover them,” Laney’s assistant said.

Thunder rumbled and Laney glanced up at the darkening sky. “Set up a tent to cover the grave from the rain.”

Her assistant nodded, then Laney adjusted her head lamp, knelt and surveyed the bones. “Definitely human although at this point we can’t be sure there’s an entire body here until we dig it up.”

Ellie’s mind was racing. An image of Ruth, a teenager with bright blue eyes and silky blond hair, taunted Ellie. They needed to find out how old the bones were. If they were from a teenager. Although it was possible Ruth’s abductor had held her captive for years, which would make her older.

If so, why kill her now?