Page 27 of X-Ray in the Xanth (Lovely Lethal Gardens Rewind #3)

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D oreen waved at Mack as he parked and strode toward her. “You came alone?” she asked, looking around.

“I did. Let’s just see what you’ve got first.”

She nodded, not wanting to say anything to him, but really? She should know what a finger bone looked like at this point. Almost as if he realized what she wanted to say, he glanced at her and noted, “Of course, it’s also déjà vu.”

“Right, at my own house,” she noted. As they walked toward the depression, she added, “Maybe it’s a good thing I don’t have Mugs with me today.”

“Why is that?”

As they got there, she pointed down at something on the far side. “How can you even tell what that is?” he muttered.

She jumped into the pit. “It’s not very deep, only two feet, I would guess.” Then he jumped down beside her. She walked over to where the piece of bone was and said, “Now bend down and take a closer look.”

As soon as he did, he put a glove on his hand and brushed away a little bit of the dirt around it, then swore.

When he looked up at her, she nodded. “It’s another body, isn’t it?”

“Not necessarily,” he stated, trying to mask his face. “It’s very possible they just missed a few pieces of Eli.”

She frowned at him. “Is that possible? Why didn’t I think of that?”

He laughed. “Because you’re always looking for the next case.”

“Not really,” she muttered. “Besides, that makes me sound… ghoulish.”

“I’m not saying ghoulish, per se,” he muttered, looking at her sideways, “but maybe a little.”

She groaned and asked, “Will you just pick it up, or do you want to remove it gently?”

He looked at her, brushed off more dirt and then more and a little more.

She finally stepped closer. “I don’t know about you, but, unless the forensic team was extremely lax, this appears to be a second body to me.”

He quickly pulled out his phone, took photos, and then called Elizabeth.

“What’s up?” she asked, distracted.

“Did you supervise the removal of the bones from the site at the park in Rutland?”

“Yeah, sure I did. You were right there with us.”

“I know, but I’m sending you a photo right now.” As soon as he sent it, he added, “I’ll stay on the line, so let me know when you get it.”

Almost immediately she swore.

“Yeah, so the question is, are we talking about more of the same body… or is this another one?”

“It’s another one,” she stated. “It’s not as deteriorated.”

“How can you tell?”

“Because I can still see flesh on it,” she muttered. “I will be right there. Confirm nobody else is around the area.”

“Too late,” he said, with a chuckle. “Doreen is the one who called me about it.”

“Doreen?” she cried out, and then she groaned. “How come we haven’t hired that woman?”

And, with that, she ended the call.