“I was out with Blossom and—”
I straightened in my chair and tilted my head to make sure I’d heard correctly. “I’m sorry, you were out with who?”
“Blossom. This chick I was just kind of seeing at the time.”
“Tall? Busty? Black hair down to her ass?”
“She cut her hair shorter a while back, but yeah, that’s her. You know her?”
Blossom had received that nickname in high school because she had a penchant for flower-print shirts. I couldn’t even remember her real name, but I recalled how cruel she could be to a poor kid like me who was lucky to get clothes from the thrift store. I also remember Alice trying desperately to fit in with Blossom’s mean-girl crowd.
“We went to school together. What’s her real name?”
“Damned if I know.” He rubbed the crease between his eyebrows as if that would help but then he gave up. “We went out only a couple times before all this happened.”
“Okay, so you were out with Blossom and then...?” I tried to get my mind back on Roscoe’s story so waved my hand for him to continue.
“Yeah, Blossom and I were at the pub and she stepped outside for a smoke. Then she comes back inside and tells me that Jet is locked in a car across the street and she can hear him barking. So I’m thinking, what the frig is that all about?” He crosses his arms with indignation. “I go outside and sure enough, there’s Jet in the back of Alice’s car. The minute he sees me he goes ape shit, right? He’s howling and pawing at the glass.”
“This was winter, though. November, if I remember. And it was cool out but not below zero or anything, so Jet wasn’t in any danger.”
“He was freaking out.” Roscoe leaned forward, palms down on the table between us and whispered, “I wasn’t about to just leave him like that, so I busted him out.”
“Broke the window of her car and took him.”
“Yup.” He grinned proudly. “The car alarm went off and Alice came out of the coffee shop and lost her frickin’ mind. She was screaming so loud I thought her head would explode. Of course, other people came out of all the businesses around there to see what the hell was happening. I took Jet over to my truck and locked him inside and then I told her she’d have to take me to court if she ever wanted to see the dog again. I didn’t scream at her or anything. I was totally chill. I know witnesses said we had a big fight in the middle of the street but, dude, that’s misleading. Alice was shrieking like a maniac, but I was totally mellow on account of I knew I was in the right. She knew it too and that’s why she freaked.” He smiled.
“And then you killed her. Over a dog.”
“I’m telling you I did not kill Alice!” Roscoe yelled.
A guard came up to us and asked me if everything was okay. I told him I was fine and then the guard gave Roscoe a warning to keep his voice down.
Roscoe cleared his throat and lowered his tone. “Would I ask you to help find her body if I was the killer?”
He had a point, except dealing with murderers was seldom logical. There were lots of crazy killers who were publicity hounds. They loved the attention they got, and in this situation, finding Alice’s body would bring his name into the forefront of the news again. Maybe he was the kind who got off on that. He wouldn’t be the first creepy killer who found that titillating.
“Maybe you just like getting your name in the news.”
“Screw that! I’m telling you I don’t know what happened to her.” Roscoe’s voice was a plea.
“Who was she at the coffee shop with that night?”
“By herself. Reading a book. She did that.” He shrugged. “I don’t know how Alice ended up dead that night and how I ended up here doing life for murder one. I didn’t do nothin’.”
“They found her blood in the back of your pickup. The murder weapon was a fancy sword that you kept on display in your trailer and it was found in the grass next to your truck.”
“Yeah, but no body.” He blew a raspberry through his lips. “How often does someone get convicted of murder without there even being a body?” He shook his head slowly. “If it weren’t for bad luck I’d have none at all.”
“It wasn’t just a little blood,” I pointed out. “It was enough blood to say that your truck was definitely the crime scene. And what about the thumb?”
“Yeah. The thumb. That’s messed up.” He drummed his fingers on the table and then leaned in. “How stupid do I look? If I was going to kill someone, do you think I’d leave a bloody mess and a body part in the bed of my pickup? And I paid nearly seven hundred dollars for that Wakizashi Emperor Series Sword. Saved for months to buy it and hung it on the wall because it was a work of art.”
“So someone used your sword from your house and she bled out in your pickup but you’re innocent.”
“I know how it looks.” He narrowed his eyes. “And that’s why I’m here. They think I went nuts but no matter how pissed off I was at Alice, I wouldn’t’ve killed her. I still loved her.” His furious look was a challenge for me to say otherwise, and when I didn’t, he continued, “Besides, I’d never be so stupid as to use my own sword! And I’m too much of an idiot to take a hose to my truck to clean it off and hide or toss the sword? Just leave all the evidence there sayin’ ‘come get me and lock me up’?” He folded his arms tight and thrust his chin at me. “I was set up, man. That’s why I need you.”
“If you were set up, you need a lawyer. Not me.”
“Nah, I need you to find Alice’s frickin’ body. You find her body, then they’re going to have to do the whole CSI thing and get DNA off it, you know? And any DNA on that girl ain’t gonna be mine. Find her and I’ll be set free.”
“It’s been two years. If her body was easy to find, the police would’ve found it by now.”
“No kidding. That’s why my dad said we needed to reach out to you. This is your thing, right?” He waved a hand at me. “Using those metal sticks of yours to find dead people is your jam. I bet you have those things in your car right now. Everyone in the area knows how you work with the FBI and you’re all over the state finding bodies. Back home you’re a freakin’ superhero. You’re ready to find dead people anytime, am I right?”
I did have my rods and pack in my car but that sure as hell didn’t make me a superhero.
“Yes, my dowsing rods help me find bodies, but I have to know where to start. I can’t be crisscrossing all over the country or even all across Washington State. I don’t have that kind of time, and even if I did, you don’t have that kind of money to pay me to work that long or that hard.” I wagged a finger at him. “I’ve already spent over five hours just to get here and talk to you. Now I’ll spend hours more to get home. That’s time I could’ve spent helping someone else find the body of a loved one.”
“You didn’t have to come out here, dude. We coulda done this little meeting by video visitation. Dad told you that. Don’t know why you wanted to have this talk face-to-face.” He shrugged. “But money isn’t a problem. My dad set aside enough to take care of you before he died. After Alice died his cancer got worse. Maybe he just lost the will to fight it. Anyway, he changed his will then so that a reasonable amount be spent to try and find Alice and set me free.”
“But I heard your mom is in a care home. That’s not cheap.”
“Sure, Kim is struggling to pay the bills but there’ll be enough left after paying you to help fund Mom’s care in the home, so it’s all good. It’s what Dad wanted. You go looking for Alice and you’ll get paid for all your time, including this visit.”
“Did Alice have any money of her own? Any insurance you would’ve inherited from her?”
“Of course, the cops looked into all that already and the answer is nope. She died with less than a hundred dollars in her bank account.” He drummed his fingers on the table. “So now you’ve talked to me face-to-face, you gonna do it or not?”
I’d wanted to sit across from him and get a vibe of whether or not Roscoe Ebert was a murderer. My hope was that coming here would give me a feel about whether or not helping a convicted criminal and returning to the town of my infamous upbringing would be worth the time and torture. Turns out it wasn’t as clear-cut as I’d hoped.
Roscoe rubbed the dagger tattoo on his neck and I met his gaze.
“I’m still going to have to think about it.”
For the first time I saw a flash of sadness in his eyes. Then he looked away and frowned.
“You do whatever you have to do. Either way, let Kim know so she and my ma ain’t sitting around hoping on something that’s not gonna happen.” He blew out a loud breath. “Guess I ain’t got nothin’ but time anyway. You go ahead and think about it and make sure you’re thinking long and hard about poor Alice. Her body is out there somewhere and even after two years she ain’t at rest in a casket. If you don’t want to do it for me, you could do it for her.”
If I did choose to take this case, Alice would be my only reason. “Tell your lawyer I want a copy of your trial transcripts. I’ve read what the newspapers say, I want to read everything brought up in court.”
“Done. I’ll call him today and tell him to send them to you.” He smiled. “I knew you’d take this case.”
“I’m going to check to see if it’s worth my time first,” I told him, shaking my head. “I’ll let them know my decision.” I pushed my chair back, started to get up, then sat back down. “By the way, who has Jet now?”
“Kim.” He leaned back in his chair. “She’s moved into my trailer. There’s lots of land and Jet likes to run.”
“Are you still in contact with Blossom?”
He shook his head. “She wrote me once after I was locked up. I never replied.” He turned his palms up. “Didn’t see the point.”
“I’ll get back to your sister as soon as I’ve made a decision.”
“Good. And, dude, if you need to come back here to chat again, I don’t mind.” He gave me two thumbs up. “Just be prepared to buy me some Doritos, you know? A guy has to get his kicks somewhere.”
I got up and told the guard I was done. Once I was back in my Jeep, I made a few notes on my phone about everything I’d learned from Roscoe. Coming here did not give me any firm sense on the case. I felt no immediate gut feeling that he was innocent and no compulsion to help him. But I did hate that Alice’s remains weren’t properly buried. I rubbed the back of my neck and sighed. I’d think about it on the long ride home.
As I started the Jeep, I glanced over at the backpack containing my dowsing rods sitting on the passenger seat. I’d actually had two reasons to travel to this part of Washington State, and I was about to start on the second reason. A few days ago I’d received a message through my website from a frantic woman who was looking for her daughter. The daughter, Rachel Wu, had driven from university to visit a friend in this prison but neither she nor her car had been seen since. The mother said that she had a feeling in her gut that her daughter was dead. The young woman was a known drug addict and she also had a number of DUI convictions. Although she’d been sober long enough to return to university this term, the mother spoke to Rachel on the phone not long after she left the prison and she sounded out of it.
While up this way, it wouldn’t hurt to drive the area with my dowsing rods to see if I could locate Rachel Wu. As I placed my rods on my lap, a movement a few steps away in the prison parking lot caught my eye. A guy in his midtwenties with corn-yellow spiked hair and thick glasses waved to me as he got into his car. I glanced over my shoulder to see if he was waving at someone else, but there was nobody else nearby. I met a lot of people in my line of work and didn’t remember them all, so I tentatively waved back as I steered out of the parking lot and on the main road.
Once off prison property I pulled over and reviewed what Mrs. Wu had told me about her daughter. In a nearby park Rachel had been known to hook up with fellow drug users. Mrs. Wu herself had found her daughter passed out behind the wheel of her car at that location last year. I put the address of the park into my GPS and drove ten minutes to the location.
I didn’t spot Rachel’s described Smart car in the parking lot or on any of the side roads nearby. Still I drove the area slowly, watching for any twitching of my dowsing rods in my lap, but nothing. I looked at the map on my phone and checked a few other nearby areas but there was no sign of Rachel Wu or her car.
I tossed the rods on the passenger seat and hit the main road. After I’d been driving nearly two hours, the rain became a torrent. Even with my wipers on high, it was difficult to see the road, so all the drivers slowed down. Just as I was coming out of a sharp curve in the road, I was surprised by the sound of my dowsing rods abruptly swinging to the right in the passenger seat and clanging against the door. With a frown I pulled to the shoulder, and the rods continued to turn like a compass to point in the direction I’d just come. The rain tapered to a drizzle as I leaned over my passenger seat and peered out the window in the direction of the ditch where the rods indicated. All I could see was tall grass down below but the rods never lied.
“Damn it. There’s a body down there.”
Chapter Two
I turned off my Jeep and put my hazard lights on. From where I sat, there was no indication that a car had gone off the road or there’d been any other kind of accident, but there was definitely a body down there waiting to be found. I grabbed my rods from the passenger seat, climbed out and locked the Jeep behind me. Walking to the edge of the steep shoulder, I stared down and craned to see if there was any hint of what lay below. All I could see was that the weeds were tall and wet, and the trench looked deep. Although the rain had now almost stopped, the embankment looked slick and I wished I’d brought my hiking boots.
As cars whizzed by, the mud sprayed from their tires misted over me. I walked a few steps behind my car and the divining rods in my right hand eagerly tugged me forward. Just as I was about to begin my descent, a small white car pulled off the road and parked on the shoulder a few feet behind me. The young man who climbed out of the car was the spiky yellow-haired guy who had waved at me in the prison parking lot.
“Hey,” he called out, pushing his glasses up his nose as he walked toward me. “Are you okay? Is there a problem?” He looked beyond me to my Jeep. “You got a flat?”
“No. I’m fine.”
He took another step in my direction and I took a step in retreat, taking my phone from my pocket. He took the hint and stopped walking closer.
“I’m sorry, do I know you?”
“Raymond Hughes.” He smiled and waited expectantly but I didn’t offer any kind of recognition. He added, “Everyone just calls me Ray.”
“You waved at me in the prison parking lot...” I looked at him questioningly and traced the screen of my phone with my thumb. Sure, he looked like a normal clean-cut guy with a baby face and soft brown eyes but I was prepared to call for help quickly if needed.
“You’re Julie Hall. I recognize you from all the papers and stuff. I’m kind of a follower really.” He glanced sheepishly at his feet.
“Oh.”
Well, this was awkward. Standing on the side of the road waiting to go find a body was not exactly a place I wanted to start my fan club.
“Anyway, a friend of mine is a guest at the Ozette Corrections Center and when I saw you there I thought, well, look at that.” He shook his head and chuckled. “I was kinda shocked because Roscoe has been telling everybody for months that the dowsing girl was coming to help solve his case and set him free, and I guess nobody ever believed him, but there you were in the flesh. I offered him my services, but he declined and—”
A car whizzed by and speckled us in muddy spray. We both took a couple steps farther from the roadway.
“So you know Roscoe?”
“Not personally. Bobby
—the friend I was visiting—he’s Roscoe’s cellmate.” He took a step around the hood of his car and peered down into the weeds. “There’s a body down there?”
When I didn’t answer right away he pointed to the dowsing rods in my hand.
“I just figured on account of you have your rods out.” He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his hoodie and rocked back on his heels. “I could help you out, if you want.”
“I don’t need any help.” My tone was more curt than I intended so I added, “But thanks anyway.”
“Sure. No problem.” He shrugged and gave me an easy smile, showing the kind of perfect teeth that came from expensive dental work. “It looks pretty steep though.” He hooked his thumb in the direction of his car behind him. “How about I just wait up here in my car until I make sure you make it back up the hill safely.”
“Okay.” I slowly nodded. “That’s kind of you. Thanks.”
He told me it was no problem and once he was back inside his car I stepped off the road and into the wet grass. The tall weeds were slick and after a few feet the angle of the embankment increased. I found myself sliding downward like my feet were on skis. My arms were windmilling at my sides to keep my balance, and I nearly dropped my rods.
Once I regained my footing against a large rock halfway down, I drew in a deep breath and began to walk again. I angled my body to avoid a thorny bramble of blackberry bushes. The lowermost part of the trench was nearly twenty feet down from the roadside, and there was a small creek that probably grew into a torrent in spring. Now that I was down the embankment and on flatter terrain, I stuck out my dowsing rods and followed their lead.
The tall redroot pigweed grew thick like a wet curtain and as high as my chin, and I pushed it aside with my rods as I moved forward. When those weeds thinned, clumps of field horsetail brushed my knees. So thick was the brush that I almost bumped into the car before I could see it. There on its side surrounded by thick brush lay one of those tiny two-seater Smart cars. The vehicle had obviously missed the turn and tumbled into the ditch. My rods crossed to form an X as I approached the driver’s door.
A Grave End Page 2
