Catastrophe Cliff

by J A Whiting

  Mari sighed and looked up. “Yeah. Kyle.”

  One of Peter’s eyebrows rose on his forehead. “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t like Kyle.” Mari folded her hands in her lap. “He’s selfish and self-absorbed. He only cares about himself, his career, what he wants, what he wants to do.”

  “How do you all get along when you’re together?” Peter asked.

  Mari shook her head. “We pretend to like each other. Kyle knows I don’t care for him, but we get along for Jen’s sake.”

  “Did Jen know you didn’t think Kyle was the right man for her?” Nell questioned.

  “She knew.”

  “Was she upset about how you feel?”

  “She wished I felt differently. But I didn’t.” Mari turned and looked out the window. “They weren’t getting along.”

  “Jen and Kyle?” Nell was surprised to hear this.

  “There was some trouble in paradise,” Mari said. “Jen was getting tired of Kyle’s ego.”

  “She talked to you about this?”

  “Not a lot. She held back because she knew I’d be delighted if she dumped him.”

  “Was she considering breaking off the engagement?” Nell asked.

  Mari took in a long breath. “She didn’t share her feelings about this with Kyle so I never mentioned it to him, but Jen was having second thoughts about marrying him.”

  “She came right out and said this?” Peter asked.

  Mari nodded. “It would have been a hard thing for her to do. They’d been together for almost four years. I can’t say I would have been sad if she changed her mind about marrying Kyle.”

  “What changed for her?”

  “She and Kyle had been living together for two years. I think being together like that was enough to open Jen’s eyes to his real character.”

  “Are you married?” Peter asked.

  Nell glanced to the woman’s ring finger and saw there was no ring on it.

  Mari turned to Peter with a tight expression. “How is that relevant to Jen’s death?”

  “We’re simply gathering information,” Peter said reassuringly. “We’re trying to establish who the people were around Jennifer … her family members, friends, associates. We’re trying to get a picture of her life.”

  “I was married for six years and then we got divorced. My ex-husband is a salesman. He travels a good deal. He was rarely home during the week. That’s probably why we got along so well for years.”

  “You’re an engineer?”

  “Electrical engineer. I work for a good company. They let me have time off for competitions. I work hard there and I know my stuff so it works out well for both sides.”

  “Did Jennifer have close friends?” Peter asked to see if Mari had other names besides the ones Kyle had provided.

  “Yeah. Fiona Locke. She runs a clothing store in town.”

  “Anyone else?”

  “Carrie Flint. She’s a nurse at the hospital. I’m not sure if they saw much of each other lately, but they were friends.”

  “Did Jen like her job?”

  “Sure. She got tired of the routine sometimes, but overall, she liked it. It could be stressful at times, but she seemed to handle it well.”

  “I have to ask a delicate question,” Peter began.

  Mari frowned and cocked her head to the side. “Are you going to ask me if Jen might have intentionally fallen from the cliff?”

  “It’s a necessary question,” Peter sounded sorry about it.

  “I don’t think so, but how can anyone be sure? I know she was debating about her future, about marrying Kyle. Could Jen have been so worked up about it that she decided to end her concerns? My guess is no, but who knows what’s inside another person’s head? Who knows what pushes someone to make the choices they do? My sister showed nothing to me that indicated she might take her life.”

  “Was there anyone who Jennifer had been arguing with? Anyone she wasn’t getting along with?” Peter asked.

  “You mean, besides Kyle?” Mari asked. “There was nothing major going on as far as I know. There were petty squabbles at her office at times, but it was nothing. The usual picky things that people can get into.”

  “Jennifer wasn’t worried about anything? She wasn’t uneasy about anyone?” Nell questioned.

  “She didn’t say anything like that to me.” Mari straightened her shoulders and looked pointedly at the detective. “So what happened on that cliff?”

  “Everything points to an accidental fall,” Peter explained. “The medical examiner will assess the injuries and make a final determination, but we have no reason to believe that it will be categorized as anything but an accident.”

  “Do you have her phone?” Mari asked.

  “Yes,” Peter said. “It’s with our investigators.”

  “What’s been found?”

  “Some photos she took that morning, some texts. Nothing unexpected.”

  Nell saw the colors around Mari change to pale green and a golden yellow. Envy? Deceit?

  “Will Jen be released to her next of kin?” Mari asked.

  “As soon as the medical examiner is finished,” Peter said.

  “Jen and Kyle weren’t married. Will Jen be released to me?”

  Peter hesitated. “I’m not sure. Will your parents be coming out?”

  “They’re not well enough to travel. We’re in contact with each other. They’d like me to take Jen back to Seattle.”

  “Have you spoken with Kyle?” Nell asked. “Have you shared with him your hope to take your sister home?”

  Mari’s face seemed to harden. “I have not. Why should I?”

  “It might be worthwhile to have a talk with him about the arrangements,” Nell suggested.

  “I suppose it has to be done.” Mari shifted in her seat.

  “Would you describe your relationship with your sister as being close?” Peter asked.

  “Sure. We weren’t best friends or anything, but we were close enough. There were ten years between us. We didn’t have the same friends or anything like that, but we saw each other, we talked. I’m not sure what Jen would say, but I’d describe us as being close.”

  “Is there anyone else we should talk with about your sister?” Peter questioned. “Someone who might have some insight into her recent state of mind?”

  “No one I can think of,” Mari said.

  “Do you know Kyle’s friends, Lindsey Horn and Joel Bishop?”

  “I know who Lindsey is. She’s a good runner. She’s also a flirt.”

  “Who did she flirt with?” Peter asked.

  “Anyone who looked at her.” Mari rolled her eyes. “She wasn’t particular, at least, that’s what I’ve heard.”

  “Do you know Joel Bishop?” Nell asked.

  Mari let out a sigh. “Joel had some interest in Jen.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Jen told me. She thought Joel liked her. He never made a move or anything. She just got the impression he had a thing for her. She felt a little uncomfortable around him.” Mari looked at Peter. “When will you close the investigation into Jen’s death? When will it be ruled an accident?”

  “The medical examiner will file a report within five days or so,” Peter said.

  Mari sighed. “Good. Then we can put this sadness behind us.”

  5

  The medical examiner did not see the need to complete an autopsy and instead did an evaluation using the x-rays and information received from the hospital and an analysis of the bodily injuries. The man told Peter “off the record” that he would report it as an accidental fall and the formal report would be ready by the end of the week.

  Nell stood with Peter in the hall of the medical examiner’s offices. The place was white and sterile and a strong chemical smell floated on the air.

  “No autopsy was done,” Peter explained trying to prepare Nell for a viewing of Jennifer Harding’s body. “There are just the bruises and cuts on the body from the fa
ll. The room looks similar to an operating room. The body will be on a metal table with a sheet pulled up.”

  As cold beads of perspiration rolled down her back, Nell tried to breathe deeply and slowly. She did not want to go into the examining room.

  “I don’t know if this is a good idea. I don’t think it will help with the case.” Nell’s heart pounded. “Will the medical examiner be in the room?”

  “No, just you and me. Take a look at the woman’s face. See if any colors are floating around. That’s all I’m asking you to do. We don’t have to stay long. Just say the word, and we’ll leave.”

  “Okay.” Nell nodded. “Let’s do it before I change my mind.”

  Peter opened the door to the examining room. The air inside was cool and still. Jennifer Harding lay on a metal table covered by a white sheet, her brown hair spread out under her head. Her skin was ghostly pale.

  Thinking that Jennifer looked peaceful, Nell could feel her muscles begin to relax a little as she tried to push the sadness from her mind. Two mornings ago, the young woman had been hiking in the state park, taking photos, enjoying being outdoors in nature. Now she lay still and quiet. The person she was had disappeared and left the physical body behind.

  Swallowing hard, Nell closed her eyes for a few seconds trying to clear her mind so she could focus on seeing any colors that might still linger.

  When her eyelids lifted, she saw colored particles in the air much like dust or pollen floating in a shaft of sunlight. Different shades of tiny red and black specks of color swirled around Jennifer’s head. Anger, fear, death.

  Little blue atoms also sparked next to the other particles, and Nell believed the blue color represented the young woman’s desire to live.

  Powerful sensations of fear and anger washed over Nell and made it hard for her to take a breath.

  “Are you picking up anything?” Peter nearly whispered.

  Nell kept her voice soft and explained what she was seeing. “I think the blue color symbolizes Jennifer’s will to live. They spark and then fade, but they’re outnumbered by the red and black particles.”

  “Anger, fear, and death?” Peter questioned to make sure he understood what the colors stood for.

  “I think so,” Nell said. “The examiner is going to rule this an accident?”

  Peter gave a quick nod. “The thought is that Jennifer lost her footing and slipped over the edge of the cliff.”

  This news hit Nell in the chest like she’d been punched, and keeping her gaze on the young woman’s body, she looked at Peter out of the corner of her eye. “Do you think it was an accident?”

  “It was probably an unintentional fall. She was taking photos. Maybe she wasn’t paying attention to how close she was to the edge.”

  “Something doesn’t seem right,” Nell said almost to herself as she walked slowly around the metal table. The sheet covered Jennifer’s body up to the chin. Her hands rested by her sides uncovered by the sheet. The skin had a light blue tint to it.

  Nell stared at the young woman’s right hand.

  “What does the medical examiner say about the fall?” Nell lifted her eyes to Peter from the other side of the table.

  Peter looked at the informal notes he’d written on his phone. “The examiner’s description lists the numerous injuries she suffered. Torn finger nails indicate Jennifer may have grabbed onto the cliff as she slipped past.” The detective read off the information about the broken bones and internal injuries the woman sustained from the fall.

  “If you were hanging from some rocks and then lost your grip and began to fall, what would your position be as you went down?” Nell asked.

  Peter looked blank.

  Nell put her hands over her head. “I’m hanging off of a steep rock cliff. My hands are slipping. One hand loses its grip. My legs are flailing. My other hand can’t hold on and I start to freefall. On the way down, I probably bash into the rock face, bounce, maybe hit a few more times.” She put her hands out in front of her. “I’m grabbing at anything. When I hit the cliff face, I use my hands to brace myself, or I grab at the rock trying to keep myself from falling further.” Nell stared at Peter. “Does that sound like the way it would happen?”

  “Yeah. It makes sense.”

  Nell let out a breath. “Then why are the palms of Jennifer’s hands barely scraped or cut or bruised?”

  Peter’s eyes widened and he stepped closer to the table to get a look at the dead woman’s hands. Both hands rested on their sides giving Peter a partial view of the palms and the back of the hands. He looked across the table at Nell. “What does it mean?”

  “Why are the backs of her hands cut and bruised? Who would brace themselves using the backs of their hands?” Nell demonstrated an attempt to stop herself from falling by putting her hands up, palms facing outward. “It makes no sense.”

  Peter took another look at Jennifer’s hands. “It’s the back of the hands that are hurt.”

  “Would these injuries to the hands result from someone slipping and falling over the edge of a cliff?” Nell asked.

  “I don’t see how. No one braces using the backs of the hands,” Peter said. “I need to speak with the medical examiner. Something else is going on here besides an accidental fall off the cliff.”

  Nell nodded. “I think so, too.”

  “Good work,” Peter praised his friend. “Thank you.”

  “Will you come with me?” Nell sat at a café table on the patio outside of the medical center complex licking an ice cream cone.

  “Peter’s okay with me going along?” Rob asked. Thirty-five-years old with dark brown hair and brown eyes, Dr. Rob Jennette was slim, athletic, and just under six feet tall. The ophthalmologist and medical researcher had met Nell more than ten years ago when she consented to be tested to confirm her unusual visual abilities, and over the years, while he’d worked with her to understand her skills, the two had become close friends.

  “Peter’s fine with you coming with us. I asked him. Violet is going to come along, too. And so are Iris and Oscar.”

  “If you want me to go, I’ll be glad to.”

  “I want you to see the cliff where Jennifer Harding fell. Maybe you can help me interpret any colors that she left behind.”

  “I don’t know how I could help you, but at least, I can offer moral support.” Rob used a napkin to wipe some chocolate ice cream that had melted onto his hand.

  Nell told her friend about the injuries on the young woman’s hands. “No one braces themselves like this.” She held the backs of her hands out as if she would use them to break or stop a fall. “Jennifer’s palms have no cuts or bruises on them. It makes no sense.”

  “It wasn’t an accident then,” Rob surmised. “Ms. Harding must have had some help falling from the cliff.”

  “I think so. Peter thinks so, too.” Nell’s face clouded. “The dogs took off right after we found Jennifer at the base of the rocks. They never do that. It seems odd to me that they did that.”

  “You think there was some purpose behind it? Iris and Oscar could have sniffed an animal and decided to pursue it.”

  “I don’t think that’s what it was. I think they might have sniffed something, but I actually think it could have been someone they were following.”

  Rob stared at Nell. “You think the dogs smelled traces of the person who may have assisted in Jennifer’s fall? And they followed that person’s trail?”

  “The thought crossed my mind.”

  “Interesting.” Rob considered the possibility. “Is this case now being investigated as a homicide?”

  “It probably will be. Law enforcement is waiting for the final report from the medical examiner.”

  “The examiner is Dr. Joe Milner, right? I was under the impression that Joe was extremely competent in his assessments.”

  “It seems you’re right, but Dr. Milner had gone away for a few days and the examiner who stepped in for him was not quite as experienced. When Peter made the inquiry about
Jennifer’s hands, it was decided that Dr. Milner would re-examine the body. He concluded that Jennifer’s fall was not an accident and that she was most likely pushed.”

  Rob shook his head. “Suspects?”

  Nell gave a shrug of helplessness. “Everyone?”

  “Present company excluded, I hope,” Rob said.

  Narrowing her eyes, Nell teased, “Where were you on the morning Jennifer fell?”

  Rob made a face. “I have an alibi.”

  “Good thing,” Nell smiled.

  Rob’s expression turned serious. “Be careful with this case, Nell. There’s someone walking around who had no qualms about pushing a young woman off the top of a cliff. He or she pushed Jennifer Harding to her death. Imagine falling off that granite rock face? It’s a long way to the bottom. What kind of a monster could do that to a person?”

  6

  When Peter, Violet, Nell, and Rob reached the top of the granite cliffs where Jennifer Harding fell, they stood solemnly side by side catching their breaths and staring at the spot from which the young woman had plummeted. Iris and Oscar sat quietly beside them.

  Her muscles tight and tense, Nell watched as shimmering red and black particles rose from the dirt and swirled into ribbons of light moving in tiny circles in front of her. The atoms sparked bright red, then dipped to the edge of the cliff, lingered there flashing for a few moments, and then sped over the side and disappeared. Realizing she’d been holding her breath, Nell exhaled and tried to relax her shoulders.

  “This is such a beautiful spot,” Violet sighed. “So sad it was the scene of such a terrible tragedy.”

  Peter moved forward and took some photos of the area … the gravelly dirt, some scruffy plants, the trees behind them, the trail entrances. He took tentative steps to the edge and focused his phone on the sides of the cliff, the large boulders, a few small limbs of young trees growing out from the nooks and crags, the grassy bottom at the base of the granite wall.

  “There’s a broken tree limb here near the top. Maybe Jennifer grabbed onto it as she fell,” Peter pointed out. He knelt and peered down over the edge. “There’s a little ledge that sticks out just above the branch. Jennifer may have gotten a brief foothold there. If she did, her hands could have held to the top right here. Maybe she tried to pull herself back up, lost her grip, and as she fell, reached for the branch to try and stop herself.”