Murder By Duplicity

by B. T. Lord

  Cammie looked up at the door Bill had just exited from. “I’m willing to bet my badge that Bill knows exactly who this cuff link belongs to.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  “I guess the pukwudgies must like you and Jace,” Rick replied after Cammie got off the phone with Forensics. “You happen to do a quasi-face plant in the one spot in that whole damned forest where the cuff link is located. That’s beyond coincidental, if you ask me.”

  Emmy was just about to pop the cuff link into a mailing box to send down to the crime lab when she peered at it. “You know, it looks like there’s a letter on it.” She held the bag up to Cammie.

  “You’re right. There’s a lot of dirt imbedded in it, but it kind of looks like a ‘P’.”

  She showed it to Rick, who agreed. “So if this belonged to our bag of bones, at least we know his first or last name began with a ‘P’.”

  “It’s almost a ten minute walk from where he was found to where I discovered the cuff link. I wonder if he was checking out The Grandfather Tree himself. Or if that was the route the murderer took after killing Mr. P,” Cammie mused.

  “I can tell you right now that if Mr. P was offed near the tree, that’s probably why you found his cuff-link.” When Cammie and Emmy gave him a quizzical look, he continued. “That is sacred ground. No way the Grandfather Spirit is going to allow something so blasphemous as a murder to take place, not only in its forest, but in its presence without making sure the perpetrator of such an act is caught.”

  “Um, the murder took place over a decade ago,” Cammie pointed out.

  “It doesn’t matter. In a place like that, time is irrelevant. I’m sure it’s been waiting for just the right person to come along and right the wrong. In this case, that’s you, boss.”

  Emmy and Cammie exchanged bemused glances. The young woman took back the bag and sealed it into the box. “I’ll just take this over to the Emporium and get it mailed off.”

  Cammie went back to her office to continue working on the victim board she’d created. She had a photograph of the skeleton in situ, as well as photos of the cuff link and theories scribbled down that she was working on. Just as she was finishing up adding the newest information, her cell rang. Looking at the display, she saw it was Doc.

  “Hey Doc, what’s up?”

  “I think it’s supposed to go ‘what’s up, Doc?’”

  “Cute.”

  “When you get a chance, come on over. I’m ready to share my findings.”

  Arriving at Doc’s luxurious log cabin on the shores of Waban Pond, Cammie followed a path that snaked around the back of the cabin where he kept two separate entrances. One was for his medical patients. The other was for ‘the Crypt’, the name the locals gave his autopsy lab.

  She walked in and found him standing in front of a long wooden table he’d set up. Spread across the table was a white sheet, on top of which was laid out the complete set of reassembled bones.

  Doc was wearing his white lab coat and his ginger hair was all askew, a sign that he’d been deep in thought. At the sound of her step, he glanced towards her.

  “Your victim, madam,” he announced. “I wanted you to see the skeleton intact before I send the skull to the forensics sculptor.”

  Cammie carefully looked over the bones. “No other signs of trauma?” she asked.

  He pointed to a long bone. “This is his radius. It’s one of two bones that make up the forearm. See the line here? That indicates he broke it at some point in his life, though it healed quite nicely. Other than that, I’d say my first conclusion sticks. He was killed by a blow to the back of the head by a blunt object. A truncheon, a baseball bat, a thick piece of wood would fit the scenario. He was 5 ft. 10 inches tall, and I’d approximate his age to be between 40-50 years old.”

  “And you still think he was buried there ten to fifteen years before?”

  He nodded, then jerked his head over to a nearby counter. “The clothing is bagged over there if you want to take a look.”

  Cammie walked over and held up the various bags. “You’re a connoisseur of clothing,” she remarked. “Cheap? Expensive?”

  “Oh, definitely expensive. The tie alone was silk and the suit appeared to be custom made. The shoes are Italian leather.”

  “So our victim had money.”

  “And may have been a businessman or executive of some sort.”

  She took out her cell phone and brought up the photo of the cuff link. She showed it to Doc. “Can you tell if this is silver?”

  Doc looked at the photo. “It certainly looks like it. It’s tarnished rather than rusty. Where did you get this?”

  “I went out to the Grandfather Tree and found this nearby.”

  He gave her an amused look. “Grandfather Tree?”

  “It’s a long story. I’ve asked Forensics to go back out there and check the area to see if there’s anything else.”

  “At least you don’t have to worry about trying to solve the mystery of the Monster of the Meadow.”

  Cammie groaned. “You heard that rumor, huh?”

  He chuckled. “You’d be surprised at what I hear in my little piece of paradise down here.”

  Cammie walked back to the skeleton and looked down at it. “Once again you have to wonder what a businessman, dressed in a snazzy suit and expensive shoes, was doing out in the middle of the woods.”

  “What is it your deputy calls it – doing the horizontal? Maybe he was having an assignation of some sort.”

  “It’s all up to the forensics sculptor now, isn’t it?” She turned to the skull. “Hopefully their reconstruction of your face will help us figure out who you were.”

  The next afternoon, Cammie was called out to the forest. When she arrived, she found the Forensics team just finishing up their sweep of the area. After donning a pair of booties so as not to disturb any potential evidence, she made her way towards the team lead.

  “Hey, Colin,” she called out.

  Colin Haskell had been a member of the Forensics team for ten years. Cammie had the utmost confidence in the disheveled, yet highly intelligent man’s ability to find the proverbial needle in a haystack.

  “This place is like a candy store,” he remarked as he led Cammie over to a small table where there were two evidence bags laid out. “We found a deteriorated, mildewed piece of leather that appears to be a wallet close to where you found the cuff link. The other item was found several yards away, deeper into the woods. I think this may be your murder weapon.”

  He held up the bag and Cammie saw it contained a weather beaten sledgehammer. She grimaced when she saw the pointed head. “Jeez, it wouldn’t take much to cleave a skull in two using that, huh?”

  Colin agreed. “Not the kind of weapon you want to be at the receiving end of.”

  Peering at it, she pointed and said, “What’s that on the handle?”

  “It looks like some sort of design.”

  “Can you send me a photo of it? We may be able to trace it.”

  “Sure thing. As for the sledgehammer itself, it’s been in the ground for a long time, so getting any evidence off it will be hit or miss.” He next held up the bag with the wallet.

  “Did you find anything inside?” Cammie asked.

  “There’s no money or credit cards, which may be why it was discarded. It’s in bad shape, but we’ll see what we can find once we get it back to the lab.”

  “Can you show me where you found the sledgehammer?”

  She was surprised when, instead of walking towards the Grandfather Tree, Colin led her in the opposite direction. She was further surprised to find they were walking along what looked like a deer path. They stopped in front of an evidence marker.

  “It was found here under that pile of leaves.”

  “Wow, the investigator who found that must be part hunting dog.”

  Colin laughed. “Actually, the handle sticking out of the mound is what gave it away.”

  “I wonder where this trail leads to.�
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  “When I was a kid, my father and I used to hunt all around here. As far as I know, it just goes deeper into the woods.”

  “So no road or house at the end of it?”

  “None that I know of.”

  “You guys did a fantastic job finding these items,” Cammie exclaimed.

  “Hey, I can’t let you be the only one finding possible clues.”

  As they started back, Cammie asked, “Since you know these woods, have you heard about the Grandfather Tree?”

  “Of course. It’s supposed to offer help if you give it an offering it finds acceptable.”

  “What about the legends? You know, about the soul sucking Native American maiden, or the ax-wielding logger or the pukwudgies?”

  Colin shook his head. “Never heard of those.” She sighed with relief. “I only heard about the Specter Moose that was purportedly seen in these parts in the 1990’s.”

  “Specter Moose?” she reluctantly asked.

  “Oh yeah. It’s a white bull that weighs 2,500 pounds and stands 15 feet tall with a 10 foot antler spread. The weird thing about it is that it’s undead. Kind of like a zombie moose. It walks around with his throat slit open so you can’t kill it no matter how hard you try. It supposedly shows up when something bad is about to happen. Hey, maybe your victim saw the Specter Moose and that’s what killed him. Freaky, eh?”

  “Very freaky,” she mumbled.

  A few days later, Cammie received an email from the crime lab with an attachment of photos taken of the cuff link. It was indeed silver and the letter was a ‘P’. It was impossible, however, to tell how long it had lain in the dirt. It could have been out there for a month or years. Each time she looked at the photos, her mind flooded with questions.

  Did the cuff link belong to the victim? How had it ended up so far from the skeleton? Had he really taken a walk all those years before to look at the Grandfather Tree and somehow lost the cuff link? Or had the killer taken it as a trophy, only to accidentally drop it?

  Then there was the sledgehammer. Doc had matched it to the wound in the skull, confirming it as the murder weapon. Why had the killer discarded it, along with the wallet near the Grandfather Tree – an area that was regularly visited? Why hadn’t he or she buried them in the grave, therefore assuring no one would find them?

  It made no sense.

  She couldn’t explain it, but her gut told her the victim hadn’t gone into the woods for a sexual assignation. He’d gone to meet someone. And that someone was responsible for his death.

  With this new information, Emmy revised her missing persons search. Using the State of Maine as a location radius, she came up with a two and half page list of men between the ages of 40 and 50, with a last name that began with ‘P’ who had disappeared 10 to 15 years before. She sat back in her chair with the list laid out before her on her desk. She knew the department didn’t have the resources to track down every name on the list. Instead, she narrowed the search to Clarke and the neighboring Aroostook counties. The list dropped down to a dozen names. By the time the workday came to an end, she’d managed to find information on most of them. Unfortunately, none seemed to fit the profile of the victim Cammie was developing.

  Shutting down the lights and locking up behind her, Emmy joined Cammie and Rick in hoping that the forensic sculptor would come up with a reconstruction that someone would recognize. If not, the mayor and several business people were going to make the sheriff’s life a living hell until she solved this particular little mystery.

  The next afternoon while Cammie was out on a lunch date with Jace, Rick surprised Emmy by asking her to go to lunch with him. She was beside herself with excitement – her dream was coming true of actually dating Rick!

  She’d been in love with him almost from the first day three years ago when she’d begun working for the Sheriff’s Department. She remembered how her heart skipped a beat when she’d been introduced to the tall deputy with the jet black hair he always kept tied back when on duty and his dark, hypnotic eyes. From the beginning, he’d treated her as a little sister, though she’d tried her best to make him see what a catch she was. She knitted him scarves for Christmas, baked his favorite cookies throughout the year and always made sure to look her best. But each time, she was forced to watch as he continued his revolving door romances with women who were much prettier and slimmer than she was. But Emmy never lost hope.

  A few months before she’d been involved in a murder case that had almost taken her life. It was Rick who had courageously saved her from a horrible death. Ever since, she’d noticed him becoming more attentive to her, including occasionally buying her breakfast or lunch. There was still no kiss, no hand holding, no whispered declarations of love. But she could wait. She’d waited three years. She could wait a little longer.

  Now he’d actually asked her to go out to lunch with him.

  She was over the moon.

  Guessing they were going to Zee’s, she made sure to freshen her lipstick, and add a little more color to her cheeks. When she came out of the bathroom, she was surprised to see him handing her, not a bouquet of flowers, or even his arm. She found him handing her a can of bug spray.

  “No sense getting eaten alive,” he said.

  She hid her confusion. As far as she knew, you didn’t need bug spray for Zee’s. Suddenly, she realized they must be going on a picnic! That’s why she needed bug spray! This was even better than going to a crowded Zee’s. A picnic in the woods meant privacy. And privacy meant…? She happily sprayed herself down before eagerly following him out to his cruiser.

  Forty five minutes later, she found herself in the dense woods. Convinced he had indeed planned a romantic and private picnic, she wondered what it would be like to finally feel his lips pressed against hers. It sent shivers down her spine, though she was adamant with herself that kissing was all she would give him that day. Anything else would need to be earned.

  She climbed out of the cruiser and waited for him to go around to the trunk and take out the blanket and picnic basket, imagining all sorts of tasty delicacies they’d share. Maybe he’d even brought along a bottle of wine. Although it was against regulations to drink while on duty, she wouldn’t deny herself just a teeny bit of wine. Gosh, wouldn’t that be delicious?

  Instead, she watched him take off, leaving her alone. Hurrying after him, she was dismayed when she saw a large, cordoned off meadow stretching out before her. This must be where they found the skeleton.

  Just what was he up to bringing her out to a murder scene?

  Emmy looked down at her light beige sandals. Damn, they were going to get completely ruined; they weren’t made for a hike out in the muddy woods. They’d had a rain shower early that morning and although the sun was now beating down, the ground will still damp in places. But if a kiss was at the end of all this, it was worth it.

  She gamely followed Rick as they skirted the excavated field and made their way down a trail in the woods. The day was hot and humid and she was drenched in sweat by the time he stopped. This was not turning out the way she’d hoped. Sniffing at herself when he wasn’t looking, she wasn’t even sure she wanted him to take her sweaty body into his arms.

  “What do you think?” He said as he waved his arm.

  She looked around in dismay. They were deep in the woods. Surrounded by trees and bugs. Lots of bugs that were swarming around her, despite the bug spray. They were also surrounded by evidence markers as far as the eye could see. Trying not to give in to crushing disappointment, she glanced at him.

  “What am I looking for?”

  “The tree on the hill. Isn’t that the coolest? It’s the Grandfather Tree. Forensics finished up this morning so I thought it was the perfect time to bring you out here.”

  At first her pulse raced as she wondered just why he’d wanted to bring her out here. But the more he prattled on about that stupid old tree, the more Emmy found herself battling back tears. She was so sure this lunch was going to end up with a kiss,
or at the very least hand holding. She’d hoped this was the start of a relationship with the only man she’d ever wanted to be with. Instead, he’d dragged her out into the middle of an insect infested forest to look at a silly half dead tree. Not only that, but her beautiful sandals were now ruined.

  The tight hold on her emotions slipped and she had to do something before he became aware of how upset she was. She looked down at her tan chinos and pretended to brush a bug off the leg.

  “It’s really nice,” she mumbled.

  “Why shouldn’t you be the only one in the Sheriff’s Department who hasn’t seen and experienced the Grandfather Tree?”

  What she really wanted to experience was having him look into her eyes and tell her how much he couldn’t live without her.

  Smelling of bug spray and sweat and crushingly disappointed, Emmy had no choice but to plaster a smile on her face. She’d once sworn she’d never be like her mother, who constantly showed how disappointed she was whenever her late husband did something she didn’t like. Which, as Emmy recalled, seemed to be quite often.

  “Thank you, Rick,” she forced herself to say. “I’m glad you thought enough to bring me out here.”

  “Of course, Em. Why wouldn’t I?” He smiled broadly and her heart lifted.

  Maybe there was hope after all.

  On the other side of the forest, in a small trailer park, Cora was getting ready for her daily air bath. She’d taken a hot shower in order to fully open up her pores. With her mind, body and spirit feeling relaxed and centered, she entered her immaculately neat and clean living room. She lit her gardenia candles, put on a CD of meditative spiritual music and took her place in the middle of her living room. She closed her eyes and lifted her arms to the ceiling.

  “I open this space to the energies of the east, west, north and south. To the Father above and the Mother below. Let only that which is for my highest good surround me.”