“Then do we understand each other?”
“Yes.” He turned and headed up the steps, then stopped and came back down to Diane’s level. “Korey Jordan said he found old maps, rocks and fossil collections in the basement dating from the mid-to late-1800s?”
“Yes. This was a museum, then a clinic and now a museum again. There are some exhibits left over from that earlier time.”
“Were any of the maps geologic maps?”
“I’m not sure.”
“What’s going to happen to them? I mean, is there any chance I can look at them?”
“Korey will have to assess any damage to the materials and stabilize them first. Perhaps do some repairs, if that’s possible. After that, they can be examined.”
“I have an interest in old geologic maps. They could make an interesting exhibit, especially if the rock and fossil collections can be matched up with the maps.”
“I don’t know if we have any provenience on the rock collection. Many of the things Korey is finding in the basement and attic were stored without much thought to organization or archiving.”
“I’d be glad to take a look at the rock collection. I may be able to determine where they were collected.”
“I’m not sure if it would be worth the time it would take. We currently have an extensive collection, as I’m sure you’ve seen.”
“Yes, I know. But I might find something interesting. Sometimes a specific kind of rock can get mined out and disappear. And who knows about the fossils? Sometimes new species have been discovered in museum collections.”
“By all means. Take a look at them.”
“Thanks.”
He disappeared up the stairs. Diane stood for a moment wondering about him and Melissa before she went back down to ground level and to her office. Through the adjoining door of her office, she heard Andie talking to someone.
“Yeah, they’d rather chase down somebody trespassing on some taxidermist’s place or some dog peeing on Mrs. Crabtree’s flower bed than investigate anything really illegal,” Andie was saying.
Diane opened the door between the offices and saw that it was Korey talking to Andie.
“We didn’t have another breakin, did we?”
“Oh, hi, Diane,” said Andie.
“No,” said Korey. “Just telling Andie about the non-action posture the police took. And I was delivering these.” He handed Diane an envelope. “They turned out pretty good.”
Diane opened the envelope and took out photographs of the fingerprints. “How about your office, Korey? Was anything missing?”
“It had been searched, but nothing missing. Somebody was looking for something, that’s for sure.”
“I’ll see if I can get these prints run through the system. Korey, do you know Mike Seger very well?”
“Just met him. He was looking around in the conservation lab the other day, and I showed him some of the geology stuff we found in the basement.”
“What kind of guy does he seem to you?”
Korey shrugged. “He seemed an all right guy. You don’t suspect him of breaking into the lab, do you?”
Diane was taken aback for a moment. She’d been thinking about Melissa and not the breakin. “No, not at all. There are a lot of new people coming in from the university, and I just wondered what your take on him was.”
“Fine. I like him. Seems to know his business.”
“Thanks, Korey. I’ll let you know if I find out anything about the fingerprints.”
Diane went back to her desk and pulled out her calendar, skimming over today’s schedule. There was no urgent business. Dylan Houser wanted to meet about her computer. She could put that off for another day.
She called up her E-mail. Jonas Briggs had sent his next chess move, pawn to queen four. Diane thought a moment, visualizing the chessboard in her mind’s eye. The beginning game moves weren’t hard to remember, but before long she would have to go up to the second floor and look at his board before she moved. She E-mailed him to move her knight to the queen’s bishop three position.
It hit her suddenly. She jumped up from her computer and hurried into Andie’s office.
“Andie, what were you saying when I came in?”
“Hi, Diane?”
“No, before that. When you were speaking with Korey.”
“Oh, he was telling me how the police weren’t the least interested in finding who broke in to the lab, and I said they were more interested in finding out who peed on Mrs. Crabtree’s flowers-oh, and finding trespassers.”
“You were more specific than that about the trespassers.”
“Some taxidermist?”
“Why did you say that?”
Andie shrugged and looked wide-eyed. “I don’t know, I was just making conversation.”
“No, I mean why did you use those examples?”
“Oh. I like to read the sheriff’s incident report in the paper. Sometimes they’re real funny, like this woman who reported that someone broke into her house, messed up her bed and left an unused condom on her dresser. Why?”
“Can you tell me more about the taxidermist and the trespassers?”
“Let me see.” Andie rolled her eyes upward, thinking. “It began as a complaint from a woman. Her neighbor was shooting off a gun. The neighbor-a taxidermist-said he heard someone trespassing. Apparently, they were disturbing the cows in his pasture, or something like that, and he fired a shot in the air. That’s all there was to it.”
“When did you read this?”
“Just a few days ago. Why?”
“Do you know his name?”
“Something sort of funny.” Andie thought a minute. “Luther, Luther Something? Why are you asking me all this?”
“Tell you later.” Diane went back to her office, closed the door and dialed Frank’s cell phone number.
“Diane, how you doing this morning?”
“I’m fine, really.”
“That’s good. I was worried.”
“It was good to share Ariel with someone. She was special.”
“Yes, I can see that she was.”
There was a distance in Frank’s voice that puzzled her. If she hadn’t known him better, he sounded like someone who didn’t want to hear from a one-night stand. As she started to speak, she heard a pinging in the background, then an intercom voice calling for a doctor.
“Frank, where are you? Is everything all right with you? How’s Kevin?”
“Kevin’s fine. But I’m at the hospital. I got a call when I got home. Star tried to commit suicide this morning. She’s not good.”
“Oh, Frank.” Diane’s voice trembled. This is not the time to collapse, she scolded herself.
“I didn’t want to tell you, I mean, after last night, but. .”
“Do you know what happened?”
“It was after they picked up her breakfast. She used a corner of her bed to cut her wrists. God, she had to be desperate to go through that. They said she lost a lot of blood.”
“An otherwise healthy person can lose up to forty percent of their blood volume before they even require a transfusion.” After she said it, Diane realized that it must have sounded so technical and cold. She wanted to be comforting. “I can come over.”
“I don’t know what to do,” he said.
So much sadness. Diane felt guilty. Last night her story, and now this.
“Find out who did this to her family. It won’t heal her overnight, but it will help.”
“I know, but right now, I don’t know what else to do,” he repeated. “We got all this information, but what does it leave us with?”
“That’s why I called. I think I know where to look for the rest of the skeleton.”
Chapter 22
The other end of the phone was silent except for the hospital sounds in the background.
“The skeleton?” Frank finally said. “You mean the one the collarbone was taken from? You know where it is?”
“Maybe. I’m not
certain, but it’s a good lead. Remember I told you that it might be someplace where animals were processed? Andie told me about an item in the sheriff’s incident report about someone trespassing on land belonging to a taxidermist.”
Sheriff’s incident report. Diane just realized that probably meant it was in the county and not the city limits-not the jurisdiction of the chief of detectives but in the jurisdiction of the county sheriff. She hoped that boded well for their investigation.
“I remembered the mounted animal heads in George’s house, and that sounded like a good lead. This was just a few days ago. The trespasser could be someone looking to recover a body he left there several years ago, hoping it would never be discovered.”
“That does make sense.”
Diane could hear relief in his voice. Hope is a powerful thing.
“Do you know the taxidermist’s name?” he asked.
“It might be Luther.”
“Luther Abercrombie. He’s mounted a fish or two for me. Did some work for George too. You too, as a matter of fact.”
“Me?”
“If I’m not mistaken, Milo Lorenzo bought some stuffed animals from him for the Georgia collection.”
“Can we make arrangements to go see him?”
“Yeah. We can do that. I want to visit with Star first, when they let me in.”
“Would you like me to come to the hospital? Could you use some company?”
“No, but thanks. I’ll be all right, especially now we have this lead. Maybe I can hold out some hope for her. Look, thanks, Diane. This. . just, thanks.”
“So,” said Sheriff Bruce Canfield, “you’re asking me if I can help solve one of the biggest murders here in decades and at the same time make a fool of that new chief of detectives in Rosewood?”
Sheriff Canfield was a large man in his late fifties. He had a full head of hair the color of brown that comes from a bottle, and a uniform that looked like it might have shrunk a bit in the wash. He laughed out loud.
“That’s not exactly the way we’d put it,” said Frank, grinning at the sheriff. “But yes, that’s what we’re asking.”
“Well, who can pass up a deal like that? Let’s go.” He stood up and guided them out of his office. “How is George’s little girl?”
“Right now she’s sleeping and sedated.” Frank told him about her trying to kill herself.
“Poor thing. Maybe we can do something here.”
Diane and Frank followed the sheriff’s car out to the Abercrombie farm, which consisted of three hundred acres of woodland and pastures, a white farmhouse and a garage with a sign that read ABERCROMBIE’S TAXIDERMY. They parked their cars on a gravel drive and walked up to the gate. The sign on the gate read: I’LL GIVE UP MY GUN WHEN THEY PRY IT FROM MY COLD, DEAD FINGERS.
The sheriff opened the gate and hollered, “Luther, you got company.”
A man much younger than Diane had imagined came out of the taxidermy shop wearing a leather apron and wiping his hands on a towel. He pushed his straight black hair from his eyes and smiled. His teeth were white against his neatly trimmed, short black beard.
“Frank Duncan, what you need with a sheriff’s escort?”
“Hey, Whit. How you doing? This is Diane Fallon. She’s the new director of the RiverTrail Museum.”
“Come for more business, I hope.” He grinned.
“We want to take a look at where your father dumps his carcasses,” said the sheriff.
“Now, sheriff, you know he disposes of his waste legally-since he had to pay that fine a couple of years ago.”
“This would be an old dump,” said Frank. “We think there may be a body in it. It could be why your father had a trespasser the other night.”
Whit gave a long whistle. “This is serious. I guess you need me there too.”
Diane raised her eyebrows and looked at Frank.
“Whit’s the county coroner,” said Frank.
“Well, that makes everything convenient,” said Diane.
“Can I ask why you are interested?” he asked Diane.
“I’m a forensic anthropologist.”
“I see.” He looked at the sheriff. “Do you know where you want to look?”
“A site that was being used from about five to ten years ago,” answered Diane.
“Let’s see. I covered most of them up for Dad.”
“Do you have one that could have been visited by George Boone or his son, Jay?” asked Diane.
“Dad mentioned George was out here with his son a couple weeks ago for target practice. That’s just awful what happened to that family. Is this about them?”
“Maybe,” said Frank. He explained about the bone.
“There’s one place I had a hard time getting to. I just lightly covered it, so it might have eroded out. Let’s go take a look.” He hung his apron and hand towel on a post, and led them back out the fence. He looked at the sign as he was closing the gate and shook his head. “Some folks think that’s clever, but I told Dad it looks like an invitation to me. Let’s go in my Jeep.”
It was a bumpy ride down an infrequently used dirt road. The sheriff rode in front beside Whit. Diane and Frank rode in back, which made the ride for her even more like a buckboard. The rough ride through the woods was too much like the ride through the jungle. Diane gripped the seat until her fingers cramped. When they stopped with a lurch, Diane thought she would throw up her scant breakfast.
“You OK?” whispered Frank.
Diane nodded, but accepted his help in getting out of the vehicle.
“We have to walk from here,” said Whit. He sprayed himself with bug spray and tossed the can to Diane. “Lot of deer ticks in the woods, not to mention mosquitoes.”
After the four of them sprayed themselves, they set out through the woods. The North Georgia woods are quite different from the jungles of the Amazon and Diane found herself missing it. The rain forest is far more dense and so green, lush and full of oxygen it made Diane happy just to be breathing. The trees are tall, with leaves big enough to curl up in. The thick rain forest canopy doesn’t let much wind down to the understory, so the stillness there is palpable.
Here a breeze fluttered the leaves and ruffled Diane’s short hair. The smell of insect repellent traveled with them and masked the natural scents of the forest. As the trail became more overgrown, the woods threatened to become as thick as the jungle, and Diane was glad she had dressed for it. Shortly, they came to another dirt road intersecting the path they were on.
“We keep going on this overgrown path,” said Whit, to Diane’s dismay.
She stopped in the middle of the road. “Where does this road go?”
“From the main road to the upper pasture. We use it to bring in hay.”
“How long has it been here?” asked Diane.
“Couple of years for the part leading to the pasture. That’s when Dad bought the new land. It used to turn here and go back to the house.”
“So at one time it went to your house but not the pasture?”
“That’s right.”
“They got lost,” said Diane, looking up and down the road.
“Who?” asked the sheriff and Whit together.
“The intruders. They were looking for the way to the dump site, but the terrain has changed since they were last here, and in the dark they couldn’t see this overgrown path. They didn’t know the new road leads to the pasture. That’s why they disturbed the cows.”
“You pretty sure there’s going to be a body up ahead?” asked Whit.
“No. Maybe just a wild goose,” said Diane.
Whit grinned and led the way through the thick brush. The trail was interrupted by a large gully about fifteen feet deep with a stream flowing in the bottom.
“There used to be a earth bridge and culvert here,” said Whit, “but it got washed away last spring.”
“How do we get across?” asked the sheriff.
“There’s an easier way down the bank down yonder.”
“Which way did you say is easier?” asked the sheriff.
“Down the bank about a hundred yards. There’s a kind of path down to the bottom,” said Whit before he and Frank began climbing down the side.
As they were descending, Diane started up the other side. This side wasn’t a rock face like the other, but there were large boulders and rocks weathering out of the surface. She climbed, testing each rock before she put her full weight on it, pulling herself up. On top she waited for Whit and Frank. When they reached the top she held out a hand to help each of them up on the bank.
“You do that real well,” said Whit.
“Thanks.” It was an easy climb, but from their panting, she decided not to mention it.
“She explores caves and does some rock climbing,” said Frank, dusting off his hands.
“A woman of adventure. You dating anyone?”
“Yes, she is,” said Frank.
Whit laughed. “I may give you some competition. By the way, why do you think there’s a body here?”
Diane explained to him about the clavicle Frank got from George and her analysis of it.
“And that led you here? Amazing.”
“That and the item in the paper about your trespasser,” said Diane.
“Adventurous and clever too. You’re definitely going to have some competition, Frank.” He slapped him on the shoulder.
The sheriff made his way around to them, wheezing and breathing hard. “I sure hope we find a body. I’d hate to come all this way for nothing.”
“It’s just a short ways now,” said Whit. He led them through more undergrowth to a depression that was once a small gully. It was now covered with leaves and detritus. Protruding from the ground here and there were the unmistakable shapes of bones.
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