Buried Bones (Widow's Island Novella)

by Melinda Leigh

  Logan pressed for more information. “Do you know where she was working?”

  “It was a whale-watching tour company.” A sob slipped from Sky’s lips, and she trembled with the effort of holding them back. “I don’t know the name. She was really excited. She loves—loved—whales.” More sobs burst free.

  There were only two whale-watching tours on Widow’s Island. Finding the right one wouldn’t be hard.

  Mrs. Eastbrooke dragged her chair closer and put an arm around her daughter’s shoulders. When Sky leaned on her shoulder, she kissed the top of her head.

  The simple acts of comfort made Logan picture Tony Franklin, all alone in his tidy house. Logan would take a cluttered, chaotic home any day. He glanced at Tessa.

  Would they have kids?

  They’d never talked about kids. She had so much on her plate he doubted she could spare the mental energy to think about the future. Besides, he was flexible on the issue. Kids would be great someday, but he would be perfectly happy spending the rest of his life with just Tessa.

  “Do you know of anyone who would want to harm Aurora? Anyone she fought with?” Tessa asked.

  Shaking her head, Sky continued to sob. They’d probably gotten all the information they were going to get from her today.

  “Did Aurora give you her address on Widow’s Island?” Tessa asked.

  “No.” Sky shook her head. “She said she’d rented a cottage.”

  “Call me if you think of anything.” Tessa stood and set a business card on the table. “We can see ourselves out.”

  They left the two women crying in the kitchen.

  Logan settled in the passenger seat of the SUV. “That’s the worst part of your job.”

  Tessa sighed. “It is. Telling the family is even harder than viewing the body.”

  Logan reached over and gave her hand a quick squeeze. “It’ll be late before we get home.” He used his phone to check the ferry times. “We have time to grab a quick bite before the ferry.”

  Tessa drove away from the house. “I want a huge burger and a large order of fries.”

  “Comfort food.” Logan agreed completely. Sadness still sat in his chest like a boulder.

  They detoured to a drive-through, then queued up in the vehicle line for the ferry. They ate while they waited.

  Logan enjoyed every bite of his greasy burger and fries. “What’s the plan for tomorrow?”

  Tessa checked her email. “The ME is conducting the autopsy first thing in the morning. I’m going to email him with the dentist’s contact information tonight. Hopefully, he’ll be able to issue an official ID and also give us some useful information tomorrow. Then we’ll dig into Aurora’s life. Considering the condition of the remains, there’s no guarantee the ME will be able to determine a cause or manner of death.”

  “If the cause of death is undetermined, is it possible to prosecute a potential suspect?”

  “Yes, but it’s harder. We’ll take this one step at a time. We need to talk to her employer and locate her temporary residence on Widow’s.”

  “We also need to find the boyfriend.” Logan was new at criminal investigations, but he’d already learned that men were statistically more likely to be killed by strangers, while women were usually killed by someone they knew.

  Someone had gotten close enough to Aurora to kill her.

  3

  Tessa turned off the beeping of her phone alarm. After rubbing her eyes, she rolled over and reached for Logan. But he wasn’t in bed. He rarely slept past dawn. She tossed back the covers and got out of bed. She brushed her teeth and headed for the kitchen, where Logan stood in front of the stove.

  A smile pulled at her mouth as she watched him flip pancakes. A dish towel hung over one shoulder. He’d already showered and dressed in his uniform, and he looked all sorts of fine in green cargos and a short-sleeve uniform shirt. At the table, Patience topped a short stack with syrup.

  “Do you want me to pack you a lunch?” he asked Patience over his shoulder.

  “Nah. Cate will feed me.” Patience forked pancakes into her mouth.

  She had a summer job working for Logan’s sister, Cate, at Black Tail Bakery.

  In the chair next to Patience, Tessa’s mother sipped from a mug. As usual, her hair was a tangled mess, but she was dressed. Tessa would take wins when she could get them. Logan slid pancakes onto a plate, turned, and set it on the table in front of her mother.

  Tessa’s mom blinked in confusion but said, “Thank you.”

  Since Logan had moved in with them, Mom had seemed surprised to see him in the house every morning. Tessa had worried her mother would be upset. Dementia was a brutal disease, and Mom didn’t take change well. But Tessa’s fears had not been realized. Her mother’s recall of the distant past was clearer than her short-term memory. Logan had been around since Tessa’s childhood. His sister was Tessa’s best friend. Logan was not a stranger, and Mom accepted his presence even if she didn’t understand why he was there.

  Logan and a change in medication for her mother had smoothed out some of the chaos in Tessa’s life. Yes, her mother was still ill. The meds made her lethargic but had reduced her nighttime wanderings and crushing anxiety. She was manageable, at least for now. Before the meds, Mom had been awake with raging panic attacks all night long.

  How long would it last before Mom’s disease progressed further?

  Tessa brushed away the question. She was learning to live day by day—and accepting joy whenever it appeared in her life.

  Or cooked pancakes in her kitchen.

  Logan handed her mom the bottle of syrup. “Here you go, Bonnie.”

  Her mother had developed a sweet tooth and flooded her pancakes with syrup like a five-year-old. Tessa was happy for her to enjoy whatever pleasures were still possible. She leaned on the doorjamb and let the happiness sink into her.

  Patience carried her plate to the sink and nudged Logan’s elbow on the way by. “Did you—” She spotted Tessa in the doorway and closed her mouth before asking her question. A strange expression crossed her face.

  “Is everything all right?” Worry flooded Tessa.

  Patience avoided eye contact. “Fine. I have to get ready for work.”

  Tessa said, “I can drop you on my way to the station.”

  “Okay.” Patience bounced past her.

  “Hey.” Tessa tugged on her sister’s T-shirt, slowing her down. “Did you dress Mom?”

  “I put clothes out on her bed, and she put them on.” Patience shrugged. “I told her she needed to be dressed because there was a man in the house. It worked.”

  “Good thinking.” Tessa laughed. “Thank you.”

  Patience’s glance at their mother was bittersweet. “She still doesn’t remember me, but I can live with that if she’s like this.”

  By “like this,” Tessa knew her sister meant peaceful. Their mother couldn’t be cured, but her new calm was far better than having complete meltdowns every day.

  “Me too,” she said.

  “I don’t want to be late for work.” Patience rushed out of the room.

  “We leave in thirty minutes,” Tessa called after her.

  Logan said, “I was just going to come wake you.”

  “I feel like she’s keeping something from me,” Tessa said.

  “Like what?” Logan asked.

  “I don’t know. Does she seem okay to you? She did see a human body yesterday.”

  “She’s tougher than she looks. Like her sister.” Logan’s eyes fell on Tessa, and he smiled.

  She smiled back. Gratitude filled her. “But she was acting weird before that. When I drop her off at the bakery, I’m going to ask Cate to talk to her.”

  “Good idea. Now sit.” He waved the spatula toward the table. “Breakfast will be ready in a minute.” He turned back to the stove and spooned more batter into the pan.

  Tessa poured herself a cup of coffee and took the chair next to her mom. “Morning, Mom.”

  Her mo
ther mumbled something around a mouthful of food.

  Logan set a plate in front of Tessa.

  “Thank you.” She picked up her fork. “We have to make some decisions about the wedding before your sister explodes.” She glanced at her mother, who seemed focused on her pancakes and oblivious to their conversation. “I know the wedding feels rushed, but I really want to do it quickly.” She didn’t want to say Before Mom has to be moved into a facility, not with her mother in the room, even if she didn’t appear to be paying attention. Tessa knew her mother would eventually need more care than could be provided in the home.

  “Anything you want is fine with me,” Logan said with no hesitation.

  “It’ll have to be a simple celebration.” Tessa’s mom didn’t handle crowds well. “Do you mind if we have the ceremony here? Maybe outside?” Leaving the property also distressed her mom.

  Logan snorted. “Don’t take this the wrong way. I care very much about our wedding, but the details . . . not so much. I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. As far as I’m concerned, we’re already living our best life just because we’re doing it together. Making our relationship legal is icing.”

  The warmth that filled Tessa felt silly, but knowing he loved her unconditionally made her happy. He made her happy. Her face stretched into a smile she felt to her bones. “I’ll call Cate today.”

  “Great. Hopefully she’ll stop asking me if we’ve picked a place every time I see her. This island is small. I see her just about every day.” He brought his own plate and coffee to the table. They ate in peace, and Tessa settled back in her chair to finish her coffee.

  Mom said, “I need to fetch the eggs.” She still thrived on routine. She’d checked on her chickens every morning as long as Tessa could remember.

  Tessa pushed to her feet. “I’ll go with you.”

  Logan stood. “I’ve got this. Go shower.”

  Tessa hesitated. He’d taken over so many of her family responsibilities that she felt guilty. “Are you sure?”

  His eyes met hers, serious. “Tessa, we’re a team in every way now. This isn’t a big deal. It’s just a morning like every other one.”

  But it was a very big deal to her. And one more thing for her to be grateful about.

  She kissed him lightly on the mouth, then headed for the shower. By the time she was ready for work, one of the ladies from the knitting group sat with her mother in the living room. Mrs. Harris was working on a pink-and-blue baby blanket. Tessa’s mother’s project was a scarf. Her concentration wasn’t strong enough for complicated patterns, but the mechanics of knitting were imprinted in her muscle memory, and her fingers moved with little input from her brain.

  Logan and Tessa headed out the door together. Patience rushed out behind them and climbed into the passenger seat of Tessa’s official SUV.

  “I have to check in at the ranger’s station,” Logan said. “I’ll be free to help with the investigation in a couple of hours. Does that work for you?” The investigation was as much Logan’s responsibility as Tessa’s.

  “Yes. I’ll start with the warrant applications this morning.”

  “Don’t do anything interesting without me.” Logan’s phone rang, and he looked at the screen. “I have to get this.” He jumped into the driver’s seat of his battered Range Rover, closed the door, and put the phone to his ear.

  With a quick wave, Tessa climbed into her SUV and drove to the tiny town of North Sound, just a few minutes away. Tourists already crowded Black Tail Bakery. Tessa pulled around back.

  Patience had the door open before the vehicle was in park. “Thanks!” She bolted for the bakery.

  Shaking her head, Tessa parked and followed her sister in the back door. Patience donned an apron, washed her hands, and hurried into the front of the store to help with customers. Tessa could hear Jane’s voice over those of the patrons. Cate and Logan’s grandmother kept the island supplied with her famous cinnamon buns. Cate was kneading dough on a table. Despite the early hour, the former FBI agent looked relaxed and rested.

  At a long worktable, Tessa and Cate’s childhood friend Samantha iced cupcakes with a piping bag. She looked up from her work and smiled. “Hey, Tessa.”

  Sam might never fully recover from being kidnapped as a teenager and held prisoner for decades before Tessa and Cate had found and rescued her, but she looked content. Working in Cate’s bakery had been exactly what she’d needed.

  “Hey, Sam.” Tessa greeted her with a one-arm hug.

  “Morning,” Cate said. “I saved you a fresh blueberry fritter.”

  “Thanks.” Tessa helped herself to a cup of coffee and a fritter. She leaned on the counter. “Can I ask you a favor?”

  “Always.” Cate placed her dough in a bowl and covered it with a dish towel. She wiped her hands on her apron. “Please tell me it’s about wedding details.”

  Tessa grinned. “Two favors, then.”

  Cate poured coffee into a mug and sipped. “Go.”

  Tessa glanced at the swinging door. “Patience has seemed a little off lately. Considering what happened yesterday, I’m worried, and she doesn’t want to talk to me.”

  “You want me to try?” Cate set down her mug.

  “Yes, please.”

  “Done.” Cate opened the oven to check on a batch of muffins. She closed the door. “Now, when are we going to discuss wedding deets?”

  “As soon as I solve this murder.”

  Cate rolled her eyes. “It’s July, and you want to get married in September. We don’t have much time here.”

  “I know.” Tessa broke off a corner of the fritter. “We’ve decided to have the ceremony and reception at the house. All we need is food.”

  “And a tent, tables, chairs, linens, music.” Cate counted the items off on her fingers. Her mouth dropped open in horror. “You don’t even have invitations.”

  Tessa popped the piece of pastry into her mouth. Sugar exploded on her tongue. “We’re keeping it small. We’ll print them ourselves and hand deliver them.”

  “What are you going to wear?”

  “I don’t know yet.” Tessa wrapped her fritter in a napkin.

  “We will work out some of these details this week.” Cate’s tone brooked no argument.

  “Fine.” Tessa grinned. “I have to get to work.”

  Shaking her head, Cate shoved a bear claw into a white bag. “For Kurt.”

  Tessa took the bag and tucked it under her arm. “Thanks. See you later.”

  She hustled out to her SUV and drove to work. The sheriff’s station was claustrophobically small, and she spent as little time as possible in it. She found fellow Widow’s Island deputy Kurt Olson at the desk, typing on the computer. Gray and grizzled, Kurt was a seasoned officer.

  “How was the night shift?” She handed him the white bag.

  “Thanks.” Kurt opened the bag and sniffed. His face widened in a smile. “A typical exciting night. Fender bender on Orcas Road. One barking-dog complaint. No one died.”

  “Always good.” Tessa poured coffee into her mug.

  Kurt saved his document, stood, and stretched. “What’s happening with the investigation?”

  “I have some warrant applications to fill out while I wait for the ME to finish the autopsy.” Tessa sipped her coffee.

  “Call me if you need me.”

  “Will do.”

  Kurt left, and Tessa finished her coffee and fritter while she applied for search warrants to access Aurora’s cell phone and financial records. She was typing up her interview notes when her phone vibrated, and Henry’s number popped onto the screen.

  She answered immediately. “Yes?”

  “The ME started early this morning. He finished the autopsy already. I assume you want to be here when I call him?”

  “You bet. I’ll be right there.” Tessa locked up the station and headed to Henry’s clinic. He’d recently expanded the small practice into a full urgent care. The receptionist was on the phone when
Tessa entered. She waved her toward the door that led into the back rooms. Tessa went directly to Henry’s office. He gestured toward a chair and dialed the phone. “Dr. Green? I’m going to put you on speaker. Deputy Black is here with me.” He tapped his phone and set it on the desk.

  The ME’s voice emanated from the phone as he greeted Tessa. “Getting right to it. Dental records confirm the ID of the victim as Aurora Franklin. I estimate the postmortem interval as four to eight weeks. Considering the condition of the corpse, determining cause of death is difficult. X-rays and scans of the remains showed only one notable, clear injury: a fractured hyoid bone.”

  Tessa straightened. The hyoid was a U-shaped bone in the neck. A hyoid fracture occurred in approximately one-third of all deaths by strangulation. “Are there any other signs that she was strangled?”

  The ME paused. “The remains are too decomposed to determine if there was bruising or other soft tissue injury. But the lack of other obvious injuries is information in and of itself. Because of its location, the hyoid is not commonly broken under normal circumstances. The hyoid can be broken from hanging, a fall from a great height, or some other significant trauma to the neck, like an automobile accident. None of the other recovered bones in this case are broken except the hyoid, and we recovered about eighty percent of this victim. There’s also no evidence of the use of a ligature or of hanging, so manual strangulation is the most likely cause of death, which means the manner of death is homicide.”

  “Thank you, Dr. Green,” Henry said.

  “I’ll be sending the remains to a forensic anthropologist for confirmation. She’ll strip the remaining flesh from the bones to more closely examine them. It’s possible she could give us more information.”

  “Any idea how long that might take?” Tessa asked.

  “I’m waiting to hear back,” the ME said. “But she’s always backlogged. I’ll send my preliminary report tomorrow.” The final autopsy wouldn’t be available for at least six weeks.

  They ended the call.

  Tessa stood. After thanking Henry, she left his office and called Logan to give him the results. “I’m headed to the harbor to find out which whale-watching tour company hired Aurora.”