She had experience with that sort of work and knew which key details to examine. There was no saying what a car could tell you, if you knew where to look for it. Unfortunately, there was no paper trail, ID’s or any other document that could connect the car to the agents. The car was theirs, that was for sure, but it seemed that the guys didn’t leave anything behind, when they left it for the last time.
The collected material was sent to the lab and Clark and Gibson took a break, standing in front of the garage and drinking a cup of black coffee. “Things don’t look good,” agent Clark muttered. “The car was dumped, but not burn or hidden. Someone had taken their documents, but they had left behind the documents of the car and its number, so that it was a child’s game to identify it. They either didn’t care or simply… I don’t know what…”
“Yeah…” Gibson took a sip from his coffee. “It is more confusing than before. If someone killed them, why dump the car, but not the bodies? If they are alive, why didn’t they come forward? It someone is holding them, why haven’t we found any leads, as to where?”
“All good questions,” Clark agreed, throwing the empty coffee cup into the bin. “Maybe we should change the way we work the case.”
“Yeah, maybe,” the Gibson huffed and headed towards the car.
Chapter 7
Agent Clark returned to the precinct together with Gibson and once again checked out the case files. There must be something about the truth in them somewhere, but it was escaping her attention. She had learned almost every word in those files, but she still wasn’t able to find the answers.
Gibson went back into his office, leaving agent Clark to deal with the case on her own. The hangover was still making it difficult for him to function properly, so he preferred to hide behind closed door. Clark took one hour for lunch and then returned to the office to start her next move. She asked Ann for assistance and decided to move the investigation to the next logical place – the city morgue. Clark was already assigned a car and with the help of its GPS, she managed to reach the morgue in less than thirty minutes.
The place was the same as the many other morgues she had visited during the years, but it still made her shiver. She hated the sign of death and she hated the smell of it. In her mind the smell of antiseptic was connected to the image of dead bodies. Asa took a deep breath and walked inside the building, heading directly to the front desk.
“Hello,” she greeted the woman behind the desk and took out her FBI badge. “Agent Clark. Can you tell me if any John Does have been brought in in the last few days?”
The woman looked carefully at her badge and then lowered her gaze to the computer in front of her. “I will call the manager for you, Agent Clark.” She said politely. “I am not at liberty to give you that information.”
Asa agreed to wait and walked in the direction the woman pointed at. The smell here was even stronger, but the agent started to get used to it and tried to ignore it. The manager didn’t let her wait for long and the FBI agent was called into his office soon after she walked towards its door.
“Agent Clark,” the middle-aged man shook her hand. “My name is Doctor Richards. How can I help you?”
“Nice to meet you, doctor,” Asa returned the gesture and sat down in the chair he offered her. “I need information about any unidentified bodies that have arrived at the morgue in the last week.”
“Sorry, agent, but we haven’t seen a body in months,” the man commented. “You see, this is not New York. We get only a few bodies during the year and the last few months had been very peaceful.”
“I see,” Asa said, both relieved and not from the fact that the morgue was just another dead end. “Thank you anyway, and please contact me if there is something new to report.”
Doctor Richards promised to do just that and accompanied Asa out of the morgue. The FBI agent took her time walking to the car. The case was getting more and more difficult to deal with and that was making her frustrated. The few leads she had were leading her nowhere and the things she would usually do when solving a case, were not possible in here.
Once again, Clark wondered how was it possible in the twenty first century people in USA still lived without security cameras and internet? Because that was her problem right now. She couldn’t follow the two missing agents around, because she couldn’t find any digital footprint in the area. Yeah, Montana could have been at the end of the world for all she cared.
“What should I do now?” Asa asked herself, frustrated at the lack of evidence and the remoteness of the area. Deciding that it was enough for the day, she headed towards the center of the city. Unsure what to do next, Asa decided to take a walk and look around the town’s main street. She simply rolled her eyes at the very idea of Asa Clark shopping for fun.
People were walking all around her and Asa wondered, if they even noticed her. People never ceased to surprise her. Gibson had also surprised her last night. She could tell that he was jealous of her and even angry at the fact that she was sent to take the biggest case that had come to his office in years. And yet, the man had taken her to dinner and even showed her his weak side, by getting drunk.
Asa watched a young couple, clearly deeply in love, that were holding hands and throwing bread at the pigeons in the park. She compared them to her own life and smiled sadly. She was still unmarried, with no boyfriend and no plans for the future. Asa remembered what she used to say to her mother about the fact that being committed to one boring person would certainly kill her. Her mother was always saying that she could never stick to one thing, one quality that Asa wasn’t too happy with. But, Asa didn’t express fear, she always tried to think things through, to plan everything. So, what if that meant she would end up alone? As long as she was feeling content, she was going to be okay.
Chapter 8
The next morning, Asa woke up after a good night’s sleep, ready to start work again. The desperation from the previous day was forgotten and her determination had returned with new force. Shower, dressing, eating something for breakfast… everything was done quickly and with a happy anticipation. The drive to the FBI field office was also relaxing and Asa used the atmosphere to gather strength for the following hours. She had already decided what to do next and that was giving her the confidence to face Gibson again.
“Agent Gibson, oh sorry, Todd,” she stuttered and entered his office. “I already loaded up my car and I am ready to go the site, where the car was found.”
She had already informed him about her plans for the day and Gibson had agreed to take her to the place, where a local farmer had found the car of the two FBI agents.
“Good morning to you too, agent Clark,” Gibson said sarcastically. “I will be ready in ten minutes, make sure that we have everything we might need and take some food and drinks, out there we won’t find shops.”
Clark only huffed at his comment and walked back out, closing the door behind her and silently cursing all men and their conviction that women were to be ordered around. Without being a feminist, as Gibson already pointed out, Asa Clark still believed that women had more to give to the world than what they were allowed to. She hated both men and women, who preferred to see the world as black and white.
Gibson came out of the FBI office building half an hour later and climbed into the car, without another word. Asa put the car into motion and drove away, heading towards the national forest. She had already checked out the direction, so there was no need to ask questions or pick up conversations. According to the map, it was going to take them around two hours to reach the site, where the car was dumped and it looked as if it was going to be a long drive.
When they exited the city and drove through the vast plains of Montana, Gibson couldn’t take it anymore. “So, tell me about yourself?” He asked, after desperately searching for a subject that would help agent Clark relax.
“Why do you care?” She asked, surprised.
“We have two hours drive in front of us,” Gibson commented. “I a
m just looking for something to talk about.”
The woman huffed and continued to drive in silence for another few moments. “Okay, let's see, what can I tell you.” She decided to try to open up. “I am a big city girl, but my mother is from these parts and she made sure to teach me about the earth and how important it is to stay connected to it. I am very proud of my origins, Todd, if that is what you want to know. When I was young, I used to spend every summer with my mother’s tribe. There I learned everything I know about human nature and its relation to the world around us.”
“I am almost jealous,” Todd admitted. “The most exciting thing I did during my childhood was go to a space camp.”
“I am sorry to hear that,” Asa said laughing. “But the truth is I always wanted to go to a space camp.”
Gibson laughed at her comment and she continued. “When I finished college, I went to Quantico and became an FBI agent. The rest is history. Tell me, how long have you served at the field office?”
The change of subject didn’t feel as a way for her to hide something, so Gibson easily started his own story. “It is already been five years since I was sent to this office,” he shared. “But, I really like it here. It is different here, you know? There was a time, when I longed for excitement, but now I am more than happy with my job.”
“Lucky you,” Asa commented. “It is not often that I meet people, who love what they are doing.”
“I never said that I love it, just that I am happy with it,” Gibson laughed at her assumption. “I am just a normal man and I have dreams and ambitions, simply with the passing of the years, I have learned to be happy with what I have.”
“And the people here? What do you think about them?” Asa continued to ask questions.
“Oh, the people,” he moved his head up and down, as if contemplating his answer. “They are something aren’t they? When I first came here it was hard to see through the first impression, but with time I got used to the chatting, to the complete lack of privacy and to the fact that I will never be accepted completely here.”
“I can see that,” Asa thought about what he was saying. “I noticed that although everyone is polite and so on, they still have a secret language that I don’t know.”
“Oh, look!” Gibson pointed at a dirt road on their right. “We are almost there. Turn here.”
Asa looked around, at the tall trees and green bushes that surrounded them. Birds sang happily in the branches and there was a soft wind that blew warm and fresh, lifting the leaves and making them dance. The place looked familiar to her and Asa thought of the many days she had lived with her mother’s tribe during the summer, and felt at home until she noticed how badly the recovery area was isolated by the local authorities.
“Look at that!” She almost shouted, when they reached the recovery area. “Look at how badly they had isolated the area.”
Gibson did just that and noticed the sloppy work they had done, but chose to defend them. “It’s not so bad. I have seen so much worse than this. You have to consider the fact that there aren’t many local authorities in the area. The few that work here, have neither the time nor the resources to do a better job.”
“I don’t see how that excuses them,” Asa still wasn’t happy with the situation, but decided to drop it off. “Let’s see if there is something that they have missed.”
She parked the car beside a group of trees and they climbed out of it, careful not to miss anything. The area had been searched already and both of them had seen the photos made by the officers on the site, but there was always the possibility to find something that the others had missed.
Everything looked simple. The car had been left on the side of the dirt road, with the key in the switch and one of the doors open. Because of the dry road, there weren’t any particularly interesting prints in the dirt, but according to the forensic team, there had been another car, which had turned around and left the same way it had come.
Agent Gibson had already called the local authorities and they were sending the park rangers, who were among the first on the scene. The two men arrived, when Clark and Gibson were still looking around. “Hi guys,” Gibson greeted them. “This is agent Clark and I am agent Gibson. We wanted to ask you one more time about what happened before and after you found the car.”
“Rangers Stevens and Fynn,” one of them said and the four of them shook hands. “What do you want to know?”
“You were the first ones on the scene, after the farmer called 911, right?” Asa asked them.
“Yes,” ranger Fynn answered. “We arrived less than an hour after the call came in. The man was still here, but he had nothing to tell us. We ran the car numbers and found out that it was listed in the police bulletin, so we secured the area and called for the forensic team.”
“Did you notice anything or anyone out of the ordinary?” Agent Clark asked again. “And what I want to know is if there were people on the premises that shouldn’t be here and things that are out of place.”
The two rangers looked at each other and used a few moments to think about the question. “We noticed nothing strange apart from the car,” this time it was ranger Stevens, who decided to answer. “You can see the area, it is so out of the way that I could say that only two or three cars pass by here in a week. When we arrived, all we could see was the car. Nothing else, no people, no prints, no other objects. I still think that whoever dumped the vehicle here, came with another car and did the job quickly.”
“Yeah, that is what we thought too, but still it is never too much to ask new questions,” Gibson for the first time joined the conversation.
The ranger asked them if there was something else they could do for them and left after that. Clark and Gibson stayed at the site and continued to analyze it. Asa made sure to do the job properly and was rewarded with the finding of a few hoof prints, left by a horse.
“Is this strange?” She called at Gibson. “No one mentioned these prints before.”
“In Montana the horses are more common than the cars,” Gibson commented. “The forensic team probably thought that they were unrelated to the case.”
Asa didn’t make the same mistake and made sure to photograph and measure the prints carefully. After that, little else needed to be said. Like an unspoken agreement between them, both agents climbed into the car and drove away.
Chapter 9
Once they arrived back at the FBI office, Asa got restless and felt as if she was on fire. The work day was almost over by the time they got back, but she wasn’t ready to give up yet. So, instead of writing her report for the day and going home, she followed agent Gibson into his office with a printed copy of the hoof print. “You should send it to be identified immediately,” she told him, as if it was the simplest thing to be said.
“What?” Gibson asked her, surprised by her tone of voice.
“I need you to send the print for identification,” Asa repeated again slowly, as if she was talking to a child.
“And this is the way you ask for it?” Gibson wasn’t impressed by her way of acting. “I really don’t appreciate being bossed around.”
“Sorry, that wasn’t my intention,” Asa looked up from the file she was reading. “I just wanted to make sure that the job will be done quickly and properly. It wasn’t my intention to offend you.”
“Okay, but don’t let it happen again,” Gibson accepted her apology and took the print from her. “I will see what I can do.”
Asa realized her mistake, but there was little else she could do right now, so she just left it and went back to the garage, where the car of the two missing FBI agents was still held. She asked for permission to examine it again and proceeded to remove the brake and the gas pedals with the intention to analyze them in greater detail. She wanted to check for a possible boot or shoe print.
One of the local police officers helped her with the removal of the pedals and that way gave her a bit of time to think about her recent confrontation with agent Gibson. Afte
r the day they had had together, Asa was surprised by his reaction to her request. She could understand that he was a bit offended by her arrival and taking on the case, but she thought that he would get over it in time.
It wasn’t her intention to make it so obvious that she was the one in charge, but sometimes her enthusiasm to do her job well, took the best of her. Gibson had been just in the way of her success and Asa had acted instinctively. She realized that she had to make it up to him, but right now she had a few other priorities.
Gibson on the other hand was surprised by agent Clark’s work ethic, but still couldn’t take her bossy attitude. So, when she returned to his office with the two pedals and demanded again for them to be examined, Gibson thought that it was time to speak to her openly.
“Listen, agent Clark, I understand that you are doing your job, but things here are done much slower than in the big cities. We live on the frontier, and like to do things thoughtfully and at our pace.” The man spoke calmly, but Asa could see that he was angry and ready to speak his mind more forcefully if needed.
“I already said that I am sorry, agent Gibson,” Asa didn’t let him intimidate her. “If you are not ready to accept my excuse, don’t put it on me. This time I asked politely. And about the way things are done here, there is always place for improvement.”
Gibson looked at her with hard eyes, but didn’t say anything else on the subject. “I will take care of this, but I think that you have done enough for today. Why don’t you go back to the hotel and relax a little?”
“Yeah, I also think that is a good idea,” Asa agreed, thankful for the change of subject. “And thank you for the help. I wouldn’t be able to do my job without you.”
Mystery: Family Ties: Mystery and Suspense Page 3
