by Lynn Cahoon
“North beach side,” Blake added absently. He was staring at the hand.
Greg repeated the more specific instructions, then hung up. “They’ll be here in ten minutes. We’re to stay put.”
“I’m going to sit with Kathi. She’s a little shook up.” I didn’t want to see the hand sticking out of the sand anymore anyway. It looked like that mummy movie that used to play every Halloween. Where he comes to life and reaches for the heroine. Except for this hand was too delicate to be a man’s. We’d found a woman’s body. And I was pretty sure whose body it would turn out to be.
Caleb’s missing fiancée had never left. She’d been here all the time. A fact that was going to look really bad for Caleb. Especially to the police.
When the sheriff arrived with two SUV vehicles made for trail riding, I hoped they would let us leave soon. Kathi was still not talking and I really, really had to use the restroom.
Sheriff Anderson came over to where we were all sitting now. Greg stood and introduced us. “We’re staying over at the Woodses’ compound.”
“We’ll take it from here.” The sheriff looked out over the ocean. “I’m thinking that last week’s storm must have uncovered the body. We had thirty-foot waves and had to close down not only the dunes here, but the road that runs down the coast. It was pretty scary. I’m glad we don’t get those hurricanes that the east coast does.”
“How long do you think she’s been there?” I blurted out the question that had been bothering me for the last few minutes. Maybe it took centuries to make a mummy? I had seen mummies before at museums, but never the actual mummified body. This could be a pioneer woman or someone who fell off a boat. But I knew better. The ring was too new of a style to be a pioneer woman.
“The medical examiner will make that determination, but sand is a bad place to try to hid a body. Did you know a dune can move three feet in a year? I’d guess a few years anyway.” He tipped his hat. “You folks head back to the Woodses’ place. We’ll have to take in the side by side, but I’m sure he’ll have another one for you all to use this week. We’ll come by and do interviews after we finish up here. Just do me a favor and don’t leave town.”
“We’re here through Thanksgiving.” Greg told him. “I’m hoping you’ll be able to get our interviews before Sunday? Most of us are going back home then.”
“We should have this wrapped up by then. Sorry that you had to start up your holiday like this. Typically, we’re a much more friendly group out here. You know, small town hospitality and all.” The sheriff tipped his hat and left. They had moved Blake’s vehicle to the beach and it was already on a trailer to take back to the station.
“I guess we’re all going back in one.” Greg held up the keys. “I’m driving so the rest of you can fight over shotgun or who gets to ride with Emma.”
“I’ll sit in the back with Emma.” I started hiking up the hill, Emma at my side.
Blake pulled Kathi up off the sand and put an arm around her as they walked with me. “I can sit with Jill and Emma. Kathi can ride shotgun.”
“I can’t believe that woman was buried in sand. Do you think she was alive when they buried her?” Kathi asked Greg.
He glanced at me, then addressed her. “I don’t know Kathi. I know what you saw upset you. But we need to leave the why’s to the professionals. I’m sure the sheriff will find who’s at the bottom of this soon.”
“Just seems like a bad way to die.” Kathi said, then leaned her head on Blake’s shoulder and walked up to the off-road vehicle we had left parked on the top of the dune. She didn’t seem to have any energy to say anything more.
The news had already reached the Woodses because Hilda and Nate sat on the porch waiting for us when we arrived. Hilda ran to Kathi and walked her inside. “You need to take a long hot bath and then lie down for a bit. You look like you’re in shock.”
Once the other women had gone into the house, Nate searched our faces. “I don’t know if you could tell, but do you think it was Dania? I mean, if she didn’t leave, if someone killed her, that will totally wreck Caleb. I think the only thing that’s kept him going was the hope she’d someday come back.”
“It’s impossible to tell. The medical examiner will have to run DNA or check dental records. The body, well, the body was in bad shape after being under sand for so long. We don’t even know if it was female.” Greg put his hand on Nate’s arm. “Let’s not worry until we find out more.”
I knew the body was female. And I knew it was Dania. The detail people like Greg needed actual proof, not just some girl’s gut feeling to declare something like that. “I better go start some lunch.”
“Oh, Hilda already took care of that. You all have a clam chowder with fresh bread in the kitchen. You can eat whenever you feel like it. I know finding something like that can mess with you.” Nate looked like he had found the body himself, but still, he was trying to be the good host.
“We should eat.” Greg slapped Blake on the back. “Let’s go inside and get some food. Then we can relax over some screen.”
“Sounds like a plan.” I called to Emma and went inside. The first thing I needed was a visit to the bathroom. Then I’d dish up a large bowl and a couple of rolls and forget about this morning. Or at least try.
When I came downstairs, the group was sitting at the table, filled bowls of soup at all four spots and the smell of warm, baked bread filled the large kitchen. If anything could shake the gloom of this morning’s discovery, good food could. I grabbed a soda and sat down next to Greg.
“We were making plans for dinner tonight in town. Maybe after we eat, spending some time at the bar?” Greg updated me on what I’d missed. “Blake says the band they have playing is pretty solid.”
“I know a lot of the guys. They won’t be on the charts ever, but that’s because they love music as a hobby, not a career. When you make it a career, some of the joy goes out of it for some guys.” Blake ripped off a bite of his bread.
“What, not everyone loves the joy of traveling most of the year in a converted school bus?” Kathi feigned surprise. “Tell me it’s not so.”
Blake leaned over and kissed her. “Now there’s my girl. I thought you were going to stay in your shell-shocked mode for at least a few more hours.”
“Believe me, I went from joy at finding a beautiful ring to utter horror when I realized what it was attached to. And the fact I was trapped in the side by side with that, made it ten times worse. I felt like I was living one of those scary movies I don’t even like to watch.” Kathi shuddered then took a dainty sip of her soup. “I’m not sure I’ll ever feel warm again.”
“Did the ring look like this?” An unfamiliar male voice asked from the doorway.
I watched as a phone was shoved in front of Kathi’s face. Caleb stood next to her in the kitchen. Greg quietly stood and walked around the table, placing himself between Caleb and Blake.
Kathi looked up and swallowed, but then, seeing the pain in Caleb’s face, turned her attention to the phone. “Let me see.”
We waited for a few long seconds before Kathi nodded. “I can’t swear to it, but yes, it looks like the ring. It was a marquise cut like that one but the ring wasn’t clean and shiny like it was in the picture.”
Caleb took the phone back and sank into a chair next to the wall. “I bought that for her in Portland. We made a special trip to get just the right one, and when we got home, I proposed to her at my folks’ house. They already knew we were getting married, but this was a formality, you know. She wanted the knee thing and all the ceremony.”
“I’m so sorry for your loss.” Kathi started to stand, but as I watched, Blake’s hand covered hers and she sank back into her chair.
“She was so beautiful. And not just on the outside. You look a lot like her.” Caleb smiled, but the sadness in his eyes almost broke my heart.
Greg put a hand on C
aleb’s shoulder. “Hey man, do you want some soup? Your mom made it for us and it’s pretty amazing.”
Caleb shook his head. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have barged in like this. I just had to know if it really was Dania.”
“No problem, man.” Blake added. “Are you sure you won’t eat?”
Caleb started to leave, then he paused. “Wait, did you find her necklace? A Black Hills Gold cross? Her father gave it to her and she wore it all the time.”
Kathi shook her head. “I didn’t see anything like that, but Caleb, I really didn’t look. I was a little freaked out when I saw her hand.”
“If her necklace isn’t there, maybe it’s not Dania.” Hope spread across his face now. “I’m calling the sheriff.”
We watched as he almost ran out of the kitchen. After the front door banged shut, Greg went into the living room.
When he came back and sat, I looked at him. “Is he gone?”
“Yes, and I locked the door. For the next ten minutes, we’re going to be able to eat without any interruptions. I know his family owns this place, but we paid for a week’s rent. We should be able to eat in peace.” He glanced at Kathi. “Are you all right?”
“Fine.” Her smile wavered a little. “That poor man. The picture of her engagement ring was just the hand and the ring. It made me think…”
“He shouldn’t have showed you that.” Blake’s anger seemed to be hovering under the surface.
Kathi squeezed his hand. “Yes, he should have. And maybe seeing her hand like that, might just push the other memory out of my head.”
“It’s weird that he mentioned how much you looked like her. Do you think that’s true?” I glanced at Greg who had sat back down and was eating.
“Maybe. She’s been gone a few years, maybe Caleb’s memory is fading. Kathi and Dania might just both be blondes.” He seemed to be lost in thought.
“Well, I thought it was weird. Especially when that Russell guy thought he knew her.” I sipped my soup, wondering about the connection.
“That’s not quite what he said. He said that Kathi looked like someone he knew. You don’t know that he knew Dania.” Greg reminded me.
Details. That was why Greg was the professional investigator and I was the amateur. Well, if he had his way, I’d be no kind of investigator at all. It made him nervous when I got involved, especially in murder cases. I decided all I could do right now was eat and see what the local authorities found out about the mummified remains Kathi had accidentally found. Besides, I had questions and needed to look up the answers. Google investigations would have to wait until after lunch.
“I think dinner in town is an excellent idea. I’m not sure any of us are up to cooking tonight.” I smiled at Greg, who was watching me and probably trying to figure out my next step. The guy knew when I was hedging the bets but he wouldn’t stop me from just looking. As long as I didn’t ask real people questions that could make the killer think I knew more than I did, I’d be fine. Besides, no one said Dania had been killed and her body buried in the sand.
At least not yet.
We decided not to take a second ride today. Blake and Kathi went for a hike. Greg used the time to call into work to see what was happening in South Cove. I grabbed my laptop and started Googling information about body mummification. Most of the references I had were based on the Egyptian ritual, but there were a few modern references to what would happen if a body was buried in sand. I was little concerned about the authors of these blogs and the kind of people who actually searched for the information.
Which was me. I pushed away all judgment, especially on myself, and started reading. By the time Greg finished his call and came down from the bedroom, I had a page and a half of notes in my notebook about what a body might look like if buried in sand. And, bonus, I’d found a chart showing how long a body would have to be buried to mummify.
Greg glanced over my shoulder and sighed. “I should have known.”
“I’m not researching Dania, I was just curious about how a body gets that way.” Which totally made me sound like a ghoul. I pushed the notebook toward him. “Look what I found.”
He read through the information. “According to this, it could be Dania out there based on the time it takes for a body to mummify. I’m sure the medical examiner is having a field day with this autopsy. It’s not often they get to work on a mummy.”
“Did you see any cross on the body?” Greg was with the sheriff when they exhumed the body, so he had a closer look.
Greg considered my question, then relaxed into the sofa next to me. “I’m not sure I’m doing you any favors by answering your questions, but we’ll be out of here at the end of the week, so why not. No, there was no cross.”
“Caleb was so specific in his details. Maybe he wanted to throw off any suspicion that it might be Dania? He can’t think that if there’s no cross that no one would be able to identify her.” My leg started tapping on the floor. It was a nervous reaction that had always gotten me into trouble growing up. I guess I’d jerk so hard that I’d shake the dining room table. “He seemed so upset.”
“Sometimes the best killers are also the best at hiding their true selves. Look at Ted Bundy.” Greg sat the notebook down. “What did you find on Dania’s social media pages?”
“I haven’t gone there.” I almost added yet to the sentence, but I guess it was implied since Greg assumed I had already looked. “Do you want to dig into this?”
He glanced around the cabin. “Blake and Kathi are still gone. It’s just the two of us, so if you tell anyone I let you investigate with me, I’ll tell them you were tripping.”
“You’d rather people think I’m crazy than admit this?” I held up a hand stopping his response. “Never mind. I don’t care why, I’ll take a pity investigation.”
“Good because I kind of want to see what’s going on here. It’s not my jurisdiction, so if I get caught, I’ll be in trouble, but I could just blame you.” He grinned and reached out for my laptop. “Let’s go back to the beginning. What year did Dania disappear? We need to locate the local news reports on the disappearance.”
Greg and I worked for a while on gathering information on Dania. The last thing we found was the engagement picture of her and Caleb. I stared at the black and white image. “Wow. She did look like Kathi.”
“Not exactly, but yeah. I’m not sure I would have recognized Caleb from the man we met this afternoon.” Greg leaned closer. “But I’m pretty sure that’s the ring that Kathi found.”
“What did I find?” Kathi’s voice came from the foyer. She and Blake came into the living room. “You guys really need to take a walk out there. It’s lovely. I saw a moose.”
“You saw a buck. A male deer with antlers. Just because it looks like the cartoon doesn’t mean it’s a moose.” Blake sat next to Greg on the couch. “But Kathi’s right, it’s too nice of a day to be hunkered over some computer screen. What are you reading?”
Greg turned the screen toward Blake and Kathi slipped onto the couch beside him. “It’s Caleb and Dania’s engagement announcement. Just three months before she disappeared. And check out the ring. Isn’t that the one you saw?”
Kathi looked closely, then sighed. “I’m sorry. The one on the dead girl wasn’t shiny like that. I couldn’t tell you if it was a white gold or regular gold band. All I remember was the cut of the diamond.”
“That’s okay honey, you don’t have to think about that.” Blake took her in his arms and glared at Greg over her shoulder. “It took a while to get her calmed down. Can we stop talking about a murder that happened years ago?”
“Well, first of all, we don’t know that it’s a murder,” I corrected Blake but then saw the look on Greg’s face warning me. “But you’re right. We’re here for a vacation. What should we do next?”
“We have reservations at six at the Mexican place in town.
” Kathi glanced at her watch. “Which means, we need to get ready and go. I’m so looking forward to a glass or two of wine.”
I glanced at my jeans and t-shirt that I’d planned to wear to dinner. Kathi was in a cute two piece outfit that was ten times as fancy as what I had on and she was changing for dinner? I stood and followed her out of the living room. “So is this place formal dining?”
“No, just casual. I just can’t wear this old thing anywhere but hiking in the woods.” She glanced back at me. “You did bring something besides jeans, right?”
“I brought black jeans. I didn’t know we were going out.” I tried to remember what shirts I’d brought. Maybe I had a fancier one that I could wear and that would make the jeans look better.
“I might have a blouse that would fit you. Of course, it will be way too large in the chest, but it will be better than showing up in sportswear.” Kathi paused on the stairs. “Come with me. I’ll see what I can do to get you ready.”
I followed her, wondering what I’d gotten myself into. I should have told her I had a blouse and was confident in my selection. But then she would have seen me at the restaurant and would have told me she could have fixed me.
The problem was I didn’t need fixing and I resented people who tried.
Chapter 4
Dinner had been amazing. Now we were sitting in a small dive bar at the edge of the forest leading back to our cabin. The good news was we’d walked down to the restaurant, despite Kathi’s complaints about the heels she’d wanted to wear. Blake ran upstairs, got a pair of flats, slipped the three-inch heels off her feet, and put the sandals on. The action was oddly sexual and Greg and I stepped outside to wait for them on the porch.
“I still don’t understand why we didn’t drive down to dinner.” Kathi said for the third, no, fourth time since we left the house. “I really love those heels.”
“Because this way, we all can drink without breaking any laws.” Greg held up his beer bottle to the group. “Here’s to an exciting first day of vacation. May the rest of the vacation be boring, for all of our sakes.”
