Page 33 of So Insane

“They think he was dropped down one of the old ventilation shafts the miners dug.”

“Are we in the mine?”

“No, but the mines apparently do connect to the cave network. The miners made these shafts every few hundred years ago to circulate air. The dead end is just past one of the shafts.”

“So something or someone dropped him down a shaft, then what, followed him down and dragged him up here?”

“We think so,” Jones said. “Nothing’s official yet. We found the body three minutes before we called you.”

“Well, we know for sure that Tooley didn’t do it,” Faith said. “He was busy trying to murder me when this body was moved.”

“If I were being pedantic, I would say that only proves Tooley didn’t move the body here, not that he didn’t kill Stone,” Jones said, “But yeah, it’s probably not him.”

“So who?” Faith asked.

“That’s the million-dollar question,” Jones replied.

They fell silent for a second, staring at the young man's mutilated corpse. "Is there a way to identify him without the parents having to see him like this?"

Jones shook his head. “Not legally.”

She sighed. “Well, try to get him cleaned up a little after the autopsy before you bring the parents to see him.”

“I don’t think there’s a soap in the world strong enough to clean that, agent,” Jones replied, “but I’ll tell Doctor Kleine to do his best.”

“Any word on Clara?” Michael asked.

Jones shook his head. “No, but I won’t pretend I’m expecting a happier word than this.”

They fell silent again. After a moment, Michael said, “I’ll call Kinzel and tell him Tooley’s off the hook for the murders.”

He dialed the number, and Faith looked down the tunnel. Lights were strung up every few dozen yards up to the dead end a quarter mile or so distant.

“There’s someone here,” she said.

Jones instantly grew alert. He placed his hand on the butt of his service weapon and asked, “Where?”

“No, not right here,” she said, “in the caves.”

“You think our killer is still here?”

“Yes,” she said. “I think he’s here, and I think Clara’s still here.”

“You think she’s alive?” Jones asked.

“No,” Faith admitted, “but I think he’s not finished with her yet.”

“Feeding her to the rats too?”

"I'm not sure," she said, "I could be wrong. I don't have much more to go on than a hunch. I just feel that our killer would have to know that the ventilation shaft led to this tunnel, which led to this cave, in order to know to bring the body here and stage it for us.”

“You think he staged it for us?”

“I think he wants us out,” she said. “Your teams, have they gone into the tunnels at all?”

“Not very far,” he said, “A few yards here and there. We’ve been focusing on the surface stuff so far. Getting deeper into the network is a challenge.”

“But one you would have taken if the surface search yielded nothing,” she said.

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