Page 43 of Dead Mountain

“It was not in an identifiable condition.”

Tolland was very still for a moment. Then he said, “Can you tell me how he died?”

“Not yet. That must await the autopsy. We’ll know more within twenty-four to forty-eight hours. This case is our highest priority.”

“Can’t you tell me anything more?” Tolland said.

To Corrie, he seemed increasingly agitated. She wondered if this was a normal reaction. It seemed like Tolland had something on his mind.

“Certainly.” Almost imperceptibly, Sharp quickened the pace of his speech. “Now that your son has been identified, I can give you a few more facts—although I’d ask you not to share them, since they’re preliminary and also confidential to the investigation. He and another of the hikers found shelter in a cave, which lay about two miles north of the makeshift fire circle where the first three victims were found.”

“Did they, I mean my son and the other one, freeze to death?”

“Not likely. It appears there was a struggle.”

“Struggle? What kind of struggle?”

“A knife was involved.”

“So my son was stabbed to death?”

“He was found with a fatal knife wound, yes.”

The color rose in Tolland’s face. “Who did it? The other person? Which one was he?”

“We can’t tell you the identity of the other person just yet, and we don’t know what happened. We have to wait for the autopsy. I’m unable to say more. The other victim in the cave also had knife wounds.”

“They were both attacked?”

“It seems more likely they fought each other, but that’s again speculation.”

Tolland stared in disbelief. “My son . . . He hasn’t come near a knife since . . . since what happened in eighth grade! He could hardly bear to touch one!”

At this, Sharp said quietly, without missing a beat, “What happened in eighth grade?”

Tolland was almost shouting. “He was playing mumblety-peg and put a knife through his best friend’s finger!”

“I’m so sorry,” said Sharp, and then went on as if the information were of little importance. “As I said, we won’t be able to state a cause of death or fully reconstruct what happened until the autopsies are completed, but you’ll be the first to know the results. Now, I have to ask you, Doctor: I know you were interviewed years ago, but we may—in fact we will—want to speak to you again. Would you be willing to help us?”

Tolland listened to this. Finally, he took a deep breath, then nodded again—very slowly. “Of course,” he said. And then after a hesitation, “Thank you for coming to tell me.”

The two agents got back into the Tahoe, drove out of the subdivision, through town, and onto I-25 before Sharp spoke. “Thoughts, Agent Swanson?”

“Interesting story about the knife. What’s mumblety-peg?”

“It’s an old-fashioned kids’ game in which two people compete. Kind of like jacks, but with a knife.” He smiled wryly. “You face each other, take turns throwing the knife into the ground between, trying to get it to stick. It’s not played much anymore, for pretty obvious reasons.”

“I was sorry to see how much he’s still suffering after all these years.”

“Yes. But, as I told you before: we are servants of the people, and we need to show we care. We did that just now. Hopefully, Dr. Tolland will derive some comfort, or finality, from what we were able to tell him. Also,” he said after pausing significantly, “in addition to showing our concern, valuable information can arise from such meetings. In their grief and shock, bereaved people sometimes reveal things they otherwise might not.”

“I understand, sir.”

“We might look into that knife business further. If there are criminal records, they would most likely be juvenile and sealed—but then again, possibly not. But if what Tolland said is true, his son seems hardly the type to be wielding a knife in anger.” He glanced toward her. “Were you aware of any other fresh revelations?”

Corrie frowned. She wasn’t sure what, specifically, he might be getting at. “Sorry?”

“For example, though he obviously lives alone, he used the plural: ‘nobody has given us a clear timeline.’ That ‘us’ means the Dead Mountain support group has begun to stir again. They caused quite a lot of trouble during the initial investigation. No surprise, but we’ll need to prepare ourselves.”

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