Page 59 of Dead Mountain

“Yes.”

“Were they really two of the missing?”

“Yes. Beyond that, I’m afraid I can’t go into detail. The reason I’m calling is that a knife with the engraved initials ‘MHT’ was found in a location where some of the victims died. Since you attended New Mexico Institute of Technology around the time of the tragedy and those are your initials, we were wondering if you knew anything about this knife.”

Another pause. “What can you tell me about the knife? What did it look like?”

The guy sounded wary, but naturally so under the circumstances. “It’s a folding knife, with a locking blade roughly four inches long. The initials are engraved on a small silver plaque on the side, inset into a wooden handle.”

“Was it a classic Buck?”

“Yes.”

“Then it’s mine, all right. My dad gave it to me when I became an Eagle Scout.”

“And you took it with you to grad school?”

“Yes.”

“What happened to it?”

“I thought I’d lost it. You’re saying you found it with the bodies?”

“Yes.”

“Wow.”

“Dr. Tanner, did you know any of the victims on that expedition?”

“I did. Two of them, Mike and Amanda, lived in my dorm. I mostly knew them through my roommate, who was in the engineering department with them. I was in the chem department.”

“I see. And did you loan either of them your knife?”

“No.”

“Did you loan anybody your knife?”

“No.” A hesitation. “I wouldn’t have loaned it out. It meant a lot to me.”

“Could one of the party have taken it without your knowledge?”

“I guess so—you know what it’s like living in a dorm; people were always borrowing CDs or stealing cookies.” Another hesitation. “That was a pretty traumatic time for all of us at the university.”

“You said your roommate knew some of them well. Who was that?”

“Alex. Alex DeGregorio. He was really torn up about it.”

The name didn’t ring a bell. She was pretty sure he hadn’t been interviewed in the case the first time around. Maybe he’d taken the knife and given it to one of the hikers.

“I’d like to send you a photo of the knife to get a positive ID. May I do that?”

“Sure. Of course.” He hesitated. “Is there any way I could get it back?”

Corrie assumed he wanted the knife for sentimental reasons. Made sense, under the circumstances. “Right now, it’s evidence. But I can look into returning it later on, once the case is closed.”

After another brief exchange, she thanked him and hung up. Now she had an owner to match the initials on the knife, but it hadn’t really gotten her anywhere. Somebody on the expedition had borrowed or stolen it.

I mostly knew them through my roommate. So the roommate—Alex DeGregorio—had known the victims well. Two agents had been assigned to work their way through a list of interviews at NMIT—academic advisors of the victims and close friends—but they didn’t know about Tanner or DeGregorio. As long as she was checking off leads, she might as well finish this one.

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