Page 14 of Water's Edge

“He had some rope in the trunk. I might have forgotten to take a picture of that. There were gloves on the back floorboard that might be for climbing. I didn’t see any carabiners or other equipment. He said he was just checking it out, so maybe he was going to come back?”

Maybe. But he seemed squirrelly to me.

“You said he lives on campus at the college?”

“That’s what he told me.”

“Did he show you a student ID?”

She looks down at her lap. “I didn’t ask for it. Should I have?”

“Not necessarily,” I lie, because in her defense, I did kind of throw her to the wolves.

“We’ll call the campus when we get to the station to check him out. But you’re right: the first thing is to identify the body. Hopefully, someone is missing her.”

Seven

I start the car to leave and immediately run the case through my mind while Ronnie looks through her phone. I have near perfect recall. Always have. It’s a blessing and a curse. A blessing when I need it. A curse when I don’t want to think about something bad in my life. I concentrate on what I saw from the cliff.

Rope tied to tree. Coiled. Look down side of cliff at rocks and beach. Can see only rocks and sand and water.

The rope was coiled when Boyd found it. He almost tripped over it. He threw it down, climbed down, saw the body, climbed up. Then Deputy Davis arrived and climbed down before I got there. I didn’t know if that meant anything, but it bothered me. I’ll call Deputy Davis and see how he found the rope. I should have asked.

I climb down. Turn to see if I can see the body and end up falling on Davis. I climb over several big boulders and see a bare foot like Boyd said. Why was he climbing over the boulders? I’ll have to ask him.

I fast-forward. I envision Davis video conferencing with Larsen.

Lift face. Skin. Pale. Blue-white. Lips deep blue. Eyes open. Blue or hazel. Staring at me. Early twenties. Contusions on cheeks. Black circles around both eyes.

I forgot the racoon eyes. Blunt trauma to the head or face causes that.

Split lips.

Ligature marks on both wrists, both ankles, throat. Dark blue. Deep bruising.

I fast-forward again. Crime scene deputies are putting her in the body bag.

I notice the ligature mark around her neck isn’t dark blue. It’s black. Deep tissue.

At boat ramp. The body is on the stretcher.

Petechiae are present in the eyes. Strangled.

No rigor. Hands are bagged.

Captain Marvel and Floyd roll the body to her side for Larsen.

Lump on back of neck. Not a lump. Something cut to the bone. Half a square in shape.

Wider than ligature. A buckle. Ligature was a collar? Belt? Inch wide? Livor mortis is fixed in her back, buttocks, shoulders, but not her arms.

She was lying on her back after death, but her arms were not stretched out like we found her. The arms must have been suspended above the body. Not touching anything. How is that possible?

Handcuffs? Wrists still handcuffed?

I zone back in and Ronnie is talking. It’s nothing important or even about the case. She is complaining about issues with her parents and yada yada. I tune her out and concentrate on what else I saw before the body was placed in the back of the coroner’s van.

I watch Jerry Larsen with the stretcher at the top of the boat ramp.

---