Page 20 of Exposure of Murder

So far, he had done nothing for her to be concerned about, so Jane decided not to mention it. At some point, she was sure Bucky would trust her enough to tell her.

The excavator operator jumped out and came over to greet her.

Jane met Hal a while ago. He’d been doing this for years, and it showed in the deep lines etched into his sunburnt face.

“I bet you’re excited,” said Hal. He looked over at the pond and nodded. “We’ll clear out that grass and debris, and in no time, the pond will fill up and be like new.”

“Sounds good,” Jane replied with a smile. “How long do you think it’ll take?”

Hal took a moment to survey the pond. “A few days for my work. Filling the pond could take about a month or two.” His eyes twinkled. “You’ll be good to go swimming this summer.”

“Okay. I’ll let you get to work.” Jane turned, waved to the dump truck operator and walked back to the house.

She was in the middle of kneading bread, one of her back-to-nature goals, when the constant drone of machinery abruptly halted. The silence was unnerving.

Curious, Jane stopped and looked out the window. Hal and the dump truck operator stood by the edge of the pond, staring at the water, and she felt a prickle of unease. Wondering what happened, she wiped her hands on a towel and hurried down to the pond.

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing good,” Hal said in a strained voice as he leaned over, peering into the mucky water. “Jane, you might want to see this.”

Jane’s stomach churned as she hurried to the edge of the pond, her feet sinking into the muddy ground. There was something tangled in the mud. The stench of decay caused her to gasp and cover her mouth with her fleece.

She prayed it was just an animal, but as she got closer, she realized it was a human arm, the body entangled in chains. Her mind raced in confusion.

“Oh, my God!” gasped Jane as she stared at the bloated and discolored body of an older man bound in chains. “How did he get into the pond?”

“Don’t know,” said Hal grimly. “But we need to call the sheriff.”

Jane nodded and pulled her phone from her pocket. Her fingers trembled as she dialed. The sheriff picked up on the third ring.

“Ethan, it’s Jane.” Her lungs constricted, and she couldn’t breathe.

“Jane. Has something else happened?”

“It’s a body,” she choked out. “In my pond.” The effort to catch her breath overwhelmed her. She couldn’t continue.

Hal reached for the phone. “Sheriff, I was dredging and pulled the body of a man wrapped in chains from the pond.”

After nodding a couple of times, he hung up. “Sheriff will be right here.”

Jane stepped back and stared into the woods. Were there more bodies buried in the pond? God, she hoped not. Was she in danger? Was this connected to what occurred at the barn and the note?

Police sirens echoed in the background, disrupting the silence as the morning sun rose higher in the sky. A squeal of brakes and she saw Ethan get out of his truck, confusion on his face. Two other police cars followed.

Jane’s body was shaking. This was no longer a simple dredging project—it was a crime scene.

Thirteen

Ethan stepped out of his truck, inhaling the crisp air, and scanned the scene, focusing on the two men staring at the pond and Jane next to them, with her hand clamped over her mouth and her other arm wrapped around her middle.

She had likely written about dead bodies in her books, but seeing one in person, especially after the death of her husband, must be devastating to her.

“Hal, George.” Ethan greeted the two men who’d been fixtures in town for years. “What’d you find?”

Hal let out a heavy sigh. “We were digging near the edge of the pond when we saw something strange sticking out.” He looked down at the body. “Saw the arm, thought it was an animal at first, dug a little deeper when we saw the body and stopped.”

Ethan leaned in for a closer look. The body that had been unearthed looked familiar and still wore his solid gold dragon ring on a bloated finger. “Damn. That’s David Thornton. No wonder I haven’t seen him around town lately.”

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