Page 64 of Preying Game

“We’d better start with the canine. Can you use a search and rescue dog? I know a guy who does that.”

“Cadaver dogs are different. Search and rescue dogs are looking for living people who can be saved, and cadaver dogs are looking for the dead. They find them from the smell of a dead human drifting up through the earth.”

“After more than fifty years?”

“As far as I know.”

Jonah’s gaze turned inward as he remembered the last time he and Grant had visited the property. “We’ll have to make it clear to whoever goes with us that this is a stealth operation. Which may make it hard to find someone willing to do it.”

He went off to call several people and groups who advertised cadaver dog services. Most were willing to work with Decorah Security but backed out when they heard the assignment was on private property and had to be secret.

After making six calls, he found a guy named Doug Frampton, from Carol County, who was intrigued enough to keep listening.

“Why does it have to be covert?” he asked.

“We’re investigating serial murders that occurred fifty years ago. The bodies are buried on an estate where the ownership is in dispute. We went there a few days ago, and a cop was instantly on our asses. We left, but we want to come back at night.”

“You’re sure the bodies are there?”

“It makes sense. The killer was kidnapping young women, forcing them to get into great physical shape, then hunting them for sport on the estate. It’s a big place. He had plenty of room to use the grounds as a private cemetery.”

Frampton winced. “Okay I’ll join you. When do you want to do it?”

“As soon as possible.”

“I can bring Daisy to your place tonight.”

“Your dog is Daisy?”

“Yeah, I named her after my grandmother. She was dogged in pursuit of buried bodies. In the metaphorical sense, of course.”

Jonah laughed, then gave Frampton directions. He proposed leaving in an SUV just before dark—which would put them at the estate around eight.

He headed home around 5:30 and found Alice in the kitchen, proudly taking a meatloaf out of the oven. To go along with it, she had made mashed potatoes, using the immersion blender she found in one of Jonah’s cabinets.

“That was a Christmas present that I never used,” he said.

“I looked it up on the Web. It’s fun.”

“You don’t have to do all the cooking.”

“I like it. It’s a lot easier than when my mom did it. I mean, you just put that wand right into the pot where you cooked the potatoes, add butter, milk and salt, and mash them up.”

He shook his head. “You’re adapting pretty well.”

The tone of his voice must have told her something was up.

“What?”

“After dinner, Grant and I are going out to the estate—with a cadaver dog and handler.”

“I want to come,” she said at once.

“I knew you’d say that, but in this case, it’s better if you stay here.”

“Why?”

“Because the morning I came to the estate looking for you—a cop showed up and was pretty aggressive. He could come back, and the fewer people we have, the better.”

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