Page 14 of Girl, Unseen

‘People fall.’ But even as she said it, Ella knew she was playing devil's advocate. ‘Even careful ones.’

‘So, it could have been an accident. Marcus might have been drawn to the rocks, didn’t see the hole. The rest is history.’

‘I’m no expert on quarries, but should holes like that exist in a place like this?’

‘No idea. What do you think?’

‘That’s the million dollar question. We need to consult a geology expert.’

‘Speaking of questions.’ Luca checked his watch. ‘Our flight’s in three hours. Think we could make it?’

Ella nodded, but something kept nagging at her. That same instinct that had driven her to search the quarry in the dark, that told her there was more to this than a simple accident or suicide.

‘Yeah. Once they recover the body, there's not much more we can do here. It's NYPD's jurisdiction.’

A figure in a crisp blazer approached them, badge already out. ‘Agents? Detective Michael Ross, NYPD Major Crimes.’

Ross looked exactly like what Ella would expect from a senior detective - salt-and-pepper hair, eyes that had seen too much, and the slightly rumpled appearance of someone who'd been dragged out of bed at an ungodly hour.

‘Agent Ella Dark.’ She shook his hand. ‘This is Agent Luca Hawkins.’

Ross tucked his badge away. ‘Dark? Saw you on the news a few weeks ago. You put that serial killer down.’

Ella made a noncommittal noise. ‘Yeah, that still feels like a fever dream.’

‘I bet. Appreciate you calling this in, anyway. Though I'm curious what brought the FBI out here in the first place.’

Luca said, ‘We were at NYU. One of the professors pulled us aside and told us her colleague was missing. We traced him here. Two hours of searching later… well, you know the rest.’

Ross scrunched up his face. ‘You tracked him here? How?’

‘License plate. Then got creative.’

‘I see. And what’d you find here, exactly?’

Ella gestured to the scene. ‘This is what we found. Marcus’s car on the third level and his body in a hole.’

‘Those markings near where the vic fell. They were there last night too?’

‘Well, we didn’t put them there. Do you know what they are?’

‘Not a clue. I used to sneak into this quarry as a kid. We used to graffiti this place rotten. Could just be the same.’

A shout went up from the recovery team. The crane had been positioned with its arm extending out over the hole like a metal vulture. Two technicians in harnesses were checking their gear, preparing to descend.

‘I guess your job is done here, but want to stay for the recovery?’

Ella nodded. She needed to see this through, needed to know if daylight would reveal something they'd missed in the dark. Closer to the operation, Ella saw that the medical examiner had set up a processing station. A black body bag lay ready on a folding table.

Showtime.

***

Sixty feet didn’t sound like a lot until you were standing over it. Nothing but a steel cable between you and a bad day.

Ella stood ten feet away while the crane operators worked like surgeons performing a delicate extraction. Three technicians in harnesses had rappelled down into the hole with a rescue basket, and for twenty minutes Ella watched them secure Marcus's body with the kind of care usually reserved for bomb disposal. Their voices bounced up from the darkness, turned weird by the shaft's acoustics.

‘Line secure. Beginning recovery.’

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