Page 54 of Cold Case Murder Mystery

Hell of a thing.

The two deputies who’d originally been assigned to guard the crime scene had returned, and Laurel was talking with them. She didn’t look happy, but Brooke just sat in the car pretending to work on her laptop.

What she was really doing was watching the interaction. The deputies looked chagrined. Laurel waspissed.

Brooke studied their surroundings from her seat. The preserve was so big, the cave a vast system below it. It gave her a shiver to think about, to remember the day she’d come out of the cave feeling like she was being watched.

But that had likely just been Royal. There was no one out there. There was no threat to her... well, that had to do with her work anyway.

Laurel stalked back to the cruiser and got into the driver’s seat rather than gesture for Brooke to get out.

“They claim it was only a few minutes. One of them had to use the restroom, the other heard something and went to check it out. But I don’t like the idea of you going in there when the entrance was left unguarded, even if it was brief. If we’re dealing with a second suspect...” Laurel hesitated, shaking her head. “There’s just no way to make a clean sweep of the cave and make sure no one went in. It’s too big. The other entrances and exits are far away, and you’d have a hell of a time making it from one to another, but... It’s too risky.”

Brooke nodded. But, man, she wanted to get some work done today. “I’d like to point out that this second suspect was killing before Jen Rogers, Laurel. I don’t have the data to back this up, so everything I’m saying is supposition, but if those pictures in the scrapbook connect, we really are talking about a suspect who would have to be dead by now.”

Laurel took a few minutes, clearly thinking it over. “Jen Rogers lived in that cave for years. Undetected. Who knows what pieces we’re still missing. That cave system is huge. I don’t like unnecessary risks, Brooke.”

“But if the cave system is too big that we can never be fully sure it’s clear of people, how will I ever finish my work?”

Laurel scowled even deeper. “I know you’re right, but I don’t like this.” She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. “Okay, we’ll go in. But we’ll bring in more deputies. At least three plus me.”

“That’s a lot of manpower.”

“This is our biggest case right now. Well-justified manpower. We can borrow from Sunrise and Hardy if we need to.”

Brooke waited patiently while Laurel got more men situated. They did a sweep of the cave as best they could, and then finally Brooke was allowed to go in and set up. By the time she was ready enough to get to work, it was nearing lunchtime.

She could be annoyed about that later. Right now, she had to get to work. Not for the skull this time, but for the square she’d designated. Maybe she wanted to search for a body that would match the skull, but that wasn’t how the job worked. She had to follow the standards set out by her profession, by her studies. If she looked for something specific, she might miss something just as, if not more, important.

So, she got to work in the meticulous fashion she’d learned, carefully moving through sediment, on the lookout for more remains.

After a while, as she moved from one section to another, Brooke caught a glint of something out of the corner of her eye. She turned toward it. In the same exact spot the scrapbook had been wedged, there was a tiny silver item. Brooke leaned closer to inspect it. A... thimble? But not a working thimble. No, like a piece from... a board game.

She reached out then thought better of it. Because someone had put it there purposefully. Just like the scrapbook, but onlysincethe scrapbook. Because she would have seen this before today if it had been there before.

Someone had been in and out of these caves just as much as she had been.

Or maybe someone had been in and just never out. Laurel had said Jen Rogers had lived in here foryears. Maybe the police had done their best to search for anyone else, but no one could guarantee there was no one else here. Deep inside.

Brooke sucked in a breath. “Laurel? Can you come over here?”

The detective was quick to move to her side. Brooke pointed to the game piece. “This is exactly where I found the scrapbook. And it was not here then or since.”

Laurel’s expression was grim. She didn’t say anything but photographed the area before pulling on gloves and picking up the item and putting it in an evidence bag.

“Can we get tests run on it right now?” Brooke asked.

“It’s so small. I’m not sure we’ll get a print off of it. Brooke, I don’t like this. I think we should get out of here.”

It felt like such a waste. To just get started and then to pack everything up again, but this was concerning. So, she agreed. “I have to pack up though. Especially if someone is in and out, I want to make sure I’m not leaving anything behind. And we’re photographing everything.”

They all got to work, the other deputies helping Brooke by carting out the packed-up tools while Laurel photographed everything.

“Do you think someone is trying to send some kind of... message?” Brooke asked as she turned off one of her lights, folded it up and handed it to a deputy.

“With board games?” Laurel returned.

“I don’t know. But someone put that scrapbook there—and it couldn’t have been there that long before I found it or there’d be more damage to it. The thimble is new since two days ago.”

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