Page 27 of Clear Path

The question was still forming in her mind, when the man continued, “I went there to report a missing person, but the chief of police was disinclined to investigate.”

She glanced at the bright digits on her oversized watch face. “Well, it’s nearly time for his siesta,” she deadpanned.

Julie snickered into her fresh glass of wine, and Evan shook his head.

Bodhi King gave her a patient, steady look.

Diana felt compelled to explain. “Chief Mercer is my ex-husband. He’s never been accused of being proactive—or energetic.” Then she frowned. “Although even Ron would ordinarily respond to a missing person’s report. Especially one involving a tourist. Have you lost a hiking companion?”

“Not exactly. I found this.” He rested the messenger bag on the table.

She leaned over it for a closer inspection, turning her head so she wasn’t looking at it straight on. Julie leaned in, too. “That looks like Rory’s bag.”

“If Rory is Aurora Westin, I believe it is her bag. Her driver’s license was on the ground beside it, along with some camera equipment.”

“Where exactly did you find this, Mr. King?” Diana asked.

“Bodhi’s fine. I’m hiking the trail from Pittsburgh. Today’s mileage was Clarksville to here. I stopped at the Western TrailHistory Center this afternoon.” He paused to nod at Evan, who snapped his fingers as if realizing that he recognized the hiker. “After I left there, I crossed a stream, approximately eight miles into my walk, and spotted an unattended bicycle off the side of the trail.”

“A mountain bike?” Evan asked. “Bright red?”

Bodhi nodded. “Yes. I searched the immediate area for the owner. That’s when I found this bag and its contents, along with this single cycling shoe, in a secluded cave.”

“Just one shoe?” Diana murmured.

“Just the one,” he confirmed. Then he went on, his voice resonant and somber, “There was also blood on the cave floor.”

“Blood?” Julie echoed.

Evan sucked in a breath.

Diana drew her eyebrows together. “You reported all of this to the police chief?”

“Yes,” Bodhi confirmed. “He informed me that the department didn’t plan to waste resources on what he called Ms. Westin’s publicity stunt.”

She tightened her jaw and clamped her lips together to keep her inside thoughts inside.

“I pressed him and tried to explain that the situation could be serious. But he told me I was welcome to form a search party of volunteers if I was so concerned. Then he invited me to see myself out. As I was doing so, an officer named Sarah pulled me aside and suggested I find you. She said you might be here. She didn’t explain why I should look for you.”

Diana felt the weight of his gaze on her as if it were a physical thing. “Sarah sent you to me because before the current Chief Mercer was in charge, I led the police department for almost a decade.”

She reached out and ran a light finger over the black messenger bag’s strap. It was definitely Rory’s bag. She rarely left her studio without it.

“Ah, that makes sense.”

She peered at him. “Are you sure it was blood you saw? Could it have been something else?”

“I’m sure. I’m a forensic pathologist.” He paused to let this information sink in. “It was blood, fresh blood. It was still wet, only just beginning to turn tacky to the touch.”

“How fresh?” Evan wanted to know.

“Less than an hour old at that point.”

“In a cave,” Diana mused.

There were at least a half-dozen caves between here and Clarksville. She hoped the forensic pathologist could find it again. She also hoped they wouldn’t be in need of his pathology skills.

“I might know the cave,” Julie said quickly. “Rory photographed a cave last year for a tourism brochure I was putting together. She said most people walk right past it.”

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