Page 21 of You Can Leave Your Hat On

“Hope to hear from you soon,” Terra called after them, and Maisey turned to give her a tiny wave.

“Awww, she’s so nice!” Maisey whispered to Aaron.

“Yes, she is, and that handshake told me she’s a good person,” Aaron said with a smile.

“I felt the same way. So, what’s our next move?”

“Let’s find out what Hazel actually died from first and go from there. The coroner’s report should be in pretty quickly.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Maisey was hopeful. They had a little more information, and their guess at the location had been right. If they could just keep piecing it together, they’d eventually have the whole picture.

Or at least enough to know what they were up against.

“Morgan called. He’s finished looking at the coroner’s report and wanted to know if we could come by.”

“I can. I’ve got two hours before my next appointment,” Maisey said as she talked to Aaron on the phone the next morning.

“Okay. I’ll head that way and you can meet me.”

“Sounds good.” Maisey grabbed her bag on her way to the door.

Aaron’s car was already there when she pulled up, and she stepped inside. “And did you see that homer?” she heard his voice say.

“Yeah. Man, he hit that ball like a freight train! Did they clock it?”

“Yep. Eighty-eight miles an hour.”

“Wow. That’s pretty damn… Hey, Maisey!” Morgan said with a smile when she came into view.

“Hey! Sorry I’m interrupting your baseball talk,” she said with a laugh.

“You’re a good interruption,” Morgan said. “So I guess you guys are wanting the information.”

“Lay it on us,” Aaron announced.

“Okay. Here goes. According to the report, she fell from a height onto something hard and irregular.”

Maisey and Aaron looked at each other. “Rip rap,” Aaron said.

Morgan nodded. “That would do it. A lot of damage to the body, but it deteriorates much quicker where there are injuries, so that would account for it. My question is, how did it get into the water?”

“That’s for me to find the answer to, and I start with the Army Corps of Engineers. They can tell me the water levels for the river under the bridge in that time period. My guess is that the water came up and it floated away, or something dragged or knocked it in, like a dog or coyote, or it rolled after it hit the rip rap. Or maybe something with a considerable wheel wash caused it to drift into the water.”

“All of those are possibilities, but wouldn’t somebody on a vessel of some sort notice it lying on the bank?”

Aaron shrugged. “They probably would. I’m guessing the water came up. Didn’t we have some significant storms during that time?”

“I’m not sure, but it’s amazing how fast water can rise after a heavy rain,” Morgan pointed out.

“Right. Hmmm. I’ll let you know what I find out. Was there water in the lungs?”

“Not the amount that there would’ve been from drowning, although it’s hard to tell, what with the amount of decomp,” Morgan said to clarify.

“Got it. Well, thanks for the help. We’ll see what we come up with and I’ll let you know.” Aaron turned from Morgan to Maisey. “Sound good?”

“Sounds great. And thanks, Morgan. I really appreciate you doing this. I know you’ve already got plenty of your own work.”

He shot Maisey a gorgeous smile. “Oh, I don’t mind at all. It’s more interesting than Mr.Gordon falling asleep and never waking up.”

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