Page 17 of Once Silenced

She decided not to mention that her teen-aged daughters had noticed those two odd answers right away and had helped her figure out their significance.

As the trip continued in silence, the tension between them remained unresolved, much like the case that had brought them together.Putnam’s expression retreated into a mask of professional detachment.

Bern Stewart’s truck slowed and veered onto an even smaller road, its brake lights flaring red against the rich green backdrop.Riley felt the tension coil tighter in her gut.After a short distance he pulled to a stop in a small clearing, then flagged them into an adjacent space.Riley parked her car with deliberate care before stepping out into the unknown.

As she killed the engine, the silence felt heavy, laden with anticipation.It was a momentary reprieve, a chance to brace for what lay ahead.She opened the car door and drew in a breath, the mountain air crisp and cool.

She got out, the door closing with a soft click behind her, and immediately the sounds of the forest rushed to meet her.Birdsong flitted through the canopy, while the whispering rustle of leaves spoke of hidden movements.The distant murmur of a stream underscored the scene.

Stewart glanced at the two agents, then turned back to the forest without a word.His stride was confident as he led them down a well-trodden path.His cellphone screen glowed in his hand, the GPS signal a modern-day lodestar guiding them through this primeval landscape.

Riley followed, her senses alert.Putnam walked beside her, his earlier abrasiveness replaced by a quiet focus that Riley begrudgingly respected.There was a shared purpose now, a tacit acknowledgment that despite their differences, they were united in the desire to get the job done.

The trail narrowed, and they proceeded in single file until it began to peter out completely.It became clear that the coordinates Stewart was following were charting a course away from the safety of marked paths.With Stewart forging ahead and Putnam following behind her, Riley stepped off the beaten track.She adjusted her pace, her eyes scanning the terrain, seeking signs and patterns amid the chaos of wilderness.

Stewart stopped at the threshold of a forest clearing, the sun’s rays lazily drifting through the leaves.The quiet was pervasive, interrupted only by the distant murmur of nature.

“This is it,” he said harshly.“See?Nothing here.”

Riley stood for a moment at the threshold of the clearing, the sun’s rays lazily drifting through the leaves.At first glance, nothing looked out of place.None of this wild growth had been disturbed for a long time.To any hiker, the scene would be a peaceful interlude in the wild expanse of Blue Ridge Wilderness Park.But Riley’s eyes, honed by years of dissecting crime scenes, immediately detected an incongruity.

She spotted the tips of a few large rocks, partially obscured by moss and fallen leaves.She thought that the linear arrangement of those stones formed an unnatural line on the forest floor.The placement was too precise, too methodical to be the work of nature’s random hand.She stepped forward and studied them more closely.Then she spotted two more, almost shyly revealing themselves beneath a shroud of green moss and foliage.

“Look at this,” she called over her shoulder.

As she carefully swept away the organic detritus, more of the stony configuration came into view—a large rectangular outline that mirrored the dimensions of a grave.When she glanced at Superintendent Bern Stewart, she saw his usual stoic demeanor falter, his face losing color as the reality dawned on him.

“I’ll need to get some of my men out here to dig...whatever this is,” he muttered, his voice betraying a hint of trepidation.But Riley knew the next steps had to be taken with care.

“Stewart, hold off on that,” she spoke with authority, her voice cutting through the stillness of the clearing.She met his gaze with an unwavering stare.“We need a county coroner’s team here first.This is now an active crime scene.”Her words left no room for argument.

Putnam, who had been pacing the perimeter impatiently with hands clasped behind his back, paused and turned towards her.The cockiness that had clung to him moments before seemed to have evaporated, leaving behind a more somber and reflective expression.

“Go ahead and make the call,” Riley told him.

Putnam nodded, pulling his phone from the pocket of his immaculate trousers.His thumb hesitated over the screen as he sifted through contacts, revealing an uncommon flicker of uncertainty in his actions.Then, putting any lingering doubts aside, Putnam dialed the number for the coroner.

The momentary bustle of activity subsided as Putnam moved out of earshot, and Riley found herself alone with her thoughts.She took a slow, deliberate breath, allowing the scent of earth and pine to cleanse the tightness in her chest.The beauty of Blue Ridge Wilderness Park stretched before her, an expanse of serene greens that concealed the darkness they might soon uncover.

Her mind buzzed with questions.What had they found here?And why had someone, a killer, left them clues to locate this old grave?What could any of this mean for the death of Mrs.Whitfield and the other murdered math teacher, Professor Fenn?Would anything found here bring them justice?

She knelt beside the grave-shaped outline of rocks, touching the cool, moss-covered stones.Each touch was a promise to those who had been silenced too soon.This killer had to be hunted down, to be stopped before he took more innocent lives.

CHAPTER EIGHT

As she paced around the rectangle formed by stones, Riley tried to focus—to let her intuition bridge the gap between the present moment and that past day when someone had been buried here.She visualized the scene, attempted to get a sense of who had been here to hide a body, but the mental images slipped away.

The ability to connect with a killer’s mind was her gift, her edge—and yet, it seemed to be failing her today.Maybe the crime scene was too overgrown for her to make that intuitive link.Or maybe the crime itself had happened too long ago.

Or maybe I’m distracted by the people I’m working with,she thought with mild dismay.

She could feel Putnam and Stewart’s eyes on her as the two men stood at one side of the clearing, their conversation a low murmur.Their aloofness cast an invisible barrier, and Riley couldn’t shake off the sensation of being an outsider.

“Come on, Riley,” she muttered under her breath, closing her eyes to sharpen her concentration.

But nothing came.No flash of insight, no echo of malice, just the emptiness of a crime long cold.Had her ability been unused for too long while she lectured in a safe classroom?Had she lost her touch?Did she even belong in the field anymore?

Then she reminded herself—if it weren’t for her and her two daughters, this body might have gone undiscovered.

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