Page 17 of Canyon Killer
“How did you know my name?” he asked.
“You were pointed out to me in town the day before yesterday, and you have a face a woman doesn’t forget.”
Had she justwinkedat him? He blew out a breath.Okaaay.“I’d like to speak to Sergeant Walker.”
“Let me see if he’s available.”
A few minutes later, Gage Walker entered the lobby. “Hello, Ian,” he said. “Come back here.”
“I wanted to know if you had found out anything more about those two skeletons.”
Gage leaned into an open door. “Aaron. Ian Seabrook is here. Let’s bring him up to date.”
Aaron Ames gave Ian a wary look, then followed him and Gage across the hall to another office. “Sit down,” Gage said, as he settled behind the desk on one side of the small room. “Aaron, close the door.”
He did so, then leaned back against it, arms crossed.
“We have a good lead,” Gage said. “We’re waiting on dental records to confirm the identities.”
“Do you have any idea who killed them?” Ian asked.
“None,” Gage said. “But we’re looking into it.” He shuffled through the papers on his desk and pulled out a couple of eight-by-ten black-and-white photographs. “I had the local historical society pull these photos of Humboldt Canyon as it looked approximately fifty years ago. This is from a newspaper story at the time about a local canyoneering club.”
Ian examined the photographs, which depicted half a dozen young people, some at the base of the cliff and some halfway up the steep slope.
“I think in here is where those caves are located.” Gage pointed at an area above the climbers. “You can see it’s just an area of underbrush. No sign of the caves.”
“So they didn’t show up until the mudslide took out part of the slope,” Ian said.
Gage nodded. “This is a photo taken about ten years ago. It’s actually from a previous attempt to sell the property that didn’t go through.” He passed over a second photo, this one devoid of people, and pointed out the same area at the top of the photo. “A lot of the brush had been cleared away or died off by this time. There’s some shadowing here that might be openings to the void below. They might have been there before, obscured by the brush.”
“And what—those two just crawled in there?”
“We don’t know. But maybe when we confirm their identity, we’ll know more.”
“Is it still okay if I proceed with construction?” Ian asked.
“Go ahead. I think we’ve gotten all from the site we’re going to. Have you had any more trouble?”
“No. I’m hoping that climber’s accident made the protesters think twice about their misguided efforts.” He stood. “Will you let me know when you find out the identity of these people?”
“Why do you want to know?” Aaron asked.
Ian turned toward him. “They were found on my property. I’d like to know their names. I think most people would.”
Aaron looked like he wanted to answer, but he glanced at Gage, then pressed his lips more firmly together.
“We’ll keep you posted,” Gage said.
“Thanks.”
His final stop of the morning was at the city offices. “Is Walt Spies in?” he asked the woman behind the desk.
“May I ask who’s calling?”
He looked past her to the frosted-glass door of an office with Walt’s name in gold on the front. He could make out a shadowy figure inside. “Tell him Ian Seabrook wants to speak with him.”
The door to the office opened and Walt stepped out.
