Page 26 of Widow Lake

“We’ll be right there.” She and Derrick hurried to her Jeep and got in. She started the engine, punched the accelerator, flipped on her siren and wove around traffic. Minutes later, she parked near the Hammersteins’ rental cabin, then she and Derrick hiked to the shed. Dried weeds and brush swayed as they pushed through, the sun beating down onto the wilting greenery as they broke the clearing to the dock. The wood was weathered and broken with rotting boards, forcing them to watch their step.

Cord stood outside the building, a frown tightening the lines around his troubled eyes.

He pointed to the footprints as they approached, and Ellie and Derrick stopped to examine them.

“Definitely a male,” Derrick said.

“Work boots, a man’s,” Ellie added, judging from the size. “Let’s look inside and then see if we can track them.”

They pulled on gloves and followed Cord, carefully dodging the streaks of mud inside. Ellie photographed the dark stains on the wall while Derrick examined the hole.

“You’re right, McClain,” Derrick said. “Looks like a possible grave.”

Ellie’s stomach knotted as she looked into the hole. Although it was scorching hot and bright outside, the shed had only a tiny window and with the trees shrouding it, the interior was dark. A cold clamminess hovered in the air, beads of perspiration dotting her neck and slipping down into her T-shirt.

“Looks deep enough and wide enough for a body.” Ellie waved gnats away from her eyes. “The question is, who put it there? And who did the body belong to?”

“Let’s see where those footprints outside lead,” Derrick said.

Ellie pulled her phone. “I’ll call a crime team.”

She made the call then snapped pictures of the interior. Then Cord led the way outside, pointing out broken brush and trampled weeds where a person could have walked.

Peering closer, Ellie stooped down to examine a patch of briars. “There are fibers caught in the thorns. Looks like burlap.”

Derrick pulled a hand down his chin. “You’re right. Some of these prints look fresh. Our perp could have dug up the remains, put them in a sack and hauled them away last night.”

Ellie glanced at the lake. “Then escaped via boat right under our noses.”

THIRTY-THREE

A half hour later, Ellie rubbed the back of her neck as she watched the ERT sift through the dirt for more bones. So far, they’d found four fingers.

The photographer/videographer Dale Harvey was thirtyish, thin with wiry brown hair, and was meticulously documenting each detail. Unlike some newbies, he seemed to be handling the gruesome job well. ERT was also searching the area, and Cord and Derrick tracked the boot prints they’d seen outside the shed.

“There are trowel marks,” Ellie said, pointing out indentations in the soil. “Those are fresh, too.”

“Someone was definitely digging around,” Laney agreed. “Be careful as you rake away the dirt,” she told the team. “We need to preserve whatever we find.”

“How long would you estimate the bones have been here?” Ellie asked.

“Judging from the decomp level of those phalanges, I’d say for years, maybe a decade. Any remains we find may be fossilized.”

“Which would fit with the timeline of Amy Dean’s disappearance.” Ellie worried her bottom lip with her teeth. “Did you find any clothing or a blanket indicating the body was wrapped up?” Ellie asked.

The head of the team, Sergeant Abraham Williams, shook his head. “So far, no. But we’ll collect soil samples for analysis. Could be disintegrated fibers in there.”

“If not, whoever buried the body callously dumped it,” Ellie said. A blanket could have indicated the killer cared about the dead person, that the death could have been accidental. And that they were experiencing guilt or remorse.

Another tech stepped inside. “We found a button to a work shirt in the weeds out here and a trowel with fresh dirt on it in a briar patch.”

Ellie considered that information, the proximity of the remains in the car and the fact that the owner of the car and her daughter had gone missing. “Culprit could have used it to dig up the bones,” Ellie said. “What if this body is Amy Dean?”

Laney frowned. “You said she had a child?”

A tense second passed, then Ellie shuddered. “Dammit, both the mother and little girl could have been buried here in the shed.”

THIRTY-FOUR

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