Page 22 of Unnatural Death

He shines the light inside, the colossal white plaster cast covered with transparent cling wrap. It’s cushioned like a crown jewel on a bed of folded disposable sheets.

“You’ve got to admit it’s pretty damn impressive.” He’s excited and amazed all over again, as if part of a miracle.

“Wow, that’s impressive.” I have to give him credit. “I guess there’s a first for everything.”

“Like we say in aviation, don’t fly through a sucker hole.” Lucy looks inside the box, trying not to show her reaction while continuing her cynicism. She’s surprised. She might even be startled as she warns Marino about being distracted and using poor judgment. “Be careful what you trust. Ask yourself why someone might want to mess with you in particular.”

“Mein particular?”

“That’s right.”

“You got someone in mind?”

“I have a feeling the list is long,” she replies as I continue sensing that she’s not telling us something important.

Inside the box is a six-inch ruler used as a scale in photographs. Marino carefully lifts out the cast, holding the ruler next to it. The humanlike bare footprint is a mind-boggling eighteen inches from the heel to the tip of the five toes. It’s nine inches at its widest, and I can imagine the uproar it would cause.

“Talk about creating a shit storm,” I say to them.

“Consistent with a Sasquatch at least eight feet tall or more that could weigh half a ton. Obviously, something that size would be a male,” Marino says as if it’s common knowledge. “We know from prehistoric fossils found in caves how big they could get and that they mostly ate plants, in case you’re wondering.”

“The fossils you’re talking about are teeth and bone fragments discovered in China,” Lucy says to him. “Not in North America.”

“Looks like you’ve been Googling,” he says sarcastically. “That’s not what my data mining is called. But yes, I’m seeing the information. In fact, I’m seeing it as we’re talking.” She indicates her computer-assisted glasses.

“Point being, we know for a fact that Bigfoots used to exist,” Marino replies. “And there’s nothing to say that a remnant of them isn’t left in places where they can avoid people. Like out here, for example.”

“Science says differently,” Lucy answers. “The species known as theGigantopithecuswas wiped out hundreds of thousands of years ago during the Ice Age.”

“We don’t know that for sure,” he says.

He explains that ice forming caused the levels of the oceans to drop, and land was uncovered between continents, connecting them for a period of time. The theory is that some of the huge primates may have migrated from China. They may have walked here the same way early humans did across the Bering land bridge between what’s now Siberia and Alaska.

“We’re talking only a couple hundred miles depending on where they crossed. And if humans did it, why not Bigfoot?” Marino makes his argument.

“Except there’s no evidence theGigantopithecusspecies has ever lived here in North America,” Lucy repeats.

“The hell there isn’t. The Native Americans have depicted them in artwork and stories for more than a thousand years,” Marino answers. “You can’t say for a fact that these huge humanoids are gone from the entire planet.”

“Maybe they’re not. And now they’re killing campers about to be arrested, saving taxpayers the cost of a trial and incarceration,” Lucy replies. “Imagine that.”

“I didn’t say I thought a Sasquatch killed anyone, including the two victims out here.” Marino is getting more defensive. “Finding the footprint could be completely unrelated to them being whacked.”

“Remember what I said about sucker holes.” Digging inside the baggage compartment again, Lucy pulls out the long red nylon straps used to tie down the rotor blades.

“There’s a couple of hairs right there stuck in the plaster, kind of blackish silver.” Marino shines the light, and I lean closer. “And as you can see, there’s no arch, the foot completely flat. All of it consistent with a Sasquatch.”

“Sucker hole.” Lucy says it again.

“No telling what we might see microscopically.” He’s not listening to her. “Best of all would be if we get lucky with DNA.”

“Wouldn’t that be something if we get a hit on a Bigfoot in CODIS.” She’s referring to the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System database. “Maybe we’ll finally catch the Abominable Snowman while discovering the true identities of Grendel and King Kong.”

Slinging a tiedown strap over a rotor blade, she gently bends it down, fitting the tip with a red nylon cover. She clips the strap to a cross-tube under the skids.

“You can even see where one of the toes is bent.” Marino shows me on the cast. “Like maybe he broke it once.”

“Only once?” Lucy begins tying down the next blade. “It’s amazing you can tell all that.”

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