She took a short leash from her utility belt and attached it to the dead ring on his collar. She intended to do a grid search to see if she could find anything outside the environmental norm, anything the killer might’ve left behind.
Mattie stood, asking Robo to sit at heel so that he would settle down. In her mind, she laid out a grid of the area in front of her and then raised her face to determine the direction of the breeze. The odor of decomposing flesh filled her nostrils.
The forest remained silent.
A chill lifted the hair on her neck, and she scanned the area. New forest growth blocked her visibility. Fresh evergreens of all heights grew scattered among the blackened husks of trees burned long ago. Brush, deadfall, groves of aspen with their bright green leaves hanging motionless. Granite boulders, huge towering monoliths, and rocky outcroppings. Other than the gravesite, she could see nothing but normal mountain terrain.
She glanced at Robo. His hackles remained flat. Her dog hadn’t sensed anything, so it could be her imagination getting the best of her. She glanced at the violated grave and saw the raised arms, their joints contracted by the fire, and the charred fists. Who was this victim? What happened to him?
She shook off her hinky feeling and focused back on the task at hand. Bending forward, she hugged Robo against her leg, patted him briskly, and while she led him to the right side of the grid she intended to walk, she began the chatter that told him it was time to get to work. Then she gave him his command for evidence detection: “Seek!”
With Robo’s nose and Mattie’s eyes on the ground, they started the painstaking task of walking a grid, searching about two feet of space at a time, working in strips back and forth between the gravesite and the brook. She marked faint horseshoe prints and boot prints with a short spike topped with orange flagging tape. Though disappointed that the rainfall had crumbled the imprints’ edges so they were no longer clear and sharp, she could tell they were made by large-sized cowboy boots, not a work boot like the one found on the body.
They were finishing up when Mattie heard the clack of steel horseshoes against rock, a signal that the others were approaching. There was still a large area around the gravesite to search, but at least she’d completed the important part where their group would be walking back and forth. The rest could wait.
Brody and the others must have tied the horses, because they came in on foot. She told Robo to sit beside her and turned to watch them pick their way across the brook on large stepping-stones that Brody had placed to fill in the gaps.
She called a warning. “I’ve marked some prints here that we need to preserve, although none of them are very good.”
Her gaze connected with Cole’s, and they checked in with each other silently. He seemed to be holding up all right. On the other hand, some retching noises escaped from Ed Lovejoy’s throat that didn’t bode well.
Brody reacted at once. “If you’re gonna puke, get back on the other side of the creek. Now!”
Ed scurried across the water, holding a hand over his mouth. He disappeared into some bushes down the trail, and heaving noises emanated from the spot.
Stella and McCoy approached the gravesite while Cole kept his distance. Stella leaned forward and McCoy squatted down next to the body, both taking a closer look.
“We’re going to need a team to excavate this body,” Stella said. “Maybe a forensic anthropologist, or some kind of specialist in managing burned remains.”
“I’ll call in the CBI,” McCoy said, referring to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
“That’s the way to go.” Stella made eye contact with Mattie. “What do you still need to do?”
“Search the area. See if Robo hits on anything.” Her dog had been known to find cigarette butts and bullet casings that eventually helped solve cases in the past, small things that a human eye might overlook.
“All right.” Stella turned to Cole. “Dr. Walker, let’s get the tarp you brought and cover this body.”
Cole nodded and left to go back to the horses.
“We’ll need an overnight watch,” Stella said. “Chances are it could be tomorrow before we can get someone from the CBI up here.”
“I’ll stand guard,” Brody said.
Mattie recalled the eerie feeling this site gave her and hated to leave Brody up here alone. “I’ll stay, too.”
Brody shook his head. “Not necessary.”
McCoy stood. “I’ll activate the sheriff’s posse to organize horses to transport people and their supplies up to this area. We should be able to get tents, food, and whatever you need here by later this afternoon. Deputy Brody, you’ll be in charge of securing this site and supervising the team I send up.”
“All right.”
“I’ll assign several posse members to stay with you until we can get the investigation team up here.” McCoy paused, obviously still thinking. “Deputy Cobb, you’ll conduct the search around the area now before everyone else comes in. Once you finish, I want you to go back to town. You and Detective LoSasso can escort the investigative team up here whenever they arrive.”
His plan made sense. Many members of the sheriff’s posse were crack shots with rifles. Brody would be safe with them backing him up here at the site.
Stella spoke up. “We need to get down to telephones soon.”
“You and I will go down as soon as we get this site secure,” McCoy said.
By this time, Cole had returned, carrying a tarp, two shovels, rope, and a hatchet.
“You can set those things right here.” Mattie indicated an area that she and Robo had cleared near the gravesite.
“I’ll cut some stakes,” Brody said, picking up the hatchet and going toward some deadfall to find suitable branches.
Cole began to unwrap a large sheet of green plastic. “This is new tarp, Sheriff. Never been used.”
“Perfect.” Sheriff McCoy moved to help him unfold the tarp without letting it touch the ground.
Mattie and Stella each took an end and the four of them stretched and lowered it, stepping carefully to avoid debris around the grave. Mattie felt relieved to have the charred remains covered and hoped the tarp would help contain the odor. Even a little bit would help.
Brody brought over several wooden stakes and joined Cole and the sheriff while they attached short lengths of rope to the tarp’s corners. They anchored it to the ground by tamping in the stakes with the blunt side of the hatchet’s head.
McCoy studied the gravesite and evidently decided all was in order. “Detective LoSasso and I need to leave. Cole, can you stay and go down with Deputy Cobb when she finishes?”
“Sure.”
“What should we do with the horses when we get to the parking lot?”
“Tie them to the trailer. I’ll take care of them when we get back,” Cole said. “Could one of you call my family and tell them I’ll be late getting home?”
“I’ll take care of it,” McCoy said.
Stella caught Mattie’s eye and tilted her head, signaling that she wanted to talk privately. Mattie followed her, fording the stream by stepping on the large stones, while Robo splashed through the water and gamboled beside her. He still had his eye on that tennis ball pocket, and she knew she couldn’t put him off much longer.
“I’m going to take the boot back with me and get it sent to the lab,” Stella said. “Okay with you?”
“I guess we’re done with it now.”
“Do you need anything before we leave?”
“I’ve got everything I might need in my pack.”
“Cole tied it back on your horse.” The horses were in sight now and Mattie could see her pack tied behind Mountaineer’s saddle. Ed Lovejoy leaned on a boulder, waiting, and he raised one hand in greeting when he spotted them.