If I Should Die_ A Novel of Suspense - Allison Brennan [22]
“What was mined?” she asked as she walked carefully down the tunnel to the room.
“Iron primarily, but they found a vein of titanium in the thirties, which helped keep the mine in business during World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars. It slowed down after the Second World War, but it wasn’t until the midseventies that they completely shut down.
“My dad and granddad worked down here,” Hammond continued. “I think everyone in town is attached to this mine one way or another.”
Lucy stepped out of the tunnel into the larger cavern, bracing herself.
“I’ve never been on this side of the mine,” Hammond said. “This was a secondary vein, built in the midfifties. They needed the ventilation shafts because the air quality—”
“Where’s the girl?” Shaffer interrupted.
“She’s in a large cutout in the wall.” Lucy turned and shined her light. “Right here.”
She stared.
The slab was empty.
Her face froze in a blank expression as she shined her light slowly around the area. The broken chair. The old tools. The two tunnels. This was where she had been yesterday. There was no mistake.
She looked back at where the decaying body should be. It was still missing.
“Maybe you went down one of these other tunnels,” Hammond said.
Lucy shook her head. “She was right here.” Her voice cracked on the last word and she steeled herself. She was a professional; there was an explanation. She just had to figure it out.
She saw Hammond and Shaffer exchange glances they might have thought were discreet, but they believed she was either an idiot or an attention-seeker.
“We’re going to check out the tunnels,” Hammond said. “Wait here.”
Lucy stared at the empty hole.
She hadn’t imagined the dead body. She hadn’t made up the maggots in the woman’s mouth, or how she lay. She didn’t have nightmares last night over a figment of her imagination, dammit!
Less than twenty-four hours ago there was a dead woman right there.
Someone had moved the body.
Who? Why?
She shined her light on the floor. A dead body, even a diminutive woman like the blonde, would be heavy and awkward. One person couldn’t easily carry her, not without disturbing the dirt, unless he had help.
The ground yielded little information, especially with her lone flashlight. She needed an evidence kit and bright lights to make out any faint marks on the hard surface. Did she see footprints? Were they hers? Too large. Shaffer’s or Hammond’s? She couldn’t tell just by looking.
Whoever moved the body had help. Or …
She spun around and turned her flashlight to the tunnel with the tracks. The mining cart that had been there yesterday was gone.
NINE
Hands clasped firmly in her lap, and resisting an overwhelming urge to pace, Lucy sat stiffly on the worn couch in Tim Hendrickson’s living room while Deputy Sheriff Tyler Weddle asked her questions. Sean sat next to her, watchful and protective, but he was keeping his mouth closed—which was rare, but probably a good thing since she was about to throttle the cop.
“Ms. Kincaid,” Weddle said, “I understand you were highly stressed when you were in the mine. Your boyfriend was injured, you were—”
Lucy interrupted. “I know what I saw.”
“There was no body down there.”
“There was no body there today, but it was there yesterday. You need to get a trained crime scene team down there to look for trace evidence.”
“I think you watch too much television.” Weddle exchanged a smug glance with Ken Hammond, who stood next to Tim by the front door.
Lucy bristled. “I have—”
Sean cut her off. “You’re out of line, Deputy.”
Lucy frowned. She didn’t like being talked to as if she were a fool. She had seen a body. She could close her eyes and picture the woman: dark blond hair; extremely pale skin with a blue tinge; white blouse and dark slacks, and something else … something that flitted in and out of her mind as soon as she attempted to focus. But it was the deceased’s arms crossed unnaturally over her chest that had Lucy the most intrigued—and concerned.
The deputy questioned, “And someone went down there and did what? Moved the body? To where?