the unlucky bastard out. But the agent declined with a polite “no thanks.” Something told him it had nothing to do with her pretending to be tough. No, she really didn’t need it. She was used to the stench of death, not that anyone could get used to that sour, pungent odor. There was something different about the smell of a human corpse, different from any other animal. He hated that smell. Had never gotten used to it and didn’t want to. Yet, without taking a swipe of Vicks for himself, Henry dropped the jar into his pocket. He knew better than to offer any to Stolz or Bonzado. And Bonzado’s students stayed back, probably at Bonzado’s instructions, his way of assuring Henry that they wouldn’t get in the way.
They started slowly easing the corpse out of the barrel and immediately there came a low, sickening noise, a sucking sound that made Henry cringe. This one was fresh. This one would be messy. Henry glanced at O’Dell. Maybe he hoped to see her cringe, show at least a twinge of discomfort. There was nothing like that. Anticipation, but certainly not discomfort. Hell, she had probably seen lots worse.
O’Dell stood maybe five five, had an athletic but slight frame and was a bit too attractive to fit Henry’s stereotype of an FBI agent. But her self-assured manner revealed an air of confidence that put him at ease. He had noticed it during their phone conversation, too. Confident, not cocky. Hell, he wouldn’t have confided what he had if she had come off with that government-issued cockiness that seemed to run rampant at the federal level.
Maybe he was crazy to be putting so much trust and faith in someone he hardly knew, but Special Agent Margaret O’Dell would come in useful if things went south. Bottom line—he wasn’t about to piss away a thirty-year career because of some psycho. O’Dell seemed nice enough, but if the governor came looking for answers, Henry needed to be ready. Hell, it wasn’t such a bad idea to have someone else he could blame if answers didn’t come quick enough.
“Hey, watch it,” Stolz yelled at Bonzado as the corpse came loose from the barrel with what almost sounded like a pop. The lower extremities swung free. The M.E. lost his grip and the corpse slid out of their control, falling onto the body bag, the torso slamming hard against the rocks. It fell flat on its face with a hollow thud. And, as it hit against the hard surface, the top of the head cracked open.
“God Almighty,” Stolz yelled again. “We’re gonna need a better way to do this. We may have just given this guy a new head injury. How am I supposed to figure out what the killer did and what we did?”
Henry practically bit his tongue to avoid saying, “This was your idea.” Only the second barrel and already Stolz’s incompetence showed in his blatant contradictions. This only reassured him about his decision to bring in Bonzado and O’Dell, two outsiders to witness and document any irregularities.
While the others backed away to regroup and rethink this archaic method, O’Dell came in for a closer look, kneeling on the rocks. Despite the fractured and now-open skull, the corpse appeared to have no other injuries, no mess. Even the navy blue suit had few wrinkles.
“This guy looks in good shape,” Henry said.
“Too good a shape. I don’t see any blood,” Bonzado pointed out. He moved aside for Carl, who came in closer with a camera.
Bonzado’s students now dared to come closer, the woman being the bravest of the group, looking over her professor’s shoulder. Both of the male students looked as though they might be sick. The older guy limply held a camera at his side and didn’t attempt to take a single picture. Maybe he was waiting for Carl to finish. Henry wondered if the two guys were having second thoughts about their choice of career.
“Nice suit,” Carl said, setting aside his camera and pulling out a forceps to retrieve a stray thread from the back of the corpse’s jacket.
“Doesn’t look like the body has begun to liquefy.” Stolz squatted on the opposite side of O’Dell.
“I think the skull’s been cut open,” she said, now on hands and knees.
“Probably sliced right open on these rocks,” Stolz said.
“No, I don’t think so. Take a look at this.” O’Dell moved aside for Stolz to get a better angle, looking up at Henry as she did. For the first time he thought he noticed something in her eyes. Maybe that bit of discomfort he had been searching for earlier. “It looks like someone may have used a saw. Maybe a bone saw or even a Stryker saw.”
“A Stryker saw?” Now Stolz seemed interested.
O’Dell got up and came around the rocks to peer inside the top of the skull. The flap that came loose hung over, like a lid or a dismantled toupee. O’Dell practically had her nose to the scalp when she said, “Whatever he used it’s left very fine marks. There’s no blade chattering.”
“Blade chattering?” Henry asked, and glanced around at the others, noticing Bonzado giving O’Dell a look of admiration.
“It’s sort of a technical term.” It was Bonzado who jumped in with an explanation. “It’s when a thin blade jumps slightly from side to side while you’re using it. You know, like a hacksaw, especially when you’re just starting to cut.” Ever the professor, Henry thought, though the kid had a genuine desire to provide information. There was no intention to upstage anyone or condescend to anyone, not like Stolz might do.
“From what I can see,” O’Dell continued, “I think the skull is empty.”
“A Stryker saw? Empty? What the hell are you talking about? Are you saying the brain is missing?” Stolz shot up, stepping over the corpse to get to O’Dell’s side.
Ordinarily, Henry would have laughed at the little man who rarely became animated or allowed an outburst of emotion. He usually confined his emotions to those famous facial expressions. He shouldn’t be focused on Stolz. But focusing on Stolz’s incompetence and his rising panic was a hell of a lot better than dealing with his own. This crap only got stranger by the minute.
“If you’ve got enough pictures, let’s try to flip him and get all of him on the body bag,” Stolz instructed.
Henry stood back. He hated to admit it, but he was starting to enjoy watching the little man get all worked up. Plus, Stolz had more than enough help with Bonzado and two of the students joining in. Even O’Dell had her jacket sleeves pushed up and was grabbing hold of a shoulder. This time the group wasn’t taking any chances on having the corpse slip out of their control. They barely had the body turned and Henry’s stomach took a plunge.
“Jesus Christ,” he said under his breath, and everyone stopped, looking up at him, and then back at the corpse. “It’s Steve Earlman.”
“You know this man?” O’Dell asked.
Henry found the nearest boulder to lean on before his knees buckled. “Not only do I know him, I was a goddamned pallbearer at his funeral last May.”
CHAPTER 20
Maggie could now see the tacks and pins holding Mr. Earlman’s tie and jacket lapels in place. She lifted an eyelid and found a small, convex plastic disk in the eye socket, something morticians used to give definition to the eye area and to keep the eyelids closed.
“It looks like an autopsy incision,” Dr. Stolz said, taking his glasses completely off and pocketing them.
“Can’t be,” Sheriff Watermeier said. “There was no autopsy.”
“You’re sure?” Maggie was back on her feet, inspecting the rest of the body while the M.E. poked at the flap of skull. The suit looked awfully clean, almost as if it had gone directly from the casket to the sealed barrel. “It certainly looks like a Stryker saw.”
“It definitely was a bone saw of some kind,” Stolz insisted.
“I know for a fact there was no autopsy,” Watermeier said.
“How about surgery?” Adam Bonzado was beside Stolz now, on hands and knees, peering into the top of the dead man’s head.
“No surgery,” Watermeier answered quietly. “Steve died of an inoperable brain tumor.”
Maggie glanced at Watermeier to make sure he was okay. She knew what it was like to discover a friend had been a victim of some heinous crime. Almost a year had gone by since she unzipped a body bag to find a friend of her own with a bullet hole in his forehead. She was sure she would never forget Special Agent Richard Delaney’s empty eyes staring up at her. None of the law enforcement workshops and no amount of experience could prepare someone for that shock, that helplessness, that sick feeling in the bottom of the stomach.
