They bent down over him, one on either side, and began carefully wiping away the snow, which already threatened to bury him.
'No visible wounds other than the burns,' Sara said. 'Were you thinking those gunshots we heard-'
'I'm not thinking anything yet. Just observing.' Slowly, Grissom rolled the body onto its right side. He pointed to a spot in the middle of the victim's back. 'Entrance wound.'
'Looks like a .38.'
'Or a little smaller.'
Sara, teeth chattering, let out a nervous laugh and Grissom looked up sharply at her.
'Sorry,' she said, and held up her gloved hands in surrender. 'My bad…I was just thinking of something you taught me when I first joined CSI.'
'What?'
She sighed a little cloud and said, 'First on the scene, first suspect…. And this time it's us.'
He reacted with an eyebrow shrug. 'Other prime suspects include people the victim knew, relatives, friends…and we're strangers.'
'Lots of people are killed by strangers.'
He nodded, looking toward the tracks in the snow. 'How do you see this?'
Sara squinted, thinking it quickly through. 'Well…. He's being followed by two people…with a gun, or guns. They've brought him out here to kill him.'
'Then why all the shots? I only find one wound.'
'All right,' Sara said, processing that. 'Two people chasing him, missing him, finally one of them got him, then they set him on fire.'
A branch cracked behind them and Sara reflexively reached for the pistol that wasn't on her hip as she spun toward the sound.
'Whoa, Nellie!' Herm Cormier said, holding up his hands in front of him. 'It's just me and Constable Maher.'
Sara noted that Cormier had a .30-06 Remington rifle slung over a shoulder, the barrel pointed down. He'd traded in the Mackinaw for a heavy fur-lined coat; a stocking cap came down over his ears, and he wore leather gloves.
Maher was encased in a parka and wore a backpack. He too wore gloves and a stocking cap. 'What the hell happened here?' he asked.
'Gunshot wound to the back,' Grissom said. 'At some point the victim was set on fire…'
'Jesus H. Christ,' Cormier said, his voice hollow. He had stepped around them, and now stood looking down at the charred body in the snow.
Sara asked, 'You know him, Mr. Cormier?'
Shaking his head and turning away, an ashen Cormier said, 'Hell's bells, he's burned so damn bad, I…'
'But do you know him?' Sara pressed.
Cormier choked like he might heave, then swallowed and said, 'I can't rightly tell.'
'How about the clothes?' Grissom asked.
Glancing at the body, then turning away again, Cormier said, 'That don't help…. We better call the sheriff.'
Grissom filled them in on that score.
'Did you check for a wallet?' Maher asked.
'Just getting ready to,' Sara said. 'You want to give me a hand?'
Maher propped the body on its side while Sara patted the pockets; nothing.
Looking from one man to the other, Grissom asked, 'What are you two doing out here?'
Swiveling toward Grissom, Cormier said, 'Jenny-that's the little gal at the desk Ms. Sidle spoke to about the weather-she told me you two were out walking…and that she'd told Ms. Sidle the snow wouldn't be too bad. Turns out this could be one of them hundred-year storms.'
'Really,' Grissom said.
Cormier nodded. 'Weather Bureau's predicting as much as twenty-four inches in the next twenty-four hours.'
Maher piped in, 'Mr. Cormier decided he better come find you two. I overheard his conversation with the desk clerk and, since I track in the snow for a living, I offered to come along.'
'We better start gettin' back,' Cormier said.
Sara dusted snow off herself. 'How are we going to get this body back to the hotel?'
Cormier said, 'For now, we got to leave it here.'
'We can't do that,' Sara said. 'That body is evidence, and this crime scene is disappearing as we speak.'
Cormier shrugged. 'Ms. Sidle, we try to carry him with us, he could end up being the death of us all. These storms get worse 'fore they get better.'
'But…'
'This is a murder,' Grissom said, gesturing about them. 'What about the evidence?'
Maher stepped forward now. 'Dr. Grissom, excuse me, but I've been working winter crime scenes my whole career. The evidence is going to be fine.'
'In a blizzard.'
Maher nodded, once. 'The snow will help preserve it, not destroy it. But you and Ms. Sidle are right-we can't just leave the scene unguarded. For one thing, predators could come along and make a meal of our victim.'
Sara asked, 'What do you suggest?'
'I suggest,' Maher said, 'we take turns guarding the scene-the three of us. I can help you work the crime scene after the storm breaks.'
Sara had no better idea, and when she looked Grissom's way, she could almost see the wheels turning in the man's head. The only two people she figured for sure weren't suspects were Grissom and herself.
Everybody else was a candidate.
But her gut said to trust Maher. He'd come to the conference alone and, like them, didn't seem to know anyone here.
'Any other options?' Grissom asked.
Maher shook his head. 'We stay out here now and Mr. Cormier's right. There'll be five deaths to investigate.'
Grissom said, 'All right-how do we get back?'
Sara said, 'Grissom…are you sure about-'
'Constable Maher is the expert here, not us. We'll have to take his word for it.'
Maher turned to the hotel manager. 'Mr. Cormier, I'm going to need your rifle.'
'Why?'
'So I can take the first shift.'
'I'm not as keen on this idea,' Cormier said, 'as you and Mr. Grissom.'
Maher pointed toward the hotel. 'In two hours, I want you to lead one of these two back up here to relieve me. You can find this spot, in the dark, right?'
'Course I can, no problem…but that ain't the issue. This weather, it's beautiful from a distance…up close, it can get goddamned ugly.'
'Can't leave the crime scene unsecured,' Maher insisted.
Grissom said, 'Mr. Cormier, please.'
Reluctantly, Cormier held out the rifle.
Maher said, 'Hold that just another minute, eh?'
The Canadian withdrew something shiny from his backpack. He unfolded what looked to be a large silver tablecloth.
'Space blanket,' he explained with a smile. 'Good for holding in the heat. Thought one of you might need it. Dr. Grissom, if you could give me a hand….'
Grissom took one side, Maher the other, and the pair covered the corpse.
'This will help preserve the site,' Maher said. 'Once the snow stops we can investigate the scene.'
