The call about a body being found off the coast of Bainbridge Island had come in shortly after Sid and Kevyn left to interrogate Noelle Orson.
An ID on the body was still pending, but the responding officers thought they might have found Jason Boggess.
Half a dozen police officers worked in and around the yellow crime scene tape. About a dozen yards away, sitting on a weathered log, a middle-aged couple with a golden retriever spoke with a plainclothes detective.
No doubt the people who found the body.
Details had been rather sketchy, but he’d been told that a couple walking their dog had phoned it in.
He’d get to them in a minute. For now, he wanted to see if he could figure out if the body really did belong to Jason Boggess.
After showing his badge to the officer guarding the perimeter, he stepped over the yellow tape and approached the body. Sprawled face down in the sand, the body was clearly male, with short brown hair. Although it was hard to tell, the height looked to be consistent with Boggess.
Mottled and pruney skin distorted the man’s coloring and the bloated state made it impossible to guess the man’s build.
It might be Jason Boggess or it might be someone else. Short of finding a driver’s license strapped to the man’s body, it was impossible to say at this point.
Waterlogged jeans hung in shreds around his legs and a short-sleeved shirt draped the body. One of the man’s shoes was missing, but the other, a brightly colored athletic sneaker, clung to the man’s left foot.
Didn’t need to ask about cause of death. The concaved area on the back of the skull gave a pretty good indicator.
Although it was possible that occurred post-mortem.
The coroner glanced up at him.
The unsmiling eyes weren’t an invitation, but Dak crouched a few feet away nonetheless. “What’ve you found so far?”
The coroner shook his head slowly. “Too early to say. With the temperature of the Sound, he might’ve been in there for weeks.”
Yeah, if he’d had to guess the response, that would have been exactly what he would have expected to hear.
“But,” the coroner held up a finger. “I can tell you that I suspect the body was dumped in the water post-mortem.”
Okay, that was something. “What do you see?”
The coroner pointed to some plum colored markings on the left sides of the corpse’s arms. “See the way the blood pooled here? It seems probable that this man died and was left on his side, which is unlikely to have happened in the water.”
Dak’s eyes traced up the body. Similar markings darkened the skin on the man’s neck and left cheek. “I take it you haven’t seen his face yet.”
“Not yet. I need to finish my preliminary examination before turning the body.” The coroner waved him off. “But I should be ready to turn it soon, if you want to wait over there.”
In other words, he should get out of the way. “I’ll do that. Thanks.”
Dak rose and headed for the plainclothes detective and people who’d made the discovery.
The golden retriever wagged its tail as he approached.
Maybe someday he’d get a dog. He’d like one, but apartment life, not to mention the inconsistency of his work schedule, didn’t lend itself to good pet ownership. Other than a goldfish or hamster, neither of which were very interactive.
He focused in on the couple. The woman, slightly rounded with silver-streaked blonde hair, wrapped two shaking arms around her midsection. A green hue, reminiscent of the foliage behind them, colored her face.
The man with her didn’t look much better. He looked more gray than green, but neither had the color they should.
Both made a concentrated effort to look anywhere but at the corpse.
Not that he could blame them.
Between his time in the military and his career, he’d seen plenty of corpses and he still didn’t like it.
He listened while the detective asked a few cursory questions. Had they touched the body? Had their dog disturbed the body? Did they notice anyone watching or hanging around?
No, no, and no.
Something told him these people would be of no help to the investigation.
The woman jerked to her feet and bolted to some nearby bushes, the sound of her retching carrying on the light summer breeze.
First body was always the hardest. For their sake, he hoped this was the only body they’d ever see.
After thanking the couple, the detective turned them over to a uniformed officer to collect their contact information before they left. Dak followed the detective a few feet away before speaking. “Thanks for the call.”
The detective grunted. “Boggess case belongs to you. Figured you ought to know, just in case this ends up being him.”
Dak glanced over at the body. So unidentifiable. “Is there something that makes you think it might be?”
“General size of the body. Hair color. Plus, clothes match the ones Boggess was last seen wearing.”
All pretty vague. Probably half the guys in Seattle owned jeans and blue short-sleeved shirts. “Did you learn anything helpful from them?”
“Nope. They live on the island and were walking their dog, like they do most days, when they came across the body. Said they didn’t touch it and called it in immediately.”
All of which sounded perfectly logical.
He looked around at the location the body washed ashore. No houses or businesses immediately in front of the area. Possibly washed in with the tide.
Angling his body so he could watch the coroner work, he waited for the vic to be turned over. Once he saw the man’s face, he’d leave.
Hopefully death hadn’t distorted the features too much for him to be able to immediately identify whether or
