“See how the ends are chewed off? That’s animals. And this?” I indicated a small round hole. “That’s a tooth puncture. Something small, probably a raccoon.”
“Son of a buck.”
“And of course the crabs and bugs did their share.”
He rose, did a half turn, and kicked the dirt with the heel of his boot.
“Jesus H. Christ. Now what?”
“Now you call your local coroner, and he, or she, calls his, or her, local anthropologist.” I rose and brushed dirt from my jeans. “And everybody talks to the sheriff.”
“This is a goddam nightmare. I can’t have people crawling all over this island.”
“They don’t have to crawl all over the island, Sam. They just have to come out, recover the body, maybe run a cadaver dog around to see if anyone else is buried here.”
“How the—? Shit. This is impossible.” A bead of sweat trickled down his temple. His jaw muscles bunched and unbunched.
For a moment neither of us spoke. The flies whined and circled.
Sam finally broke the silence. “You’ve got to do it.”
“Do what?”
“Whatever has to be done. Dig this stuff up.” He swept an arm in the direction of the grave.
“No way. Not my jurisdiction.”
“I don’t give a flying rat’s ass whose jurisdiction it is. I’m not going to have a bunch of yo-yos running around out here, sabotaging my island, fucking up my work schedule, and very possibly infecting my monkeys. It’s out of the question. It’s not going to happen. I’m the bloody mayor, and this is my island. I’ll sit on the goddam dock with a goddam shotgun before I let that happen.”
The vein was back in his forehead, and the tendons in his neck stood out like guy wires. His finger jabbed the air to emphasize each point.
“That was an Academy Award performance, Sam, but I’m still not doing it. Dan Jaffer is at USC in Columbia. He does the anthropology cases in South Carolina, so that’s probably who your coroner will call. Dan is board- certified and he’s very good.”
“Dan fucking Jaffer could have fucking TB!”
There seemed no point, so I didn’t answer.
“You do this all the time! You could dig the guy out and turn everything over to this Jaffer character.”
Still no point.
“Why the hell not, Tempe?” He glared at me.
“You know I’m in Beaufort on another case. I’ve promised these guys I’ll work with them, and I have to be back in Charlotte on Wednesday.”
I didn’t give him the real answer, which was that I wanted nothing to do with this. I wasn’t mentally ready to equate my island sanctuary with ugly death. Since first seeing the jaw, broken images had been floating through my brain, shards of cases past. Strangled women, butchered babies, young men with slashed throats and dull, unseeing eyes. If slaughter had come to the island, I wanted no part of it.
“We’ll talk about this at camp,” said Sam. “Don’t mention bodies to anyone.”
Ignoring his dictatorial manner, I tied my bandanna to the holly bush, and we headed back.
When we drew close to the trail I could see a battered pickup near the point at which we’d cut into the woods. The truck was loaded with bags of monkey chow and had a three-hundred-gallon water tank chained to the rear. Joey was inspecting the tank.
Sam called to him.
“Hold up a minute.”
Joey wiped the back of his hand across his mouth and folded his arms. He wore jeans and a sweatshirt with the sleeves and neck cut out. His greasy blond hair hung like linguini around his face.
Joey watched us approach, his eyes hidden by sunglasses, his mouth a tight line across his face. His body looked taut and tense.
“I don’t want anyone going near the pond,” Sam said to Joey.
“Alice get another monkey?”
“No.” Sam didn’t elaborate. “Where’s that chow going?”
“Feeder seven.”
“Leave it and come right back.”
“What about water?”
“Fill the tanks and get back to camp. If you see Jane, send her in.”
Joey’s shades moved to my face and rested there for what seemed a long time. Then he got into the pickup and pulled away, the tank clanking behind.
Sam and I walked in silence. I dreaded the scene about to take place, and resolved not to let him bully me. I recalled his words, saw his face as he uncovered the grave. Then something else. Just before Sam joined me, I
