Grave Secrets

Acknowledgments

AS USUAL THIS BOOK WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE WITHOUT the help of others.

First and foremost, credit and recognition must go to my dear friend and colleague, Clyde Snow, Ph.D. Clyde, you started it all. I thank you. The oppressed of the world thank you.

I feel tremendous gratitude for the support and hospitality shown me by the members of the Fundacion de Antropologia Forense de Guatemala, especially Fredy Armando Peccerelli Monteroso, Presidente, and Claudia Rivera, Directora de Antropologia Forense. The work carried out by the FAFG is unbearably difficult and tremendously important. Muchas gracias. I hope I can offer more help in the future.

Ron Fourney, Ph.D., Biology, Research and Development, Canadian Police Research Center, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and Barry D. Gaudette, B.S., Manager, Canadian Police Research Center, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, explained the intricacies of animal hair analysis.

Carol Henderson, J.D., Shepard Broad Law Center, Nova Southeastern University, and William Rodriguez, Ph.D., Office of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, provided information on the construction and functioning of septic tanks.

Robert J. Rochon, Deputy High Commissioner to London, Canadian Department of External Affairs and International Trade, answered many questions concerning the diplomatic world.

Diane France, Ph.D., Director, Colorado State University Human Identification Laboratory, supplied inspiration for the use of selective laser sintering in skull modeling. Allan DeWitt, P.E., furnished details on SLS technology.

Sergent-detective Stephen Rudman (retired), Police de la Communaute Urbaine de Montreal, explained the workings of internal police investigations in Quebec.

Merci to Yves St. Marie, Directeur, to Andre Lauzon, M.D., Chef de Service, and to all my colleagues at the Laboratoire de Sciences Judiciaires et de Medecine Legale. Thanks to James Woodward, Chancellor of the University of North Carolina-Charlotte. Your continued support is greatly appreciated.

Paul Reichs offered many valuable comments on the manuscript. And some stinkers. Paldies.

My daughters, Kerry Reichs and Courtney Reichs, accompanied me to Guatemala. Your presence lightened the load. Paldies.

My amazing editors, Susanne Kirk at Scribner and Lynne Drew at Random House–UK, took a rough manuscript and made it sing.

Last, but far from least, my agent, Jennifer Rudolph Walsh, provided a sympathetic ear, a protective firewall, and a kick in the pants when needed. You’re a star, Big J!

If I have forgotten anyone, please let me know. I will buy you a beer, apologize profusely, and thank you in person. We’ve all had a rough year.

In the end, I wrote Grave Secrets. If there are errors, I made them.

Grave Secrets

1

“I AM DEAD. THEY KILLED ME AS WELL.”

The old woman’s words cut straight to my heart.

“Please tell me what happened that day.” Maria spoke so softly I had to strain to catch the Spanish.

“I kissed the little ones and left for market.” Eyes down, voice toneless. “I did not know that I would never see them again.”

K’akchiquel to Spanish, then reversing the linguistic loop, reversing again as answers followed questions. The translation did nothing to blunt the horror of the recitation.

“When did you return home, Senora Ch’i’p?”

“A que hora regreso usted a su casa, Senora Ch’i’p?”

“Chike ramaj xatzalij pa awachoch, Ixoq Ch’i’p?”

“Late afternoon. I’d sold my beans.”

“The house was burning?”

“Yes.”

“Your family was inside?”

A nod.

I watched the speakers. An ancient Mayan woman, her middle-aged son, the young cultural anthropologist Maria Paiz, calling up a memory too terrible for words. I felt anger and sorrow clash inside me like the thunderheads building on the horizon.

“What did you do?”