number.
“Please hold.”
Lucy stared at Sheffield’s picture on the computer. She had been only a couple years older than Lucy. She couldn’t have been an agent for long.
Several minutes later, Candela came back on the phone. His tone changed just a fraction, a bit more cordial, but still brusque. “Agent Kincaid?”
Lucy’s heart skipped a beat. Technically she was an agent-in-training, not a special agent, but a small thrill went through her. “Yes, sir?”
“I just spoke with Noah Armstrong and he vouched for you, confirmed you are on vacation in Spruce Lake. Please tell me exactly what happened from when you found Agent Sheffield’s body until now.”
After Lucy related her discovery of a body down in the Kelley Mine, there was dead silence. Lucy went on, getting a bit nervous, but reciting the facts of the case kept her calm and focused. She explained in detail, finishing with the disappearance of Sheffield’s body.
“You mean to say the body was moved?”
“That’s the only explanation.”
“Did you photograph the scene?”
“Today I did, but when I found the body I honestly didn’t think of it. I was in the mine to rescue Sean, since he’d been injured.”
“Why did you go back down?”
“To look for evidence. As I mentioned, I didn’t feel the police had taken me seriously because the body was gone when they arrived.”
“What evidence?”
The conversation now sounded like an interrogation. Lucy told him what she and Sean found in the mine that morning and the reaction of the sheriff’s deputy. She concluded, “I used to work for the D.C. Medical Examiner, and I’ve been trained in evidence collection. I followed all protocols.” Except for the fact that she wasn’t supposed to be down there in the first place. “I understand that I had no authority to do so, but the deputy sheriff who responded essentially believed that I was making it up. I didn’t know when, or if, they would go back to the mine to search for her body. The mine is unstable and dangerous, according to Fire and Rescue. But I know what I saw, and I know someone went down after I reported her and removed the body.”
“Are you suggesting that someone in the local police department had a part in this?”
“I wouldn’t rule it out. This is a small town-by dinnertime, I suspect everyone knew there was a body in the mine.”
“And why didn’t you contact me immediately?” He sounded both angry, and upset.
“I didn’t know who she was. After her body went missing, my brother Patrick-Sean’s partner-pulled all the missing persons files for the Northeast that matched the description I gave him. She’s the only one who is close.”
“Close? You mean you may be wrong?” He sounded hopeful.
“I’m nearly certain it’s Agent Sheffield. But I was only with the body for a few minutes.” She didn’t want to give him false hope, but she couldn’t swear it
“You said she could have been there for months or days-explain.”
“I’m not an entomologist, so I’m really just making a guess, and I don’t like to do that.”
“You need to understand that no one has seen Agent Sheffield since December twenty-third.”
“The missing person’s report says January second.”
“She filed a report, via email, on January second, but no one has spoken to her in person since December.”
“She was undercover?”
“It’s a classified investigation, and as an agent-in-training I don’t think you have the clearance.”
She winced at his tone, but understood. A message popped up on Lucy’s screen. It was from Noah.
She said, “Based on the appearance of the body, I think she was frozen. Not in a freezer, but naturally, in the underground mine. No freezer burn or ice that indicates a mechanical unit was involved in any way, and because her body was flat-arranged that way, would be my guess, based on the positioning of her arms-I’m guessing she was down there prior to full rigor. Meaning, less than twelve hours after her death.”
“Was there any sign of a struggle or injuries?”
“No outward cause of death. No bruising around the neck to indicate strangulation-though, to be honest, I don’t know how or if freezing would impact her appearance.”
While she was talking, Sean walked in. He was about to speak, but saw she was on the phone.
“Send me the photos,” Candela ordered.
“Of course.” She had already downloaded the photos to Sean’s laptop. She zipped them into one file.
Candela gave her his email, then said, “I need the name and contact information of all people involved in the search for Agent Sheffield.”
Lucy typed everything she had in the email as she told him the same information. “Thank you. I’ll be in touch,” he said, then hung up.
Lucy turned to Sean. “Well, that was Albany FBI. ASAC Candela.” She shook her head, still trying to absorb all the information Candela did share with her. “I identified the body. Victoria Sheffield. She was an FBI agent.”
Sean sat across from her. “FBI? What was she doing here?”
“He wouldn’t say. I think he was surprised. She disappeared between December twenty-third and January second.”
“A Fed is missing and it’s not plastered on the national news?”
She turned the laptop around and showed Sean the missing persons report. “It doesn’t even say she’s a federal agent in the report. There’s nothing about her, other than her photo and description.”
“If they didn’t want anyone knowing she was a Fed, maybe they have an active investigation.”
“He didn’t give me any details.”
Sean stood and looked out the window. It was getting late, the sun was setting to the southwest, and Lucy wondered what had him so preoccupied. Usually he preferred to talk out possible scenarios.
“What is it?” she asked.
“I found the arsonist. His name is Ricky Swain.”
She leaned forward, palms hitting the desk. “
“The son of Paul Swain.”
“What happened?”
“After I went to Canton-which was mostly a wasted trip-I made a detour to Colton and waited until school got out. I spotted him and ran the plates.”
Lucy raised an eyebrow as Sean related what had happened at James Benson’s house.
“What did you find in Benson’s house?” she asked, ignoring the obvious fact that it had been an illegal search.
“Letters from Ricky’s dead mother. One in particular stands out.” He plugged his cell phone into his laptop, scrolled through, then turned the screen to face her. “Read this.”
Lucy scanned the image of the letter, not only absorbing the information it contained, but wondering if this beautiful but sad letter was partly the cause of an uneasy vibe she was getting from Sean.
“What do you think Abigail meant by the card her husband had to play? And why would their son be in danger?” Lucy frowned, looking at the letter again. “If we take what she’s writing at face value, she was genuinely concerned about her son’s safety.”
“It’s vague, but Ricky must know who the ‘monster’ is.”
Lucy reread the letter slowly. Three sentences stood out.
“Sean, why would Abigail write that her brother Jimmy would do anything to keep Ricky away from the
