The instant they closed on him, Bogie lay down, his head on his paws, dark eyes flicking from side to side.
He whimpered.
‘Come on, boy,’ Alex said gently, but her throat tightened sickeningly. Once before, on a snowy early morning she’d rather forget, Bogie had behaved like this. ‘There’s nothing here. You’re being silly.’
There was nothing to see. Silence blanketed the whole deserted area and she noticed an ugly odor, as if sheep might have been grazing in the area.
‘Would you mind staying here, Alex, and holding Bogie?’ Tony kept a neutral expression on his face as if he weren’t really telling her he was expecting something nasty and wanted to protect her.
Sometimes keeping the peace made things simpler. ‘Come here, Bogie,’ she said. And added, ‘Now!’ when he didn’t move.
Slowly, bottom first, he raised himself from the ground. His head remained on his paws.
‘I’ll get him,’ Tony said and moved in, saying gentle, mostly meaningless words all the way. He reached Bogie and scratched his head … then he stood still, staring at the clumps of pale grass and the rocks illuminated around the dog’s feet.
Alex didn’t wait another second. She ran to the spot and frowned at the debris.
‘Oh, no,’ she whispered when she saw what was different. ‘My God, Tony, we’ve got to do something fast.’
‘Sometimes I wish you didn’t rush into the middle of everything,’ he said. He clipped on Bogie’s lead. ‘You aren’t trained for this type of thing.’
Alex crouched.
‘Don’t touch anything.’
‘I know the drill,’ she told him, glancing at the grill over the well. ‘Could anyone be alive down there?’
‘It’s my job to find out. Your job is to get the police and anyone else who can deal with this.’
They stared at one another, both putting a hand over their noses and mouths. The stench that reached them grew stronger.
‘The smell doesn’t have to mean …’ She broke off, pressing a fist to her thumping heart. ‘It’s vomit and other things, and if we mess with anything … Tony, it could be a crime scene. No one could do this to themselves. The police will go mad if we disturb anything.’
‘And my conscience will go mad if I don’t go down there,’ he said, taking off his jacket and tossing it aside. ‘Wish I had gloves.’
He was a very strong man and hauled the heavy grill aside without too much trouble. ‘Don’t let Bogie touch those,’ he said as he lowered himself onto the ladder inside the well. Make some calls, please.’ He even managed a little smile that looked more like a pain-induced grimace.
Watching him disappear into the hole, Alex made an emergency call and got the usual round of questions about what service she wanted and where she was calling from.
‘I think someone’s fallen into a well,’ she said, gasping for non-existent fresh air. ‘Up at the old Ebring Manor site. And it could be someone else put the grill back in place over them.’ Thinking about that Alex added, ‘Or someone messed with the grill and had an accident. They would have gone for help right away. But whoever it was left the severed tips of three fingers behind … how do I … I know because there are fingernails.’