THE FACTORY WAS a long abandoned meat packing plant. They used to make all manner of delicious deli items, including ham, hotdogs, salami … but those days were long over. I asked the cab driver for a phone number just in case I wanted a lift out of there. I let him go, since I wasn’t sure what I’d find. Whatever I found, it probably wasn’t coming back to the cab.
The old factory was being torn down, and the large, empty parking lot was interspersed with weeds and towering piles of bricks pulled from the exterior walls of the place. A wire construction fence surrounded the site, but it had been lifted at one of the section joints. Getting inside was as easy as lifting and pivoting an eight foot high segment.
I used my phone light to see my way around. It was late in the day, but still light out. The inside of the building was as dark as a tomb.
Broken masonry scattered here and there, mostly bricks and fallen interior walls. Dust coated everything, and I wished I’d brought a mask or a scarf or something.
In the center of the administrative building, there was a gaping hole in the floor. Looking up, I could see that the upper three floors had collapsed down as well, and I could see right up to the roof and pockets of daylight beyond. None of that light reached the floor below, but as I shone my light, I could see something down there. I eased myself over the rough edge of the pit, took a deep breath, then jumped down the twelve feet to the floor below. I aimed for an area clear of the main rubble pile. It was a longer drop, but with less debris, and I hoped there would be less chance of getting hurt.
As far as controlled falls went, it wasn’t the worst, but I dropped my phone. I’d also forgotten about the broken ribs, and almost passed out from the impact. I spent a couple of minutes doubled over, trying to recover enough to stand up. Once I got my wind back, I picked up my phone and looked around the debris pile.
On the far side, I saw the slight figure of the girl. From the angle, I guessed she’d been tossed to the top of the rubble pile and tumbled down. She was now lying on her back, feet in the air, head towards the floor. She still wore her party clothes, like she had just come from the club, trespassed on a condemned site, and fallen in.
I called for an ambulance and told them where I was. I then called Lacroix and told him I’d found the girl. He got a little mad at me for not telling him sooner, and I apologized by telling him to shut up.
I called Vijay to let him know I didn’t need any more information on the Waterman family, leaving him a voicemail.
I sat down near the body. It’s much too easy to hide from death when you’re this close to it, but I figured that was a disservice to the girl. So I sat nearby and kept her company while the ambulance and the police arrived.
Sometimes bodies look so uncanny. It depends, of course, on the manner of death, and the condition of the remains, the way they’re laid out, and so on. But something looked so off about this one. It was dark down here, and I’m no forensics guy. But I occasionally have a keen eye for details, and that’s why I bothered to reach over and touch the body.
She was cold … but she had a pulse. She was still alive! I held my breath and observed. It was barely there, but I could see the gentle rise and fall of her chest underneath her shirt and all the dust.
Something was still off. Here in the gloom, everything was a trick of the light. I pulled out my phone and looked at the picture I had of Molly from her mother. She looked as I remembered her.
Then I looked back at the girl, letting my eyes adjust to the darkness again. I reached forward to make sure her breathing was okay. I gently placed my fingers on the top of her lips to catch the breath from her nostrils.
And I felt the slight bump of a mole over her lip, just to the left of her nose.