Chapter 12
The partially covered structure of the framed area provided only minuscule insulation from the cold night air. Jack had pulled me out of the wet ditch, but my sneakers were soaked through, and I was pretty sure that I was harboring a pound of mud under my shirt.
“Where do you think you’re going?” I asked Marisol, tugging her back by her sleeve.
“Home. This party’s over.”
“Oh no you don’t, you’re as much a part of this as the rest of us. You are going to wait for Augie and then you are going to tell him exactly what happened. And how the killer could have been any one of us who found the body.”
“Here, Marisol,” Jack said, bringing in a plastic chair from outside our refuge. She took a seat, beaming at the attention and respect.
“You sure you’re not hurt?” he asked me tenderly.
“I’ll let you know after Augie has been and gone.”
“You did nothing wrong, honey, but we’ll need to explain away what we were doing here in the first place,” Peggy said, always thinking ahead.
“We’ll say that we ran in after Bardot. Marisol, give Peggy your chair, she’s the one who’s eighty-seven!”
“Why?”
“I’ll find another one,” Jack said as we heard sirens approaching.
It was going on eleven p.m. and the dampness of the site had seeped into my bones. Like Marisol, all I wanted to do was shower and get under the covers with Bardot and Jack, not necessarily in that order. The police cars triggered lights in the neighboring homes, and it wouldn’t be long before people came out to see what all the fuss was about.
* * *
Twenty minutes later work lamps on stands lit up the space, making it no less eerie. The body of the man was facing away from us on his side, but what I could see of his face looked like the same guy who had stormed out during the argument we’d overheard on our first recon mission.
“Thank you, Auntie,” I heard Augie say to Marisol. “I’ll have one of the officers drive you home right away.”
Who died and made her queen?
“I’m going to talk to Peggy next and then I will get to you, Halsey.”
“I can’t wait.”
Sweet Jack had brought a folding chair from his truck for me, and he and Bardot were crouched beside me. He’d even given me his jacket to throw over my shoulders. I really need to think seriously about keeping him.
“You know, that’s two bodies in less than a month,” Jack whispered to me.
“Don’t remind me, I’m sure that I’ll be getting an earful from Augie.”
“Not you, Bardot. That’s two bodies that she’s found.”
“So?”
The team from the ME’s office arrived and immediately took over the scene. We were sitting in a far corner, so they left us alone.
“So, that means that Bardot has the makings of an amazing cadaver dog,” Jack continued, petting her.
“I’m afraid to ask . . .”
“A cadaver dog is trained to recover human remains; they’re able to locate body parts, blood, any kind of decomposition. CARA is always in need of dogs with those skills.”
“EW! I kiss that nose, no thank you.”
“Just saying, Bardot is a pooch of many talents.”
We watched Augie strut his way over to us, his eyes never leaving mine.
“And now we come to Miss Halsey,” Augie said smugly.
“Are you also sticking with the story that you all followed your dog onto the construction site?” Augie asked me.
“Of course, because it’s true.”
I would have loved to have let him know that dear, sweet Auntie Marisol had been working on getting that fence open for about a week, but it wouldn’t have helped with my cause.
“And you just happened to run into my aunt and Mrs. Peggy while taking a late evening walk?”
“Your aunt likes to spy on me and insisted on tagging along. Peggy and I had arranged earlier to meet now that the nights are getting warmer.”
That shut him up, temporarily. We all watched as the body was raised from the ditch, and Augie stopped them once it was up so that I could take a shot at identifying him. His skin looked waxy and his face was contorted in a way that made it look like he’d died in mid choke. My stomach churned and I thought that I was going to be sick.
“I only saw him for a minute that day, Augie, it might be the same guy from the argument with Howard, but I can’t be sure. In either case, he’s the one you should be interrogating, not me.”
“We have a unit picking him up now and taking him to the station. While it does seem that you and your friends stumbled in on this, don’t think that I believe your story about how you got in here for one minute. I’ll be watching you very closely.”
“Thanks, Augie, somehow I feel so much safer.”
As we headed out to the gate in the fence, I noticed a jacket hanging on a peg of the wood frame that looked about Howard’s size. Behind it hung something made of straw.
“We got the results back from Abigail Rose’s autopsy report,” Augie said, getting my undivided attention.
“And?”
“Asphyxiation. She died by asphyxiation, smothered by the dirt of her grave.”
“She was buried alive?”
Before I got my answer I fainted and kissed dirt for the second time that night.
* * *
I woke up to breakfast in bed.
“Now this is more like it,” I said to Jack, accepting a tray of goodies. On it I saw and smelled the aroma of warm biscuits cradling melting butter, some peach jam, and a perfectly soft-boiled egg. Orange juice that I know was fresh squeezed completed the excellent repast. Bardot sat obediently by the side of the bed.
“Nothing but the best for my sweetie,” he said, and I almost didn’t mind the corny term of endearment.
“You’re dressed and you’ve got keys in your hand,” I said, giving Jack a good look over.
“Afraid so, I have a training session in Malibu in less than an hour.”
“Boo!”
“You sure you’re feeling okay? I could have Marisol come over.”
“God no!”
“Alright,” Jack said, chuckling. “Got to boogie.” I got a kiss on the cheek.
As soon as I heard the front door shut, Bardot was up on the bed. She must have been sitting in a springed crouch the entire time.
I kept a laptop in my bedroom, I know, really bad habit. But today it happened to be a good idea because I could catch up on things while having breakfast.
I skimmed through my emails until I came across one from Aimee. I remembered that I’d asked her that, if she had the time during shifts at her yogurt shop, could she do some online research on the history of Mar Vista. I was excited to see what she’d found out.
Hi!
I really, really miss you guys, but I am also learning so much in baking class! Yesterday Chef said that I made the best “Ile Flottante” she’d tasted in a long while!
Anyhoo, I didn’t want to let you down on your case and I think I found something that you’ll find interesting. It is a draft of a paper that Paula’s husband Max had written and I guess he shared it with the guy who has it in an online archive. Don’t ask what search steps I took to find it, about halfway through the girls’ softball team came in from practice and each one had a special order.
The paper’s attached; I’ll try to get back to this when I can. Hugs and kisses to all the girls and a special one to Bardot!
Aimee
Nice. As I started reading the PDF, I realized that this was going to take all my concentration. I put the depleted tray on the floor, let Bardot in under the covers, and went to work. An hour later, I was still reading.