Book Excerpt
I knew I had no business here, but was it going to cost me more than I’d thought?
Closer in, I could see the yellow tape was broken or missing in places, but still cordoned off
a circular area of dirt and mud, about twelve feet in diameter. The tape had been stapled to
stakes pounded into the ground, but many of them had fallen over. This crime scene had
already been worked. Two dirty latex gloves and a staple gun had been left outside the
perimeter, and multiple footprints marred the mud. The absence of a patrol officer protecting
the scene implied the cleanup crew was on their way.
Inside the partially tapedoff area, someone had outlined where Jimmie Lee’s body had
been. Instead of the typical chalk line, plastic pegs were pressed into the mud about six
inches apart, marking where the body had fallen.
I stepped high over the tape and into the mud, grateful I’d worn jeans and flat shoes for that
dressdown Friday. Trees towered behind me, the interminable water before me. I caught a
whiff of mildew.
I was no sooner inside than a rustling sound came from the tangle of maples and I twisted
around. The noise disappeared and I turned back, catching a glitter in the mud. It came from
the waterline where the soft waves of the Mississippi Sound licked against the cryptic outline
of the corpse. That noise again.
I spun around to the whooshing sounds in the maples, my heart palpitating, but I still didn’t
see anything. When I turned back, the glitter had disappeared. I stooped. I was in a race with
the sun, not to mention wanting to be long gone before the cleanup crew appeared. With
one hand, I frantically ran my fingers through the muck. Then a final spray of sunlight
illuminated the spot and the sparkle reappeared. This time, I kept my eyes fixed on it,
bending, reaching, touching. Gently, I lifted a metal object, close to an inch long and about
half that in width. Heavy for its size. Twilight had deepened into dusk. I stood up and whirled
round to the same rustling noise, but this time a crackling blast followed. A gun?