Read Online A Rumor of Bones: A Lindsay Chamberlain Mystery by Beverly Connor - Free Book Online

these numbers from his files, or rather you are," said Lindsay.
"Perhaps you could send a deputy over to his studio
sometime to take his records and make photocopies of
them"
    "Sure thing."
    "How accurate do you think Mickey Lawson is in
his record keeping?" Lindsay asked.
    "I think you can probably take them to the bank.
Mickey is well known for his obsessive record keeping. He drives his assistants nuts, I've heard."
    "I'll be finished shortly."
    "I'm sorry about my temper when we arrived. I
didn't like seeing the Pruitts put through this."
    Lindsay smiled at the sheriff. "I didn't notice."
    She went to the back room and performed calculations regarding shadows in the photograph. Lindsay
was replacing the remains in the box when the sheriff
came in and pulled up a chair.
    "I've done all I can do for now with the identification," she told him. "If I can get Peggy's medical and
immunization records, I may be able to do something
with some calcium deposits in the growth zones"
    "So you couldn't make a positive identification?"
    "They are Peggy's bones, all right." She smiled at
the sheriff. "I like a lot of detail in my records, too.
The more corroborating details you have, the easier
time you have in court."

    The sheriff nodded his head. "Yeah, those defense
lawyers will tear into any little sign of uncertainty."
    Lindsay took the recordings and showed the sheriff. "All the facial measurements are consistent. See
this tooth? The upper left canine? It is slightly forward and casts a shadow on the incisor next to it. The
lighting angle allowed me to measure its distance
from the incisor next to it in the photograph. It
appears to be the same distance forward as the upper
left canine in the skull. Also, the teeth in the photograph are the same size and shape as those in the
skull. You can see why the accuracy of the photographer's measurements is so important. I thought I
would drop by his studio sometime and take a look at
his setup."
    "What can I tell the Pruitts?"
    "You can tell them these are their daughter's
remains."
    "I'll call them. Then let me take you to the diner
for a cup of coffee."
    "That would be good" Lindsay leaned toward the
sheriff and said in a low voice. "I can tell you this:
you have a serial killer. The pelvic damage on these
remains is the same as on Amy Lynn Hasting's."
    "I was afraid of that." Duggan stood up. "Come on,
let's forget about this for a while."
    "By the way, before I forget," said Lindsay, "I
found this in the cranial cavity of Burial 23." She gave
him the bullet. "I'll give you a report on the bones in a
couple of days."
    The sheriff held up the vial and looked at the
bullet. "Small caliber," he commented, then locked it
in his desk drawer.

    After he called the Pruitts, he took Lindsay to the
cafe down the street. They sat in a booth in the back
corner.
    "This is not easy for you, is it?" he said after the
waitress brought them coffee and lemon pie.
    Lindsay's eyes misted over. "He hurt them really
bad. He had to have gagged them in some way. I don't
think he would have trusted that their screams would
not be heard, even in a remote location. That may
help in your investigation. I don't know"
    "Do you get upset over the Indian bones?"
    "Sometimes. Child burials are sad, when you think
how grieved the parents were. Infant mortality was
high, and children were very precious. But mostly at
Indian sites you're looking at a normal life cycle. The
population lived, were happy perhaps, and died of
natural causes."
    "They are very real to you, these Indians."
    "They were real. Every burial represents a person
who once walked around just as you and I. They were
happy and sad, loved and hated, worried about
making a living, and enjoyed celebrations, just as we
do. Mostly, working with the skeletal population is a
pleasure. It's like going back in time and talking to
them. Their bones tell me a lot about how they lived
and died."
    "Happier than