Tags:
Fiction,
General,
detective,
Suspense,
Mystery & Detective,
American Mystery & Suspense Fiction,
Mystery,
Mystery & Detective - Women Sleuths,
Fiction - Mystery,
Serial Murderers,
Women Journalists,
Kelly; Irene (Fictitious character)
doesn't lie."
"Where?"
But Andy had already noticed the plants near the place where Bingle had alerted. "Wow. Right there." Drawing closer, he pointed out several wildflowers and said, "You see? Most of them are shorter than others of the same species, growing right next to them. That might be happening because something's preventing their roots from developing--the roots may be running into some type of barrier underground."
David commanded Bingle to stay and we walked with the others to where Andy stood.
David conferred briefly with Bob Thompson and Ben, then said to me, "Would you mind keeping Bingle company while we check this out? You can watch from the shade over there--best spot in the house. You'll be able to see and hear everything."
"Look, I'm fond of the dog, but I have a job here, too. I don't want to be shut out--"
"This is a crime scene--" Bob Thompson began, but Ben interrupted.
"Oh, I think Ms. Kelly should be allowed to stand as close as possible," he said, and although he wasn't smiling, I could hear some amusement in his voice.
"Ben--" David protested, in a way that made me all the more unsure of Ben's motives for suddenly being so cooperative.
Ben ignored him. In quiet, considerate tones, he said to me, "Allow me to explain that we don't just bring out our shovels and dig, Ms. Kelly. We start slowly and carefully, systematically surveying the burial area, setting up a grid system and so on. Perhaps you wouldn't mind staying with Bingle while we do the preliminary work. I'll let you know when we're about to actually see the body--if there is a body here."
"She's there," I heard a voice say. I turned to see Parrish looking straight at me, smiling. "Yes," he drawled slowly, "her lovely body is right there."
"Tranquilo," David said to Bingle, who was standing between us. The dog had not growled or barked at Parrish's approach, but I could see what had caused David to give the command to take it easy--Bingle's stance was rigid.
"I'll watch Bingle," I said.
Parrish laughed. "Better let him watch you."
"That's enough out of you," Earl said, pulling Parrish back from the group.
"Ve con ella," David said to Bingle, and gave me a tennis ball. As he said this, he made a motion with his hand that evidently told Bingle that I was to receive all of his attention. Bingle stared at the ball with the kind of intense concentration that might have been used by a psychic to bend a fork. We played for a while, then sat together and watched as Flash videotaped and photographed the site, Thompson talked to Parrish, and David, Andy, and Ben hovered over maps and studied the ground, defining an outer perimeter several feet beyond the loosened soil.
Our place was, as David had said, the best spot in the house. We were only a few yards from the patch, we were in the shade, and the breeze had shifted toward us--both shade and breeze provided relief to Bingle, who lay panting softly, eyes closed in contentment.
Ben bent over a duffel bag, and handed out gloves. He next removed a set of metal rods, each about half an inch thick, bent at a right angle at one end--the handle. Working from different directions, the men each picked a spot, leaned on the probes--which did not go too far into the ground--then pulled them from the ground and moved them a little closer to the site of the alert. This process continued, until Ben's probe sank easily into the earth. "Here," he said. As he pulled it up, Bingle lifted his head, then came to his feet, ears pitched forward. The dog started to move toward Ben.
"Stay," I commanded. He ignored me, but David had heard me, and snapped the command again--in Spanish this time. Bingle obeyed, but protested with a sharp bark.
"He smells it," David said. Then, wrinkling his nose, added, "So do I."
David went back to the duffel bag and took a small jar from it; he dipped a finger into it and then rubbed the substance just beneath his nose, making a small, shiny mustache of it. He offered the
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