said. “Let’s survey the area to the right and left of the grave and see what we have.”
“That sounds like a plan,” Jen said. “How long will it take you to get ready?”
“Not long.” Sophie dropped to her knees in the snow and began opening the cases they’d brought, demonstrating the assembly for Jen who looked like a kid on Christmas. “The unit sends data to the laptop wirelessly and the laptop will store it.” She set the laptop on one of the cases, powered it up, then stood, the scanning portion in her hand.
Nick leaned forward, studying it. “It looks like a carpet sweeper,” he said.
“A fifteen-thousand-dollar carpet sweeper,” Johannsen said and Vito whistled.
“Fifteen grand for that? You said it was a little one.”
“It is. The big ones start at fifty. Are you all familiar with ground penetrating radar?”
“Jen is,” Vito said. “We were going to call for the cadaver dogs.”
“That works, but GPR gives you an image of what’s under the ground. It’s not a clear image like an x-ray. GPR tells you where and how deep an object is. The colors on the display represent the amplitude of the object. Brighter colors, bigger amplitude.”
Jen nodded. “Brighter the color, bigger the amplitude, bigger the object.”
“Or the stronger the reflection. Metals will have high amplitude. Air pockets reflect even better. The amount of reflection depends on what you’re looking for.”
“What about bone?” Nick asked.
“Not as bright, but visible. Older the bone, the harder it is to see. As bodies decompose, they become like the soil and the reflections don’t stand out as much.”
“How old before you can’t see the bones anymore?” Jen asked.
“One of my colleagues identified the remains of a twenty-five-hundred-year-old Native American in a burial mound in Kentucky.” She glanced up. “I don’t think you need to worry about age.” She stood up and wiped her palms on her jacket. Her jeans were soaking wet, but she didn’t even seem to notice. She’d said she was “jazzed” and Vito could definitely see the energy in her clear green eyes. “Let’s go.”
She got to work, scanning along the height dimension of the first grave, slowly and precisely. Vito could see why scanning the whole field would take so long. But if they found something, they were in for a lot more man-hours than that.
Jen went still. “Sophie,” she said, her voice urgent.
Johannsen stopped for a screen check. “It’s the edge of something. The soil changes here, abruptly. It goes maybe three feet deep. Let me get a few more rows.”
She did, then frowned. “There is something here, but it looks like it’s got metal in it. We tend to see that in cemeteries with older, lead-lined caskets. The shape isn’t right for a casket, but there is definitely metal here.” She looked up, her eyes questioning. “Does that make sense?”
Vito thought about Jane Doe’s hands. “Yeah,” he said grimly. “It does.”
Johannsen nodded, accepting there would be no more answer than that. “Okay.” She marked the corners with her garden stakes. “It’s six and a half feet by three feet.”
“The same size as the first one,” Jen said.
“I didn’t want to be right, Vito.” Nick shook his head. “Fuck.”
Jen stood up. “I’ll get my tools and the camera, then I’ll get the team back and we’ll set up floodlights. Give me a hand with the tools, Nick. Vito, you call Katherine.”
“Will do. And I’ll call Liz.” Lieutenant Liz Sawyer had not been pleased to hear of the first body. Multiple unmarked graves would not be the news she wanted to hear.
Nick followed Jen, leaving Vito alone with Johannsen. “I’m sorry,” she said simply, sadness filling her eyes.
He nodded. “Yeah. Me, too. Let’s check the other side.”
As Johannsen continued on, Vito dialed Liz on his cell. “Liz, it’s Vito. We have the archeologist here. There’s another one.”
“Not good,” Liz said
“That sounds like a plan,” Jen said. “How long will it take you to get ready?”
“Not long.” Sophie dropped to her knees in the snow and began opening the cases they’d brought, demonstrating the assembly for Jen who looked like a kid on Christmas. “The unit sends data to the laptop wirelessly and the laptop will store it.” She set the laptop on one of the cases, powered it up, then stood, the scanning portion in her hand.
Nick leaned forward, studying it. “It looks like a carpet sweeper,” he said.
“A fifteen-thousand-dollar carpet sweeper,” Johannsen said and Vito whistled.
“Fifteen grand for that? You said it was a little one.”
“It is. The big ones start at fifty. Are you all familiar with ground penetrating radar?”
“Jen is,” Vito said. “We were going to call for the cadaver dogs.”
“That works, but GPR gives you an image of what’s under the ground. It’s not a clear image like an x-ray. GPR tells you where and how deep an object is. The colors on the display represent the amplitude of the object. Brighter colors, bigger amplitude.”
Jen nodded. “Brighter the color, bigger the amplitude, bigger the object.”
“Or the stronger the reflection. Metals will have high amplitude. Air pockets reflect even better. The amount of reflection depends on what you’re looking for.”
“What about bone?” Nick asked.
“Not as bright, but visible. Older the bone, the harder it is to see. As bodies decompose, they become like the soil and the reflections don’t stand out as much.”
“How old before you can’t see the bones anymore?” Jen asked.
“One of my colleagues identified the remains of a twenty-five-hundred-year-old Native American in a burial mound in Kentucky.” She glanced up. “I don’t think you need to worry about age.” She stood up and wiped her palms on her jacket. Her jeans were soaking wet, but she didn’t even seem to notice. She’d said she was “jazzed” and Vito could definitely see the energy in her clear green eyes. “Let’s go.”
She got to work, scanning along the height dimension of the first grave, slowly and precisely. Vito could see why scanning the whole field would take so long. But if they found something, they were in for a lot more man-hours than that.
Jen went still. “Sophie,” she said, her voice urgent.
Johannsen stopped for a screen check. “It’s the edge of something. The soil changes here, abruptly. It goes maybe three feet deep. Let me get a few more rows.”
She did, then frowned. “There is something here, but it looks like it’s got metal in it. We tend to see that in cemeteries with older, lead-lined caskets. The shape isn’t right for a casket, but there is definitely metal here.” She looked up, her eyes questioning. “Does that make sense?”
Vito thought about Jane Doe’s hands. “Yeah,” he said grimly. “It does.”
Johannsen nodded, accepting there would be no more answer than that. “Okay.” She marked the corners with her garden stakes. “It’s six and a half feet by three feet.”
“The same size as the first one,” Jen said.
“I didn’t want to be right, Vito.” Nick shook his head. “Fuck.”
Jen stood up. “I’ll get my tools and the camera, then I’ll get the team back and we’ll set up floodlights. Give me a hand with the tools, Nick. Vito, you call Katherine.”
“Will do. And I’ll call Liz.” Lieutenant Liz Sawyer had not been pleased to hear of the first body. Multiple unmarked graves would not be the news she wanted to hear.
Nick followed Jen, leaving Vito alone with Johannsen. “I’m sorry,” she said simply, sadness filling her eyes.
He nodded. “Yeah. Me, too. Let’s check the other side.”
As Johannsen continued on, Vito dialed Liz on his cell. “Liz, it’s Vito. We have the archeologist here. There’s another one.”
“Not good,” Liz said
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