the cold out, but they were slick with sweat and I couldn’t generate any friction to warm them.
Bucky was still back there.
The police cars were parked, and I was aware of someone getting out. All I knew was that I couldn’t leave Bucky alone any longer, so I said, “I called, he’s back here,” and hurried around the house the long way around.
Bucky was where I left her, now fully awake, gray as the oversized sweatshirt she clutched around herself, and staringfixedly at some point past the spoils heap. She started when I called her name, and I knew I shouldn’t have left her by herself for so long.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Yeah. Fine.” She frowned and shrugged my arm off her shoulder. “Cops here?”
I stepped back and stooped to check the knot on my bootlace. “Yeah, right behind me. I just wanted to make sure you were all right.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t see anything, I didn’t do anything. I just did exactly what you said.”
I straightened up. “Good. That was good.”
“You’re okay?” she asked.
“I’m not hurt or anything.”
“Good.”
“Okay, which one of you put in the call?”
It was then that I got a look at the officer for the first time. He was young, with a blond crew cut that would have made him look even younger if it weren’t for the nearly palpable aura of authority that he radiated. That reminded me of Justin and I felt my eyes start to well up. I tried to focus and looked at his nameplate: Officer Lovell.
I raised my hand when I had gotten a grip on myself. “I did. Justin’s back there, past the spoils heap—”
“The what?”
“The…pile of dirt right there. He’s past that, under some bushes.”
He gave me a stern look. “Did you touch anything?”
“No, nothing.”
“Is this the only way in?”
“Pretty much. We have to walk all the way around the house to get here; we used to just cut through a space in the shrubs at the front, but they asked us not to do that. It detracted from the experience, was what Fee said.”
Lovell glanced at the space I indicated, which was just narrow enough to slide through sideways, if you really wanted to. Most people wouldn’t want to. “Okay, that’s still a possible entrance though. Did you check his pulse?”
“No, I didn’t get close enough. I…the smell….”
He cut me off with an abrupt gesture that suggested he was afraid that I might throw up or start crying or something worse. “Okay, okay, never mind. Stay put. You,” he indicated Bucky. “Give your statement to Officer Hill over there. I’ll be right back.” He picked his way carefully across the uneven mounds of dirt and was lost in the shrubbery.
It was then that Ted Cressey showed up for work. He was about five ten, narrowly built, tidy little hands, and a head full of graying hair. His brown trousers and white shirt were both pressed, and the shirt was tucked in with care. His face reminded me of a wood carving that hadn’t been sanded all the way down, a little rough, a little lined, with good teeth that showed when he smiled. When he saw the police, he stopped in his tracks and almost turned around, then caught himself, and asked Officer Hill what was going on. He looked over at me and said something I couldn’t hear.
Lovell returned from Justin, looking sober.
“Do you know who he is?”
“His name’s Justin Fisher. He’s a security guard here at the house.”
“Know him well?”
“No, just to say hi to, talk to. I gave him some advice about a paper he was working on in one of his classes.”
“Who are you? You work here too?”
“My name’s Emma Fielding. I’m working here now, contracting, as an archaeologist, but I teach full time at Caldwell College in Maine.”
Officer Lovell looked up from his notes. “You live in Maine?”
“No, I wish. I live over in Lawton.”
He frowned. “And what’s wrong with Lawton?”
I was surprised by this. “Nothing, nothing’s wrong with Lawton. It’s just…my
Bucky was still back there.
The police cars were parked, and I was aware of someone getting out. All I knew was that I couldn’t leave Bucky alone any longer, so I said, “I called, he’s back here,” and hurried around the house the long way around.
Bucky was where I left her, now fully awake, gray as the oversized sweatshirt she clutched around herself, and staringfixedly at some point past the spoils heap. She started when I called her name, and I knew I shouldn’t have left her by herself for so long.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Yeah. Fine.” She frowned and shrugged my arm off her shoulder. “Cops here?”
I stepped back and stooped to check the knot on my bootlace. “Yeah, right behind me. I just wanted to make sure you were all right.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t see anything, I didn’t do anything. I just did exactly what you said.”
I straightened up. “Good. That was good.”
“You’re okay?” she asked.
“I’m not hurt or anything.”
“Good.”
“Okay, which one of you put in the call?”
It was then that I got a look at the officer for the first time. He was young, with a blond crew cut that would have made him look even younger if it weren’t for the nearly palpable aura of authority that he radiated. That reminded me of Justin and I felt my eyes start to well up. I tried to focus and looked at his nameplate: Officer Lovell.
I raised my hand when I had gotten a grip on myself. “I did. Justin’s back there, past the spoils heap—”
“The what?”
“The…pile of dirt right there. He’s past that, under some bushes.”
He gave me a stern look. “Did you touch anything?”
“No, nothing.”
“Is this the only way in?”
“Pretty much. We have to walk all the way around the house to get here; we used to just cut through a space in the shrubs at the front, but they asked us not to do that. It detracted from the experience, was what Fee said.”
Lovell glanced at the space I indicated, which was just narrow enough to slide through sideways, if you really wanted to. Most people wouldn’t want to. “Okay, that’s still a possible entrance though. Did you check his pulse?”
“No, I didn’t get close enough. I…the smell….”
He cut me off with an abrupt gesture that suggested he was afraid that I might throw up or start crying or something worse. “Okay, okay, never mind. Stay put. You,” he indicated Bucky. “Give your statement to Officer Hill over there. I’ll be right back.” He picked his way carefully across the uneven mounds of dirt and was lost in the shrubbery.
It was then that Ted Cressey showed up for work. He was about five ten, narrowly built, tidy little hands, and a head full of graying hair. His brown trousers and white shirt were both pressed, and the shirt was tucked in with care. His face reminded me of a wood carving that hadn’t been sanded all the way down, a little rough, a little lined, with good teeth that showed when he smiled. When he saw the police, he stopped in his tracks and almost turned around, then caught himself, and asked Officer Hill what was going on. He looked over at me and said something I couldn’t hear.
Lovell returned from Justin, looking sober.
“Do you know who he is?”
“His name’s Justin Fisher. He’s a security guard here at the house.”
“Know him well?”
“No, just to say hi to, talk to. I gave him some advice about a paper he was working on in one of his classes.”
“Who are you? You work here too?”
“My name’s Emma Fielding. I’m working here now, contracting, as an archaeologist, but I teach full time at Caldwell College in Maine.”
Officer Lovell looked up from his notes. “You live in Maine?”
“No, I wish. I live over in Lawton.”
He frowned. “And what’s wrong with Lawton?”
I was surprised by this. “Nothing, nothing’s wrong with Lawton. It’s just…my
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