Chapter One

"I just had the most extraordinary call," Kate said as she looked at the two people in front of her. But they didn't express any interest.

Jack was sitting on one of the blue couches, his long legs stretched out, and looking at the screen on his laptop. Kate wasn't used to his new look, but he'd only been back a few days. He'd spent months in the wilds of Colorado, building and hunting, and it had changed his body. Now he was leaner, more agile, and as difficult as it was to believe, he was more muscular.

Besides the physical, he'd changed in other ways too. Last night he'd said... Her heart seemed to do a little jump at the memory of his words. They'd had years of friendship, of laughing together, working, figuring out problems, but last night, "friends" wasn't what he'd meant.

When Jack felt her staring at him, he started to turn his head, and Kate quickly looked at her aunt. Sara was on the other couch and bent over one of her notebooks, colored gel pens in hand and writing fast. Maybe it was the quiet of the lockdown they'd just been through, but lately she'd been writing more. Years ago, her aunt had retired from a long, successful career of writing romance novels as Sara Medlar. "The waitress genre of the publishing world," she said. "Everyone looks down on us but we take care of them all." She said that the abundant sales of romance novels made it possible to publish the "literary" works, meaning books that made little money but might possibly live forever. Kate didn't know what her aunt had been writing lately, but she was absorbed by it.

Annoyed by the way they were ignoring her, Kate said louder, "Truly extraordinary!"

Jack gave a bit of a nod and Sara lifted her chin about half an inch, but that was all.

"Old house," Kate whispered, knowing that those words would get the attention of both of them.

It took a moment, but Sara looked up at her niece. It took Jack longer. He was Sara's "honorary grandson," the actual grandson of the man Sara had long ago loved and lost.

The three of them lived in Sara's big house, each with a private area. But since Jack had returned just days ago, the three of them had not wanted to be apart.

"What old house?" Jack asked. He was a building contractor and specialized in restoring old places.

Kate was glad to finally have their attention. "That was Melissa, and she said some man gave me a listing." Melissa and Kate were Realtors. "He specifically asked for me and said he won't accept anyone else. I don't know the house, but Melissa said it's magnificent." She knew that since Jack and Sara had been born in the little town, they were sure to know of it. She took a breath to give drama to her announcement. "It's Lachlan House."

She waited for exclamations of surprise and delight, but there were none. Jack looked back at his computer and Sara at her notebook.

"Turn it down," he said. "It's not a good investment."

"A white elephant," Sara said. "Nobody will want it."

"Are you kidding? Melissa said it's a million-dollar listing. Where is it? I assume it's here in Lachlan but—" She broke off because her phone dinged. Melissa had sent photos of the house and Kate paused to look at them.

As it sounded, the house was big. It was two stories, with a long one-story wing to the side. The center entrance was dramatic, with a huge door surrounded by white marble. Tall windows and a covered portico were upstairs. It was, without a doubt, a true mansion. An estate.

There was a page of stats. Eighty-two hundred square feet, six bedrooms, seven-and-a-half baths. There was also a two-bedroom guesthouse and a one-bedroom gardener's cottage and a three-car garage, all on three acres. The description ended with "No pool. Needs repair." Since the whole house was draped in Florida's floral attempt to reclaim the land, yes, it needed some work.

As Kate looked at the photos, it was as though her mind started drifting. She sat down on the arm of Sara's couch. "I wonder who wrote this description." She spoke so softly she could hardly be heard. "This makes the house sound cold and unfeeling. It doesn't even mention the ballroom. It's in the wing and it has glorious doors that open out to the fountain. And there's the Palm Room. It's a library." Her voice was rising. "And what about the bedrooms upstairs? And the rooms at the top? Why aren't they in the listing? Who cares if there's no swimming pool?" She was almost shouting. "And what about the basement? That's where all those bottles are. Dad said—"

The mention of her father brought her back to earth. She looked up, blinking.

Sara and Jack had swiveled about, feet on the floor, and were looking at her with interest and some shock.

Kate looked from one to the other. "What?!"

Sara gave a little smile—the kind you give to a person who is on the verge of going insane. "Nice house, is it?"

Kate turned to Jack. He looked like he was about to pour her some tequila and tell her everything was going to be all right. "Stop looking at me like that. It's a big old house. You know I love them. I must have seen this one somewhere."

"So when do you plan to visit it?" Sara's voice was full of patience.

Kate narrowed her eyes. "Why should I go at all? You two—in all your great wisdom—told me to not take the listing. I guess I'll turn it over to Melissa."

"Would she even know what a ballroom is?" Melissa was not Sara's favorite person. "What if we go see it together? How about right now?"

Kate was still smarting over the way they'd ignored her, and too, she was bothered by her own reaction to the photos.

When her niece was silent, Sara gave Jack a look to take over, then she picked up her phone and went to the kitchen. She called her brother, Randal, Kate's father. "I need you to meet with us. Now."

"Can't," he said. "I have a client in half an hour. She—"

"I don't need the details," Sara snapped. Randal was a personal trainer and it seemed that every woman over fifty who lived north of Miami booked him to go to her house. Just the two of them. "You must come."

"I can be there after this session, then I'll—"

"Kate was given the listing to sell Lachlan House. And she seems to know the place. Of course that has to do with you, so—"

"I'll meet you there as soon as possible." He cut off the call.

Jack stepped into the kitchen. "What's this about?"

"I have no idea, but as soon as she said ‘Dad,' I knew my brother was involved."

"So Kate saw the old house in the past and she remembers it. She's your relative and you remember houses more than people. Why does that bother you?"

"I don't know why, but I have a creepy feeling about this. Cal used to work there when we were in high school. He and James Lachlan—the man who built the house—were friends." Cal was Jack's late grandfather, the man Sara loved.

"That's probably why the listing is being given to Kate. For the connection. And if she went there with her dad, it all fits."

"I guess," Sara said.

"Get your camera and lots of batteries, and we'll go see this house. Last time I drove past it, it looked like gators had taken it over. It's probably bulldoze material."

When she didn't reply, he put his arm around her small shoulders. "Afraid of the memories?"

She nodded but said nothing.

"Come on," he coaxed in his deep voice. "Don't you have a new camera and some fancy new lenses?"

"I do," she said.

"Who's going to drive?" came Kate's voice from the entryway. She was ready to leave.

Sara and Jack broke apart, and she hurried to her suite of rooms to get her ever-ready camera bag. She made sure her new Sony a1 and the 20mm f1.8 GM lens were in there. She shoved in half a dozen batteries and ran to catch up with Jack and Kate, who were already in his truck. Like always, she sat on the end, with Kate in the middle. Of course, Jack drove.

Unusual for the trio, they rode in silence. Sara was aware of the tension between Jack and Kate—and she was pleased by it. Until a few days ago, he and Kate had acted like brother and sister. But when Jack returned from months away, bearded and smelling of wood smoke and sawdust, things had changed. Now Jack rarely looked at Kate, but she kept stealing glances at him.

It all made Sara smile. Her niece and Cal's grandson. She couldn't hope for any more in life.

"You're sure this is the right way?" Kate asked.

Jack didn't answer, so Sara did. "Lachlan House used to be on a few hundred acres. Mr. Lachlan had a citrus grove, but after he died, pieces of land were sold off. For this." She waved her hand to indicate the houses around them. They were nice, middle-class houses, obviously built at the same time, probably by the same builder.

They went around a curve in the road and there it was: Lachlan House.

Jack stopped the truck at the end of the long driveway and they looked at it. The wide brick house was covered in vines from the ground to the roof. Parts of it could barely be seen.

Sara remembered it in its glory in the 1960s, when she and Cal spent time there. He mowed while she pulled weeds in the flower beds. She wasn't paid for her work, but then she and Cal just wanted to be together.

"Looks better than I thought it would," Jack said. "I don't see any holes in the roof."

"It's the most beautiful house on earth," Kate said. "Let's go in!"

She was leaning so far forward that Jack looked behind her to Sara and raised his eyebrows. They were both curious as to what Kate knew. And from when?

Jack rolled the truck down the drive as he leaned on the steering wheel and studied the house with a builder's eye. It was good that the windows were intact, not smashed by kids taking dares.

When the truck stopped, Sara got down quickly. She was afraid Kate might climb over her in eagerness to get to the house. While Sara got her camera equipment out, Jack followed Kate to the front door. "There's no lockbox," he said as he tried the big knob.

Kate pulled a handful of plants away from the brick wall. "I don't think these vines have done much damage, but then, the house is well constructed. Dad might know the year it was built." She'd exposed the brick facade enough to see a small lead ornament that had a hinge on top. Without a break in talking, Kate lifted it, pulled out a big key, and handed it to Jack. "Once these vines are removed, I think you'll see that the house is in good condition. There's always been a caretaker. I'll have to ask Melissa who called and asked for me."

Jack turned the key, opened the door, and Kate briskly stepped past him and went inside. Jack and Sara followed her.

"This is it!" Kate was twirling about in a circle, her arms outstretched. She was like a child at play.

They were in a two-story entrance before a beautiful curved staircase with an ornate iron railing. On the ground floor, doors led off in three directions. The house appeared to be furnished, but sparsely.

"That's the ballroom." Kate pointed left. "The living room is that way. Aunt Sara, there's an office off the living room, but come through here first." She started toward the far doors, but halted, frowning at a wall. "Where's the big cabinet? It was the best hiding spot. Greer and I used it." Kate kept going.

Jack and Sara looked at each other and mouthed Greer? Jack nodded to the shape that was outlined on the wall. It showed that something large had been there. They hurried after Kate.

"The big dining room is that way. They had dinner in there because the man wanted it, but we liked to eat in here." She went through a doorway to enter a pretty room with a half-round wall and tall windows. A round oak dining table and chairs filled the space.

Through the windows, they could see a tangle of weeds outside. "There's a fountain in that mess," Sara said.

"There is!" Kate replied happily. She was looking about the room. The two built-in cabinets in the corners were empty. "The dishes are missing!" She sounded angry. "They had pink flowers on them. The kitchen is this way." She ran out of the room.

Sara was staring out the window and Jack went to stand beside her. "Remind you of when you were here with Granddad?"

"Yes. There's a round pool and it was always filled with moss. Cal and I cleaned it out."

"This hasn't changed!" Kate called to them.

Jack took Sara's hand and kissed the back of it. "Come on and let's see what the kid is up to now."

Sara laughed. Kate did sound like she was about six years old. "I want to know who ‘the man' is."

"I bet Randal will know," Jack said.

"I'm sure he does."

They walked through to the kitchen, then stood there with grimaces on their faces. Worn out linoleum was on the countertops, and half the cabinet doors were missing. The kitchen was an awful place. The only redeeming factor was the heavy oak table in the center.

Usually, Kate looked at houses with the eyes of a remodeler. How did she make it livable enough to sell? But she seemed to be seeing this kitchen as though it was a beauty with granite countertops and maple cabinets. She ran her hand down a deep, long cut in the tabletop. "I did that. Rachel said I could use a knife. I think she meant a fruit knife, but I..." Kate trailed off.

"Used a meat cleaver?" Sara asked.

"I did."

"Glad you still have your fingers," Jack said.

"That's just what Barbara said. And Uncle Roy said that if he'd been here, he would have tanned my hide. We can use the back stairs to go up." She didn't wait for a reply, just disappeared through a doorway.

"Uncle Roy?" Sara asked Jack.

He looked at her with wide eyes. The only Roy they knew was Jack's late father, Roy Wyatt.

They heard Kate's footsteps above them and hurried up to the second floor. She'd already opened several doors. "A lot of the furniture is gone." She sounded ready to do battle.

"If the land was sold, maybe the furniture had to go too," Sara said. "Who used all these bedrooms?"

"Barbara was in here, Lea here, the man in that one and the big bedroom was Billy's." Kate disappeared inside the last room.

Sara and Jack were staring in astonishment.

"How does she remember people?" Jack asked. "She couldn't have been too old when she was here."

Sara knew what he meant. When Kate was four, she was taken from Florida and spent the next twenty years living outside Chicago. "It had to be before she left here."

"I don't remember what happened when I was four. Do you?"

"Oh yes," Sara said. "And I've put every memory in my books. Who is Billy? And ‘the man'? Not to mention all the other people. I've counted seven so far." Sara opened another door to see a small bedroom with twin beds. "Kate!" she called. "Where did you and your dad stay?"

Kate came back to the hall. "That's the one." She meant the room Sara was looking into. "Now for my favorite room on this floor."

As Jack and Sara followed her to the end of the hall, they paused to look into the bedrooms. It was obvious that they had once been beautifully decorated, but the furniture that was still there was scuffed and rickety and very dusty. You could write your name on the surfaces. The rooms were sad copies of what they had once been.

"The bedroom she and Randal stayed in is a servant's room," Sara said to Jack. "My guess is that when my brother worked for Mrs. Meyers, he and Kate came here with her for a visit."

"Sounds like there were a lot of people here."

"A good, old-fashioned Edwardian house party."

The dreamy way Sara said it made Jack shake his head. "Are we living in one of your books?"

"We should be so lucky."

"Come on!" Kate called, and they went to her. She was standing by the double doors of a beautiful room. The wallpaper was of huge jungle plants. There were shelves filled with books, DVDs in cases, and neatly labeled VHS tapes. The furniture was a desk and chair, a couch, and a big leather recliner that faced a white screen.

"It's a movie room." Sara was turning around to look at it.

"It's a time capsule," Jack muttered, and not in a good way. "It's a bit freaky for me."

Sara's attention was caught by the framed paintings on the wall. They were street scenes of somewhere in South America. None of them were very big, but they were original oils. She went to one of them. "I may be wrong but I think these are Brazilian. In fact, I think most everything in this room was made in Brazil." Sara had done a lot of traveling in her long life.

"Anything valuable?" Jack asked.

"Possibly."

"I always thought the pictures were pretty." Kate sounded defensive. "Who wants to see the secret rooms?"

Sara and Jack looked at her in amazement. She did sound like a child.

"You know me," Sara said. "I love secrets."

"As long as they're not yours," Jack said, then hurried after Kate as she left the pretty room.

Sara stayed behind. As a true introvert, she recognized that the room was someone's sanctuary. It had been created as a haven, a place to get away from the outside world. She looked at the titles on the movies. Some were commercial hits, but Sara recognized a few titles for the obscure, cultlike movies that they were. She'd seen several of them.

Reluctantly, she went to the doorway. She very much wanted to stay there. "Who are you?" she whispered. "Who created this hideaway?" If land and furniture had been sold, probably for the need of money, why was this room left untouched, even to leaving valuable paintings on the walls?

As she gave one last look around, a curtain moved, yet there was no wind. Sara smiled. Ghosts? If so, they certainly didn't scare her. One thing about aging was that it made you feel closer to the spirit world.

She went back into the hall and called out, "Where are you two?"

What looked to be a wallpapered panel swung out to show Jack standing at the bottom of a flight of narrow stairs.

"Oooooh," she said. "Secret stairs. Secret rooms. I'm in love."

At the top of the stairs, Jack stopped by a closed door. It was painted white and in good condition. "Another untouched room?" Sara asked.

"You're going to like this one." With a flourish, he opened the door.

Inside was a children's playroom. It was big and dusty and there were some cobwebs, but they couldn't hide the beauty of the space. The hardwood floor had a large, handloomed rug that showed a Florida swamp. Alligators, flamingos, blue herons, and fish were peeping from under dense foliage.

There were toys everywhere, mostly wooden but a few metal trucks. To one side was a two-seater glider painted blue and white. One wall was all windows with a deep seat under it. The cushions matched the colors in the big rug. Shelves were filled with books and soft toys.

Kate was in front of the books. "I know all of these. Everyone read them to me. Barbara was the best. She could make any animal sound."

Jack picked up a metal truck and looked at Sara.

She was studying the room with an historian's eye. "My guess is that it was made in the nineteen twenties, and it doesn't seem to have been changed since then. It's yet another time capsule."

"Whose was it?" He was speaking to Kate but she didn't seem to hear him.

"Two boys," Sara said. "There's two of everything and no dolls anywhere. I think the duplications were someone trying to stop brotherly wars."

Jack looked at the truck in his hand and his eyes filled with sadness. His half brother, Evan, had been killed in a crash. In Jack's truck. He put the toy down.

"Kate, do you know whose room this was?" Sara asked.

She came out of her reverie and looked around. "Maybe Mr. Lachlan's son? Dad might know."

"Might know what?"

As often happened, Randal Medlar had arrived and no one heard him. He was a man for whom the term "silver fox" was created. He was in his sixties, very handsome, and built like the gym instructor he was. Women, young and old, stopped and stared at him.

"Took you long enough," Sara said. She was not in awe of her brother.

"I was all the way over by the Galleria." He looked around the room. "This certainly brings back memories."

"Want to share them?" Sara asked.

"Kate and I came here with Mrs. Meyers. That was an exhausting week! Every woman here thought I was her personal butler. I was running from dawn to midnight."

"So you left your young child alone and she played with a meat cleaver?" Sara said.

Randal wasn't bothered by his older sister's criticism. "Trying to control Kate was like holding on to a greased eel. Besides, she was adored by every one of the guests." He looked at his daughter with fondness and she smiled back. "So Billy is putting the place up for sale?"

"Who is Billy?" Jack asked.

"I guess you'd call him the caretaker. His older brothers gave him this place to look after. He said it was to keep him out of their hair. He was a wonderful conversationalist. He—"

"Who is ‘the man' Kate mentioned?" Jack asked.

"That would be—"

"Look!" Kate said. "There's Reid's toolbox and—" She gasped. "It's my dog!" She bent down to pick up a little wooden dachshund on wheels, but the string disappeared under a door and couldn't be pulled out. She tried the knob. It turned but the door didn't open. "It's stuck." She looked at Jack, eyes asking for help. "It's a door to a closet with some old clothes in it."

He went to her and examined the narrow door. "Somebody's put caulking around it and sealed the door shut. That's odd."

Kate was still bent over the toy dog.

"We could cut the string."

"Jack!" Sara sounded disbelieving.

He gave her a smile to let her know he was kidding. On the floor to his left was the wooden toolbox. "I'll rescue the critter in seconds. Stand back." His tone was exaggerated, teasing.

There was a chisel in the toolbox, pitted from years of lack of use, but serviceable, and a ball-peen hammer. It took him a few minutes, but he went around the whole door and chipped away the old caulking.

Still teasing, he looked at Kate. "Ready for the big reveal?" Like a game show host, he turned the knob and pulled the door open in front of him. "It's all yours."

When the other three didn't move, he looked from one face to another. They were staring at the inside of the closet. Color was draining from their faces. Jack saw Kate's face grow pale, and he stepped forward. "Are you okay?"

She stood up straight. "No, I'm not," she whispered.

Jack still had his back to the closet and he looked at Randal, who nodded toward what Jack had just exposed. He turned toward it.

Inside was a skeleton. It had on the remnants of a tuxedo and was being held upright by hooks over the suspenders.

The skull had a full head of thick, black hair. The arms hung down, the skinless hands exposed below sleeves that were tattered. The shirt still had an onyx cuff link. The shredded trousers showed one bony knee, then led down to leather shoes that were still tied.

Kate was the first to speak. "Maybe he was hiding and no one found him."

"And didn't miss him?" Sara asked. "But maybe they thought he'd left so they didn't look for him."

"Yes!" Kate agreed. "This room was kept locked. Rachel used to open it for me."

"She would." Randal sounded sarcastic. He looked at Jack. "I believe that's a wallet by his shoe."

Jack went to the toolbox, picked up an old-fashioned folding rule, and opened it to full extension. He flipped the wallet without touching the skeleton, then picked it up and looked at the ID. He turned to Randal and said, "Derek Oliver."

Sara glared at her brother. "Oliver!" She knew her brother had once worked for a Mrs. Oliver—and things had gone missing. "So he was there at your party?"

Randal gave a brief nod.

"I should have known this was about you," Sara said. "It's all about those blasted jewels you stole, isn't it?"

Randal was unperturbed by his sister's anger. He'd had many years of dealing with it. "As I've told you, I didn't steal any jewels. I gave what I did find, which was a pittance of what I'd seen, to the others. The only piece I had, I gave to my daughter."

Sara didn't give up. "If there are jewels involved, it has to do with you."

"I didn't do this!" Randal was getting louder. "I was too busy taking care of the women to deal with what Derek said he was going to do to me."

Sara gasped. "He was threatening you?"

"He did make a few rather colorful suggestions as to what he'd do to me if I didn't give him what had been stolen from his stepmother. He said—"

Jack cut him off. "No one noticed that this man disappeared during the house party?"

"It was over twenty years ago," Randal said. "I don't remember where Derek Oliver was every minute of every day." As always, he hadn't quite answered the question.

Kate said, "Lea told me he went home. She was so happy! She and I blew up balloons together."

They turned to look at her.

"The word of a four-year-old is more reliable than yours," Sara said to her brother.

Randal smiled at his daughter. "Everything is better with Kate."

"I hate to interrupt this little family lovefest," Jack said, "but we need to tell someone about this."

At that, their faces fell. The Broward County sheriff's office already called their little town Murder City—and any other names they could come up with. What excuse would the Medlar-Wyatt gang give this time? That they were trying to release a toy dog and a skeleton appeared?

They were standing in silence, dreading what was coming, when they heard a creaking sound. They turned toward the skeleton. In extreme slow motion, the bony creature began to fall forward, pulling against the rotting suspenders.

The four of them held their breaths.

The old suspenders didn't snap, just gave way, and the skeleton slowly fell out of the closet. It hit the floor in an explosion of shattering clothes, with bones grotesquely scattering.

The pile of human remains on the floor was such a macabre sight that they didn't move. Kate and Sara stood close together.

Then, to their shock, with a clunking sound, the skull came off and rolled across the wooden floor. They watched it in fascinated horror. When it came to a toy box decorated with clown pictures, it stopped.

Sara started to take a step forward, but then halted. The show wasn't over yet.

The skull teetered to the side, and the hair, a toupee, came off and fell into a ratty pile. With the weight of the hair gone, the skull tipped backward. Then, like a broken glass ball, the barren bones fell into two pieces. The jaw didn't move, but the top, above the eye sockets, fell back. The skull opened like it was hinged, exposing rough saw marks all around. As the skull fell back, out spilled sparkling jewels. A couple of bracelets, a few earrings, and one ring with a very large green stone tumbled out.

Hypnotized, no one moved, just stared.

A ray of sun came through the grimy windows and hit the emerald ring. It seemed to wink at them as though to say, "Glad to meet you."

Sara, who was experienced in imagining how things were done, knew that someone had sawed open the skull, removed the brain, filled the cavity with jewelry, then... What? Glued it all back together? "I think I'll sit down," she said.

"Me too." Kate and her aunt sat close together on the nearby window seat.

"Are those jewels from...?" Sara asked her brother.

"Yes," he said. "I recognize those pieces. They were owned by Mrs. Oliver. It's not all of them, but some."

Jack hadn't stopped staring at the skull. "What's that?" He was pointing to a fuzzy bit of fabric that appeared to have eyes.

Randal looked at it in astonishment. "I think that's what's left of Kate's hedgehog." He turned to her. "Remember it? When you lost it, you were crying so hard. Lea was rocking you." He looked at his sister.

"It's the one I gave her?" Sara asked softly.

Randal nodded.

Jack spoke up. "I think the jewels were inside it. Could it have fit in a brain cavity?"

"I don't know from personal experience," Randal said quickly, "but I think so."

"So someone put jewels in Kate's stuffed animal, then..." Jack said.

"Then shoved it into Derek Oliver's skull," Randal said.

"After sawing it in half." Jack glanced at the toolbox.

"And after removing the brain," Sara added. "It, uh, took up space so it had to go." She was swallowing hard.

The men were standing in front of the women on the window seat. No one wanted to look back at what was on the floor.

"Who's going to call Sheriff Flynn?" Kate asked.

"Jack," Sara said. "He's the alpha male. He should do it."

"In normal circumstances," Randal said, "I'd resent that, but in this case I don't even want to be a beta male. D minus is my speed."

"Speaking of alpha," Jack said, "who is Uncle Roy?"

"Your father," Randal said.

"He was here?"

"Yes." Randal's tone told that he was tired of defending his friend. "Often. Your father wasn't always in a tavern starting fights."

"My mother wouldn't agree with that. She divorced him because—"

"Hey!" Sara said. "Let's stay on track. Who is going to call Sheriff Flynn?"

They were silent for a moment, then all heads turned toward Kate.

"Why me?" she asked in a whine.

"Because he adores you," Randal said. Sara and Jack nodded in agreement.

Kate sighed. "Okay, but who is going to tell Billy that we found a skeleton in his house? And that he is a suspect for murder?"

"We don't know when this happened," Randal said. He'd had a lifetime of false accusations—and some not false.

Sara paid no attention to him. "I think it's safe to assume that Derek Oliver was murdered during that house party, which means that everyone who was there is a suspect." She looked at Jack. "Even if he or she is no longer alive." She meant his father.

Randal spoke up. "Once Flynn gets here, we can leave and go see Billy. He's bound to know something about this. Bodies can't just be stuck in a closet and left there undetected. They tend to...well..."

"Right," Sara said. "They decay."

"Last I heard, he was in the Shadow Palms nursing home," Randal said. "It's not far away."

"You're saying we're to leave Sheriff Flynn alone with the body?" Sara asked. That sounded nicer than saying "the bones of Derek Oliver."

The two men turned to glance at the skeleton, then back at Sara. "You want to take some photos?" Randal said.

"You mean before Broward shows up, takes everything away, and tells us it never existed?"

"That was on my mind, yes," Randal said.

Sara's camera bag was by the door. "I have two cameras with me and you guys have phones. Let's cover every inch of this room, then send the pictures through to the cloud. They won't be able to tell us that we made it all up."

"Sounds like a good plan," Jack said. "What cameras do you have?"