Chapter 10

TEN

FEbrUARY 2023

Whatcom County

Longbow insisted on driving the two of them over to the scene in his SUV. Perhaps it was his way of telling himself he was still easing Lucas back in gently, despite bringing him into what was pretty clearly a murder investigation in his first ten minutes back on the job.

"You know, Mike, if you want to talk about anything…"

"Thank you," Lucas said quickly, cutting him off. "I appreciate that, Sheriff."

They drove north, beyond the outskirts of town and into the country. The trees were still bare, their skeletal fingers reaching up into a sky the color of gunmetal. Longbow slowed as they reached the turn that would take them to the bridge over the creek. He slowed even more as the bridge came into view. There was a black-and-white patrol car parked across the road, though there was no sign of Deputy Cooney.

Longbow parked up at the side of the road and they got out. The air seemed colder out here than it had back in town. Lucas could see his breath. He turned up the collar of his coat and started to walk toward the parked patrol car, pausing when he heard the sound of an engine back at the main road. He looked back down the road and saw the coroner's van make the turn.

As they reached the bridge, Lucas peered down the slope to the creek that flowed beneath. Deputy Cooney was standing just below the crest of the hill. Twenty feet farther down the slope, there was the body of a woman, lying in the shallows at the edge of the water.

She was naked, face down in the water. Her blonde hair was trailing with the westward current. The overcast sky and the surroundings made Lucas feel like he was looking at a monochrome image—the bleached hair, the skin so pale it was almost the color of the sky reflected in the water.

Lucas became conscious of Cooney's eyes on him. He looked over at him, and the younger deputy looked away. That was one of the problems of life in a relatively small department: everyone always knew everyone else's business.

Or thought they did.

Cooney cleared his throat. "Kids found it. One of the moms called it in."

Longbow looked around. Only the three of them were there. "You talk to her yet?"

"No, sir. I called you as soon as I got out here."

Longbow glanced down at the body again, and then over at Lucas. "Mike, are you sure…?"

Lucas sighed. "Take the kid gloves off, Sheriff. Let's go take a look."

Being careful to keep his footing, Lucas descended the steep slope, reaching the water line in a matter of seconds. He glanced behind him to see Longbow following in his footsteps with a little more difficulty. Deputy Cooney was standing by the body. Lucas realized he had removed his hat, and was holding it absently against his chest, like a mourner at a funeral.

"First body dump?"

Cooney blinked and nodded. "Yes sir. First one."

Lucas reached out, pulled the kid's hat out of his grasp, and put it back on his head. "You get used to it after two or three."

He knelt to get a closer look at the body, careful not to touch it. The woman was half-submerged, the face fully underwater. There were yellowed bruises on the arms and back. Lucas took a closer look at the right arm that was outstretched. It looked as though the woman was trying to swim, even though he knew that was just the position it had come to rest in after it had been dumped off the bridge. One of the fingers seemed to be curled. Then he realized it wasn't curled, it was missing.

"What is it?" Longbow asked, out of breath and looking relieved as he finally reached the water's edge.

"Somebody cut one of her fingers off," Lucas said. "And she's been beaten." He indicated the bruising on her back and arms. The bruises varied in color and in contrast. "Not just one incident, this happened over a longer period."

"You think she killed herself?"

Lucas turned at the sound of Cooney's voice. He had almost forgotten the kid was there.

"Say again?"

Cooney pointed up at the bridge.

"Maybe she was, you know…depressed."

"Arnie," Longbow said sharply, before Lucas could say anything. The kid snapped to attention. Longbow pointed up at the road. "Get up there and wait for the coroner."

When Deputy Cooney had retreated back up the hill, Longbow turned back to him.

"I'm sorry, Mike. He didn't mean anything by it."

This time, Lucas didn't even acknowledge the unasked-for sympathy.

"Thing about suicides," Lucas said, his voice even. "They don't ordinarily leave the house naked in February and walk five miles from the nearest town to kill themselves. Somebody beat her, tortured her and killed her. He was holding her for days."

"Holding her?" Longbow repeated.

Lucas gestured at the outstretched arm. Longbow had focused on the missing finger, the way Lucas had at first too.

"Ligature marks around the wrists. Looks like cable ties, not cuffs. This is a kidnap and kill."

The engine of the coroner's van sounded above them and they heard doors open and close.

"I'm out of the loop, do we have any live missing persons cases?"

Longbow shook his head. Nothing.

"Which suggests she's not local," Lucas said. "First thing we need to do is work out who she is and where she's from."

"Could be difficult," Longbow said. "No clothes, no ID. Probably a hooker. The perp could have picked her up in Tacoma, brought her out here for a good time, dumped her. Maybe there's nobody to miss her, easy prey."

Lucas shook his head. "I don't think so. Look at the hair and nails." He gestured at the body. "She took care of herself. Like I said, she's not local, but somebody's missing her."

The coroner investigator appeared at the top of the hill; a tall, wide-built man in his forties who looked like he'd be more at home doing manual labor than the thankless task of retrieving bodies from wherever they fell and working out how they met their maker.

Longbow beckoned him down. He descended the hill with more grace than Longbow had mustered, despite being encumbered with a large bag full of equipment.

Longbow introduced Lucas, and the coroner shook his hand and identified himself as BoydSutherland. He gave the body a look over and snapped a few preliminary photos.

"Anybody touch the body?" he said without looking up from his work.

"It's as it was when Deputy Cooney found it," Longbow replied.

"Good."

Sutherland yelled up to his partner to bring the litter down and then asked for Lucas's help carefully pulling the body out of the river, handing him a pair of latex gloves. Lucas grimaced, thinking about how he had just polished his shoes this morning, but stepped into the freezing flow to help move the body. Boyd Sutherland directed him to get the feet while he reached under the dead woman's arms to lift her from the water.

The body was surprisingly light. They moved it over to the bank, where Sutherland's partner had laid out the litter.

"It's your lucky day," Sutherland said, addressing Longbow. "We have an empty dance card today so we should be able to schedule your Jane Doe in this afternoon."

"I'd like to sit in," Longbow said, before casting a hesitant glance at Lucas.

"Yeah, we'll be there," Lucas said. "Soon as I pick up a new pair of shoes."

Sutherland glanced down at his own waterproof boots and grinned. "Be prepared, right?"

Lucas shook the water off his hands and peeled the gloves off as he watched Sutherland and his partner carefully scale the slope again with the body on the litter.

"Mike," Longbow said, "I don't mind covering the autopsy if you want to go home and change."

"Boss, with all due respect, you treating me like your frail grandma is going to get old real quick. I'll meet you at the chop shop. Now…" He gestured up at the slope. "You want me to go get a winch to get you back up there?"

Longbow couldn't help but laugh. "Fuck you."