Chapter Two

CHAPTER TWO

ROY HASN'T LEFT his post. They arrive quickly. He sees the police cruiser speed down the gravel road and waves vigorously from atop his tractor. The cruiser comes to a stop at the side of the road. Two men in uniform get out and walk quickly across the field toward him. He'd called the police chief in Fairhill, Mike Hall. With him is Officer Chris Shepherd. Together they make up the town's entire police force. Roy watches them approach. As they get closer, the dog begins to run toward the officers, but Roy calls her back and makes her sit. They come up alongside the big tractor.

Hall glances at him and says, ‘Roy,' and he and his officer step closer to the dead girl. The two men stop and stand a few feet away from the body, looking down at it in deep seriousness. Roy climbs down from the tractor and joins them.

‘Jesus,' Hall says, rubbing his hand over the lower half of his face.

Shepherd doesn't say anything, just stares. Roy glances at him, thinks he looks like he might throw up.

Hall says, ‘That's the Brewer girl.'

‘We need to cover her up,' Roy manages. His voice is uneven, and he clears his throat.

‘No, we're not touching anything,' Hall says.

‘I saw the birds,' Roy says.

Hall nods. He's older than Shepherd, and better able to hide his feelings, but Roy knows Mike Hall well, and he's obviously shaken.

‘Best not get any closer,' Hall says, ‘and keep the dog back. We don't want to contaminate the scene.'

They stand in silence. Roy notices for the first time the line of deep purple bruising around the dead girl's throat. He focuses on that because he can't bear to look at her face, and it's indecent to look at her naked body, so pale against the ground. Shepherd has turned away and is drawing in deep breaths through his mouth, as if trying to compose himself. Roy and Hall both pretend they don't notice. They give the younger man space. Roy finds he wants to cry, but he won't let himself here. Not until later, when he's alone, or maybe when he's telling his wife. He thinks of his daughter, about to be married. This young girl will never walk down the aisle. That makes him think of her parents, and what they have lost.

‘She's been strangled,' Hall says. His voice draws Shepherd's attention back. He seems ready now, to face it.

But the words send a chill up Roy's spine. He can't remember anyone ever getting murdered around here. This is a safe place. People walk around alone at night. Nothing ever happens here.

‘With what, though? And where are her clothes?' Shepherd asks, his words brisk now.

It's true. She's lying naked in the field and there's no sign of her clothing, no sign of anything she might have been strangled with.

Hall nods. ‘Used a ligature of some kind. That wasn't done manually.' He looks up, away from the body, and surveys the field in all directions, then glances at Roy. ‘You notice any tracks from up there on your way in?'

Roy shakes his head. ‘No.' He looks behind him and can see only the tracks left by his tractor, imprinted on the field.

Hall follows his gaze. There's no sign of their passage either; the vegetation has sprung back and swallowed it up. ‘Someone must have carried her in here,' Hall says. He's silent for a moment. ‘We might never have found her if you hadn't taken a look, Roy.'

It doesn't make Roy feel any better.

Hall reaches for his phone. ‘I'd better call Vermont State Police – they'll get the Major Crimes Unit folks out here.'

It's early morning, the dew is still sparkling on the grass. The fields are pretty, all laid out in squares, with trees along the fence lines. I'm not sure what I'm doing here, but I'm curious. I watch a farmer in denim overalls climb down from his old red tractor, joining two other men on the ground. They're wearing police uniforms. I recognize them – it's the police chief, Mike Hall, and Officer Shepherd, who does the talks at school about the dangers of drunk driving. I wonder what they're doing here, what they're looking at. The dog is excited about something, but the farmer is holding her back.

There's something in this field, and I want to know what it is. I move closer. I'm above them, looking down. I see what they're looking at, and I don't understand at all. The girl on the ground is naked, and I'm embarrassed for her, with these three men staring at her and not a stitch on. I notice with detachment that her stomach is torn open, and her intestines are spilling out, glistening. She's not in pain, because she's clearly dead. I see where her eyes used to be and feel a muted mix of revulsion and pity. But I'm drawn closer, because despite the mutilation, I definitely recognize her face.

It's me.

But a dead and desecrated me. These men all seem very concerned.

This is a very strange dream. I want to wake up now.

Riley tries again, sending another text message to Diana. R U there? They usually try to meet in the school cafeteria before classes start. She must be running late, but it's not like Diana to ignore a text – she'd be too worried about offending a friend. Diana doesn't like to hurt anybody's feelings. She's basically an angel.

Riley leaves the cafeteria and makes her way to the first-floor girls' bathroom. She checks herself out in the mirror. Good enough. Her mother tells her she's beautiful, but Riley has no idea, really. Her mother's standards are pretty low. She doesn't know what it's like these days. Riley had to fight tooth and nail for her mother to agree to let her get her brows professionally done, but it was totally worth it. She's lucky to have good skin and hair and perfect teeth, but is she beautiful? She doesn't think so, not even on her very best days. Not beautiful like Diana. Her mom says, All you young girls are beautiful, you just won't realize it until it's too late . Her mom also tells her to focus on her brains, which pisses Riley off because it's not like she doesn't get straight As. But it's hard to know what's beautiful. It's not hard to know what's ugly. Everyone agrees on ugly. If you're ugly in high school, there's nowhere to hide. Thank God she's not ugly.

She checks her cell again but there's no message from Diana. She puts her phone in her pocket and heads for her first class – English. Mrs Acosta won't be happy if Diana is late.

Riley takes her assigned seat then waves and smiles at her friend Evan, sitting behind her. The class fills quickly with the sound of bustle and chairs scraping and knapsacks hitting the floor, kids talking. Mrs Acosta arrives and smiles at them and says, ‘Good morning,' in a bright, cheery voice, the way she always does.

The teacher looks around the class, noting every single student as she marks attendance. Mrs Acosta is a good teacher, and Riley respects her. All the good students do. The kids who diss her just want a teacher who will let them slack off. Riley doesn't want to slack off; she wants to learn. She has a brain, and she means to use it. She glances behind her again at Evan, in the back corner. Diana still hasn't arrived. Riley wonders if she's sick. She was fine yesterday. But even sick, Diana would answer her texts, she thinks uneasily.

Mrs Acosta looks over her glasses at Diana's empty seat in the middle row. She glances around the room. ‘Has anyone seen Diana this morning?'

‘No, ma'am,' Riley says. A few others shake their heads.

The teacher makes a mark on the paper and then sets it aside. But before they can begin, there's a tap on the open classroom door, and Mr Kelly, the principal, is standing there, and he looks odd, as if he's had a shock. From where she sits, Riley can also see a uniformed police officer standing out in the hall, and she feels a spurt of alarm. Mr Kelly gestures to Mrs Acosta to come out to join them. Riley looks back at Evan, and he gives her a questioning look. She turns to look at what's going on in the corridor, but suddenly the door is pulled shut from outside. There's a second of utter silence, then people start to talk. What's going on? Did you see police out there?

Riley's stomach does a flip. She's suddenly afraid it's about Diana. Diana hasn't responded to her since last night. Since she was on her way out to see her boyfriend, Cameron.