“If I offended you, I’m sorry.”
“The cabin was searched, and yes, we could have been more thorough. But aside from the carved initials, we have no evidence linking it to Audrey’s murder. It wasn’t the crime scene. It’s in the same woods, sure, but it’s a different area with different terrain.”
“When we were at the cabin, we poked around the place for a bit, but we didn’t put much effort into it,” Whitlock said. “Even so, this bone fragment is intriguing. I’ll admit we could have done a better job searching the place.”
Foley glared at Whitlock. “Thank you for stating the obvious. You’re not helping, by the way.”
“It’s possible someone went to a lot of trouble to bury human remains beneath the old floorboards, thinking the cabin was abandoned and the remains would never be found,” I said. “That’s not nothing.”
Whitlock pushed off the filing cabinet, studying the bone again. “How sure are we that it’s a human bone?”
“We’ll let the lab confirm,” Foley said. “But it looks like part of a spine to me. Let’s get Silas on the phone, see if he’s free.”
About thirty minutes later, Silas entered the office dressed in khaki pants, a long-sleeved button-up shirt with surfboards all over it, and clogs. He smoothed a hand down the side of his hair and smiled at me. “You rang?”
“Has anyone told you about the cabin in the woods not far from where Audrey was found?” I asked.
“They have.”
“I found what I believe to be a piece of a human bone when I was there today.”
Foley grabbed the evidence bag and handed it over, and Silas took a look.
“Is there any way for you to tell if it’s human, and if so, how long it may have been in the ground?” I asked.
“Have you shown it to Simone? She used to be a forensic anthropologist, right?”
I nodded. “She’s on vacation. I don’t want to bother her.”
“Well, let’s see here … We’ll analyze it, focusing on its condition and chemical makeup. I’ll want to see where you found it, so I can assess the soil conditions in the area.”
“Is there anything you can tell me as far as initial observations?”
“Bones go through different decomposition stages. Fresh, crunchy, dry, smooth, ripple, and flake, to name a few. This helps establish time of death, but it’s not exact. Did you find anything else around it?”
“We dug around for a while, but no, nothing. Do you think it’s real, a human bone?”
“I do, but it doesn’t mean I’m right. I won’t know more until I run a few tests.”
“The sooner, the better,” Foley said. “In the meantime, we need to get back out to the cabin and see what else we can find.”
12
I pulled into the lot behind the auto shop just as the first beams of morning light pushed over the ridge. The place was tucked between two warehouses, and as I walked to the garage, I noticed a patch of cracked pavement and scattered oil stains marking the ground like a badge of honor.
Inside, the garage door stood open, and the sound of metal tools echoed through the space, followed by a voice that rose above the clatter.
“Yo, give me a minute. I’ll be right there.”
A kid who was about college age emerged from behind a half-restored Camaro. He had a rag slung over one shoulder and a combination of dust and grease all over his arms. His thick blond hair fell across his forehead in uneven waves, and his gaze carried the sort of intensity that could draw one in or drive one back, depending on the situation.
He offered me a slight smile and said, “What can I do for you, ma’am?”
“Are you Colton Jagger?”
“I am.”
“I’m Georgiana Germaine.”
