“I need you to hold her off a little longer.See if she’s available Wednesday or Thursday for a meeting.Or better yet, next week.I’m tied up with other things until then.”Hopefully things that didn’t include theBackstreet Buoys.He would need time to review the Edgerton case files and everything about the previous investigation.
“Okay, I’ll do my best, and plead the case that you’ve only just taken over the job.But no promises.Anything else urgent you need me to do?”
“Can you pull all the files pertaining to that case and put them on my desk?I’ll look at them at home this week.”Business hours meant nothing with this job, especially since his department was so small.He knew the island, had thought this would be both a welcome change of pace and good for his professional resume.While the majority of the crimes weren’t as serious as what he’d seen and dealt with in his years on the force in Seattle, the pace was surprisingly high.
“Sure.You going on your lunch break now?”
“Do I have time for that?”
“If you’re quick,” she said with a grin.
“Right.I’m supposed to meet Tripp at—” He paused when the door behind him opened and Willow walked in with a dog.“Hey.”Her cheeks were flushed pink, her hair all messy as she stood there with a backpack draped over one shoulder.The dog, a brown shepherd mix, stood tense beside her, watching him with a fixed, hard stare Rafe didn’t love.“Everything okay?”
“I’m...not sure.”She glanced at Darlene, then back to him.“Can I talk to you in your office maybe?”She gestured to the dog.“Sorry, it’s too hot for me to leave him in the car.”
“Yeah, no problem.Come on back.”He led her into his office and closed the door behind her.“Have a seat.”He went around his desk and dropped into his cushy chair.“Is something wrong?”
“Rufus, sit.”She tugged on the leash.The dog eyed her for a long moment, then reluctantly did as he was told, flicking a nervous glance in Rafe’s direction.“He’s a rescue.Just adopted him last week.”
“Ah.”
She slid the backpack off her shoulder, set it on her lap, and unzipped it.“I was just walking him down on the beach at Shipwreck Cove, and he found this in the rocks.”She pulled out a bone.Or part of a bone, since one end of it seemed to be broken off.
He blinked in surprise and took it from her, turning it over to examine it.It was almost a foot long and fairly thick, with a knobby end that was flat on the top.
“Is it human?”
It was around the right size to be.“I’m not sure.And we don’t have a full forensics department or an ME here.We outsource this sort of thing to the mainland.”It sure looked like it might be human though.Too thick for an arm bone.Leg bone maybe?
“But it could be human, right?”
“Yeah, think so.”He frowned.“Did you find anything else with it?”
“No, but I took pictures of where we found it, just in case.”She leaned forward, stacked her forearms on his desk.“I’m not sure what the protocol is with something like this, but I have a friend who will be able to tell us whether it’s human or not.”
“Excellent.Is she a cop?”
Willow shook her head.“She just finished her master’s in human bioarchaeology and something else fancy over in the UK.Something to do with disease, I think, I can’t remember.They cover a lot of forensics in the course.”
“What’s human bioarchaeology?”He’d never heard of it.
“Study of archaeological human skeletons.She’s a bone expert, basically.I sent her the pictures, but she hasn’t responded yet.”
“It’s okay, I’ll make a call to a contact in?—”
“She’s actually on her way down from Victoria on the ferry right now to stay with me for a few days.”She glanced at her watch.“The boat’s due in at one.I’m picking her up.I can bring her here right after if that works.”
Only forty minutes from now.“Sure, that works.”It would save him time.“You wanna grab a quick bite with me in the meantime?We could find a dog-friendly patio.”Rufus was still watching him with that unblinking stare.Rafe got the distinct impression he hadn’t passed muster yet.
“I could eat.”
“Want me to see if Tripp wants to join us?”
“No,” she said, a little too fast.Making him wonder about the weird undercurrent he’d sensed between them last week at The Skelly.“He’s probably working on something in his shop.”She looked down at the bone.“Anyway, I’m guessing you’ll want to keep this here in case it turns out to be evidence?”
“Yes.It’s now an official police exhibit until we know what we’re looking at.”
“And if it turns out to be human?”
