CHAPTER TWELVE
After taping off a bigger perimeter of the scene, fighting a breeze the entire time, Maya and Josh stood back and waited for Doc and the Western River County crime-scene tech, Miranda Palmer, to arrive. Their main goal was to keep the scene secure. Once Doc and Miranda arrived, Maya thought she’d do an evidence search with Juniper. There were also footprints in the snow so she could try a track and see where it took them.
Josh had pulled out paperwork for statements and asked the firefighters to fill out the events of the morning. Alex and his crew were over near their trucks writing out what they could remember.
“Do you have any missing persons right now?” Maya asked Josh.
“No, we don’t. I’ll put word out to some of our neighboring counties in case they do.”
“I can help you with that,” she said.
“Thanks.”
“Josh? Seriously, are you okay?” Maya asked. It struck her that for once she wasn’t the one thinking about her past. Maybe she could help Josh this time instead of the other way around.
“I am. I just keep reliving that night over and over in my mind.”
“The night with Sydney? Finding her?” Maya asked.
“Yeah, that night.”
“It wasn’t your fault, you know. Her death, that is.”
“I kind of feel like it was in a way,” Josh said. “I was meeting her to buy drugs. Not exactly a stand-up thing to do. Then some gang member strangles her.”
“Did they ever figure out the motive for the guy who strangled her? Was she involved with gangs somehow?”
“Not that I know of, but if you’re selling drugs in Chicago, it doesn’t take much to connect with that world.”
“True,” Maya said. “It’s still not your fault. She made her choices too.”
“Yeah, I guess she did.”
“It’s just odd how Amber called about this case and then the Bradfords showed up. It’s weird.” Maya didn’t like coincidences.
The sound of a couple vehicles pulling up interrupted them.
“Here’s Doc and Miranda,” Josh said. “Time to get to work.”
“Looks like Lucas is with Miranda,” Maya said. “He might be able to help us.”
Lucas and Maya had served together in the Marines and Afghanistan. They’d both come back home to Colorado and now Lucas worked for the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. He’d helped Maya solve the cold-case murders of her mother and grandmother. During that time, he’d met the sheriff’s office crime-scene tech, Miranda, and they’d started seeing each other. From what Maya could tell, the relationship seemed pretty serious. Lucas spent most of his time off in the mountains with Miranda, and Miranda often headed to Denver on her days off. Maya was glad Miranda was in town today so she didn’t have to drive to Pinecone Junction from Denver.
They all approached Maya and Josh and said their hellos before going to look over the crime scene.
“I can help with this if you want,” Lucas offered.
“Might not be a bad idea,” Maya said, and Josh agreed.
“We thought we might try Finn to see if he can pick up a scent with the human remains,” she said.
“Do you think there’s more than one person that was murdered?” Lucas asked.
“I don’t know. Juniper can search for evidence and a live scent, but with the possible gunshot wounds, I’m curious to know if the person was already dead when they were burned or if Finn could locate where a vehicle parked and pulled the person out.”
“I’ll go get Finn,” Josh said, heading toward his vehicle.
“That makes sense,” Lucas said, adding, “Is he okay? You two doing okay?”
