“You lead on this?” said McGaven.
“The sheriff suggested you two take it because of your experience in bone remains,” he said. It was clear by his face he was glad of this decision.
“We’ll need to search the scene to know what will be required for the investigation,” said Katie.
“That’s what I was hoping you’d say,” said Hamilton. “I’ll start searching missing persons for an adult and child that went missing.”
“We’ll forward you anything useful we discover.”
“What do you need right now?” Hamilton asked.
McGaven looked at his partner. Already Katie realized there were too many people at the scene and most likely more would be coming when word got out that bodies had been found.
“We need to extend the crime scene tape; it should be twice as big. Remove everyone who doesn’t have business here, except for whoever found the bodies. We’ll need to speak with them. Make a barricade where we drove in to keep everyone out except necessary personnel. Have someone stationed to make a list of everyone coming and going.”
Hamilton nodded. “Got it.”
Katie turned to McGaven. “You could have chimed in anytime.”
“But you handled that perfectly.” He smiled at his partner.
She returned his smile. “That’s my job.”
John joined them. “What’s up?”
“We’re going to take a look at the scene and make notes before having you document and gather evidence,” said McGaven.
“I’ll be ready,” said John.
“While you’re waiting, can you take some shots or even video around the area of who is here and who is leaving?” she said.
“What are you thinking?” said McGaven.
“I’m not sure, but there won’t be a second time to capture who is here right now. Just being thorough.”
John smiled. “On it.” He headed back to the CSI van.
McGaven smiled broadly.
“What?” Katie asked.
“What do you mean ‘what’?” he said, rolling his eyes.
Katie scoffed. “Let’s get to work.”
The detectives made their way to the scene. Several patrol officers were clearing people who didn’t needto be there. Two men remained at the side of the grave. They fidgeted and looked about them.
Katie reached the piles of dirt. She stood to the side of them and scanned the soil. It was typical of the area: a mixture of sand, silt, clay, and even weathered bedrock. She wondered how long it took for the bodies to go through the decomposition process in this type of environment. She knew that a buried body could take six months to a year to decompose, depending upon weather and environmental factors, but by studying the remains in front of her it appeared that they had been buried for much longer.
She glanced back, seeing her partner taking notes and making a few sketches, as she slipped on examination gloves. Katie typically didn’t charge right in to look at the victims, but she wanted to get an impression of the entire crime scene. It seemed the excavator had broken the bodies somewhere along the vertebrae of each spine when moving the dirt. The back of the adult skull also had a large hole, which she suspected was most likely due to an impact injury instead of being placed in the unmarked grave, and the arm bones were amazingly intact with one hand intertwined with the smaller hand of the child’s skeleton.
Katie paused a moment, imagining the adult knowing what was going to happen and holding the hand of the child to comfort them, where they stayed together—even in death. The silver bracelets were still shiny, glistening in the daylight once the dirt was moved. Each had a charm of one half of a heart. It struck a heartfelt chord with Katie that there was more than a bond between these victims—they were likely mother and daughter.
Katie finally said, “Looks like their spines were severed either from the body dump or from the excavator.”
McGaven took notes; didn’t interrupt his partner. This was their procedure when they first arrived at a crime scene.Katie took point and then they worked it together—each contributing their observations and questions.
“If I had to guess right now,” Katie continued, “I believe it’s a mother and daughter. But we won’t know for sure until the medical examiner and maybe a forensic osteologist identifies them.”
