“Plausible. But that’s not my determination to make.” He flashed him a grin. “I just rule on cause and manner. You’ll have to determine how the deed happened, if the case merits that sort of scrutiny. Let me get a water temperature and sample, take a few more photos, finish my scene work, bag the hands, then we’ll transport and leave you to investigate further.”
It didn’t take long for Rod and his assistant to wrap up, and with Alan lending a hand, they carried the body out.
“I want to take a few photos of the blood on the boat and get a sample.” Brad motioned to the satchel Larry was toting. “I assume there are evidence envelopes in there?”
“Yep.”
After tugging on latex gloves, Brad didn’t waste any time completing that task and giving the area a thorough inspection.
But other than the blood on the boat, there was nothing to see. Certainly nothing that appeared suspicious. While it was possible there was trace evidence in the small craft, nothing was visible to the naked eye.
Just in case, though...
“You still have that plastic sheeting in your trunk?”
“Yes.”
“Let’s take the boat back to Micah’s cabin, put it in his shed, and cover it.”
His deputy arched an eyebrow. “Are you suggesting we carry it back?”
“Why not?” Brad hiked up the corners of his mouth. “It’s not that big, and it’s aluminum. It can’t weigh much more thana hundred and twenty pounds. I thought you’d gone back to working out with weights.”
“I have, but hauling a boat around is different than picking up a barbell.”
“Tell you what.” Brad fished out one of the paddles that was caught in the reeds. “Why don’t you row it back across the lake and I’ll meet you near the cabin? Put on gloves and grab the other paddle.” He motioned to it, stuck in the reeds farther down. “That work?”
“Yeah. I can handle rowing. You want to ride along?”
“No. I want to walk the path.”
After the other paddle was retrieved, Brad steadied the boat while Larry boarded, gave the craft a push, and set off down the trail that wound through the woods—even though the odds of spotting anything suspicious were small.
Securing the boat was probably overkill too, but better safe than sorry.
He pulled his sunglasses out of his shirt pocket, Micah’s note to Natalie crinkling as he withdrew them.
Be careful.
Brad frowned as the man’s warning strobed again through his mind.
The older woman assumed Micah’s cautionary advice had been prompted by the fire, but what if that hadn’t been the impetus? What if Micah had been aware of dangerous activity on the estate? Was it possible the fire, and even Natalie’s dizzy spells, were somehow related to the warning?
He picked up his pace down the path toward the man’s cabin, questions swirling through his mind that would be a stretch under normal circumstances.
Now that Micah had turned up dead, however? Not so much.
In fact, despite the lack of an apparent motive, the previous happenings cast a shadow of suspicion over the man’s sudden end.
Nevertheless, he’d wait for the coroner to weigh in and for the autopsy report to be completed before jumping to any conclusions.
And if either generated so much as one smidgen of doubt, he’d dig in deeper.
Because while no one other than Natalie might miss Micah, the man deserved justice.
And if someone up to no good had assumed the demise of a man who preferred animals to people would pass with little fanfare, they were in for a surprise.
ELEVEN
