Promises in the Dark (Detectives Kane and Alton)

“There’s a close resemblance to the image we have on file.” Wolfe cleared his throat. “The other reason I’ve withheld from everyone but our team and Rowley, is she has a zip-tie around her ankle. Same type and color as the ones we found on the bodies of the Wood family.”

“Has she been in the water long?”

“I don’t think so.” Wolfe’s attention moved to the stainless-steel drawers set into one wall. An entire murdered family were lying within a few feet of him. The idea chilled him to the bone. He forced his mind back on track. “The body temperature taken on scene was inconclusive. The water was very cold but the skin didn’t appear to have been submerged for long. Maybe two or three hours. I haven’t completed a preliminary yet, I haven’t had the time. I’ll get the results of the DNA test and schedule the autopsy for first thing in the morning. I’ll call you when I have the results.”

“Sure, we should be through here soon and heading back to the office.” Jenna yawned. “I have to go over the case with Kane and Carter. We split up to cover more ground.”

Wolfe frowned. “Any suspects?”

“Yeah, a few but we don’t have enough evidence to charge anyone.” Jenna covered the mouthpiece and Wolfe could hear a muffled conversation. “I’ve gotta go, the doctor wants to speak to us. Talk soon.” She disconnected.

Wolfe glanced at the clock. He’d promised to take Anna, his youngest daughter, to her ballet class and stay to watch. He had absolutely no interest in ballet but if Anna enjoyed the classes, well he would too. He pushed a hand through his hair. He needed a haircut but hadn’t had time. In between working with Emily on all aspects of forensics, he’d had the task of teaching Julie to drive. She’d passed her driving test yesterday and he’d given her a slightly battered SUV to drive. Anna was comparatively easy, she loved to ride which meant most weekends and school holidays revolved around Jenna and Kane’s workload. He could drop her at their ranch for a couple of hours and collect her later, overloaded with sugar and smelling of horses. The ballet was a new passion for his little girl, and if it made her happy that was fine by him, although he had to admit becoming one of the stage “moms” was slightly uncomfortable at times, with four divorced mother hens clucking around him batting their eyelashes and squeezing his muscles. He rolled his eyes just thinking about it but as usual Kane had come up with a plan. If the women harassed him too much, he’d bore them with gruesome facts about forensics. The body farm story had become a favorite.

He contemplated making coffee and headed into the hallway. The sight of Kane and Carter heading toward him stopped him in his tracks. “If you’re here for results, I won’t have my report on the Woods’ autopsies until tomorrow. I’ve been flat out all day and I’m busy tonight.”

“We have samples of mud from a suspect’s boots.” Kane held out an evidence bag. “And a sample of C-4 taken from his house.”

Wolfe looked over the evidence bags to check the labels were filled out correctly. “I’ll run tests on these first thing in the morning. Did you have a search warrant?”

“Nah.” Kane smiled at him. “I have a signed statement. Thanks, man, we’ll stop by in the morning.”

Wolfe nodded but he could see there was something else troubling Carter. He opened the door to the lab and dropped the bags into a container. “If you’re planning on dropping by for the results of the autopsies on the Wood family tomorrow, you’ll need to be here no later than ten.” He frowned. “Anything else on your mind, Carter?”

“The body you pulled out the lake, we want to see it.” Carter removed a toothpick from between his teeth. “We ran into Blackhawk downtown, he mentioned being there.”

Wolfe looked at Kane. “At this moment, this isn’t your case. Rowley was the lead investigator. Did he call in the FBI for assistance because I didn’t?”

“Come on, Shane, we know you figure it could be Sophie Wood.” Kane removed his black Stetson and slapped it against his thigh. “We’re all part of the same team.”

Wolfe looked from one to the other. “You’ll have to wait for the DNA result for a positive ID. If she’s Sophie Wood then I’ll do a preliminary examination but I’m leaving here at six. I have an appointment at seven and I haven’t eaten since breakfast.” He glanced down at the dogs. “We’ll wait in my office and you’ll have to leave the dogs in there. I’m not having dogs in my examination rooms.”

“Is everything okay at home?” Kane searched his face. “Girls okay?”

Wolfe smiled at his friend. “The girls are fine, more work than I had ever imagined, even with a live-in housekeeper. They all deserve my time but so does my work. There are only so many hours in the day. I’ll be glad when Em is qualified to take some of the load. Being the ME for four counties now is time consuming.”

“How much longer until Em does her finals?” Kane walked beside him toward the office.

Wolfe sighed. “December. Colt finishes this semester; he only required an associate degree to work here but Em wants to become a certified medical examiner.” He scratched his cheek. “It’s been four years come December since she started college. Time has gone by so fast.”

Carter followed them inside Wolfe’s office.

Wolfe went to the coffee machine, popped in two pods and placed cups under the dispenser. “I love this machine. No wait, no delay.” He waited for the cups to fill and handed them to Kane and Carter before repeating the process.

“Thanks.” Carter removed his hat and dropped it on the desk before taking a seat. “If this is Sophie, how did she get into a lake out of Black Rock Falls?”

Wolfe took his cup from under the machine and sank into his office chair. “I don’t know. It’s too far to walk and she was naked. Even if she’d made it to the falls there are forest wardens and tourists all over the forest, she could’ve asked for assistance.” He sipped his drink and allowed the rich taste to spill over his tongue. “The fishing hole is part of a small lake deep in the forest, it’s called Dead Man’s Drop. From what I understand, people who explored the Whispering Caves and got turned around, headed toward a light source believing it was a way out. According to Atohi, the falls run in to the caves there from a fissure in the rocks causing a whirlpool effect. Once someone is in the water they’re washed out and over the falls. Before entry to the caves was prohibited, some twenty years or so ago, deaths frequently occurred there.”

“So, I guess it’s not a particularly popular fishing hole?” Kane looked at him over the rim of his cup. “You’d never know what you might haul out of there.”

Wolfe leaned back in his seat. Oh, Kane was good, in fact they both were exceptional detectives, and the way they were extracting information from him was very subtle but he wasn’t planning on giving up any vital information just yet. After all, Jenna had taken the lead in the case and would be pissed with him if he gave the information to Carter before her. He smiled at Kane and heard a buzzer sounding from the laboratory. “Exactly. Wait here, I need to check on something.” He emptied his cup and hurried out the door.

He collected the data from the DNA sequencer machine and ran a comparison on his computer to all three of the Wood family. There was no doubt, the young woman in his morgue was Sophie Wood. He pulled out his phone and called Jenna. She picked up after a few rings. “Hi Jenna, it’s Shane. I have a match for Sophie Wood. Kane and Carter are waiting in my office. Carter wants to see the body. I haven’t given them the result yet.”

“Yeah, show them the body. We’ll stop by soon.” Jenna cleared her throat. “Did you get a chance to look at the blue Ford yet?”

Bone weary, Wolfe rubbed the back of his neck. “Not yet. The vehicle is locked up out back of the morgue. I’ll get to it tomorrow.” He leaned against the counter. “I know you need the information yesterday but I’m going as fast as humanly possible. I’ll do the sweep and have answers late tomorrow afternoon.”