“Was she by herself the entire time?” Rick asked.
“Elisa mostly kept to herself. Sometimes her roommate would stop and study with her. Last week she was putting the finishing touches on a big paper that was due this week.”
“She’s a good student?”
“She is solid but she liked being around the really smart students. This whole place is full of people who are Einstein smart. I couldn’t tell you what most of them are studying. Me, I just went to high school.”
Jake shook his head. “Don’t sell yourself short, Cleo. I bet you never forget a face.”
She fingered the gold hoop hanging from her right ear. “I’m good with faces. And names. Pays to remember people when you work for tips.”
“So most of your customers are regulars?”
She considered the question. “Yeah. I’d say eighty to ninety percent are regulars. Like I said, I remember almost everyone’s name.”
Someone Elisa knew could have killed her. In fact, most women were killed by an acquaintance. “Anyone pay any close attention to Elisa lately?”
“No. Not really. She kept to herself most of the time.”
“Most of the time,” Jake repeated.
“Well, she did talk to this guy about a week ago. I only noticed because he was way out of her league in the looks department.”
“What did he look like?”
“Tall, lean, muscular build. He had long dark hair that skimmed his shoulders and a beard. And he wore faded jeans and a dark T-shirt—a bit scruffy. Very sexy. And he had a guitar.”
“So he made an impression on you?”
“I know handsome when I see it. And this dude was handsome. Me and the other girl working the counter that day were a little shocked when he took his cup and sat next to Elisa’s table. He started talking to her and at first she didn’t look up as if she thought he was talking to someone else. When she realized he seemed to be into her, she blushed. It was cute. And a little creepy.”
“Why creepy?”
“Please. A guy like that doesn’t hang out with a girl like Elisa unless he wants something. Money, help with a project. He wanted something, but I’d bet sex was at the bottom of his list.”
An espresso machine hissed as another employee steamed milk and then blended in three shots of black coffee. “Did they leave together?”
“No. But I saw her punching a number into her phone. I’m guessing it was his number. They could have hooked up later somewhere else.” She held up a ringed finger. “Like I said, the scene didn’t fit. Elisa’s more likely to win a science contest than a date with a hot guy.”
“Has this guy been back to the coffee shop?” Jake asked.
“No, haven’t seen him. That seemed to be the only time he came in here while I was working.”
“Right.” Jake closed his notebook and tucked it in his breast pocket.
Rick handed the clerk his card. “Cleo, would you be willing to talk to a forensic artist so we could develop an image of this guy?”
“Yeah, sure. Kinda cool. Very CSI.”
“When do you get off work?”
She glanced toward the wall behind her at a large round clock with a coffeepot painted in the center. “About an hour.”
“And you could talk to the artist tonight?”
“Sure.”
Rick texted a message and within seconds received an answer back. “The artist will be here at the end of your shift. Her name is Jenna Morgan.”
“What, is she like your sister?”
“Wife.”
“All in the family.”
Jake shook his head. “You’ve no idea.”
Cleo’s expression sobered. “Are you any closer to finding Elisa?”
Jake allowed a sigh to leak out. “We found her. But the news isn’t good.”
CHAPTER SIX
Tuesday, October 3, 11:00 P.M.
Georgia and Brad alternated shifts. The scent of death had faded slightly with the removal of Elisa’s body, but strong hints lingered in the cavern like a dark oppressive cloud. Lights from exterior floodlights mingled with several small portable lights placed around the interior chamber.
She bagged the pendant and then she and Brad slowly removed the remaining stones around the smaller entrance to widen the opening, letting more light stream inside and chase away the darkness. When they set aside the last stone, she got her first good look at the second body. It was laid out, arms crossed over the chest. The empty sockets of the skull stared sightlessly up and the jaw slacked open almost as if it were laughing at a dark joke.
She swept her light over the bones to the darkened corners until the beam unexpectedly settled on a second set of remains. This skeleton wasn’t lying flat but had crumbled into a heap as if at the time of death the victim had been sitting. To the right lay a .22 pistol.
She sat back on her haunches, studying the scene. Had this been some kind of murder/suicide? She glanced back at the opening and the rocks she’d piled to the side. Could they have been stacked from inside the chamber from a murder/suicide or had someone killed these two and walled up the inner cave? The BR pendant hung to the right of the opening so it could have been hung before the wall was closed.
She searched around the bones into all the shadowed crevices of the second chamber, confirming this cave was a dead end and there were no other bodies. “What the hell happened here?”
“Did you say something?” Brad asked.
She rubbed her forehead using the back of her hand. “Brad, we’ve got two bodies in here.”
Silence crackled. “Can you tell if they’re male or female?”
Georgia examined the skull in the bone pile in the corner. It appeared large with a wide brow ridge, indicating male. The skull attached to the other body was smaller with a narrow brow. “Looks like we have one of each.”
“Understood.” Resignation weighed down the word. “Let’s get to it. It’s going to be longer than I thought.”
She focused on the female because it was closest to the opening. This one would have to be processed and removed first.
The low ceiling forced her to work sitting cross-legged or on her hands and knees. The skeleton was laid out in the center of the chamber with the hands positioned over the chest like Elisa Spence. The clothes had all but deteriorated from the body except for traces of what looked to have been the snaps or a zipper of denim jeans. The victim had also been wearing tennis shoes with rubber bottoms that remained partially intact.
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The bones weren’t green, or new, but were stripped of flesh and dry. She guessed the victim had died at least three to five years ago. Bethany and Mike had vanished five years ago.
The girl the cops and countless volunteers all searched so hard to find might now be finally coming home, and parents trapped in a terrible limbo would have some closure. As heart breaking as it was, at least there would be some closure. “What happened to you, Bethany? How did you end up here for so, so long?”
She spent nearly an hour photographing the chamber and making sketches that she might one day have to refer back to in court.
When Brad moved to the mouth of the front chamber and called her name she was startled at the sound of another living voice. “Are you about ready to move the second body?”
“Yes. I’ve photographed it all, sketched everything I’ve seen and bagged anything that might have been attached to the body at one point. Once the bones are removed, I’ll sweep the area one last time.”
“I’ve got the flat board as you requested.”
“Great.” Since she couldn’t stand and excavate under the bones, she planned to shimmy a body board under the bones and hopefully keep the skeleton intact as much as possible. Once they had the bones on the board, they could slide the board into the body bag. She also hoped this method would preserve the soil under the bones which might very well contain evidence that had settled into the dirt.
Georgia blew out a breath and wiped sweat from her brow while trying to maintain a measured pace that would soon get her out of the cave. For a moment, her chest tightened and her heart kicked up a notch. Closing her eyes, she took a half dozen deep breaths. The lights in the cave had heated the chamber and thickened the air, which left her a little nauseous.
Brad fed in the board and slowly worked the edge under the bones. She shimmied the board back and forth, scooping up a bit of dirt as she wedged the hard edge under the bones. The dirt was packed tight and digging into it took more muscle than she imagined. Cursing under her breath, she kept pushing until the edge eased under the female skeleton’s leg bones, rib cage, and head. Bones shifted and moved slightly as she kept working the board farther and farther under the remains. When she finally reached the other side, sweat rolled down her back and she was breathless.