“I’ve seen movies where bodies are crushed in cars.” He gave an indignant huff. “It’s not happening in my yard.”
Jenna turned at the roar of Kane’s truck as he drove between the rows of stacked vehicles, obviously searching for Sky’s yellow sedan. She looked at Sawyer. “What happens to the waste metal?”
“I sell it.” Sawyer smiled. “A scrap metal recycler collects it and ships it to a place where it’s shredded, melted down and reused.”
Jenna pulled out her notepad and pen. “I’ll need the name and contact details of everyone with keys to the yard and I’d like to inspect the logbook for the crusher for the past two weeks.”
“Sure thing. They’re in the office.” Sawyer led the way to a small brick building heavy with snow and icicles. He opened the door with a key from his bunch. “Let me get the light.”
Jenna noticed the lack of snow in front of the office door and the crunching under her boots. “Is this sand and salt?”
“Yeah, we drop a couple of bags here before the snow so we don’t have to dig out the office.” Sawyer kicked the snow from his boots and walked inside. “We shut down for three weeks is all. I drop in from time to time to add more salt.”
Jenna examined the books and took copies with her cellphone. The pages for the time of Sky’s disappearance and since were blank. She turned her attention to a cabinet filled with lines of keys, some with labels. “What are those used for?”
“Machinery, toolboxes, the lunchroom and the john.”
She walked over and stared at them. “So the crane and the crusher keys are here too?”
“Yeah.” Sawyer gave her a long, patronizing look. “I can’t leave the keys in the machinery. It’s against health and safety.”
“I see. And I guess it would be difficult for one man to operate the crane and crusher at the same time?” Jenna met the man’s gaze. “I figure a person would have to be highly trained to use it as well?”
“Around here? I would say there would be at least twenty or so NCCCO qualified men working in this area who could drive a crane. It only takes one man, Sheriff.” Sawyer lifted his brows and sighed. “The crusher has a crane attached and an automatic push-button set-up so one man can operate it. Same with the shredder, just one red button.”
“NCCCO?” Jenna made a note. “What does that stand for?”
“That would be the National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators.” Sawyer leaned casually against his desk. “This is an industrial area and no boss in his right mind would hire anyone without the right credentials. Heavy machinery is in use all over. If you believe someone broke in here and used my crusher, you’ll have a pile of people to talk to.”
Jenna tapped her pen against her bottom lip, running the information through her mind. She came up with a pile of “what ifs” but often they were the triggers to solve a crime. What if the Axman used the crusher to dispose of cars and bodies and had done for some time? Kane had mentioned people and their vehicles vanish daily. Surmising the Axman worked in this location, had a key to the yard, and the skillset to operate the crusher, time would still be a factor. In Sky’s case, the Axman had to tow the car and her body here to crush them, then hightail it out of the area to give the snow time to cover his tracks. He wouldn’t have risked the chance Ella had made it back to the highway and waved down a passing truck to get help.
Her mind went to Doug and Olivia’s disappearance. The Axman could have used one of the wrecked vehicles in the lot to conceal the bodies. She glanced at the shells of rusty vehicles well within reach of the crane, then at the stack of metal cubes, and a shiver of dread crawled up her spine. The Axman killed at night and could have disposed of the bodies in this deserted junkyard. If he could get in and out again fast enough without someone seeing him, it would be the perfect crime.
The sound of Sawyer’s voice dragged her back to the now.
“Is there anythin’ else I can help you with, Sheriff?” He pulled out a tin of chewing tobacco and stuffed a wad into his mouth.
“Just one more question and then the ME will do a sweep of your office and other buildings.” She cleared her throat. “How long does it take to crush a car?”
“Forty-five seconds.”
Thirty-Seven
The walls of the hospital room wavered in Doug’s vision and he gripped the side of the bed, not quite believing what Olivia had said. A rush of euphoria hit him at the possibility of finding Sky alive. He swallowed hard. “Sky is my sister. Is she here?”
“I don’t know but we can ask someone when we look for my mom.” Olivia pulled off the electrodes to her monitoring machine and dragged out all her encumbrances, then slid to her feet. “First we need water. They haven’t given me anything to eat or drink since I arrived. Everything we need to survive is apparently fed through the drip.” Using the wall for support, she staggered toward the sink, took two paper cups from a dispenser and filled them. She drank thirstily, then filled a cup and returned to him. “Here. Take it slow.”
After upending the cup, Doug looked down at his blanket and her paper nightgown. “We’ll need something to wear.”
“I figure our clothes are in those bags by the door.” She pointed at two bulging plastic bags leaning against the wall. “Jim asked the other guy to incinerate them and I guess he forgot, then they argued and stormed out. They haven’t been back since.” She smiled at him. “I guess the nurse forgot to set up the drug-administer machines and that’s why we’re awake now.” She made her way to the bags and peered inside. “Yeah, these are mine and I figure the others are yours.”
“So how come you were awake during their argument and not me?”
She dragged the bags toward him and her. “Jim was visiting me. Even drugged, I can hear and feel everything, like I said before. He enjoys frightening me and threatening to cut out my eyes, it’s like he’s a sadist or something.” She handed him a bag. “Usually the meds in the drug machine knock me out after he leaves.”
Aware of time passing and fighting waves of excruciating pain and nausea, Doug went behind the curtain and struggled into his clothes. He went through the pockets of his jeans and found them empty. “Dammit, I left my cellphone in my truck with Ella.” He blinked a few times. Oh my God, Ella.
“Who is Ella?” Olivia’s voice came through the curtain. “You decent?”