A Rustic Riddle: A Witch Cozy Murder Mystery (Witches of Hemlock Cove Book 5) by Kennedy Chase

Author:Kennedy Chase [Chase, Kennedy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Monty's Tale Press
Published: 2017-01-09T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

With Officer Bloom’s announcement came a new wave of activity.

Zach jumped back on the phone to call in Cormac Fields, the medical examiner for this jurisdiction. Joy, Nathaniel, and Dario headed outside with the plate of cookies and Styrofoam cups to pass around the tea and cookies to the officers who had taken a break after their discovery.

I leaned against the table and released a breath. Zach’s crew were one of the best, so I hadn’t doubted they would find something. Now that we had more evidence to go on, though, it meant my work was only just beginning.

As soon as Zach hung up, we pulled on our boots and followed the others to the crime scene.

Most of the officers now stood in a loose ring around a widened hole in the ground while a smaller number continued to dig. Joy handed me a cup of tea that I sipped as I watched.

The bones were scattered through the dirt, loose and jumbled, and all of them hinted at the same telltale signs of being sawn through.

If we’d had any doubt that the bones were human, those doubts were cast aside with the discovery of the skull staring at us out of the dirt.

This had been no peaceful final resting place for a man who had taken his life. Someone had left him here to be buried under the leaves and snow.

Poor man. Sympathy welled up in my throat, and I took another sip of tea to settle it down.

The wind had eased, and the snow had stopped, making standing outside less disagreeable than it would have been the day before, but we still took turns refilling the snacks and beverages as we waited for Cormac to arrive.

He finally did two hours later, his face pink as he huffed and puffed through the snow from his car. His white hair blew about his head, his personal snowstorm.

“What’s wrong with finding bodies in the city?” he asked Zach. “In a nice open building with parking right in front?”

“I’ll keep that in mind for next time, Cormac,” Zach said. “Since you’re here, enjoy the fresh air. You won’t find that in the city.”

Cormac snorted. “A man my age doesn’t need fresh air. We need warmth and a comfortable chair. What do you have for me?”

“An interesting one.”

Cormac stopped on the edge of the hole, his kit dangling by his side. “You said you’d found a body.”

“DNA tests on one of the bones came back as human remains.”

“Sure, you’ve got part of a body.” Cormac shook his head. “Trust you to bring me only half a job.”

I chuckled at the medical examiner’s rough humor. The man’s complaints were usually in jest, and when it came to the work, there was no one better.

Using a low-hanging tree branch to help him, he kneeled down beside the hole. Only two officers were still digging, but they had discovered most of the bones. By the number of them, I guessed we had a complete set.

“It appears to be a complete skeleton,” Cormac said after a thorough examination, confirming my thought.

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