Finding Amy by Joseph K. Loughlin & Kate Clark Flora

Author:Joseph K. Loughlin & Kate Clark Flora
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University Press of New England

It's dark now and I'm in the command post with a few detectives and Lieutenant Brian McDonough, my counterpart on the Maine State Police. The news people are still out there and Brian is on the phone with Stephen McCausland, the spokesperson for the MSP. I can hear, from the receiver, “Brian, Brian! You tell Chitwood that I am the damned spokesperson for the state. You tell him that.”

Brian looks at me and we both roll our eyes at our predicament. Eventually he hangs up and I ask, “Okay, Brian, would you rather deal with Chief Chitwood or McCausland?” Chitwood backs down from no one.

Matt pops into the trailer, glasses steamed, and notes that it's a lot easier when only our small group is involved. So true, Matt, I think. And things are about to get more complicated.

Outside in the cold, the exhumation is beginning in earnest. I hear the generators churning. Through the windows I catch slashes of bright lights. One of the detectives calls me on the radio and tells me the father is out on the road and wants to come up.

“No,” I tell him, “no. Hold him there. Tell him I'm on the way.”

I had met Dennis St. Laurent a few times but did not have a relationship with him like Danny did. I could have sent Danny out, but he was in the center of things, busy working on the dig.

I exited the command post van and noticed a leaning white birch lit up like a beacon, leading to the path where Amy was. The red plastic tape that led into the trail across the saplings and brown leaves was illuminated in the dark. That's not our tape. Must be the ME's [medical examiner's] or the state's. So strange to be doing a joint scene like this. We've got our own tape, equipment, SOPs, and techniques.

I could see a blue tarp through the trees and hear voices floating on the air, breath rising up in clouds on the fringe of the darkness. It was spooky, ghoulish. Got to get to Dennis. I walk through darkness toward the road, light from the site fading, and stop, snatching a moment's peace between the commotion of the scene and the chaos at the street, wondering how Dennis will be.

As I approach the road, I can see the red blinking flashers of several vehicles. When I'm closer, I see one is a Salvation Army truck with coffee and food. I'm thrilled at the prospect of eating something. But first, there's Dennis. He's standing there, shivering, his breath forming clouds. A small man, a quiet man. Brown hair starting to gray, thick eyebrows and a salt-and-pepper mustache. Absolutely destroyed by all this.

We shake hands and talk about Amy for a moment. I don't know what he'll do so I make some small talk while I assess him. He's calm and I start the process again and I tell him that I believe we've found her. That she's buried in a shallow grave up that road.

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