“Someone should come out here and clean this up,” Landon lamented. “I mean ... it’s a total waste sitting out here like this.”
“Plus I don’t want to know what creatures are living in this pool,” I added as I turned a corner at the far edge of the space. “In fact ... .” I forgot everything I was about to say when I noticed something protruding from another hole in the cover. I had to do a double take, but I was fairly certain I recognized the object ... and that wasn’t a good thing.
“What were you saying?” Landon was distracted by a large sheet of faded cardboard at the end of the enclosure.
“Landon, I think we should call Chief Terry.”
He didn’t look up. “Why? I have no intention of molesting you out here ... unless you really want me to, that is. I guess I could take one for the team if you begged.”
I cleared my throat and tried to stay calm. “I’m serious. You should call him now.”
Landon finally dragged his eyes from the cardboard and focused on me. “Why?”
“Because there’s a human hand poking through the cover down here, which means there’s a body in the water.”
Landon blinked several times before responding. “No way.”
“Way.”
“I guess that puts an end to the nostalgia.”
Two
Chief Terry wasn’t happy. He parked next to Landon’s Explorer, hopped out of his cruiser, and immediately headed toward me.
“Do I even want to know what you two are doing out here?” he growled. He looked frustrated, which was very unlike him.
“Walking down memory lane,” Landon replied dryly. “We wanted to re-live the day we met at summer camp.”
Chief Terry rolled his eyes. “I knew when you told me about this it was going to be a thing. You’re an FBI agent, Landon. You know that public fornication is against the law. Besides that, she’s my little sweetheart.” He helplessly gestured toward me. “I don’t like it when you do things like this because it makes it impossible for me to pretend you two aren’t just playing house.”
Landon’s eyebrows lifted. “Wow. That was a mouthful.”
“It was,” I agreed, moving closer to Chief Terry to give him a hug. “I’m still glad to see you.”
I wasn’t much of a hugger as an adult, so Chief Terry ran his hand over my back and turned his eyes to Landon. “What’s this?”
“I don’t know. Maybe she wants to fornicate with you in public or something.”
“Don’t ever say anything like that again,” Chief Terry hissed, extending a warning finger. “I’m deadly serious. I don’t like that at all.”
“I can see you don’t have much of a sense of humor today,” Landon drawled, his eyes twinkling. I couldn’t figure out why he was pushing Chief Terry so hard. He usually opted to show his fellow law enforcement official respect unless he was feeling particularly annoyed. “Perhaps it has something to do with your upcoming date.”
Oh, geez. I’d totally forgotten about that. I turned a set of expectant eyes to Chief Terry. “That’s right. You and Mom are going on an official date.”
Chief Terry was in no mood to be teased. “I believe you said you found a body. Don’t you think you should show it to me?”
“The body isn’t going anywhere.” As it was, I didn’t know how the retrieval team was going to get the body out of the pool. It looked to be tangled with the cover, which had come undone in some places and was sinking in others. It was a true mess ... and I was grossed out by the entire thing. “Tell us about your date. That’s tomorrow, right? Mom is all aflutter over it. She’s been trying on outfits.”
It occurred to me after I opened my big, fat mouth that I probably should’ve kept that detail to myself. No one in the family could keep a secret to save their lives, though, so I brushed it out of my mind.
“I’m not here to talk about my dating life.” Chief Terry was stern. “I’m here about a body in a pool. Maybe. Are you guys even sure you found a body? It could be a twig or something. I’m guessing no one has checked on the pool in at least five years.”
“It looks more like ten,” Landon replied dryly. “And, yes, we’re sure there’s a body. I’m not new. Also, as you so graciously pointed out, I’m an FBI agent.”
“You’re a pain in the butt is what you are,” Chief Terry countered. “Now, come on. I want to see this body.”
I took a moment to survey the dirt road that led back to the highway. “Didn’t you bring the medical examiner?”
“I have to confirm there’s a body first.”
“Yeah, but ... Landon confirmed it.” I pointed toward my boyfriend. “Why isn’t his word good enough?”
“She’s got a point,” Landon noted. “Technically, I outrank you.”
“You’re an agent. I’m a chief.”
“I’m a Fed and you’re a local.”
“And I’m a witch,” I added impatiently, their banter starting to grate. “Can we get this over with? I don’t want to stay out here longer than necessary because ... well ... now I’m creeped out because there’s a body in the pool.”
“Oh, sweetie, don’t let it get you down.” Landon slipped his arm around my shoulders as we began walking toward the pool. “The camp is still magic. Just because we found a body in the pool doesn’t mean this place isn’t awesome. It simply means that ... we can never skinny dip here.”
I shot him the meanest look in my repertoire. “There was no way you were ever getting me in that pool anyway.”
“What about the lake?”
“Oh, well ... .”
“If you two don’t end this conversation now I’ll thump you both,” Chief Terry warned. It was rare for him to threaten me, so I knew he meant business. “Now, show me this body.”
Chief Terry made the same face as Landon when he saw the pool, a wrinkled-nose grimace that seemed to indicate his stomach was turning. “This is ... lovely.”
“Look at that.” I pointed at the rotting sign on the west side of the pool. I hadn’t noticed it the first time we entered the space. “It’s Mrs. Little’s sign.”
“Mrs. Little had a sign?” Landon asked, making sure to keep his hand on my arm so I didn’t accidentally careen into the pool and ruin evidence.
“She bought her own sign,” Chief Terry replied, his eyes flicking to the dilapidated slab of wood. “She paid for the pool, so she dedicated it to herself.”
Landon snorted. “Oh, well, that’s just priceless.”
“I can think of a few other words for it.”
I could, too, but we had other things to deal with. “There.” I pointed when the hand came into view a second time. It seemed somehow smaller this time, and I was almost certain it belonged to a woman. “I don’t think she’s been here very long.”
“What makes you say that?” Chief Terry asked as he carefully navigated closer. He looked grim as he hunkered down and tried to get a better look at the hand. It almost looked as if someone had fallen into the pool and tried to claw through the cover to get out and froze in a weird position. “Geez. That’s definitely a body.”
“Yes, I’m shocked, too,” Landon drawled. “I can’t believe you’re confirming it. I mean ... I thought it could be a body, what with my training and all. Thankfully you were here to make sure I was on the right track.”
Chief Terry scorched him with a dark look. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I wanted to make sure. There’s no need to work yourself up and get all sensitive.”
Landon smirked. “I was just stating a fact.”
“You haven’t said why you think she’s fresh, Bay,” Chief Terry prodded, focusing on me. “There must be a reason. Do you see one of your ... you know .... friends?”
It took me a moment to translate what he was saying. “You mean a ghost?”
Chief Terry scowled. “I believe that’s what I was referring to, though I would appreciate you not using that word in front of an audience.”
I glanced around, confused. “What audience? It’s j
ust the three of us, and Landon knows I can see ghosts.” Chief Terry knew, too. He was one of the first people who didn’t share a genetic link with me who believed, and that was one of the reasons we shared such a tight bond. The other was that he stepped in as my father figure when I was a kid at a time I really needed someone, and he pretty much doted on me.
What can I say? I like being the center of attention sometimes. It’s a Winchester family trait.
“You know what I mean.” Chief Terry was calm as he stared at the hand. “We have to call the medical examiner out here. I don’t want you accidentally slipping up in front of him.”
“I’ll try to refrain from doing something I’ve been trained not to do since I was five,” I said dryly.
“You’ve got a mouth on you today,” Chief Terry muttered, straightening. “I’m not aware of any missing person reports in the area. Someone has to be missing her.”
“How can you be sure it’s a girl?” I asked. “I mean ... the hand is small. I’m leaning that way, too. The skin hasn’t been ravaged too much, which means no animals have stumbled across her as far as I can tell. It could be a small man, though.” I swallowed hard. “Or a boy.”
Terry shook his head. “I believe it’s a woman. We won’t know for sure until we get her out of there. For now, I just know it’s a body. We need to get the medical examiner out here now. I have no idea what needs to be done to save evidence on a discovery like this. I mean ... do we drain the pool?”
Landon glanced around. “Where are the pool controls located?”
“How about you guys figure that out while I call for backup?”
“Great. We’ll get right on that.”
LANDON WASN’T GROUCHY AS MUCH as quiet as we circled the building looking for the pool controls. I knew that was a sign he was deep in thought.
“If you’re worried this is going to screw up our memories of each other as kids, don’t get your panties in a twist,” I offered. “This is just a blip. The kismet destiny talk will survive.”
He slid me a smirk as we rounded a shed. “I wasn’t worried about that. Nothing can ruin those memories. I promise you that.”
“So, what were you thinking about?”
“I’m just considering how difficult it would be for someone to find this location if they weren’t already aware of its existence.”
“Oh, so work stuff?” I chuckled as he forced open the shed door. There, sure enough, were the controls to the pool, covered in cobwebs and grime. “I didn’t think there was electricity out here.”
“There’s not.” Landon pointed to a panel at the far end of the room. “It’s designed to hook up to a generator. That means if we need to pump the pool — and if these controls still work, which I doubt because they’ve been sitting here for a long time — that we’ll need to arrange for a generator to be delivered.”
“Aunt Tillie has four generators in her greenhouse,” I offered, referring to my persnickety great-aunt, a woman who quite often caused Landon to see red because she was such a pain.
“Why would she need four generators?”
“She likes to be prepared. She’s like a Boy Scout ... or a witch scout, in this particular instance.”
He laughed. “Well, we’ll see what the medical examiner says. I think this is going to be a tricky retrieval. I’m not going through the trouble of stealing one of her generators unless I know we really need it.”
“Good plan.”
The medical examiner was standing with Chief Terry and staring at the hand when we returned to the pool. I’d met Fred Armitage on several different cases. Hemlock Cove wasn’t big enough to have its own medical examiner so every community in the county shared the expense.
“Hello, Agent Michaels. Ms. Winchester.” Armitage was all business. “I understand you found the body.”
“We did,” Landon confirmed. “We were out here taking a look around and we happened to head over here. It was pretty obvious we needed to call for help after that.”
“What were you doing out here in the first place?” His tone was accusatory, which caused me to purse my lips and glance at Landon.
“We were walking around,” Landon replied simply. “Bay and I both attended camp here as kids. I haven’t seen the place in a long time. We thought we would check it out.”
“I thought you were from the middle part of the state,” Armitage challenged as he extended a tape measure.
“I am, but I came up here for camp.”
“Huh. That’s ... weird.”
“We like to think of it as a fun coincidence,” Landon countered, agitation flitting through his eyes. “What can you tell me about this situation?”
“It’s a hand,” Armitage replied.
“Oh, gee, I never would’ve noticed,” Landon shook his head. “Would you care to share with the class how someone managed to get into this pool?”
“That I can’t tell you.” Despite his superior attitude, Armitage looked perplexed. “There are a number of holes in the cover. I count seven or so. None look big enough for a body to slip through.”
“Slip through?” Chief Terry rubbed his chin. “Are you saying this could be an accident?”
“We won’t know until we get the body out of here. I’m a little worried that we’re going to run into trouble with the water. It’s probably not frozen on the top, but it’s still dropping into the thirties at night. The water at the bottom is most likely frozen.
“There’s every possibility that the body might be stuck, for lack of a better word,” he continued. “If it is, we’ll have to warm the water to get the body out. We could lose evidence if that happens.”
“So, what are our alternatives?” Landon asked.
“We’ll need a full crime scene team. You’re with the FBI, so you can order that. The thing is, I can’t see all that well with the brush on top of the cover. There might be a hole. She could’ve fallen in. If that’s the case, this is most likely an accident.”
I couldn’t stop myself from asking the obvious question. “Why would someone purposely walk on top of a pool cover?”
“Maybe it’s a homeless person who didn’t care or saw something on the cover and wanted to take a risk retrieving it. Maybe it’s a drunk or an addict who got confused. We can’t know until we get access to the body.”
“What are our other options?” I asked. “I mean ... if it’s not an accident.”
“Then someone deliberately put the body here,” Armitage replied without hesitation.
“Wouldn’t the cover have to be lifted for someone to shove a body under it?” Landon asked. “I’m no pool expert, but don’t you need a special tool to handle the springs that hold the cover in place?”
“Yes, but that tool costs like five bucks at any general store. It’s not as if it’s difficult to find.”
“So, what are you suggesting?” Chief Terry inquired. “Do you think someone murdered our victim, placed her body under the cover as a forensic move, and somehow the body shifted until it found an opening and the hand slipped through?”
“That’s as good of a possibility as any,” Armitage replied. “I’m not sure if it’s smart for us to be wondering about possibilities right now. We need to get the body up. Given how cold the water is, there’s a good chance it won’t have decayed much. That could work in our favor.”
His excitement at the prospect made me sick to my stomach. “Maybe I should wait over there,” I suggested, pointing toward a spot far from the pool. “I don’t want to see under the cover if I don’t have to.”
“That’s a good idea.” Landon rubbed the back of my neck. “I’ll tell you as soon as we have any information.”
“I can’t wait.”
IT TOOK ALMOST TWO hours, but Landon was true to his word. I knew when he started heading in my direction that things were about to take a turn. The medical examiner called for backup, which consisted of at least eight able-bodied individuals. They’d been steadily working since their arrival.
“It’s a woman.” Landon was grim. “She looks to be in her twenties, but we can’t be sure of anything until we identify her.”
“How did she die?”
“There are no obvious signs of distress to the body, meaning no gunshot wounds or cuts. That doesn’t rule out murder. She could’ve been struck over the head or choked for all we know.”
“You got the cover off. Do you think it’s possible she fell in?”
“You mean slid in, like Armitage said? No. I think someone had to lift the cover and put her under it. We were lucky to have found her at all. By the way, the water is completely black. I don’t even want to know what horrible things are growing in there. You can’t see the bottom. I have a team coming from the home office to take over that part of the search.”
“If someone put her under the cover she had to be murdered. There’s no other solution.”
“There’s one. She could’ve died of natural causes, or even a drug overdose, and perhaps someone panicked and hid her body to keep people from finding out.”
“Why would they do that?”
“Maybe for state assistance programs or something. I honestly don’t know. I can’t offer information on that until we know who she is. That’s not going to happen until the medical examiner can fingerprint her. The body is kind of ... rigid ... because of the cold water. They have special things they need to do before they can warm it up to get fingerprints.”
“Do I want to know what those special things are?”
“Nope. I don’t want to know either.”
“So ... where does that leave us?”
“With the owner of the property. We’re heading out to talk to her. I thought you might want to come.”
Any excuse to get away from the death permeating the camp. “Count me in. Let’s get out of here.”
Three
Chief Terry and Landon opted to drive together to talk with the woman who owned the camp property. They took me with them for the ride, and I was settled in the backseat of Landon’s Explorer when Chief Terry started explaining about Gertrude Morgan.
Wicked Witches of the Midwest Mystery Box Set Page 32