by Mark Lemke
CHAPTER 17
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As I pulled back up to the cabin, my satellite phone rang.? I answered in my usual curt manner by saying only "Connor."?
In the last couple of years, I'd put together a nice little operation.? It was a niche market and one that paid well and provided a necessary service to the commercial nuclear power industry.? So after eight years as a Green Beret, I formed NeXus and had been busy ever since.? But not that many people have my phone number, so when it rang, it was generally important.
"Nick, this is Prichard.? Seems one of my people here was just found dead and washed up on the Mendocino State Park Beach not far from the plant.? A young woman.? I'd like you to meet me there as soon as you can."? It was hard to tell if Prichard was upset or not.? His voice was somber, but even, and didn't show any telltale emotion.?
"Yes sir."? I looked at my watch.? "I'll meet you in 30 minutes."?
I went inside the cabin and found Pete had set up an encrypted laptop, a printer, a satellite uplink, and made a makeshift high-tech communications center in this little cabin in the woods.? "Come on.? We have a development, and I want you along."
Twenty-eight minutes later, we pulled into the Mendocino State Beach parking lot.? Being a February morning and the middle of the week, both the beach and the parking lot were nearly empty. There were only a couple of old Nissans and Chevys, with luggage racks on top, belonging to some die-hard surfers who must have had nothing better to do during the middle of a workweek.? Winter was the best time for storms, and with storms came large swells and surf.? So you could see surfers out there regardless of the time of year, day of the week, or weather.?
I parked next to Prichard's BMW.? Out on the beach I saw a group of grim-looking people standing over a blanket, under which I assumed was the dead woman.? Prichard was already there, along with a county trooper, an ambulance, the medical examiner, and one of the surfers who I assumed was the one who found the woman.? The northern California beaches were composed mostly of very coarse gravel, instead of the fine sand found on the beaches in southern California.? Sea gulls and pigeons were pecking away at the seaweed and driftwood that had washed ashore.? There were some concrete picnic tables clustered around installed barbecue pits.? Despite the picnic tables and the barbecue pits, there was little trash on the beach.? Typical of California, most people properly deposited their trash in the numerous trash bins and recycle containers located up and down the beach.? Californians love to recycle things.
Prichard was talking with the trooper as Pete and I walked up.? A man in a windbreaker was writing in his notebook, while the uniformed ambulance attendants waited around for someone to tell them what to do next.?
"Thanks for coming, Nick.? Sergeant, this is Nick Connor. He works for me," Prichard said.? He then looked over at Pete.
"Mr. Prichard, Pete Sturtevant, a member of my team," I said by way of introduction.?
Prichard shook Pete's hand, saying, "Good to meet you, Pete," and no doubt wondering how I got him up there so fast and, maybe more importantly, why.
I looked around and wondered how long it would take before all the 'official' people messed up the crime scene and any evidence it might be holding.? I gave Pete a glance indicating I wanted him to get a closer look at the body and the area.? Pete nodded slightly and moved off.
I went over and shook the trooper's hand.? "What's the status here, Sergeant?" I asked politely enough, though no doubt with what would be taken as an air of authority.
The trooper looked at Pete walking away.? I'm sure he wasn't happy with having us being there, meddling in his business.? But my guess was he'd already received a call from the county sheriff who told him to cooperate. ?
He gave me a look as if to say he'd cooperate but only grudgingly, and then looked down at his note pad.? "We got a call a short while ago from a surfer saying it looked like a dead woman washed up on the beach.? The woman has likely been dead for several days, though being in the water that long will make it hard to determine the time of death more precisely.? We'll have to wait for the medical examiner to finish his examination."?
"Do we know her name?" I asked.
The trooper consulted his notes again.? "Brenda Williams, age twenty-seven.? She still had her driver's license on her.? She also had a plant ID on her, which is why Mr. Prichard here was called."
Prichard looked at me.? "I didn't really know her, but I made some inquiries on my way over here.? She worked in our Health Physics Department."?
I looked back at the trooper.? "Do we have a preliminary cause of death?"
"Well, she was in the water so drowning is a good possibility," he said with no hint of the sarcasm with which it was delivered.? "As I said, I think it's best to wait for the medical examiner's report."
?He wasn't going to offer me any additional information.? He'd answer direct questions put to him, but that would be about it.? I knew the trooper didn't want to share preliminary information with me, regardless of who I was-which I'm sure was still unclear to him.
Prichard spoke up. "It most certainly wasn't accidental.? Security logs show she was on site a few days ago and was working right up until the time of her disappearance.? I haven't had a chance to talk with her supervisor yet, as this is still just developing.? But there is virtually no way she could have fallen into the water inadvertently."
I thought about that for a moment and wondered how he came to that conclusion.? "Do you happen to know if she was married to anyone on site?"
Both Prichard and the trooper looked at me, as if wondering where the hell that question came from.? Prichard said, "When I looked at her a little bit ago, I saw she was wearing a wedding ring, but I don't know yet if her husband is a plant employee or not.? I'll find out."? Suddenly, Prichard stopped, his eyes open a bit wider, and he said, "You don't suppose . . . "
"I'm just thinking out loud," I said, cutting him off before he gave the trooper anything else to pursue.
The trooper looked at me, and now it was my turn not to offer any additional information.? Things like this don't happen at nuclear power plants.? It was almost a sure sign that foul play was involved.? In that, I agreed with Prichard.
I took the VP by the elbow and moved him away from the trooper where I could speak to him in confidence.? "You said you don't think this was accidental.? Why is that?"
"Because there isn't anywhere she could have easily gotten to, to fall into the ocean.? Either Security would have seen her or she would have had to access a spot that is normally locked.? Security didn't report anything and none of the locks have been disturbed."
"I see.? Okay."? I glanced over at Pete, who was heading toward us.? I didn't want to stay there any longer than necessary.? We probably knew everything we were going to know for a while.? "If there isn't anything else for us, we're going to head out and check on a few things.? I'll be in touch with you later today."
Prichard looked at me, probably wondering why we were leaving so soon.? "Don't you want to stay until the M.E. gets here?? Shouldn't be too much longer now."
"No need.? We have some things we need to check out.? I'm sure you'll know more later, so I'll let you get to it.? I'll call you in a while."
"Okay. ?You have my number."
I looked over at Pete, who glanced back at me and gave me the slightest of nods as we headed back to the car.? Once inside, I asked, "So, what do you think?"
"She has bruising around her neck.? Looks like she was strangled before she was thrown in the water.? Someone with big hands too, from the look of the marks."
I thought about that for a minute.? "Prichard said he thinks she went in the drink at the plant site.? That would make sense, but he said the gates weren't disturbed at the plant.? I don't see any plant security people around.? How did Prichard know the locks on the gates hadn't been disturbed?"
"Maybe he had a discussion with his security staff about it on the way out here."
"Maybe, but this just happened an hour or so ago.? That seems fast for Secu
rity to have checked all the gates, doesn't it?"
Just then, a plant security pickup truck pulled up to the beach parking lot.? I watched as Rob Ellingson got out and hustled over to his VP.?
I started up the rental car and pulled out of the lot. "Interesting."
"What's that?" Pete asked.
"That we got here from town before Prichard's own security manager."