by Tara Meyers
Bending to pick up the discarded item, Ember shook her head at the retreating labradoodle. It was her normal routine to race around, ending at the boarding area so she could check on any current patients. However, it was usually done with more restraint. “It’s a good thing we don’t have anyone left in there,” Ember said, gesturing toward the back of the building, “or else we’d have them all worked up!”
It felt good to laugh, but there was still an overriding heaviness that couldn’t be ignored. What if that was the last time Daenerys would make her rounds? Ember’s smile faded, and she avoided making eye contact with her friend by busying herself with picking up the mess the dog left behind.
“No news?” Mel asked pointedly.
Shaking her head, Ember took a breath to settle her nerves and turned to face Mel. “I called the sheriff’s office this morning, but they said he was out. They’ll give him the message to get ahold of me. I talked with Becky, though, and she confirmed that Daenerys was found on June 9th.”
“Two days after the house fire. Didn’t you say she was severely dehydrated? How long does that take?”
Ember sipped at her coffee before answering. “With a dog her size, a good three days. If it was really hot, maybe two. But I looked at a topographical map of that area, and while it was over ten miles as the crow flies between the camping spot and where she was picked up, there are a couple of creeks in between. I think she was wandering out there for at least four days or more. Plus, it’s a good five-hour drive from Kurt’s house to the logging road, and then another several hours to hike in.”
Mel frowned, her brows pinching together. Pursing her lips, she stared pointedly at Ember.
Ember returned the gaze for a moment. “What?” she finally asked.
“You know what,” Mel countered. “You can’t get involved in this. It’s a police issue, and you’re too close it. Again.”
Ember’s shoulders sagged under the weight of the truth. She’d barely gotten through their last escapade with her life, and it had taken the past three months to rebuild what was almost lost. But this was Daenerys.
“I’m already involved, Mel. I had the guy’s freaking hand brought to me.”
Mel tried to maintain her stern disposition but instead snorted and then clapped a hand over her mouth. “I’m sorry,” she muttered around her fingers. “That really isn’t funny.”
Ember pounced on the opportunity to take advantage of her friend’s rare admittance of guilt. “I’m sure we’re going to have plenty of chances to capitalize on multiple puns involved in the situation, but right now, I’d just like to figure out what happened to Daenerys.”
“Of course,” Mel replied, sobering. “I get that. But isn’t that what Walker and Nathan are doing?” Kneeling down, she greeted Daenerys with a hug as she came padding back to them. “Eww! I think she might need one more bath.”
“Have at it!” Ember plucked an especially aromatic dog shampoo from a nearby shelf. “This one is supposed to work on skunk spray. It should do the trick.” She tossed the bottle to Mel and then paused before picking up her leather bag. “Mel, why was Mrs. Cooper so upset over the bill? She was the one who insisted on running all of those tests.”
“Sounded more like a personal issue,” Mel replied, her voice muffled by the thick locks on the labradoodle’s head. “I don’t think she ran the whole ‘do whatever it takes’ directive past her husband first.”
The front door chimed, cutting off the conversation. Turning, Ember was happy to see Sheriff Walker filling the entry. But her joy was short-lived when she saw the somber expression on his face.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“What’s wrong is that I have a second unexplained death in my county in less than six months. That’s what’s wrong. Do you have some coffee?” he asked, looking at Mel. “I could really use some.”
“You bet, sir! How’s Cody these days?”
Shaking his head, Walker ignored the question and redirected his attention back to Ember. She didn’t know what the standing joke was about his son and wasn’t sure she wanted to find out.
“The last time anyone saw Kurt Donaldson alive was June 2nd,” Walker announced. “At his home in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. No one suspected anything was wrong until the morning of June 7th.”
“When his house burned down?”
Glaring at Ember, the sheriff crossed his meaty arms over his chest. “Google can be a dangerous thing, doctor. It often only provides half the picture.”
“So, give me the other half,” Ember pressed.
Fortunately, Mel returned then with the coffee, placating the older man.
“It was a total loss and a clear case of arson,” Walker explained after a long gulp from a mug shaped like R2D2. “According to the local police who investigated his disappearance, his family and what few friends he had said he’d been acting odd for several months, becoming more reclusive, paranoid, and even displaying bouts of anger and physical aggression. When he disappeared, they all feared he’d either gone to live in a cave somewhere or had committed suicide.”
“Do they know what caused the change in behavior?” Ember questioned.
“Everything was lost in the house fire, including his home office,” Walker replied. “But in the shed behind the house, there was a stash of drugs found. Sometimes the answer is the most obvious explanation.”
“So, what makes it unexplained?” Mel questioned.
“Because some of it doesn’t add up,” Ember answered for the sheriff. “And sometimes, as we recently learned, the most obvious answer is also the most misleading.”
Sheriff Walker stared hard at Ember, his demeanor a mix of both respect and frustration at her ability to come to such a quick, accurate conclusion. “Actually, I was going to say that it’s considered unexplained until the autopsy and final report is filed. But before you ask, yes, I already spoke with Becky, and I know Daenerys was found on the 9th.”
“I’m assuming the authorities figure that Kurt burned his own house down before driving out here and killing himself? Because any other theory pretty much blows the whole suicide thing out of the water.”
“Yes,” Walker said cautiously. Putting a hand up to stop Ember from saying anything else, he spoke slowly and firmly, leaving no room for argument. “It’s all plausible, Ember. The distraught and likely strung-out man sets his house on fire around three in the morning, the morning of June 7th. He then drives for five hours or so to the logging road and hikes into his campsite, arriving in the early afternoon. Why go there? Well, it was clearly someplace he frequently visited and probably felt safe at. Who knows what he was thinking? Sometime during the next two days, he kills himself, and Daenerys is found about ten miles away, hungry and dehydrated but otherwise healthy.”
“You’re forgetting about the garbage.”
“Garbage?” Mel questioned, looking at Ember.
“We found his cache of food and garbage,” Ember explained. “And he’d eaten two-and-a-half days’ worth of rations.”
“So, he set Daenerys loose before killing himself,” Walker countered. “That would explain the collar being taken off and left in the tent.”
“And the five empty cans of dog food?” Ember asked.
“Maybe she ate a lot, or Kurt felt guilty and let her eat her fill, or maybe,” Walker continued, his voice rising, “it was left-over garbage from the last time they were up there. The fact of the matter is that we have no way of knowing for sure, Ember. We never will. There are too many variables. In law enforcement, our job is to rule out the things that can’t be proven and solidify the ones that can. Those are called facts and evidence. Realistically, we very rarely know all the facts. In this situation, the one person who can provide the information is dead, and the other one can’t talk. We’ll gather together everything we have, combine it with the findings from the autopsy, and then draw the most logical and likely conclusion. Well, actually, Nathan will turn it all over to the feds because they have th
e ultimate jurisdiction and will decide if it warrants a criminal investigation.”
“It’s really one month,” Mel said abruptly when Walker had finished his speech.
“What?” both the sheriff and Ember asked.
Mel looked back and forth between Ember and the sheriff, grinning when they spoke in unison. “You said you’ve had two deaths in six months, Sheriff. But if this guy died the week of June 9th, then it was really two deaths in one month. The mayor might have to change the city tagline.”
One of the characteristics the city boasted to the tourism industry it thrived off of was the “safest city” distinction awarded by the state of Washington for ten years in a row. It was actually a very sore subject currently between the mayor and sheriff, especially since Walker’s position was appointed by said mayor.
When Walker failed to laugh at Mel’s attempt at lightening the mood, she backed slowly toward the hallway. “How about I go make some more coffee?” Giving a mock salute, she didn’t wait for an answer and skipped her way back to the breakroom.
Unable to stifle a grin, Ember was surprised to find Walker also smiling. He really wasn’t as rigid as he tried to portray to everyone. “I understand what you’re saying,” she said softly. The last thing Ember wanted was to butt heads with him once again over an investigation. “I really do. I don’t suppose there’s enough of the needed evidence to explore any other explanation than the obvious one.”
Nodding, Walker visibly relaxed. “The house and all of its contents are gone. Mr. Donaldson didn’t store anything online, due to his blossoming paranoia about the government, and his friends and family all painted a pretty clear picture. The only remaining loose threads are the car and cell phone. Nathan just located the car on the old logging road about an hour ago, and he’s waiting for a telephonic search warrant so he can go through its contents. We got the warrant for the cell phone already, and we should have the release from the phone company by this afternoon. Tim said his autopsy report will be prepared by the end of the day, and he even managed to pull a successful set of prints.”
Ember’s head jerked up at that news. “Does that mean he’ll be notifying next of kin soon?”
Looking at his watch, Walker gave a quick jerk of his head in confirmation. “Mr. Donaldson had prints on file, due to a federal background check requirement for his work for the state. I imagine Tim will be making the call to his parents in the next few hours. Ember,” he continued, his voice softening, “the man had no close friends and was nearly estranged from his parents. I don’t think you need to worry about losing Daenerys.”
For the first time in more than two days, Ember felt a huge sense of relief. Barely stopping herself from hugging the sheriff, she instead smiled at him gratefully. They were saved from the potentially awkward moment by a sudden squawking from the radio clipped to Walker’s chest.
After a brief exchange with his dispatcher, the sheriff waved a hasty goodbye and left without an explanation. Ember was left wondering if it had something to do with Kurt Donaldson.
Mel reappeared then with the steaming Star Wars mug and issued a mock retort. “What, no goodbye?”
Laughing, Ember went behind the counter and turned on the computer stationed there. “I don’t know why you get such a kick out of antagonizing him.”
“He likes me,” Mel said with assurance. “Which is good, because we’ll have to get along if he’s going to be my future father-in-law.”
Looking up from the computer screen where she was searching for the day’s schedule, Ember raised an eyebrow at Mel. “Finally got a date with Cody?”
“Hmm? No. Not yet, but that’s a minor technicality. I can save you the trouble,” Mel said, changing the subject. “We have three wellness exams at ten, ten thirty, and eleven. A wound check for the nasty raccoon bite from last week at noon, and the spay was rescheduled from two this afternoon to nine tomorrow morning.”
Turning away from the monitor, Ember frowned. “Why the reschedule? We cleared out the rest of our afternoon for that procedure.”
“I know, but Mrs. Morris just called this morning about it, right before you got here. She was extremely apologetic. Apparently, Mr. Morris decided to try to pass a giant kidney stone last night, and they spent the night at the ER. She promises to be here tomorrow.”
Shrugging, Ember tapped thoughtfully at her chin. “Mel, would you mind holding down the fort after lunch?”
“Of course not, but you have the look, Ember. You aren’t going to do anything I’m going to regret later, are you?”
Smirking at her friend, Ember came out from behind the counter and gave her a pat on the back. “Nah. I’m just impatient. I think I’ll drive up to Great Pines and pay Tim a visit.”
“Tim German, the coroner?” Mel questioned.
“Yup. Walker said he’ll be calling the guy’s family soon to do the notification.”
“You have heard of this invention called a phone, right?” Mel’s tone was light, but she had a look of concern.
Ember couldn’t blame her friend after everything they’d been through earlier that summer. “Mel, I promise I’m not trying to get involved. My only concern here is Daenerys. I can’t handle just standing around and waiting to find out, you know? Maybe if the family has questions about her, I can talk to them and help convince them she’s okay. I don’t know.” Blowing out a heavy breath, she knelt down to wrap her arms around the labradoodle who had come to her when she heard her name. “We can’t lose her. I have to do something.”
SEVEN
The drive to Great Pines took just under half an hour, with the traffic on a Thursday afternoon in October being uneventful. That same winding, two-way highway in the summer would be crowded with trailers, boats, and motorcycles. Leaves of various colors fell intermittently, small splashes of brightness against the solid green background of the pine trees.
Ember rolled her window down for a short time, welcoming the crisp fall air laced with the alluring smell of woodsmoke. It foretold of an upcoming season of skiing, sledding, and many dark nights gathered around a warm fire.
The coroner’s office was in a small, nondescript building in an old part of town. Great Pines wasn’t as ancient as Sanctuary, which had just had its centennial celebration that past summer, but it was close. However, it was far enough north that it wasn’t as cut off by the steep mountain terrain, allowing it to spread out over the years. As a result, it was now considered a metropolis in comparison, with a population of close to thirty thousand. It supported a community college, decent-sized shopping mall, and a major hospital for the region.
Ember pulled her rusty old Ford into one of the many vacant spots lining the road. She inherited the vehicle from her mom, and even though she had her own much nicer car collecting dust in the garage back home, she still chose to drive the truck most of the time. It was in part due to the practicality of hauling things around, but it was mostly for the comfort of having something familiar. She’d grown up riding shotgun to her mom in it and could swear she heard her mother’s sweet chords of laughter sometimes on her way home after a long day of work.
She sat for a moment, gathering her thoughts. Now that she was there, she was quickly second-guessing the decision. “I should have just called,” Ember muttered. Digging her cell phone out of her purse, she debated still doing just that. “I’m being ridiculous.”
Stepping from the truck before she changed her mind again, Ember slid the phone into the back pocket of her jeans. She straightened the black polo with her clinic logo on the front with a firm tug before grabbing her purse and slamming the door. Daenerys usually went everywhere with her, but for obvious reasons, she was left back with Mel. When Ember stopped herself from rolling the window down like she normally would for the dog, her absence was a painful reminder of what she was there for.
With a new resolve, she made her way to the entrance while rehearsing the excuse she’d thought up on her way there.
“May I help you?”
“I, um…I’m Dr. Burns. I’m here to see Dr. German.”
“Do you have an appointment?” the woman asked. She tapped at a few keys while she spoke and then frowned. “I didn’t know he was expecting anyone.”
“No, I don’t have an appointment,” Ember replied, prepared to go into a detailed explanation. She noticed the silver-lined nametag on the girl’s blouse. “Rebecca, I wanted to speak with him about his current case: Mr. Donaldson.”
Looking up from her computer, Rebecca tilted her head slightly and squinted at Ember. Then she broke out in a wide smile, her eyes widening. “Wait! Are you the Dr. Burns from Sanctuary? The one who helped solve the murder this summer? Are you here to assist Dr. German or something?”
Blushing at the woman’s gush of excitement, Ember put a hand up to stop her from talking. While she’d been banking on the fact that having her name bounced around as a candidate for the new Haven coroner might help her gain entry, she certainly wasn’t going to outright lie about anything.
“No, nothing like that.” Tossing her speech aside, she decided to simply go with the truth. “I adopted the victim’s—I mean, the deceased man’s dog this past July. I’m just anxious to find out what his relatives said about her. She means a lot to me, and I’m hoping I get to keep her.”
Trying to hide her disappointment at the unexciting declaration, Rebecca stood and gestured to the door behind her. “I’m sure it’ll be okay. I’ll go check with Dr. German.”
Her anxiety growing, Ember slowly paced around the front lobby area. She knew he’d talk to her. They’d been classmates in high school and somewhat friends. He was a year ahead of her, but they’d had some classes together. Most of her sophomore year, they’d sat together during lunch. It was mainly for self-preservation. Safety in numbers and all that. He’d been bullied endlessly about his size, while Ember was targeted for her hair. There was a brief period of time where they were referred to as the munchkin and the wicked witch. Kids were heartless.