Still Life With Crows

by Douglas Preston

  Yes, Corrie said, concealing a stab of pride that shed thought to ask the question.

  Excellent work. Pendergast sat up. Any news on the missing William Stott?

  No, said Corrie. Theyve got a search going. I heard they were bringing a plane down from Dodge City.

  Pendergast nodded, then rose from the table, strolled to the window, folded his hands behind his back, and looked out over the endless corn.

  Do you think he was murdered? asked Corrie.

  Pendergast continued looking out over the corn, his dark figure accented against the evening sky. Ive been keeping an eye on the avian fauna of Medicine Creek.

  Right, sure, said Corrie.

  For example, Pendergast said, do you see that vulture?

  Corrie drew up to his side. She could see nothing.

  There.

  Then she saw it: a lone bird, silhouetted against the orange sky. Those turkey vultures are always flying around, she said.

  Yes, but a minute ago it was riding a thermal, as it had been doing for the past hour. Now its flying upwind.

  So?

  It takes a great deal of energy for a vulture to fly upwind. They only do it under one circumstance. He waited, staring intently out the window. Now, observeits made its turn. It sees what it wants. Pendergast turned toward her quickly. Come, he murmured. We dont have any time to lose. We must get to the sitejust in case, you understandbefore the state trooper legions descend and ruin everything. He turned toward Winifred and said, in a louder voice, Excuse us, Miss Kraus, for the suddenness of our departure.

  The old lady rose, her face white. Not another

  It could be anything.

  She sat down again, wringing her hands. Oh dear.

  We can take the powerline road, Corrie said as she followed Pendergast out the door. Well have to walk the last quarter mile, though.

  Understood, Pendergast replied tersely, getting into the car and closing the passenger door. This is one instance in which you can exceed the speed limit, Miss Swanson.

  Five minutes later, Corrie was nosing the Gremlin down the narrow, rutted track that was known locally as the powerline road. She was familiar with this isolated, dusty stretch; this was where she came to read, daydream, or simply get away from her mother or the morons at the high school. The thought that a murderer might have lurkedmightstill be lurkingin these remote cornfields sent a shiver through her.

  Ahead, the vulture had been joined by a couple of others, and they were now circling slowly, lazily. The car bumped and scraped over the washboard ruts. The last glory of the sunset lay in the west, an orgy of bloody thunderheads rapidly fading to darkness.

  Here, said Pendergast, almost to himself.

  Corrie stopped and they got out. The vultures rose in the sky, apprehensive at their presence. Pendergast began to stride swiftly into the corn, and Corrie moved into step behind him.

  Abruptly, Pendergast stopped. Miss Swanson, he said. You will recall my prior warning. We may well find something in the corn rather more disturbing than a dead dog.

  Corrie nodded.

  If you wanted to wait in the car . . .

  Corrie fought to keep her voice sounding calm. Im your assistant, remember?

  Pendergast looked at her inquiringly for a moment. Then he nodded. Very well. I do believe you are capable of it. Please keep in mind your restricted SOC access. Touch nothing, walk where I walk, follow my instructions precisely.

  Understood.

  He turned and began slipping through the rows of corn, silently and swiftly, brushing past ears that hardly rustled at his passage. Corrie followed behind, struggling to keep up. But she was glad of the effort; it kept her mind from thinking about what might lie ahead. But whatever it was, the thought of staying in the car, alone, in the gathering dark, was even less pleasant.Ive seen a crime scene, she thought.I saw the dog. Whatever it is, I can take it.

  And then, suddenly, Pendergast stopped again. Ahead, the rows of corn had been broken and swept aside, forming a small clearing. Corrie froze at the agents side, the sudden shock rooting her in place. The light was dim, but not dim enough to spare her any of the horror that lay splayed just ahead.

  And still she was unable to move. The air lay still over the awful scene. Corries nose filled with the odor of something like spoiled ham. She felt a sudden constriction in her throat, a burning sensation, a spasm of the abdominal muscles.

  Oh shit,she thought.No, not now. Not in front of Pendergast.

  Abruptly, she bent to one side and vomited into the corn; straightened; then bent and vomited again. She coughed, struggling upright, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. Mortification, fear, horror all grappled within her.

  But Pendergast seemed not to notice. He had moved ahead and was kneeling in the center of the clearing, completely engrossed. Somehow, the sheer physical act of retching seemed to have broken her paralysis, perhaps even prepared her a little better for the awful sight. She wiped her mouth again, took a cautious step forward, and stopped just inside the clearing.

  The body was naked, splayed on its back, arms thrown wide, legs apart. The skin was an unreal, artificial grayish-white. There was a sticky sheen to everything. The corpse lookedloose, somehow, as if the skin and flesh were liquefying, coming off the bones. And in fact theywere coming off the bones, she realized with a shudder. The skin of the face was hanging loose, separating from the jaw and teeth; flesh was sagging and splitting at the shoulder and white bone could be seen poking through. An ear lay on the ground, misshapen and slimy, completely detached from the body. The other ear was missing entirely. Corrie felt her throat constrict again. She turned away, closed her eyes briefly, consciously slowed her breathing. Then she turned back.

  The body was completely hairless. The masculine sexual organs had also fallen off, although again it looked as though an effort had been made to reattach them, or at least arrange them in the right place. Corrie had seen Stott around town, but if this was the body of the skinny drunk who ran the cleanup detail at Gro-Bain, there was no way to know. It didnt even look human. It was as bloated as a dead pig.

  As the initial shock and horror began to ebb, she noticed other things about the site. Here and there, ears of corn had been arranged into strange geometrical shapes. There were a couple of objects fashioned in an extremely crude way out of corn husks. They might be bowls, or cups, or something else entirely; Corrie could not be sure.

  All of a sudden, she became aware of a loud droning sound, directly overhead. She looked up. A small plane was circling the site, flying low. She had not even heard its approach. Now the plane waggled its wings, veered away, and headed quickly north.

  She found Pendergast looking at her. The search plane from Dodge. The sheriff will be here in ten minutes, and the state police shortly thereafter.

  Oh. She could hardly work her mouth.

  Pendergast was holding his small flashlight in one hand. Are you all right? he asked. Can you hold this light?

  I think so.

  Excellent.

  Corrie held her nose, took in a deep breath. Then she took the light, directed the beam as Pendergast indicated. The gloom was rapidly filling the air. A test tube had appeared out of Pendergasts suit coat and now the agent was kneeling, putting invisible things into it with a pair of tweezers. Then another test tube appeared, and another, specimens going deftly into each one. He worked swiftly, moving around the body in ever narrower circles, every now and then murmuring low instructions about the placement of the light.

  She could already hear the faint siren of the sheriffs car drifting over the corn.

  More quickly now, Pendergast was going over the body bit by bit, his face inches from the skin, plucking off something here, something there. The smell of rotting ham refused to go away, and she felt another twinge deep in her gut.

  The siren got louder and louder, then finally stopped. From beyond the fastness of corn, she heard a door slam, then another.

  Pendergast straightene
d up. All the paraphernalia had vanished, almost miraculously, into the folds of his well-pressed black suit.

  Step back, please, he said.

  They withdrew to the edge of the clearing just as the sheriff arrived, followed by his deputy. There were more sirens now and the sound of radios blaring in the corn.

  So its you, Pendergast, said the sheriff, coming over. Whend you get here?

  Id like permission to examine the site.

  As if you havent already, Ill bet. Permission denied until weve completed our own examination.

  Now more men were crashing through the corn: state troopers and grim-looking men in blue suits whom Corrie guessed were members of the Dodge City homicide squad.

  Set up a perimeter here! bawled the sheriff. Tad, lay out some tape! He turned back to Pendergast. You can stand behind the tape, like the others, and wait your turn.

  Corrie was surprised at Pendergasts reaction. He seemed to have lost all interest. Instead, he began to steer an erratic course around the periphery of the site, looking for nothing in particular. He seemed to be wandering aimlessly off into the corn. Corrie followed. She stumbled once, then twice, and realized that the shock was still heavy upon her.

  Suddenly, Pendergast stopped again, between two rows of corn. He took his flashlight gently from Corrie and pointed it at the ground. Corrie peered, but could see nothing.

  You see these marks? Pendergast murmured.

  Sort of.

  Theyre footprints. Bare footprints. They seem to be heading down toward the creek.

  Corrie took a step backward.

  Pendergast switched off the light. Youve doneand seenmore than enough for one day, Miss Swanson. Im very grateful for your help. He glanced at his watch. Its eight-thirty, still early enough for you to get home without danger. Go back to your car, go straight home, and get a good rest. Ill continue here on my own.

  But what about driving you?

  Ill get a ride back with one of those fine, eager young policemen over there.

  You sure?

  Yes.

  She hesitated, strangely unwilling to leave. Um, Im sorry I puked back there.

  She could barely see his smile in the gathering dark. Think nothing of it. The same thing happened to a close acquaintance of mine, a veteran lieutenant of the NYPD, at a homicide site a few years back. It merely proves your humanity.

  As she turned to go, he spoke again. One last thing, Miss Swanson.

  She stopped, looked back at him. Yes?

  When you get home, be sure to lock your house up tight.Tight. Agreed?

  She nodded, then turned again, making her way quickly through the corn, toward the striped red wash of police lights, thinking of Pendergasts words:its still early enough for you to get home without danger.

  Twenty-Two

  Shading his light carefully, Pendergast followed the bare prints into the darkness of the cornfield. The tracks were now quite distinct in the dry dirt between the rows of corn. As he walked, the noise of the crime scene fell away. When the field began to slope ever so slightly down toward the creek, he stopped to look back. The row of skeletal powerline towers stood silhouetted against the last light of the sky, steel sentinels, the stars winking into view above them. Crows, coming to roost in the towers, were cawing fitfully. He waited as the noise of the crows gradually settled for the night. Then there was no sound at all. The air was still and close as the air of a tomb, and smelled of dust and dry cornhusks.

  Pendergast slipped his hand into his jacket and removed his Les Baer custom .45. Carefully hooding his light, he examined the footprints again. They led straight on between the rows, unhurried, heading methodically toward the creek.

  Straight toward Gasparillas camp.

  He turned off the light and waited, allowing his eyes to adjust. Then, as quietly as a lynx, he moved through the rows of corn, a shadow gliding among shadows. The corn rows made a gentle bend as he approached the creek, and he could just make out where the passage of the killer had knocked a few dry stalks awry. He turned sideways and slipped through the gap himself, and in another minute had reached the edge of the cornfield.

  Below and beyond lay the bottomlands, the cottonwood trees along the banks throwing the creek itself into darkness. Pendergast moved forward along the edge of the cornfield, making the barest rustling noise, and in another minute gained the complete darkness of the trees.

  He paused. The sound of the creek purling over its bed was barely audible. He checked his weapon once again, assuring himself there was a round in the chamber. Then he knelt and, cupping his hands carefully, turned on the light. The faint pool of yellow illuminated the tracks, now even clearer in the sand. They were still angling toward Gasparillas camp. He knelt and examined the prints themselves. They were the same as before: male footprints, size eleven. But in the fine sand he could see that around the embossing made by the ball of the heel and the big toe there was a series of irregular impressions and cracks, as if the feet were unusually horny and tough. He made a few quick notes and sketches and then placed the tips of his fingers in one of the depressions. The prints had been made about twelve to fifteen hours beforejust before dawn that same day. The pace had quickened a bit here: now the killer was moving at a good walk, not hurrying exactly, but rather moving with purpose. There was no sense of urgency or fear in the way he moved. He was relaxed. He was satisfied. It was as if he were going home.

  Going home . . .

  Gasparillas camp was straight ahead, no more than a few hundred yards away. Cupping his flashlight so that just enough light escaped to make out the prints, the agent crept forward with excruciating slowness.

  He paused, listening intently, then moved forward again. Ahead, all was dark. There was no fire, no light. When he was within a hundred yards of the camp, he turned off the tiny ray of light and approached blindly. The camp was silent.

  And then he heard it: a faint, almost indiscernible sound. He froze.

  A minute passed.

  There it was again, louder now: a long, drawn-out sigh.

  Pendergast left the trail and circled around to the right of the camp, moving with exquisite care. As he approached the downwind sector, he smelled no smoke or food. There wasnt even a glow from a dying pile of coals.

  And yet there was definitely someone, or something, in the camp.

  The sound of exhaled air again. Wet, labored, almost a wheeze. Yet there was something strange about it: crude, animalistic, not quite human.

  Careful to make no sound, Pendergast raised his gun. The noise was coming from the middle of Gasparillas camp.

  The noise came again.

  Gasparillaor whatever was making the noisewas no more than fifty feet away. The darkness was absolute. Pendergast could see nothing.

  He leaned down, picked up a pebble. He then tossed it to the far side of the camp.

  Tap.

  A sudden silence. And then a guttural sound, like the growl of an animal.

  Pendergast waited as a fresh silence stretched on into minutes. All his senses were on the highest alert, straining to determine whether or not anything was moving toward him. Gasparilla had already proven himself adept at moving through darkness. Was he doing it again?

  Slowly, Pendergast picked up another pebble, tossed it in another direction.

  Tap.

  Once again, an answering snort came back: short, very loud, and in the exact same place. Whoeverwhateverit was had not moved.

  Pendergast snapped on the light and squeezed the grip of his pistol simultaneously, activating the laser sight. The beam of the flashlight illuminated a human being lying on his back in the dirt, staring upward with huge bloodshot eyes. His face and head were completely covered in blood.

  The red dot of the laser jitterbugged across the hideous face for a moment. Then Pendergast holstered the gun and took a step forward.

  Gasparilla?

  The face jerked back and forth. The mouth opened, blowing a bloody bubble of saliva.

 
In a moment Pendergast was kneeling over the man. It was unquestionably Gasparilla. Pendergast moved the flashlight across his face. All of the mans glossy black hair and heavy beard were gone, ripped out along with the scalp; the margins of flesh showed the cut marks of some crude implement: perhaps a stone knife. Pendergast quickly examined the rest of his body. Gasparillas left thumb had been partly hacked through and then yanked off with a brutal tug that left behind a white nub of bone, a shred or two of cartilage. Beyond that and the hair, however, the man seemed physically intact. Except for the scalp, there was little loss of blood. The damage appeared not so much of the body as of the mind.

  Uhmm!Gasparilla grunted, heaving upward. The eyes were wild, insane. He blew a spray of bloody saliva.

  Pendergast bent closer. Its all right now.

  The eyes roved wildly, unable to fix on Pendergast or anything else. When they paused, they seemed to quiver violently, then return immediately to roving, as if the mere act of focusing was unbearable.

  Pendergast took his hand. Im going to take care of you. Well get you out of here.

  He leaned back, flashed the light around. There was the place of attack: forty feet away to the north of the camp. There was the scuffle, the riot of footprints mingling with Gasparillas own.

  Pendergast stood now and approached the spot, licking the flashlight across the ground. There was the spot where Gasparilla had fallen, and from whereover the course of fifteen hourshe had dragged himself, in rolling fits, across the dirt. And there, on the far side of camp, were the footprints of the killer in the wet sand, well defined, heading into the creek.

  The killer, carrying away his trophies.

  The sand told the story.

  Pendergast turned back and looked deeply into the wildly roving eyes. He saw nothing: no intellect, no memory, no humanity, nothing but the sheerest terror.

  There would be no answers from Gasparilla; not nowand maybe not ever.

  Twenty-Three

  Sheriff Hazen entered the basement laboratory and took an unwilling look around. There was the same old sour smell, made worse by the overlay of disinfectants and chemicals; the same cinderblock walls painted diarrhea-tan; the same buzzing fluorescent lights. Breathing through the mouth did no goodthe surgical mask did nothing but introduce a smell of antiseptic paper to the mix. What he needed was a frigging gas mask.