Ava was so focused on her work that she was only slightly aware of the men going back and forth to the vehicle.
When the box under the strainer was full, Ava went to the SUV and took out an old 30-gallon plastic trash bag. She dumped the dirt into the trash bag so that they could check it again at the lab. When she finished with the first three inches, she began to dig three inches deeper.
The spade hit something that felt like a piece of cardboard.
She looked at the crime-scene photos. This cardboard would likely have been below the young woman’s bare left foot. Keeping track of the depth, Ava dug deeper with her spade. Hitting something, she pulled the spade out and moved it a few inches in toward the middle. Careful to keep track of where she was, Ava carefully dug down a tiny bit at a time. Finally, she saw what her shovel had hit — a woman’s right shoe.
Grinning to herself, she bagged the shoe and dug out the rest of the sand and dirt around where the shoe had fallen. She bagged that sand, marked it as connected to the shoe, and started a new.
She went to the area where the sand had been disturbed. She carefully and slowly dug down about five more inches. She found what she’d hoped for — a small, rectangular handbag.
She dug down the remaining eight inches until she was sure there wouldn’t be forensic evidence. Although her cursory strain of the dirt came up with nothing, she had bagged all of it. Fran and Leslie might find something of importance in the lab. She marked each bag of sandy dirt and carried them to the SUV. She folded down the far back seat of the SUV and placed her evidence bags and boxes there.
It was time to tackle the rest of Dr. Quincy’s list. Since she had the top layer of dirt, she had everywhere the young woman’s skin had touched the dirt. She also took deeper core samples to see if anything else had been stuffed down into the deeper sand.
To her surprise, on her tenth or eleventh deeper core sample, she found a thin gold band.
No one had said anything about a missing ring. This could have belonged to the perpetrators, the victim or . . . The possibilities were endless.
Certain that Fran and Leslie would sort it out, she tucked the ring into an evidence bag.
She completed Dr. Quincy’s requested list of samples and took a few of her own. She was turning off the digital camera when Nelson called to her.
“What is it?” Ava asked.
Carrying the camera, she walked in their direction. While she had been working, Nelson and Bob had carefully dug through the dirt and sand from their sample “square.”
“You just have to see this,” Bob said.
Eight
Nelson’s eyes held pain and trauma. Rather than speak, he simply nodded.
Ava walked to the site. They had marked off the seven-by-seven foot site. They’d dug out the site by layers. Each layer had been set aside in a pile on a layer of cardboard. She counted ten plastic bags of sand and dirt. She looked where Bob was standing and blinked.
“What is that?” Ava asked.
Bob held out his hand and helped Ava down the thirty inches they’d dug out. Closer now, she gasped and reeled back. Bob caught her to keep her from falling over. For a moment, no one said anything.
“Two adults and three children,” Nelson said softly.
They had dug down far enough to uncover two kneeling adult skeletons from their skulls to their shoulders. The adults’ arm bones surrounded what looked like three tiny child skeletons.
“Four children,” Bob said.
He pointed to an infant’s skeleton that lay against the skeleton of his parent’s shoulder. She knelt down. She took the folding climbing knife from where it was hooked onto the change pocket of her jeans. With the tip of her knife, she scraped the top of the largest skull. Blackened skin, hair, and tissue came off with it.
Nelson pointed at something. Ava knelt down to look. There were small pieces of fabric clinging to the protected areas of these corpses.
“Burned alive,” Ava whispered. “Then buried.”
Bob and Nelson nodded. She took out an evidence bag from her pocket and slipped the sample inside.
“Did you videotape the entire thing?” Ava asked.
Bob and Nelson nodded.
“Why don’t you take a break?” Ava asked. “I’ll call the state archaeologist.”
Bob hopped out of the trench. He held a hand out for Ava and helped her out. Nelson scrambled out on his own.
“If I get a vote, I think we should take them with us,” Bob suggested.
Ava looked to where Judith had gone.
“I’d guess that we have to,” Ava said. “Did you bring the satellite phone?”
Nelson nodded. He dug into his bag of magic technology and gave her a satellite phone. She dialed Dr. Heidi Miller, the state archaeologist. She worked at History Colorado. Established in 1879, History Colorado was the museum space of the State Historical Society of Colorado. Ava waited for the receptionist to put her through.
“Ava?” Heidi asked.
“Hey, Heidi,” Ava said. “How are you feeling?”
“Like shit,” Heidi said. Dr. Miller was struggling with the last stage of her pregnancy. “Listen, are you digging up historic bodies in Kiowa County?”
“We just discovered that,” Ava said.
“Be warned,” Heidi said. “The Commission got a call a couple of hours ago. They are on their way.”
Ava groaned. The Commission of Indian Affairs investigators were wonderful, funny, kind people who loved rules. Or so it seemed to Ava. One thing was sure — they would likely be here until long after the sun went down.
“They called me in a rage,” Heidi said. “I told them that we can trust you. You would call if anything came up.”
“Of course,” Ava said.
“Something came up?” Heidi asked.
“We found the remains of what looks like a family,” Ava said.
Heidi sucked in a breath.
“Kids and parents,” Ava said. “Listen, it looks like they were burned alive. The whole site was buried under the sand.”
Heidi didn’t respond for a few minutes.
“You okay?” Ava asked.
“Not really,” Heidi said. “You?”
“Not really,” Ava said. “You want to come out?”
“You’re sure there’s no forensic value?” Heidi asked.
“No forensic value,” Ava said. “These have been there . . . a hundred years, maybe two.”
“I should come out,” Heidi said.
“Why don’t we bring them back to you?” Ava said. “Somehow, Seth got Dr. Joan Quincy to work with us.”
“How did he do that?” Heidi asked.
“Who knows?” Ava asked. “I haven’t asked the gift horse.”
“Probably wise,” Heidi said.
“The Coroner has already agreed to give Dr. Quincy some space,” Ava said.
“They’re down a Coroner,” Heidi said.
“Why don’t we have Dr. Quincy take a look?” Ava asked. “You can assist. If you want them, we can bring them to History Colorado.”
Heidi fell silent again. Ava waited. She knew that space was at a premium at the museum.
“You’ve been taking pictures?” Heidi asked.
“We treated it like a forensic site,” Ava said. “We strained and bagged the soil. We’ve filmed the entire thing and taken photos. I’d send them to you, but we’re working off the satellite here. Denver Crime Lab invested in the satellite phone but not the one with data privileges.”
“Cheapskates,” Heidi said with a laugh. “We don’t have it, either.”
“We should steal one from the military,” Ava said. “Satellite, too.”
“I didn’t hear that,” Heidi said.
Ava laughed.
“Anyway, it’ll take us a couple hours to get the remains out, but we are set to do it,” Ava said. “Bob and Nelson are here with me. The three of us can get this done.”
“Where are you?” Heidi asked.
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sp; “Kiowa County. Chivington,” Ava said. “It’s three hours with no traffic. We’ve spent most of the day here.”
“Why?” Heidi asked.
“We’re investigating a cold case,” Ava said. “You remember that grant?”
“I remember going out to celebrate,” Heidi said.
Ava grinned.
“Let us do this for you,” Ava said. She looked up when a car pulled up behind their SUV. Ava swore. “It looks like the Commission is here.”
She raised a hand to wave. A young man waved back.
“Frederico,” Ava said, more than a little relieved.
Frederico Alvarez was younger and more flexible than some of the other Commission investigators. His family traced an unbroken lineage to the Apache people had spent time in this area. Running ahead of the cavalry, his family had been among the Apache people who had escaped into the hills of Mexico. Frederico’s grandparents had moved back to Colorado to a small farm in the Central Valley.
“Good,” Heidi said.
“He can help us document getting the family up,” Ava said.
“You’ll bring them back?” Heidi asked. “You have space?”
“We will,” Ava said. “We have space. Seth bought us a huge SUV.”
“Nice,” Heidi said. She gave a long, heavy sigh. “Listen, document everything. Call Dr. Quincy and see if she has any ideas. It’s just as likely that you’ll have to put them right back. You remember the rule.”
“Every community in Colorado has the right to choose how they deal with historic remains,” Ava repeated by rote. “Don’t worry. I’ll call the Sheriff.”
“Good,” Heidi said. “Call me when you get in.”
“I’ll text you,” Ava said.
“Good thinking,” Heidi said. “I’m asleep all the time now.”
They were silent for a moment, as each woman wondered if there was something she could do for her friend. Ava knew that if Heidi was well, she would insist on driving out to take a look herself. Heidi knew that Ava liked to be home for dinner and in bed early.
“Good luck,” Heidi said, finally.
“Thanks,” Ava said. “I’ll talk to you soon.”
She watched Frederico make his way across the field to where Bob and Nelson were standing. Nelson and Frederico hugged like old friends. The men were pointing and gesturing into the hole Nelson and Bob had dug.
Ava wondered for a moment where she could find Dr. Quincy, finally deciding to call Maresol. Ava looked at her watch. Maresol was usually starting dinner about this time.
“Maresol?” Ava asked. “I’m wondering if you know how I can speak with Dr. Quincy.”
“She is right here,” Maresol said. “One moment.”
Maresol’s steps echoed against the wood floors. A door creaked opened and Maresol spoke softly in the background. The phone was set down and there was some movement in the background.
“Yes,” Dr. Quincy said. Her voice sounded as if she had been asleep. “Ava, what have you found?”
“You remember those weird squares?” Ava asked.
“The demarcations in the dirt?” Dr. Quincy asked.
“Those,” Ava said. “We have found a set of historic remains.”
“Indigenous people?” Dr. Quincy asked.
“We don’t believe so,” Ava said. “The Commission of Indian Affairs is here to be sure.”
“Good,” Dr. Quincy said. Her voice was stronger and clearer. “Please continue. Don’t leave anything out.”
Ava relayed to her everything that had happened, from Nelson’s drone to Bob choosing the middle square. Dr. Quincy inhaled sharply when Ava described what they had found.
“Is there any way you can send me the images?” Dr. Quincy asked.
“I’m calling on a satellite phone, but we don’t have data with it,” Ava said. “Sorry.”
“Not a problem,” Dr. Quincy said. “I will take a look when you return. What is your gut sense of this situation?”
“It looks to us — Bob and Nelson are here with me — that these people were hiding and that someone burned them alive,” Ava said. “And then covered it up with sand.”
“Like Ludlow,” Dr. Quincy said, referring to the Ludlow Mine Massacre.
“That’s what it looks like to me,” Ava said. “Except that there are two hundred and fifty sites here.”
“Wow,” Dr. Quincy said in a breath.
“I’ve called the state archaeologist,” Ava said. “Technically she should come out but she . . .”
“Yes, I know Dr. Miller is ill with her pregnancy,” Dr. Quincy said decisively.
“She’s asked if we could retrieve the remains,” Ava said.
“Do you have enough light?” Dr. Quincy asked.
“I believe so,” Ava said. “Frederico Alvarez, an investigator at the Commission of Indian Affairs, just showed up. I think Bob and Nelson will talk him into helping.”
Dr. Quincy didn’t respond.
“I would hate to leave the remains exposed,” Ava said. “We can dig them back in, but that means traipsing out here again and digging them up again.”
“I agree with you,” Dr. Quincy said. “It’s just a lot of work.”
“Heidi suggested that we ask you if you had any specific instructions,” Ava said.
“She knows that I consulted on the Ludlow Mine Massacre site,” Dr. Quincy said. “The key is to be careful, but firm. You will damage the corpses by moving them. If you can get the remains out as a ball — the way they’ve been for all this time — that’s best. It is also nearly impossible to do.”
“We’ll do what we can,” Ava said.
“I will call the University of Denver to see if they wish to consult with us on the site,” Dr. Quincy said. “They ran volunteer teams from around the world from 1998 to 2002 at Ludlow. They’ll know what to do with these people.”
“Thank you,” Ava said.
“Keep in touch,” Dr. Quincy said.
“We’ll let you know what we find,” Ava said.
“Good luck,” Dr. Quincy said.
“Thanks,” Ava said and hung up.
Ava walked out to the site.
“Heidi asked if we can bring them to Denver,” Ava said. “Dr. Quincy said that it would be best if we can retrieve them as a unit, but she said it’s nearly impossible.”
“Wasn’t she on the Ludlow Mine Massacre team?” Nelson asked.
“She consulted,” Ava said.
“What’s a ‘Ludlow Mine Massacre’?” Bob asked.
“There was a coal strike south of Pueblo in 1914,” Ava said. “The Colorado National Guard opened fire on the striking miners. The strikers built cellars under their tents to avoid being shot. So, the National Guard set fire to the tents. They found four women and eleven children in a cellar under one of the tents. Burned alive.”
Ava nodded to the field. Squinting, the men turned to look at the field. Ava sighed.
“Well, we have more than that,” Ava said.
“This might have been a cellar,” Nelson said.
Ava nodded. She drank the rest of her water.
“I brought a case of water,” Frederico said, and gestured to the car. “If we need it.”
“You’ll help us?” Ava asked.
“In return for a favor,” Frederico said.
Ava was a person who took her word very seriously. She would not agree to Frederico’s help if she didn’t know what she was agreeing to.
“Cold case,” Frederico said. “Arapaho woman found on the Pawnee National Grassland.”
“What county?” Ava asked.
“Weld,” Frederico said. “But it’s way out at the border. Rural AF.”
“‘Rural AF’?” Ava asked with a grin.
“That’s what I call the grant,” Nelson said.
“Good to know,” Ava laughed. “Deal.”
Frederico and Ava shook hands.
“Let’s get to work,” Ava said. “But!”
The men turned to look at
her.
“This is for Bob and Nelson,” Ava said.
“That’s okay,” Frederico said. “I’m still listening in.”
Grinning at the young man, Ava continued, “We are working on a case of a murdered young woman, no more than a girl, really. These historic bodies are intriguing, but I refuse to let them take precedence over this young woman.”
“Agreed,” Bob said. “She is our priority. Everything else comes second.”
“Yes,” Nelson said. “I don’t want to lose focus on her.”
“Okay,” Ava said. “Let’s get these remains out of the ground.”
Frederico went to the back of his SUV to get a shovel. They set to digging out the remains.
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Nine
“Okay,” Seth said as he rolled into the dining room.
Everyone was eating a late dinner of delicately spiced chicken tacos and a variety of side dishes. Seth looked surprised to see them eating. Maresol scowled at him.
“Dinner?” Maresol asked. “We agreed to eat when they got home?”
She got up and wheeled Seth to an empty spot between his father, Bernie, and Ava.
“I lost track of time,” Seth said. “Sorry.”
“What were you doing?” Fran, Ava’s laboratory tech, asked.
“I was talking to . . .” Seth’s voice became booming. “ . . . those who cannot be named.”
Bob, Nelson, Fran, and Leslie laughed. Dr. Quincy grinned, and Bernie slapped Seth’s shoulder. Only Maresol was not amused. She rolled her eyes. Ava reached out her hand to him, and he took it. She gave him an amused smile.
“So, you were talking to your buddies and . . .?” Maresol asked.
“I was able to get a ground-penetrating radar image of the site,” Seth said.
Surprised, Nelson spit out his drink. Maresol got up to help him mop up the mess and left the room.
“What? You have radar of our site?” Nelson asked. “In Kiowa County? Chivington? How?”
“I can’t tell you how,” Seth said. “I sent them the film you took from the drone. They were able to match it up with radar, heat — those kinds of things. I sent a copy to your email.”
Little Girl Blue, a Seth and Ava Mystery Page 5