Page 30 of Shadow of Doubt
“Do you think Tarver got caught in his own fire?” Reid asked.
“Could be.” Colin had to swallow hard not to want to hurl. He didn’t want anyone to die, not even Tarver, but if this turned out to be him, Brooklyn’s problems would be over. Would she leave then? Go back to Portland? Likely.
That didn’t sit well with him, but a man had died, and figuring out what happened here took precedence right now.Colin had plenty of time to think about Brooklyn leaving later. “We have no option but to call the locals now.”
“Yeah, of course.” Nick stared at the body. “But there’s no way they’re equipped to determine ID on such a badly burned body.”
“They’ll have to call in the state,” Dev said. “I know they have at least one anthropologist on staff.”
Reid shook his head. “Going to take some time, then. They’re notoriously backlogged, and we won’t get an ID for a while.”
“No problem.” Nick got out his phone. “I’ll call Kelsey Dunbar. She’s our anthropologist and can likely be here in an hour.”
“An hour?” Ryan swiveled to gape at Nick. “From Portland? That’s at least a three-hour drive.”
“Did I forget to mention we bought a helicopter?” Nick grinned. “We’re starting to get so many calls for our services from outside the city that we needed to quit wasting valuable time behind the wheel.”
“Of course you bought one.” Reid shook his head. “I’d like to have even a tenth of your budget.”
If Nick was offended, his expression didn’t show it. “We couldn’t afford one when we were first starting out like you. You’ll get there.”
“I hope I’m around then.” Dev rubbed his hands together. “Maybe I should start taking pilot lessons now.”
The others laughed, breaking the tension as Dev was famous for doing.
“Hopefully, if Kelsey is called in, we’ll at least be kept in the loop,” Ryan said.
“Not if the local sheriff calls her,” Nick said. “We’ll have to contract with the county, and the findings will be private unless the sheriff is willing to share.”
“Too bad we’re not in Russ’s jurisdiction,” Reid said. “He would play ball for sure and keep us updated on what was going on.”
Colin wished the same thing, but if he knew one thing about working an investigation, it was that it was rarely as easy as he would hope. “Nick, you go ahead and call Kelsey. We’ll wait on making that call to the local authorities. That way when they do arrive, she’ll be here, and they’re more apt to use her services.”
“On it.” Nick stepped back and tapped his phone.
“I’d like to get a closer look,” Colin said.
“We can’t destroy potential evidence,” Reid said. “We all need to back away.”
“A zoomed-in photo won’t hurt anything.” Colin got out his phone. “You all light the area up best you can.”
The guys swung their flashlights to flood light over the body, covering it like a blanket of light.
Colin focused on the victim and zoomed in to take several shots. The scorched remains turned his stomach. This wasn’t the first time he’d seen a charred body, but this one was further damaged than the other man he’d seen. His camera displayed an accelerant trail leading to the space where the victim lay, so perhaps he’d been caught in the thick of the flames.
He snapped several shots and moved to new locations to take additional photos from different angles. Satisfied he’d recorded all he could with his restrictions, he stowed his phone.
Somehow stowing the phone removed the clinical feel from his actions, and the loss of life and the idea of someone’s loss of a loved one hit him. Hard. Even bad guys had parents. People who loved them. “Would you guys join me in a prayer for the family of this person who perished in the fire?”
He didn’t wait for an answer. No need. All the men were Christian. He led them in a prayer—the only thing he could dofor the deceased right now—but he would also commit to finding his identity and give the family some closure.
He turned to wait for Nick, who sounded like he was ending his call. Brooklyn came to mind. How was he going to break the news to her? She would be distraught. Shocked. Maybe even more terrified. He wanted to break it to her gently.
He looked at the guys. “Keep this to yourselves for now, and I’ll tell Brooklyn.”
“You think it’s Tarver?” Dev asked.
Colin shook his head. “From what she and Nick say about him, I can’t see him getting caught in his own fire.”
