Page 17 of Hell Hath No Fury

“But you’re the police. You know what happened. Isn’t that enough?”

“Afraid not. For one thing, I’m out of my jurisdiction. For another, they want to hear it from you, not me.”

She huffed. “Can I at least go sit in my car?”

He looked at the vehicle and pictured her climbing in and driving off. But her coloring was pale, bordering on green. The last thing he wanted was to have to call 911 again and ask for an ambulance. “Sure. Just don’t leave.”

Fran thanked him, gathered her metal detector and trowel, and shuffled off, passing Emma without another word.

Emma’s complexion was on the pale side as well. “Is it… Eric?” she asked Matthias. “Or…”

He knew she couldn’t fill in the blank with her sister’s name. “All I can see is a belt, a buckle, and denim. The buckle is utilitarian brass. Is that something Nell would wear?”

“No.” Emma swallowed. “But Eric might.”

Matthias touched her chin. “Let’s not jump to conclusions. We learned the hard way how inaccurate those are.”

She unslung her camera strap from her neck and handed him the Nikon. “Take a photo.”

“There’s not much to see. Fran didn’t dig any further when she realized what had triggered her metal detector.”

“Please.”

Grudgingly, he accepted the camera and gave her a look that asked if she was absolutely sure. She nodded, and he headed back toward the shallow grave, cautiously following his original boot tracks. His and Fran’s were the only prints in the mud. Whoever had put the body here had done so before last night’s rains washed the evidence away.

Matthias zoomed in on the small area Fran had cleared and snapped a couple of photos. While he had the camera in his hands, he shot several other images of the overall scene, same as if he was an official first responder to a homicide. As he trudged back to Emma, he reviewed the pictures on the screen, leaving the closeup on the frame when he returned the camera.

She squinted at the thumbnail. Zoomed in.

“Well?” he asked.

“I can’t tell. I never paid much attention to Eric’s belt.”

Matthias refrained from saying, “I told you so.”

The distant wail of sirens carried on the morning air.That didn’t take long.

“What’s going on?”

He turned to face a trio of workmen. “The woman with the metal detector uncovered what may be a human body.”

One of the men’s faces paled. Another took a step toward thegrave.

Matthias stopped him. “I need you to stay on the road. The police are on the way.”

The inquisitive one glared at him. “I saw you over there. I want to take a look, too.”

“I can’t let you do that. It’s a crime scene.”

“Bullshit. You can’t tell me what to do. You ain’t no cop.”

“Yes, I am. Detective Matthias Honeywell.” He wasn’t about to elaborate on which department he worked for, unless he had to.

The workman didn’t press. Nor did he question the disappearance of Matthias’s drawl. “I’m sorry, Detective. I didn’t realize.”

“Other than the woman with the metal detector, have you seen anyone else around here this morning?”

“Just you two.” He pointed from Matthias to Emma. “No one else.”