Page 83 of Shadow of Death
“Rich, please, we’re not at the morgue,” he said, indicating the seat by Amy and asking, “May I?”
“Of course!” Amy said. “Were you just cruising diners or were you looking for us?”
“I like this place, and yes, I was looking for you,” Carver said.
The man had gained respect in his field and helped to solve many a case every year. He wasn’t quite forty yet, but his work was valued, and he often went on loan to different counties throughout the state and across the country.
A young waitress came by and offered him coffee and asked if he was dining as well. Carver said coffee would be great and if they had their home-baked apple pie that night, he’d love a piece.
“You’ve been handling Special Agent Gleason’s remains?” Hunter asked.
“You mean bits and pieces and parts, right?” Carver said dryly. He nodded. “And they’ve gone on now to the lab in Orlando. Maybe... Well, it would be nice to give his wife a bit more to bury. But in way, that relates to the reason I’m here. Maybe nothing, maybe something.”
“I’m always interested in maybes,” Hunter said.
“You’re still working all this together?” Rich asked, looking at Amy.
She nodded. “And it seems we’re back to the beginning here.”
Rich shrugged and shook his head. “From what I’ve heard, you two keep finding the people behind it all.”
“Let’s hope we keep finding them all,” Hunter said. “We’ve had some luck on this with cult members who have seen a new light. And we have suspects. But...the power of a cult leader is truly something. We just lost another possible witness to suicide. And his partner—who raced away—has been found, too. Well, half of him has been found.”
“Yes, I know. Aidan insisted I come in on it. He thinks there’s something wrong with the picture. All right, let’s face it—people go into the Everglades and they disappear. Some are known to have disappeared, and then others...well, they may have disappeared in the Everglades, or they just didn’t tell anybody where they were going. So I inspected the remains discovered today—one of the men who attempted to kidnap a woman and shot her boyfriend.
“And?” Amy asked.
“Aidan is right. The body definitely met with an alligator. Remember how alligators bite—bottom jaw there, top jaw doing the snapping. Well, there’s more to that part of the body, but I believe the man was dead before he was even partially snacked upon by an alligator.” He hesitated. “I think he might have been decapitated and the gator did what the killer was hoping—chomped down and took a large part of the body. We have no idea what specific creature might have done it. And we don’t run around indiscriminately chopping up our wildlife to find which one may have a man’s torso in it, but... I thought you should know.”
“We’re grateful for your input, anything you can give us is always tremendously helpful,” Amy assured him.
Rich smiled and thanked their waitress as she delivered his coffee.
When she was gone, he said, “Well, here’s another thing. I’ve received other body parts in the last month that were discovered in the stomachs of nuisance alligators.” He glanced at over Hunter, knowing he wasn’t from the area. He shrugged. “When a creature does become a menace to human life, it’s first relocated, but sometimes...well. Hmm. Did you ever see the movieLake Placid? Well, a little old lady was feeding alligators and they wound up with a taste for human flesh. Thing is, they aren’t cute little ducks or birds you might feed in a park. And they become a menace to human beings if they become accustomed to a food source. Of course, getting an alligator to eat a victim is certainly one way to get rid of thebody of evidence. Throughout the years, occasionally, a body part has been found in an alligator—or a crocodile, which is more aggressive, but with minuscule numbers in comparison to the alligator.”
Amy looked at him, frowning. “Rich, are you trying to say someone has fed body parts to alligators many times?”
“I don’t know about many. But I’d say several. We haven’t found any matching body parts. And they aren’t matching any known missing persons’ reports. I don’t know what is happening—but they were human beings. And I’m afraid—”
“Afraid this has to do with the horsemen case,” Hunter finished.
Rich nodded gravely.
“Excuse me!”
Amy looked up to see that Ida Peterson had come back to the table.
“May I?” she asked.
“Of course,” Amy said. Hunter moved over and Ida slid in next to him.
She frowned at Rich Carver and said, “I believe you have been here before, perhaps with Detective Mulberry or John Shultz—or even these guys,” she said lightly.
Rich smiled. “I have been here. Not sure when but anyone in law enforcement or forensics has heard that this is the best place possible to eat in this area! Kudos!”
Ida laughed softly. “The only place, probably, but thank you.” She grew serious. “People are being murdered again, right?” she asked them.
“I’m afraid so, Ida,” Hunter told her. “We know what happened in the past, but have you seen new people hanging around, anyone acting suspiciously?”
