wasn’t Sharon after all. The caller
was new Paskagankee Police Chief Pete Kendall, the man who had succeeded Mike
in the chief’s job – despite not yet being thirty years old – following
Mike’s glowing recommendation. Pete rarely phoned, and when he did, it was
almost always after hours. This clearly wasn’t a social call.
“Huh,”
he mumbled to himself, and pressed the Talk button. “Hello?”
“Hey,
Mike, this is Pete Kendall. How’s the life of a semi-retired gentleman treating
you?”
“It’s not
all it’s cracked up to be,” Mike answered with a smile. “Although at least I
don’t have to deal with dumbass cops every day anymore.”
Pete
laughed. “I can see you’ve given the issue a lot of thought, but remember, it
takes one to know one. Anyway, I’m sorry to pull you away from your deep
philosophical musings, but we’ve got a situation, and I was hoping you might be
available to provide a little input on it.”
“Of
course. What kind of situation?”
“I
don’t know if you’re aware, but the septic system failed at the Ridge Runner,
and Bo Pellerin was forced to replace the whole thing.”
“Listen,
I know I agreed to serve as occasional consultant to the Paskagankee PD, but
I’m not sure I’m qualified to take on the job of digging a septic system. Or
that I want to, for that matter.”
Pete
laughed again, the sound warm and friendly. It reminded Mike how much he missed
his old life. “No, I’m not asking you to play in the mud and…you know, the other
stuff. Bo’s already hired Dan Melton to do that. But here’s the thing: Dan was
digging the pit for the new septic system this morning and he uncovered what
appears to be human remains in some kind of hidden underground bunker next to
the Ridge Runner.”
“A body
buried next to the Ridge Runner?”
“More
than one.”
“How
many more?”
Kendall
paused, and Mike wondered why. The question seemed pretty straightforward. Then
the young police chief cleared his throat and said, “It depends who you
believe. There are two sets of what I’m certain are human skeletal remains positioned
almost right next to each other at the bottom of the hole, but…”
“But
what?”
“But
Dan swears there were three bodies
down there when he made the discovery.”
Mike
ran a hand through his hair. “What? How long was the hole left unattended?”
“Melton
says he called us on his cell from the cab of the earthmover the minute he discovered
the bodies, and that he waited for the arrival of the cruiser—Sharon
responded, by the way—in front of the bar.”
“How
long did it take her to get there?”
“She happened
to be in the area on patrol at the time, so she was very close. Mike, she
radioed in on arrival at the Ridge Runner not five minutes after Gordie took
Melton’s call.”
“Let me
get this straight. Someone stole a dead body that no one even knew existed
until this morning, within five minutes of its discovery, with Dan Melton right
around the corner? And Dan didn’t see a thing? That’s impossible, Pete.”
“I know
that. Even if someone had been watching Melton dig the hole and had snuck down
there the minute his back was turned, it just would not have been possible to
bring the body up from the bottom of the hole and spirit it away without being observed.”
“So
what happened? The corpse got up and walked away by itself?”
“Melton
says that’s exactly what happened.”
6
Mike was inside his car and on
the way to the Ridge Runner five minutes later. He had been a Paskagankee
resident long enough by now that navigating the winding, remote roads, often roads
badly in need of repair, was second nature and required little conscious
thought. As he drove through the fuzzy afternoon drizzle, he considered Dan
Melton’s odd claim that three bodies had been at the bottom of the hole when he
called the police, and only two were there upon Sharon’s arrival just
was new Paskagankee Police Chief Pete Kendall, the man who had succeeded Mike
in the chief’s job – despite not yet being thirty years old – following
Mike’s glowing recommendation. Pete rarely phoned, and when he did, it was
almost always after hours. This clearly wasn’t a social call.
“Huh,”
he mumbled to himself, and pressed the Talk button. “Hello?”
“Hey,
Mike, this is Pete Kendall. How’s the life of a semi-retired gentleman treating
you?”
“It’s not
all it’s cracked up to be,” Mike answered with a smile. “Although at least I
don’t have to deal with dumbass cops every day anymore.”
Pete
laughed. “I can see you’ve given the issue a lot of thought, but remember, it
takes one to know one. Anyway, I’m sorry to pull you away from your deep
philosophical musings, but we’ve got a situation, and I was hoping you might be
available to provide a little input on it.”
“Of
course. What kind of situation?”
“I
don’t know if you’re aware, but the septic system failed at the Ridge Runner,
and Bo Pellerin was forced to replace the whole thing.”
“Listen,
I know I agreed to serve as occasional consultant to the Paskagankee PD, but
I’m not sure I’m qualified to take on the job of digging a septic system. Or
that I want to, for that matter.”
Pete
laughed again, the sound warm and friendly. It reminded Mike how much he missed
his old life. “No, I’m not asking you to play in the mud and…you know, the other
stuff. Bo’s already hired Dan Melton to do that. But here’s the thing: Dan was
digging the pit for the new septic system this morning and he uncovered what
appears to be human remains in some kind of hidden underground bunker next to
the Ridge Runner.”
“A body
buried next to the Ridge Runner?”
“More
than one.”
“How
many more?”
Kendall
paused, and Mike wondered why. The question seemed pretty straightforward. Then
the young police chief cleared his throat and said, “It depends who you
believe. There are two sets of what I’m certain are human skeletal remains positioned
almost right next to each other at the bottom of the hole, but…”
“But
what?”
“But
Dan swears there were three bodies
down there when he made the discovery.”
Mike
ran a hand through his hair. “What? How long was the hole left unattended?”
“Melton
says he called us on his cell from the cab of the earthmover the minute he discovered
the bodies, and that he waited for the arrival of the cruiser—Sharon
responded, by the way—in front of the bar.”
“How
long did it take her to get there?”
“She happened
to be in the area on patrol at the time, so she was very close. Mike, she
radioed in on arrival at the Ridge Runner not five minutes after Gordie took
Melton’s call.”
“Let me
get this straight. Someone stole a dead body that no one even knew existed
until this morning, within five minutes of its discovery, with Dan Melton right
around the corner? And Dan didn’t see a thing? That’s impossible, Pete.”
“I know
that. Even if someone had been watching Melton dig the hole and had snuck down
there the minute his back was turned, it just would not have been possible to
bring the body up from the bottom of the hole and spirit it away without being observed.”
“So
what happened? The corpse got up and walked away by itself?”
“Melton
says that’s exactly what happened.”
6
Mike was inside his car and on
the way to the Ridge Runner five minutes later. He had been a Paskagankee
resident long enough by now that navigating the winding, remote roads, often roads
badly in need of repair, was second nature and required little conscious
thought. As he drove through the fuzzy afternoon drizzle, he considered Dan
Melton’s odd claim that three bodies had been at the bottom of the hole when he
called the police, and only two were there upon Sharon’s arrival just
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