Free The Body in the Woods by April Henry Page A

him. His face felt like it was on fire. He hadn’t noticed that everyone was lining up, but now they were all standing with their backs to the crime scene tape that marked out a large rough square about a hundred feet across. Alexis and Nick hurried to join them, standing next to Ruby.
    â€œAs most of you already know, a girl’s body was found yesterday in this location when we were out conducting a hasty search.” Mitchell pointed, and everyone turned. “The body was found roughly in the middle of this square.”
    As Nick listened, he bounced in place, trying to keep his blood circulating. Per SAR protocol, he was dressed in three layers, top and bottom, starting with long underwear, then a fleece layer, and finally a rainproof layer. Still when he ran his tongue over his front teeth, the inside of his upper lip was disconcertingly cold. He wished he still had his grande mocha, but he had had to gulp it in the van, since he wasn’t allowed to bring it on-site. Even their lunches would be eaten well away from the search area. They didn’t want something of theirs to be erroneously labeled as evidence. In the van, Ruby had gone on and on about the local principle, or something like that.
    Before the team had arrived this morning, the cops had marked off the area to be searched for evidence. One end of the square was cut by the trail, and in the middle was the spot where they had found the girl’s body. On the way in, they had passed one of the cops who were stationed on both ends of the trail to keep anyone from blundering in.
    Detective Harriman stood next to Mitchell. Today he was dressed in a mountain parka and a black floppy nylon hat with a wide brim. When he had first seen it, Nick had decided the hat looked stupid, like something an old man would wear. Now in the slow, drizzly rain, he would have given every dollar in his wallet to buy one. His own wool hat lacked a brim, and even with his jacket hood pulled over his hat and helmet, the rain was still flecking his face.
    â€œToday we will be looking for anything that will help the police solve this crime,” Mitchell continued in that super-serious way he had that set Nick’s teeth on edge. “It could be as small as a fingernail or a tooth. If you find anything, don’t touch it. Instead, call a halt. It’s not your responsibility to determine how long it’s been there. It’s not up to you to decide if it’s evidence. Your only job is to find it. Basically, we’re looking for anything God didn’t put there. Call it and let your team leader decide if the detective needs to check it out.”
    His gaze swept over the group. People nodded or mumbled in assent.
    â€œAnd don’t get distracted by something far away. Focus on what’s in front of you. You don’t want to miss something small, like a hyoid bone or drops of blood. But don’t just look down. Sometimes evidence might be higher than your head.” Mitchell’s coat was unzipped as if he didn’t feel the cold. He had a million pouches and holsters suspended from his belt, even more than Detective Harriman.
    Toward the far end of the line, someone’s teeth were audibly chattering. “You might as well get used to the temp,” Mitchell said. “It’s not going to get any warmer. Especially not when you’re down on your hands and knees.” His tone of voice implied this was a good thing, a secret test of their ability and will. “Okay, line up and count off!” He sounded like a drill sergeant.
    â€œOne,” yelled Ezra, who was standing next to the place where the tape made a corner.
    â€œTwo,” Dimitri called out. And so on down the line. All of them fast and loud. You were supposed to project when you were looking for someone who was lost, in case it could help them find you. And if the line was spread out, yelling made it possible for either end to still hear each other. But