Free Once Shadows Fall by Robert Daniels

it.”
    Jack turned to her. “Do you remember showing me the electrostats of the shoeprints?”
    “You thought the killer made both because the depth was the same.”
    “I also said the crime scene was staged. That cross is perpendicular to the field, not facing it as you’d expect. Let’s take a closer look.”
    Pappas looked at the sheriff and shrugged. When they were about ten feet away, Jack came to a halt and folded his arms across his chest. He stared silently at the cross as if he were trying to solve some complicated mathematical problem.
    Nearly a minute ticked by before he spoke again. “Dan, help me take this down.”
    “Why?” Beth asked.
    “You said the body had been drained of blood, right?”
    “Most of it,” Beth said.
    “Was there enough in the tunnel to account for the difference?”
    Beth considered his question for a moment, then answered, “I’d say no.”
    “The ground at the base of the stake has been turned—recently, from the look of it.”
    “Yeah, maybe,” Blaylock said. “But why so big an area if the guy was just putting the cross up? This has gotta be six feet wide.”
    The same thought occurred to everyone at once.
    “Shit,” Pappas said.
    *
    Avilles and the second deputy returned from town with two shovels and began to dig. At Jack’s direction, the earth was removed and placed onto a tarp they’d brought along. Beth and Ben Furman sifted through the growing mound looking for clues. At one point, Pappas’s cell phone rang. He took it out, checked the screen, and then returned it to his pocket.
    “Everything okay?” Beth asked, noting his expression.
    “Text message from the lieutenant to call in.”
    “Maybe you should.”
    Pappas lifted his shoulders. “Reception’s lousy out here. I’ll wait till I get—”
    The detective broke off what he was saying to look at Jack, who had dropped into a crouch and was collecting a soil sample. He’d donned a pair of blue latex gloves he borrowed from Beth earlier and was using a small pocket knife to scoop dirt and place it into a plastic evidence bag.
    “Whatcha got, Jack?” Pappas asked.
    “A possible outlier.”
    “A what?”
    “An outlier—something that shouldn’t be here. The coloration and texture of this soil is different from the rest. It also contains some shiny particles. I can’t tell what they are by looking.”
    He turned to Ben Furman. “Your lab has a gas chromatograph mass spectrometer, don’t you?”
    “We sure do,” Furman said.
    “And an electron microscope?”
    “Yep.”
    “You should analyze this as soon as possible,” Jack said. “They almost look like bits of shell.”
    A curse from the second deputy interrupted the rest of Jack’s comments. Everyone turned toward the hole. Sticking out of the loose soil was a woman’s hand. One of the fingers was missing.

Chapter 15
    I t was nearly seven o’clock by the time Beth pulled into Jack’s driveway.
    “I’m sorry about keeping you so long,” she said. “You were really helpful. Thanks.”
    “You’re welcome.”
    During the ride, Beth wanted to get Jack’s thoughts on what they found, but he had lapsed into a moody silence shortly after they left the farm, making the trip back seem even longer than the one there.
    Betsy Ann Tinsley’s body was removed from the shallow grave and turned over to the medical examiner. A pall had settled over the farm. Conversations were few, and when someone did speak, it was in a whisper. No one could recall anything like the gruesome picture taking shape before them. More bizarre still were the page from an old almanac buried with her and the oxidized portion of a brass plate bearing the name “McKeachern, M.” None of it made any sense. Pieces of a puzzle.
    “Would you like to grab a bite to eat?” Beth asked. “I owe you.”
    “It’s been a long day,” Jack said. “I need to feed Marta.”
    “Sure. Maybe another time.”
    Jack gave her a tight-lipped smile that seemed rather sad and