Free Today's Promises by S.R. Grey Page B

we need to go through all those old trunks.”
    “Yeah, I heard him, but I really don’t know why,” I counter. “They’re too small to hold a body.” I motion to the trunk with the tinsel and star. “See, it’s all holiday stuff.”
    “I know. But he thinks there could be a weapon, or something relevant, stowed away in all that junk. Or…” He looks away, then mumbles, “Never mind.”
    “Wait.” I grab his arm. “What were you going to say?”
    Sighing, he says, “He mentioned that Allison could’ve cut up the body and tossed the pieces in a trunk.”
    “Ugh! Flynn, that’s a hideous thought.”
    He shrugs. “If the girl was killed, then it was obviously a hideous crime. What do you expect, Jaynie?”
    “I don’t know. Just…not that.”
    “If you ask me, this whole task is disgusting.”
    He’s not wrong about that.
    “Okay, Flynn and Jaynie.” The detective, thankfully, comes over and interrupts our unpleasant discussion. “Let’s get to work.”
    He and Flynn start by canvassing the dirt floor, while I am assigned to go through the musty, old trunks.
    Thankfully, I find no body parts.
    Aside from some other antiquated holiday decorations, I come upon nothing more than a few ratty blankets and a bunch of old tools.
    “Nothing of interest in any of these,” I announce when I’m finished.
    “We should check up in the hayloft,” Flynn suggests.
    He and the detective have just finished with the barn floor, so up the old rickety ladder the three of us go, with the detective in the lead.
    In the hayloft, there’s nothing to be found besides mountains of dust.
    After a succession of sneezes, I clear my throat and ask, “Where to now?”
    “Let’s go back down the ladder,” the detective says.
    “Works for me,” Flynn replies, suppressing a sneeze of his own.
    Back in the base of the barn, we look around one last time, hoping to find something we missed.
    But when it’s clear there’s nothing more to search, Flynn says, “That’s it, I guess. There’s nothing left for us to do. There are no other areas to search. We covered everything in here.”
    Sighing, I dejectedly add, “I don’t think there are any bodies buried in this barn.”
    Rubbing the salt-and-pepper stubble on his chin, Detective Silver blows out a breath. “You may be right,” he says. “But then again…” He digs the toe of his shiny dress shoe into the dirt floor, creating a divot. “Maybe our victim is buried below where we’re standing.”
    “Uh, we just canvassed the whole floor,” Flynn reminds him. “You said yourself there’s no indication anyone’s dug around in this old barn in years.”
    “Yes, but the body could be buried much deeper. If the killer—”
    “Allison, you mean,” I mutter.
    “—took it upon him- or herself to rake the dirt every day, after a while any sign of a disturbance would have been whisked away.”
    “Gross.” The detective sure has a colorful—and vivid—way of explaining things.
    Flynn, obviously eager to see this case resolved for my sake, says, “Should we grab some shovels?”
    Detective Silver thumps him on the back. “No, son, I think you and Jaynie have done enough for the day. Though it’s generous of you to offer, I believe this is a job best suited for our excavation crew. I was hoping we’d have more luck today, but all in all I think we did well. I appreciate you two coming in to town to help. The authorities can take it from here on out.”
    Panicked that this is our last chance to keep Allison behind bars, and it’s slipping from our grasp, I hastily inquire, “You’ll keep us updated on any and all progress, right?”
    “Sure, sure, I can do that.” The detective shares a meaningful glance with me alone. “Of course, there’s always the option of you telling your own story, Jaynie. Especially if we don’t find anything after the excavation is complete.”
    “Does that mean Allison is off the hook if you come up empty-handed?” I