Free Murder on High by Stefanie Matteson Page A

as thick as Tracey’s. “Well, I think you can see from this slide that it’s not that simple.”
    These comments were followed by the ranger’s description of the evacuation itinerary, which was also illustrated with slides. It had taken the rescue team the best part of a day to evacuate the body. The task had involved lowering the body down three three-hundred-foot technical pitches to the point where a ground crew could reach it from the ledges at the back of the basin.
    After Sargent had finished his presentation, the district supervisor and the leader of the rescue team described the roles they had played, from when they had first learned of the accident to when the body was flown out of Chimney Pond. Several made suggestions as to how rescue procedures could be improved, but in general they agreed that the operation had gone smoothly.
    At last, it was time for the chief medical examiner, Dr. Henry Clough, to testify. A hubbub swept the room as he took a seat in the witness chair. He was carrying a canvas boat bag, which he set down at his feet.
    He was a short, slight man with a long, ruddy face, a fifties-style crewcut, and a wool tartan tie. After identifying himself, he began by noting for the record that he had examined the body of the deceased at the Dow Funeral Home in Millinocket, where it had been taken after being evacuated to the Millinocket Municipal Airport by the 112th Medivac.
    He then went on to describe the victim as a white Caucasian female of about seventy years of age, weighing approximately one hundred and forty pounds, and standing five feet six inches tall. Next came the description of the injuries, which went on for some time, each contusion, laceration, and broken bone, of which there seemed to be dozens, being precisely enumerated.
    At last, he signaled the projectionist for the first slide.
    There was a collective gasp from the audience as the slide appeared on the screen. It was a photograph of the dead woman’s head and neck, taken from the side. The body was lying on its back on a stainless steel autopsy table. The head was covered with dried blood, which had turned black. She looked as if she’d fallen headfirst into a mud puddle.
    Charlotte looked for signs of the Iris she had once known, but the body was like a complete stranger’s to her.
    “Here you can see some of the injuries that the victim sustained in the fall,” Clough said. “Basically, she was beaten to a pulp. There was a lot of bleeding; some of it’s from the cuts and lacerations that occurred as a result of the fall. However,” he added, “not all of it.” After a brief pause, he turned to address the board directly. “It wasn’t the fall that killed her.”
    “Are you saying that she was shot?” interjected one of the television newsmen. At this question, flashbulbs started popping, and the cameramen started jockeying for position.
    “Would you like to tell us what it was that killed her?” the Fisheries and Wildlife Commissioner said tartly, obviously perturbed at the medical examiner’s grandstanding.
    “Certainly,” Clough responded. He nodded again at the projectionist, and another slide appeared on the screen. This one showed Iris’ head in the same position, but in this slide the dried blood had been washed off. The side of her head was caved in, like a jack-o’-lantern that’s begun to rot.
    Rising from the stand, Dr. Clough picked up the pointer and went over to the screen. “This is what killed her,” he said, touching the tip to a small, neat, round hole on the side of Iris’ neck. “A perforating injury to the side of the neck produced by the tip of an arrow.”
    For a moment, there was stunned silence as the audience took in his statement. One of the journalists finally spoke. “She was murdered with a bow and arrow?” he asked incredulously.
    Tracey leaned in close to Charlotte’s ear. “You’d think Clough would have had the courtesy to let the state police in on this before