Chapter 14

Sgt. Tim Donovan arrives after an interminable-seeming wait with several officers from the sheriff’s department, the coroner’s investigation team, and the coroner himself. Kimana and I huddle on the log as the tiny clearing becomes a beehive of activity, each individual handling their assigned job skillfully. I’m relieved to see the cigarette butts efficiently picked up with tweezers and deposited in evidence bags, still looking intact and dry. Paper bags are secured on the hands of the deceased woman with wide rubber bands to prevent the loss of evidence or any contamination. The team members efficiently erect a large yellow tent to cover the area where the body is located and Kimana and I breathe sighs of relief that the escalating downpour has been thwarted in its efforts to erase valuable information from the body.

Tim takes a statement from Dad and he hands over the secure memory card from his digital camera to the coroner’s primary investigator. The rain intensifies and begins to sweep sideways through the forest. The temperature has been plummeting steadily downward since practically the moment Leda found the body. Tim and Dad confer for several fraught moments and then Dad’s shoulders stiffen as he stares at Tim in disbelief. Uh oh. I don’t like the look of this body language in the least.

They walk closer, still chatting earnestly, and suddenly Tim looms over us, water dripping off the edge of his hat as he shakes his head. “Leda wasn’t satisfied with just looking for missing hikers, I see. Now she’s freelancing,” he says with a sardonic look at Leda. My clever dog leans against my knee and stares back at Tim intently. For the record, Tim’s the first one to break eye contact.

“Well, it’s a lucky thing she found that young woman so quickly after her body was discarded. The coroner thinks she may have been killed elsewhere and dumped here due to the lack of blood evidence in the area, but time will tell. Who knows how long she would have laid out here, evidence deteriorating, especially with these summer thunderstorms that have plagued us this year.” Tim relents and bends down to scratch Leda behind the ears. She magnanimously decides to forgive him for his earlier sarcasm.

“Unfortunately, I have more bad news, ladies. I was just telling Bob about it. Deputy Hall—I mean, Detective Hall… I have to get used to saying that since he passed his exam and moved up in the department,” Tim says contritely. “Anyway, he informed me of a situation which occurred when we were headed to you. He got diverted by dispatch from joining me here due to another critical incident. Margo Streeter was seriously injured a few hours ago.”

“Oh no,” Kimana bursts out. “What happened to her?” Her face turns stark white and I put my arm behind her back fearing she’s about to faint.

“She was driving down Starshine Canyon Drive and turned onto State Highway 409 at that steep section with the cliffs and canyons. Her car blasted right through the guardrail and over the edge. The driver following behind her says he never even saw brake lights. The car flipped over multiple times on its way down to the base of a steep hill. However, the mountain rescue teamwere able to extricate Margo from the vehicle and airlift her to the trauma center. She’s in a coma and the docs told Charlie Hall that it’s touch and go whether she survives the acc