A Shadow Fell (18 page)
42
T
wo
hours into the search, circling in an ever-widening pattern, the chopper pilot
signaled that
fuel was getting
l
ow.
Blackmore nodded and touched his forehead, then the back of his shoulder – his sign language for ‘head back.’
A
s the bird w
ent
into a sharp tilt to change direction
Colletti
continued to sc
our
the ground with binoculars. Suddenly his attention was caught by something. He
nudged
Blackmore, pointing at an area on the chopper’s
port
side
, in the direction of the turn
.
Blackmore
leaned across in front of
Colletti
and
trained his own glasses on the area
for several long seconds. At first he
was inclined to dismiss the s
ighting of s
omething that looked man-made
as
nothing more than a natural, if somewhat unusual, confluence of rocks
. But further scrutiny indicated it
might
, indeed,
be
something worth checking out.
“Mike,” Blackmore said
loudly
tapping the pilot on the shoulder and pointing at the small clearing that held their interest, “can you land there?”
The pilot gave the area a quick scan
, then shook his head
. “Sorry, sir. Not enough
clearance
.”
Blackmore sighed with frustration.
“Okay. Make note of our coordinates.”
*
*
*
Back in Richmond the two agents met with Tom Kilborn to review their findings. “So,” Kilborn said sitting back and studying his protégés, “was the trip informative?”
Blackmore, the slightly senior
of
the two, was generally acknowledged as the spokesman when circumstances required
one
. “Hard to say for certain, Tom. There was evidence of occupation by someone, we know that much for sure. As to whether it was Jack and Edgerton, that’s another question.”
“Any indication there might have been a struggle or confrontation of any sort?”
“Not really, no.”
Kilborn’s frustration was apparent.
“
Another goddamn
good idea goes bad. Shit.”
“There was one thing
,”
Colletti
offered. “Maybe not something decisive, but something we would have liked to check out if fuel levels had allowed.”
Kilborn leaned forward, putting his hands together on his desk. “Oh?”
“As we were terminating our aerial search,” Blackmore took over, “
Vince
noticed something that could have been another campsite. Not more than a short hike from Henderson’s original cabin.
Possibly
worth having a look at we think.”
Kilborn sat back, assuming a contemplative pose. “I’m going to have to get approval from the AD to get another chopper up there. You guys sure you want to put me in the position of pissing the man off if it turns out to be nothing?”
Blackmore and
Colletti
looked at one another uncertainly. Blackmore then turned to Kilborn. “It’s a crapshoot, boss. Might turn out to be a total waste of time, not to mention taxpayers money.”
Kilborn leveled a disgusted look at his men. “Thanks for making my job so easy, fellas.” He turned and looked out his office window for a few seconds, then turned back. “Get out of here and let me think about it.”
4
3
The next morning
,
while he was studying an operations report,
the phone on Blackmore’s desk at the FBI office in
Tampa
rang. He
picked up the receiver and
brought the phone to his ear in one fluid movement that required no thought
.
“Special Agent Harvey Blackmore
.
”
“Agent Blackmore, this is Callie Parmenter.”
Blackmore put the report aside and gave his full attention to the caller. “Mrs. Parmenter,” he said, “I was just about to call you.”
“Did you find anything in Virginia?”
“I’m afraid not, ma’am. There was some evidence that the area had been visited fairly recently but we were unable to determine by whom. There were no signs of unusual activity, nothing suspicious that we could see.”
Callie’s
disappointment was palpable. She sighed heavily. “I was so sure
you might discover something up there.”
Blackmore knew that what he was about to say was against Bureau protocol but he had seldom felt more empathy
for a victim. “Mrs. Parmenter, as we were leaving the area we did spot what looked like it may have been another campsite located quite near Henderson’s original cabin. We would have liked to investigate it but we were running low on fuel and had to abandon the search.”
“Then you’ll go back and check it out?”
Blackmore hesitated. “Well, ma’am, as much as I’d like to I’m afraid we don’t really have sufficient justification for the financial---”
“Agent Blackmore, you’re telling me it costs too much to
find my husband?”
Blackmore lowered his voice.
“Look, Mrs. Parmenter, I know you’re acquainted with Special Agent in Charge Tom Kilborn. You need to have a talk with him. But….well, try to do it in such a way that Agent
Colletti
and myself are not---”
“I think I understand, agent.”
“Okay. Good luck, ma’am.”
Blackmore filled Colletti in on the gist of the conversation he had just
concluded
and went back to reading his report. Fifteen minutes later Kilborn showed up at Blackmore’s desk. “Okay,” he said without preamble, “we’ve got the go-ahead for another look up in Virginia. Get going.”
What
ever it was that
brought about the precipitous decision to return to the mountains was never divulged.
*
*
*
The field behind Henderson’s original cabin was
the c
lose
st landing site to the area they wanted to explore.
Knowing this
they
had come prepared for a hike through the woods. The chopper pilot was advised to stay with the craft. He waved the two agents off with a “ Good luck, gentlemen.”
Finding the campsite from the ground was not as easy as they had hoped. Everything
was made to look much easier than the reality
from the vantage point of altitude. What had taken Jack and Con Edgerton twenty minutes took agents Blackmore and Colletti
over
an hour.
When they did finally arrive at their destination their first
sense
was one of
disappointment. An abandoned campsite totally devoid of any unusual activity.
“Shit,” Blackmore muttered. “Kilborn is going to eat us for lunch.”
Colletti, the more detail oriented of the two,
was always less inclined to
dismiss
a scene at first glance. He took his time inspecting, examining, and scrutinizing every detail of
a
location. Blackmore was more the ‘big picture’ guy.
They worked well together, usually without the need to communicate what they were doing.
Their
acceptance of
,
and reliance on
,
one another
’s talents
was a large part of what made them an effective team.
While Blackmore scoured the
surrounding area
Colletti concentrated on the encampment itself.
It
didn’t take long
to find evidence of
criminal action
.
Blackmore found a grave.
A big one.
44
By the time a
forensics team arrived at the crime scene
Blackmore and Colletti had found plenty of other interesting bits and pieces.
Rifle s
hell casings and blood spatter
among them
.
Even before the grave was unearthed, that mayhem had occurred here was irrefutable.
Blackmore and Colletti stood close by, watching as the contents of the grave were extricated
: a
canvas tent which, when
removed
, revealed little more than a large quantity of
grey
ash
.
The forensic tech in charge of the crew, Tannis Fuller, looked up from her crouched position at the two agents. “My guess is th
is is
what’s left of a human body,” she
said. “
Based on the quantity of ash,
very possibly
more than one.”
“I’m amazed whoever was responsible for this even bothered
to bury
it,” Colletti said.
Blackmore shook his head unhappily. “
You think there’s enough here
to
get a DNA sample, Tannis?
”
“
The killer went to a lot of work to eliminate all trace
s
of these bodies,” she responded. “
Doused in gasoline and re-incinerated a number of times
it looks like for the skeletons to be disintegrated the way they’ve been. Had to be intense heat.
But w
e may be in luck
.
”
She held
up a
cylindrically-shaped
whitish
object.
“This looks like a piece of a thigh bone unless I miss my guess.
My people have also accumulated quite an impressive quantity of additional evidence – in addition to what you fellows found before we got here. I think we should be able to put
together
a pretty good scenario as to what happened
here,
and to whom.
By the way, did Parmenter have a dog?
”
“Yeah, he did,” Blackmore answered. “A Golden Retriever.”
Fuller nodded knowingly. “
We found him buried over there,” she said pointing.
“
Very strange
,” Blackmore muttered. “Well, w
e’ll leave
this mess
in your capable hands
.
Vince and I are going to take off. We’ll be awaiting your
report
.”
Fuller nodded. “It’s number one priority, guys. I’ll call you.”
*
*
*
In Tampa, Blackmore and Colletti met again with Tom Kilborn. “Well, boys,” Kilborn said, “the
excrement
has definitely been in contact with the windmill. What’s your preliminary assessment?”
Blackmore tilted his head, holding out both hands like waiting
to catch
a basketball. “The inference is pretty obvious, Tom. Parmenter and Edgerton are toast. Henderson remains at large.”
Kilborn had a skeptical look on his face. “I’ll grant you it’s the most credible scenario. But why the hell would Henderson go to all the trouble of incinerating the bodies like that. What possible purpose would it serve him?”
“Vince and I have talked it over a lot. The best we can come up with is Henderson want
ed
to be able to return to his original cabin site whenever the urge str
uck
him. By
getting rid of all evidence that Parmenter and Edgerton were ever there he
hoped to
leave th
at
prospect open. He kn
ew
that once we ascertain
ed
he’
d
been
t
here he’
d
have
to
get out of the area and
would
never be able to come back.”
Kilborn took a moment to digest what Blackmore had proffered. “Okay, I guess I can buy that. Let’s hope the
crime scene techs can at least confirm
the identity of the bodies
.”
“We’re meeting with Tannis Fuller
in two days. She promised she’
d
have something for us
by then
.”
Kilborn nodded. “
Good. Okay.
Meanwhile,
we’ve got air and ground searches covering that fucking mountain.
And a very anxious woman waiting
to find out
whether or not she’s a widow.”