Bones by Jan Burke

it now." He moved off to his tent.
    Several yards away, Ben and Andy stood on top of a large, rounded boulder. Both were using field glasses; Andy pointed down the field, seeming to indicate a particular location, and Ben focused his binoculars in that direction. They then lowered their binoculars and made markings on a piece of paper. As I watched, this process was repeated several times.
    I moved closer to them. Andy saw me and called out a greeting. "Come up here," he said. "I'll show you some of the signs we look for."
    Ben was obviously displeased with this suggestion, and walked away before I reached the boulder.
    "Here," Andy said, handing me his binoculars. "Look out over there, just to the right of that tree." He waited while I located the place he was indicating. "What do you see?" he asked.
    I studied the meadow, which sloped gently upward from where we had camped. "Mostly grass and wildflowers," I said.
    "Is the grass all the same height?"
    I studied it again, more carefully this time, then said, "No! There's a patch of shorter growth."
    "Right," he said. "It might be shorter because it's newer. We found several places like that in this meadow, and mapped them out. We'll need to take a closer look to get an idea of what caused the growth to be different there."
    "Is that where David will search with Bingle?"
    "Maybe. Usually he likes to start by giving Bingle a chance to sniff around on his own, without any guidance from us--see if he gives an alert."
    "Like he did at the coyote tree?"
    "No--not exactly. Bingle gives a very clear signal when he smells human blood or remains. He's trained to look specifically for human rather than animal remains. The way he reacted to the coyote tree--I think he was just upset."
    "I don't blame him."
    "Me, neither." He was quiet for a moment, then said, "Anyway, Ben and I will be checking out the places where the plant life is disturbed while David works with Bingle. Any number of natural factors can cause a change in plant life, of course, but I think one or two of the areas we want to look at are typical of burial places."
    "Typical?" I asked. "What do you mean?"
    "Studies have been done about how serial killers choose special burial places for their victims. Despite his claims to the contrary, we think Parrish knows exactly where to find the victim's grave. Ben thinks Parrish likes to stage things precisely--and dramatically. Detective Thompson and Ben agree that Parrish has probably revisited the burial site; he most likely chose a site that he could find again and again. Ben said it would help Parrish relive the pleasure of the kill."
    "The pleasure . . ." I shook my head.
    "I know," Andy said, grimacing. "Ben says we have to try to think of this the way Parrish would, if we want to find her."
    "So what would we look for, then? Some sort of landmark?"
    "Exactly. Anything that would help Parrish find the site again."
    At that moment, Ben called to Andy, so I gave Andy's binoculars back to him and thanked him for the explanation. As I walked back toward the camp, I noticed that Bingle and David weren't in sight. Bob Thompson joined Ben and Andy.
    I heard Bingle give a single, happy bark from somewhere in the woods. I looked for the dog and found him pacing back and forth before David, hardly sparing me a glance, focusing his attention on his owner, who was opening one of Bingle's equipment packs. David called a greeting to me, then commanded Bingle to sit. The dog immediately obeyed, but it seemed to be taking all his self-control to do so. His body was taut, his eyes watching David intently. His ears were pitched forward, his cheeks puffing slightly with excited breaths.
    David smiled at me. "Don't you wish you felt this way about starting your workday?"
    He pulled out a leather collar and Bingle's tail began swishing rapidly through the pine needles beneath it.
    "For him, it's play. Just a big game. His favorite game." He replaced the bright-colored nylon collar Bingle had been