Dying Scream by Mary Burton Page B

and DNA would be all over the damn thing. Gage reached in his coat pocket and pulled out a plastic bag. “Put it in here.”
    Miller glanced at the fabric before dropping it in the bag. “It’s just a damn bandana.”
    Vega released a breath, muttering, “Shit.”
    “It might be a private marker that only the killer would recognize. It’s not uncommon for a killer to return to a burial site,” Gage explained.
    “Why would he come back? You’d think they’d just stay clear.”
    “They come out of remorse or even to relive the thrill of death.”
    “Damn, didn’t think it was anything more than a bit of trash.”
    Gage sealed the bag. “That just happened to be next to an unmarked gravesite?”
    “Yep.”
    Gage shook his head. “You find anything else in this area?”
    “Nope.”
    “What about your men?”
    “Doubt it, but go ahead and ask. They’re getting paid to do nothing right now.”
    Gage glanced at Vega. “You mind?”
    “No, I’ll go talk to them.”
    “Who from forensics is coming?” Gage asked.
    “Tess Kier,” Vega said.
    “Good.” Tess Kier had worked on the forensics team for the last three years. She was sharp. All business. She had a brother on SWAT and another on the homicide team. Normally, forensics was first on the scene. Homicide followed hours later. Tess would be irked that they’d gotten here first.
    Miller planted scuffed hands on his wide hips. “Don’t suppose if I stay out of your way I can get to work on the Thornton cemetery?”
    Gage smiled at the guy, admiring his balls. “No. You’re closing up shop today.”
    “Figured as much.”
    Gage pulled off his sunglasses and studied the disturbed earth. “You said you found two mounds.”
    “That’s right.” Miller stretched out his thick arm. “See the land just about three feet to the left of the hole?”
    “Yes.” Gage could make out a rectangular patch that was just a few inches deeper than the land around it. There was also a second depression in the center.
    “When a body is put in the ground, it’s solid. As it breaks down, decomposes, the flesh that had been supporting the soil vanishes. So the soil drops. And see in the center of the rectangle the soil is compressed even more?”
    Gage nodded. “That’s the belly. It expanded upward with the decomposition gases and then collapsed.”
    “Right, I guess you would know about that.” All that shifting up and down cracked the earth. A body also affected the vegetation, which tended to be weedier and thinner in the decomposition zone.
    “And you searched this entire area?” Vega said.
    “I searched along the fence and the open area twice.”
    “What equipment do you use?”
    “A little ground radar. Handheld stuff.”
    “And nothing unusual?”
    “No. I found eleven bodies, as expected.”
    “Even the oldest graves? I’d have thought by now they’d have disintegrated.”
    Miller nodded. “Would be true for a wooden coffin. But these folks had money. Coffins are iron. Intact.”
    Gage slid his hands into his pockets. The guy was pretty damn thorough. “That it?”
    Miller pulled off his hat and drove his round fingers through his thinning red hair. “I better go talk to my men and then talk to Ms. Barrington.”
    “Don’t worry about Ms. Barrington. I’ll fill her in on the situation.”
    Miller nodded. “Sure.”
    Gage watched the man walk away. Miller reminded Gage of his own father: small town, knew all his neighbors, and had no desire to ever leave.
    “You think it’s Minor?” Vega spoke loud enough for only Gage to hear.
    Gage glanced toward the road that led to the main house. “Assuming always gets me into trouble. Let’s wait for some facts before we start theorizing.”
    The crunch of tire over gravel had them all turning to catch the arrival of the Henrico County white forensics van, which parked just beyond Gage’s car closer to the site.
    The driver’s side door opened and a leggy brunette slid out. Tess Kier. She wore a