operation.”
“Why a searchlight?”
“Chopper landing most probably. Giving the bird a target to hit.”
“Chopper landings at a coal mine in the middle of the night?”
“No law against it. And it’s not a mine. They do mountaintop extraction here. Which means they don’t tunnel under, they just blow up the mountain instead.”
Puller kept scanning ahead and on the peripheries. “Were you the one who contacted the Army about Reynolds?”
“Yes. He was in uniform. That was our first clue. And we checkedhis car, found his ID.” She paused. “You’ve been inside obviously. You saw he didn’t have much of a face left.”
“Did he have a briefcase or a laptop?”
“Both.”
“I’ll need to see them.”
“Okay.”
“There could be classified material in and on them.”
“Right.”
“Are they secure?”
“In our evidence room back at the station.”
Puller thought for a moment. “I need you to make sure no one tries to access them. Reynolds was DIA, Defense Intelligence. It could be a big issue if an unauthorized person gets into that stuff. A real headache you don’t need.”
“I understand. I can make a call.”
“Thanks. File said you printed him?”
“And faxed it off to the Pentagon to a number they gave us. They confirmed his ID.”
“How many crime scene techs you have?”
“One. But he’s pretty good.”
“Medical examiner?”
“Chief’s way over in Charleston along with the state medical lab.”
Puller kept scanning while he talked. Whoever had been out here was gone. “Why are the bodies still in the house?”
“A number of reasons, but mostly because we didn’t really have an appropriate place to put them.”
“Hospital?”
“Closest one is a good hour away.”
“Local ME?”
“We’re in between.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means the one we had moved out of town. And he wasn’t a doctor. He was an EMT. But under state law that was good enough.”
“So who’s going to do the posts on the victims?”
“I’m trying to work that out now. Probably a local doc I knowwho has some forensics background. How many crime scene techs did you bring with you?”
“You’re looking at him.”
“Tech and investigator? That’s a little unusual.”
“It’s actually a smart way to do it.”
“What do you mean?”
He said, “That way nothing gets between me and the evidence. And I’ve got the Army’s Criminal Investigation Lab to fall back on. Let’s head back to the house.”
A minute later they stood in front of the four bodies. It was growing light outside but Cole turned an overhead on.
Puller said, “The integrity of the crime scene has been blown. The killers came back. They could have screwed with the evidence.”
“They could have screwed with it before too,” shot back Cole.
“Even if we get a suspect to trial, his attorney can trash the entire prosecution based on this.”
Cole said nothing. By her angry features Puller could tell that she knew this to be true.
“So what do we do about it?” she finally said.
“Nothing for now. We keep working the scene.”
“Will you have to report this back?”
He didn’t answer her. Instead he looked around and said, “The Reynoldses didn’t live here. So what were they doing here?”
“Home belongs to a Richard and Minnie Halverson. They’re Mrs. Reynolds’s parents. They live in a nursing home. Well, he does. Mrs. Halverson was living here, but she suffered a stroke recently and is at a specialty hospital over near Pikeville. Not that far as the crow flies, but on our back roads it’ll take you a good hour and a half to get there.”
“I saw some of that getting here.”
“Apparently Mrs. Reynolds was staying here temporarily to take care of things, oversee her father’s care, get the house ready for sale, and have her mother admitted into the same nursing home since she can no longer live alone. It was summer, so the kids were staying with her. Mr. Reynolds was
“Why a searchlight?”
“Chopper landing most probably. Giving the bird a target to hit.”
“Chopper landings at a coal mine in the middle of the night?”
“No law against it. And it’s not a mine. They do mountaintop extraction here. Which means they don’t tunnel under, they just blow up the mountain instead.”
Puller kept scanning ahead and on the peripheries. “Were you the one who contacted the Army about Reynolds?”
“Yes. He was in uniform. That was our first clue. And we checkedhis car, found his ID.” She paused. “You’ve been inside obviously. You saw he didn’t have much of a face left.”
“Did he have a briefcase or a laptop?”
“Both.”
“I’ll need to see them.”
“Okay.”
“There could be classified material in and on them.”
“Right.”
“Are they secure?”
“In our evidence room back at the station.”
Puller thought for a moment. “I need you to make sure no one tries to access them. Reynolds was DIA, Defense Intelligence. It could be a big issue if an unauthorized person gets into that stuff. A real headache you don’t need.”
“I understand. I can make a call.”
“Thanks. File said you printed him?”
“And faxed it off to the Pentagon to a number they gave us. They confirmed his ID.”
“How many crime scene techs you have?”
“One. But he’s pretty good.”
“Medical examiner?”
“Chief’s way over in Charleston along with the state medical lab.”
Puller kept scanning while he talked. Whoever had been out here was gone. “Why are the bodies still in the house?”
“A number of reasons, but mostly because we didn’t really have an appropriate place to put them.”
“Hospital?”
“Closest one is a good hour away.”
“Local ME?”
“We’re in between.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means the one we had moved out of town. And he wasn’t a doctor. He was an EMT. But under state law that was good enough.”
“So who’s going to do the posts on the victims?”
“I’m trying to work that out now. Probably a local doc I knowwho has some forensics background. How many crime scene techs did you bring with you?”
“You’re looking at him.”
“Tech and investigator? That’s a little unusual.”
“It’s actually a smart way to do it.”
“What do you mean?”
He said, “That way nothing gets between me and the evidence. And I’ve got the Army’s Criminal Investigation Lab to fall back on. Let’s head back to the house.”
A minute later they stood in front of the four bodies. It was growing light outside but Cole turned an overhead on.
Puller said, “The integrity of the crime scene has been blown. The killers came back. They could have screwed with the evidence.”
“They could have screwed with it before too,” shot back Cole.
“Even if we get a suspect to trial, his attorney can trash the entire prosecution based on this.”
Cole said nothing. By her angry features Puller could tell that she knew this to be true.
“So what do we do about it?” she finally said.
“Nothing for now. We keep working the scene.”
“Will you have to report this back?”
He didn’t answer her. Instead he looked around and said, “The Reynoldses didn’t live here. So what were they doing here?”
“Home belongs to a Richard and Minnie Halverson. They’re Mrs. Reynolds’s parents. They live in a nursing home. Well, he does. Mrs. Halverson was living here, but she suffered a stroke recently and is at a specialty hospital over near Pikeville. Not that far as the crow flies, but on our back roads it’ll take you a good hour and a half to get there.”
“I saw some of that getting here.”
“Apparently Mrs. Reynolds was staying here temporarily to take care of things, oversee her father’s care, get the house ready for sale, and have her mother admitted into the same nursing home since she can no longer live alone. It was summer, so the kids were staying with her. Mr. Reynolds was
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