White River Burning. John Verdon
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units arrived I enlisted their support in taping the scene perimeter. When the evidence officer arrived, I assigned three patrol officers to assist him in a wide-area cross-grid search. I ordered the remaining patrol units to close off vehicular and pedestrian access to the vicinity.”
The mayor looked worried. “How big a vicinity?”
“About fifty acres in the no-go zone, but the evidence search is currently concentrated in two or three acres.”
“How about the media vultures?”
“They’re subject to the same no-go zone as the general public.”
“I hate them bastards.”
“They can be difficult, but we’re keeping them at bay.”
That got Gurney’s attention. “They showed up at the site this morning?”
“Yes, sir. First thing. As we were setting up our perimeter tapes.”
“Your initial communication regarding the incident—it occurred by phone or radio?”
“By phone, sir.”
“Interesting.”
Beckert’s gaze rested on Gurney for a moment before he turned back to Torres. “Let’s move on to your crime-scene assessment.”
“Yes, sir. It will be clearer if I begin with the photographs and video I just received from Paul Aziz.”
The sheriff raised his head like a hound catching a scent. “Azeeez? I thought Scotty Maclinter did our forensic photos.”
“That’s correct, sir, but he suffered an injury last night at the VFW. He’s in the hospital.”
“What kinda injury?”
“He fell down the stairs on his way to the men’s room.”
“Hah. I do believe the boy’s done that before. Be advisable in future for him to pee in the parking lot. Meantime, who’s this Aziz?”
“One of our dispatchers, who also happens to be a professional photographer. He filled in for Officer Maclinter once before. Excellent work.”
“Hell kinda name’s Aziz?”
“I’m not sure, sir. Possibly Jordanian or Syrian?”
“Well, ain’t that somethin’? Seems like our country’s gettin’ more and more of them kind of people.”
Gurney was taken aback by Cloutz’s obnoxious tone and depressed by the thought that it was probably a key part of what got him elected.
Torres, after an unpleasant glance in Cloutz’s direction, returned to his presentation. “Paul provided us with more than we need for the purpose of documenting the crime scene, but his video coverage of possible approach and departure paths from the location of the bodies could be useful. And it shows the visual limitations of the weather conditions.”
Kline frowned. “What limitations?”
“Fog. Began around midnight. Didn’t clear up till around ten this morning. You can see for yourself in this opening segment of the video.” Torres tapped a computer key and pointed to the monitor on the wall.
At first, all that was visible was the fog itself, a formless gray mass that seemed to be moving in slow motion past the camera. As the dark branches of nearby trees began to emerge from the murky background on both sides of the screen, it became evident that the camera operator was proceeding along a heavily wooded trail. Gurney thought he could hear footsteps and the sound of someone breathing. As he leaned forward to listen more carefully, he was startled by a sudden high-pitched shriek.
“Jesus!” said Kline. “What the hell . . .”
“Blackbirds,” said Torres. “Paul was recording audio along with the video.”
“Damn things,” said the sheriff. “On that twisty little trail that touches the south corner of the lake, am I right?”
The mayor frowned. “How’d you know that?”
“I’m blind, I ain’t deaf. Fact I hear better’n most. The wife takes me for walks on that trail sometimes, knowin’ I hate the screamin’ of them damn birds. I been tryin’ to get Clifford Merganthaller to exterminate them in pursuit of peace and quiet. For an animal control officer, he’s woefully unwillin’ to exert any control at all. Boy’s ’bout as useless as them damn birds that don’t do nothin’ but scream and shit.”
The mayor leaned forward. “Glory be to God, you can hear them shit?”
“Don’t need to hear ’em doin’ what I know they’re doin’. Every livin’ bein’ shits. Some of ’em a hell of a lot more ’n others.” The antic observation had a nasty undertone.
Beckert glanced at Torres. “Let’s move this along.”
“We’re coming up to the place where the trail comes out into the clearing.”
The shrieks of the birds on the audio track were growing more insistent.
Out of the dark constriction of the trail, the screen now displayed an open area where the fog had thinned enough for Gurney to make out a wide expanse of lakeside reeds and a shedlike building. As the camera moved forward he was able to read a sign on the building listing hourly rates for kayak rentals.
The black form of a bird swooped through the camera’s field of view.
As the camera moved on, the ghostlike shapes of playground equipment began to come into view—a tall slide, a pair of seesaws, the angled braces of a swing set, and finally the geometrical structure of a large jungle gym.
Gurney could feel his chest tightening in anticipation of what he was about to see. No matter how many times he’d come upon it in his career, the sight of violent death always jarred him.
This time was no exception.
As the camera panned slowly across the front of the jungle gym, the bodies of the two victims were gradually revealed. They were tied to the structure in standing positions, side by side—secured in place by ropes around their legs, stomachs, and necks. Both men were African American. Both were stripped naked. Both bodies showed obvious signs of having been beaten. Their faces were swollen, their expressions grotesque. Between the feet of one there appeared to be a deposit of feces.
“Christ Almighty,” murmured Shucker.
Kline’s lips drew back in revulsion.
Turlock was gazing at the screen with icy detachment.
Beckert turned to Torres, who was looking sick. “Who has custody of this material?”
“Sir?”
“This video and whatever still shots were taken of the bodies—who has possession of the original digital files?”
“I do.”
“In what form?”
“The memory chips from the cameras Paul used.”
“Did he make copies?”
“I don’t think so. He warned me not to lose the chips.”
“If one frame of that leaks onto the internet, we’ll have a race war on our hands.”
“I’m aware of the risk, sir.”
“We’ll come back to that,” said Beckert. “Let’s move on to the details.”
“Right.” Torres took a deep breath and continued. “Our initial inspection of the victims revealed livor mortis. We left both bodies in situ, pending the ME’s—”
Shucker interrupted him. “That the same as what they call rigor mortis?”
“No, sir. Rigor refers to the stiffening of the deceased’s muscles, usually