Page 12 of Little Child Gone

Blanchard leaned over Courtney to look at the skeleton sitting in the corner, its skull atop the rest of its body. “Agreed. Femur looks long enough to be at least pubescent. But boys keep those little cars a long time, too. It still could have been his.”

“It’s a male?” Nikki asked.

“You can tell by the pelvic bones,” Blanchard said. “I’m confident about that, but I can’t tell you age at death or how long it’s been here, of course. I did arrange for the forensic anthropologist to come to my office tomorrow to look at these.”

Dr. Willard was one of a handful of forensic anthropologists in the state and worked for the University of Minnesota. Because she was in such high demand, Willard usually had to focus on current cases and therefore older remains, like the ones in the closet, were often back burned until she had a free moment.

“She owes me a favor,” Blanchard said. “And she’s as curious as I am.”

They spent the next hour meticulously collecting evidence from the flooring and other places in the room. Several hairs were found amid the cracks in the floor.

Blanchard laid out the large blue tarp next to the chest. It took a few minutes to get the chest onto the tarp without causing more damage, but they managed to get the tarp secured around the chest with bungee cords.

It took all three of them to get the trunk on the furniture dolly. Blanchard secured the chest to it with another long strap. She hooked two more bungee cords to the front of the dolly so they could pull it down the hall, the wheels rubbing against the cheap paneling.

Matt had set a big piece of drywall against the steps, with a cement block anchoring the lower part to the ground. The three of them shimmied the trunk out, putting it carefully on the drywall.

“Worked like a charm,” Courtney said after they hefted the trunk into Blanchard’s SUV. “I’ll go back and get the carpet if you’ll let Matt know we’re done.”

Nikki thanked Blanchard again before heading back into the main house. Matt opened the leaded-glass door before Nikki knocked.

“Are you guys done?”

“Yep,” she said. “The drywall worked well. Blanchard will take the remains so she and the forensic anthropologist can do the autopsies. Courtney’s finishing up right now.”

“What about the flooring?” Matt asked. “I know blood can soak into wood.”

“Right now, she’s planning to use the light and swab it, but we might have to come back and pull some up,” Nikki said. “You know better, but make Luke realize he should stay out of the house until we can come back and go through and clear it. Courtney will either come back or send Arim. He’s the only other person she’d trust, and he’ll keep quiet about it.”

“Thank you.” Matt leaned against the doorjamb. “I’ll get all of the paperwork I have so you at least have all the information I do about the Hendricksons.”

Heavy sleet battered the window, making them both jump. “It was snowing just a few minutes ago.”

“I’m glad you have that big Jeep. Just be careful.”

Nikki gripped the wheel as sleet pelted the windshield. Taking Manning Trail to the McKusick south was the fastest route home, but Nikki was starting to think the interstate might have been the better way to go, even if it did add on a lot of time.

She glanced at Courtney white-knuckling her seat belt. “Don’t worry. This new Jeep can handle anything.”

Nikki’s Christmas present to herself for the next five years had been trading in her Jeep for the Jeep Trailhawk 4xe. Getting used to the electric model had taken a little bit of time, mostly because the acceleration was so much faster, and Nikki had a lead foot.

“This is a cold case, right?” Courtney asked. “I still don’t see this being connected to Eli or Scott, do you?”

“As of now, no,” Nikki said. “It was pretty obvious no one had been in that room in a long time. We profiled Eli’s killer as someone close to him or the family, because he’d last been with his younger cousin and friends playing baseball. Miller managed to find out the immediate family’s alibis were confirmed, but we don’t know much more.”

“What about Scott Williams?” Courtney asked. “I know he disappeared walking home at night, but his body was recovered. Was Blanchard able to figure anything out from his remains?”

“Too decomposed,” Nikki said. “She didn’t find any bullet fragments. There was a trace of water in his lungs, so we think he was at least breathing before he went into the water.”

“And the river is nowhere near the route Scott walked home?” Courtney asked.

“No.” Nikki turned her windshield wipers on high as the snow came down faster. “As soon as Miller heard about Eli, he checked up on Scott Williams’ stepdad. The only connection between the boys is Stillwater High School, and Rodney Atwood—Scott’s stepdad—was confirmed to be duck hunting in the north woods the day Eli disappeared. And I still haven’t found anything to support Atwood’s arrest.”

“Do you know if Atwood has any connection to the Hendrickson property?” Courtney asked.

“Not that we’ve discovered. Atwood’s a mechanic, and we were able to verify his work history. Nothing about the Hendricksons came up.”

“Well, the remains may not be as old as we think,” Courtney reminded her. “If they’re only a year or so old, then maybe there is a connection to Eli. Maybe we have another serial on our hands.”

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