Page 20 of Nora
“Follow the trail back a half-mile and you’ll see the scene to your left. You won’t miss it. There are a lot of people out there.” Nora nodded. She bet there were a lot of people. This area of the state didn’t see many murders. Especially not murders that weren’t the result of a domestic altercation.
Hurrying along the path, Nora soon reached the spot she needed to turn. It was obvious, as she’d been told. Not because of the buzz of activity to her left, though. No, the man standing on the trail waiting for her gave it away. His arms were crossed, and he wore an expression that somehow managed to be both blank and judgmental.
Nora slowed as she approached the tallest person she’d ever met. Stopping a few feet away so as not to have to crane her neck too far, she looked up.
“Detective Ben Miller,” he said, holding out his hand. Nora took one step closer and shook it.
“Nora Amiri.” Detective Miller stared down at her. He looked a few years older than her, and his blue eyes appeared even bluer against his weather-tanned skin.
“Seven feet,” he said, holding her gaze.
Her brow furrowed, and she looked toward the scene. It was far more than seven feet away. “I beg your pardon?”
“I’m seven feet tall. Most people ask. Or make some comment about the weather up here.”
Nora blinked. That wasn’t exactly what she’d been expecting the detective to say. “Well, I’m five foot three and I can tell you, it’s probably as cold down here as it is up there. What have you got?”
His lips twitched with a smile, then he gestured toward the scene. “Male. Early sixties. We believe he’s a member of the monastery but haven’t confirmed yet.”
“Any ID on him?” A few of the crime scene techs looked up as they approached. The ME was kneeling beside the body and didn’t acknowledge their arrival.
“No. Looked like he was out for a morning run. No ID, no phone, nothing.”
“What makes you think he’s a member of the monastery then? This is a public path, right?”
Detective Miller nodded. “It is, and people do use it for running and hiking. But he has an everlasting life tattoo on his forearm. I know it’s a stretch. Lots of people have those. Not to mention, I don’t know too many tattooed priests, but it’s a start. We’re not far from the monastery, and the path he was on was one only people very familiar with the area would know.” As he spoke, he pointed at a mountain to the west of them. Squinting through the snow, she could just barely make out the outline of a building perched atop its peak.
“Time of death?” she asked.
“We’re not certain yet, but the ME put it sometime between five and nine this morning. Although it would have taken him a while to bleed out.”
“Any chance you know how long?” she asked with a hopeful smile. She pushed aside the thought of what it must have been like to be attacked and stabbed and know you were likely going to die.
“Won’t know until I get him back to the lab,” the ME replied, interjecting himself into the conversation. Nora turned toward the man. He reminded her a little of Santa Claus with his round face, pink cheeks, and long white beard. “Dr. Birch, at your service,” he said.
Despite the grisly scene, Nora smiled. “Nora Amiri.”
Dr. Birch’s gaze went to Detective Miller. “She’s a government consultant. I’ve been told to extend all courtesy to her,” Miller said.
Nora hid a wince. Detective Miller didn’t seem to hold her interference against her, but he hadn’tsugarcoated the fact that the edict had come from on high. He also sounded as though he wasn’t sure whether to be annoyed or amused.
Dr. Birch’s attention came back to her. “A government consultant who just happens to be in the area?”
“Believe it or not, I did just happen to be in the area. What can you tell me?” she asked as she looked at the victim for the first time. The man was dressed in long running pants, gloves, and sneakers. His surprisingly thick gray hair was mussed, and there was dirt on the fingertips of his gloves. Shifting her gaze to just beyond his feet, she saw a path of disturbed ground. As if he’d crawled across the frozen land.
Dr. Birch hesitated but after a nod from Detective Miller, he answered. “Stabbed once here,” he said, pointing to a gash in the man’s side. “He was on one of the side trails about a quarter of a mile that way.” The doctor pointed toward the marks she’d already spotted. “He was dragged off the trail, then stabbed about three hundred yards in. If you head back, you can see where it happened. More blood there. I guess that’s one thing the cold is good for. Not much absorbed into the soil.”
Nora nodded, her mind conjuring the scene. “Why crawl this way and not back to the trail he’d been on?”
“The side trail is rarely traveled,” Detective Miller answered. “We think he might have been trying to get to that one.” He pointed to the one she’d come down. “It’s much more popular, and he would have had a better chance of finding help. Had he made it,” he added.
And had it not been flurrying. The chances of someone else being out that morning for a walk were slim.
Her eyes scanned the area. “Do you mind if I take a look around?”Alonewas implied.
Detective Miller eyed her, then gave a single nod. “Find me before you go?”
“Of course,” she said.
