Page 40 of Shadow Sabotage
“You said you had two questions,” he reminded me. “What’s the other?”
“I was going to ask where we’re going, but I’ve figured that out now. You can tell me why though.”
“To see if we can establish a timeline,” he explained. “Katelyn disappeared March thirteenth. But we don’t know how much time passed before she died. Because of the condition of her remains, the medical examiner will only be able to give us an estimated range. So far, they’ve given me a two-month time span, saying she most likely died sometime between leaving on March thirteenth and the middle of May. Hopefully we can do better narrowing it down ourselves.”
“How?”
“It’s a long shot. But if the murder wasn’t premeditated, maybe Katelyn came here with her killer and there’s some sort of record of it. We’ll check the visitor registration and camping logs, talk to park rangers, and see if there is any video footage that might help. They might have security cameras in their parking lots and the visitor’s center. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”
I snorted. “I doubt it.”
He looked my way, narrowing his eyes. “Why?”
“That campground doesn’t open until Memorial Day,” I explained. “And that’sonlyif the snowpack has melted. Every now and then, we have a crazy year where it’s closed until June or July.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yep. Last year, it opened on time. But if they’re saying she died sometime before mid-May…”
“Then the campground was closed.” He tapped his finger on the steering wheel and swore under his breath. “Okay. You know the terrain and you know the conditions last spring. Let’s assume the two-month window is correct. How could someone have gotten in?”
I thought back to the past spring. “By May, the roads were clear. If they had gate access, they could have driven in andgone straight to the campsite. There was still some snow left in the mountains, but the campground roads would have been plowed.”
“Okay,” he said, nodding. “Who all has gate access?”
“National Park Service employees. Any contractors they may have hired to do any work. Local law enforcement. That’s about it.”
“Do you think the Mayor of Wildwood would be on that list?”
I shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. I doubt it. The park isn’t in the city limits, so why would he?”
He sat silent for a moment, that mind of his puzzling over it all. “Okay,” he finally said. “So, toward the end of the season, the easiest way may have been to go in through the front gate. Maybe someone with access—or someone who was able to bribe someone for it. But that’s dangerous. If there are workers around, there are potential witnesses.”
“Not if it wasn’t premeditated,” I pointed out. “What happened to Katelyn meeting someone there to hang out at the park and things going bad?”
He shook his head. “It’s a totally different scenario if the park is closed. Seems more likely the park was used as a place to dump the body.”
“Makes sense,” I agreed. “Unless she was having an affair with someone and they were meeting there because it was closed and private.”
“Katelyn doesn’t seem like the type to date a park ranger,” he pointed out.
“True. But if they bribed someone for access…”
“Are there cabins there where she could have met someone?”
“No. Just camping spots.”
He shook his head. “Then that rules that out.”
I snorted. “Why?”
He gave me a perplexed look. “Because there aren’t any cabins. No beds, no privacy.”
I grinned. “There’s plenty of privacy out there, and last time I checked, a bed wasn’t required for a roll in the hay. In fact, some of us prefer the thrill of the great outdoors.”
His jaw twitched and his knuckles turned white on the steering wheel. “Well. Okay. We keep that on the table.” He shook his head, like he was trying to clear out the mental image I’d put there.
I bit back a laugh.
