Page 15 of Vanish From Sight
“You hit the nail on the head.”
Noah continued to use his phone’s compass to keep them on track. Even though he liked to think he remembered the area, twenty years away from his hometown had all but dulled his memory.
Still, it wasn’t long before they arrived.
As they approached the cliff-jumping spot and could hear police divers yelling, his heart pounded in his chest, his legs ached with each step. Callie’s face was flushed with exertion, and her breathing was ragged as she tried to keep up. “I’m telling you, Noah. There’s no way someone carried or dragged a body through here.”
“Unless they had help,” he replied, glancing back. “Or had a reason to be here.”
A minute or two later, Noah stopped abruptly, cocking his head and raising a hand. “Shhh!”
“What is it?”
A distant sound pierced the stillness — the unmistakable barking of dogs. At first, it was faint, barely audible over the lapping of water and rustling of leaves, but without them moving, the barking grew louder.
“It’s just people walking their dogs,” Callie said.
“Exactly.”
She frowned. “You think our vic was walking her dog here?”
He continued on. “Perhaps. It’s out of sight. A good mile from the nearest home. No one is going to bat an ear to a gun going off, let alone a scream.”
“That is, if she was killed here,” Callie added.
As they hiked toward the edge of the cliff, their gaze was fixed on the view before them. High Peaks Lake sparkled in the afternoon sun. Far below they could see a group of divers in full gear searching the water, while a few officers remained on a motorized boat. The divers slowly and methodically scoured the depths, searching for a gun or if they were lucky, the bullet that had killed the woman.
Callie unintentionally kicked a few loose stones. They went over the edge down into the water below. Divers that surfaced glanced up; they exchanged gestures before disappearing in again.
Turning away, Noah and Callie began to search the surrounding area for evidence that might suggest the woman had been dumped from that spot. As they combed nearby boulders and bushes, they panted for breath. Callie’s radio crackled to life with updates from the dive team in the water.
So far nothing had been found.
Undeterred, they moved through the forest with a sense of urgency, their gaze focused on the ground, branches and underbrush. The forest was dense and overgrown, making it hard, but it was clear others had been there, maybe climbing up to the top to jump. Footprints, discarded food wrappers, a few cigarette butts. Noah snapped on blue latex gloves and bagged whatever he could find. Callie took photos. While it might offer a clue of what transpired and eventually form a picture of the woman’s final moments, that alone wouldn’t be enough.
Every time an investigation started, Noah felt like he was entering chaos and had a job of creating order and a clear picture.
They continued to work in silence.
They were out there for over forty minutes, moving back and forth, until Callie spotted something out the corner of her eye —a hint of red against the green forest floor. “Noah!”
He charged across to find a dog leash and collar tangled up in the thicket of brambles. The brush was pressed down as if there had been a struggle, as if someone of a significant size had fallen there. He scanned and noted several droplets of blood on the underbrush and leaves. Nearby, a bullet casing. Noah bagged it all, noticing what he could only imagine were blonde dog hairs wrapped tightly around several sections of the leash, and caught in the collar.
Excitement didn’t surge through him like it might a new officer. In the past he’d seen found items lead to nothing, but still,with the faint sound of dogs deeper in the woods, he couldn’t help but wonder if the two were connected.
With renewed energy, the two of them set off, determined to pursue the sound of the bark, if only to rule out that the owner hadn’t lost a dog or misplaced a leash. Connecting the leash to their missing person would have been nothing more than assumption, an attempt to bend the narrative to support it.
6
Saturday, November 19, 5:10 p.m.
The interaction with those in the forest only confirmed that people frequented the area to walk their dogs. No animals were missing. No one had lost a leash. With evidence needing to be returned and a chance for Noah to meet the new detective for the county, they returned to the office later that afternoon.
It was strange to step back into the Adirondack County Sheriff’s Office after all that had transpired months ago. A heavy heart from the loss of Luke was replaced by the knowledge of those who had been brought to justice and the warm welcome from those at the office.
“Do I need to get my specs replaced or is that really you, Noah Sutherland?”
She grinned. The familiar sight of Maisie Callaway, the receptionist at the front desk, garnered a smile. To those whoworked there, she was a mother figure and source of comfort and support, far beyond the assistance she offered.
