Page 24 of Hunting the Truth
Miranda was pulling into the parking lot as Maya and Juniper arrived at their vehicle. Maya had first met Miranda, the crime scene tech for the sheriff’s lab, a couple of months ago. Miranda had helped process some evidence from the drug trafficking ring that helped Maya and Juniper find Pops after he’d been kidnapped. She thought Miranda was top-notch and they were lucky to have her up here. Originally Miranda worked crime scenes in Denver, but decided, much like Josh, that she wanted to leave the city life and live in the mountains. The Forest Service had a partnership with the sheriff’s office to use their lab for some of the crimes. Other times the evidence could be sent to the state lab or to the FBI at Quantico. It all depended on the crime.
“Hey there,” Miranda said as she got out of her vehicle. She had her dark hair pulled back in a ponytail and looked ready to tackle the mountain environment with jeans, boots and a sheriff’s department long-sleeve shirt.
“Good to see you,” Maya said.
“I heard this one is a doozy.”
“That’s one way to put it,” Maya said as she opened the door for Juniper to get into her compartment. This time the Malinois curled up on what remained of the blanket without even a hint at shredding it. She’d worked hard and was finally ready to rest.
Miranda pulled out some cases with equipment she’d need and things to gather evidence. Maya checked that Juniper’s climate control was set properly and then came over to help Miranda carry things down to the scene.
“I did an evidence search with Juniper and she found a possible murder weapon, although who knows what the coroner will determine for the final cause of death. It’s hard to tell from just looking at the deceased,” Maya told Miranda. She wanted to fill her in, but also to prepare her for what she might see.
Miranda put down the case she was carrying and stared up at Maya. “I heard the deceased was a friend of yours. I’m really sorry. If you need anything, let me know.”
“Thanks,” Maya said, touched that Miranda would think of her. “I’ll be okay, but I’ll also be glad when the coroner gets here, and we can give Kendra some dignity.”
“I agree,” Miranda said. “I better get down there and see what we have. Hope the coroner gets here soon.”
As if on cue, a white pickup with a camper top pulled into the parking area. The wordCoronerwas stenciled on the side of the truck. Doc Charles “Chuck” Clark stepped out of the vehicle. He played double-duty for the county as coroner and as the only general practice doctor in Pinecone Junction. Maya had always liked Doc Clark and was happy to see him. She just wished it were under better circumstances.
Doc ambled over to them. “Maya, good to see you. Sorry to hear about the investigation with your grandfather.”
“Thanks, Doc,” Maya said, realizing that if her grandfather were arrested, it would be awkward for Doc too. Especially since Doc and Pops were good friends and liked to get together with some other guys for poker night.
“I’m waiting on some search and rescue folks to come and help me carry the body back up to here. I think that’s the easiest. One SAR person might even bring a horse and we can use it to pack the deceased out.”
Maya stayed quiet. The deceased was a friend, and she still hadn’t had time to process her death, much less how they might move Kendra’s body.
“Let’s all go down there so Miranda can start in on what she does, but I’ll be on scene,” Doc continued. Without waiting, he turned and started trudging toward the trail.
“You think he’s up to this hike?” Miranda whispered.
“He’s tough, kind of like Pops,” Maya whispered back.
They all headed down and Maya helped carry some of Miranda’s supplies. Josh was waiting for them when they arrived, and Miranda whispered to Maya again. “Heard you two are a thing.”
“What? No. Where did you hear that?”
“It’s scuttlebutt at the department,” Miranda said with a wink. “And female hearts are breaking in Pinecone Junction.” She gave a laugh and then headed toward Josh.
Maya shook her head. Nothing like department gossip and small-town gossip all in one.I guess we do spend a lot of time together. Would I mind if those rumors were true?
As she approached them, Josh was explaining about the tree borer they found and the shoeprints on the track.
“Let me see the borer first. I’ll photograph and then bag it,” Miranda said.
Josh pointed toward a marker, and they all headed over that direction. Miranda photographed the tree borer and then put on gloves, picking it up carefully.
“I think there’s a fingerprint I can get off of this,” she said. “Let’s bag it and I’ll hopefully be able to get to this right away when I get back to the lab.”
Maya was hopeful that there could be a fingerprint, as that would be quicker to get a possible ID versus something like DNA, which could take months.
More voices could be heard as search and rescue volunteers arrived. Miranda was in full work mode and Maya stood back. She was at a point now where she was just an extra person at the scene that could help. Josh had been taking pictures, but when he saw Maya, he came over to her.
“I think this is going to be a long day,” he said.
“Yeah, I think so too. I may go back up to the parking lot at some point since I have cell service there and let Todd know what’s going on and why I didn’t look for booby traps today.”
