Page 33 of In Her Wake
As they approached, Jenna spotted Officer Maria Delgado standing with a man who must be the one who’d found the body.Even from a distance, she could see the farmer’s distress in the slope of his shoulders and his restless movements.Maria had her notepad out, but she seemed to be allowing the man space more than actively questioning him.
“Sheriff,” Maria called when she spotted them.“This is Mr.Rostow.He found the body during his morning rounds.”
Jenna didn’t know Cody Rostow personally.She saw that he was a weathered man in his fifties, with callused hands and deep lines around his eyes that spoke of decades spent squinting into the sun.Those eyes now held the haunted look Jenna had seen countless times—the shock of ordinary people confronted with extraordinary horror.
“Mr.Rostow,” Jenna said, extending her hand.“I’m Sheriff Graves.Thank you for reporting this so quickly.”
His hand trembled slightly as he shook hers.“Never seen anything like it,” he said, his voice rough.“Been farming this land for twenty-seven years.Found plenty of dead things—coyotes, deer, even a neighbor’s dog once.But never—” He swallowed hard.“Never a person.”
“Can you tell me exactly what happened this morning?”Jenna asked gently.
Cody nodded, seeming grateful for the direct question.“I was checking the cattle.Do it every morning just about sunrise.Saw something white down in the gully that shouldn’t have been there.”His eyes drifted toward the yellow tape.“Thought it was trash at first.People are always dumping things on my property.But it looked too...deliberate.”
“What do you mean by deliberate?”Jake asked.
“The shape of it, the way it was … covered.Too neat to be blown there by the wind.”Cody’s hands twisted together.“It was a sheet.Laid out over her, all careful-like.Corners smooth, not bunched up or tangled.”He shook his head.“When I pulled it back and saw her face...I knew right away she was dead.She looked...peaceful, I guess.Like she was sleeping, ‘cept for how still she was.Too still.”
Jenna nodded, taking in the details.The carefully arranged sheet matched what she had seen in her dream—Marjory’s body laid out as if for viewing.
“Did you see anyone else on your property this morning?Any vehicles that shouldn’t have been here?”she asked.
“No, ma’am.Not a soul.”
“Thank you, Mr.Rostow.Officer Delgado will continue taking your statement, and we may have more questions later.”Jenna turned to Maria.“Stay with him, get all the details you can.”
“Yes, Sheriff,” Maria replied.
Jenna thought for a moment, then realized that Maria was just the person to carry out a pending task.
"And when you're done here, I need you to do something, and it's not going to be easy.I need you to inform Harry Powell that we've found his wife's body.He needs to know."
“I’ll do that,” Maria said, sounding unfazed.
Jenna, Jake, and Colonel Spelling continued past the crime scene tape, following a path that had been trampled into the grass by the first responders.The gully was shallow, more a depression in the landscape than a true ravine, but deep enough to have hidden the body from casual observation from the road.
Dr.Melissa Stark, the county coroner, was already on the scene, kneeling beside the victim as she examined the body.The white sheet had been folded back, revealing the woman’s face and upper torso.Even from several yards away, Jenna could see that the face was identical to that of the mannequin in the Powells’ kitchen.
Melissa looked up as they approached.“Morning, Jenna.Though there’s nothing good about it, I’m afraid.”
“It’s her,” Jenna confirmed, stopping beside the coroner.“That’s Marjory Powell.”
The woman lay naked on the damp earth, her body carefully arranged—arms crossed over her chest, legs straight and positioned side by side, hair fanned out beneath her head.Her skin bore the unnatural pallor of death, but her face appeared serene, almost as if she had simply lain down to rest.
“I heard about the mannequin from the dispatcher,” Melissa said, her gloved hands hovering over the victim’s face.“Sounds like something from a horror movie.”
“It was museum quality,” Jenna explained.“A perfect replica of her face, sitting at her kitchen table in the clothes she was wearing yesterday.”
“Good God,” Melissa muttered.“As if Trentville needed another bizarre murder case.We can’t seem to get a break from them.”
"What can you tell us about the time of death?"Spelling asked.
“Based on body temperature and lividity, I’d say she’s been dead since early yesterday afternoon.Between one and three p.m., most likely.”Melissa gestured to the body.“Rigor is well-established but not yet releasing, which supports that timeline.”
“That fits with what we know,” Jake said.“She showed a property at one o’clock, then missed her three o’clock appointment.”
“So our perpetrator abducts her after her one o’clock showing,” Jenna said, thinking aloud, “kills her, strips her, brings her body here, and somehow manages to place a mannequin duplicate in her kitchen before her husband returns home early from work.”She shook her head.“The logistics alone are impressive.”
“And disturbing,” Spelling added.
