Page 83 of Cold, Cold Bones
“Dr. Brennan, it’s Marissa Santoya. Yep. It was the go-getter cop up in Burke County.”
“I’m examining your bucket now, deputy.”
“Good. I have some additional intel for you.”
“Yes?”
“Hikers found it in the Pisgah National Forest.”
“I’m aware of that.”
Her next words launched my stomach into a Simone Biles double-double.
19
“Wiseman’s View.”
My mouth felt dry. I swallowed.
“Say that again.”
“Wiseman’s View. It’s an overlook used for observing the Brown Mountain Lights.”
“Off the Kistler Memorial Highway.” Barely above a whisper.
“Yeah. SR 1239.”
My mind was spitting flashbulb images. A remote trailhead. An outcrop. A shed.
“Had the bucket been tossed down the mountain?”
“Nope. You know the big snow we had on Monday? With some melting, the thing emerged, right on the ledge.”
Not trusting my voice, I let her go on.
“Before shifting to Burke, I was over in Avery County. While there, I met a deputy named Zeb Ramsey. When the bucket made its appearance this week, I remembered a conversation I’d had with Ramsey several years ago. You know the guy I mean? He said you two worked a case together back in the day?”
“Yes.”
“Ramsey talked about a pail of cement with a human head inside.”
Close. The head had decomposed, leaving only an impression of its owner’s face.
“Anyway, when this one showed up, also full of concrete, I called over to Avery. Ramsey’s moved on, but they sent me the file. Damned if his story didn’t track. You were named as consulting anthropologist so, thinking you might want to take a poke, I transferred this new bucket down to your office.”
Santoya wasn’t pushing for a quick turn-around. She had additional information that she wanted to share. Relevant information.
Terrifying information.
“Thank you, Detective. As I said, I’m examining it now.”
“Much appreciated. Keep me briefed?”
“Of course.”
Silence rolled from the mountains down to the piedmont. I broke it, sounding far calmer than I felt.
“Do you have any unsolved MP’s up your way?”
