Last Ditch by G. M. Ford Read Free Book Online Page A

bark,
something
like that. But even an amateur like me could see that there was no way
that had
happened. These bones were laid out too perfectly for that. These bones
hadn't
been dumped; they'd been carefully buried.
    I
stood down by
the feet as Rebecca slowly made her way around the skeleton. She
started by
pulling a small tape measure from her pocket and measuring the leg bone
we'd
first uncovered. She walked slowly, pausing again at the north end,
pulling her
glasses from her shirt pocket arid peering myopically at the top of the
skull
for a long moment and then moving on, working her way around the edge
until she
was back by my side. She took ahold of my arm and whispered in my ear.
    "A
man," she said. "Six-two or -three. From the crowns on the lower
teeth, probably quite affluent. Been in the ground at least twenty
years,
probably more. It's hard to tell because of what he's been buried in."
    I
sensed a
hitch in her delivery. "Yeah," I prodded.
    "The
left
hand is missing."
    I
could tell
from her eyes that she had more to say. "What else?"
    She
took a deep
breath and put on her Miss Professional face.
    "Gunshot
wound to the back of the head."
    "You
can
tell all that from walking around a pile of bones?"
    She
nodded.
" 'Fraid so."
    "She's
the
best," Tommy piped in.
    She
took me by
the arm and led me over to the skeleton. She pointed down at the
nearest leg.
"You can tell from the length of the leg bone how tall a person was
..." She waffled her free hand. "Within an inch or so," she
said. We took two steps before she stopped again.
    "The
pelvis. It's a man. No question. Any first-year med student ..." she
began.
    I
was feeling
numb by the time she pulled me up toward the head. She dropped her eyes
to the
skull and then looked over at Tommy.
    "May
I?" she said.
    Tommy
reached
into the pocket of his jacket and produced a pair of rubber gloves.
"Sure," he said. "Here." He passed her the gloves.
"We're gonna tag and box it next anyway."
    Rebecca
took
the gloves and worked them on with expert ease. I don't know why, but
when she
reached down for the skull, I turned my head away, as if I didn't want
this
gaunt stranger to see my face. When I looked back, Rebecca held the
skull in
both hands. She looked up and spoke to Tommy.
    "You
won't
believe the condition of the bone," she said.
    "Solid?"
he asked.
    She
nodded.
"Not a mark on it." She looked back at the rest of the bones.
"Must have been the sawdust medium. No worms, no bugs, no boring
insects.
Nothing but microorganisms. It's perfect"
    Tommy
Matsukawa
agreed. "If it was complete you could use it as is, for a college lab
skeleton. Amazing."
    Byrne
spoke for
the first time since he'd arrived.
    "I'm
going
to have to call SPD now," he said, pulling up his tie and smoothing the
.sides of his hair with his palms. I watched as he walked to the far
end of the
yard and pulled a cellular phone from the inside pocket of his suit coat
    Rebecca
turned
the bottom of the skull my way. There was no denying the jagged hole,
three-quarters of an inch across, at the base of the skull.
    "Entrance
wound," she said.
    She
gently
turned the skull over and, using her gloved index finger, brushed away
the thin
layer of dust which clung stubbornly to the top of the cranium. She
brought the
skull toward her face as if to sniff it but instead pursed her lips and
blew
away the remaining dust revealing an unbroken expanse of smooth bone.
"No
exit wound," she announced. Tommy stepped over and leaned in. "I told
you she was the best," he said. He reached down onto the grass at his
feet
and produced a fine wire screen in a wooden frame. "Shake it out in
here," he said."
    I
winced when
Rebecca poked a gloved finger into the empty eye socket She worked the
packed
sawdust loose around the front of the skull until the material suddenly
dropped
down into the screen in a damp clump. Tommy leaned in close as she used
her
palm to spread the sawdust over the face of the screen.
    Tommy's
eyes
widened as he reached