‘By what, exactly?’ Parker was growing impatient.
‘By the fact that the body was mostly visible when it was found, but the hole made by the tree, and direction of soil shift, should only have revealed the torso, and nothing below the waist.’
Parker considered what he was hearing.
‘So you’re saying that someone started digging up the remains before the police were informed?’
‘This land is managed by a private company called Piscataquis Root and Branch. It’s a family business, and it was two of the sons who found the body. They took photos of it after they called us, just in case of further collapses, but they say they didn’t touch it, and I believe them.’
‘If they didn’t, who did?’
‘We found no footprints in the dirt, and no signs of outside interference, but there was still dirt scattered beyond the grave.’
‘An animal?’
‘Again, no tracks – and don’t forget it rained that night, so the soil was damp.’
Allen displayed a few more images before closing the file and putting the laptop away.
‘Then what’s the explanation?’ Parker asked.
‘I don’t have one.’
‘What if we were just talking, and this was only a story?’ said Parker.
‘You mean what if I could make stuff up?’
‘I believe “speculate” sounds more professional.’
‘Well, if I was “speculating” for a story, maybe one to scare my kids when we were all sitting round a campfire, I’d tell them that the tree didn’t fall but was pushed up from below the ground, and whatever did it then began digging itself out of the dirt. And when it was done, it curled right back up again and waited for someone to come along and find it. But that would just be a story, and this is real life.’
Parker allowed some seconds to pass before extending his right hand.
‘Thank you for your time, and your help.’
He and Allen shook.
‘I have four kids,’ said Allen. ‘Three girls, and the youngest, a boy. His name’s Jake. He came as a surprise: the last shake of the bag. He’s about to turn five. The next youngest has nearly a decade on him, and the two eldest just started college. We love them all, but my wife, she dotes on Jake. I guess she’d resigned herself to never having another child, yet there he is.’
‘Five years old,’ said Parker.
‘Five years: the same age that child would be, if it survived. Just so you understand this wasn’t simply a matter of professional courtesy.’
Parker nodded.
‘Maybe I’ll see you around.’
‘I’ll be up here for the time being,’ said Allen. ‘Not getting shot at.’
35
Mors followed the signs to the lighthouse at Cape Elizabeth, and parked the car by a rocky outcrop created by layers of quartzite fractured to a woodlike grain, as though the beacon stood above the remains of some petrified forest. She allowed Quayle to wander off alone, and alternately dozed and listened to classical music until the day began to die. Only then did she venture out after the lawyer, her coat gathered against the sharp wind from the sea. She found Quayle seated on a rock below a shuttered restaurant, staring out at the breaking waves, as immobile as a church gargoyle, like a feature of the rock itself. He had been seated in the same position for so long that she thought she could perceive crystals of salt on his skin and clothing. Unlike her, he showed no sign of being troubled by the elements, and he seemed barely to breathe. Had she put her hand to his breast, she knew she would have struggled to detect the beating of a heart.
‘It’s time,’ she said.
36
Dr Ken Hubbell looked like the kind of physician who turned up only in nostalgic Hollywood movies, and television series about angels doing good deeds. He had white hair, and a long white mustache, and his office shelves were heavy with thank-you cards, children’s drawings, and photographs of the good doctor himself, some of them clearly dating back decades, mostly in the company of a variety of small dogs. He spoke with Parker while drinking herbal tea from a World’s Best Grandpa mug.
‘I was first on the scene after the body was found,’ said Hubbell. ‘It was a damn miserable morning, I’ll tell you that. I think I’m still feeling it in my bones.’
He went through the initial examination with Parker, and his contemporaneous notes from the site, even making copies of the paperwork he’d forwarded to the M.E.’s office in Augusta.
‘Anything out of the ordinary?’ Parker asked.
‘Beyond a young mother in a shallow grave?’
‘Beyond that.’
Hubbell blew on his tea.
‘You were a policeman, weren’t you?’ he said.
‘A long time ago.’
‘But you could still tell the difference between a body that’s been dumped and one that’s been laid to rest?’
‘Yes.’
‘Well, this woman was laid to rest: I guarantee it. I’d also be surprised if the M.E. finds any signs of external injury.’
‘External?’
Hubbell squinted at Parker over the rim of his spectacles.
‘You need me to test your hearing for you?’
‘No, I hear just fine. What about internal injuries?’
Hubbell’s eyes remained fixed on Parker.
‘Such as?’
‘Damage to the uterus.’
‘Seems like your hearing is pretty good, if you can hear all the way to Orono.’
‘So it’s true?’
Hubbell shrugged. ‘It’ll be out there soon enough, so no harm in me confirming what you already know: the placenta tore itself prematurely from the wall of the uterus, leading to severe hemorrhaging, and death. There’s not much an amateur can do for a woman who starts bleeding out in the deep woods.’
‘Could the child have survived?’
‘Well, someone cut that umbilical cord with a blade, so yes, it looks like it survived the birth. Whether it lasted for long is another matter.’
A blade: it had not struck Parker to ask about the cutting of the cord. He was out of practice.
‘And the discovery of the body?’
‘What about it?’
‘I’ve seen the photographs.’ Parker paused, trying to be careful in his phrasing. ‘I might have expected more earth on the remains.’
‘There was some shelter from the roots of the tree, but she was still exposed to wind and rain. No, I wasn’t particularly concerned by that.’
It was an interesting choice of words, and Parker picked up on it.
‘What were you concerned by?’ Parker asked.
Hubbell’s fingers performed a little dance on his mug, like a pianist practicing scales.
‘My first impression,’ he said, ‘was that the body might have been moved.’
‘Why?’
‘Its position didn’t quite match the depression in the earth around it. The arrangement wasn’t perfect.’
‘You didn’t mention that in your report.’
‘Because I was probably mistaken.’
‘Again, why?’
‘If the remains had been moved, it would have resulted in serious damage: detachment of limbs, perforation of the skin. I saw no evidence of that. The most likely explanation is some settling of the soil, combined with the action of wind and rain.’
But still an iota of doubt remained, as otherwise Hubbell wouldn’t have mentioned the position of the body. Parker didn’t pursue the subject. He had learned enough. He thanked the physician for his time, and paused by the photographs on the shelves.
‘That’s a lot of dogs.’
‘Twenty-seven, so far, and each as different as day from night. You have a dog?’
‘Not any longer.’
‘You have a family?’
‘A daughter. She lives with her mother in Vermont.’
‘So you live alone?’
‘Yes.’
‘Get a dog. Keeps you alert, keeps you active, keeps you from getting lonely.’
‘Funny, I was just thinking about that earlier today.’
‘Well,’ said Hubbell, ‘I can’t call it doctor’s orders, but doctor’s advice. And good luck with finding the child. I’d like to think that it’s out there somewhere, alive. One has to hope, you know?’
‘Yes,’ said Parker. ‘I know.’
37