“Why would any animal feel obligated to—”
“I don’t know. I’m only getting flashes of what he’s feeling in connection with the grave. But it’s very strong. I felt it the minute I came near the grave. He’s been here all along. Since the night she was put in that grave, he’s been standing guard over it.”
“Guard?”
“I know. I know. But that’s what he’s feeling. He doesn’t like it, but he thinks he has to do it.” She grimaced. “That’s all I know right now. Maybe when I get closer to him.”
“Or he comes closer to the grave?” Eve asked.
“Possibly.”
“How do you know he was protecting the grave?” Nalchek asked bluntly. “Maybe he wanted to devour the remains.”
Margaret shook her head. “That was my first thought. It would be a natural reaction for most wild animals. But not for this one, not in this case. He has memories of chasing off predators who were digging at the grave. He was definitely on guard all these years.”
“That’s the most unbelievable part of your entire ‘impression,’” Nalchek said. “And makes any other aspect of the story suspect.”
“Yes, and you didn’t have to go very far to discover reasons to discount it,” Margaret said. “You’re both cynical and suspicious because of your profession and your background. I know that what I do and what I’m telling you is hard to comprehend for anyone. I’ve faced that all my life. It would be incredible if you believed my story with no proof.” She thought about it. “And I can’t give you proof, but I might give you cause to question.”
“By all means.”
“This animal saw Jenny buried. He has a good memory because he still recalls it.”
“If he wanted to guard her, why didn’t he stop her from being killed?”
“I have no idea. Maybe he wasn’t there for the actual killing. I know you’re trying to trip me, but it doesn’t work that way. May I go on?”
He shrugged. “Why not?”
“Jenny was buried very deep in the ground. That should have made her safe from most predators that would generally dig her up and tear her body to pieces. It wouldn’t happen right away, but over the years, the odds of her skeleton’s remaining intact would be very slim.” She glanced at Eve. “Do you agree?”
“Yes.”
“And Eve would know. She deals with skeletons and skulls all the time.” She turned back to Nalchek. “But her initial burial kept that from happening, and there was a double safeguard later, when no predators were allowed near Jenny’s grave. Only time and the wear and tear of nature caused her to eventually be found. Right?”
“So it would seem,” he said warily. “But it wasn’t as if she was in pristine condition. She was a skeleton, and her white dress and black slippers were in tatters.”
“What about the green plastic tarp she was wrapped in?”
He went still. “Tarp?”
“Green plastic tarp,” she repeated. “What kind of shape was that in?”
“Tarp,” Eve repeated. “You never mentioned a tarp, Nalchek.”
“You didn’t ask me. You asked what she was wearing.”
“Was the tarp still intact?” Margaret asked.
“Better than her dress,” Nalchek said. “How did you know about the tarp? We never released any details to the press.”
“He saw Jenny wrapped and put into the ground with it around her.”
“We’re talking about your mythical guardian animal?”
“I think we should consider him entirely Jenny’s guardian,” she said. “Don’t you?”
“I’m not swallowing any of this. You could have talked to someone who was at the scene when we found her and saw that tarp.”