The wind kicked up across the river, and Bree could feel the chill in the air. The temperature was dropping with the sun. She put on her jacket and shoved gloves and evidence bags into the pockets. “Direct Matt and the ME to the body.”
Todd and Deputy Collins turned back to their vehicles. Bree headed down the slope toward the body. She took pictures from multiple angles and distances. The corpse’s left hand extended onto the rocks. The victim wore a silver wedding band with a brushed texture channel. Bree leaned closer and snapped a close-up. By the time she’d finished with her photos, the sun had dropped behind the trees. The medical examiner would also take photos of the body in situ, but Bree liked to have her own. Besides, the ME would be dependent on artificial light. Bree would take advantage of the remaining daylight. You couldn’t have too many crime scene photos.
Footsteps caught her attention. Bree turned to see Matt and the medical examiner emerging from the woods. Broad-shouldered and six three, Matt was an impressive figure. He hefted two battery-powered floodlights on tripods. The portable lights were specifically designed for illuminating remote areas where setting up a generator wasn’t practical.
Dr. Serena Jones was a tall African American woman with close-cropped hair. Her short, stocky male assistant half jogged to keep up with her. The ME and her assistant each carried a plastic kit.
“Sheriff.” The ME stared at the body, assessing. “What do we know?”
“Her car has been parked at the base of the bridge since Friday night,” Bree said.
Matt set down the lights. The sunset turned his short red-brown hair and tight beard the color of burnished copper. His gaze caught Bree’s. Despite the gruesome situation, something inside Bree warmed as their eyes met for a few seconds. If they weren’t—once again—standing over a dead body, he would have kissed her. But standing over a dead body seemed to be their norm, and Matt was aware of how she felt about PDA. She blinked away, afraid everyone else would see how much she liked him.
How did you greet the criminal investigator you were dating when no one else knew you were dating him?
“Matt.” Bree cleared her throat. “Thanks for responding so quickly.”
He nodded as he helped Dr. Jones set up the lights on the riverbank, flooding the body and area immediately around it with day-bright light. The ME’s assistant moved in with his camera. When he’d finished, Dr. Jones crouched next to the body. Water sloshed around the ankles of her rubber boots. She reached one gloved hand toward the head, lifting the wet hair off the face as Bree had done. “The water temperature is probably somewhere in the fifties. So, the body isn’t classically bloated, but she’s starting to get soupy. She’s been in the water at least a couple of days.”
“Her husband says she left home Friday evening.” Bree wondered if she would be able to verify the timeline given by Owen Thorpe.
Dr. Jones looked thoughtful. “I’ll be able to give you a better answer after the autopsy. Let’s turn her over.”
Bree tugged on gloves and helped turn the body onto its back. A bloodless gash started on the forehead and extended into the victim’s hair.
Dr. Jones pointed to abrasions on the victim’s head and hands. “Most of these injuries look postmortem, possibly from hitting rocks and other debris in the river. Not sure about the head wound. I’ll need X-rays and better light to assess it.” She sat back on her heels. “There are too many variables for me to give you any more information now. I’ll schedule the autopsy for tomorrow afternoon.” The ME issued orders for her assistant to collect temperature readings and samples of the water and soil around the body. She drew a scalpel from her bag and opened the victim’s jacket and blouse to make an incision in the abdomen. Body temperature was the most accurate when obtained via the liver.
To give them room to work, Bree and Matt moved away from the remains.
“What do you think?” Bree asked.
Matt shrugged. “I’m not going to think anything until the autopsy, but circumstances do suggest suicide is a possibility. She could have hit her head on a boulder in the water.”
An hour later, the remains were transferred to a black body bag and secured to a gurney. Matt, Bree, the morgue assistant, and Deputy Collins carried the gurney up the slope to the ME van. Two news