A Deadly Fall
Authors: Carol Lee
A Deadly Fall
A Cozy Mystery
by Carol Lee
First Kindle Original Edition 2013
A Bristlecone Book
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Copyright © 2013 Carol Lee
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CONTENTS
Sam – September 2009
Judy was finally starting to settle down. She’d decided that at age 25, she could no longer traipse around the country making just enough money to go on her next adventure. She was taking online classes at the University of Vermont as her gateway to a more stationary life.
And she was taking classes from my house in New Hampshire. The house she’d grown up in. We’d moved there when I was in high school and I’d never left. Judy couldn’t wait to go, though. As soon as she graduated, she packed one bag and would be somewhere new every few months. She’d always check in a few times a year with a short visit. I think she was trying to convince herself she was doing the right thing by always moving around.
Her daredevil spirit had been born early and she was always pushing the limits. Her best friend since middle school was Sarah, and they seemed to balance each other out perfectly. In their junior year of high school, when I was a senior in college, our parents let Judy and Sarah visit me in a moment of weakness that Judy backed them into. They’d only let her come on the condition Sarah went with her. I was always her overprotective brother, but Judy gave everyone a run for their money and Sarah was the only one who could rein her in.
“Sam, you
have
to take us to a party,” she’d pleaded as soon as they arrived.
“No way. Mom and Dad didn’t even want to let you come. They only did because they’re away for the weekend and would rather have you here than home alone where you might throw another party,” I told her. A year earlier, our parents had come home from a weekend away to find the house trashed from her friends.
“Wouldn’t you rather have us drinking for the first time away from home while you’re here than when we’re freshmen in college on our own. Maybe not even at the same school. Who knows who we’ll look to for help. If we need it,” she added almost as an afterthought.
“Like you’ve never drank away from home,” I said and rolled me eyes at her. I wasn’t going to babysit them at a party.
“Or we’ll just find our own fun,” she said manipulatively.
“Fine, come. But please don’t do anything stupid.”
“Who do you think we are?” Judy said with annoyance in her voice, but I saw the smile break across her face, giving away her true feelings.
That night, I was surprised to see the effect Sarah had on Judy. I knew the havoc Judy could wreak, but Sarah kept her in check. She’d let her be herself—flirting with guys she didn’t know while pretending to be in college, drinking more than I thought she’d be capable of while still standing—but somehow managed to get her to leave at a reasonable hour and under her own power. I’d expected to hear from her the next morning from some random bedroom, lost on campus and no idea how to get back to my apartment.
Sarah had married just at the end of college to her middle school crush and was trying desperately to start a family. Judy looked at that lifestyle with hesitation—conventions and societal expectations made her run in the opposite direction—but something seemed to finally be settling her down.
“Good morning,” I said as she walked into the kitchen. I was still enjoying my first cup of coffee. We’d agreed to spend the morning hiking before visiting our mom in the assisted living center. It was always a challenge to go, but since I’d been banned from the office because my vacation days were about to expire, we used this as an opportunity to go together.
“Morning,” she said groggily back. Her hair was disheveled and she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. She’d raided my closet when she’d moved back in and had on a pair of my boxers. Once she’d grown up a little after her high school visit to my college, we’d gotten much closer.
“Coffee?” I asked her.
“Nope,” she yawned. “Just cereal. When did you want to get going?”
“I’m ready whenever you are, so not for a while by the looks of you!” It wasn’t a long hike, but it’d be good to get going early to avoid the possibility of the midday humidity.
“Give me a half hour, then I’ll be ready,” she said and sat down with a thud on the chair across from me.
***
“Sam, Sam!” Judy called.
I hadn’t even sat down to take the first bite of my sandwich. I was starving. The Potash trail was kicking my butt and I didn’t know if I could keep going. Luckily we’d found a great overlook and I thought we’d have a long lunch and siesta before continuing to the summit not far away. I couldn’t think of any better way to spend a Tuesday day off.
“What is it?” I yelled back. She was supposed to be emptying her bladder. I didn’t want to see my little sister going to the bathroom.
“Just come quick!” She sounded terrified. I decided I would listen to her for once and forgo my grumbling stomach.
It was surprisingly steep down to where she was calling from. I don’t know why she felt the need to get so far from me just to pee. It was the end of the summer hiking season but before the New Hampshire colors came out so we hadn’t seen another hiker all morning. Mid week was slow in early September after the Labor Day crowd of tourists and before Columbus Day. It was like no man’s land in the White Mountains.
“Sam, hurry!” she called again.
“I’m right here,” I said, calmly coming up behind her. She hadn’t even turned to look. Something had her attention straight ahead of her. “What’s going on?” I asked, noticing my hunger pangs again.
“Th-that,” she stuttered and pointed.
I followed her finger to the ground not far ahead. There was a body face down amongst the trees, partially covered with the fallen leaves and pine needles that littered the ground. I immediately switched into work mode. “Don’t go any nearer. We have to radio my team. They have to know about this immediately. You go back to the overlook and wait there until I come back,” I ordered her, all business.
Reluctantly, she left. I’d seen that reaction countless times—the scene is so shocking that viewers can’t look away even though it will give them nightmares for months. I spent the next few minutes not touching the body, but gathering any clues I could before we made our hike down to the car where I could get in touch with my partner, Detective Allen Davis. We’d been partners ever since we’d both graduated from the academy. We’d completed all of our training together and could more often than not work through a crime scene without even talking. We were in tune with each others’ thoughts and movements. We were so close that he and Judy had even dated for a few months before they amiably ended things and she introduced him to his future wife, Krista.
***
“Sam, you’re sure you can find the body again?” Allen asked. We’d been hiking for what felt like forever. He thought I was leading him on a wild goose chase. We were both decked out in gear this time so we could gather all of the evidence needed to determine the cause of death and start a full investigation if there was foul play involved. But both of us suspected a fall on a slippery trail in the last storm that had come through. Some people were diehards and would hike no matter what the weather if that was their plan. They couldn’t seem to put their safety first.
“We’re almost there,” I told him, not quite sure how much farther it was until I spotted the view I’d not been able to enjoy earlier. “I told you to trust me. It’s just down here,” I reassured him as I turned around and led him off the trail and down the hill to where Sarah had found the body.
To neither of our surprises, the body was still there. It was far enough from the trail that someone would have to search to find it, but also below a good size cliff with enough boulders and trees around that could do serious damage if you weren’t careful at the top and slipped off.
“You start bagging evidence on the body, I’ll canvas the area for anything that might be helpful further away and up the cliff,” I directed. This would be the last time we’d likely communicate until we were heading downhill again. Our well oiled machine was now in motion.
Starting at the body, I carefully walked in widening concentric circles. There were no footprints anywhere, other than the ones that ended where Sarah had stopped in shock. The body hadn’t been dumped, at least not down here. No one could be crazy enough to hike a body all the way up here to hide it.
I didn’t find any items that didn’t belong either. The thick layer of leaf litter wasn’t disturbed enough to be hiding any personal effects or to have covered the body to conceal it, so I left the body and went to the top of the cliff.
My luck didn’t turn. Still nothing that could be of use, but I took my time knowing that anything we overlooked could make or break an investigation.
“Good to go when you are,” Allen said just behind me, making me jump. “Everything’s bagged. We’ve got to get the rest of the team up here now so they can get the body out and do an autopsy. I didn’t see any sign of foul play, but we’ll still have to determine the cause of death. And identify her so we can let her family know.”
“I’ll radio the team. They should be here soon enough. Just relax and enjoy the view,” I suggested as I got out my walkie to check the status of the rest of the team. They had given us a head-start to let us do our job without them in the way, but they should be close.
“Detective Milner to Captain Edwards, do you copy?” I talked into the device.
“Loud and clear,” he responded in person, just coming around the final trees into our sight.
“Perfect timing. We’ve got everything we need. You guys are clear to double check everything and get the body back to headquarters. We’ll meet you back there.”
“Great work. Make sure you do go and visit your mom with Judy. Today was supposed to be your day off, remember?”