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“Chris sprained her ankle,” he allows.
I give him a look.
“She stumbled down the front steps of her cabin, into a crab den.”
I narrow my gaze.
“The crab den part was accidental enough. The stairs…”
My eyes widen.
“They’d come loose from the cabin. Upon close inspection, most of the screws were missing.”
“Someone had removed the screws?”
“Hydraulic claws aside, I doubt the ghost crabs possess the necessary tools.”
Sarcasm. Score one for the sexy project manager.
“You suspect foul play?”
“I suspect the stairs were once screwed to the cabin frame, and somehow, someway, were removed. Other than that…”
“What did Chris have to say?”
“I want to go home,” he intoned. It takes me a second to realize he’s speaking as Chris.
“Did the other crew members like Chris?”
“Yeah. She was solid. No issues, no complaints.”
“Umm, any chance she was dipping into the condom/morning-after pill supply?”
“More likely to be robbing the strap-on supply, except we don’t have a strap-on supply.”
“Oh.” I get it. A little slow on the uptake, but still.
“Everyone liked Chris. No hint of trouble. No idea what happened. Which made it especially…”
“Unnerving?”
“Folks were rattled.”
I thought of Ronin and his claim to have picked me for his expedition because I hadn’t been here before. As in I hadn’t been on the atoll earlier to sabotage a fellow campmate’s stairs.
“Okay,” I allow.
“Okay?”
“Okay, you showed me yours, so I’ll show you mine. I do have a particular… interest… hobby… obsession… with missing persons cold cases. But,” I add hastily, “I’m no expert. I can get people to talk, and I’m pretty good at listening to their answers. However, forensics, mad computer skills, real-world investigative techniques, not my thing. So while I have encountered skeletal remains before, I’m no forensic anthropologist. Not to mention, Ronin and I only cleared a small window into the grave. If not for the sequined flower on the clothing, I don’t think we could’ve given you an estimated time of death at all.”
“But you must have some thoughts on the subject.”
I take a deep breath, consider the matter. I don’t feel like I can trust Vaughn concerning Lea. He’s clearly Team MacManus. On the other hand, he clearly knows enough about my background. Surely it doesn’t hurt to partner with him on this matter, maybe even reach a point of mutual respect that might come in handy later.
“From what you’ve described, this atoll may be remote, but in the past year and a half, it’s been a hub of activity, including dozens upon dozens of people passing through.”
“Probably close to a hundred,” he allows.
