Page 87 of Forever Dead

“I drive by here every morning. Check my cattle down past the creek.” Harold rubbed both palms over the blanket. “Door was open. Nobody’s meant to be staying here, so I figured kids had got in again.”

“You came up to check?”

“Yeah. Took the bat from my truck.”

“No gun?”

Harold shook his head. “Old Bessy stayed put. Thank Christ for that, I guess. I went inside, hollered a few times. Place looked normal. But I knew I had to check the laundry room.”

“What made you go to the laundry room?” Connor asked.

“That noise.”

“What noise?”

Harold swallowed. “Thudding. Same sound over and over. I thought somebody was behind the door.”

Connor waited.

“I pushed it,” Harold continued. “Something kept knocking it shut again. Used the bat to jam it, forced my way in.” His mouth tightened. “Then I saw her.” His breathing changed.

Connor lowered his voice. “Take your time.”

Harold stared across the field. “I served in the Gulf. First one.”

Connor said nothing.

“Wasn’t there long compared to some,” Harold continued. “Long enough. I saw things I spent thirty years trying not to remember.” He pressed his lips together. “The smell in that room brought it all back before I even saw her. Blood does that. You don’t forget it.”

Connor watched his fingers tighten around the blanket. “I thought I was done with all that,” Harold said. “Turns out I was wrong.”

“You did the right thing calling us.”

“I should’ve called before I went in.”

“Maybe. But if she’d still been alive, you would’ve been the first person trying to help her.”

Harold gave him a tired glance. “She wasn’t alive.”

“No.”

“I keep hearing that body hitting the door.”

Connor let the silence remain for a moment, then asked, “Did you know the victim?”

Harold shook his head. “Never seen her before.”

“Any idea how she got in?”

"No. The house was locked when I checked it three days ago. Front door wasn't damaged today. Key was still in the rental lock box."

“Who else has keys?”

“Me, the cleaner, Peter Tully in England, if he's still got his old one. Peter handles the Airbnb bookings. Nobody’s staying this week.”

“Can somebody see that from the listing?”

“See what?”