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“Anything that a killer might have left behind.”
“I’m sure the cops already canvassed this area.”
“Would you know the details of the search?” Laura asked, looking at him sidelong. The last thing she needed was for Dan Chua to come along and undermine her self-confidence.
“No, I don’t know a thing about it. I’ll help you.”
“Don’t do it if you think you might ruin your manicure,” she replied, to which he just smirked.
Handing over exam gloves, she directed them what to do. “Dig down and scoop out sand, letting it sift between your fingers. If you feel any thing hindering your way, dig around it.”
“Where’d you learn this? PI school?”
Pam elbowed him in the gut so hard he grunted.
“You make fun of me, Dan, but I have a degree in criminal justice from the University of Chicago. I took a course in evidence collection, if you must know.”
“I’m sorry, Laura. I know that. I’m just bustin’ on you.”
They crept on their haunches for a while, finally Dan giving up. “Men aren’t built to do this,” he said, grunting as he stood up.
“Dan, you need to do squats at the gym,” Laura said, grimacing. “You’re in terrible shape.”
“Thanks. I’ve had enough of this shit. I’m headed down south. What do you say, Pam?”
“Sure, I’d better get home, I guess. My dogs are going to be ticked off that I didn’t bring them along.”
She brushed the sand from the gloves and peeled them off her hands. “I’ll hold on to the gloves in case you want me to help you sometime.”
“That would be great. How about if I send you a text when I’m getting ready to walk up?”
“Okay, good idea.”
They said goodbye, leaving her digging as they walked to the water’s edge.
“I liked you and Laura together,” Pam whispered.
“And I liked you and Jake together,” Dan replied.
“Touché, you creep.” But she laughed. “Oh, look! Glass!”
She squatted down again and got the glass before it washed away.
“Sometimes when you find a piece, there’s another close by.”
Dan got down on his haunches again, bitten by the glass bug, as painful as the posture was, then dug around.
“Oh shit! I found a shell casing,” he yelled. “Laura, look at this!”
“What are the odds?” Pam asked.
“It’s probably not related,” Laura said, running down to join them. “Those six murders were strangulations, and the one I’m looking at was a stabbing. But I’m not taking any chances.”
She dug her phone out and, facing the land for reference, took a picture of where the brass casing was found. She thought of Will’s post the other day, the victim had been shot.
“I’m so excited. It’s a start, right? It makes me want to keep digging. Thank you, Dan! I forgive you for being a jerk earlier. I’m going to take this to the police. I found a cigarette filter and some random hair. Gross, I know, but why would there be longish brown hair in the sand where a body had been found? What if it belongs to the killer?”
“Beats me,” Pam said, grimacing.
