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Shep gave the command and turned them loose on the freshly churned up piece of ground. He and Adriel held back to observe their movements. Remaining where they were also avoided adding any unnecessary footprints to the crime scene or burial site, whichever it turned out to be.
Rook and Bishop nosed around the rectangular stone protruding from the ground. Then they started barking and digging excitedly. In less than a minute, their paws scraped across a wooden coffin lid.
Adriel shot Shep a questioning look.
Shep nodded. “Looks like we’ve got ourselves a body, sheriff.”
As it turned out, the rectangular piece of concrete wasn’t a tombstone. It was a section of concrete that had been broken off from a grave vault. The long wooden casket it encased appeared eerily intact, a testament to the higher altitude and dryer climate of the region as a whole.
Shep gave the command for the dogs to return to his side. “Good job, Rook! Good job, Bishop!” They wagged their tails athis tone. He would reward them with snacks and a nice game of fetch as soon as he got them home.
He glanced over at Adriel, who was still squatted down, examining the dog’s discovery. “I’ll call the coroner.” Adriel pointed at something on the ground. “What do you think that is?”
Shep leaned closer to get a better look, but the circular item was too caked with dirt to say for sure. “Looks like a piece of metal. Some sort of wire, maybe?”
Adriel popped on a pair of latex gloves and produced an evidence bag. He leaned over with an ink pen and used it to scoop the item into the bag. Sealing it inside, he held the bag up between them so they could study it more closely. “It’s a necklace,” he said.
“With a locket.” Shep eyed the very old, very tarnished piece of jewelry.
“Definitely not Comanche.” Adriel brushed at the top of it through the bag. A dirt clod fell away from it, and the outline of a cameo appeared.
“You’re right.” It was something a white woman would’ve worn back in the day.
The sheriff grunted. “What’s she doing buried on Comanche land?” They exchanged another look that made him shake his head. “Don’t say it,” he sighed.
“I didn’t.” Shep grimaced. He didn’t have to. They were both already thinking the same thing.
Adriel blew out a breath as he glanced around them. “The last thing I need is a homicide on my hands, especially a century-old one.”
“We don’t know that’s what it is.” Shep realized it looked questionable, but there could be any number of reasons as to why a body had been buried where they were standing. “Wedon’t even know for sure if it’s a woman yet. Or if the person in the casket was the owner of the locket.”
Adriel didn’t respond. He was too busy scrolling through his phone again.
“It might not hurt to reach out to Bliss Hawling about this,” Shep mused. Bliss was a legend in her own right, a spinster in her late forties who’d been born and raised in Heart Lake. Unlike most of the citizens who shared her last name, she’d gone to college, and not just any college. She’d made it into Harvard and earned a degree in archeology. She was probably off on some famous dig right this minute.
“Way ahead of you, brother.” Adriel found the phone number he was looking for and tapped the button to call it.
“Sheriff Adriel Montana!” It wasn’t until her voice trilled across the line that Shep realized the sheriff had put the call on speakerphone.
“Hi, Bliss. It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?”
“Hey, I sent the last Christmas card.” There was a smile in her voice. “From Honduras, wasn’t it?”
“Think so.”
“You’re the one who dropped the ball, sheriff.”
“I apologize.” He shifted his stance.
“It’s alright, kid. I know you’re married now.” She sounded affectionate.
Kid?Shep mouthed the word and earned a dirty look from the lawman.
“Eh, it’s not my family’s fault.” Adriel’s voice was gentler than usual. That and his use of Bliss Hawling’s first name told Shep that they were friends. “I’m afraid I’ve gotta fall back on the same old excuse. Work.”
“Yeah, you really need to come up with some new material,” she chuckled.
“Actually, I think Deputy Whitaker and his pair of K-9s have done exactly that.” Adriel filled her in on the details of their findings.
