“I found my sister’s body in the tunnels,” Sage said. “She was a resident here who went missing. But I bet Dr. Baldwin didn’t tell you about that.”
Hammond glared at Baldwin. “What on earth is she talking about?”
Before Baldwin could reply, Dr. Carter came rushing toward him, yelling, “What did you do to her?” He tore under the police tape and reached for him, his face twisted in fury and grief.
Dr. Baldwin blanched and took a step back, nearly falling in the snow, but Marla caught him before he went down. Nolan grabbed Dr. Carter and held him back, gripping the lapel of his sport coat. Carter fought to get free of him, his arms flailing, his hands in claws. “I’m going to kill you!” he raged. “I know you were fucking her! I know you were! I’m going to kill you for what you did!”
Baldwin shook his head and glanced nervously at his colleagues. “I have no idea what he’s talking about. I didn’t have anything to do with this.”
While Dr. Baldwin continued to make excuses, two cops rushed over, grabbed Carter, and dragged him away. At the other side of the clearing, they shoved him down and made him sit in the snow. “Don’t make me cuff you,” one of them said.
When Carter put his head in his hands and started to sob, the cops let go. Despite knowing nothing about the man, Sage wanted to go over there and comfort him, to let him know he was not alone in his grief and promise him she’d do her best to find Evie’s killer because he had murdered her sister too. But it would have to wait.
Nolan addressed Hammond, pulling his attention away from the spectacle. “I know you have a lot of questions about Miss Winters and Evie Carter,” he said. “And I’ll explain everything once we’re finished here and I have more answers. I have some questions for you too. So for now, I just need to know where to find you.”
Dr. Hammond looked down his nose at the detective. Clearly he was not accustomed to being put off. “My office is in the administration building,” he said. “Top floor. If I’m not there you can find me at my residence, the two-story Victorian at the far end of the Willowbrook campus.”
“Got it,” Nolan said. “And as part of the investigation, I’ll need a statement from you.”
“I’m not sure how I can help. But I’m willing to cooperate.”
“I’ll need one from each of you too,” Nolan said, turning to Baldwin and Sage. Then he looked up at the sky, scowling at the gathering clouds. “Now if you’ll excuse me, Dr. Hammond, I need to wrap this up before the weather changes again.”
“I’ll leave you to it then,” Dr. Hammond said. “But I expect a full report. On everything.” He shot Baldwin a livid glance.
“I’ll share what I can as soon as I can.” Detective Nolan ducked back under the police tape and returned to the crime scene, leaving Dr. Hammond standing in the snow, annoyed and confused.
Hammond turned to Baldwin, his face pinched. “I’ll expect you to stop at my office too. And for your sake, I hope you didn’t have anything to do with bringing more unwanted attention to my institution.” Then he turned and left the clearing, picking his way out through the wet slush. The other men followed.
After they were gone, Sage, Dr. Baldwin, and Marla silently watched the coroner photograph the body, while two other cops combed the surrounding woods. When paramedics arrived carrying a stretcher, one went over to Dr. Carter—who was still sitting in the snow, white-faced and silent—and wrapped a blanket around his shoulders. After glancing over at Carter, Nolan caught sight of Sage and the others, shook his head, and returned to where they stood.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I was in such a hurry to get away from Dr. Hammond I forgot to say you don’t need to stay out here any longer. I’ll report back as soon as we’re finished.” Then he looked at Sage. “Are you okay?”
“Me?” she said, surprised to hear someone sound genuinely concerned about her.
“Yes,” Detective Nolan said. “You.”
She tried to think. Was she okay? If only she knew. Detective Nolan seemed like he was starting to believe her story about Rosemary after she’d described Evie’s injuries, but what did he really think? That she was telling the truth? That she was lying about killing Evie? How could she prove anything without her poor sister’s body? And along with everything else, if the killer realized she and Eddie were onto him, they could be next. There were no words to explain the storm of emotions inside her head, so she just nodded.
“Are you sure?” he said. “You’re white as a sheet. You might be going into shock.”
Suddenly one of the cops yelled, “Over here!”
Sage jumped, startled, and everyone looked in that direction. At the far end of the clearing, near a tangled mass of grapevines and sumac just outside the police tape, the German shepherd was digging through the snow and dirt. Two cops ran over to see what was going on, then hurried back to get shovels out of their equipment bags. Nolan rushed over to where the German shepherd was digging, then turned and yelled over his shoulder, “We got another one!”
Sage went rigid. Another what? Another body?
When the coroner headed over to Detective Nolan, she knew. She started around the outside of the police tape, her legs suddenly elastic. She’d taken only a few steps when Marla grabbed her by the arm.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Marla said.
“Let me go,” Sage said. “I need to see who it is.”
Marla looked back at Dr. Baldwin, a question on her face.
“It’s all right,” he said, sounding weary. “She won’t get anywhere with all these cops around.”
Sage pulled away and hurried toward the far end of the clearing, slipping in the slush and tripping over brambles and dead logs. When she neared the grapevines and sumac where the cops were still digging, she slowed. What if it was a little kid? What if the cops had stumbled upon a graveyard of Cropsey’s—or Wayne’s—victims? What if the dog was wrong, and it was nothing but a dead deer? Shaking, she gathered the coat tighter around her waist and edged close to Detective Nolan. When he turned and saw her, he gently guided her backward, but not before she saw a pale arm in the icy dirt.
“Just hold on,” he said. “I’ll let you know when, or if, you can look.”
After what seemed like an eternity, the cops finished digging and backed away to make room for Nolan and the coroner. She thought she’d scream waiting for the detective to say something. Finally, he turned toward her, his face unreadable, and motioned her forward. She put a hand over her stomach, certain her insides were falling out, then walked up to the mound of mud and sticks and peered over the edge.
When she saw who was lying like a discarded rag doll inside the shallow grave, she fell to her knees.
CHAPTER 19
Waiting beside Sergeant Clark outside the morgue, Sage shivered and looked through the top half of the doors at the stainless steel autopsy table and the counter filled with bottles of embalming fluid. Even out in the tunnel, the sickening-sweet odor of formaldehyde and warm pennies made her nauseated. Still, she wanted to go in there more than anything, to get this nightmare over with once and for all so she could get the hell out of there.