Mo slapped at one of the bloodthirsty mosquitoes that had been feasting on his flesh for the past hour. “Let’s take this inside. Unless you want to leave? I mean, everyone else is.”
Hattie stood and looked around. “I guess Cass must have taken off, too, huh? But I can’t leave yet. It doesn’t seem right to leave her there … in the ground like that.”
“I’ll stay too,” Mo said. “Why don’t we wait in your trailer?”
“Air-conditioning,” Hattie said, nodding. “Great idea.”
“I’m just gonna go check on Makarowicz, see if he needs anything, and then I’ll meet you there,” Mo said.
* * *
“Detective?” The crime scene technician ascended the ladder that had been dropped into the septic tank, peeled off his paper hazmat suit and booties, and rolled them into a ball as he walked toward Makarowicz, who’d been photographing every angle of the crime scene.
“Get anything good?” Mak asked, trying to breathe through his mouth.
“Long hair, a purple vinyl windbreaker, and a pair of tennis shoes say the victim was most likely a female,” the tech said. “Looks like there was a fracture to the front of the skull.” The tech took a step backward and shook his head. “Jesus, I gotta get a shower. I might never get the smell of that septic tank offa me.”
“Any idea how soon we might know something?” Mak asked.
“Talk to the GBI,” the tech said. He turned and pointed at a stretcher being lowered into the tank. “They’re bringing her up now.”
Makarowicz walked away. He’d seen enough. He didn’t want her to hear this news from a stranger. He called the number Emma Ragan had given him. It went to voicemail, but before he could leave a message, he saw that she was calling back.
“Detective Mak? Do you have any news? Did you talk to my dad?”
“Hi, Emma,” he said, deliberately. “I did talk to your dad. But that’s not why I’m calling.”
“Oh my God,” she said. “You found her, didn’t you? You found my mom.”
“We found a body,” he said. “Nothing is certain, but we believe the remains are a woman, and the circumstances of where we found it…”
“Ohhhh.” Emma’s voice trailed off, and she began to weep. “Mommy. My poor mommy.”
“Are you all right?’ Mak asked, alarmed. “Do you have someone who can be with you right now? Are you at work?”
“I’m … I’m…” Her speech was breaking up. “Hang on, please.”
He heard her blow her nose and say something inaudible.
“Okay. My boss said I can take a break. I’m gonna go sit in my car for a minute and get my shit together. You won’t hang up, right?”
“I promise I won’t hang up,” Mak said.
“Mak?” Emma’s voice sounded steadier.
“I’m sorry to upset you this way at work, Emma, but I was afraid word might get out, after we discovered the body, and I didn’t want you to hear it from anyone else.”
“Thank you,” she said tearfully. “What else can you tell me? Where was she?”
Makarowicz bit his lip. He did not want to tell this fragile young girl that her mother’s body had been dumped in a septic tank. When he did tell her, it would be in person. “It might not even be her. But the location where it was discovered, seems to make sense.”
She seized on that immediately. “On Tybee? Did you find the body near her wallet?”
“Yes,” he said reluctantly. “On the same property.”
“In that old house? That doesn’t make sense.”
“No. It was … buried.”
“Oh.” Her voice seemed to get smaller. “Can you tell how it happened?”
“Not yet. It might take some time. But listen, didn’t you tell me you sent in a DNA sample of hers to one of those online ancestry sites?”
“Yeah,” she said. “That detective did it a couple years ago, after they found some woman’s body in the Okeefenokee Swamp. Turns out it wasn’t her.”
“That might help move things along, if you still have that hairbrush.The GBI should have her DNA to compare to this body. And we’ll get your mom’s dental records, too.”
“Good. Mak?”
“Yes?”
“Does my dad know?”
“I haven’t called him. Do you want me to?”
There was a long silence, and then she was weeping again.