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“I have no idea.”
“What’s your name, ma’am?”
“Milly Perkins.”
“And you live on this road too?”
“Yes, a couple miles further on. Can I go home now? I’ve been sitting out here for a long time.”
“Of course, you can leave. Just give me your phone number so I can get in touch. I’ll wait for Doctor Olson.”
Milly Perkins left and I let the dogs out of the truck to run around. They didn’t mind the cold at all. I had already called Doctor Olson to the scene, but I had no idea how long it would take him to get to me.
Max and Sarge ran up and down the road chasing each other and having a lot more fun in the snow than I was having. I whistled for them and herded them back into the truck, so I could get in and warm up.
As I sat in the truck waiting for Doctor Olson to arrive, my mind filled with questions. Who was Garnet Booth and why was he out here in the freezing cold? Milly Perkins seemed to know him, but why was she out here too? She just happened to be driving by and saw him? No way she could’ve seen him driving by. I didn’t even see him when she showed me where he was. He was covered in snow. Something didn't feel right about this whole situation.
I called Molly and gave her the identification of the victim. “I don’t know Garnet Booth,” said Molly, “but I do know Milly Perkins. She’s a bit of a loner. She lives alone out in the middle of nowhere at the far end of that road you’re on.”
“Milly knew the victim and ID’d him for me.”
“Are you waiting for Doctor Olson?”
“Yes. Sitting in my truck.”
“Ted just dropped Billy off. No more accident calls at the moment.”
“If another one doesn’t come into the office in the next half hour, let Ted take a private call.”
“Copy that, Sheriff.”
An hour later, I was staring at the gauge on the dash and almost out of gas when the coroner showed up. Doctor Olson’s van pulled in behind me. I got out of the truck and walked over to greet him. “Thanks for coming, Doc.”
“Afternoon, Sheriff. What do we have here?” he asked, pulling on his gloves.
“We've got a dead man over there in the snowbank. Name is Garnet Booth. Milly Perkins found him and she says she lives down the road,” I explained, leading him over to the body.
Doctor Olson kneeled down and examined the frozen corpse carefully. He checked for a pulse, but it was clear that Garnet Booth was beyond saving.
“Looks like he died of hypothermia,” he said, standing up and taking off his gloves. “Poor guy probably got lost and disoriented in the storm.”
“But why would an old guy like this be out walking in a blizzard?”
“Couldn’t tell you, Travis.”
Doctor Olson pronounced Mister Booth dead and took him away swiftly. No one was lingering in the cold longer than they had to.
I was free to go back to the office.
I hadn’t eaten all day and I was starving, cold and cranky. I called to see if Billy had eaten, and he and Molly had gotten food from across the road and eaten in the squad room.
“Okay, I’m stopping at the diner before I come back. I’ve got to eat something.”
“Copy that, boss.”
Mainliner Diner. Coyote Creek.
I was halfway through the leftover lunch special when Ted came into the diner and sat down across from me. “No calls in the last twenty minutes, Travis. Can I go? I’ve got a lineup of calls waiting.”
