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Finn pointed to a large tree thatlay across the road, blocking much of the way. To the side of it, he could seesome forensic workers dressed in white sterile protective clothing, croucheddown around the body of a young woman.
“Finn,” Rob said, “I’m sorry tohave pulled you away like this. I know you’ve got your own problems to sort out.But after the splash you made solving the Van Reece case, as soon as anothermember of the DeGrey family died, I received a call from the Home Officedirecting me to procure your services as a detective. This isn’t even my jurisdiction,but they wanted me in on it as well. Winters, too. Thank you for saying yes.”
Finn patted Rob on the shoulder.He looked tired, as though he had been working late nights. Rob had been agreat friend to him, so Finn was happy to help.
“I’ve got you covered, buddy,” hesaid quietly.
Finn squinted in the sun andpulled out a pair of sunglasses. “That’s better.”
“Finn,” Amelia said, pointing overto the body, “I am happy you’re here, but I have to say I’m not sure of the assessmenthere.”
“What assessment?” asked Finn,curious.
Rob sighed. “The young woman here.She was killed this morning, hit by a car traveling way too fast. Her body landedby the side of the road. It looks like she died from the impact, if not immediatelythen soon after. We’re not sure yet how long she was lying there before shepassed on.”
“A hit-and-run?” Finn observed,watching the forensic team finish up. They started moving toward them.
“Perhaps something more sinistereven than that,” Rob said, gravely.
“We don’t know that, Chief,”Amelia offered. She was always skeptical, and although Finn sometimes disagreedwith her, he admired her keen attention to detail.
“Do you think this was deliberate?”Finn asked, but Rob didn’t have a chance to answer.
“Chief, that’s us done thepreliminary, we’ll leave the rest to pathology,” one of the forensicinvestigators said, stopping for a moment.
“Good job,” the chief said. “Leavethings as they are for now so that we can take a look ourselves.”
The men nodded and continuedbeyond them, getting into a large van and driving back around the blind corner.
Finn started to walk toward thebody as Rob and Amelia accompanied him.
“I went through the police checkpointat the bottom of the hill,” Finn said, pointing to the blind turn behind them. “ButI didn’t see any reporters. I take it I’ve been requested because the victim issomeone important?”
“It’s only a matter of time beforeit hits the press,” Amelia explained. “But for now, we don’t have that issue.”
Finn stood over the body of theyoung woman. She must have been in her twenties, and Finn could see that shewas athletic and dressed in gray running clothes. Her hair was cast over herface, and her brown eyes looked up into nothingness.
He’d seen many dead bodies in histime as a special agent, but no matter how much humor he tried to use to getthrough the job, each time he saw a body, he felt a piece of his own faith inhumanity break off, discarded by the senselessness of it all.
“Poor woman,” he said, softly.
Finn stood up and saw a look inAmelia’s eyes, as though she was somewhat surprised by his delicacy.
Winters, what you don’t knowabout me could fill a phone book, he thought.
“Her name is Maggie DeGrey,” Robfinally said. “She’s a member of—”
“I’ve read about the DeGreys,”Finn said. “Isn’t DeGrey Castle near here?”
“Yes,” Amelia answered. “Severalof the family still live there throughout the year, others come and govisiting. Maggie must have been out on her morning run when the car came aroundthe corner and hit her. The driver wouldn’t have had a chance to react.”
“And why is this suspicious?” Finnasked.
Amelia seemed adamant. “It isn’t.”
“Maggie is the second member of theDeGrey family to have died suddenly in as many weeks,” Rob said. “The first wasQuentin DeGrey, who, I believe, owned most of the DeGrey estate as the head ofthe family. The initial autopsy attributed his death to natural causes, but we’rewaiting on a second autopsy report as there was an anomaly in the deceased’sblood sample. We’re having that checked, could be something.”
“It could also be acoincidence,” said Amelia.
