An Affair of the Heart
By Chuck Semenuk
Harper Rains was walking past the dispatcher’s desk when the call came in.
“Dispatch, this is Sloan County Sheriff’s K9 unit S3, over.”“S3, this is dispatch, over.”
“Dispatch, I am located on county road 12, about two and a half miles off state highway 7. I need a CSI team at this location, over.”
The dispatcher looked up at Harper. “Harp, do you want to take this?”
Harper sat down at the desk and pulled the microphone toward him.
“Deputy, this is Lieutenant Rains of the CSI unit. What’s going on? Over.”
“Hi, Harp. This is Jerry Faber. I found an abandoned car off the side of the road on county 12. During my investigation, my K9 picked up a scent. He led me to a body, white male, about sixty years of age, approximately 100 yards into the brush. No identification, no obvious injuries, over.”
“Sit tight, Jerry. We’re on our way, over.”
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Harper Rains and his team arrived at the site within a half hour and began processing the scene. Deputy Faber detailed his activity from the moment he arrived.
“While on patrol, I noticed this car; it had been pulled fairly far off the road. The doors were locked and I did not see any keys inside or on the ground in the immediate area.”
“I let my K9 have a go at it and he led me to the body, about 100 yards in.”
Medical Examiner Carl Tweed had begun his preliminary examination of the body as Harper made his way through the brush.
He squatted down and looked at the body. “What can you tell me so far, Carl?”
“I’d say that our deceased friend has been dead for about two days. I see no obvious wounds. Certainly, I see nothing to indicate the cause of his demise at this point. We’ll know more when we get him to the lab.”
Harper took particular notice of the way the man was dressed.
“Sweat pants and sneakers, with a dress shirt. That’s kind of a strange outfit for an older gent.”
Carl touched the collar of the man’s shirt. “Harp, the buttons on his shirt are skewed, one button off. Do you think someone else may have put his shirt on post mortem?”
Harper scratched his head. “That’s interesting. Let’s get him to the lab, Carl.”
Harper walked back to the abandoned car where two of his investigators were processing it.
“Tell me you have some good news, Will.”
Will Dagget turned toward him. “Harp, this car is as clean as a whistle. Someone took extra care in wiping it down. There isn’t a smudge anywhere. They locked it up when they left and took the keys with them. I did find a couple of grey hairs in the trunk. The car appears to be a rental. We’re still trying to find out who may have been driving. Hopefully, we’ll find out more at the lab.”
“I hope so. Okay, load it up.”
