Dead Woman Crossing J.R. Adler (early reader chapter books txt) 📖

took its name from the unsolved murder.” Kimberley creased her brow, looking over at Sam for a moment. “It’s just awful.”

He gave a slight nod, not saying anything more, too focused on the open road ahead of him as he sped toward Big Deer Creek, the horizon and surrounding wheat fields a blur of color. His shoulders were high, his hands gripped tightly around the steering wheel and his jaw was clenched. She understood why Sam was tense. This was his town, his responsibility.

“Think this could be a copycat?” she asked, trying to pull Sam out from the hard exterior he was hiding in, like a turtle crawling back into its shell.

“I don’t wanna jump to any conclusions,” Sam said. “Not until we see the crime scene.”

“Homicide is rather unusual for Dead Woman Crossing, right? Aside from the 1905 case?” Kimberley arched an eyebrow.

“It’s very unusual.” He briefly looked at her with tight eyes and then redirected his attention back at the road ahead of him.

Sam pulled the car a little off the road, right behind another squad car. Several police cars were parked up and down the street just before the bridge.

Kimberley stepped out of the vehicle and took in the surroundings. Dead, leafless trees. The twisting creek running off into the distance. The slanting hills jutting up from the bed of the creek, covered in tall, rolling wheatgrass. And the bridge. The ominous concrete aperture like a massive mouth swallowing the creek, a slight fog rising to its underbelly. This was the scene of the murder more than a century ago, and the area was still dank and heavy with gloom and despair.

“Down here,” a voice called out from below the bridge.

Sam and Kimberley carefully walked down the steep valley off the side of the road leading to the creek that cut beneath it, pushing wheatgrass out of their way as they threaded through.

Deputy Hill stood off to the side of the creek bank. An older man dressed in olive-green chest waders, a red flannel shirt, and a worn fisherman’s bucket hat was sitting on a rock holding his head in his hands. When Kimberley got closer to him, he stood abruptly, and she could see the terror on his face; skin paper white, eyes darting back and forth in low-slung half-circles, like a pendulum trying to sweep away the horror he saw. Past Deputy Hill, under the bridge, the crime scene had already been sealed off, yellow tape twisting and flapping in the wind. Several deputies, including Burns, walked up and down the creek, their mag lights scanning the ground during the heavily overcast day, searching the area for God knows what.

Deputy Hill greeted Sam and Kimberley with a quick nod. “Teddy here found the body around an hour ago.” He gestured to the fisherman with his hand. “Said he was out doing some fishing and just walked up on the body over yonder.” Hill tilted his head back toward the yellow tape.

“It was ju-just horrible.” Teddy shook his head and squeezed his eyes tightly shut, two flesh dams closing to stop the spill of water. “I’ve seen a lot of bad things in my life, but… nothing like that.” His shoulders trembled as he began to cry, the dams unable to hold back the force any longer.

Sam patted Teddy on the shoulder to comfort him. “It’s alright, you don’t have to say any more right now.”

The fisherman nodded, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.

“Deputy Hill, would you kindly take Teddy away from the crime scene and get him something warm to drink and eat? Take down his official statement whenever he is calmed down and ready,” Sam advised.

Hill nodded. “Come on, Teddy, my car is this way.” They started walking, Hill with his slight limp, but he stopped six feet from Sherriff Walker and Chief Deputy King. Turning back, he said, “The pathologist is on the way in from Oklahoma City, should be here any minute. And one of the other deputies is with the baby down past the crime scene.” Deputy Hill pointed his finger at a man in uniform crouched down by a stroller.

“The baby?” Kimberley’s eyes widened.

“Yeah, did they not mention it when they rang you? The baby was discovered wrapped in blankets in her stroller a hundred yards away from the body.” Deputy Hill scratched the back of his neck.

“Fucking Jesus. You guys have baby killers here?” Kimberley shook her head. The taste of iron formed on her tongue. She swallowed hard.

“The baby’s alive,” Hill confirmed with a nod.

“Is the child alright? Approximate age?” Kimberley asked, almost in a panic. She thought of her own daughter, and couldn’t bear the thought of her sitting in a stroller alone all night outside.

“She’s fine. We’re guessing around a year.”

Sam and Kimberley exchanged a look as they let out a sigh of relief.

Hill motioned to Teddy and the two walked away in the opposite direction of the crime scene.

“Ahh, if it isn’t my favorite Custer County sheriff,” Megan Grey greeted as she walked down the valley from the road.

Her hair was a deep scarlet-red with a sleek cut that fell just below her chin. Her sharp features played in her favor as they matched her bulldozer attitude. She didn’t look like the other women that Kimberley had seen around town. Hell, she would have fit in walking around Greenwich Village. Megan was polished from head to toe, and like a crime scene, everything about her appearance had more to say than what was shown. She slid on a pair of white gloves as she approached Sam and Kimberley.

“Megan, so nice of you to join us.” Sam tipped his head. “This is Chief Deputy Kimberley King. She just joined us four days ago.”

Megan held up her hands, showing off her gloves as an excuse as to why they couldn’t shake hands. Instead, they nodded at one another.

“This is Megan Grey. She’s our designated pathologist from Oklahoma City when we get something that is beyond