Read Tumbled Graves for Free Online Page A

rustled up two more officers for the search. Bennett looked toward her and smiled. He was smiling at her way too much, as if trying to get on her good side. She frowned and looked back at Ivo. “We’re going to check deeper into the woods, just to be sure that Adele and Violet aren’t roaming around lost. I wanted you to know before you spotted us trooping around.”
    â€œGo ahead. I know they aren’t there.”
    â€œOh? How would you know that?”
    He closed his eyes. “Violet hates the woods. She thinks it’s full of monsters. Adele wouldn’t want to frighten her.”
    â€œWe’ll check just to make absolutely certain and then I’ll come back to see if we’ve forgotten to ask you anything from yesterday.” She started to leave the house but stopped in the doorway. “Is there anybody you could call to come stay with you? Waiting can be more difficult alone.”
    â€œNo, I’ll be fine. We liked … like our privacy.”
    â€œRight. I’ll be back soon.”
    She left him and walked over to Bennett, Woodhouse, and the two uniformed officers. The day was warming up and she unzipped her leather jacket before she reached them. Woodhouse had taken charge. He’d brought up a map of the area on his iPad and was pointing to different sections of the property. The others took turns looking at the screen. Kala leaned in past Bennett.
    â€œIs that a creek?” She traced her finger along a ribbon of dark terrain.
    Woodhouse enlarged the image. “You’re right. It is a creek of some sort.”
    â€œIt’ll be larger with the spring thaw,” Kala said. The snowfall had been nearly record-breaking in February and March. She pointed along a route through the bush. “I’ll hike that way to the water to have a look around.”
    â€œI’ll come with you,” Bennett said. “Two sets of eyes are better than one.”
    Woodhouse nodded. “We’ll do a sweep and if you’re not back we’ll check the houses along this road. Maybe someone noticed the two of them leaving with somebody else. Stay in touch by text if you find anything.”
    Kala would have liked to head out on her own. She knew Bennett would put up an argument so she decided not to fight his offer. “Let’s get going,” she said to him. “I saw a path over there somewhere. It was dusk when I looked last time, but it shouldn’t be hard to find.
    They crossed the lawn and separated to search. It wasn’t long before she found the opening in the underbrush and a path heading north. “This looks like the route,” she called to Bennett, who was several metres away. He jogged over and she started into the woods.
    â€œThe path is a bit overgrown but not hard to navigate,” she said. “I’ve been through thicker bush up north.”
    â€œLead on then. I’ll try not to hold you up.”
    She kept a keen eye on the ground and bushes, searching for signs of recent activity. She remembered that it had rained the day that Adele and Violet went missing. A steady rain near lunchtime that turned to drizzle mid-afternoon. Even now the path was boggy in the lower lying places. Sumac, raspberry, and honeysuckle bushes lined the path with scrubby cedar leading into pine and birch trees. Tree roots crisscrossed the dirt trail and she heard Bennett stumble and curse more than once.
    Five minutes into the woods her eyes spotted a patch of pink on a low-hanging bush. She stopped and parted the branches carefully. She reached for her camera to record what she’d found. If the piece of clothing wasn’t related to the missing woman and her daughter, all the better, but it was best to make a record just in case.
    â€œWhat have you got?” Bennett asked. He was so close that she felt his breath on her cheek when she turned her head.
    â€œLooks like a mitten. A child’s mitten.”
    He pulled back the