Not good news for locating and recovering charred bone.

A man in a Davidson PD uniform appeared to be in charge. A brass tag on his shirt saidWade Gul et.

Larabee and I introduced ourselves.

Officer Gul et was square-jawed, with black eyes, a sculpted nose, and salt-and-pepper hair. The leading-man type. Except that he stood about five-foot-two.

We took turns shaking.

“Glad you’re here, Doc.” Gul et nodded at me. “Docs.”

The ME and I listened as Gul et summarized the known facts. His information went little beyond that which Larabee had provided outside the autopsy room.

“Landowner cal ed in a report at one-nineteen. Said he looked out his living room window, saw a plane acting funny.”

“Acting funny?” I asked.

“Flying low, dipping from side to side.”

Looking over Gul et’s head, I estimated the height of the rock outcrop at the far end of the field. It couldn’t have exceeded two hundred feet. I could see red and blue smears maybe five yards below the peak. A trail of scorched and burned vegetation led from the impact point to the wreckage below.

“Guy heard an explosion, ran outside, saw smoke rising from his north forty. When he got here the plane was down and burning. Farmer—” Gul et consulted a smal spiral notepad.

“—Michalowski saw no signs of life, so he hotfooted it home to cal 911.”

“Any idea how many were on board?” Larabee asked.

“Looks like a four-seater, so I’m thinking less than a six-pack.”

Gul et apparently wanted to compete withSlidel for movie cop work.

Flipping the cover with a one-handed motion, Gul et slid the spiral into his breast pocket.

“The dispatcher has notified the FAA or the NTSB, or whatever feds need contacting. Between my crew and the fire boys, I think we can handle the scene here. Just tel me what you need on your end, Doc.”

I’d noticed a pair of ambulances parked on the shoulder where we’d pul ed up.

“You’ve notified a trauma center?”

“Alerted CMC down inCharlotte . Paramedics and I took a peek once the fire was under control.” Gul et gave a half shake of the head. “There’s no one sucking air in that mess.”

As Larabee started explaining how we’d proceed, I snuck a look at my watch. Four-twenty. Visitor ETA at my condo.

I hoped he’d gotten my message saying I’d be late. I hoped he’d found a taxi. I hoped he’d spotted the key I’d asked Katy to tape to the kitchen door.

I hoped Katy had taped the key to the kitchen door.

Relax, Brennan. If there’s a problem he’l phone.

I unhooked and checked my cel phone. No signal.

Damn.

“Ready for a look-see?” Gul et was saying to Larabee.

“No hot spots?”

“Fire’s out.”

“Lead on.”