BooksBarbecue
Back Less than Dead Save as PDF
Chapters (50)
  1. COVER PAGE
  2. TITLE PAGE
  3. COPYRIGHT PAGE
  4. DEDICATION
  5. CONTENTS
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. 29
  35. 30
  36. 31
  37. 32
  38. 33
  39. 34
  40. 35
  41. 36
  42. 37
  43. 38
  44. 39
  45. 40
  46. 41
  47. 42
  48. 43
  49. 44
  50. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Nick turned on her. “Confirm anything you want,” he said, “but whatever you do, don’t touch those flags. I consider every one of them a positive identification until excavation proves otherwise—and we’ll start digging the minute the crew arrives.”

She sniffed. “That will make my work difficult.”

“Your work isn’t difficult, it’s impossible—but that’s your fault. You’d better get to work, Marge, because the minute my crew confirms Alena’s findings, you’re out of here—and it won’t be soon enough for me.”

Nick looked across the field at the parking lot just in time to see the old red pickup with a white camper shell pull onto I-66 and speed off in the direction of Endor.

As the pickup left the parking lot, a Warren County sheriff’s car pulled in.

11

11

Donovan looked out over the group of reporters. “That concludes my prepared statement,” he said. “You’ve all received a copy of our briefing; it contains all the facts I just mentioned. I recognize some of you from the district; I see a few unfamiliar faces too. The FBI would like to thank all of you for making the drive out here today.”

The reporters huddled together in a small, roped-off area situated on a rise overlooking the Patriot Center. The site for this press conference had been carefully selected by the FBI’s public liaison officer and approved by Donovan himself. This location afforded members of the media a clear view of the entire excavation, allowed their cameramen to shoot with the sun at their backs, and, most important, kept reporters from wandering off where they didn’t belong—which Donovan knew from experience reporters had a habit of doing.

The graveyard was now bustling with activity as forensic tech crews began the excavation of the newly located graves. Even in ordinary circumstances the relocation of an old grave was a delicate procedure, requiring the last foot of soil to be removed by hand to keep from collapsing the rotting casket below. Here every bit of soil had to be removed by hand because there was no telling what the next few inches might reveal—and if another double occupant did turn up, the soil above that body instantly became potentially valuable forensic evidence. That’s why the tech crews worked slowly and with extreme care, measuring and cataloging everything removed from each of the excavations under Nick’s careful direction.

“I’ll take your questions now,” Donovan said. “As always, the FBI is happy to cooperate with the media and to tell you everything we want you to know.”