In addition, the soot-covered remains of a Marine corporal, were found over one hundred miles away, near the Las Vegas city limits. However, the corporal’s abandoned vehicle was found yesterday by a civilian, just outside the marked perimeter of the aforementioned military base.

You have been assigned to investigate this situation. Report to HQ for further assignment details.

Assistant Director Miriam W. Walker

Operational Technology Division

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Drumming his fingers impatiently on his metal desk, Nate stared at the monitor and reread the message.

He growled at nobody in particular, “What the hell does a dead Marine have to do with some fire at an Air Force base?”

He clicked on the satellite image attachments. They were a series of overhead images detailing the Nevada landscape, both before and after the fire. But even at maximum zoom, there wasn’t enough detail to see anything worthwhile.

He glanced at the clock hanging on the wall just as it clicked over to seven a.m. and sighed.

I guess I better head back to the Hoover Building and see what they haven’t told me.

###

It was a little before eight a.m. when Nate arrived at the Clark County coroner’s office. A dark-haired woman sat behind the receptionist’s desk.

She peered up at him with a somber expression. “May I help you?”

Nate held out his credentials. “I’m Special Agent Carrington from the FBI. I called earlier. I need to talk to the coroner about one of the cases that passed through this office recently.”

“Oh, yes sir. Mr. Crawford isn’t in the office yet—he’s stuck in traffic—but he called to tell me you were coming.” She opened a desk drawer and pulled out a legal pad covered in handwritten Post-it notes. She tapped on one of them. “He said you should talk to Dr. Kim, the chief medical examiner. He worked on the deceased you’re interested in.”

She picked up the phone and tapped an extension. “Dr. Kim… yes, it’s Monica at the front. The FBI is here and they’d like to talk to you.”

Moments later, she was escorting Nate through the silent hallways. A short, older Asian gentleman appeared in an office doorway as they approached. The receptionist introduced Nate to Dr. Kim, then returned to the front.

Nate shook hands with the medical examiner. “I’m Special Agent Carrington with the FBI.”

Dr. Kim, who was barely five and a half feet tall and looked to be in his early sixties, ambled back into his office and beckoned Nate to follow him. “Please, have a seat.” The medical examiner settled behind his desk, which was covered with paperwork.