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Back The Hallows Save as PDF
Chapters (89)
  1. TITLE PAGE
  2. COPYRIGHT PAGE
  3. DEDICATION
  4. CONTENTS
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
  47. 43
  48. 44
  49. 45
  50. 46
  51. 47
  52. 48
  53. 49
  54. 50
  55. 51
  56. 52
  57. 53
  58. 54
  59. 55
  60. 56
  61. 57
  62. 58
  63. 59
  64. 60
  65. 61
  66. 62
  67. 63
  68. 64
  69. 65
  70. 66
  71. 67
  72. 68
  73. 69
  74. 70
  75. 71
  76. 72
  77. 73
  78. 74
  79. 75
  80. 76
  81. 77
  82. 78
  83. 79
  84. 80
  85. 81
  86. 82
  87. 83
  88. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  89. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

“Don’t need a gun. Just get me my district attorney badge. Task number two: call Wilford Snow. He’s an auto expert out of Arizona, so it’s not much of a drive for him if he has to come testify. Send him the photos of the tire tracks. Tell him I need the make of the tires that made those tire tracks, and castings approximating the treads in case we need to match it to someone’s car. Assuming of course he can even tell from those crappy photos. Task number three: I need the names, phone numbers, and addresses of everyone Patty Winchester saw the day she was abducted, and then I need to know the names of the owners and everyone that worked at Skid Row that day. I would normally say send out the detectives to interview them, but looks like we’re going to be doing the brunt of the work ourselves. We’re going to interview every employee at Skid Row and then anyone else they remember was there.”

I turned to Jia. “Jia, first task: call Linda Burt in Sacramento. She’s the top expert on blood spatter analysis in the country. Send her all the photos and the police reports and tell her I want the best guesses she can make without actually seeing the scene. Task two: call the Utah State Crime Lab. Tell them we have a murder down here that we want them to gather further evidence on, and we need them to look at a body ASAP.”

“We don’t have a body.”

“Sure we do. It’s just sitting in the graveyard.”

Gates said, “I’m not sure exhuming a young girl is going to play very well with the mayor and sheriff.”

“Hey, are you the county attorney or are they?”

She grinned. “You need her father’s permission, and as I said earlier, I doubt you’ll get it.”

“Leave that to me.” I slapped my hands together. “All right, get to it, boys and girls. We got a battle in front of us.”

17

17

The next day, I drove out to see Hank.

Hank Winchester’s mechanic shop was near the outskirts of town. One garage, and it looked like one employee, Hank himself. He was doing something under the hood of an old Toyota when he saw me. He grabbed a rag and wiped the grease off his hands and watched me as I approached.

“I took auto shop in high school,” I said. “Nearly cut my hand off in a fan on a Ford truck and decided it best to let the experts do their jobs.”

He grinned. “Not for everybody. Me, I love it. The smell of the oil in a hot engine, the way the engine purrs when you get it going when it wouldn’t work before. Something about that, fixing something with your hands. I think these generations coming up aren’t going to get to experience that.”