The damp air smelled of soap, chemical cleaner, and foulness, as he searched again, seeing but not believing she was gone.

But how?

He aimed the light to the archway, with its pyramid of rocks slanting from the roof to the base on the floor.

But the archway’s always been sealed.

He tried to interpret the significance of the piles of rocks distributed around the edge of the pit’s floor, which he hadn’t seen from the surface. Pointing his light back to the archway, to the top, he saw a gap.

Big enough for her to slip through.

He groaned, cursing.

She couldn’t have escaped!

Getting down, lying on the incline, checking his footing, rocks shifting under him, he carefully climbed to the gap. Taking pains, he maneuvered his upper body inside, and stopped to inspect with his light. He found another circular shaft, filled with rocks on a sharp incline and rising to the surface. The top was capped with beams and sheets in a crisscross pattern.

Why didn’t he know about this shaft? He’d thought the archway was a long-abandoned vein sealed with the rockslide. He assessed the shaft. The rock pile was precarious. Attempting to climb it was dangerous.

How did she get to the top?

He swept the light near him, stopping when it captured a skull.

What’s this? Couldn’t be hers. No, it’s too old.

Pondering it, he wondered how it had got there. It wasn’t related to his work. Must’ve been from a mishap years ago, he thought.

Shrugging it off, he brushed his light up and down. He scrutinized the walls for footholds, but found none. Then he scoured the sloping of rocks, and detected a flash of color nearby. Locking on to it and concentrating, he discerned the outline of a rubber sole and canvas.

A sneaker.

He knew that shoe.

It’s hers.

He studied its position, how it was embedded in the rocks. A smile slowly spread over his face.

If she’d tried and failed to leave me, then this is her grave.

He had to be certain.

Stretching, he reached for the shoe.

Empty.

His curse echoed.

He withdrew from the gap, returned to the ladder, and climbed to the surface. Before rolling the mining cart back into place, he dropped the heavy door, covering the hole.

CHAPTER 53

Waterbury, Vermont

A silver chain bracelet.

This was the item that had caught Trooper Sutton’s attention, prompting her to notify her supervisor, who then alerted the investigators.

McDade and Noble had sent photos of the bracelet to Samantha Moore’s boyfriend, Kevin Tatum, in Queens, and her aunt, Lori Campbell, in Toronto. The detectives consulted the case notes, and the description of clothes and jewelry Moore was wearing on the last day she was seen.