“It’s bad, isn’t it?” she said as Harry helped her to her feet.

“Yes,” he said. “Let’s go in and put on some coffee. I know I could use a cup.”

He walked her back into the house and guided her to the kitchen. She pointed to the coffee maker. The carafe was already full, the red light on.

“I must have had some kind of sixth sense,” she said, sitting down. “I just made that ten minutes ago.”

“What’s your daughter’s number?”

She told him and he made the call on his cell. He asked Patrice if she could come to her parents’ house, and if she could pick up her brother on the way. Patrice didn’t have to ask why. She said, simply, “On my way.”

Harry poured himself a cup, sat down across the table from Gloria. Her hands were flat on the table, trembling. Harry moved them together and placed his on top.

“We found Angus very early this morning,” he said. “South of town, on Miller’s Road.”

She seemed not to comprehend. “But he didn’t take his car with him.”

“He wasn’t in a car, although we haven’t ruled out that one might have hit him. He was off to the side of the road.” He was going to say in the ditch but pulled back the words. They sounded too brutal.

“A hit-and-run?” she asked.

“We’re in the early stages of the investigation,” he said. There were things she would have to know eventually, details that would become painfully clear when her husband’s remains were delivered to the funeral parlor. But did she need to know now that many of her husband’s bones had been surgically removed from his body? No, that could wait.

“I know I asked you these kinds of questions when your husband first disappeared, but I need to ask them again. Did Angus have any enemies? Did he know anyone who might want to cause him harm?”

She shook her head. “He’s a good man. He’s in the Rotary Club, he raises money for the cancer drive. Everyone likes him.”

It might be some time before she could bring herself to speak of him in the past tense, Harry thought.

“Where is he?” she asked. “I have to see him.”

“Not yet,” Harry said. “He’s with the coroner. There has to be a full autopsy. When that’s done, he’ll be released to the funeral home of your choice.”

“Do I . . . do I have to identify him?”

“There’s a tattoo that matches the photos you showed us. When a further identification is needed, I’ll let you know and we’ll find a way to go about that.”

Maybe one of her kids, he thought. But no member of the Tanner family should have to view what was left of Angus.