Reserved For Murder Page 2

  Constable Grant tried to think if the name was familiar. He wasn’t sure if he knew who Jonny was. There were some kids, like Sarah, who were regulars at the drop-in centre, and there were some who showed up from time to time. Some kids had never been, but he was trying to change that. ‘Don’t think I know Jonny. Your age?’

  ‘No, same age as Sammy. Sixteen.’ Her brother, Sammy, would sometimes go to the centre with Sarah, but not all the time. Usually he preferred to just hang out with friends, riding their bikes.

  ‘You sure it’s him?’ Grant asked.

  ‘Yeah, we don’t all look alike to each other,’ Sarah said, smiling. The first couple of times he’d run the drop-in centre at the reserve, Grant had confused several of the girls with each other. Same dark eyes, same smiles, same long braided hair, all around the same build. One day four of them showed up to the centre all dressed exactly the same, just to mess with him. It had worked—he had no idea who was who.

  ‘Cute. Okay, can you tell me where he is? Easy enough to find?’

  ‘Maybe. Probably easier if I just show you.’

  ‘Won’t your mom be worrying? It’s getting pretty late. What time was she expecting you home?’

  ‘She won’t notice,’ Sarah replied. ‘She sleeps with earplugs in, so she never wakes up when I come home late. Besides, sometimes on hot nights I just sleep in the backyard—it’s cooler than in the house.’

  ‘You really want to go back out in that?’ Grant asked, just as another crack of thunder rumbled, as if on cue.

  ‘I’m wet already. Doesn’t matter now,’ Sarah replied, opening the door. ‘Come on, City Boy, time to hit the road.’

  ‘Really? City Boy?’ Grant grabbed a raincoat and his flashlight from the hall closet before locking the door and joining Sarah in the rain. ‘Should we drive partway?’

  ‘What, afraid you’ll melt? You’re not that sweet,’ Sarah said, twirling around, arms outstretched, looking up at the heavens. ‘It’s not far. Come on! Some fresh air will do you good.’ She started walking back towards the woods, Constable Grant just behind her.

  ‘How far a walk is it?’ Grant asked as he caught up to Sarah.

  ‘Um, not far really. Ten minutes, maybe. Well, to the edge of the woods. Then a bit further in. Don’t know—never timed it.’

  ‘Do you always cut through the woods to get home after work? Isn’t it quicker to follow the road?’

  ‘Yeah, but it’s not as nice a walk. Don’t see any animals on the roads. Well, cats and people, and the odd roadkill, but that’s not very nice.’

  ‘At least you aren’t likely to get eaten by a cat or roadkill,’ Grant said. ‘Any bears or cougars here?’

  ‘Are you serious?’ Sarah asked with a laugh. ‘Lots of bears. But just blacks. Chances are you’ll never see one.’

  ‘Well that’s encouraging, I guess.’

  ‘Doesn’t mean they don’t see you, though!’ Sarah gave him a sly little smile and a wink. They arrived at the edge of the woods. ‘Let’s go. Might want to turn on your light. Watch for eye-shine in the trees.’

  ‘You’re really not helping matters,’ Grant said, turning on his flashlight. Sarah had already started into the woods and he struggled to catch up. ‘Wait for me!’

  They followed the path for several hundred yards, weaving around, ducking under low hanging limbs. The smell in the air changed.

  ‘Getting close,’ Sarah said, turning off the path towards the tree where she’d left Jonny. Constable Grant reached out for her shoulder to pull her back.

  ‘Wait here,’ he said. ‘I’ll go check him out.’

  ‘I’ve already seen him, remember. I found him,’ Sarah said, shrugging his hand off to continue on.

  ‘Sarah, please. Just wait here ‘til I have a look around, okay?’

  ‘Fine.’

  Constable Grant slowly approached the tree, shining his light up to the branch, the rope and then moving down to the body. Jonny was still in the same position he’d been earlier, when Sarah first came upon him. His hair had fallen back around his face. An off-white rope was tied into a loop and placed around his neck. Grant noticed that it wasn’t quite a traditional tying of a noose, but evidently it was close enough to do the job. The rope stretched about two feet above his head where it was tied off to a large limb stretching out from the trunk of the tree. A gust of wind suddenly blew through the forest, making Jonny’s body sway ever so slightly and catching Constable Grant off guard. He played his light down the boy’s body, checking out his clothes. T-shirt. Old, ripped jeans held up by a worn black leather belt which had a large bear buckle. Black converse runners.

  ‘Poor kid,’ Constable Grant said out loud.

  ‘Whatcha gonna do now?’ Sarah’s voice came from just behind Constable Grant, making him jump.

  ‘Geez, Sarah! I thought I told you to stay over there!’

  ‘Like I said, I already saw him, so no big deal if I see him again,’ Sarah said. ‘Death’s no big thing. Happens to us all, apparently.’

  ‘Well, next time I ask you to do something, just do it, okay? At least, don’t sneak up on me.’

  ‘Sorry,’ Sarah said, smiling. She liked Constable Grant. He’d been a big help at the centre and he was fun to be around. For a City Boy. ‘So, like I said. What now?’

  ‘Good question,’ Grant answered, unsure. ‘Do you know if the band has a coroner?’

  ‘Dude, we don’t even have a family doctor we can go see. Ya think we have a coroner?’ Sarah replied, shaking her head.

  ‘Right, makes sense. So, any idea who gets called when someone dies?’

  ‘City doctor has to come out,’ Sarah said. ‘Someone from the hospital, I think. Can we take him down?’

  ‘No, we should leave him until a doctor gets here.’

  ‘Why? He’s dead. What’s a doctor going to do, try to revive him? Bit late for that, dontcha think?’ She had a point.

  ‘Just procedure is all,’ Grant said. ‘A medical doctor has to pronounce him dead before we can move him.’

  ‘That’s pretty dumb, ya know,’ Sarah said. ‘Sometimes I really don’t understand you white folk.’

  ‘Rules are rules,’ Grant said, realizing it really did sound dumb. ‘Crap.’

  ‘What’s wrong?’

  ‘I forgot to bring a roll of tape.’

  Sarah looked around. ‘What’re you planning to tape together out here?’

  ‘No, not like scotch tape. Crime tape. I gotta tape off the area to keep people out.’ Grant pulled out his phone to try and call Barry at the office. No service. ‘Great. Can you do me a favour?’ he said to Sarah.

  ‘Of course,’ Sarah said, happily.

  ‘Can you go back to the police station and get a roll of tape from Barry? I gotta stay here with the body and make sure no one disturbs it.’

  ‘Who’s going to come out here? In the middle of the night? During a storm? To disturb a body?’

  ‘Chances are, no one.’

  ‘Let me guess, rules are rules?’

  ‘You got it,’ Grant said. ‘Do you mind?’

  ‘No problem. You gonna be okay out here by yourself? In the dark?’

  ‘I’ll be fine,’ Grant said, assuming a confidence he didn’t really have. ‘Just hurry back, okay? And get him to call for a coroner. I assume he knows who to get in touch with.’

  ‘Will do, City Boy,’ Sarah said, starting back towards the path. ‘Try not to get eaten!’

  Constable Grant watched as Sarah disappeared into the darkness. The wind still rustled through the leaves, which was a good thing, as far as he was concerned. In the dark, a familiar sound was better than no sound at all. ‘Right, probably got twenty minutes, half an hour. Now what?’ he said to himself. He aimlessly wandered around the immediate area, looking at the ground as he went. ‘Don’t know how anyone can track an animal through here, all I can see are leaves.’ He wandered back over towards the body as another crack of thunder made him jump. ‘Sarah was right. Who would be out here o
n a night like this?’ he thought. He looked up at Jonny. ‘Such a young kid. What was so bad in your life that you figured this was the best option? Maybe if I’d been able to talk to you at the centre, we could have helped you out.’ He knew it was pointless to think like that. There may not have been anything anyone could have done. But still. One of the reasons he was here was to try and help out the community. There had to have been something he could have done.

  He pulled out his phone again. Still no signal. He checked the time. ‘Where is she?’ he wondered. He realized that it had finally stopped raining and the wind had died down. Unfortunately, the humidity was starting to creep up again. Typical Ontario weather. A nice hard rain can drop the temperature several degrees, but as soon as it stops, the humidity returns and it’s worse than ever. He unbuttoned his coat, which now felt like a personal rubber sauna, and took it off. Laying it on the ground next to a tree, he suddenly heard a snapping sound off to his left. He froze, shining his light in the general direction he thought the sound came from. Nothing but leaves. Impossible to see anything through the dense brush. His mind started to race, and his breathing wasn’t far behind. Maybe it was a bear. Or worse, a cougar. He had heard of cougars dropping out of trees onto people’s backs and grabbing onto their necks with their powerful jaws. He shone his flashlight up into the branches above him. ‘There’s nothing there,’ he said out loud, trying, unsuccessfully, to calm himself down. Another rustling sound—this time from behind him. He spun around, almost falling as he did. Suddenly, something hit the ground right beside him, making him scream and jump out of the way, almost right into a tree. He moved his light to reveal a roll of yellow caution tape as Sarah came out of the darkness in hysterics.

  ‘Nice high-pitched scream there, City Boy. Or should I say, City Girl,’ she said, still laughing.

  ‘Very funny. You could have given me a heart attack!’ Grant was not amused.

  ‘Couldn’t resist. Sorry,’ Sarah said, wiping a tear from her eye. ‘It was pretty funny, though.’

  ‘Glad you think so,’ Grant said, his heart starting to slow back to a more normal pace. ‘So, did Barry call the coroner?’

  ‘Oh, shoot,’ Sarah said, slapping her palm to her forehead dramatically.

  ‘You forgot to tell him? Great.’

  ‘Nah, just kidding. He called. Should be out in the next hour or so,’ Sarah said. ‘So, what do we do now?’

  ‘We don’t do anything,’ Grant replied. ‘I’m going to put up the tape around the area and you’re going to go home.’

  ‘I can help. No way I’m going to sleep in this heat,’ Sarah said. ‘Plus, who’s going to keep you safe?’

  ‘Funny,’ Grant said, shaking his head. ‘I’ll be fine. The sun should be up soon anyway. Go home. Are you going to the powwow? You dancing this year?’

  ‘Wouldn’t miss it. Mom made me a new jingle dress. Lots of extra beads and cones.’

  ‘Cool. Why don’t you go on home and get some rest. I’ll see you at the opening ceremonies,’ Grant said, starting to string out the tape.

  ‘Fine,’ Sarah said. ‘Stay safe out here. The predators get real hungry right before sun-up.’

  ‘Very funny,’ Grant retorted, pretty sure she was joking. ‘Thanks for your help tonight. And, Sarah, if you need to talk to a counsellor about this, I can arrange it.’

  ‘I’m good. Like I said, we all die, right? Have a good night, City Boy,’ Sarah called out over her shoulder as she wandered back to the path.

  ‘Night,’ Grant called back, wrapping the tape around another tree. He paused to listen to her footsteps, half expecting her to circle back around to try and scare him again. When he was sure that she was really gone, he pulled out his phone again to check the time. Three thirty. It was going to be a long wait for sunrise.

  CHAPTER THREE

  For the next half an hour, Constable Grant jumped at every little sound he heard. Sarah’s comment about the predators had put him on edge. He had never spent too much time in the woods. Definitely never alone. He had gone camping a few times when he was in school, but sitting around a fire with twenty other people was very different than standing alone in a dark, unfamiliar forest. Even though he knew that the sounds he was hearing were nothing to be concerned with, his mind was playing tricks on him. Every little rustle in the ground cover was a bear, sniffing him out for a late night snack. Anytime the wind blew the leaves in the canopy of the trees, it was a cougar, ready to pounce on him, clamping its jaws around the back of his neck, holding him still as his life slowly slipped away. ‘This is crazy,’ he thought. ‘I gotta find a way to occupy my mind.’ He decided to walk around the area, looking for tracks on the ground. Sarah and some of the other kids who came to the drop-in centre would often talk about tracking different animals. They tried to figure out where they came from, or where they were going, so they could set up traps or find a good vantage point for hunting. He wasn’t really sure what he needed to look for. He trained his light on the ground and started slowly walking, moving the light from side to side. Occasionally he would see a mark in the ground that looked like it could be a track, but, upon closer inspection, there was nothing definitive. He knew there were animals around. He had heard something run along the path earlier, but by the time he turned his light towards the sound to see what it was, it was gone. He convinced himself it was just a raccoon, even though he really had no idea. ‘Maybe if I start bigger.’ He placed his right foot in front of himself, pressing down hard, and moving it back, looking to see what type of mark it left. He was surprised at how little a mark it actually left to be seen. After the rain, he thought the ground would have been soft and muddy, but it wasn’t the case. It was still hard and dry. Not enough water had made it through the leaves above to penetrate the packed dirt. He moved his light to a different angle, bending down slightly. The outline of the tread of his boot slowly became visible, revealing itself as an indent in the leaves below. ‘Cool,’ he said out loud. He squatted down on his haunches and slowly moved his light across the path he had walked earlier to put up the police tape. His old footsteps came into view, showing a brief history of his actions. ‘This is awesome!’ he said, marvelling at what he was seeing. He got up and moved over towards the path he and Sarah had used earlier, again getting low to the ground and shining his light on the leaves. He could see a couple sets of tracks. He could just make out what he thought were his boot marks, and a couple of other tracks heading in both directions. Those were probably Sarah’s from when she came and went along the same route. He stood up, proud of his newfound skill. Sure, it wasn’t tracking an animal through the woods so he could catch it for food, but it was a start. Something he could share with the kids the next time he was at the centre.

  He walked back to the tree where Jonny was hanging. ‘Where’s that coroner?’ he wondered, checking his watch. He looked at Jonny’s shoes, bending down to have a look at the treads, wondering if he would be able to see which direction Jonny had come into the woods from. He backed a couple of feet away from the tree and repeated his earlier actions, getting down low before shining his light along the tops of the leaves. To his disappointment, he wasn’t able to see any distinct tracks—just a jumble of impressions. He wasn’t even sure they were footprints. He realized that he and Sarah had walked around the area several times earlier in the night, making one track over the other, probably erasing anything that had been left before. He moved back another couple of feet and tried again, hoping he hadn’t already walked on the ground right in front of him. This time he was able to see some tracks appear, toes pointing towards the tree. Not quite as crisp as the tracks he had seen before, but they were tracks none the less. He got down closer for a better look, pretty sure they matched the treads of Jonny’s shoes, or at least another pair of converse sneakers. It looked like Jonny, or whoever made the tracks, had taken a couple of steps towards the tree, before the tracks disappeared in the nondescript mess. As he was standing back up, Constable Grant thought he saw an
other track. He stayed down low, shining his light on the leaves to the left of Jonny’s track. Sure enough, another print appeared, again fainter than those of Sarah and himself, but it was a track. He got down lower to get a better look. Definitely a different pattern than any of the others he had seen, and a bit larger than the ones made by Jonny. It looked like it was heading in the same direction, towards the tree. He moved his light around a bit and caught sight of the same print, this time moving away from the tree, back towards the path he and Sarah had come in on. He stood up, looking around. He knew a lot of people came through the woods—it was a good shortcut from town to the reserve. It was also a good place for someone to sneak a beer or cigarette without their parents knowing. There was no way of telling how old the track was, but he did find it interesting that it was there.

  Suddenly, off to his right, he heard a large cracking sound, like a branch being broken in half. ‘Hello? Who’s there?’ he yelled out, shining his light in the direction of the sound, hoping not to see a pair of eyes glimmering in the dark. Another crack and the sound of shuffling leaves. He moved around a bit, trying to see past the trees that were between him and the sound. ‘Hello?’ he called again, a slight quaver in his voice.

  ‘Hello! Where are you?’ a voice responded. It wasn’t a voice he recognized.

  ‘Over here,’ Constable Grant said, holding his flashlight above his head, moving it side to side like a beacon. He could see another light shining back towards him. Two men appeared from behind a pine tree, the first carrying a flashlight and a large duffel bag, the second with a headlamp on, carrying a lightweight, orange stretcher. ‘You must be from the coroner’s office. Glad you finally made it.’

  ‘Not the easiest place to find,’ the man carrying the bag said. ‘Would have been here earlier, but we’ve been wandering around for a bit.’ He put the bag on the ground. ‘Dr. Dickinson.’

  ‘Constable Grant.’

  ‘Shawn Enns,’ the other man said.