Boneflower: R&P Labs Mysteries, #5

By Cynthia E. Hurst

A bachelor party camping trip takes an unexpected turn when the participants discover they are sharing their campsite with a skeleton -- a biologist who was murdered three decades earlier. As the R&P staff are drawn into the ensuing homicide investigation, witness after witness disappears, reputations are smeared and they begin to wonder if some things would have been better left buried.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Plane View Books
• Release date: Jan 25, 2012
• ISBN: 9781502270702

Cynthia E. Hurst

Cynthia E. Hurst is the author of two mystery series set in present-day Seattle, the R&P Labs Mysteries and the Zukie Merlino Mysteries, and the Silver and Simm and Milestone agency series, which both take place in Victorian England. Like her characters, Cynthia grew up in Seattle, then earned a degree in journalism and worked on several newspapers and magazines in the US and UK. The R&P books are based on her time spent in the small research lab where her parents both worked, and many of the R&P staff's projects are ones actually undertaken by the lab. The Zukie books were inspired by her Italian relatives. She now lives in Oxfordshire, the setting for the two Victorian series. She is also the author of the Time Traveller trilogy, which visits various bits of English history, and which stemmed from an unfortunate incident.

Book preview

BONEFLOWER

CYNTHIA E. HURST

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R&P Labs Mystery 5

Copyright  © 2012    Cynthia E. Hurst

All rights reserved

Plane View Books

The characters and situations in this work are wholly fictional and do not portray any actual persons or organizations.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 1

Firelight flickered, making a bright spot in the surrounding darkness. The light from the flames illuminated a pair of tents pitched between Douglas fir trees, two short logs that had been rolled up near the fire to serve as makeshift seating and a couple of large stones. It also illuminated the features of seven men, sitting silently beside the fire, their faces strained in concentration.

One of them, a man in his late twenties with blond hair falling over his forehead, finally spoke.

See you and raise you two, he said, placing a ten dollar bill in the center of the circle.

Too rich for me, said the man next to him. He was a few years older, with hair the color of an old copper penny, and at the moment, a rueful expression. I’ll fold. He placed his cards face down on the tarpaulin which was serving as a card table.

Wimp, said the man sitting on the log beside him. He could have been the second man’s twin, except that he was slightly lankier and slightly blonder. I’ll raise you another two, Ellis. He put four dollars into the pot.

Glad I folded, remarked another player. 

Ellis added two more dollars and glanced around the circle. Anyone else in but Phil and me?

There was a pause, a couple of heads were shaken and then the oldest of the men said lazily, Yeah, I’m in. He tossed his money onto the tarp. Call.

Uh, oh. It’s bad news when an accountant calls, said the red-haired man.

Ellis laid his hand down, revealing three aces. Phil grinned and displayed a full house, two threes and three sixes. The accountant simply turned his cards over and waited while they registered the fact that he also had a full house, but composed of kings and eights. He scooped the money toward him to a chorus of groans.

You won’t be able to backpack out of here with all the money you’ll be carrying, Bryan, said Phil, but he didn’t seem too concerned. 

Well, I have to get it while I can, Bryan said, stashing his winnings in his jeans pocket. Considering how slow you and Rob are about paying your bills.

Ellis surveyed his three aces with disgust. Who’d have thought it? You can’t count on anything these days, can you?

What kind of a sentiment is that from a man about to get married? asked the red-haired man with a smile.

Realistic, I’d say, drawled another of the players, tossing his cards in. You do realize, Ellis, what you’re giving up by getting hitched?

Yes, Cole, because you keep telling me, and I’m fine with it, Ellis said, shuffling the cards into a neat pack and putting them back in their box. Just because your marriage fell apart doesn’t mean mine will.

You mean you’re happy spending the rest of your life sleeping with just one woman?

The rest of the group twitched uneasily and avoided looking at Cole. Ellis’s cousin had been invited along on the camping trip because he was to be an usher at Ellis’s upcoming wedding, but the family ties seemed strained to breaking point.

Ellis had explained to his co-workers at R&P Laboratories, who formed three members of the party, that he had agreed to include Cole as the result of a complicated negotiation with his mother, who had only reluctantly given up on her plans to see Ellis married in pomp and splendor in a cathedral. Instead, Ellis and his fiancée Sasha Leigh Young, better known by her initials, were planning a small wedding in their local church, with minimum fuss.

Yes, Ellis said firmly. I’m happy with that. And so is Sly.

Idiot. You’ll be bored and looking around in six months. Or less.

To each their own, Bryan said. Ellis is old enough to know what he wants; he’s had plenty of time to sow his wild oats, as they used to say.

So how many girls did you screw before you settled on this one? Cole persisted.

Ellis’s co-workers looked at each other. Rob Mangan ran a hand through his coppery hair and wondered how to change the subject he had accidentally raised, which threatened to become embarrassing. Ellis was a highly competent scientist, but he was also fairly strait-laced, and Rob suspected the true answer to Cole’s question would be a very low number. But he should have known Ellis wouldn’t succumb to pressure.

That’s none of your business, he told his cousin bluntly.

Less than ten? Less than five? None?

Ellis ignored the inquisition and began folding the tarp up neatly.

Phil said easily, You know, Cole, some of us are more concerned with quality than quantity. Carolyn and I started dating in high school and got married right after college. Now we’ve got two kids and a third one on the way and we’re perfectly happy together. I never slept with anyone else and I never wanted to.

Never?

Nope.

Jesus, what a drag. How about you, Rob? You as boring as your brother?

Rob sighed. I suppose you’d think so. I had a couple of girlfriends. Then I got married. Then I got divorced. I’m getting married again later this year.

Yeah, Ellis said you were. To Holly Ahorn, right?

Yes. Although she’s Holly Baird now.

Yeah, I heard she got divorced from that hotshot Wall Street banker. She was in my class at Lakeside. Hot little chick, or so I heard.

Rob felt a wave of anger and debated whether it would spoil the party mood too much if he punched Cole in the jaw or perhaps in some more appropriate part of his anatomy. He supposed Cole was puzzled as to why Holly would downgrade from a hotshot Wall Street banker to a financially insecure chemist, something that occasionally puzzled him as well, but which he was happy to accept.

So none of you guys are very, uh, active, Cole said, poking the fire with a stick, perhaps to illustrate his point. He resembled his cousin physically, but where Ellis was articulate and polished, Cole was cut from coarser cloth, and the expensive private education they had both received didn’t seem to have had much impact on him. Rob wondered again why Ellis had let himself be talked into having Cole as part of his wedding at all.

Well, most of us are older and wiser than you, Bryan said. We’re smart enough to know there’s more to life than how many women you can lay in a given time.

Cole took the implied criticism without visible reaction and turned to the other two men. One of them, a thin, serious-looking man in his late thirties, anticipated his question and said, I hope you don’t expect me to give you an answer, Cole, considering I’m married to Ellis’s sister. Your cousin, in case you’ve forgotten.

Ellis shot his brother-in-law a look of gratitude and Cole turned to his last victim. He was the youngest of the group by a couple of years, oriental in appearance, and had spent much of the weekend so far looking vaguely uneasy. His co-workers knew that Mitch Okada had never been camping before and probably would have preferred walking alone through the roughest part of the city at midnight – an activity he would have been far better prepared for – to spending two nights in a cold tent miles from the nearest pizza restaurant.

At the moment, Mitch looked distracted, as if he were calculating something. He glanced up as Cole zeroed in on him. How about you, Mitch?

Well, I make it fifty-six, Mitch said. But I’m only up to 2008 so far.

There was a silence around the campfire, broken only by the crackling flames and the hoot of an owl. Rob, Phil and Ellis hid their grins; they knew Mitch’s estimate might well be accurate – even conservative – given his predilection for flirting with any female who came into his orbit.

Bryan blinked behind his glasses and regarded Mitch with curiosity. Ellis’s brother-in-law peered at him as if he were an unusual specimen of some exotic species.

Cole’s mouth dropped open and he said, No shit?

I may have missed a couple, Mitch said modestly. Is there any more of that beer left?

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ROB SHIFTED uncomfortably in his sleeping bag and thought he would be glad to get back to his own house and his own bed the following day. The last time he had spent the night in a tent he had been considerably younger and not so conscious of the lumps under his hips and shoulders. The air mattress he was sleeping on didn’t seem to help much, either, although it absorbed the worst of the uneven terrain.

He had enjoyed the weekend more than he had expected to, however. When Ellis had said they were planning a three-day camping trip in the Cascade Mountains northeast of Seattle for his stag party, Rob had initially cringed, but Ellis was his friend as well as his employee and so he had agreed to go. Likewise Phil, although he had been understandably reluctant to leave his wife Carolyn, who was five months into a difficult third pregnancy. But Rob’s fiancée Holly and their parents had reassured him that they would look after Carolyn and Carolyn herself had been happy for him to take part.

If you don’t go with them, you’ll never let me forget what you sacrificed to stay home with me, had been her precise words, and Phil had given in without too much argument.

It had been much harder to convince Mitch, who had grown up on the city streets and vastly preferred concrete to fir needles under his feet.

"You want to do what? he had demanded, when Ellis had first outlined the plan. In the woods? In tents? What the hell kind of a stag party is that? You don’t have to have real stags, you know. What’s wrong with going to a strip club and getting totally off your face? That’s the traditional thing to do."

It’ll be fun, Ellis said. We can take booze and cards along.

"Don’t try to bribe me. I’ve seen Deliverance."

And I can lend you some camping equipment if you want. A sleeping bag and a backpack, anyway.

I’d rather have sporotrichosis again, Mitch grumbled, but in the end he had agreed to join his three R&P co-workers, their accountant, and Ellis’s brother-in-law and cousin for the weekend. He had donned his backpack with an air of martyrdom, but after complaining his way along the trail to the campsite, he had revealed an unexpected gift for campfire cuisine and now was settling down in his borrowed sleeping bag with the air of someone who has successfully overcome a challenge.

Sorry about Cole, Ellis said to the other three occupants of the tent. He always was a moron. He used to try and sneak into the girls’ restroom in grade school, and I’m afraid he hasn’t improved much with age.

Don’t worry about it, Rob said. I suppose everybody’s got at least one embarrassing relative.

Do we? Phil asked him.

Uncle Rich. And his harmonica.

Yeah, you’re right. I’d forgotten about him.

At least you’ve got relatives, Mitch said from his sleeping bag. I mean, I’ve got some, but none I want to associate with. My aunt and my cousins still aren’t speaking to me after Grandad left me the house.

The others didn’t respond, since they already knew the story. Earlier in the year, Mitch’s Japanese grandfather had died, and perhaps feeling slightly guilty about the years of insults he had hurled at his bi-racial grandson, had made provisions in his will to leave him a small house.

Since Mitch had recently been flooded out of the decrepit attic room he had been renting, the timing had been ideal. Being Mitch, he had also managed to charm his way into the bed of the young female lawyer handling the estate, but to everyone’s astonishment, including Mitch’s, they were still together three months later.

You’re welcome to Cole if you want him, Ellis said generously. He dropped out of U Dub, wrecked his marriage because he couldn’t keep his hands off other women, and is now selling insurance. Not that there’s anything wrong with selling insurance, but he’s just ... embarrassing. He’s totally tactless and he never knows when to shut up.

Don’t worry, Rob said again, although he was still smarting from Cole’s comments about Holly. It’s only one weekend. We can cope.

Thanks.

And it’s been fun. Really.

Yeah, it’s been better than I expected, Mitch admitted. I’ve got blisters in places I don’t want to mention and I could live without using a bush for a toilet, but otherwise, it’s not too bad. You know, it smells kind of nice out here in the woods, like Christmas trees. And I thought my beef stew was awesome.

It was very good, Ellis agreed. I can’t believe you’ve never been camping before.

Not many campsites on Rainier Avenue, dude. If people down there are sleeping outside, it’s not by choice.

I suppose that’s true. So I’ve provided you with a new experience. Broadened your horizons.

That’s all very well, but I didn’t see Sly asking her girlfriends to hike halfway to Idaho for her hen night, Mitch observed. They had their party in a nice warm restaurant in town.

Yes, I know, Ellis said, sounding as though he wasn’t entirely happy with the idea. I hope things didn’t get out of hand there.

You mean you hope they weren’t picked up for skinny dipping in Lake Union or something after they’d had a few?

Don’t be ridiculous, Ellis said, but there was a pause while they all considered the picture Mitch had suggested.

It’s too bad Sly’s brothers couldn’t come with us, Rob said hastily, dismissing the idea of their other halves splashing about merrily in one of Seattle’s lakes.

I know, but they’re going to have enough trouble just making it to the wedding. Seth is in a Broadway production and couldn’t get away; Justin is touring with his band and Spencer ... Ellis hesitated. I asked him if he wanted to come with us, but he said he wouldn’t feel comfortable.

Rob nodded in the semi-darkness; he knew Sly’s younger brother was gay.

Yeah, especially with big stud Cole here, Mitch said. We wouldn’t have minded, but he’d have made Spencer’s life hell. By the way, I notice he didn’t tell us how many chicks he’d had.

Fewer than he’d like, I’m sure, Ellis said. You haven’t really slept with fifty-six girls, have you, Mitch?

Hell, I don’t know, Mitch said. I just picked a number to shut him up. Could be, I suppose. I don’t keep track.

Well, we’ve had a good time in spite of Cole, Phil said, after a moment’s reflective silence. It would have been better if Bryan hadn’t won all the poker games, but never mind. Maybe we can get our revenge tomorrow. Listen, I’m going to try to get some sleep. Night, guys.

Wait a minute, Mitch said. I want to hear about Uncle Rich and his harmonica.

Some other time, Rob said firmly. Good night.

There was a chorus of good nights and then silence fell over the tent. Ellis turned off his flashlight, the last one, and the interior was plunged into total darkness. Rob shifted again and closed his eyes. In a few minutes he heard Phil snoring softly and marvelled at how his younger brother could fall asleep so quickly on such an uncomfortable surface. He heard someone else, probably Mitch, rustling in their sleeping bag. Outside, the wind swished softly through the fir and cedar branches. Eventually, he fell asleep.

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A BLAST of cool spring air on his face woke Rob. He opened his eyes and looked up. Full daylight was some ways off still, but it was light enough to make out details in the interior of the tent. Ellis and Phil were asleep, snoring in a muffled duet. The front flap of the tent was open, explaining the blast of air, and Mitch was crouched in the opening. He reached out and shook Rob’s shoulder.

Rob, he said, and his tone was urgent.

What is it?

Sorry to wake you up, but I think you should come look at something.

Rob groaned and wondered if he should remind his junior bacteriologist that he only needed to consult him on decisions if it concerned laboratory business. Then he looked in the dim light at Mitch’s unusually serious expression, and various scenarios, from forest fires to bear attacks, flickered through his imagination.

It’s only ... He brought his wrist up to see the illuminated display on his watch. ... a quarter past six. This had better be important, Mitch.

It is, trust me.

Rob wriggled reluctantly out of his warm sleeping bag and pulled on his jeans and a heavy sweater over the underwear and socks he had slept in. He found his boots, shook them out to make sure they were uninhabited before putting them on, and laced them up. Mitch waited patiently. When Rob was fully dressed, they left the tent and Rob said, What is it?

It’s down here, Mitch said. He led the way through the trees and underbrush down a gentle slope to a spot a hundred yards or so from the tents. They had been using an area not too far away as an improvised latrine, but this part was untouched.

I figured I’d need a crap this morning and I thought it might be time to find a new privy, you know what I mean? Mitch pushed aside some thick thimbleberry bushes. So I thought I’d dig a hole over here away from the other place, back behind these bushes. Nice and private, sort of.

Rob peered at the bushes but saw nothing unusual. I don’t see anything. What exactly am I looking for?

This, Mitch said, squatting down and pointing. I started to scoop out some of this soft stuff with my hands, pine needles and dirt and this crumbly cedar stuff – see?

Yes.

And I hit something hard a couple of inches under the surface. I thought it was a stone. Well, you would, wouldn’t you? But I brushed it off and it wasn’t. Don’t touch it.

Rob leaned over and looked more closely at the spot Mitch was indicating. Mitch had brushed away a layer of soft dirt, leaves and evergreen needles, exposing something that was hard, curved, and a mottled grayish-brown in color. Rob felt his stomach give a heave as he realized what he was seeing.

Now, it’s been a long time since I took Biology 101, Mitch said. But I reckon I can still recognize a human skull when I see one.

Chapter 2

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Rob sat behind his desk on Monday morning trying to concentrate on laboratory business and finding it extremely difficult. Mitch’s discovery had certainly put a damper on the stag party, although it had been gratifying to see Cole’s face turn the color of raw dough when he viewed the skull.

Rob and Mitch had woken the others immediately and Ellis and his brother-in-law Stephen had volunteered to hike back toward civilization, or at least to the point where there was a cell phone signal, and call the law enforcement authorities. They returned about two hours later with sheriff’s deputies in tow, who had brought along a body bag and stretcher to remove the uninvited guest.

Upon arriving, they had carefully brushed a little more dirt from the site, enough to reveal the rest of the skull, vertebrae and the clavicle, and from this had deduced that there probably was a complete skeleton under the surface. Further tentative exploration had confirmed this. At that point, the deputies had cordoned off the area to await the attentions of the forensic team and Ellis and his guests had been told politely that it was time to leave the site to the experts.

By the time they had packed up their gear and returned to Seattle on Sunday afternoon, the initial excitement had worn off and they were in a more subdued mood. Ellis seemed to take the discovery as a personal insult, an attitude that hadn’t been improved by Cole’s repeated accusations that it was Ellis’s fault they had picked a campsite next to a half-buried skeleton and Mitch’s fault that it had come to light.

Next time I’ll just piss uphill from him, had been Mitch’s only comment.

There won’t be a next time, Ellis replied.

Well, Ellis, at least no one say your bachelor party wasn’t memorable, Bryan said dryly, as they retrieved their cars and split up to go to their various homes. It’d be hard to top this.

So as Rob scanned his e-mails, looking for messages from potential clients, his thoughts kept returning to the weekend and wondering whose remains they had stumbled across. Ellis was sulking in the biology lab at the rear of the R&P building, Phil was across the small lobby in the chemistry lab, and Mitch could be heard in the third lab, regaling his fellow bacteriologist Virginia McClain with an account of the weekend’s activities as they worked on their food testing.

Although Virginia was well into her sixties, Rob was not at all worried that she would be upset by Mitch’s graphic description of his discovery. It would take a lot more than a skeleton buried in the woods to shake Virginia’s composure.

Rob finally gave up on the e-mails and went to get himself a cup of coffee. As usual, this triggered a chain reaction, and within a few minutes, all five staff members were congregated by the coffeemaker in the lab’s kitchen area off the lobby.

Any more news, Ellis? Phil asked. He didn’t need to specify what he was referring to, as the discovery of the skeleton had been the main topic of conversation all morning.

Not yet. There’s still a forensic team on the site. They think the skeleton is quite old, that is, that it had been there a long time.

Probably one of those hikers who disappeared and was never found, Phil said. They all nodded;