Innocents Lost Read Online Free PDF Page A

correspond with the lunar calendar. The cairns were placed in such a way that when looking from one to another at various points across the circle, certain stars would rise on the appropriate dates. He had never studied petroform astronomy in any depth, but he did understand the concept of using stars to chart the solstice. The helical rising of the star Fomalhaut signaled the commencement of a twenty-eight day countdown to the summer solstice, toward the end of which Aldebaran would rise, two days prior to the event. Rigel would rise twenty-eight days after that, and Sirius another four weeks later to mark the end of summer. Other cairns would be aligned to provide a direct line of sight into the rising and setting sun on the day of the solstice. Was it possible that this medicine wheel had been built to the precise standards Native Americans had used eight hundred years ago? If so, Aldebaran already made its debut on the horizon last night. And what did the skeletal remains and the DVD have to do with anything? Obviously, such recording devices were unavailable so many years ago, and although the more ancient medicine wheels had similar cairns, there was no historical record of the discovery of corpses inside of them.
    And there was something else troubling him. The trees. What could have caused the pines and aspens in the immediate vicinity of the clearing to grow in a corkscrew fashion? There was a species of willow that commonly grew in a spiral manner, but very little regarding the mutation in other indigenous species. Similar groves had been discovered in Saskatchewan, northwest of the town of Hafford, which, coincidentally, was not far from the location of a smaller medicine wheel. Other instances were reported outside of Sedona, Arizona, where the odd growth patterns were attributed to mystical energy vortices that drew thousands of pilgrims every year. These spiraling vortices were claimed to induce a preternatural sense of well-being and feelings of rejuvenation in anyone who stood within range. It smacked of New Age mumbo-jumbo to Les.
    A knock on the window startled him from his research.
    He looked up to see the broad-shouldered, crew-cut sheriff with the granite jaw that had ushered him into the vehicle. Dandridge, if he remembered correctly.
    Les closed his laptop, tucked it under his arm, and opened the door. He stepped down from the passenger seat into a small crowd. He’d already been introduced to Lander Police Officers Carnahan and Wilcox with their blue uniforms, during the first wave of interrogations, and Fremont County Sheriff’s Department Deputies Henson and Miller in their matching brown jackets, during the second.
    “Deputy Henson will be taking you down to Lander, where we’ve arranged for accommodations in a motel for you and your students,” Dandridge said.
    The expression of disappointment on the deputy’s face suggested he’d drawn the short straw.
    “And from there?” Les asked.
    “Once we’ve examined the crime scene and you’ve answered whatever questions we might come up with, you will be free to leave,” Dandridge said. And as an afterthought, “We do apologize for the inconvenience.”
    “Come with me, Dr. Grant,” Henson said. The deputy guided Les by the elbow toward the waiting cruiser.
    Henson paused in front of the two doors on the passenger side, a moment of indecision that spoke volumes about how the authorities perceived Les, before finally opening the front door and ushering him inside.
    He watched through the front windshield in the red and blue glare as the remaining four men started up the path into the wilderness. Tires kicked gravel up against the undercarriage as they began the return trip to civilization.
    The impromptu parking lot at the base of the path fell away behind him in the side mirror, but Les couldn’t shake the feeling that this wouldn’t be the last time he saw this section of the forest.

    VI
    Evergreen, Colorado

    Preston rolled over onto