Six Seconds Read Online Free PDF Page A

here?” Across the room,
a young woman held up a black telephone receiver. “That’s me,” Graham said.
“Call for you!”
Taking it, Graham cupped a hand over one ear. “Dan, we heard what you did. You okay?” It was his boss, Inspector Mike Stotter, who headed
Major Crimes out of the RCMP’s South District in
Calgary.
“I’m fine.”
“You went above and beyond the call.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Dan, listen, I’m sorry, but they just pronounced her
at the hospital.”
“What?”
“They just called us. She didn’t make it. I’m sorry.” Her trembling body. Her eyes. Her last words,
spoken into his ear.
Graham rubbed his hand over his face.
“Give me this case, Mike.”
“It’s too soon for you.”
“I was coming back from leave this week.” “I’ve got some cold cases ready for you. Look, this
one’s likely going to be a wilderness accident, nothing
suspicious. We don’t need to be there. Fornier’s rookies
in Banff can have it.”
“I need this case, Mike.”
“You need it?”
“Did the chopper crew or the hospital indicate if she
said anything? If she tried to speak before she died?” “Hang on. Shane was talking to them.”
Graham looked at the mountains, feeling something
churning in his gut until Stotter came back on the line. “Nothing, Dan, why?”
“She spoke to me, Mike.”
“What’d she say?”
“It wasn’t clear. But I’ve got a feeling that this wasn’t
an accident. We need to be on this. I want this case,
Mike.”
A long moment passed.
“Okay. I’ll tell Fornier. You’re the lead. For now. If
it’s criminal, it stays with us in Major Crimes. If it’s not,
you kick it back to Fornier’s people. Look, Prell’s in
Canmore on another matter, I’m sending him to you
now, to give you a hand.”
“Prell? Who’s Prell?”
“Constable Owen Prell. Just joined us in Major
Crimes from Medicine Hat.”
“Fine, thanks, Mike.”
“You sure you’re good to take this on. You’ve got two
fatals so far and the river’s likely to give you more.” “I’m good.”
“Better get yourself to the scene where they found
the boy.”

5
    Faust’s Fork, near Banff, Alberta, Canada
    The boy’s face was flawless.
Almost sublime in death.
His eyes were closed. Not a mark on his skin. He
    had the aura of a sleeping cherub as a breeze lifted strands of his hair, like a mother tenderly coaxing him to wake and play.
    His resemblance to the girl was clear. He was older, likely her big brother. His jeans were faded, his blue sweatshirt bore a Canadian Rockies insignia, his sneak ers were a popular brand and in good shape. He looked about eight or nine and so small inside the open body bag.
    Who is he? What were his favorite things? His dreams? His last thoughts? Graham wondered, kneel ing over him on the riverbank with Liz DeYoung, the medical investigator from the Calgary Medical Exam iner’s Office.
    “What do you think?” Graham raised his voice over the river’s rush. “Accident, or suspicious?”
“Way too soon to tell.” DeYoung was wearing blue latex gloves and, using the utmost care, she grasped the boy’s small shoulders and turned him. The back of his skull had been smashed in like an eggshell, exposing cranial matter. “It appears the major trauma is here.”
“From the rocks?”
“Probably. We’ll know more after we autopsy him, and the girl, back in Calgary. At this stage, Mother Nature’s your suspect.”
Graham glimpsed DeYoung’s wristwatch and updated his case log using the pen, notebook and clipboard he’d borrowed from the Banff members helping at the scene.
“No life jackets,” Graham said.
“Excuse me?”
“The girl didn’t have one. He doesn’t have one. Did anyone see life jackets?”
“No. But if you’ve got a reason to be suspicious, would you share it?”
“It’s just a feeling.”
“A feeling?”
“Forget it. I’m still thawing out. Did you find any ID? Items in his pockets? Clothing tags?”
“No. Except for a little flashlight