Murder in the Forest, Chapter 25
They finished what the crime scene team could do, and then the remains were loaded into a body bag and the dead man's belongings were bagged and labeled.
As this was accomplished, van Reenan and Blacklaws followed the tracks, confirming their impression that a bear had killed the man and was then scared off the kill by the arrival of the Bigfoot. But they were undecided whether the big primate had then fed on the corpse. Van Reenan pointed out that the bite marks were never of a nature that suggested a short-faced hominid, but of the long-nosed bear. But some of the flesh could have been eaten by either, the wounds being so wide and of such damage that the nature of the predator couldn't be determined with certainty. Moreover, a primate would pull food off the bones and transfer it to its mouth rather than eat with its mouth on the body. And one arm had been wrenched off, possibly by the Bigfoot. The tracks of this individual approached the body and walked around it, as if the creature was curious.
"It takes a lot to scare a bear off a kill," observed Blacklaws and those knowledgeable about such things nodded. This Bigfoot must be a formidable beast.
"Is the bear likely to come back?" wondered Seaver. She looked around nervously. "Or, the Bigfoot? How can we know what it'll do? Nobody really knows much about them, right?"
The men agreed and the ME looked at the darkening sky. "We need to get everything out and get back to town, Blacklaws. Are we all done here?"
The tall deputy nodded. "Yes, doc. Let's get underway."
And so they trekked back down the narrow path, avoiding a rattlesnake among some rocks just off the trail. Blacklaws pointed it out to Seaver and told her that it was a Northern Pacific Rattlesnake. "Scientifically, it's called Crotalus viridis oreganus. Remember that: you may as well learn something while we're out here. This has been a grim day, but Nature still has a lot to enjoy and a lot to be cautious about. That snake is the latter. Look out for them. You definitely don't want to learn first hand what snakebite is like. Apart from the suffering, a hospital stay for that, with antivenin, costs as much as $250,000.
Seaver was amazed to hear that, but the ME confirmed it. He was, after all, a doctor, and had some idea of medical costs.
Finally, they reached their cars and the body was placed in the ME's van and the convoy loaded everything else and began driving back to Elk Pass.
Blacklaws and Seaver were alone in the final car. It contained, among other evidence, casts of the footprints of both the bear and the strange beast that was surely a Bigfoot or Sasquatch. They wanted these to prove that they were not hallucinating or playing a prank. Dr. Christaan van Reenan was risking his reputation in the scientific community by declaring that this animal was real, so the evidence to support him was crucial.
As the convoy passed a steep cliff strewn with boulders and loose shale, Blacklaws and Seaver were about 200 yards behind the other vehicles. Then, a landslide began, with big rocks, loose soil, and shale cascading down the steep slope. Landslide!
The deputy braked hard and they stopped short of having any debris hit the SUV. But the road was blocked, and night was falling.
After her heart came down from her throat and she could speak, Seaver teased, "Peter, this is ridiculous! Other guys who want to be stuck in the wilderness with a girl just claim that they're out of gas. You didn't need to arrange this!"
Blacklaws laughed. "It does leave you in my depraved male clutches, doesn't it? We'd better call Hotchner and tell him that you'll be late for dinner. "And he called the sheriff, thankful that his I-phone worked in this remote location. Seaver called Hotchner.
They also talked with those in the preceding vehicles, which had retuned to the location of the landslide. They discussed what to do, and all agreed that there was no way to clear a path for Blacklaws's Toyota 4-Runner. The disaster relief people in town confirmed that no help could arrive until the next day. Then, they'd arrive before noon, with a bulldozer and a road scraper to clean off the debris and re-open the road.
"Do you want me to get a Bureau helicopter or one from the state police up there?" asked Hotchner. "We can't get the vehicle and its contents, but we can rescue you and Blacklaws. But it's going to be a near thing. It'll probably be dark by the time we can get a chopper there and those tall trees are not a good environment for a helicopter to operate in. They'll have to find a clearing somewhere on your side of the avalanche. Do you see any?"
Blacklaws replied that they were on a long, narrow road, hedged on both sides by tall timber. It would be impractical for helicopters to help. At best, they'd have to hover high above the scene and have pararescue men bring them up in a sling rigged to a long cable. In the dark, this would be hazardous, even with the lights from the copter.
The couple conferred and told their bosses to wait until tomorrow to recover them.
"Are you sure, Ashley?" Hotchner mentioned that the woods were known to contain bears, cougars, and other possible threats, plus this particular rogue bear and the Bigfoot.
She pointed out that they had ample food and water and had rifles. They could sleep in the Toyota to avoid the exposure of using a tent in an area where at least one bear was a man killer.
Hotchner's phone was set on Speaker and the other team members wished Seaver a safe night. Jareau told her to avoid bears, to everyone's amusement.
When they'd hung up, Rossi said that he hoped that Seaver would be safe. Jareau told him not to worry.
"Ashley is probably secretly glad that she got trapped in the forest with Peter. A lot of girls would envy her that opportunity."
Hotchner smiled. "I noticed an attraction between them. I'm not as blind as my agents sometimes think. I just hope that their unexpected date goes well. In the meantime, let's eat and go get some sleep. We need to initiate some action tomorrow. Those missing girls are probably suffering more every day that we fail to rescue them."
XXX
Back in the forest, Blacklaws backed up his vehicle until the road widened He turned the car so that the rear window was facing the rocky slope and the headlights could be used to illuminate anything that appeared in the road.
Turning to Ashley Seaver, he asked how she was doing. "Don't worry; we'll be okay," he assured her. "We'll stay in the SUV and stay alert. Go ahead and load your rifle, just in case. But I doubt that we'll be forced to shoot anything."
She shivered and reached for the Howa 7mm-08 rifle and began loading it. "I guess we're the test case for whether Bigfoot attacks cars, and maybe eats people. On the other hand, we have some time together at last. So, are you going to make a pass at me, or not? Nothing ventured, nothing gained." She closed the bolt on the rifle and set it aside.
Peter grinned. "In that case, I suppose that I'd better reach for you and see what's to be gained." And he pulled her over and ran his hand down her hair and along her arm as they began to kiss. She began breathing heavily and returned his embrace and soon, their minds were on one another, Bigfoot forgotten in the warmth of their passion.