CHAPTER THREE
Durante suddenly raised his nose to the wind, sniffing the night air, beginning to growl low in his throat, rumbling like a bass drum. Cyrano caught his excitement and also lifted his head to loudly snuffle the night breeze. He also began to growl in reply. The hackles of both animals were raised. They began to pull at their leashes, whining when Iris held them in check. They were scenting something and all their signals told Iris to go with it.
Iris gave them the lead and began to walk quickly with them into another part of the park not yet explored by the scent dog teams or the other police personnel. She held her flashlight tightly as the dogs surged forward onto the trail they followed. Before leaving with them, she had also unsnapped her gun holster. Being married to a detective who had been wounded in the line of duty and who stressed being prepared for anything, she was well-versed in the wisdom of going in with eyes wide open.
The dogs began to bay as was inherent to their breed. Durante's bass tone was countered by Cyrano's tenor bugle as they raised the cry, which was now answered by the other dogs back at the park. Brass knew the sounds of their dogs and looking around to see no Iris, his face darkened with anger. Grissom and Sara, seeing Brass's expression, joined him as he began to stride toward the park in the direction of the dogs, their flashlights sweeping the ground ahead of them.
Cyrano and Durante continued their charge on the scent trail, Iris hard-pressed to keep the pace they set. They were going through brushy areas and branches whipped and scratched at Iris as she tried her best to duck them. She could see some sort of faint lighting ahead…almost blue in color. They were coming to a heavily wooded glade.
The dogs stopped abruptly. Their baying ceased as they began to make high-pitched whines and small yelps instead. They did this only when Heidi came to visit. The clearing was illuminated with the blue lights of little Chinese lanterns that swayed in the breeze from the tree they were hung in. Iris could now make out the scene and a deep groan came from the depths of her soul.
Before her in a crystal clear box lay Heidi, appearing asleep, shrouded in a misty blue gauze fabric. Iris saw no movement, no signs of breathing, nothing but silence. The realization that Heidi would never again play with their dogs, visit them at home, laugh while she danced with Jim, overshadowed Iris as a dry sob caught in her throat.
Raising her walkie-talkie, Iris's voice broke as she called Brass. "Jim…I….I've found her…tell Grissom to bring….to bring…his kit." She fought to get the words out.
"You stay put! We'll be right there. Wave your flashlight to help us find you! We are having a little talk later, Missy!" Brass exclaimed to her through the walkie-talkie. Iris sighed, knowing what the talk would be about.
She wearily sat down with the dogs. They couldn't disturb the newly found crime scene as badly as Iris wanted to begin the process of investigation. Her heart sank knowing that Janice and Mark were back in the parking lot to await any news of their little girl. They couldn't stay home, as Jim and Iris wouldn't have if it had been their daughter. She mused on that thought a moment. She knew of Jim's physical problem. They'd discussed that before they married. Would they have wanted children now with her in her mid-forties and Jim his early fifties if it had been possible? Yes, she admitted, to have Jim's child would mean everything to her, and having built-in birth control sucked.
The beams of flashlights caught Iris's eye.