Chapter 31
"How are you feeling?" Charlie asked Mika. Since she'd been assaulted by Richard, she could not participate in interrogating him. Rex was busy sniffing the backyard looking for any clues to a possible buried body. Kelly from forensics was on the way with ground penetrating radar.
"I've been hit harder," she chuckled as they watched Rex.
"You guys play it rough here huh?" Anna gave them a look. She was hoping that the fenced in yard was the spot they were looking for. With no signs of recent digging, they'd have to hope Rex, or the ground penetrating radar could find something.
"We try not to but there's always that one," Mika said.
"Point," Anna shook her head.
"This yard isn't that big. If Rex hasn't found anything, Debra could be buried deep or not even here. Might as well check the house," Charlie heaved a sigh.
"I'll take the upstairs," Mika said.
"Rex and I will take the basement," Charlie told them.
"I guess that leaves the first floor for me," Anna smiled. The three and Rex entered the house and spread out. Turning on the basement lights, Charlie looked down the stairs.
"They didn't believe in good lighting huh buddy?" He asked Rex. The German Shepard gave him a look like "You want to go down there?".
"Come on," Charlie chuckled. They carefully made their way down the stairs and reached the bottom. Only three bare bulbs lit the way down a narrow corridor that had been created by boxes on shelving units. The detective pulled out his flashlight thinking that there had to be more ways that Aiden Moffat had lit the space, especially since the furnace, water heater, and laundry machines were in a far corner away from where he stood now.
"What do you think is in these boxes?" Charlie asked Rex. When Jesse was searching the house previously, he was looking for a shotgun or anything large enough to hold a shotgun. These boxes would not have fallen into that category as they were only the size of the box the copier paper came in. They could not hold a body but since they were looking for Debra Moffat's body, or proof she wasn't dead, paperwork counted.
"Why do I have a sneaking suspicion that this could be more pictures?" He shook his head and went to the bottom of the stairs. Calling up to Anna, the RCMP inspector came to the top of the stairs.
"What's up Charlie?" She asked.
"I may have found more images Moffat had been storing," he told her.
"Joy," Anna frowned.
"Exactly. Can you send some of the forensic techs down when they get here? There's a lot of boxes and we have to go through all of them," Charlie said. He could tell that she wasn't really listening to him as she'd cocked her head up as if she could hear someone yelling. That's when he heard heavy footsteps on the floor above his head.
"Charlie, get up here!" It was Mika. She was holding a picture frame in her hand. The detective whistled to Rex and the two climbed back up the stairs.
"What is it?" He asked.
"I think I know what Richard was looking for," she handed him the frame. In it was a picture of a rustic cabin with Aiden and Debra Moffat out front, both were smiling. Happier days perhaps before things had taken an ugly turn.
"What do you want to bet that Debra is buried up there?" Mika asked.
"Oh, I wouldn't take that bet. We need to find this place," he said.
"Jesse is busy interrogating Richard. You think that Moffat would have kept any records of the place here?" Mika wondered.
"The boxes in the basement," Anna shook her head.
"Come on Mika. You and me in the basement. Rex, help Anna welcome forensics. Send them our way, will you?" Charlie asked.
To Be Continued…