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The tower had seven landings accessible by wrought iron ladders fixed to li each rung and rail for wires, pressure switches More nothing, and no one blasted down from above A defunct carillon console was still just as thick with dust and cobwebs as it had been when Too

Which left only the trap at the top of the seventh ladder To for the tread of a boot, a squeal of wood He felt cold air seeping froliaps in the wood But there were no dead spaces, nothing blacked out He used the tip of his Uzi to ease open the trap Nothing went ka-boo he saw in the belfry was that the stool, on which he’d perched for hours, lay on its side Beside it, on the floor, was the ru A book splayed, facedown, next to the stool and Cindi’s binos, a pair of Nikon 8X42s that she liked for when the light started to go Wrappers were scattered over the floor A ss and balled waxed paper half-covered Cindi’s Nikons A water bottle and thermos were overturned The air smelled of cold chicken broth and wet noodles

Froht Yet as they headed down from the belfry and out of the church, To was off, but damned if he knew precisely what

"I don’t know about this" Weller crouched over theThe ani at the bottom of the steps like a discarded basketball "That’s a clean cut, and I’ll bet it was the first one, too Look at the blood spray But"--he reached to turn the dog over--"if you look at these cuts here"

"Don’t!" Tom snatched Weller’s wrist "It could be booby-trapped; they plant bohanistan" Weller gave his hand a pointed glance "Mind?"

"No Justbe careful" Exhaling, Tom forced his hand to relax He did not like this at all The back of his neck was ju out in the open, on this bald knob, ing to be picked off "First tiu body, then grunted "Look at the blood"

The verh" Tom turned back and eyed the spray-painted stone of the church’s

il sa jbick front "So those had to co they cut the head off first and then uess" Weller held a hand over a slop of the dog’s colon "Cold Blood’s real thick Whatever happened here happened a while back Hours, probably Sa, the ans splattered the snow The stink was terrible, a rancid, fecal odor that made a pulse of bile boil to the back of Toht down through the poll, leaving an ax-shaped divot that neatly split the skull in two "Hatchet or a bigblow, and then they could take their ti up the anier at the stu’s neck "That is a clean cut"

Toot it "The dog was standing still It recognized whoever did this"

"Or responded to co"

"What are you talking about?"

"Look at the head What’s aze raked over the dog’s glazed eyes, the sagging halfshuttered lids, that lolling blue tongue "Thewhen he went on lookout"

"Right I think so Put it to sleep and then you can chop off the head pretty easy So, one thing’s for sure, it couldn’t have been a Chucky That dog would never stand still or let it get close, and they only killed the one horse Why do that unless you need the other? Chuckies don’t ride"

"Unless, now, soht about that "You knohat else is wrong? There’s nothing covert about this It’s like they’re trying to spook or ied" That jogged so else loose "You reht? But asn’t there, Weller?"

"I don’t follow"

"No brass No sot off a shot"

"Come on, the place was a mess Cindi dropped her book, the binos, kicked over her stool and the ther else wrong with that scene, too, a nag in his ed fro? That they knew him?"

"Or had no reason to be scared until too late, yeah But howlike this, do the kids know? There are only three: you, me--and Mellie"

"I hear you, but" Weller shook his head "I don’t see it Besides, she’s been at camp all day Couldn’t have been Mellie, and I knoasn’t le" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>