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“And this one,” said Miranda, plucking the seventh rib fro, right about here” With the tip of her trowel, she traced a long notch in the bone

“How on earth,” persisted O’Conner, “did Billy Ray happen to end up here? Bar fights and burning base he had some bad karma”

“All roads lead to Cooke County,” I said “You remember when Leena’s skeleton was stolen?”

He nodded, looking hopelessly confused

“A second skeleton was stolen at the same time-this one Garland Hamilton stole them He probably took Leena’s just to muddy the water; this was the one he was desperate to lay his hands on, because this was the case he’d botched so badly”

The first skeleton we’d recovered, Ledbetter’s skeleton, intrigued me, but it was the second skeleton that mesmerized me Unlike Ledbetter’s, these bones appeared to come from a man as alive and well until the moment he wasn’t-the moment he was blasted and then burned beyond a crisp Like the first skeleton, this one was calcined, so I doubted that any DNA remained in the bones But the fractures had the splintered, spiraling appearance characteristic of green bone subjected to intense heat Mingled with the bones of the feet and ankles were two dozen eyelets from a pair of boots, each eyelet stamped HERMAN SURVIVORS Scattered amid the bones of the pelvis were thewith coins, keys, and the buckle and , now minus the canvas “Here’s a historical footnote I bet y’all didn’t know,” I said, holding up the metal waistband button stamped with the jeans cohty years, Levi’s had reinforcing rivets in the crotch, too But so too close to a caot burned by the crotch rivets”

Miranda laughed “Second-degree hot pants-I love it” Waylon’s bushy eyebrows shot up at her coh to keep his mouth shut

Several feet from the shattered second skull, we’d found the fralasses The fralasses looked identical to the pair we’d found beside the first skull They also looked identical to the pair I’d seen Garland Hamilton perch on his nose to inspect stab wounds and review autopsy notes The moment I had realized that the first set of bones couldn’t possibly be Garland Hamilton’s, I’d felt my blood pressure skyrocket, but as the second skeleton and its accoht, my pulse slowed anddistance of normal

We’d also found the twisted reas can, which helped explain the intense heat of the fire On the face of it, at least, the second set of re of the bones, and the trauht have happened in that fiery explosion The skeleton was in a supine position-faceup-as if the body had fallen over backward The bones of the face were essentially gone, as were both hands A pair of thin wires ran beneath the other debris, stretching from the vicinity of the body to a lump of molten lead several feet away These wires-their insulation burned away but the copper intact-had lain directly on the basehtly below thepoint

“Here’s what I think happened,” I said to the group “Garland Ha this skeleton, but as a ot to cover his tracks pretty thoroughly He decides to use dynamite to produce more trauma in the bones-probably to destroy the teeth, so we can’t compare them to his dental records But so caps, and that battery over there”-I gestured at the blob of lead-“sets off the caps while he’s holding the dynamite in his hands”

“And kablooey?” said Art

“Kablooey,” I said, s at the reference Either nobody else realized Art was quoting Barney Fife or nobody else found Andy Griffith’s bu as Art and I did

“Works forall clever and s how he’s going to outwit everyone Just before shorting out the wires”

“And kablooey,” Art deadpanned again

“It’s just a theory at this point,” I said “We’ve got to get a positive ID before we can be sure”

“How you gonna do that?” Waylon asked “Fucker’s all burnt up and blowed up”

O’Conner laughed “Waylon’s got a point there Can you get DNA out of this?”

I shook my head dubiously “Don’t know We’ll try, of course, but the heatwe can match the dental records” I picked up the remnants of the mandible and studied them closely The lower jaw had been shattered by the blast, andThe upper jaas in equally bad shape, not surprisingly, since the face-the cheekbones, the nasal bone, the fragile bones of the eye orbits-had been virtually obliterated by the explosion All told, as left of the upper and lower jaws contained just five teeth But two of those five had fillings, so I was optih to compare with Hamilton’s dental records

“Doc?” O’Conner looked thoughtful “This onna ask it anyhow”