The spread of pellets was tight, forming a large hole with scalloped edges in the center of his chest. White plastic filler from the shotgun clung to clothing and skin, which again did not indicate a contact wound. Measuring the gun and his arms, I did not see how he could have reached the trigger. I saw nothing to indicate that he had rigged up anything to help him. Checking pockets, I found no wallet, no identification, only a Buck knife. The blade was scratched and bent.
I spent no more time with him but came outside, and the team from USAMRIID was restless, like people waiting to go somewhere and afraid they’re going to miss their flight. They stared as I came down the steps, and Marino hung back. He was almost lost in trees, orange arms folded across his chest, the ranger standing beside him.
‘This is a completely contaminated crime scene,’ I announced. ‘We have a dead white male with no identification. I need someone to help me get the body out. It needs to be contained.’ I looked at the captain.
‘It goes back with us,’ he said.
I nodded. ‘Your guys can do the autopsy and maybe get someone from the Baltimore Medical Examiner’s office to witness. The camper’s another problem. It’s got to go somewhere it can be worked up safely. Evidence needs to be collected and decontaminated. This, frankly, is out of my range. Unless you have a containment facility that can accommodate something this big, maybe we’d better get this to Utah.’
‘To Dugway?’ he said, dubiously.
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘Maybe Colonel Fujitsubo can help with that.’
Dugway Proving Ground was the Army’s major range and test facility for chemical and biological defense. Unlike USAMRIID, which was in the heart of urban America, Dugway had the vast land of the Great Salt Lake desert for testing lasers, smart bombs, smoke obscurance or illumination. More to the point, it had the only test chamber in the United States capable of processing a vehicle as large as a battle tank.
The captain thought for a moment, his eyes going from me to the camper as he made up his mind and formalized a plan.
‘Frank, get on the phone and let’s get this mobilized ASAP,’ he said to one of the scientists. ‘The colonel will have to work with the Air Force on transport, get something here fast because I don’t want this thing sitting out here all night. And we’re going to need a flatbed truck, a pickup truck.’
‘Should be able to get that around here, with all the seafood they ship,’ Marino said. ‘I’ll get on it.’
‘Good,’ the captain went on. ‘Somebody get me three body bags and the isolator.’ Then he said to me, ‘I’ll bet you need a hand.’
‘I certainly do,’ I said, and both of us began walking toward the camper.
I pulled open the bent aluminum door, and he followed me inside, and we did not linger as we passed through to the back. I could tell by Clark’s eyes that he had never seen anything like this, but with his hood and air pack, at least he did not have to deal with the stench of decomposing human flesh. He knelt at one end and I at the other, the body heavy and the space impossibly cramped.
‘Is it hot in here or is it just me?’ he said loudly as we struggled with rubbery limbs.
‘Someone turned the heat up as high as it would go.’ I was already out of breath. ‘To hasten viral contamination, decomposition. A popular way to screw up a crime scene. All right. Let’s zip him in. This is going to be tight, but I think we can do it.’
We started working him into a second pouch, our hands and suits slippery with blood. It took us almost thirty minutes to get the body inside the isolator, and my muscles were trembling as we carried it out. My heart was pounding and I was dripping sweat. Outside, we were thoroughly doused with a chemical rinse, as was the isolaton which was transported by truck back to Crisfield. Then the team started work on the camper.