If She Should Die Read Online Free Page A

Dara’s disappearance. They were always posted from a different part of the country, and they were typewritten. Ames had placed all his faith in them. Christine could not believe they were really from Dara.
    Deputy Winter gazed unwaveringly at Ames although his voice was still gentle. “Sir, I’ve heard there’s some doubt about those letters actually being sent by your daughter.”
    “That’s ridiculous,” Ames said loudly. “Who else wouldsend them? Who’s been saying they aren’t from my daughter?”
    “I don’t suppose you’ve had them checked for fingerprints—”
    “No!” Ames was almost shouting. “I know my daughter’s writing style, her signature. Having them checked would be a waste of time! Besides, she left a good-bye note in her room before she left.”
    The deputy took a deep breath. “Well, I don’t know much about the letters or the note, sir. All I know at this point is that we’ve retrieved the remains of what appears to be a female around five feet, four inches tall, which I know from her file is your daughter’s height, with long black hair like your daughter’s.”
    “Black hair,” Wilma whispered.
    “Dozens of women have black hair,” Ames said in a dry, metallic voice. “Hundreds of women. And who can tell what color the hair actually is after a long time in the water? It might be brown hair that’s just dirty.”
    Christine flinched inside, knowing how genuinely alarmed Ames must be to come up with such a weak excuse for the corpse having black hair. “Was she wearing any jewelry?” Christine ventured. “Dara always wore a ring. A heart-shaped ruby surrounded by diamonds.”
    Deputy Winter turned depthless brown eyes on her. “I really can’t describe effects recovered. Mr. Prince will have to identify any items found with the body as well as the body itself.”
    “Oh, dear lord,” Wilma moaned. “We have to go down to the riverbank and look at this
thing
?”
    “No, ma’am,” Winter said gently. “It’s procedure for bodies to be sent directly to the state medical lab in Charleston. Mr. Prince will have to go there to look at the body.”
    “To Charleston?” Wilma demanded in a rising voice.“Why not a local funeral home? Why all the way to Charleston?”
    “It’s procedure, ma’am—”
    “Wilma, it’s quite all right,” Ames said calmly. “I’ll drive to Charleston tonight, look at this body, and confirm that it isn’t Dara, and everything will be fine. It only takes an hour to get to Charleston. I’ll be there and back by nine o’clock. It isn’t the end of the world.”
    But it
was
the end of his world, Christine thought in misery. She knew in her soul Dara had been found at last, and tonight, when Ames looked at the remains of her body, he would be forced to face a horrible truth he’d desperately outrun for three years.
    “Sir, I hate to ask you this,” Winter went on, obvious dismay in his voice. “But I mentioned the extreme decomposition. There’s a chance you might not be able to identify the body even if it is your daughter. We’ll probably have to do DNA testing, so we’ll need a hair or tissue sample from Dara. Would you happen to have anything—”
    “Excellent idea!” Ames boomed. “Her bedroom has been shut off since the night she disappeared. She took many things with her when she ran away. Clothes, personal items. All missing since that night. But her brush is still on her dresser. A lovely silver-backed thing my father gave her. There’s still hair in it—” He broke off. “We’ll stop at my house before going to Charleston, you can get hair samples, and I’ll take them with me to Charleston—”
    “Sir, that’s not procedure. I can collect them and send them tomorrow—”
    “To hell with procedure!” Ames suddenly seemed almost giddy. “There’s no need to wait until tomorrow. The sooner the better, because DNA testing will show absolutely that this corpse is not my daughter. That will settle things.