‘That’s all right You’re here and I’m free, so what does it matter?’
‘But it does. I’ve been wandering about in this awful place for hours. If I hadn’t heard you yell, I was going to yell myself. You don’t know what it’s like down here. Every tunnel looks alike.’
‘I’ll get you out. Come on, let’s try. ’
‘What’s that?’
She was peering at the heap of rags and bones.
‘Lute Ferris,’ I said, and moved stiffly over to the rags. I flashed my torch on them. Even the skull had been picked clean. In the centre of the forehead was a small hole. ‘So they shot him. Now, I wonder why.’ I examined what was left of his clothes, and discovered a leather wallet. Inside, was a car’s registration tag made out to Lute Ferris, two five-dollar bills and a snapshot of a girl I recognized as Mrs. Ferris. I put the wallet back where I had found it and stood up.
‘We’ll have to bring Mifflin down here.’
Paula was staring at the heap of bones.
‘Did the rats do that?’ she asked in a low, horrified voice.
‘Well, something did. Come on. Let’s go.’