Virginia Trent continued to scream. Sergeant Holcomb said, “What’s eating her?”
“Having hysterics,” Mason said.
Virginia Trent pointed toward the shop, tried to control herself, and couldn’t. Mason moved toward her and said, “There, there, kid, take it easy.”
She recoiled from him in horror, flung her arms around Sergeant Holcomb and clung to him, trembling and shaking.
“What the hell have you been trying to do?” Holcomb demanded of Mason.
Mason said, “Be your age, Sergeant. The kid’s upset. There’s a body in the other room.”
“A body!” Mason nodded.
“Whose?”
Mason said, “I wouldn’t know. It was stuffed in a packing case on the very top of a pile. I saw a stain which looked suspicious. I climbed up on a box and started to investigate. The box gave way, I grabbed at the packing case, and the whole pile toppled over. The body fell out. It’s half dark in there. She started to have hysterics and I tried to quiet her down.”
Holcomb said, “Let’s take a look.”