I sucked down coffee while driving through downtown Dania. The town’s main traffic light was blinking red, and in the shadows dark figures lurked, some with sleeping bags thrown over their shoulders, others pushing shopping carts filled with junk, the homeless on parade.
Pulling out my cell phone, I retrieved Burrell’s cell number, and hit Send. I knew Burrell wasn’t happy with me, but I wasn’t going to let that affect how I handled this. She needed to know what I knew.
Burrell’s voice mail picked up. I ended the call, and hit redial. I kept doing that until I was heading north on the Florida Turnpike. When I was a few miles from the Pompano Beach exit, Burrell answered the call, her voice thick with sleep.
“Hello…?”
“It’s Jack Carpenter,” I said.
“For the love of Christ, what time is it?”
“Four in the morning.”
“What do you want?”
“I need to talk to you about the case.”
Burrell snapped awake. “Listen to me, and listen good. You’re off the case, and there’s nothing I can do about it. Please don’t argue with me. It wasn’t my call.”
“Whose call was it?”
“The mayor’s. He decided you were a liability.”
“Am I?”
“Please don’t make me have this conversation,” Burrell said.
“Did you stand up for me?”
“Of course I stood up for you. I did everything I could. I just couldn’t tell you to your face. So I let Special Agent Whitley give you the bad news.”
“How do you know Whitley?”
“I worked with him a few months ago.”
“I still want to talk to you about the Grimes case.”
Burrell let out a noise that was half-shout, half-scream. “You’re not listening to me!”
“Whitley is wrong about Jed Grimes,” I said. “Jed didn’t commit these crimes. Someone else did, and they’ve killed before. We’re dealing with another serial killer.”
“Really? Where’s your proof?”
“The victims are my proof.”
“I’m not buying it.”
A giant flock of seagulls loomed over the turnpike. There were several hundred of them, maybe more. It looked like a scene straight out of The Birds, their incessant cawing loud enough to awaken my dog.
“What’s that noise?” Burrell asked.
“Birds,” I said.
“Where are you? The beach?”
“I’m driving north on the turnpike.”
“And I’m going back to sleep,” Burrell said “Now stay off the case.”
Burrell hung up on me before I could reply. I weighed calling her back, but decided there was no point. Her mind was made up. The Pompano Beach exit was in my headlights, and I dug the change for the toll out of my pocket.
The Pompano Beach landfill was the largest in south Florida, and was where garbage from Broward and Palm Beach Counties was brought to be buried. It was one of the few areas of the county not at sea level, and the man-made hills of garbage towered over many office buildings in town, and were covered in grass that was country-club green. During the day, thousands of birds feasted on the garbage, then flew back to their nests when the sun went down.
I drove down a gravel road and parked in front of the gate. I had been to the landfill many times as a cop. It was the last stop when I was looking for a missing person who might be dead. I was hoping an employee would remember me, and I wouldn’t have to lie through my teeth to get in.
The guardhouse door opened, and a white-haired guard emerged. Although he was older, the starched white shirt and necktie told me he took his job seriously.
The guard came over to my window, and shone a flashlight into my face. “What can I do for you?”
“I’m Jack Carpenter,” I said. “I don’t know if you remember me. I used to run the Broward County Sheriff’s Department’s Missing Persons unit.”
“Didn’t your daughter play basketball?” the guard asked.
“You’ve got a good memory. She’s now at Florida State on a full scholarship.”
“Jessica Carpenter.”
I smiled and nodded.
“You must be very proud of her,” the guard said. “What can I do for you?”
“I’m working with the Broward police on a missing kid’s case,” I said. “I was wondering if I could come inside, and have a look around.”
“There’s a lot of garbage back there. What are you looking for?”
“Commercial garbage from Davie. It’s from a supermarket.”
“That would be section P. If you’d like, I can draw you a map.”
“That would be great.”
The guard drew me a map on a sheet of paper. The landfill was divided into sections that were identified by letters of the alphabet. Going into the guardhouse, he hit a switch, and the gate slid back. I waved to him and drove inside.
Following the guard’s map, I drove down a bumpy dirt road that cut between the hills. It was pitch dark, and my car lurched uncertainly every few feet. There were no other people back here, and I found myself petting Buster as I drove.
Soon I came to a wood sign that read “Section P.” The area was in the process of being filled, and several unfinished mountains of garbage stood in front of me. I grabbed my flashlight from the glove compartment, and got out with my dog.
Landfill excavation was a vital part of homicide investigations, and excavation teams used metal detectors, ground-penetrating radar, and Forward-Looking Infrared (FLIR) technology to look for clues. When it came to looking for bodies, they also used dogs.
I led Buster to the freshest hill, and let him loose. He spent a minute peeing on everything in sight, then scurried up the side of the hill. I followed cautiously, my feet slipping on the mushy ground.
Reaching the top, my dog began to run in circles, having a field day with all the strange and wonderful smells. Then, he disappeared, and for a scary moment I thought he’d fallen down a hole.
Hearing his panting, I followed him down the other side of the hill. He was running fast, and I struggled to catch up. He ran straight to an older hill covered in grass, and went halfway up the side. Then he began digging with his front paws.
“What you got, boy?”
His digging turned frantic. Buster was the kind of dog that would do something until you stopped him, or it killed him. I ran back to my car and popped the trunk. I needed something to help him dig. All I found was a tire iron.
I drove back to the front gate, and found the guard sitting inside the guardhouse, reading a novel. He took off his glasses, and came outside.
“I need to borrow a shovel,” I said.
“You want some help?” he asked.
I should have said yes-another pair of hands would have made my task a lot easier-but I was afraid of getting anyone else involved. I wasn’t supposed to be here, and the fewer people who knew what I was doing, the better.
“No, but thanks anyway,” I said.
I drove back to section P. Buster was still at it, and I plunged my borrowed shovel into the hill, and began to help.
There is no more difficult labor than digging a hole. Soon, sweat was pouring down my face, and I could barely see. I stopped to wipe the sweat away, and looked to the east. The sky was lightening, and I could feel the air beginning to warm up.
I went back to work, and pulled out the plastic bags buried in the earth, and sliced them open with the blade of my shovel. The smell they emitted was disgusting. Each time I inhaled, it felt as if a hole was being eaten into my brain. But I didn’t stop.
Nor did my dog. Buster had locked onto a scent, and each time a bag came out of the hill, he stopped what he was doing to sniff the contents. It was hard to say who was more driven, him or me.
I was still digging when the sun came up. My shoulders were aching, my breathing labored. There was garbage strewn all around me, and the gulls had swooped down from the sky, and were picking at it.
I was beginning to think I’d made a mistake. I had pulled a huge portion of the hill apart, and there were no other bodies hidden in the garbage. Then I heard a car backfire, and saw a pickup truck pull up to the hill.
Four Mexicans jumped out, shovels in hand. They wore bandannas on their heads, and had smiles on their faces. I spoke to them in Spanish, and learned that the guard had sent them. I told them what I was looking for, and their smiles disappeared.
Together, we dug for another hour and a half, and took the hill apart. By now my muscles were screaming, and my mind was telling me to quit. I went and leaned against the pickup truck, and one of the Mexicans came over to see what was wrong.
“This is no good,” I said.
My shovel was lying on the ground. He picked it up, and tried to give it to me. I didn’t understand the gesture, and he pointed at the sky.
“Look,” he said.
I shielded my eyes with my hand, and stared upward. Hundreds of gulls were circling overhead, forming a cyclone of white.
“So what?” I asked him.
The Mexican pointed directly overhead. I had to squint, but finally saw it. A large black bird among the gulls, looking down at us.
“What is that?” I asked.
“Vulture,” the Mexican said.
I took the shovel from his hands, and went back to work. Forty-five minutes later, we discovered the first body.