Cherry first 20 pages

RS Perry’s Cherry  And Her Chimera 

  Copyright © 2026 All Rights Reserved Published by Penelope Ltd

 

‘I am a chimera. Not the fire-breathing, lion-headed, goat-tailed

kind, but the biological kind. Jim says I have two sets of DNA.

It’s like I absorbed a twin in the womb.’

CHERRY MARIA TSHUI ESPIRITU 2002

PROLOGUE

A sperm wiggles into an egg, leaving you no choice about

who you will become.

‘Sí, es verdad,’ I whisper to the breeze.

She continued her thought, where and how you are brought

up can mold you, but your biology—your genes—are there

whether you like it or not. That should be true, except Jim

wasn’t convinced. He was a scientist, and without regard to

whether or not I understood, he bombarded me with names and

terms. In this case, Lamarck.

Jim suspected that not all evolution strictly adhered to

Darwin’s rules. He spoke about how the environment influences

your genes, epigenetics, and in some cases, can trigger changes

in your DNA. His words wove through my mind like a silken

thread, pulling at the fabric of my understanding and exposing

the raw and uncertain truth of evolution and the unpredictable

path that had led me here.

Some of these conversations happened before I fully realized

what had long lingered in my subconscious: I was uneducated,

not unintelligent. Born a girl in the isolated hills of Colombia, I

lived in a world where women were valued for one purpose

alone, and that purpose did not involve thinking. This was espe-

cially true if you carried the genes that made me curvaceous, a

trait that functioned as both a blessing and a curse.

It’s curious that I don’t mind letting my mind wander back

to that early life, but for some reason, I really don’t. Not that it

wasn’t disgusting, even abhorrent, but perhaps the distance has

finally made it safe to look back. I have traveled far from that

dirt, both in mind and in miles, to where my body now touches

the soil of Coyote Ridge in northeastern Washington State.

No matter how hard I try, I don’t remember the day of my

birth, nor the months that followed. My first memory is sitting

on the ground playing with stones, or bugs, or twigs. Then there

were wood fires and stars, the occasional tapir, birds, reptiles,

creatures that ended up on the dinner table when they ventured

too close. There was a mangy brown dog. I remember loving

that dog. And there are vague memories that I once had a

mother.

My mother has no name in those fragmented memories. If

she did, it has faded from my mind. She was just the woman

who fed me when there was food and the one who sheltered me

from the rain. She was a shadow in a world of shadows, a ghost

in a storm. She disappeared one night when the moon was

nothing but a sliver in the sky. I woke up, and the warmth of her

was gone, replaced by the cold, damp earth. I do not know if she

left of her own accord or if the mountains or jungle took her. In

Colombia, the hills and rainforests are always hungry.

Jim says memory is a deceptive thing. It is like a sunset that

fades and changes every time you look at it. He tells me that my

genes hold memories too, deeper and older than anything my

mind can recall. He calls it my biological memory. I call it being

haunted.

Where my story really begins is not with the misty remem-

brances of a child or the more vivid memories of my preteen

years. Those early days were unremarkable, neither particularly

good nor bad. Just the usual. We had little, and I didn’t miss

what I didn’t know existed: no TV, no radio, no magazines, or

books.

Everything shifted when I turned twelve. With no mother, no

sisters, no brothers, I was left alone with my father. He was not

the kind of man a developing girl should ever be left with. I

remember few women in those early years, which made Jim’s

question echo louder: Was it my genes that defined who I am?

Or the environment that shaped me? Or was it both?

 

CHAPTER 1

 

I try to relax. It happens sometimes. A moment here and there where

I let my guard down, and peace seeps in. A sense of ease has

washed over me, perhaps for one of the few times I can remember. I

have always been resilient, despite my upbringing, and to others I may

appear easygoing. However, beneath this calm exterior there has

always been a restlessness and unease. But today, reclining on Coyote

Ridge, the inner jitter is absent, replaced by the soothing warmth of a

late spring sun. Will it last? I ask myself, knowing that won’t, even in

this place, which is a far cry from the hills and forests of my youth.

Here, the air is sharp and smells of pine needles and sage. It is clean

and crisp. It doesn’t smell like wood smoke, sweat, and dying things.

 

This was the canyon, Wolf Canyon, that Cherry had heard about

for so long from her friend, Maria Dakine, and Jim’s adopted

son, Pedro, when they were together at the FARC guerrilla camp

in Colombia. Now it stretched below where she lay absorbing

the sun. The green grass, nourished by the snowmelt and spring

rain, covered the slopes. The canyon formed an oversized,

downward-sloping arch. Patches of snow lingered to her right at

the head of the canyon and high up on Wolf Mountain. Down

below her, the large main barn appeared like a miniature toy

building set onto the landscape. Appearing even smaller, higher

up in the canyon between the large barn and Wolf Mountain,

was the house, and behind it sat a less formidable barn.

Only feet below her, in a small, shallow hollow, shielded

from the western sun, a tenuous, glistening patch of crystalline

pink snow clung to its past winter’s cold—Heather’s “water-

melon snow,” and finally her “blood snow.” Snow was a novelty

for Cherry, something she had never seen before but had only

heard about from Jim and Pedro. A red snow algae, Chlamy-

domonas, a scientific name Cherry had learned from Jim,

bloomed in the spring sun, transforming pristine white drifts

into patches of delicate pink and red as ice crystals surrendered

to the warmth.

Across the canyon, No-Name Ridge, Jim’s somewhat ironic

label, stretched lower than her current perch. Bathed in the

southwestern sun, all patches of winter snow had been replaced

by blue bunchgrass, fragrant gray-green sage, and the yellow

blossoms of the balsamroot. Few trees survived on those hot,

sun-exposed slopes. With less direct sun on the canyon sides

below her, small Ponderosa pines swayed in the late morning

breeze. Though sheltered from the worst of the summer’s sun,

the trees still struggled. At the head of the canyon along the

flanks of Wolf Mountain, the story was different: Ponderosa

pines stood like sentinels, their thick trunks and green needles

thriving where the scorching summer sun could not reach them.

For them, the danger was not the environment; their future

depended on humans with saws.

Cherry looked up from the canyon into the cerulean-blue

sky. It was expansive. Like her childhood mountain home, but

so different from where she had spent much of her adult life in

the dense growth of the Colombian rainforest and the Amazon

basin. She looked to her left, where the canyon descended to

Beaver Creek. The creek and Beaver Creek Road were blocked

from her view, hidden by a mound of alluvial sand deposited

over the ages on the sides of Beaver Creek. A small smile crept

to her lips as she looked west to the high mountains of the still

snow-covered Cascades.

As Cherry soaked in the sun, her golden-bronze skin glowed

against her inky-black hair, nearly cascading to her shoulders in

stark contrast to her previous cropped style. The sun’s warmth

enveloped her, seeping into her black T-shirt adorned with the

Wolf Canyon Ranch crest over her heart. Her dark shorts were

loose, reminiscent of the fatigues she once wore as a guerrilla

fighter, and she felt almost exposed without the crossed

bandoliers, which had both accentuated her figure and served as

a warning to those who dared approach to close. Is this a new

me? Or am I merely mirroring my new surroundings? she

wondered.

Since arriving, she had seen many photos of Heather, Jim’s

partner, who had been murdered here by Jim’s nemesis, Najma.

Cherry sometimes imagined that Jim would take her as his new

partner. It was an impossible dream that the steely-blue-eyed

man would want her. Still, she allowed her imagination to

kindle a hope that it could be so. If my life has changed as much as

it has, why could this not happen?

Heather had long blonde-brown hair, and in the photos, she

always smiled, looking tall, fresh, and free in T-shirts and shorts.

Cherry, by letting her hair grow and wearing the cotton T’s, as

she had learned to call them, adopted what she imagined Jim

liked in Heather. Jim had found Heather physically attractive,

but that was only a small part of their attraction to each

other. Underneath, Cherry understood Jim cared for her—the

untamed guerilla—but not in the way she wanted, not in the

same way he had been attracted to Heather.

I have a life that I never imagined I would have. Jim would make it

complete, she thought.

She brushed back her hair with a swipe of her hand. Her

nearly black eyes grew tight as she knew that her desires for

the tall American would never be fulfilled. Then she slid back

to the beauty that surrounded her, the friends she had made,

even the Old Man of the Woods, Tom Shuskin, and especially

Lola.

It is good that Jim, too, has been a friend to me, and he is a better

one than I ever thought I would have.

A small wisp of cotton-white appeared on the horizon. She

caressed a yellow balsam flower and watched an ant struggling

with a heavy load as it negotiated its way to its home. Her

thoughts returned to how lucky she was to be sitting on this

ridge. She had a home.

It was nearly lunchtime when she stood. It was an easy walk

down the ridge on a cow path as the canyon rose to meet the

trail. Sitting on the opposite side of the canyon, separated by a

gully from her, were her friends: the house where Lola, the

refugee Yaqui Indian, the shy old man of the woods, Shuskin,

the teenager Ben, the adopted Pedro, and his ever-present

companion Rosie would be getting ready for lunch on the deck

outside the ranch house. They were part of a family as eclectic as

could be imagined here in the western states.

Back in Colombia, makeshift families had been common,

guerrillas bonded by shared loss rather than blood. But even by

those standards, the Wolf Canyon household defied categoriza-

tion. The shy old man and former transient, Tom Shuskin, who’d

once lived in the woods and on the streets of Seattle, now had a

cabin to call home; Pedro, the seven-year-old rescued only a

year ago from a Mexican cartel and then adopted by Heather

and Jim, was quickly learning English while going to school and

tending the exotic ranch animals; Ben, the ranch teenager who’d

been unofficially adopted by an ex-ranch hand, Craig, who had

also been murdered by Najma, as had Heather; Lola, the Yaqui

Indian cartel maid, rescued trying to save Pedro; and Jim John-

son, PhD, military colonel, and deputy director of a classified

research facility.

After they finished lunch, the boy, the teenager, and the old man

decided to drive to the old western town of Winthrop to visit its

famous multi-flavored ice cream shop. As they were getting

ready to leave, the cell phone Jim had given Cherry chirped. She

smiled as she hoped it would be Jim calling.

‘Hola.’ Then a frown crossed her face as an unfamiliar voice

said, ‘Is this Cherry?’

‘Sí.’

‘Doctor Johnson, a while back, gave me this number and said

to call if I needed help. My name is Jonathan Wright. I’m calling

because I am having trouble with a newborn fallow deer. It’s not

nursing. I’m afraid I will lose her, and I’m at my wits’ end

worrying. She is very lethargic.’

‘New word this, this ‘lethargic’. What is meaning?’ asked

Cherry.

‘I know the word lethargic,’ piped in Pedro.

‘Ah,’ said Wright, ‘her movements are very slow. She has no

energy.’

‘Okay. You talk to Ben.’

‘What can I help you with?’ asked Ben.

‘I was hoping you could look at my baby fawn. I’m afraid

she is going to die. Do you think you could help? I don’t know

what I would do if she died.’

‘Sure,’ said Ben, feeling a surge of pride that he was being

asked. ‘Glad to. We were going to go out to Winthrop in a few

minutes. We’ll drive down to your place first.’

‘If you are sure it’s no trouble, I’d be very grateful.’

‘No problem. I hope we can help. See you in maybe forty

minutes or so.’

‘I hear,’ said Pedro. ‘It fun to help with baby. Can we take

Rosie?’

‘She is much happier staying here,’ said Cherry.

‘She doesn’t like cars,’ said Ben. ‘And the truck is far worse

to ride in, especially with the four of us squeezed in the seat.’

She’ll be better off staying here, like Cherry said.’

 

CHAPTER 2

 

I have been here nearly six months. Today, I go farther from the

ranch than I have since I arrived. Just a few miles, nothing more.

Yet, when I was in Colombia, I wanted to travel to new places. Here in

my new home, I cling to the place, taking in its sense of safety. It is a

new feeling I try to fully accept. Still, sometimes I cannot help but look

for hidden dangers. The guerrilla in me refuses to die; a caution that

lives in my marrow, a ghost I cannot exorcise.

 

The battered green Dodge pickup descended the gravel ranch

road toward Beaver Creek. Ben, the only licensed driver of the

four, planned to follow Beaver Creek Road east to the Methow

River and then down the main highway to Wright’s farm.

Ben’s elbow pushed into Cherry’s ribs as he downshifted on

the gravel ranch road. ‘Sorry, sorry.’

‘Está bien,’ Cherry replied, shifting closer to Pedro, who was

already pressed against Old Man Shuskin.

Shuskin didn’t complain. He was comfortable next to his

friend, Pedro, but he still tried to make himself smaller, his

shoulder pushed against the door.

Pedro reached over Shuskin and pushed the door lock down.

He giggled, ‘I no want you to fall out, Tom.’

Shuskin rarely smiled, but when he did, it revealed teeth that

Heather’s dentist friend in Twisp had volunteered to repair.

Having someone who worried about him made him feel good,

both back then and now with the boy.

As they neared the base of the road, where a small wooden

bridge crossed Wolf Canyon Creek, Pedro looked to the right.

He avoided looking left toward the glade—Jim and Heather’s

Secret Meadow—where his adopted mother, Heather, had been

murdered while he was forced to watch. They passed the over-

grown, knotty old apple tree planted years ago by homestead-

ers. The memory of the past winter flashed through Pedro’s

mind; he remembered his mother showing Tom and him the

rare, fragile ice apples clinging to the tree. The old man’s mouth

sagged as he remembered, too.

The old feed truck bounced along the Methow Valley Highway,

heading east to Wright’s ranch.

‘We save the fawn like we did Tinker,’ said Pedro.

‘Yep, we do what we can,’ answered Ben, ‘but a newborn

baby might be harder. It must have a will to survive. Tinker was

older when you rescued her from the cougar. Don’t get your

hopes up.’

Worry crossed Pedro’s young face. ‘We save her. I certain.’

‘That’s why the man called us,’ Ben replied, both hands on

the wheel, sitting up straight as he had been instructed in his

driver’s training. At seventeen, he’d had his license for only six

months, which he obtained the day Cherry arrived. ‘Cherry

knows about animals, too. And you’re good with the babies,

Pedro.’ Then he looked over at the silent Shuskin and said, ‘You

too, Tom. You’re gettin pretty good with the animals. We’ll be a

good team.’

Pedro smiled at that. Caring for the ranch animals had

become his anchor since their return from South America after

Heather’s death. Blue Suede Shoes, the baby llama, followed

him everywhere around the barn or when he was in her field.

Tinker, the rescued mule deer, slept outside his window. Even

Rosie O’ Twisp, who’d been Heather’s dog first, had transferred

her loyalty to the boy. Pedro needed them, and they needed the

boy. All orphans.

Cherry watched the valley roll past, the Methow River

glinting through the cottonwoods, the sage sprawling across the

benchland; the mountains rising on the west side like a protec-

tive wall. After the months at Wolf Canyon Ranch, she was still

getting used to this: casual drives into town instead of always

walking as in her past, this time down the valley to help with a

sick fawn, and then to get ice cream without fear of a govern-

ment ambush, debates about exotic animals she had never

encountered before: reindeer, llamas, alpacas, peacocks, and the

easy camaraderie of Ben, Lola, Shuskin, and Pedro, who were no

longer running to or from anything.

Is this really my home? I think I am happy being here. I want

to be, but … I was always nerviosa, agitada, restless in Colombia.

I thought it was the place, the country, but now I am beginning

to understand that it is an affliction. The travel books that Jim

brought me so that I could mentally explore the world magni-

fied the urge in me to be somewhere else. Among the many

books were a few travel novels: “Travels with Charley” by John

Steinbeck was exactly right when he said it was a disease “…the

virus of restlessness begins to take possession of a wayward

man …” Of course, in my case, a wayward woman. Perhaps it

was because I had never had a real home and would feel this

restless urge wherever I was, even here.

‘Cherry Bomb?’ Pedro whispered while touching her arm.

She turned and punched him on the shoulder.

‘No my name,’ she replied softly. ‘Who you hear that from?’

‘Here what from?’ asked Ben. The noisy old truck prevented

him from hearing their low conversation.

‘Nothing,’ said Cherry.

‘Doctor Maria called Dad, and I hear someone there call you

that in Colombia,’ Pedro said.

Cherry felt an immediate sadness at the mention of Dr. Maria

Dakine. Her close friend had been killed by a terrorist. And not

in Colombia, but here in the U.S.

‘Pedro,’ she said, ‘You no call me Cherry Bomb, little one. I …

I no like.’

‘I no little,’ he said through pursed lips.

‘Okay,’ she said, ‘I no call you little, and you do not call me

that.’ Cherry thought she should correct his English, his

Spanglish, but decided first she needed to perfect her own,

something she spent much time working on and was still

finding very difficult. Pedro, she reasoned, would automati-

cally absorb the correct usage in his school. And then there is

Ben and his weird western lingo, she thought. I hope Pedro does not

adapt that.

‘Sí, está bien,’ said Pedro. ‘But how you get that name, you

blow up somebody?’

‘What are you two palavering about?’

Cherry did not have a chance to answer before Ben slowed

the truck.

‘Uh, guys? What’s going on?’

Ahead, flashing lights strobed blue across the pavement. Two

sheriff’s vehicles, an ambulance, and a few civilian cars were

pulled off on the shoulder near the river access across from

Bedders Orchards.

‘Accidente,’ Pedro said, leaning forward, looking ahead. ‘Sí,

posiblemente.’

‘Maybe,’ said Ben. ‘Should we pull over … I mean, should we

stop?’

‘Someone might need help,’ Pedro said.

Ben pulled the truck to a stop behind the sheriff’s car.

‘Maybe I should… I mean, we should ask if they need

anything?’ It came out as a question. Ben looked at Cherry.

‘Right?’

‘Pedro, you stay in the truck,’ Cherry said, climbing out

behind Ben.

‘But …’

‘Stay with Grankin.’ Her tone left no room for argument.

Shuskin pressed himself further into the corner of the cab,

his lined face tight with old fears.

‘Why they scare you, Tom?’

The old man might not have answered anyone else, but it

was Pedro who was asking.

‘Bad things happen to me when cops are around.’

‘Is okay, Tom. I protect you.’

Ben and Cherry approached the scene side by side. Ben

stretched his gangly legs into what he hoped looked like a man’s

confident stride. Cherry moved with the quiet caution of

someone who had learned to approach authority carefully. She

understood intuitively that it was good to have Ben with her,

someone who belonged.

Cherry slowed and looked behind her; an ambulance

blocked the single-lane turnout. She scanned the scene, counting

two sheriff’s cars, their old truck parked behind, one ambulance,

and a white van marked ‘Okanogan Medical Examiner.’ Cherry

walked faster to catch up with Ben.

A tall, lanky man stood at the river’s edge just below the

road embankment. Ben immediately recognized him as the sher-

iff. The Methow River ran strong here, fed by the early spring

snowmelt, curving past Bedders Orchards on the far bank. A

body lay in the shallows of the gravel bank.

Cherry caught a scent as Ben slowed; it made her stomach

tighten with old, familiar memories: the faint smell of death,

mixed with the spring breeze and the sage.

They stopped walking; Ben’s face went pale.

‘Oh, shit,’ he whispered. ‘Is that … is that a person?’

 

CHAPTER 3

 

I have found sanctuary here in this hidden corner of Washington

State. Wolf Canyon Ranch cradles me among its creatures: the

llamas with their curious eyes; Tinker, the mule deer fawn, who

nuzzles my palm for treats; and Junior Junior the peacock, who

announces my presence with indignant calls. After years of violence, I

breathe freely here. I have discovered friendship. Safety. Dreams of him,

who has awakened possibilities I never permitted myself to imagine.

But now those illusions are shattered. This new world holds more than

my small circle. It harbors secrets. For the first time, I am finding that

others exist in this valley, as does death.

 

Sheriff Brennan looked up from the riverbank, irritation crossing

his face when he saw them. ‘This is a crime scene. You need to

move along.’

‘We … we were just driving past,’ stammered Ben. ‘Is every-

thing okay? … can we help out, or …?’

‘No. Head on to wherever you’re going.’ Brennan’s voice

was firm but not unkind. He recognized Ben; most people in the

valley knew each other, and this young man worked for Colonel

Johnson. ‘Nothing for you to see here, son.’

His deputy, Rick, was taking photographs from different

angles at Sheriff Brennan’s request. He was trying to avoid

getting his boots in the water, while at the same time, he

avoided walking on the shore closest to where the body lay.

Another man, older, the county medical examiner by his jacket,

stood on the bank, shaking his head. Two others from the coun-

ty’s forensic lab were on their hands and knees inspecting the

ground next to the bank, with one taking photos and the other

making casts of shoe and boot prints.

‘Okay, deputy, I think you have enough photos from the

bank,’ said the ME, Dr. Patterson. ‘I need to inspect the body, get

my guys to take photos, and then get her over to the bank as

soon as they are finished with the footprint casts,’ pointing at

the two men. ‘They have my photos, so if you want more for the

sheriff, now is the time.’

Rick scowled, not wanting to wade in the icy water.

‘The medical examiner said, ‘All right, deputy, go downriver

a few yards, stay there and out of the way until my guys get

their photos, and I need to examine her in situ as well. Then

wade in, get your feet wet, and help us move her to the bank.’

‘Examiner in what?’ asked Rick confused by what the ME

wanted to examine her in.’

The medical examiner didn’t answer and walked into the

shallow water toward the body.

Cherry looked at the raging river, separated from the bank

by several yards of rounded rocks nestled in sand where the

river had run wild during the spring thaw and had now

retreated.

The medical examiner knelt in the water beside the body. ‘It’s

been here for a long spell,’ he said, gently turning her wrist.

‘Past rigor mortis, in this cold water, but something isn’t right,’

he mumbled. ‘Lividity isn’t right.’ Then he said louder, with

more authority, ‘She might not have died in the river.’ He

glanced at the current, then back at the body. ‘Hard to tell.

Perhaps there was a surge in the water, and she just washed up

here. Can’t see it, though. I’ll get her temperature when we get

her on shore. The river water is forty-seven degrees,’ he said into

a small recorder. ‘Difficult to account for the time of death with

this cold water and not knowing if she was in the water and

washed up here or not. Whenever you think you’re ready,

deputy, you might get your feet wet and come over here to

help.’

Sheriff Brennan noticed Cherry standing slightly behind Ben,

her eyes fixed not on the body but on the river itself, studying

the current, the distance from Bedders Orchards, with an inten-

sity that made him uncomfortable.

‘Miss, this really isn’t a place for sightseeing. You and Ben

best move along like I said.’

‘Why here?’ Cherry’s voice was quiet, almost to herself.

‘Excuse me?’ Brennan asked.

She looked over, realizing she had spoken loud enough for

the sheriff to hear. ‘Okay, we go now.’

‘Wait,’ Brennan’s cop instincts kicked in. ‘Why here, what?

You said something?’

Cherry hesitated. Ben shifted nervously beside her, clearly

wanting to retreat to the truck but not wanting to abandon her.

‘The river,’ Cherry said, pausing while thinking it through.

‘It is the wrong place to kill yourself,’ she continued, nodding,

affirming her thoughts. ‘The river is not deep here. It is very

shallow for twenty or thirty feet from the edge. Someone who

wants to drown; they go to deeper water.’ Cherry was trying

hard to say things correctly. ‘And if someone put her here …’

Cherry shook her head. ‘Why here, where she could be seen

from the orchard?’

‘Put her here?’ Brennan’s voice sharpened. ‘Who said

anything about her being put here?’ Brennan exchanged a

glance with his deputy. ‘Maybe she fell in right here. Or maybe

further up. Or knocked her head.’

But Cherry’s tone suggested she wasn’t buying it. She

sensed, but did not know why, that something did not add up.

She continued her thought, speaking softly, ‘Why this side of the

river? Maybe the woman is not from the orchard.’

‘Possible.’ The sheriff’s voice had an edge, part curiosity, part

suspicion. ‘What makes you think that?’

‘I do not know. It is my feeling.’ And then she continued, ‘too

shallow along this edge. Maybe she comes down to the river and

slips or trips. Could be, but it does not feel right.’

She looked toward the truck. She could see Shuskin hunched

down, trying to be invisible. Pedro’s face pressed against the

window, watching.

Cherry turned back and met his brown eyes with her nearly

black eyes. The medical examiner said, ‘It’s plausible the body

was moved here. If she did not drown, … it’s probable she was

put here.’

‘Question is why here? This is close to the road and can be

seen from the Orchard side. Why not further down, where she

would not be found for days, or maybe weeks? Unless someone

wants her found?’

‘It’s easy to get here because it’s close to the road,’ suggested

Rick while he sloshed his way toward the medical examiner and

the body.

The sheriff’s jaw tightened. This dark-skinned woman was

creating a fairy tale a mile a minute. He was about to order them

off when Ben found his voice.

Ben glanced at Cherry, then back at the sheriff. ‘We’ll just …

we’ll just go.’

‘Sheriff, she has a tattoo,’ said the medical examiner,

squinting at her arm. ‘It’s under her watch, and I don’t under-

stand what it says. And on the other arm, she has a tan line. A

missing band or bracelet, maybe? Could be nothing, but it looks …