So, it’s the 20th. Two-thirds through the month on November, so the word count should be 33,333 today and I’m at 33,356. Right on track. Here’s more of the shit happening now over at the Sheriff’s Department:

“So, Joe, would you be surprised if I told you that we are trying to identify some human remains that were found up in forest above the Wishkah River?”, the deputy started.

“Well, I heard something about it in the paper. I’d be really surprised if I could be of any help to you in that process”, Joe replied.

“That’s the strange thing Joe, you just might have some information. You were arrested a few years back on a D&D, when your fingerprints and DNA were collected for our database. I know that you have served your sentence, some community service, and you’ve been a good citizen ever since. Is that about right?”

“Well, yes. I’ve tried to stay on the straight and narrow since then. I’ve cut way back on my drinking, and I’ve been busy working and trying to fix that old building we bought.”, Joe said, squirming a bit, since he knew that Denton was going to drop some kind of bomb on him.

“Interestingly enough, your DNA came up in a kinship match to one of the sets of hands that were found. Has any one in your family gone missing recently?”

“Whoa, wait a minute. My DNA was on a set of hands? One of the sets of hands? How many were there? I’ve only ever had two hands and there both right here!”, Joe shouted holding his hands up over his head.

“Joe, take a breath. Put your hands down, I can see that yours are still attached. We did not find your DNA. The DNA of the remains flagged your DNA profile while we were searching for relatives. It was a partial match and since it was a female, we think it would be a niece of yours. Ring any bells?”

“I have four nieces, used to have five, but Diane died a couple of years ago, in a car accident.”

“Diane. OK. Where was the accident?”, Denton asked, writing the details down.

“Right here in town. She was the passenger in a car that was racing on the road to Ocean Shores. They hit a tree and all four kids died at the scene.”

“So this was your brother’s girl?”

“Yes, my brother Stuart’s oldest daughter, Diane.”

“And was she buried here in town?”

“No, she was cremated. They spread her ashes over in Central Park where she rode horses. She loved horses, like a lot of teenage girls.”

“Cremated. No exhumation possible then. Does it seem weird that we might find her hands?”

“Uh, yeah. That’s pretty fuckin’ weird.”

“Wait here a minute, OK?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“No, but I thought I’d ask.”