When the started pumping the lake they decided to put screens across the pools to sift for debris. After about two hours of pumping, they hear a yell to stop. The hose was clogged. Pulling the hose from the water there half in and half out was a dismembered arm. You could see the chainsaw marks on the bone. The agent in charge looks at everyone and calls them over.
" We need to stop for just a little while to look through the screens and make sure the hoses are clear. I know we are using the larger hoses so more goes in. With find body parts we need to check the screens for bone or tissue fragments anything that might identify or that looks like human remains. After we have cleared the hoses and cleaned the screens we will start again. " he goes over and sits against the tree by the edge of where they cleared the path. His head in his hands. He wonders just how much more are they going to find. How can anyone do so much killing and no one even know he was there. He feels a tap on his shoulder. Looking up he sees one of the young boys that was helping on the pumping.
" sir we can start again but they want to show you what we found. Do you mind if I ask you something?" He sits beside him.
"What is it you want to know?" He looks at the boy.
" Did the hermit do this? He walks these roads as he has nowhere to live. But he actually lives just across the bridge in Maryland. I picked him up one night in an ice storm. I took him to a house in Maryland. We chatted a little bit. He smelled so bad I had to crack my window. He said that he was on his way to work. I asked him where he worked. He works for a mortuary. Mostly at night cleaning. Most of us call him the hermit because he always sits in the bushes out of sight and never talks to anyone. " he just unknowingly gave the agent the very answer he was looking for. The very clue he needs to tie it all up he just now needs Aisling and an exact body count. Putting his hand on the boy's shoulder he thanks him and tells him to let's get back to work. Seeing Terry coming to check on things he waves him over.
"So was Daniel the hermit that most people saw ?" He asks him.
" yes, sir he was someone most just got so used to him blending into the scenery that I guess they just stopped seeing him." Terry looks like he has something to say.
"We found his house in Maryland we have a request to get a search warrant to search it. We did talk to his boss. He said that he worked nights because he wasn't fit to be around the public. They gave him the job because his grandfather used to work for them until he passed. They said he was so very antisocial. Now we are just waiting for the search warrant to see what he has at his house. " seeing the lake being drained and looking at what is coming out terry wonders if they are going to find anything else.
After about a half-day they were down to about half of lake empty. There were bikes and junk in general sticking out of the water. They decide to try to pull some of the junk out to make the draining easier. There was a metal container rather large in size so they called a local construction company to see if the has a small crane or towing winch. Once it arrives they started pulling some of the heaviest junk out. The metal container first.
Opening it they find it's loaded with coins and old civil war guns and ammunition.
" since this has nothing to do with the investigation this will belong to the family. As will all of the other stuff that has nothing to do with our case. Everything is to be logged even if you think it's not important. If anything comes up missing whoever is responsible will be prosecuted. We are here for the purpose of investigating the deaths of the two ladies we pulled out the first day. Also, we are now looking for the rest of the body to the arm we found so even if you think it may be small remember this is private property and anything found not related to our case belongs to someone else." Terry knew that if something wasn't said when they found the coins that things of any value would quietly disappear.
By nightfall, they found four more bodies that had been weighed down to keep them from rising. Three looked like they were around five years according to the medical examiner. One belonged to the arm they found earlier. one of which had very old clothes on parts of the skeleton they hope that they were able to retrieve all pieces. So the lake had a total of six bodies. One of which has nothing to do with this case. They also found lots of gold and silver jewelry as well as gold and silver coins. The lead agent had two of his agents take out everything not related to this case and have them locked inside of a portable storage container. The rest was being sent to be examined. The health department water Analysis showed that the water had been contaminated with oil and gas. Most likely from the three motorbikes they found. Other than that nothing that could harm anyone. So they suggested to let the water run through a filtration system for about a week then it will be safe to return to the lake. He will talk to the commander about that when he goes by the house to talk about Aisling.