Chapter One - Richard Lewis

"What is it?" Tina asked.
"Forgive me, but why are you investigating this?"
"For myself. I need to know what happened."
Dr. Ningsih studied the serene face of Vishnu. "The Communist were so close to
taking over. If they had, I wouldn't be here. My parents were anti-Communists—they'd
be dead, their bones buried somewhere. Thank God for Soeharto. People sometimes
forget he saved this country."
Tina choose her words carefully. "We can only judge what actually happened,
not what could have happened. Surely these murders were wrong?"
Dr. Ningsih sighed and touched her cross. "One set of cervical vertebrae showed
evidence of trauma. Cuts and nicks. As might happen with a decapitation."
Tina let out a long breath.
"Determining the sex of skeletons is not automatic, but I have enough experience
to know my bones. All the victims were female. There were no artifacts. Not even shreds
of clothing. I believe they were stripped naked before they were brought to the site and
killed." She fell quiet again, a deeper and heavier silence.
"Yes?" Tina prompted.
"I recovered several infant bones. Most likely a fetus. It is impossible to be
certain, but I am inclined to say one of the victims was a pregnant woman near term. A
mother would have hid her newborn with friends or family."
"Oh, dear Lord," Tina whispered.
"I kept the baby's bones for a private burial," the archeologist said. "One of God's
pure ones. It was the least I could do."
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