Dana turned on the local radio station. They listened as the host played two pieces of music and then talked about the murders in the wilderness. Feeling uneasy, Tessa heard how the announcer summarized everything that was already known to the public. Fran’s visit to Whatou Lake on Monday was mentioned, and also that she had previously lived as a foster child with the Griffins family.
Then the host started talking about the jacket at Whitesand Bay. The police were only going to give information about that in the afternoon, he announced. Tessa’s stomach tightened. Jenny Dole’s father was asked about it. Dana turned up the volume. “I found the jacket by the cross I put up for our poor daughter,” Dole said. “Right away I had the feeling that it was Fran Miller’s jacket. There were dark spots on it. I thought, that has to be her blood. I packed up the jacket and drove back. Now the police are examining it. That is a sad place, I can tell you. So many bad things have happened since Jenny lost her life. I don’t know what Fran Miller might have been doing there, but I don’t believe that she will be found alive. The way the jacket looked. Whitesand Bay has become a place of death. Maybe it’s time somebody paid for Jenny’s killing.”
The announcer did not comment on Hogan’s words and continued with other news of the day. Dana turned the volume down.
“He’s really lost his mind,” Tessa said. “This stinks to high heaven.” Dana didn’t say anything. Tessa kept talking. “First of all, he doesn’t know if it’s really Fran’s jacket. Second, if it turns out to be an important piece of evidence and Hogan picks it up and brings it to the police, he has contaminated it. He should have left it there, untouched. If you ask me, I suspect he actually put it there, in order to once again remind everyone of Jenny’s death.” She was shaking with anger. “And he did it because he knows I’m in Whatou Lake; it gave him a good chance to take another whack at me.” And especially at Tsaytis Chelin, she added in her thoughts.
They turned off the highway onto a gravel road full of potholes. A sign warned them: Forestry Road. Use at your own risk. They drove on deeper into the wilderness. The forest swallowed them up. It had become dark inside the car. Gigantic trees rose on both sides of the dirt road. Behind them, a jungle flourished. Ferns on the ground, decaying tree stumps, moss-covered cedars, low-lying salal, a straggling, humid, decomposing habitat with hardly any sunlight. The trip to Fran’s house was long and difficult. It took at least two hours on the curvy gravel road that meandered uphill and downhill, with endless potholes everywhere. Tessa understood why Fran didn’t often make the trip to Whatou Lake.
Dana agreed with Tessa on Hogan. “He’ll certainly talk the RCMP’s ears off with this baloney about who’s responsible for Jenny’s death. The police may very well ask you some questions about it. What are you going to say to them?”
“I’ll tell them the same thing I told the police before.” Tessa pushed back the car seat and stretched her legs. “We heard screams, but we didn’t see anything. We didn’t know if they came from a human or an animal. We had no idea Jenny had driven out to Whitesand Bay on that day. There was nothing we could have done.”
Dana tried to locate the truckers’ channel on the radio to find out if any trucks were headed their way on the forestry road. Nobody wanted to encounter one of those beasts by surprise. From time to time, cars were involved in horrible accidents with them. Dana was an experienced driver, but on the bumpy road, the pickup jostled. She continued to look at the rearview mirror to make sure the ropes keeping the ATV in place were still holding. They progressed slowly.
Suddenly she jammed on the brakes, and her truck slid to a halt. ”What the hell?” she exclaimed.
A dark pickup had shot out of the woods and just missed them by a hair. Without slowing down, the driver fled in the direction of Whatou Lake.
“What an idiot,” Dana screamed. “He could’ve killed us!”
She looked at Tessa, who was shocked at the thought of what could have happened.
“Did you recognize the driver?”
“No, how could I while I . . .”
Dana opened the door. “Where did it come from? There’s no side road going in there.” She got out. Tessa hesitated for a second before following her.
They saw a path in the underbrush. Tire tracks in the wet earth. They had only walked about thirty steps when they discovered wet patches on the ground.
Dana whispered: “Where did all this blood come from?”
14
Tessa suddenly felt cold. Her pistol was in her rucksack in Dana’s pickup.
“Look over here!” Dana pointed at a bundle of hair on the ground. She kneeled down to get a better look at it. “An animal. Looks like a bear.”
“A poacher?” Tessa moved back a bit. “I really can’t see any identifying track marks.“
Dana got up and crossed her arms. “Dark pickup trucks are a dime a dozen around here. It’s too bad we didn’t see the license plate.”
“We have to remember this spot,” Tessa said. She followed Dana back to the pickup.
“No problem. I have GPS in the car. And a satellite phone.”
Tessa frowned. “If we call the police now, they will no doubt want us to wait for them to come. That will hold us up.”
Dana nodded.
“It could also be a moose and not a grizzly,” Tessa said as she climbed into the pickup.
Dana made the decision. “It’s still an hour to Fran’s house. When we get there, we can tell them what happened.”
“Poachers. That won’t not sit well with the Watershed Lodge people,” Tessa remarked as Dana put the pickup in gear. “Not to mention Telford Reed.”
Dana turned down the radio channel. “Who?”
Tessa told her about her unexpected encounter with the son of the deceased outfitter Eric Reed.
Dana put the vehicle into all-wheel drive. The next six kilometers would be the worst part of the logging road. After that, it became flatter again. “Why should Telford Reed worry about poachers?” she asked. “He couldn’t care less. All he does is take the money from Watershed Lodge so that no other outfitter can organize groups of trophy hunters on his lands. He’s not responsible if somebody poaches there.”
“No, he’s not responsible, but if there’s poaching, people would wonder if he’s giving someone the green light to illegally hunt here. “
“Or whether he himself poaches bears?” Dana shot back.
Suddenly Tessa felt like a drone floating above the unreal scene that was playing out below. There was the almost detached way she was talking to Dana about everything. And the distance she was putting between herself and the fear she felt for Fran, and the horror after the murders. She tried to suppress the images of the dead bodies with all her might. She knew she had to put everything in the back of her mind in order to keep herself upright.
After half an hour, grassy fields began to appear on their left side, dotted with boggy ponds.
“Stop here!” Tessa called out.
“Here?”
“I want to go over to Beaver Lake, to Fran and Hank’s cabin.”
Dana looked puzzled. “Don’t we want to drive on to the farm first?”
Tessa was opening the door. “I just want to check it out.”
“How will you get there?” Dana asked, who already must have guessed what the answer would be.
“With the ATV. Do you want to come along?”
“No. I’ll wait here. You’ll be right back, won’t you?”
Tessa nodded. She pulled on her hiking jacket. If Savannah could see her now, in her old hiking boots, worn jeans, and sweatshirt, she would have a hard time calling her a city slicker.
They went to the back of the pickup and used the wooden planks Dana always had with her to build a ramp. Then Dana drove the ATV down the ramp.
Tessa took along the rucksack with the pistol in it and straddled the ATV. “About half an hour, okay?”
Dana nodded in agreement, although Tessa could see that her friend wasn’t very h
appy. But she didn’t have any time to waste. She steered toward the clearing in the woods, which led to Beaver Lake. She stuck to the periphery of the forest, where the ground was stable, mowing down the low underbrush on the way. The ATV climbed up a steep ridge. From there she could see the cut she had to follow. She stepped on the gas and drove toward it. At first she was relieved to see that she was on the right track. But then she noticed tire marks in the ground. Police? Had they already searched the cabin? Or had somebody else been up at the lake?
She tried to keep calm. Maybe it had been somebody who came up here to do some fishing. After another fifteen minutes, she could see the roof of the cabin Hank had built a couple of years earlier. It stood close to the lake, which had also become visible. There were whitecaps on the water. Reeds on the shore were swaying back and forth in the wind. Hank had used his chainsaw to clear a flat place for the cabin, a tiny, insignificant spot, easy to overlook in the midst of the great forest that encircled the lake like a tight green collar. Tessa turned away from the seductive scenery and quickly covered the final meters to the cabin. Its door was wide open. She jumped off the ATV and listened intently. When she didn’t hear anything, she walked over to the entrance. From the open door, she peered inside. What she saw there was complete destruction. The kitchen table had been overturned along with the chairs. On the floor, cans, tools, fishing equipment, boots, and broken dishes lay strewn about. Some kind of white fluffy material flowed out of the sleeping bags, reminding her of sliced-open animals.
Tessa looked at this mess, bewildered. Who could have been so furious at Fran’s family that he didn’t even leave a remote cabin in peace? She felt her way over to a corner where Fran had installed a secure hiding place beneath a plank. She found the spot and once again was stopped in her tracks. The plank had been hammered shut with nails.
Suddenly she heard a noise outside. She climbed to the door and looked out.
15
He stood ten meters away, looking at her.
“Tessa,” Tsaytis Chelin said.
She felt as though her inner self were being pulverized. Her hands were moist.
Goddammit, why does he still have such an effect on me?
She was on her way to becoming one of the best family lawyers in Vancouver. She had the reputation of being tough. A wolf in sheep’s clothing, as one of the prosecuting attorneys had called her.
And here she stood with her knees shaking. Ever since she had moved to Vancouver, she had lived under the illusion that this would never again happen to her. But today she realized that she could no longer pretend not to care about him. It was still all there: his dark eyes, that penetrating gaze, the face that showed strength, pride, and perseverance. And there was no overlooking the powerful body and the coal-black hair that reached down to his brow, just as it used to do. She loved his mouth above the distinctive chin. Always relaxed and always still when he wasn’t talking, rarely smiling. How often Tessa had stared at these lips, when she was waiting for a response from this man.
Just like the last time they’d met, five and a half years ago, before they had split acrimoniously. What he had said back then had opened up a deep chasm between them.
She pulled herself together. Today there was something completely different to talk about.
Before Tsaytis could take even a step in her direction, she said: “Stay where you are!”
He was carrying a hunting rifle over his shoulder.
“Throw your rifle down,” she bellowed at him.
Tsaytis stopped for a moment and then threw his rifle on the ground.
“Get over there,” she ordered, pointing at a tree stump a bit farther away.
“I’m not going to do anything to you,” he said, visibly annoyed. But he followed her directions.
She ran over to the rifle and picked it up. She opened the ammunition case, took out the bullets, and put them in her pocket.
He looked at her without emotion, his hands placed easily on his hips.
“Maybe you also have a gun on you,” he said.
“You can bet on it.” She showed him the pistol, and then put it in her vest pocket. “What are you doing here?”
His eyes bored right through her, but he remained silent. Her throat was dry. She held her distance at ten steps away from him.
“Who broke into the cabin?”
He raised his eyebrows. Still didn’t say anything. He seemed to be completely absorbed in relishing the sight of her. As if he were looking at a beautiful painting.
She didn’t let him off the hook. “How come you suddenly show up here at Fran’s cabin?”
He turned his head around and stared in the direction of the lake. “You still haven’t found Fran, right?”
Tessa shook her head. “What are you doing here with a rifle?”
He sat down on the tree stump and casually put his hands in his lap. Hands she had held back then when they were friends.
He was still gazing at her with his penetrating eyes. ”Somebody has to be looking for Fran who actually knows the area here.”
“Are you looking for Fran?” Her voice didn’t sound as harsh anymore.
“Me and a couple of other people from the tribe.”
“How come it happened that you of all people found the bodies?”
Tsaytis understood immediately what she meant by that. He was used to reading her thoughts. “I was not alone. I have a witness.”
Surprised, she looked at him. Tsaytis had a witness who could give him an alibi.
“Who was with you?”
“Ask the police.”
She automatically took a few steps toward him. “Why aren’t you helping me? Isn’t everything already hard enough?”
His face remained completely calm. “Sergeant Halprin doesn’t want me to talk about this. I wouldn’t do anything that might hinder the investigation.”
His cool answer ticked her off. “And then I run into you here at Fran’s cabin, and you’re carrying a gun. Tsaytis Chelin in the role of the chief inspector.”
Ignoring her reaction, he slid down from the tree stump. She instinctively moved back as he got up onto the ramp that led to the cabin door.
“Come on,” he said. “I’ll show you something.” He knew her too well. Knew that she couldn’t resist this invitation. With one hand she held tightly on to the pistol that was in her vest pocket. When they entered the cabin, he ignored the mess on the floor and pointed at the wall. At eye level, Tessa saw a lengthy row of vertical notches in the wood.
“And here.“ Tsaytis pointed to the corner. The same notches. She didn’t have to guess.
“A bear,” she said.
He went over to the door.
“And here. What can you see here?”
“Where?”
“Take a good look at the door.”
She examined the surface, first outside, then inside.
Just a few scratches.
If the bear had found the door locked, the animal would have demolished it with its claws. But the door was almost untouched. The bear must have just pushed it in with its weight.
“The door wasn’t locked when the bear came,” she said without looking at Tsaytis. He didn’t move from his spot, didn’t let her pass.
“The door was normally secured with a chain,” Tessa continued. “Fran and Hank would not have left the entrance to the cabin unchained. Not with fishing gear inside.”
“Locked with this chain here?” Tsaytis walked down from the ramp. There it was, lying on the ground in front of his hiking boots.
Tessa looked at the chain. Had Fran hidden herself in the cabin and then fled in panic? Did somebody rummage through the cabin? And then left the door unlocked?
The sun that now stood high in the sky blinded her. She stepped into the shade of the cabin. “Do you know anything that might be able to help us? Did Hank have enemies?” She realized she was asking for help from a man she had once seriously insulted. And then banned from her life.
&n
bsp; She needed help. Fran needed help.
He looked at her with some compassion this time. “I . . . I want to help, but the fact is that I simply have no answers at this point. I’m as lost as you are.”
She looked out over the sparkling lake, the dark-green edge of the forest around it. Hank and the children would never fish here again. Fran would never again find comfort in this cabin, where she had spent time drawing. Every hour that passed made it less likely that they would find Fran alive. She recalled her run-in with Lola Dole in Tim Hortons.
Maybe Fran was eaten by a grizzly just like my Jenny.
When it happened, Lola circulated her own version of the event. She never mentioned the possibility that her daughter had secretly taken her father’s ATV and traveled alone to Whitesand Bay. Two things that were expressly forbidden, even more so if her goal was to see what Tessa and Tsaytis were up to out there. That’s what she had told her girlfriend, who then told her mother and then the police. The whole town knew that Jenny had lied to her parents; she’d told them she would be spending the afternoon with her girlfriend.
Two wildlife officers located the grizzly the next evening, when the bear returned to the buried victim. They shot the animal, that defended its prey with all its might. An autopsy concluded that the bear was missing many teeth. Its jaw had a wound, which had become infected and which left the bear in constant pain.
Almost everybody in Whatou Lake believed that Tessa and Tsaytis didn’t know anything about Jenny’s trip to Whitesand Bay. Despite that, the Doles’ despair was aimed completely and in all of its bitterness at Tessa, who was lucky to escape with her life the day their daughter died. In Tsaytis they saw a goddamned Sitklat’l who had made such an impression on Jenny that she had taken her father’s ATV and betrayed her parents’ trust in order to follow him out to a forsaken place.
MURDEROUS MORNING: A heart-stopping crime novel with a stunning end. Page 8
