Lethally Logged

by Amber Boffin

  Maggie was fully living in the present, her senses alert. She had taken up position next to a tree, her phone camera out to record Adam’s skillful change of collar—like a magician, he tricked the wolf with a rub on the neck, fitting the new collar. She pounced back, the strap still half loose. She rolled in a submissive manner at Adam’s feet, just enough for him to slide the pin in the hole before she rolled back on her legs, ears pricked.

  “What is it, Bella?” asked Adam tenderly.

  Adam stood up and took a step closer to Maggie. Fuzz, Bella’s sidekick, recognizable by his cut in his ear, greeted them with a tail up and a quiver of the lips. Adam spoke firmly this time. “Come on, buddy, that’s not a way to say hi.”

  His ears flattened and tail disappeared between his legs as Bella nipped his fur. Maggie had taken a few steps back, still recording the animals. Suddenly, both wolves took off at the sound of a raven call.

  “Let’s follow them. They must be going to their pups.”

  It was as if they wanted to be followed, keeping a human pace, stopping at times to look back at them between the trees. Adam pointed ahead. “Look, there they are.”

  A heap of wolves was piled on each other, fangs and tongues mixing with paws and tails. Maggie couldn’t tell how many there were. They looked completely entangled until one of them sped off tail between the legs, pursued by a smaller one. It was Fuzz playing with his pups, all in pursuit of him. They followed them through a coniferous section toward the light ahead.

  Maggie bumped into Adam, not expecting him to stop. They had reached a very large clearing. All the trees had been felled around a beaver dam, and from the cuts on the trunks, it wasn’t a beaver that had done the job. Adam swore loudly and threw his hat down. “This isn’t right. Not here.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “This shouldn’t have been logged. It’s a protected area.”

  “Are you sure?” Maggie scanned the area for a sign that would indicate it, not that she really knew how they indicated those areas in the first place. “How can you tell?”

  “I’m sure of it. I staked the area and released Bella here on purpose, to be protected from logging and hunting.”

  *

  After a couple of hours of sleep, Raj stared at the half-typed report he was preparing for the sergeant. He lifted his hand from the keyboard. Maggie was right—there was another person at the trapper’s cabin: a woman. The head of the logging operation had given a couple directions to the trapper’s cabin a few days ago. The man in the duo fitted the description of the deceased; the other was a woman in her late twenties. How strange that she didn’t go to the loggers’ camp for help.

  He was bothered by how Sergeant Humphries had handled the questioning at the loggers’ camp. He had to speak with him before completing his report; he saw no other way. Raj picked up the phone. “Sergeant, it’s Constable Gupta speaking.”

  A groggy voice replied. “Do you know what time it is? I told you I’ll be at the office at ten. It better be urgent.”

  Raj already regretted his call, but it was too late now that he had clearly woken the sergeant up. “It’s important. I need to get the facts straight before I speak with the loggers and for the report.”

  “I knew it. I can’t leave anything to you. I’ve got to do it all myself,” grumbled Sergeant Humphries.

  “Hear me out, please. I want to help you solve this case as fast as possible.”

  “Okay. What is it?”

  “After getting confirmation that James Kravets corroborated his boss’s story of lost tourists, I overheard you speaking with Andy Smith, the guy with the mullet. He’d witnessed an altercation between the couple and the head of the logging operation.”

  “Yes, initially, but he contradicted himself afterward, and it wasn’t what my colleague said. I’d disregard it.”

  It was the second time that Humphries referred to the logging camp’s manager as a “colleague.” It was fortunate that he referred to him that way again, since it would make it easier for Raj to ask about their relationship. “Sorry, sir, but you addressed the manager as a colleague, like yesterday. Why’s that?”

  “I know Detective Sergeant Harris. I worked with him in the past.”

  Now Raj regretted not having interrogated the man himself the day before. Harris had been his boss, which explained the awkward interaction and why he addressed him as “sir.” “Sir, shouldn’t I question Harris at the station like the other two loggers? Maybe he was lying to you, and they did argue.” He hesitated then said, “There could be a conflict of interest since—”

  “No,” interrupted the sergeant. “I believe him when he says the two loggers aren’t to be trusted, especially this Andy Smith. Make sure you get his relationship to the woman out of him this morning. I will decide if and when we question Detec—eh, Harris. Understood?”

  Raj held the receiver away from his ear and carefully placed it back to reply. “Yes, sir. Can—”

  “I hope that wasn’t your only reason to wake me up?”

  Raj replied with a small lie, “No, sir, I just wanted to make sure you still agree that I should question the loggers. I thought maybe you wanted to keep the lead on this affair…sorry to call so early, but they should be here at eight.”

  “That’s fine. You go ahead. I’ll be there before ten.”

  The sergeant hung up. Raj stared out the window of the police station. He had to write in his report that he overheard Andy Smith talking about the conflict between Stuart Harris and the pair. That way there would be some record of it. He rubbed his eyes. Coffee, that will do the job.

  Raj checked his computer. Still no results from the autopsy. He double-checked with his colleagues—the missing woman hadn’t been found yet. He sighed and looked at his watch: seven thirty.

  He picked up the pile of posters with the narrow face of the missing woman staring back at him. The artist had done a good job, or perhaps the description given by the loggers had been detailed enough to provide more than a caricature of a face. A pretty face, somewhat long, but pretty all the same.

  He would have to post them around the village and ask Heidi if she had seen her, and maybe he could sneak in the time for a little espresso and a cinnamon bun to go with it. He had had no time for breakfast, and the lack of sleep made him feel wolfish. He salivated at the thought, but he still had to deal with the loggers’ statements first, if they did turn up as agreed.

  He was about to call Tina Partridge to post an article with the portrait of the missing woman in the Daily Stumble when the loggers entered the police station. Raj would have preferred interrogating them one at a time, but he was alone. Although there was CCTV covering the waiting area, he preferred keeping an eye on the comings and goings himself. From his desk at the far end of the room, he could see the waiting area while typing the statements.

  He greeted the two men. “Good morning. Good to see you both turned up. Who wants to go first?”

  The two men looked at each other and shrugged in unison. Raj mistook James’s hair for a woolly beanie; it was as thick as his beard. James took a step forward. “I don’t have anything else to say other than what I already told you.”

  “Once you’re done and while I take your colleague’s statement, you can always grab a nice coffee and pastry at the Horizon Cafe I can highly recommend the cinnamon rolls, if you haven’t tried it,” Raj suggested, hoping he would have Andy all to himself to question at length.

  Andy’s green eyes lit up. “We know the place.”

  James pulled the chair in front of the desk. “You want me here?” Raj nodded. “It’d better be quick; we have to get back soon.”

  Having typed his details, and the same story he had told the previous day that the couple were asking for their way, Raj had established again that at that time James was in his harvester with the engine running. Raj pushed his keyboard forward. “Tell me, how could you tell what they were asking for?” James appeared puzzled. “How did you know they were l
ost? You had to have overheard them somehow.”

  “Yes.”

  “You must have a very good hearing, or can you lip-read?”

  James rhythmically scratched the side of his thumb nail with his index and leaned back.

  Raj continued, “I remember the sound of your engine was so loud that I found it hard to hear what the sergeant was saying—and he was next to me.”

  James looked away.

  “Or were they shouting?” asked Raj.

  He kept an eye on Andy, who could hear every word of the conversation. Raj was glad Sergeant Humphries hadn’t arrived yet. He wouldn’t approve of this protocol deviation, having witnesses overhear each other’s statement, but Raj wanted to question them so that they might react to each other’s statement, revealing any discrepancies and perhaps what their bond was about. Andy shifted on his chair.

  James dryly said, “So what? Everybody shouts. We have to, what with the chainsaw noises and machines.”

  “What exactly did you hear them say?”

  “Like I said, they were lost and wanted to find that cabin.”

  “Nothing else?”

  James glanced back at Andy, who stood up. “All right, they were arguing, but I didn’t hear that part.”

  Andy approached the desk. He put a hand on James’s shoulder. “Even I couldn’t hear what it was about, and I was close by with my chainsaw running.”

  “I see, but then how did you know they were arguing and not just speaking loudly to be heard?”

  Andy grinded his teeth. “I had to stop them from fighting.” He mimicked a right punch in the face.

  “Is that how your boss got his cut under the eye?”

  The veins in Andy’s strong forearms pulsated as he leaned on his fists on the table. “Yes.” Andy looked beyond Raj in disgust. “If you ask me, I should have let them fight.”

  “And you really have no idea what the fight was about?”

  They both shook their heads. Somehow, Raj didn’t believe them for one second. He kept typing as he asked the questions. He rested his hands flat next to the keyboard and looked straight at James sitting opposite him. “Why did you go to the trapper’s cabin?”

  Andy slammed his fist on the desk, causing the key board to jump. “’Cause I asked him to come with me. As you already know, I called 911, not James.”

  “Is that right, James?”

  He nodded. “Yes, nothin’ to add, now can I see my statement?”

  Raj slid the document to James and looked at the time. Sergeant Humphries should be arriving any time. He was planning to tell James to leave unless he wanted to be questioned by the sergeant; that way he could focus on Andy, now that he had had the interaction he had hoped for.

  James read, with the irritating tapping of Andy’s index on the table next to them.

  “Andy, stop it.” James squashed Andy’s finger with his fist. “You’re doing this on purpose.” He gave Andy a mean look, not the type of look one would give a friend, even when he was annoying.

  Andy rubbed his finger. “Lay off, it’s just a tic.”

  In a few long strides, Andy was back at the other end of the room, sitting in one of the chairs. This time he was biting his nails, which looked more like biting the tips of his fingers off, given the rage he put into it.

  Were they really friends? If it was an accident, food poisoning, why be so excited about it all? Unless…they knew something and were protecting someone, or each other? Raj didn’t have time to ponder the matter; Sergeant Humphries appeared at the entrance, looking very grumpy.

  Chapter Nine

  Following the discovery of the illegal logging site, and having managed to put a collar on one of Bella’s daughters, Adam insisted that they get back to Ted, who must have known about its existence. “I didn’t get it when Ted told me, ‘Even here, man is encroaching on my woods. I will have to dig up my hatchet. War they will get, if that’s what it takes to have peace.’”

  “Couldn’t he have been talking about the tourists, and the fact that more and more people have been visiting the cabin?” Maggie asked.

  Adam shook his head. “No, it’s his livelihood, whether he likes it or not. No one buys skins anymore, and what else would he have to trade? He should see that.”

  “But what if he didn’t care and thinks he can live without it? He managed to live without your help before Bettie got lost. You don’t even know who he really is.” Maggie shook her leg to get rid of a tickle, an ant most likely. “Why are you protecting him?”

  “I’m not, and there’s no need for it either. For all we know, the man we found wasn’t killed by anyone, but I do know that those trees weren’t supposed to be cut, and I want to find out who did it.”

  Adam swung his backpack onto his shoulders, nearly hitting Maggie with it if she hadn’t jumped out of his way. She could also get angry. Yes, it was terrible that trees were cut, but it was even worse that someone had died like that and another person had vanished. There could be a good explanation for the tragedy, and there was nothing she could do about it, whereas the trees… She wanted to push him one more time. The haunted story of the cabin was nagging at her.

  “Maybe you’re right, but you have to admit that Ted doesn’t come across as a perfect host. You didn’t want me to see him at first.”

  “Yes, but then when you saw him, was he unfriendly?”

  “No. But what about this haunted business? He really seems to believe in it—or is he the one behind it?”

  Adam’s features had softened, his eyes rounded like a puppy seeking forgiveness. “Maggie, Maggie. He’s always talked about the spirits of the ancestors since I first met him. It took a lot of convincing for him to help me fix the cabin. He said it had bad vibes, that he could feel it through his feet.”

  “He was right, though. There is something about that place…and now with a death, it doesn’t make the place a happy one to me.”

  Adam looked at her sideways.

  Maggie added, “Don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe in those things. There’s always a good explanation. Like, someone like Ted spreading a rumor to keep people away from his patch. I’m intrigued by it.”

  “Here we go. The terrier is out sniffing again. They should have sent you together with the dogs on the missing person search.” Adam laughed.

  “I should have. I feel bad about it.”

  “I didn’t mean it that way.” Adam put an arm around her shoulders. “They know how to run that kind of operation, and they made it clear that we were a hindrance to their search. And hey, they might have found the person.”

  “You’re right. I can get carried away.” She didn’t want to spoil the trip further. “It was so special to see Bella. Can we come back again in winter or before? I’d really love to take proper pictures of them to tell their story.”

  “Maybe…but only if you’ll fly us in before the ice sets in on the lakes. You promised me a private plane ride.”

  “Yes, maybe.” The thought of her upcoming flight exam was already giving her butterflies, even though it was still three weeks away, if she completed the remaining training on time.

  “What do you mean maybe? I thought you were nearing the end of your training and Barrie had finished fixing your father’s plane?”

  “Yes, and yes, but I still need to log some more flying hours on my own, and I’ve prioritized my pet photo business to keep it growing.”

  “I meant to ask you, we’re looking for a wildlife photographer and a pilot for a Nordic wilderness safari…an idea I’ve had for a long time.”

  “What?” Maggie savored for a moment the idea of spending more time with Adam, doing what she loved, photographing wild animals and flying, until the “we” hit her. “With whom?”

  “Brigit. She’s pushing me to do it with her.”

  “Sounds like a nice project for her and good to have a medic available in the middle of the bush.” The idea of working with Brigit, the elephant in the room, wasn’t so appealing to Maggie. �
�You’ll need a professional bush pilot; I won’t be qualified for that.”

  Adam smiled at her. “But you’re a professional photographer, and you could get the qualifications…”

  Maggie was attracted to the unique opportunity to showcase her wildlife photography skills and share them with eager tourists, but not at all costs. She picked up her backpack, which was much lighter now that all the food had been consumed, and checked their campsite for any rubbish or forgotten items.

  “We can talk about it later,” was all that she managed as she tried to rationalize and be open to meeting Brigit properly before making any judgment. Eager to change the topic, she said, “As you rightly pointed out, we have to find out who is behind this forest clear-cutting, and the sooner we get to Ted, the quicker we can head back to Foxton and dig into it.”

  That was something Brigit might not have the time or the contacts to help Adam with, while Maggie knew both the sergeant and his constable well. She also had Heidi, the eyes of the community, on her side. Slowly, she was emboldened—she could use her flying lesson time to fly over the area and help map it with her instructor, Reverend John Smithers. He always liked a bit of an adventure, especially if it was to help out.

  Adam agreed and led the way. The thought of showing him how indispensable she could be to him made her walk with a spring in her step. In no time, they were at Ted’s door. It was shut. Ted had never put a lock on it, just made sure it was securely fastened against any animal intruder.

  Adam pointed to the three wooden latches on the door, only one of which was holding the door shut. “He’s getting forgetful. He normally closes all of them.”

  Maggie peered through the window. The place was messy, but it seemed messier than before, when she had caught a glimpse of the interior. Adam called out Ted’s name. No answer. He whistled. No answer either.

  “Maybe he went berry or mushroom picking?” Maggie ventured.