Lethally Logged

by Amber Boffin

  “I’ll leave him a note.” Adam opened the door, and Maggie popped her head in. A chair was capsized, a small drawer left open with socks hanging out of it, tins of beans and a jar of rice was broken. Its contents spilled onto the wooden shelf.

  “Someone’s been through his things. Could the police have done that?” Maggie asked, shocked that they wouldn’t be more careful, even if they were searching for evidence.

  “I don’t know. It’s strange. What would they be looking for? Unless the other person was hiding here. I thought I saw someone, but Ted said it was a cat, which really didn’t make sense.”

  “Why look in a drawer for a person? No, they must have been looking for something else, paper or money?” Maggie looked for the radio; if it had been a thief’s doing, they would have taken it away. “Do you know where he keeps the radio?”

  “Yes, not that Ted knows I know.” Adam knelt down and tapped one of the planks with his knuckles. “Not this one.”

  Finally, he pulled a plank up, revealing a wooden knob. He removed another two planks to reveal a trapdoor. He lifted it, and a heavy smell of mold and earth filled the air. Maggie popped her phone out and lit up the cellar. It was small, stacked with homemade preserves of plants, mushrooms, meats, with a table at its center and on it the radio. A white piece of paper caught her eye.

  “Adam, look, there, next to the radio.”

  Adam climbed down the rickety ladder, keeping his body bent in half. The ceiling was very low, and the cellar had never been intended as living space. He picked up the small piece of paper and handed it to Maggie.

  She read it out aloud. “Adam. If you read this, I’m no longer here. I knew you’d find it. The trapper’s ghost has long, deadly fingers. Friends aren’t always who you think they are. Relationships aren’t what they appear to be. Believe me. Signed Ted.” She let her hand drop. “I can’t believe this. Does he really want us to believe that he isn’t behind this ghost thing? What game is he playing?”

  Adam had climbed back up and took the note back from her hands to read it for himself. He stepped outside. “It’s his writing. He likes his riddles, he always has. Very irritating. He’s trying to tell me something. He could be hiding somewhere, dead or captured for all I know.” Adam scratched his cheek. “He also said he’d head north. He’s had enough of this area.”

  From what she had witnessed, she could see Ted leaving to avoid any police questioning and having to interact with people. Maybe he already had built another hut just in case it got too busy. She took her hat off to get rid of an itch on her forehead. Without explaining her thought process to Adam, she said, “Why leave all that food behind? Winter is just around the corner.”

  “He’s a planner, and if he wanted to head north, he would’ve made sure he had a nice stock of food for winter there. He could have arranged for that months ago.”

  Now that Adam seemed to think Ted had just left for another region, Maggie couldn’t help feeling uneasy about it. She clicked her tongue. “All the same, he must have worked hard to prepare all those preserves, just to leave them behind. And why leave the precious rice and other condiments? And what about the radio?”

  “He might come back for them.”

  Maggie had a knot in her belly, as if her body had a personal view on the affair. It was telling her mind to keep looking for clues. “But then why was his place searched?”

  “Maybe he did it himself to confuse everyone. It works. Look how confused you are.”

  “Should we get the police to search for him?”

  “Not sure they will. It’s not unusual for him to leave his place for days on end. I’ve been up here a couple of times, only to find the place shut.”

  “I’m sure that the dog that went after his coat would be good at finding him. For that matter, I don’t see Ted’s skin anywhere.”

  Maggie took pictures of the place with her phone, the only proof they would have of their findings. Before returning to Foxton, they made a detour via the trapper’s cabin to tell the police search team of their findings. The cabin was still cordoned off by police tape, but no officer was to be seen.

  Maggie rested her backpack against a tree to ease the pain of the strap digging into her shoulder. It had always been a challenge to find a backpack that would fit her, given her short stature. She felt like a turtle carrying around an oversized shell. The bag that had disappeared from the cabin was small, like her own. It could have belonged to a woman.

  She stared at the maple leaves twirling in front of her eyes. “I hope they found her.”

  “Her? How do you know that?” Adam pulled out a bag of dried fruit and shook it in front of Maggie. “Want some?”

  “I just know, the way the bread or cake was wrapped, the color of the bag.”

  “It was light blue. When has that become exclusively a woman’s color? We’ll soon find out, if we keep the pace up. That is if you’re still up for hiking and paddling back to Foxton today without a stopover. It’s doable in a day.”

  She nodded, tucking her hand into the bag and catching as many raisins and dried apples as she could hold without being too impolite.

  Geese called to each other high above their heads, their V-shaped formation pointing south. A porcupine turned its square, soft nose away from them to expose its spiky tail and rump. They walked carefully around it, the animal rotating to keep its defense up, now and then looking at them over its shoulder, revealing very yellow teeth under its scanning nose.

  “Didn’t we see him on our way here?” Maggie asked, still surprised that the porcupine hadn’t climbed up the tree yet.

  “Very likely. They are territorial and don’t move around much.”

  “Such easy prey.”

  “Not really. Look at those quills. Only a few animals dare tackle it, like the fisher.”

  As they hiked, Maggie chatted away, asking questions about the wildlife and its habits to ignore her aching limbs. They reached the lake where they had left Adam’s canoe, which would take them to his car after a few portages and lake crossings.

  The canoe was no longer there.

  Chapter Ten

  Sergeant Humphries had taken over from Raj once he had found out Andy hadn’t signed his statement yet. He declared that he would take care of it and sent Raj out to post the pictures of the missing woman. Raj tried to linger, hoping he would finally hear Andy’s account of finding the body. Why else would he call 911? Sergeant Humphries made sure that wouldn’t happen when he ushered Andy into the interrogation room for further questioning.

  Raj walked out into the sun-drenched street and took a deep breath. Should he turn right onto The Road, the main street of Foxton, or left toward the lake and the Horizon Cafe? The pull was too strong.

  He pushed open the door of the café and walked straight up to Heidi, who was busy preparing coffees behind the bar. His special stool, always reserved for “the boys,” as Heidi liked to call Raj, Adam, and Barrie, was waiting for him. He flopped the pile of posters onto the bar in front of her. They greeted each other, and without the need for words, Heidi placed a steaming cappuccino in front of him.

  She put on her reading glasses that dangled on her chest. “What’s this?”

  “A missing person we’ve been searching for and don’t even know if she’s really missing. We didn’t find anything so far.”

  Heidi crinkled her nose, shifting the glasses up a little. “Not the most detailed portrait. You’ve got nothing better?” Raj shook his head. “I don’t remember anyone like that. I would remember those eyes close together. Where did she go missing?”

  “At the trapper’s cabin.”

  “The haunted one? The one Maggie and Adam have gone to?”

  Raj nodded. “They found the body.”

  Heidi let her glasses fall down with a rattle of the plastic chain around her neck. Her round face seemed rounder as her eyes widened. She picked up a tea towel and mechanically dried a cup as she stared at Raj without a word.

  “An
accident, we think, most likely poisoned by a bad plant or mush—”

  “Mushroom?” shrieked Heidi. “I had a special mushroom evening last night. Everybody liked it, as far as I could tell. You really need to know what to pick. Like Tina, she really knows, then there’s no issue. Which one was it?”

  “We don’t know for sure what caused his death.” Raj sighed. “I wish they’d find the missing person.”

  Heidi lifted the transparent lid that covered a neatly stacked pile of cinnamon rolls. She picked the largest and placed it in front of Raj on a plate. “How can I help?”

  “For a start, I’d like to put a poster up in your window, and if you hear anything or anybody talks about that person, even if you think it is of no significance, write it down and call me.”

  Heidi pinned one against the wall behind the bar and checked for its visibility from the dining area. After she taped another on the window by the entrance, Raj had pulled out a picture from his pocket, this time of the dead man. They had a name, Ben Fearon, and had established that he lived close to Vancouver, from his driver’s license.

  “Have you seen him here?”

  “Don’t think so. But his face reminds of someone I saw in the news the other day.” She bit her lip. “I wish my mind wasn’t such a sieve. I can’t remember what it was about.” She picked up the picture between her red fingers. “Argh, they all look the same with these beards, they hide the face. Not that I have anything against beards. Take you, for example. I can see the precise shape of your chin and your little indent at its tip.”

  Raj rubbed his clean-shaven chin, feeling self-conscious under Heidi’s scrutiny.

  Heidi continued, “I can pinpoint a number of features in your face that, put together, makes me certain it’s you.” She tapped at the picture with her index finger. “This man, his face is hidden behind his…” She put a hand on her mouth.

  “What is it? Do you remember something?” Raj didn’t want to influence her memory retrieval by contradicting her that the man, in spite of his beard, would stand out among a crowd of other bearded men.

  “You must think I’ve got facial blindness.” Heidi’s red hummingbird pendant disappeared on her reddened décolleté. “He could be Maggie’s brother, at least by hair color. And there aren’t that many red-haired men with flaming beards. Yes, he was an activist, I think. And one of the hardline ones who don’t hesitate to use violence to get their point across.” She pushed the photo away. “I don’t like that sort of person. I abhor violent methods, even to save trees and animals.”

  Raj wiped the foam moustache he felt above his lips. “Trees, you say?”

  “Yes, I think the video was about illegal deforestation in South America. That’s it.” Heidi looked at the drawing of the woman on the wall behind her. She shook her head and wiped the bar with a wet cloth. “I really can’t recall her. You should get a better artist to do the drawing.”

  Raj looked at the woman’s face staring back at him from the white paper. He had thought they had a good description of her and had done a good job. Now that he looked at it again, he could see the nose wasn’t realistic; it was far too small for the long face. And as for the eyes, their closeness was questionable, even though Andy had insisted she looked like that.

  He gobbled the last piece of bun and put his cap back on. “I’d better circulate these; you never know, people might recognize her. Can I have two extra cinnamon rolls to go?”

  Heidi clicked the tips of her metal tong, ready to pick up another bun with it. “I’m sure Sergeant Humphries will appreciate it.”

  He left the café and headed for the marina, another location with high traffic now that the cottagers were pulling their boats out of the water for winter.

  *

  Maggie and Adam had looked for the canoe along the shore. No sign of it. Maggie trod back to the place where she remembered they had brought it ashore. The drag marks in the mud indicated that it had been launched from the same spot. Someone had stolen it.

  “Adam, is there an easy way back without having to swim across?” She smiled weakly.

  Adam swore, throwing his hat to the ground. Maggie picked it up and handed it to him. “Sorry.”

  “It’s not you. I hate people stealing canoes like that, especially out here.”

  “Maybe the person was desperate to escape an angry bear? And he borrowed it and left it on the other side of the lake.”

  “I’m overreacting.” Adam pointed to the lake. “It’s very marshy that way. We have to go east, and when we hit the road, we can hitch a ride. That’s our best bet to get to Foxton by this evening.”

  Maggie followed Adam over fallen trees, across a few streams, and over a hill. Adam stopped often to check the sun’s position before moving ahead. Finally, they reached a road. They walked for thirty minutes before seeing a car that whizzed past without even slowing down. Maggie’s energy levels were significantly reduced. Her legs were walking by themselves, and if she stopped, she wouldn’t be able to get them to start again.

  “How far are we from your car?”

  “Still a long way.”

  At the sound of a large truck engine behind her, Maggie dropped her backpack to the ground and jumped onto the road, waving with both hands. Adam had to hold her back to prevent her getting run over by the logger’s truck that came to a standstill a couple of meters away.

  Maggie picked up her bag and waved to Adam with excitement. “He isn’t driving away without us!”

  She hung on to the door of the truck and climbed up the steep step. “Thanks!” Seeing the worried look on the driver, she said, “Someone stole our canoe, so we had to make a huge detour. We need to get to his car at…” She turned around to Adam. She had no idea what the lake was called where he had left his vintage Toyota Land Cruiser.

  Adam climbed in, nearly pushing Maggie onto the driver’s lap, if it weren’t for her backpack lodged between them. After a brief explanation and instructions, the driver set off. The man wasn’t one for conversation, which suited Maggie fine. She could let her mind wander as she watched the autumn colors.

  She wished for a longer drive to let her brain play with the pieces of the puzzle and find the bigger picture. It was as if she could see the pixels of the image, just blotches of color without the understanding that she was looking at a nose. She was convinced there was a link between the dead man and the loggers. The missing woman could provide the added colors she needed to take a step back and see the full nose.

  Her eyelids were too heavy to keep open. She was aware of her tendency to make dubious connections when she hadn’t had a good night’s rest. The lack of sleep and heightened emotions of the past days hit her now that she was heading home.

  The truck came to a standstill, waking her up. They had arrived at their starting point. After thanking the driver, she tumbled out of the truck and dragged her backpack to the Land Cruiser. Adam had offered to carry it for her, but the thought that Brigit would most likely always carry her own bags made her decline the offer. The car was still there, hidden along a logger’s path. She was glad to rid herself of her burden into its back door. She followed Adam to the lake, where they would have exited with the canoe.

  He snapped a twig between his fingers. “No luck for now. I’ll find it. I have my ways.”

  Maggie lingered at the lake. A car door slammed shut. Adam must be behind the steering wheel. One last look. She pulled out her binoculars and scanned the shores to her right and her left. There, behind a cedar tree, something white was sticking out between its moving branches.

  Adam had told her off enough during this trip that she had to make sure she spoke in his direction, taking into account the wind orientation, otherwise it was pointless—he wouldn’t hear a thing. He had to hear her from his car. She cupped her mouth between her hands. “Adaaaam!”

  She walked along the shoreline to get a better view and waved at him with both arms. “Over here. I think I found it.”

  The canoe lay upside d
own on a rocky shore. She had assumed this route was only known to Adam. “Is this the main route to get to the trapper’s cabin?”

  “One of them. There are a few possibilities. Why?”

  “Maybe the missing woman took your boat. That’s why they haven’t found her yet. I find it strange that they wouldn’t have their own canoe for that, though.”

  “There’s a longer track that doesn’t require a canoe, but the start is farther north.”

  “It would’ve made more sense for her to take the same route back.” She looked through her binoculars. “I can’t see any other boat.”

  She helped him carry the canoe to the car and handed the second paddle to him. “It’s nice of her. She brought both paddles.”

  Adam shook his head, a mesh of hair escaping from his ponytail into his face. “Her? It could’ve been two hikers camping in the area.”

  It was a good thirty-minute drive to her home from the lake. They were both silent. The smooth rocking of the car pushed Maggie gently into dreamland. Bella the wolf was using Ted’s bearskin as a disguise to scare the loggers away from her den. When Maggie looked closer, her radio collar had been replaced by the cloth that was around the loaf of cake she had seen in the trapper’s cabin. The only trouble was that Bella had mistaken the man in the trapper’s cabin for a logger. He was a hunter…

  *

  Tina Partridge pushed the police station door with force and walked in brandishing a copy of the dead man’s photo, taken from his driver’s license. Once Raj had realized the woman’s portrait wasn’t a good identification tool, he had left behind a copy of the man’s picture with Heidi to show to the village gossipers.

  Raj looked up from the reception area with a smile. His plan had worked. Sergeant Humphries would no doubt be pleased with his efforts this time, he hoped…unless Tina was here to get the scoop of the story and didn’t know anything about that person.

  Tina pushed the picture under Raj’s eyes and tapped it with her finger. “I’ve got important information for Sergeant Humphries.”