Lethally Logged

by Amber Boffin

  “Finally, someone I can talk to. I bring the solution to your case on a platter, and your constable chose to ignore it. I do hope you won’t make the same mistake.”

  “Is that so?” Sergeant Humphries gritted his teeth. “I’ve got two cases, and one of them concerns illegal logging, which points to your camp.”

  Stuart laughed. “Exactly what I said. One case, you already have your culprits. I’m here to spell it out for you.” He sighed. “You haven’t changed, have you? You still have your blind spots.”

  Humphries’s crimson color returned. “Right. Well, you were such a good detective back then, I think you should give my constable here a lesson in reasoning. He is eager to become a detective, and you just said he didn’t listen. Now he will.” Sergeant Humphries turned to Raj, who had attempted to walk away from the pair, without success. “Constable, you can use room four. I need to have an important discussion with Ms. Maggie Flanagan here before I speak to anyone else.”

  Maggie jumped at the sound of her name. Her jaw dropped. She didn’t dare contradict him, not wanting him to lose face. Sergeant Humphries held the swinging door open for her. “We’ll go to my office.”

  He spoke in low voice to two other police officers who had arrived to man the public part of the station. “You two, take statements from the other men here. Lead Ms. Bingham to the other interrogation room, and one of you stay with her till I’m done with Ms. Flanagan.”

  Maggie avoided any scornful looks by not looking back at the people in the room. She regretted having handed the button over to Raj, now that she could speak with the sergeant directly. Too late. She took a seat on one of the chairs facing the large gray desk.

  It was the first time she had seen a picture of Sergeant Humphries’s wife on his desk, together with their two adult children, judging by their likeness to Humphries. She lowered her head into her bag as she heard the door close behind her and pulled out her muffins.

  “Right. First, I’d like to thank you for your alert this morning.”

  This wasn’t like the sergeant at all—in a strange way, the presence of this Stuart seemed to have improved his manners.

  “I’m impressed at how fast you managed to deal with them and arrest them.”

  “We are here to protect and act.” His thick toothbrush moustache quivered over a smile. “Adam Clarkson gave us a helping hand there.”

  “Good to hear. I’d tried to contact him too because of the illegal logging. Is he still out in the forest?”

  “No, he got hurt.”

  Maggie’s heart raced. “Badly?”

  “He’ll be fine. Given that the death is linked to the illegal logging, I’m in charge of both cases. You can show me what you have.”

  Maggie plunged into the details of her encounter with Kate and how the button she had lost would place her at the cabin. She also ventured to explain the link between her and Andy Smith the logger, which Sergeant Humphries didn’t appear to know.

  “Mmm. This puzzles me. You see, we’re still looking for another man, James Kravets, who we think might be the coordinator of the illegal logging. According to Stuart Harris, he was seen arguing with Ben Fearon. Unfortunately, he managed to escape.”

  “I still don’t understand why Kate would deny being at the cabin, if she isn’t involved in some way. She could have been their watchdog, warning them of Ben Fearon’s every move. What better position to have a close view on Fearon than being his girlfriend?”

  “She might have been at the cabin, and the poor woman could have been so afraid of the murderer that she felt she had to lie. Anyway, we have our murderer, and he has admitted everything.”

  The only person Maggie had seen Sergeant Humphries talking to was Ted. He would be the last person she would have imagined admitting culpability when there wasn’t much evidence against him.

  “Was it the picture of him that I took? Is that what made Ted talk?” Her hands and feet grew cold. Had she sentenced him?

  “Yes, but that wasn’t the only piece of evidence. We were lucky to have caught him this morning. We think he was about to set fire to the clear-cut area, hoping to cover that up.”

  That didn’t make sense to Maggie. It would be obvious that stumps had been cut, even after a fire had run through it. Ted would know that. “Really? He was involved with the illegal logging too?”

  “He denies it, but it’s only a matter of time before I get the truth out of him.”

  Maggie sat back in her chair, confused. She looked down at a stain on her trousers and the paper bag with the muffins that had a translucent butter stain on it. She put it on the desk. When she looked up, Sergeant Humphries was eyeing it with a smile. “I could do with one, if it’s what I think it is.”

  “Yes, I brought them for you. This time they’re savory. I hope you like them.” Maggie tried to smile but was unhappy. “You’ve arrested Ted?”

  “Yes.” Sergeant Humphries plunged his hand into the bag. “Do you mind? I know I shouldn’t now, but I’ve had no break since this morning.”

  “What about Andy Smith and Kate? Do you think they’re innocent?”

  “I’ve already shared a lot with you, and thank you for the evidence you’ve given us. It has been crucial to our case. All I can say is this Andy Smith wouldn’t have been so easy to find in the camp if he had been guilty, but we’ll do our job and interrogate him.”

  Maggie stood up to leave. “May I ask one last question?”

  Sergeant Humphries had taken a mouth full of her muffin. His eyes were smiling. He liked them. He nodded.

  “Is Stuart Harris an undercover agent working to expose the illegal logging operation for the government that owns the forests?”

  Sergeant Humphries noisily gulped down the chunk of muffin. From his expression, he had never thought of that idea. He didn’t seem to know what to say. “You’re asking far too many questions, as always.” He looked at the little antique clock ticking on his desk. “I can’t keep Ms. Bingham waiting.”

  He stood up and opened the door for Maggie, who scratched her upper lip to indicate he had a crumb on his moustache. She stopped. “Is Adam in hospital?”

  “He got a punch in the chest but didn’t want to go to the hospital. I’ve had a number of those in my career. He’ll be fine.”

  Maggie wondered when the sergeant would have been in a fight. Not since he had become a sergeant in Foxton, she would have heard about it. She left the police station and sat in her car, her phone in her hand, ready to call Adam.

  *

  Although Raj’s interaction with Stuart had started off tense, Raj felt increasingly at ease with him. He wondered why he had misjudged him.

  “Let me get this right: you became suspicious of Andy Smith and James Kravets when equipment and trucks were too often claimed to be in repair, while you didn’t see them in the workshop.”

  “Yes. And unfortunately for Ben Fearon, I think he had figured it out.”

  “You were seen at the logging camp, arguing with Fearon. What was it about?”

  “I staged it. Ben Fearon was easy to argue with, and I wanted Andy and James to believe I didn’t know about any illegal logging going on, and that I would defend them. But they couldn’t do it without the help of this Ted. I’m sure of it.”

  “What evidence do you have?”

  “What happened today should be enough for you.” Stuart leaned back in his chair.

  “What about Kate? Why was she at the camp this morning?”

  “Taking over Ben Fearon’s work? I’d leave that poor woman alone. She’s already suffered a lot with Fearon’s death and having to escape the scene.”

  Raj thought of the button. “Escape the scene? Did you see her at the trapper’s cabin?”

  “No. I only saw her once, when she was with Ben Fearon asking directions to the place.”

  “Why was she in your tent at the loggers’ camp this morning?”

  “I wasn’t aware of that. She must have been hiding from Andy and James when sh
e heard they were on the run. I’d hide if my boyfriend were killed. I’ve already told you everything.” Stuart reached for his collar and pulled it, revealing a band of sweat. “I’m amazed at how much time you guys need to figure things out.”

  “Are you aware that Kate and Andy are seeing each other?”

  Stuart raised the corner of his mouth. “That is none of my business.” He shook his head. “It sounds like village gossip to me. And you said you wanted to become a detective?”

  A relaxed attitude toward Stuart was no longer working. He was an agitator. The more Raj wanted to pressure a suspect, the faster his pen rotated around his thumb with a flick of his middle finger, a trick he had learned at school. He had never stopped doing it, in spite of the irritation it caused others, because he had found it useful in interrogation situations. The approach seemed to bear fruit—Stuart stared at his hand, tension building.

  He stood up, pushing the table between them and into Raj’s stomach, the pen falling from his hand. “I haven’t got all day. And I really don’t know why Kate’s relationships would matter to me. No wonder Sergeant Humphries doesn’t want to leave this dump. What incompetence. Now I’ll go ahead and do my job, if you don’t mind.”

  Raj was of two minds whether he would pin him to his chair with the appropriate accusation, though he had none, or if he wanted him to go away. Sergeant Humphries wasn’t such a bad superior in comparison. Luckily, he didn’t need to decide. The door was flung open in Stuart’s face as he was about to let himself out.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Maggie was reassured that she didn’t need to rush to take care of Adam. He was in good hands. A doctor was what he needed now. They had agreed for her to come to his house that evening, since Brigit was on duty. She was looking forward to cooking a nice meal for him and was very curious about what had really happened in the forest.

  She hadn’t gotten over the idea of Ted intentionally killing a man and wanted Adam’s view on it, since he knew him. After having prepared her special lasagna for the evening, with lots of cheese, a favorite of Adam’s, she spent the last few hours of the afternoon looking into other wildlife-viewing businesses to get more material to discuss with him. She would prepare the salad at his home, together with the apple crumble. He loved the smell of baking.

  Carrot had just drunk some water and put his wet mouth on her lap. He raised his red eyebrows, the whites of his eyes contrasting with his speckled brown iris. Maggie stood up. “Carrot, come on, not again. Can’t you wipe your snout? Look, I’m all wet.”

  Carrot bounced around, his bum up, fanning the air with his tail. It always worked. Perhaps he was smarter than she thought and knew how to make her move out of her chair. Little thumps down the stairs and claw ticks on the wooden floor announced Beans’s arrival. She too wanted to play.

  Maggie opened the sliding door to the terrace and walked down the wooden steps onto her lawn, which was covered in a mosaic of leaves. The sugar maple leaves wore the brightest orange she had seen so far. It differed from one year to the next.

  Beans dropped a soggy old shoe on her foot. Maggie threw it as far as she could and watched the dogs play tug-of-war with each other. The air was clear and crisp, aside from the smell of smoke from a woodstove on the other side of the lake.

  She picked up the mail from her letterbox; only the Daily Stumble in it this time. There was a large photo of a bolete mushroom on the front page and an article about the mushrooms to watch out for. Tina had taken accusations seriously, it seemed, and wanted to educate would-be foragers. Maggie packed it with the rest of her hamper for the evening, knowing it would provide for some laughter.

  A message from Adam awaited her. He was wondering when she would arrive and if she could bring her vegetable peels for his chickens. In a wink of an eye, Maggie had whisked the dogs into the car and packed all she needed for the evening.

  *

  Adam opened the door for her. “I can’t hug, I’m afraid. I’ve got two broken ribs.”

  “That’s terrible. You should be lying down.”

  “I’m fine. I can’t laugh hard or cough, and breathing is a little difficult, but I’ve had worse. Look at what you’ve brought. You’re spoiling me as usual.”

  “You deserve it. I hope it didn’t cut your appetite?”

  “Oh no, you know me. After all the running I had to do, I need to fuel up.”

  Maggie rushed to the kitchen to unpack her goodies, including the basket of walnuts to keep him waiting. He leaned against the door, scratching his back on its edge, like a bear. “You must have flown up there on purpose.”

  “You didn’t have good pictures, so I thought it would be helpful for your case. I really didn’t think I’d find Ted, though. Did you know they arrested him for the murder of Ben Fearon?”

  “Really? No. Ted. Ted, Ted.” Adam shook his head. “It reminds me…” He walked away to the hallway and returned with papers folded in his hand.

  “I nearly forgot about these. Ted gave them to me, saying it was evidence.” He unfolded them and flicked from one to the other with knitted eyebrows.

  Maggie wiped her hands on the tea towel, ready to take a look. “And?”

  “Looks like DNA tests of tree samples… Here, you look, you know that stuff.”

  The first two pages seemed to be a report of a comparison between DNA from tree stump samples and logs. There was a perfect match. The other two papers were also about a DNA match, but it was the type you would get for ancestry analysis. The cover pages with the details of the addressee were missing in both cases.

  “Maybe this is your proof. What if Fearon managed to take samples from the logs at the camp and from the clear-cut area we saw? This is why he was killed. He was about to nail them!”

  “I didn’t know they used DNA for that. Are you sure?”

  “Yes, I read all about it. This is only one technique they’re developing. There’re others based on the chemical ID of a tree that varies by country and even by region. This is perfect…”

  “Let’s hope the logs are still at the camp. I don’t see Ben Fearon’s name on it,” Adam replied, taking the papers from her hands.

  “Maybe it wasn’t Fearon but rather Stuart who asked for the analysis. You could ask him. He could tell you where their logs typically go next. Besides, they can also do the same tests on planks and find matches with the stumps, if need be.”

  “I doubt any of those logs would be among theirs.”

  “Why not? It would be a great way to smuggle them out, in plain sight.”

  “How would they get their money? They would have to sell them separately. I think we’re too late for that, but what it might prove is that Ted didn’t have a motive to kill Fearon, otherwise why would he give it to me?”

  “I’m not so sure of that. He really didn’t want anyone at the cabin, and what makes you say he isn’t in on the logging deal? How did he get hold of this paper? I don’t see Fearon giving it to him, do you? Or Stuart, for that matter.” Maggie furiously tossed the salad.

  “I think it’s mixed by now.” Adam smiled. “Maybe Ted ordered the tests.”

  “How would he know about the latest technology without any Internet access or communication with the outside world?”

  “All right, he could’ve taken the papers when he saw Fearon was dead. He really didn’t like loggers…” Adam’s nostrils expanded as he sniffed. “Mmm, that smells nice.”

  “Apple crumble. If you don’t think Ted is involved, why would he confess to having killed Fearon?”

  Adam cracked the walnuts in his palm; the shells shattered to pieces under his force. “Is that why they arrested him? Who told you that?”

  “Sergeant Humphries. I couldn’t believe it at first…” Maggie paused. “And you know what? He denied any involvement in the illegal logging.”

  “Ah-ha. You only tell me that now. He must be protecting someone. It would explain the fight. He didn’t hit Andy—he was after James…” Adam shook his head. “I
wish I knew what they were up to.”

  “What if Ted was trying to blackmail them with the documents he found? It would explain their meeting at the end of the trail.”

  “Perhaps. Ted a blackmailer? Maybe, but then why leave us the note?”

  “To confuse us and make us believe he was in danger.”

  “Or it might’ve been his insurance policy in case his blackmail didn’t work out…”

  Maggie opened the oven door, and a waft of hot air laden with the aroma of cheese and tomatoes hit her face. She stepped back. “To prove who killed him? Maybe…although, I thought an insurance policy would be something that would prevent them from killing him. I can’t see his note being that…too cryptic for that.”

  “I’ll try to talk to him, if Sergeant Humphries allows me to. I’m sure I’ll have Arthur on my back if I don’t at least try to see Ted.” Adam peered over her shoulder at the dish in the oven. “Is it ready?”

  Arthur could be persuasive, Maggie knew.

  “Yes, we only need to set the table. If you do speak to Ted, tell him that the papers he gave you are incomplete, and that you need the rest.” As she switched the oven off, another idea crossed her mind. She spoke loud enough that Adam could hear her from his dining room. “I know it all points to murder, but what if Fearon’s death was an accident, poisoning from the mushroom followed by the CO from a smoky stove? Kate could have closed the door behind her, not thinking about the stove and wanting to prevent animals from coming in. I remember it opened to the outside, and we had to put a stone in front of it to keep it shut… Very unlucky, but it’s still possible.”

  “I don’t know, but if that were the case, why didn’t she tell the police that? All I know is that I’m starving.” Adam stood in the door frame, eyeing the lasagna dish on the stove.

  “I don’t think we’ll sort it out tonight. On a different note, I’ve looked into your idea of setting up a safari, and I think we could really do—”