Stabenow, Dana - Liam Campbell 03 - Nothing Gold Can Stay

by Nothing Gold Can Stay(lit)

  “Hush up, Bridget told him. “Go on, Jo.

  “The phone rang. It was one Eric Silverthorne, who was calling on behalf of himself and his brother Rodney, and their wives Stella and Anna, respectively. They had just gotten off the jet from Anchorage and they wanted to go caribou hunting north of the Togiak Peaks. His name had been given them as a recommendation by the ticket agent at the Alaska Airlines terminal; could he oblige?

  Jo drank some more of that lovely toddy. She had a full stomach from the burger, a warm glow from the rum, Wy was safe and on her way home, the threat of Jim Wileys disclosures were on hold, Lukes face was becoming increasingly beautiful across the table, and she was truly on vacation for the first time in three years, no story to research and write, no crime scenes to inspect, no politicians pulling in illegal campaign contributions, nothing at all to do, in fact, except enjoy herself. She was practically dizzy with delight, and she was definitely off the chain.

  “As I said, Mr. Dagfinn Grant was all by his lonesome when his phone rang because all of his planes were in the air and all of his pilots were with them. He didnt have a plane available to transport a hunting party of four and all their luggage. He scurried around and managed to rustle up an old Cessna Skywagon belonging to a friend, which always surprised me because it is my understanding that Finn Grant has no friends. The Silverthornes arrive and arent kept waiting more than two, three hours before Finn is ready to launch.

  “So he takes them up to the Togiak Peaks, and manages to wedge the Skywagon into that little gravel strip west of Weary River, unloads passengers and crew, and leaves them, with the understanding that hes supposed to pick them up in ten days.

  The toddy had developed a fine, heady bouquet and she inhaled it with abandon.

  “What happened?

  She opened her eyes and smiled across at Luke. “He forgot them, she said simply.

  He stared at her.

  “What are you meaning, he forgot them? Bridget said.

  “I mean just that, the tenth day rolled around and he forgot to go get them.

  Luke and Bridget stared at her, mouths open. Jim, having read this story on the front page of the News, stared into his mug. Better than looking at Jo, whose green eyes were bright with unabashed glee, whose dark blond hair seemed to be curling into tighter knots, whose face was glowing with the joy of storytelling. Thats who she was, really, he thought, just somebody sitting around a fire late at night, hoping to get a few coins in her bowl before everyone fell asleep.

  And, he had to admit, albeit reluctantly, that she was damn good at it.

  “Well? Luke demanded. “When did he remember?

  “He didnt, Jo said, and the glow faded a little. “Eight days after he was supposed to pick them up, old Julie Baldessario, a homesteader on Weary River, looked up from salting his silver catch to see Eric, Rodney and Anna stagger out from the brush. He almost shot them, until they managed to convince him all they wanted was a ride out. They were filthy, Anna had a broken arm, Rodney had a broken leg, and a grizzly had bit Erics ear clean off.

  “Wait a minute, Bridget said. “What aboutwhat was her name? The other woman?

  “Stella? Jo drained her mug. “They waited three days, they said, until their food ran out, and then they started hiking out. Three days into the hike, they woke up and Stella was gone. The troopers went back in, the Civil Air Patrol, Search and Rescue. They quartered the area, back and forth, up and down. They never found her.

  “Anybody suspect the husband?

  Jo shook her head. “They asked, of course, but Eric and Stella Silverthorne, to all outward appearances, had a solid marriage. Good reputation in the community, financially stable, two kids, twelve and fourteen. No reason to suspect the husband. It looks like she just wandered off.

  “Uuiliriq, a voice said, and everyone looked up to see Molly Shuravaloff peering over the top of the booth. “Little Hairy Man, she added, blinking bleary eyes. Mac had been sharing more of his beer.

  “Whos he? Jim said.

  “Nobody knows, she said. “He lives up in the mountains. He comes down to steal people, little kids mostly. Parents say never to play outside after dark, or Uuiliriq will get you.

  Another head popped up next to hers, round-faced, dark hair and eyes, smooth olive skin, so like Molly she could have been her sister. “Dont talk about the Hairy Man, you know it only scares you. Come on, Darrell wants to dance.

  The heads disappeared.

  Luke looked over his shoulder at Finn. The big man was still standing at the bar, surrounded by a group that was mostly men. As they watched, he bought another round. “When was this?

  “Five years ago this month.

  “And hes already back in business?

  Jo snorted a laugh and shook her head. “He was never out.

  “What!

  “Hes best buddies with Walter William Hickfield, former governor of the great state of Alaska. Hickfield pulled some strings. Plus hes known to be the softest touch around for a free fly-in fishing trip. Long as youre a judge, state court or higher, of course. She drank. “You know how it works.

  “Doesnt it bother you?

  Jo managed a smile, a shrug. “Its just a story. I write them, the paper prints them, and I move on to the next.

  Luke stared at her.

  “She got it on the front page of the News for five days running, Jim said.

  Jo looked at him, surprised.

  “Lets have another toddy, he said.

  SIXTEEN

  Newenham, September 5

  Liam started the recorder and gave the date and the time. “Present are myself, Corporal Liam Campbell of the Alaska State Troopers, Trooper Diana Prince, and suspects John Kvichak and Teddy Engebretsen.

  The wind howled outside and the window shuddered in its frame, leaking cold air into the tiny gray room. The four of them sat crowded around the single rectangular table. It was dark outside due to the low overcast, and light flickered from the single fluorescent tube overhead, the second tube having burned out long ago. The room smelled of stale cigarette smoke and fear, an odor part ammonia, part fresh sweat. The lies told behind the door echoed off the hard surfaces of the wall and the ceiling, muttering dully beneath the scratching of the branches against the glass. I didnt do it, officer. I only had one beer. I never hit her, shes a lying bitch. Nobody told me my license was suspended, I dont know what youre talking about. The door was open; I just went in to make sure everything was all right. I was just borrowing that truck. I loved that girl like she was my own daughter. I could never hurt him, he was my best friend. I was over at my moms, at the bar, down on my boat, on the river, out hunting, in Anchorage, Outside.

  The room, with all its odors and echoes, had a pronounced effect on the people who were questioned there. Once Liam had come upon Mamie Hagemeister, the police station clerk, prepared to clean the interview room. He had himself removed mop and bucket from her hands and poured the hot soapy water in the nearest toilet. If he had his way, the room would never be cleaned, the walls never repainted, the ill-fitting window never replaced. The light fixture would always be kept to one bulb, and that bulb ready to give out at any moment. The chairs would never acquire cushions, the table would forever retain its scarred and unlovely surface.

  “Kvichak has asked for a lawyer, Prince said tentatively, as if referring to a subject in questionable taste.

  “Yes, he has, Liam said cordially, “and well see that he gets one. Just as soon as Anchorage can rustle one up.

  “What happened to Brian Keogh?

  “Our judicial districts most recent public defender? Came in on the plane before yours? That Brian Keogh?

  “That would be the one, Prince acknowledged. “What happened to him?

  “He quit. Said he couldnt face another winter in the Bush. He was posted in Kotzebue before here, he added, in answer to Princes interrogatory lift of eyebrow. “Says hes had enough ice not in a glass. He was offered a job as house counsel for some international imp
ort firm and he snapped it up. So Newenham is once more without a public defender. Liams voice did not indicate massive sorrow at this turn of events. “And with this storm coming on, itll probably be a while before we get a temp.

  The two troopers sat across the table from Engebretsen and Kvichak now, Prince erect and all business, Liam sitting back with his long legs sprawled at an angle, looking out the window as if he werent even listening, in fact as if he were about to doze off. In the three hours since starting that tape, he had yet to say one word.

  “Im thirsty, Engebretsen said. “Come on, gimme something to drink.

  “In a minute, Prince said, the crease in her blue uniform sleeve as crisp as it had been when she walked in, her tie as impeccably knotted. Her black curls formed a tight cap against her skull, her blue eyes were hard and merciless, her mouth held in a stern, uncompromising line. She looked like a cop from the bone out, and she sounded like one, too. “Lets go over it one more time. You say

  “Shit, man, Kvichak said, exploding onto his feet. His chair slammed against the wall and turned over. Engebretsen jumped and looked as if he were about to burst into tears.

  Prince rose to face him, eye to eye. Liam didnt move, didnt turn from the window. “Weve told you the goddamn story about six different times this morning, how many times you want us to tell it?

  “Until you get it right.

  “Shit! You want us to say we killed that man! Well, we didnt, and nothing you can say or do is going to make us say we did! I want a lawyer! He leaned across the table and shouted directly at Liam. “I want a goddamn lawyer!

  Liam didnt turn his head. Prince stared without changing expression. “Sit down. The two words were uttered in a soft, unthreatening voice, but they were a command. Kvichak picked up his chair, slammed it down on the floor and sat down hard. It must have hurt his tailbone, but it didnt affect his glare.

  Prince sat opposite him and looked down at her notepad. “Now. You were hunting, you say.

  Engebretsen, so verbal during the arrest and at the beginning of the interview, had withdrawn into silence and the occasional whimper. Kvichak was a one-man monument to fury; he spat out sentences as if they were being fed into the breech of an automatic rifle. “Yeah. We were hunting. We were hunting up on Nuk Bluff, like we do every September of our lives, like we have every single year since we could hold a rifle by ourselves. We were up there for ten days, we limited out in caribou, moose, geese, spruce hens and ptarmigan. We gutted and skinned and packed everything back to camp, so we didnt violate no wanton waste law. We didnt shoot the day Chouinard flew us in, so we didnt violate the fly-and-shoot-same-day rule. Again, he spoke directly to Liam. “We didnt see nobody and we didnt hear nobody, and we sure as hell didnt kill nobody.

  Liam didnt stir.

  “You cant always say you havent seen anybody, can you, John?

  Engebretsen gave a low moan.

  “Sometimes we do, John said truculently. “What of it?

  “Sometimes you see them, and sometimes you talk to them, and sometimes you do more than that.

  “I dont know what youre talking about.

  Prince consulted a file. “September 12, 1998, Todd and Sharon Koch of Anchorage were paddling a canoe from the Two Lake campsite to the Four Lake Ranger Station when two men matching your descriptions appeared on the beach and started shooting at them.

  Engebretsen whimpered.

  “Got nothing to do with us, Kvichak growled. “We were home by the twelfth.

  “So your sister Barbara said, Prince agreed. “And your brother-in-law Rob, and your nieces Karen, Sarah and Patricia, and your nephews John, Patrick and Tom. Im sure your mother would have said so, too, only she was in the hospital in Anchorage on the twelfth.

  “You cant prove a goddamn thing.

  “Youre right, Prince said, nodding. “We cant, and we couldnt. Same way we couldnt when a bunch of hikers up Utah Canyon got their camp trashed.

  Engebretsen drew in a long, shaky breath. Kvichak shot him a warning glance. “Yeah, Corcoran asked us about that, but we were on the other side of the bluff from Utah.

  “Of course you were, Prince said.

  “I wanna go to the bathroom, Engebretsen said.

  “In a minute, Prince said.

  Engebretsen plucked up his courage. “Youre always saying in a minute. How come not now?

  She smiled at him, a thin-lipped, humorless stretch of the lips. “Because were not done talking, Teddy.

  He slumped back in his chair.

  “For crissake, Kvichak said angrily, “let the poor bastard go to the john, why dontcha?

  She turned the smile on him. “In a minute.

  “Fuck you!

  Liam turned his head and said, “John, your Winchester shotgun was the one used to kill Mark Hanover. Crime Lab called, and they say theres no doubt.

  Kvichak stared at him, his face white and shocked, whether at the sound of Liams first words in three hours or at the words themselves.

  Liam rose to his feet. “Lets get some lunch, he said to Prince, and led the way out of the interview room. Prince had to hustle to get behind him before the door closed.

  They stood in the hallway. “Shh, Liam said with one upraised finger.

  An outburst of shouting came from behind the door, and Liam smiled.

  “Sir, I

  “They were thirsty, they were hungry, they did need to pee. Now theyre scared. Lets let them be scared for a while.

  Prince chewed her lip. “How much longer can we hold them without charging them?

  “Another twelve hours.

  “The local magistrate would pick now to head up the creek.

  “All to our advantage. If Bill were here, shed probably sign off on a warrant, but shed let them out on bail. He saw Princes look. “Hey, John Kvichaks brother-in-laws the biggest bum unhung. Johns the sole support of his sisters family and his mother. Teddy Engebretsens dad is eighty-two, and he lives with Teddy. Neither one of them is a flight risk. Besides, where would they go?

  “Anywhere in the Bush?

  “Its coming on winter, theyd either starve or freeze.

  They went to Eagle and cruised the deli counter, Liam settling on deep-fried chicken and Prince on a ham and cheese sandwich. They journeyed back to the post, ate their lunch without haste, called the Anchorage D.A. with information about a sex offender recently paroled, which parole he had immediately broken, big surprise.

  At fifteen past one, they presented themselves back at the jail. At sixteen past one, they walked into the interview room. Engebretsen looked up and said, “I want to talk.

  “Teddy Kvichak said.

  “No, Engebretsen said with unaccustomed firmness. “Lets just tell them the truth, Johnny. One more time. Either theyll believe us or they wont

  “They wont. Cops never know the truth when they hear it.

  “Either theyll believe us or they wont, Engebretsen repeated, his voice wavering a little. “Either way, Im talking.

  “Shit. Kvichak folded his arms and glowered. “I aint having nothing to do with it.

  “Fine, Engebretsen said. “Ill tell.

  Prince looked at Liam with undisguised admiration.

  Theyd heard the shot from their camp on the bluff, Engebretsen said. “It was our last day, you know, wed limited out on everything, we butchered everything out, put it in game sacks, we were just waiting on Wy. He glanced sideways at Kvichak. “So we opened the beer.

  “How long was it before you heard the shots? Prince said.

  “Man, I dont know, Engebretsen said. “We opened the beer early. I think I was on my third. I mean, we just didnt need to be sober anymore, so we werent trying to be. Hell, wed been drinking most of the night, if it comes to that. I dont know, nine oclock, maybe? Maybe earlier.

  Liam looked at Kvichak. Kvichak held his eyes for a long moment. “Oh hell, he said, slumping. “It was about eight-thirty, and before you say anything, yeah, we were already half in the bag.

  “It
was the first shots wed heard that didnt come from our guns, you know? Engebretsen said. “We hadnt even heard any planes, and the nearest cabin is that crotchety old Italian at Warehouse Mountain, and thats twenty miles away. Then we remembered that mining claim on Nenevok, and we thought maybe they were in trouble? Like one of them fired a warning shot for help, you know?

  “Tell me something, Teddy, Prince said, gazing at the earnest face sitting across from her. “Did you ever meet the miner on Nenevok?

  Engebretsen flushed and glanced at Kvichak, who folded his arms across his chest again. “Not really. Well, kind of.

  “Which? Not really, or kind of?

  “Crissake, Kvichak said. “Wy dropped off supplies at Nenevok when she was bringing us into the bluff.

  “And you met Mark Hanover, the miner.

  Again the two men exchanged a glance. “Didnt meet the miner, he didnt come to the plane, Kvichak said finally. “The wife was there, though.

  Prince gave a thoughtful nod, and glanced at Liam to see a muscle working in his jaw like a nervous tic. “The wife, she said. “Rebecca Hanover.

  Engebretsen, forgetting for the moment where he was and who was listening, gave a long, blissful sigh. “Oh yeahhhh.

  “Hear tell she was pretty, Prince observed in a neutral voice.

  Engebretsen gave her an incredulous look. “Pretty! She wasnt just pretty. She wasshe was He struggled for suitable words. “She was flat fucking drop-dead gorgeous, he said finally, with a touch of awe. “I never seen nobody so pretty outside of a movie. And built, wow! A low, reverent whistle accompanied the words.

  It is a maxim of the law enforcement profession that jails arent filled with smart people. Nevertheless, this might be just about the dumbest person on the face of the earth sitting across from her now. “So, on that last morning of your hunt, you got tanked, you heard shots, you thought fired from the direction of the mine on Nenevok Creek, you remembered meeting a gorgeous woman there, and you decided to investigate.

  “I told you, Kvichak said, more in sorrow than in anger. “I told you, Teddy, I told you theyd never believe nothing we said.

  “No, Engebretsen said, becoming frightened again. “I mean yes. I mean, we hiked over, took us, hell, took us forever, and we were sober as judges by the time we got there.