The Bone Seeker: An Edie Kiglatuk Mystery (Edie Kiglatuk Mysteries)

by M. J. McGrath

  ‘Don’t, Edie.’

  She braced herself for the lie. ‘I quit the police.’

  He was genuinely surprised. ‘Why?’

  ‘The case is wrapped up. Namagoose and Saxby have been charged. It’s over,’ she lied. ‘And now I could use a drink and some company.’

  He stood up. She waited until his back was turned then sidled onto the couch and reached out a hand for the folder on the table, but he was too quick for her.

  ‘Beer or whisky?’ His hand went to the folder. He picked it up and drew it to him. She smiled.

  ‘All work, no play,’ he said. As he turned away, still clutching the file, she saw he had written something on his hand, the letters SrTCs. Some kind of acronym, she figured, but not one that meant anything to her. She turned her gaze away and in that moment he noticed her looking.

  ‘Age,’ he said. ‘I have to write my to-do lists on my hand or I forget them.’

  She pretended to laugh and watched him as he left the room, returning minus the file but with a couple of beers. He placed one can on the table and sat beside her, holding the other aloft. He’d wiped the letters from his hand.

  ‘To new beginnings.’

  She smiled and swung her can against his in a toast.

  ‘You never liked Derek much, did you?’

  ‘Who, the Lemming Police?’ He took a long swig of his beer. She watched him swallow. Something passed over his face but she couldn’t read what.

  ‘I won’t be seeing much of him any more,’ she said.

  ‘I’ll drink to that.’ He raised his beer, then, without warning, he reached over and pressed his lips against hers. The soft warmth of him was like summer moss. For the span of a second or two she felt herself move nearer, her body responding automatically to his, but then her mind filled with the image of Martha’s body in the lake and she stiffened. When she opened her eyes again she saw he was frowning. A flutter of anxiety started up in her chest. She told herself not to blow her cover. Leaning in, she placed her mouth on his again, feeling for his tongue. Mistaking her quickened pulse for excitement, he deepened his kisses. She could feel him pressing his erection into her hipbone. She moved closer, grinding herself against him. All of a sudden, he pulled back.

  ‘Just a moment, OK?’

  She watched him move towards the bedroom. She’d banked on this, his fastidiousness about the scene of lovemaking. Before sex he liked to tidy the bed and light a candle.

  She waited till he had disappeared from view then stood and, being careful not to make a sound, moved towards the kitchen, where she supposed he’d left the file. There was a sudden creaking and she froze. When she turned he was in the doorway, looking at her. For an instant, the hairs on the back of her neck prickled and a pulse rose up in her temples. Then his face broke into a smile and she felt herself relax. He lifted his arms, beckoning her, his shoulders low and soft. As she moved towards him, she felt for the multitool in her pocket but it wasn’t there. With a lurch she realized that she must have left it in his office. She told herself not to lose the moment. If he suspected for a second that he was being set up, it was all over. She moved forward, but it was too late. Muloon had picked up her hesitation. His arms fell to his sides.

  ‘You know what?’ she said. ‘This is kinda sudden. Maybe we should ease ourselves back in some?’

  ‘Sure.’ He smiled weakly. ‘I don’t have anything for supper. How’s about we go up to the lake and catch a couple nice fat char?’

  It hadn’t occurred to her he would suggest leaving the relative safety of the settlement. This floored her. Was it possible he had realized she was trying to trap him and was setting a trap of his own? She looked at that handsome face with its chiselled features and blank, blue eyes but couldn’t read anything there.

  To back out now would look odd. He’d given no sign that he knew what she was up to. If she wanted to get something out of him there really was no choice but to go ahead.

  Following his lead, she put on her outerwear and went outside. He went around the back to fetch his fishing gear. While she was waiting, an uneasy hollowness crept over her. The feeling grew stronger as he rounded the side of the cabin with his rods packed into a bag over one shoulder and his Remy 303 over the other. She didn’t have to go through with this. But another, louder voice in her head told her she’d have to live with herself if she didn’t.

  She flashed Chip what she hoped was a casual smile and, thumbing over her shoulder, said, ‘You know, I’m not exactly dressed for fishing. Maybe I should go put some pants on?’ She’d go back to her tent and return with a knife.

  ‘You’re fine,’ he said.

  She kept up the smile. ‘I really should let Sammy Inukpuk know I’m going. He’ll be waiting for his supper.’

  Her ex-lover glanced at his watch and began loading the gear onto the back of his ATV.

  ‘We leave it another half-hour, the fish will have stopped biting.’ He swung the fishing bag then the rifle onto the back of the vehicle. He turned and grinned. ‘Are you stalling because you don’t wanna go or is it that you know I’m a pretty smart angler and you’re scared of being outshone?’

  She reprimanded herself for having let her imagination get the best of her. Muloon had no reason to be suspicious because he had no idea she knew about his past.

  ‘Wanna give me a ride over to my vehicle?’

  ‘Why complicate things?’ He gestured to the broad seat. ‘Plenty of room on mine.’

  She heard the voice of her mother – The more impatient you are, the hungrier you will be – and wondered if she shouldn’t have waited until Derek got back from Iqaluit. But no. If Derek had discovered what she was up to, he’d have put a stop to it. It was now or never. She was on her own.

  ‘Let’s go,’ she said.

  • • •

  As they moved inland, along the Kuujuaq River, he reached back with one arm and pressed her into him. She tried to take comfort from the gesture. Why would he want to stop her falling if he had any ill intention towards her?

  The lake came into view. Muloon drew the ATV up beside it, killed the engine and, slipping the keys in his pocket, came round to the back of the vehicle. He shouldered the rifle and began unpacking the gear. She dismounted and watched him haul his bag of fly rods and lures down towards the water. For a while he busied himself with the equipment and it seemed almost as though he’d forgotten her. Then he turned and smiled and she was struck once more by how little she knew him.

  She went over and squatted down beside him as he cast his line. He gave her a sidelong glance. The surface of the water shone like a raven’s plumage. His right arm moved like a derrick as he cast, the lure teasing the water into silver spines. For a while there was silence and she was filled with the desperate desire to extend it, to have the moment stretch out to infinity. A jaeger passed over and looked down at them through wary eyes and she was reminded why she’d come. She wanted the truth. Sooner or later she was going to have to press him for it.

  ‘How’s the research?’

  Muloon’s eyes flicked. He blinked and swallowed, pressing his lips together, then swung to meet her gaze.

  ‘So this is where the foreplay ends, huh?’ His eyes were huge and lupine, the hostility coming off him in thick waves. He knew. He’d known the moment she’d walked into his cabin. All this time he’d been calling her bluff and she hadn’t seen it. He was looking at the water now. ‘Did you really imagine I wouldn’t find out you’d backgrounded me?’ he said.

  She told herself to stay steady. ‘You were still a suspect.’

  ‘And you thought you could honeytrap me?’ He laughed and shook his head. His voice was brittle and shiny, like an icicle breaking. ‘You think you know all about me, but you don’t. You know nothing and you wouldn’t understand even if I told you. But you were prepared to sleep with me to find out.’ He turned to her. ‘So, what does that make you, Edie Kiglatuk?’ Without waiting for an answer, he sidestepped, reached down and grabbed the rif
le.

  ‘Other people know where I am,’ she said.

  He smiled and shook his head. ‘No, Edie, they don’t.’

  For a split second she felt helpless, then something rose up in her, the old fierceness, and she swung her head violently backwards then, using all her force, propelled herself forward until her skull made contact with his face. She heard him cry out in shock, his left hand moving instinctively to the injury. Taking her cue, she thrust out her arm and pushed, catching him off guard and sending him reeling backwards, then, dodging his now flailing arms, she ran for his ATV.

  He gave a shout and she could hear the splashing sounds as he careered through the boggy ground towards her. She felt him close in on her, saw a flash of something and felt the breath go out of her. He had his arm around her throat now, the inner elbow pressing against the carotid. She struggled but he was too much for her. He reached for something in his pocket and she felt something cutting into the skin of her wrists as he bound them together behind her back.

  ‘Sit on the vehicle and swing your legs over.’ He was completely calm. ‘Don’t make me hurt you. Whatever you might think, I’m not a violent man.’

  She did as he said. He picked up his gear and came over to the ATV and took the keys from his pocket. The engine ticked into life and they began to move off. She felt herself sliding on the leather seat and reached out behind. With supreme effort, by curling the end of her fingers under the saddle, she managed to find a small measure of grip. The ATV lurched forward, turned and picked up speed.

  The vehicle rumbled through riverine sedge meadow then abruptly turned and began to climb, tipping her at an almost impossible angle. Her fingers, weakened by frostbite, seemed to have no solidity to them, but they were all that lay between her and a fall. The ground was an unforgiving moraine of sharp rocks and willow twigs, designed to put out an eye at best and at worst cause a fatal injury to her head. She made herself look about, trying to get a sense of where he was taking her, but a mist had come down and it was hopeless. So she closed her eyes and focused on her fingertips.

  They had been going for some time when the vehicle shuddered to a sudden stop, throwing her forward into Muloon’s back. He cursed softly, swung one leg over the saddle and dismounted. The mist had not cleared but she knew from the climb and from the particular saltiness of the wind and the aroma of saxifrage cut with guano that they were on the cliffs near Glacier Ridge. He went around to the side of the vehicle and motioned for her to dismount, then he bound her feet together. It had begun to rain, fierce little detonations, already part iced.

  She saw him get back on his ATV.

  ‘You can’t leave me here,’ she said.

  ‘You’ll find your way back. By the time you do, I’ll be gone.’

  The vehicle faded into the mist. She listened until the sound of its engine became a vibration then melted away. For a moment she gathered herself. The ropes were cutting into her wrists and ankles. A raven watched on as she began to work her hands and feet against their bindings. It grew colder and her head ached. She thought about what a fool she’d been. Right now, this moment, Chip Muloon would be back in his cabin, packing his things and waiting for the Defence Department to help him make his exit.

  31

  The sun swung to the north. It had stopped raining but the foliage was still damp and the change of direction in the wind and an electric charge in the air promised a summer blizzard. A few metres distant to the east Edie could now see a rocky outcrop with an overhang, which would provide some shelter when the storm came. She began to sidle over towards it, using the strength in her arms to heave herself over the gravel, humming through the protests of her muscles, and reached it just as the rain began again. Inside it was windless and dry. Fatigue made its way through her body like some shadowy ghost and her fingers thrummed and burned. She felt her eyelids drifting downwards, recognized the first intimations of cold exhaustion and wiggled her toes in an attempt to stay awake. Then she grew light and dim. Her mind took off like a bird and she found herself falling into darkness.

  When she came to, she was lying face down on the rock and there was something very wrong with her nose, the nasal passages thick and heavy, a tang of blood in her mouth, and she realized that she must have landed on it when she passed out. She struggled into a sitting position. Beyond the overhang she could see that the rain had begun sheeting down. As she inched forward the wind whipped cords of it into her face. A muskox stood outside with its calf, eating. It spotted her moving and, startled, leapt backwards into the calf, knocking its legs from under it. There was a moment of confusion. The animal began pawing at the ground as if to charge, then, distracted by the calf’s efforts to rise to its feet, swung about and gave it a nudge. The beast stood for a moment as if collecting itself then lumbered off, the shredded remnants of its winter coat snagging in the breeze, and Edie found herself alone once more.

  She allowed herself a moment of relief but it was soon replaced by a new fear. Her nostrils were now becoming so blocked with drying blood that she was having to breathe through her mouth. Her lips and tongue felt sore and swollen. The swelling would likely continue. Eventually it would block her breathing altogether. The need to divest herself of her binds had suddenly become more urgent. She scoped about, looking for a sharp surface, and spotted a thin, bladed edge in the limestone just under edge of the overhang. Below it, fed by the droppings of birds, was a clump of dwarf willow and saxifrage, which she might use as an anchor. She shuffled over, knelt up and stretched her arms back behind her, but could not quite reach the rocky edge. A slight tremor started up under her feet. She froze and listened out. For a while she could hear only the wind and weather but the sound grew thicker and in it she detected the faint rumble of an engine. Outside the rain had turned to sleet. She felt her stomach turn over and a pulse start up in her head. It had to be Muloon, she thought. No one else would be travelling in weather like this. He was the only person who knew where she was. Had he relented and come to rescue her, or decided it was too dangerous to leave her alive?

  Her immediate thought was not to take any chances. But she could hardly run, not like this, hands and feet tied, barely able to catch a breath. As the engine grew closer, a plan came together in her mind. She stilled her thoughts, channelling the adrenalin into a narrow tunnel of intent. Quietly panting to draw oxygen into her muscles, she found purchase in the clump of willow, counted to three and heaved herself upwards towards the raw edge of the overhang. But something went wrong in her movement, she felt her left toes give and there was a moment when her feet, tightly bound together, kicked out, scrabbling for purchase. She went down again, heavily this time, the right leg twisted under the left, her ankle popping, and she had to bite her lip in order not to cry out with the pain. She sat back, breathing heavily through her mouth, trying not to give in to the dark feelings creeping over her.

  The engine was very close now and she could feel the vibration of the tyres against the rock. Sleet fell thickly, obscuring her tracks. She decided to try to remain hidden under the overhang. There was always a chance Muloon might not find her. The vehicle stopped. She could hear distinct footsteps crunching across the gravel slope, then a sigh and the sound of someone jumping from a height. She tested her sore ankle. It hurt like hell but it could probably still hold her weight. There was a darkening in the gloom inside the overhang and a pair of legs appeared, walking away from her. From her new vantage she could see a man’s hand clutching a hunting knife. Her blood quickened, every muscle tightening, and for a moment her heart felt as though it might burst. The legs swung around and began to move back towards the overhang. A voice started up inside her head. Please don’t let what happened to Martha happen to me.

  The legs stopped. To Edie’s horror she saw a disturbance in the gravel where she’d dragged herself inside. The legs swivelled around then paused. It seemed as though their owner had seen it too. Through the blanket of sleet she could see his fingers tightening around the knife
in his right hand, less than a couple of metres from her face. She held her breath.

  Suddenly, the legs folded and Sammy’s face emerged from the gloom.

  ‘Edie!’

  She fell back, crying out in relief. He reached in a hand.

  ‘I thought you were Muloon,’ she said. ‘How the hell did you find me?’

  ‘When it got late and you didn’t come, I went up to the detachment. There was a message from Derek asking you to call, which was how I knew you hadn’t been back. I called him on the number he left for you and he told me to go round to Muloon’s and take a gun. Muloon wasn’t there, so I followed his tracks. Leastwise till the weather started washing them away.’

  She’d slid out from under the overhang on her butt. For the first time, Sammy was looking at her eye to eye. Didn’t much like what he saw. She turned so he could cut the rope on her wrists.

  ‘That icicle qalunaat do that to you?’

  She presumed he meant Muloon. It was a pretty accurate description actually.

  ‘All my own work.’ She put a hand to her face, fingers working around the bloody, crooked bulb that had been her nose. It felt bad and it probably looked worse.

  ‘I guess I’m not gonna make Carnival Queen this year.’

  He began slicing at the rope around her ankles with the serrated blade. She spotted the SOG Seal Team logo on the handle. Same brand as Skeeter Saxby’s.

  ‘That your knife?’

  ‘Believe it or not I found it. There’s some animal bones and a fire circle just down the way. The blade was in a clump of cotton grass. Got tooth marks on the handle. Wolf picked it up most like, smelled blood on it.’

  She shook her limbs and stood up.

  His face was a crumple of concern.

  ‘It’s a long story,’ she said.

  • • •

  Sammy called the top name on the list of first-aiders posted at the entrance to the nursing station then joined Edie inside. Ahnah Oolik appeared shortly after to patch up Edie. While she got to work, Sammy went round to Muloon’s cabin and came back with the not unexpected news that the man had cleared out. His office was empty too. No sign Chip Muloon ever existed.