No Return (A Lee Smith Mystery Book 2)

by Jay Forman

  “Hello, Mr Suganaqueb. Is River here?”

  “It’s about his rocks, isn’t it?”

  “Yes.”

  “He’s out back, I’ll call him. Come in.”

  Elba was in the kitchen, washing dishes. She offered to make me some tea while Arthur went outside and called for River, but when she lifted the box of teabags out of the cupboard and opened it she discovered that it was empty. She stood back from the cupboards and looked up, then grabbed one of the plastic chairs from around the table and put it down in front of the open cupboards.

  “Would you mind?” She asked me. “I need the silver canister that’s up there. The one on the third shelf.”

  I needed the height of the chair even more than she did, but I could just reach the canister if I stood up on my tippy toes while on the chair.

  “Here you go.” I handed the canister to her.

  “Meegwetch.” She tucked the canister under her arm and pulled the top off. Then reached in and pulled out two tea bags. “Oh, my.” She went over to the still open back door and called out: “Arthur! I found the grocery money you were looking for!”

  She was pulling a fistful of green twenty dollar bills out of the canister when she turned around and came back to the counter. “Bernice hid things in the strangest places. We’ll probably be finding things for years.”

  I didn’t know if I should say something about being sorry for her loss because, from where I sat, Bernice’s absence was a gain for Elba. She was sure making herself at home in Bernice’s house.

  “We found a pair of her earrings in an old metal match box when Arthur needed a match to light his pipe last night.”

  Bernice hid things. In boxes and cans. Cans like the can of coffee grounds? Had she been the person who hid River’s rocks? Why would she have done that?

  “You told!” River said accusingly when he came into the kitchen.

  “I didn’t tell Mary.”

  “But you told somebody! My Dodo said a man came over and asked to see them.”

  “That man is a friend of mine, a dear friend.” River wouldn’t know what a fiancé was so I didn’t feel bad about not using that word. “He just wants to see them. He knows a lot about rocks and he could tell you what they are. He’d like to see your rubies, too.” Not true, but it was only a little white lie. “He could tell you how valuable they are.” River started to look interested. “And I think you told someone else about your extra special rocks, too.” It was a shot in the dark, but I was pretty sure of my aim.

  “Didn’t!”

  “I think you told someone where you kept them.”

  “They aren’t there now. I moved them, to an extra secret place.”

  “But your Gogo knew you had them under your pillow, didn’t she?”

  He nodded and looked down at his shoes. “She’s gone. She’s in heaven now.”

  “I know. And I’m really sorry about that.”

  “Do you think she took them?” His little face looked scared. He didn’t want me to say yes, because it would change the way he saw his trusted Gogo.

  “I don’t know. Even if she did, I’m sure she did it just to keep them safe for you.” Another white lie.

  “Nobody knows where they are now.”

  “River, I have to ask you for a very important favour. Would you trust me enough to borrow your rocks and show them to my friend? The one who knows about rocks?”

  River started shaking his head firmly.

  “I’d bring him over here to see them in your house, but he was in a helicopter accident yesterday and—”

  “You know the diamond man?” He didn’t look scared anymore. He looked excited. “Does he think they’re diamonds? For real?”

  “He doesn’t know and he can’t know unless he gets to see them.”

  “Dodo said he had to go in the big airplane to a hospital far away. I don’t want you to take them far away.”

  “He’s coming back and he knows a place where he can look at them in secret. Over at your uncle’s lodge. That way no one will see him coming into your house, so no one will know that he’s interested in what you have.”

  “You promise you’ll bring them back?”

  “Promise.”

  “When will you bring them back?”

  “Tomorrow morning?”

  River stared at me, but I couldn’t read his face.

  “No.”

  River wasn’t buying what I was selling. I wasn’t ready to give up, though. “But there are a lot of reporters here now, they’ll all be watching what the diamond man does, where he goes and—”

  “I know. Dodo told me not to talk to them. They asked Mary and me about you.”

  “And what did you say?”

  “Nothing, just like Dodo told me to. Mary told them you’re a ghost.”

  I would have laughed if the situation weren’t so serious. “Those reporters will follow the diamond man here and—”

  “But they don’t know about my extra special rocks, so they won’t know why he’s here.”

  It was hard to argue with the accurate logic of a child. “If he comes to your house will you let him see them?”

  River nodded.

  It was the best I could do.

  I thanked River and Elba and Mr Suganaqueb and told them Joshua had offered me his canoe. River showed me where it was and helped me put it in the water.

  Just as Joshua had said, it was under a tarp at the south end of Mr Suganaqueb’s property. We lifted the tarp off and started folding it up. I couldn’t help but notice that there weren’t any lifejackets, bailing devices or any of the other things required by the boating regulations. There was one paddle. It was all I really needed, so it would have to do. I looked out at the river and was glad to see that it wasn’t angry today. The paddling would be easy.

  “Is the tall lady coming back here?” River asked me as we pushed the canoe down to the shore.

  “The tall lady?”

  “The one who’s looking for rocks.”

  Aileen. “I don’t know. I guess she’ll have to come back when she’s done looking for rocks. She’ll need to go to the airport to fly to her home. Why?”

  “She wanted to me to tell her where I found my extra special rocks, but Gogo told her to leave me alone.”

  “When did that happen?”

  “The day Gogo left.”

  “How did the tall lady know about your rocks?”

  River shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. She said Gogo told her about them, but Gogo promised she hadn’t done that.” He looked up at me with hopeful eyes. “Do you think Gogo broke her promise?”

  A quick flashback of Heidi telling me about the argument Bernice had had with Aileen outside the Northern played in my mind. What was it Heidi had said Bernice yelled at Aileen? ‘You leave him out of this!’ She’d seen Aileen talking to River and had run out of the store to stop her. “No, I don’t think she did.” I was telling the truth. What I didn’t bother adding was that I thought Bernice may have told her lover about the rocks. Especially if she was hoping he’d take her away from Webequie.

  I used Mr Suganaqueb’s phone to call Jack, but got his voicemail. I ended up leaving a message for him with Adaya, telling her that Jack should drop by River’s house when he got to Webequie.

  The more I thought about it as I paddled across the river, the more it all started to fall into place. Bernice told Ross about River’s rocks, maybe even showed them to him. When he went back to the camp he told Aileen about them, but not where they were. If Aileen had seen those rocks as her big final win, she would have played all her cards – shooting Ross and claiming the pot all for herself. My theory was bolstered by the claim forms in my pocket. Aileen had asked Bernice to fax them. Bernice would have seen that only Aileen’s name was on them. Maybe Bernice went to confront Aileen about it and Aileen shot her, too?

  That last bit still didn’t sit comfortably with me. Aileen had been honestly surprised when I told her that Bernice was
dead. And I’d be willing to bet the rock on the ring in my backpack that she really hadn’t known about Bernice being missing.

  The wind picked up and I had to concentrate on my paddling. Doing a left-handed j-stroke was more difficult than I’d expected and I kept veering the canoe to the right. I finally gave up and switched back to doing a right-handed j-stroke. My shoulder wasn’t happy, but it liked the motion of pulling and twisting the paddle better than having to hold the top of it and raise and lower it repeatedly.

  What was I doing? Ross, Bernice and Aileen had nothing to do with me, right? I’d talk to one of the OPP or NAPS officers at the lodge and tell them everything. I should be thinking about other things. Like my job. And my possible marriage.

  ****

  There weren’t any police, from either force, at the lodge. They’d finished doing whatever it was they had to do to gather evidence. The Texans weren’t there, either. One of Joshua’s employees told me that the Texans had gone out fishing as he showed me to my room.

  It was a corner suite and it was nicer than any of the rooms I’d booked for my cross-country trip. Joshua had gone first class all the way. How much money could he have saved up as a cook? I instantly understood why Jack knew so much about the lodge. Somehow, someway, he was financially involved in it. I recognised the brand of the showerhead and taps in my bathroom. It was the same brand Jack always bought for his homes. And that showerhead looked very, very appealing.

  Joshua’s lodge had significantly better water pressure than Sara’s house. And the towels in my bathroom were extra plush and absorbent. The bed was much softer, too. I positioned all six of the pillows on the king-size bed against the headboard, plugged my computer into the plug on the base of the brass lamp on the bedside table and made myself comfortable with my computer on my lap.

  I tried getting my head into working on my articles, but other thoughts kept pushing my professional thoughts to the side. I looked at my calendar and felt overwhelmed when I saw how many things I’d have to reschedule once I got on the road again. Even though I’d complained about being stuck in my car, I missed being on the road, missed going somewhere. It was simpler out there. I was just me, doing my thing.

  Jack wouldn’t want me to stop working if we got married, would he? Another thing to talk about. A non-negotiable thing.

  Where would we live? I loved my house; loved living next door to Auntie Em. I enjoyed Jack’s cottage, but only for visits. I couldn’t ever live in something that big. And I definitely couldn’t live with his housekeeper, Mrs Dawson. She probably wouldn’t want me living there, either. I got the distinct impression that she always felt as if I was invading her territory whenever I was there.

  And what about all the social things he had to go to? Charity dinners, business dinners, fancy dinners with politicians in Ottawa. He did an awful lot of travel for business, but not my kind of travel. Would he expect me to go with him on all his trips?

  What a field day the press would have if … no, when they found out that Jack’s wife was Stuart Saddler’s daughter. He didn’t need to be tied into that.

  But I didn’t want to lose him.

  How big of a price was I willing to pay to keep him?

  A gentle knock on my door snapped me out of questioning everything.

  “Come in.”

  Joshua poked his head around the opening door. “Everything okay?”

  “Everything’s great. This place is amazing.”

  “We aim to please.”

  Even though I wanted the information, I wouldn’t insult him by asking how much Hughes money had been invested into the lodge.

  “You hungry? The Texans are on their way back, so we’re getting ready for lunch.”

  “Sounds good to me.” I closed my computer, happy to leave it and my thoughts behind.

  I’m sure there were other things on the table in the main room, but I only saw the big beautiful bowl of green leafy salad and the bowl at the end of the table filled with fresh fruit. I’d just dropped my banana peel on top of my apple core in the garbage can when the Texans came in. I expected them to be arrogant, but they were gracious, curious about what I’d seen so far on my cross-country trip, and funny as they joked about their former travelling partner, Chuck.

  “Is he still in custody?” I asked.

  “Nah, we took pity on him and called his attorney, Bob,” the bald Texan said.

  “He’s the kind who gives us all a bad name,” the quieter one of the three said.

  “All of us who – Texans or attorneys?” the best-looking one of the bunch, a real man’s man, asked.

  “Both!”

  The three of them burst into laughter at their own joke.

  “So, we hear you’re going to be marrying Jack Hughes …”

  And the questions began. None of them had ever actually met Jack, but they knew of him. The second wife of the good-looking man had even insisted on a Hughes diamond for her wedding ring.

  Joshua leaned in and whispered “Jack just landed on Webequie” into my ear as I was refilling my salad plate for the third time.

  “We doing the bears tomorrow, Josh?” the bald man asked.

  I cut off a tiny bite from the quarter of a steak that I’d let one of the Texans talk me into trying, and was relieved to taste beef in my mouth.

  “Yes, sir. The OPP gave us the go about half an hour ago.”

  “You should come with us, Lee. It’ll give you somethin’ different to write about.” Under other circumstances, minus the bears and the guns, I would have been tempted to accept the good-looking man’s invitation.

  “Thanks, but I’ll pass. I’m not a big fan of hunting or guns.”

  “All you Canadians say that, but it wasn’t a peace dove that poked that hole in the guy’s chest across the river.”

  “No, it was a .357 Magnum, like the one your friend had.” I instantly stood on guard for my country, just like my national anthem told me to.

  “True, Chuck was dumb enough to bring his Magnum with him, but it wasn’t a bullet from his gun that killed the guy.”

  “How would you know?”

  “The cops said you found a .357 Magnum shell casing. Chuck only uses American Eagle ammo and they’ve got a different stamp on the casing.”

  Did that mean someone else had a .357 handgun? It couldn’t be anyone at the lodge; the police would have checked for that.

  Then I remembered the big black handgun that Frazer had. But he couldn’t have shot Ross – he wasn’t in Webequie when that happened.

  The Texans headed back out to shoot some more of Bambi’s relatives after lunch. I snagged the last two brownies off of the dessert tray in the middle of the table and took them to my room.

  I tried, really, really tried, to get some work done … but … my stomach felt happier than it had in days … and the bed was so comfortable …

  ****

  I woke up to the sound of papers rustling and felt someone sit on the side of my bed.

  “You were almost snoring.”

  I opened my eyes and saw Jack’s back. I didn’t care about whatever papers he was looking at. I scrambled across the bed and crawled into his lap. I was into our kiss, in a big way, but I could tell that Jack wasn’t. He was just going through the motions and his eyes were closed so tightly that he looked as if he was in pain.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “My leg, you’re on my stitches.”

  I gently got off him. “Sorry!” I’d expected him to lie down so we could continue the kiss and all the fun stuff that was sure to come after it, but he stayed right where he was, looking at the big CLAIMap that he’d laid out across the bottom of the bed. Jack was in work mode, focused on the issue at hand with intense concentration. The fun stuff would have to wait. Hopefully, not too long. I walked around to the other side of the bed, got back onto it and sat cross-legged behind Jack.

  “You’re not wearing your ring.”

  Ah. It wasn’t just business that was responsible fo
r his icy mood. “It’s so big that I didn’t want any of the reporters on Webequie to spot it.”

  “And now that you’re here?”

  I could have made up all sorts of excuses, but went with the honest answer instead. “I forgot.”

  He nodded, just once, without looking at me.

  “Jack,” I started to rub his back. “It’s not that I don’t want to wear it, it’s just …”

  “That you’ve had 24 hours to think of all the reasons why getting married to me might not be such a great idea. You’ve thought about my social commitments, you’ve worried about your job, and being in the media spotlight, and …”

  “Yes, I’ve thought about all those things.”

  He turned just his head to look at me. His shoulders didn’t move. “I told you, we’d talk all that through. They’re just minor details …”

  My job wasn’t a minor detail! Neither was my need to stay invisible!

  “… and we’ll work them out. Once this,” he pointed at the map, “is all sorted out we’ll talk everything through, okay?”

  I didn’t like Jack much when he was in business mode. “Okay.” Far be it from me to keep Canada’s diamond magnate from something as important as a bunch of rocks in the ground.

  “River showed me his rocks. Thanks for setting that up.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “One of them is a diamond, all right. I can’t speak to the quality of it, though. Do you know where he found it?”

  I pointed to the river just east of Eagle Rock.

  He reached down beside the bed and sat up holding his computer case.

  “What happened to your murse?” The leather was torn.

  “It was in a helicopter crash.” He didn’t correct me and call it a computer case, like he usually did. “The TSB guys found it at the site. They haven’t found my glasses, though.” That explained the silver-framed pair he was wearing. He unzipped the top of the case and slid out his computer, then reached in and pulled out a cord that he plugged into the ethernet jack on the base of the brass lamp on the table on his side of the bed. “Where did you say you saw the post with Ross and Aileen’s names on it?”