So sure of death by Dana Stabenow Read Free Book Online

the crime scene had receded and the thrill of the chase began. “I saw it, he said, making an effort to shake off his revulsion. Later he, too, would be outraged, filled with a white-hot determination to bring the perpetrator or perpetrators to justice, but for the moment he was just trying to keep from vomiting.
    The fresh air helped some, and he breathed deeply, fixing his eyes on the green, rolling hills of the shore, hidden and then revealed and then hidden again beneath the bank of drifting mist. The world was still there, and it was not all of it a charnel house, a stage for the perpetual reenactment of man's inhumanity to man. If you keep saying that to yourself, he thought, one day you might even come to believe it.
    “A depression in the left temple of one of the male victims, she said.
    “Looked like a bullet hole to me, he said. “I smelled the gas, too, although that doesn't prove anything on a boat. He thought of the faint gas smell he woke up to every morning on theDawn P.“But we won't know for sure until we get the results back from the M.E., and that'll take a day or two, and that's after the bodies get there. In the meantime
    She all but went on point, quivering with eagerness to be on the scent. “In the meantime, we question the family
    “Doesn't look like there are any left to question.
    “the villagers
    “Beginning with the council. They're bound to know everything there is to know. Always assuming they'll talk to us.
    “and start gathering evidence.
    He almost smiled, but the effort proved too great and he abandoned it. “First things first. You take the bodies back to Newenham.
    She opened her mouth to protest and he said, “The bodies are our first evidence. We can't allow them to decay any further. And you're the only pilot around here with the only plane I see.
    She couldn't argue with that, and closed her mouth again, disappointment clear on her face.
    “You're sure you can make it in one trip?
    Her nod was confident. “Not a problem. Not enough weight to overgross the plane.
    “Okay, get them to Newenham and on the next available flight to Anchorage. Call the M.E.'s officethe number's on the Rolodex on my deskand tell them they are on their way. Tell Brillo Pad we need results as fast as he can get them to us.
    “Brillo Pad?
    “Dr. Hans Brilleaux, the M.E.
    “Brillo Pad?
    “Have you ever seen his hair?
    “I've never met the man.
    “Wait until you do. Anyway, tell him I said to giddyap.
    “And then?
    “If nothing has blown up back at the post, come get me. If you can'the took a deep breath “call Wy Chouinard at Nushagak Air Taxi and tell her to come get me. We've got a contract with them.
    She nodded, and looked perilously close to saluting. “Get a move on, he said, before she could.
    She stuffed her notebook back in her pocket, picked up her jacket and hat and marched off, passing Mike Ekwok on her way. She slowed and half turned, catching Liam's eye. He shook his head and waved her on. He waited until Ekwok reached the side of the boat. “Mr. Ekwok, he said, touching the brim of his hat.
    “Trooper, Ekwok said, equally grave. He looked up at the raven, still perched on his light pole, his deep black feathers outlined against torn wisps of white mist. Liam wondered when Sam Spade was going to wander in out of the fog.
    The Cessna's engine coughed into life and taxied out of the harbor. Liam heard the engine roar and watched it rise into the air and disappear into the fog. All was quiet again. There was nothing quite like the hush of an Alaskan Bush community. An occasional airplane, a truck with no roads on which to get above third gear, a boat engine turning over, seagulls squawking, ravens talking, and the rest was silence. Except for the odd rifle shot, and Liam saw again the round depression in the blackened temple of one of the bodies on board the plane speeding toward Newenham.
    “Mr. Campbell, Ekwok said, “I know
    “Could you hang on just a second, Mr. Ekwok?