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

by M. J. McGrath

  ‘She needs help, man,’ Derek said, ‘right now.’

  The ape ran his eyes over the blood on the floor and the native woman in the arms of the Latina, blood all over her wrists, his face a rictus of panic, as though he was watching his career prospects disappear down the drain.

  ‘What happened?’

  ‘She had a blade in her shoe.’ Derek was doing a good job of sounding distressed. ‘Some great fucking search you guys did.’

  For a moment the ape looked sceptical. He started making beckoning motions with his hand. ‘Give me the blade.’

  Derek wheeled around to Edie then back again. He was gesticulating wildly with his hands now.

  ‘Can’t you see, it’s stuck in her wrist. I’m not taking it out.’

  The ape peered in. There was no blade but Sonia’s shadow was obscuring the spot and he wasn’t about to argue. He covered his face with his hands and closed his eyes for a second, thinking.

  ‘Hey!’ Derek shouted. ‘Don’t just stand there. For Chrissakes get in here and help.’

  Edie began panting.

  The sound seemed to mobilize him. The ape fumbled for his key chain.

  ‘Stand the fuck back.’ He was waving at Derek, who immediately did as he’d asked, just as they’d agreed.

  Locking the door behind him, the ape went over to the bench. Edie groaned. As he bent down, she sprang upwards, smearing the man’s face in her blood. As he yelped and stumbled back, Sonia shot up and kicked his weapon from his hand. A moment later Derek rushed forward and slammed his foot into the inside of the man’s knees. The ape went down, arms flailing. Derek bent and in a sharp, swift movement, swung an arm around the man’s neck until he had him in a choke hold. Using his free arm as leverage, he continued to squeeze the arteries on either side of the trachea until the ape, bloody-faced and losing consciousness, slumped to the floor. From her pocket Edie pulled out Derek’s torn undershirt. While Sonia undid the man’s belt and pulled off his key chain, Edie quickly wiped up the blood then balled up another piece of undershirt inside the ape’s slack mouth, securing it around his face while Sonia tore strips to secure his hands and feet to the bench.

  Quickly and without making a sound, Derek picked up the handgun and the three slipped out of the cage, locking the ape inside. They hurried along the corridor. The door at the end was locked but the ape’s key chain obliged. Klinsman had been right a week or two back when he’d said the facility was ‘rudimentary’.

  They were just about to go through when Edie held an arm across the door. Most likely one of the two men who’d arrested them was still somewhere in the camp. So far as they could tell, the whole Glacier Ridge operation was being conducted in secret. Their faces were familiar around the camp. If they were lucky, everyone else would assume they were making a routine visit. All they had to do was to get past Klinsman and his flunky.

  ‘You go first, Derek – make some sound going down the corridor. They’ll be expecting that goon back,’ Edie whispered. She reached down and took off her shoes. Gutierrez followed suit. Edie pressed her finger to her lips.

  ‘You and me, we make no noise at all. None.’

  The door opened and they found themselves in the same passageway as Klinsman’s office. Down the corridor they could hear the colonel’s voice deep in some phone conversation.

  Derek took off at a stride. He threw the door open at the far end of the corridor but stayed inside. For a moment they waited for the muffled buzz of the colonel’s voice, then the two women followed on, sliding their stockinged feet along the floor. The voice stopped and for a moment they froze but then it started up again and they moved on. At the end of the passage Derek edged the door open and they crept through into the atrium.

  ‘If he understood, and I think he did, Willa will be waiting for us somewhere close. If not, we’ll just have to risk walking out.’

  They met each other’s eyes, then Derek put his hand on the door to the outside and pushed the handle.

  It was a bright afternoon and a chill wind blew the crisp, clean smell of freedom into Edie’s nostrils. She took in the scene. It was as she’d predicted. An exercise had just come in and the whole camp was buzzing with activity, vehicles rumbling along the boardwalk, soldiers marching in and out of debriefing rooms, sauntering towards their quarters. With a little kick of joy she spotted Willa’s ATV parked up diagonally to the main boardwalk with the engine running and Willa himself standing beside it dressed in his Ranger’s uniform. The vehicle was small, a two-man seat, but if they sat side-saddle on it and hung on they’d be OK. They had to hope the security detail at the gate wouldn’t notice or, if they did, that they’d put it down to some quirky Inuit custom.

  Their only other major worry was if the second D-man found his compadre in the prison cell. The journey from K-block to the gate would take less than five minutes but in that time they would be extremely conspicuous. If the ape in the cage managed to raise the alarm, or they were spotted, there would be trouble. Edie elbowed Derek and they began to walk towards the ATV at a brisk pace.

  ‘Let’s go,’ he said.

  Gutierrez swung on first, facing to the left of the vehicle, followed by Derek. Edie slotted herself between the two, facing to the right.

  ‘Anyone asks, I’m giving you the tour,’ Willa said. ‘Public outreach. No one ever has a clue who’s in charge of that stuff. We’re lucky, they won’t question it.’

  They trundled along the marked vehicle track towards the security gate, past men walking in parallel along the boardwalk, doing their best to look relaxed while their eyes frantically scanned for anyone who might give them away. Then, as they reached a crossroads, a soldier stepped out, holding up a palm. Edie felt her stomach knocking, as though a bird was inside. Beside her, Sonia stiffened. The soldier made a waving motion to his left and a jeep appeared in their line of sight. Edie held her breath. The jeep trundled slowly through her field of vision, leaving a space directly ahead of her in its wake.

  And in that space Chip Muloon was standing.

  ‘Dios mío,’ mouthed Gutierrez.

  Muloon’s eyes were firmly fixed on Edie now, but she could not tell what was in them. His weight shifted from one foot to another, his hands in his pockets. Willa seemed to have frozen. Edie saw Muloon look about. All of a sudden he made a move towards the vehicle then just as quickly changed his mind and stopped, leaving one leg momentarily suspended in mid-air. He swung his head again, checking in both directions, then pulled his right hand from his pocket. Her eyes closed instinctively, waiting for the bullet. But when she opened them a moment later she saw that his hand was raised in an almost imperceptible wave. He gave a tiny nod.

  ‘Go!’ she said to Willa.

  The vehicle jerked then began rumbling forward, past the crossroads and towards where Muloon stood. He waited for it to nearly reach him, then quickly turned his back and walked away.

  He was letting them pass.

  Beside her, she felt Derek relax a little.

  At the security gate the guard came out of his hut. He hesitated for a moment, frowning, then, registering that there were three passengers scrunched up on the seat, his face broke out in a smile.

  ‘That’s a cosy arrangement. Hope you guys are all friendly.’

  The barrier went up.

  They were out.

  ‘Gracias, gracias,’ Sonia whispered. Her eyes were large with tears and she was rubbing her hands as if in prayer.

  They’d reached the turn-off to Lake Turngaluk before they heard the vehicles, a thin line of ATVs rumbling out from the Camp Nanook gate, moving at a pace towards them. In front, Willa jammed his foot on the accelerator but the ATV was underpowered for its load and it was clear that if they didn’t come up with something, they weren’t going to make it back to Kuujuaq.

  ‘You got a rappel rope and anchor?’ Edie yelled above the sound of the engine. Willa turned his head and blinked away the wind. ‘Always. In the pack at the back.’

  ‘You think
we can fast-rope the bird cliffs?’ she shouted.

  ‘Probably.’

  ‘Good. Head there. Don’t worry, I have a plan.’

  Willa steered the ATV 360 degrees and began to backtrack towards the lake turn-off, the engine on full throttle, black, charred fumes rising from the exhaust. The track here was little more than a gap in the willow, the surface so pocked with frost boils that the vehicle began to sway and bump alarmingly and Derek, Sonia and Edie were forced to cling to their makeshift positions. Reaching the perimeter of the Glacier Ridge containment fence, Willa told them to hold on tighter as he routed around a stretch of muskeg until they came to the slick rock and wind-dried sedge meadow of the clifftop. Before them the waters of Jones Sound sparkled like a dewy web in the afternoon sun.

  Willa jammed on the brake and the vehicle came to a screeching halt. One by one the passengers slid off. A hundred metres below them the beach shingle glinted soft grey in the sun. In the distance, to the northwest, three military ATVs were still heading along the main track to the settlement. In a moment they, too, would pull off onto the side track.

  Quickly, Edie outlined what she had in mind.

  ‘This rope should really be braided for fast-roping,’ Willa said, fishing out a coil of nylon rappel rope, a length of webbing and a rappel ring. ‘But we don’t have time.’ At the bottom of the pile he pulled out a single pair of gloves and handed them to Gutierrez.

  ‘You’re gonna need these.’

  They moved towards the edge of the cliff. Derek looked over and came back, nodding.

  ‘He’s still there. Or enough of him, anyway.’

  The two men went over to the cliff edge to find an anchor. Derek located the ledge and they walked back from the spot until they came to a large boulder. Together they strung the length of webbing around it, doubled the rope through the rappel ring and tied it off, pulling to test their weight against it. To finish off, they grubbed up some cotton grass and camouflaged the webbing. If they were lucky, the men wouldn’t see it.

  From their perch a few metres from the cliff edge Edie and Sonia continued to keep their eye on the convoy. The vehicles slowed on the main track, then, as predicted, they turned off towards the cliffs.

  ‘It’s time,’ Edie said. The two women moved to the cliff edge to join the men and waited in the order they’d agreed. The blood had bleached from Sonia’s face. Edie laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder. She could feel the trembling of her flesh. They continued to watch the vehicles heading towards them, tense and silent now, counting down the moments.

  In forty seconds, as the ATVs rounded the lake, Klinsman and his goons would be blinded for about two minutes by the low, Arctic summer sun in the southern sky. By the time the cliffs came back into clear view, if everything went according to plan, their quarry would have disappeared.

  At the exact moment Edie gave the signal, and Derek immediately dropped to the ground, grabbed the rope and, locking his right leg around it, disappeared over the cliff edge. The anchor strained but held. Sonia shuffled up and found her position, with her legs over the cliff face, and sat there, her breath coming in short pants. She curled her right leg around the rope. They counted fifteen, then Edie shouted:

  ‘Now!’

  Sonia took a deep breath then suddenly swung her head around. Her eyes were full of fear.

  ‘I don’t know if I can do this,’ she said.

  ‘You want me to push you off?’ Edie’s face gave Sonia reason to believe she was serious. ‘I’ll be right behind you. Don’t look down and remember to slide with your hands. Just keep going, even if it burns.’

  The lawyer closed her eyes for a second to gather herself, then went over. Edie watched her disappear, crouched and took her place. Sonia was three metres down now, her hands clutched tight on the rope, the top of Derek’s head just visible below her. Edie gripped the rope and braced herself. With no gloves and with hands damaged from frostbite, this was going to hurt.

  About two metres down she began to feel the skin peel away. By three metres the rope was slick with her blood. Above her she could see Willa had managed to pull his sleeves over his palms and was using the fabric to reduce the friction. She tightened her jaw and carried on, using her feet to push herself gently off the limestone face. Below her Sonia hesitated.

  ‘Don’t look down. Keep moving!’

  The lawyer looked up. Edie gesticulated with her head for her to move. The lawyer did not move. Up above her she could see Willa approaching.

  ‘Move!’

  The lawyer gave a little cry and resumed her descent. Steeling herself against the pain in her hands, Edie carried on behind her. Sonia did not stop again until she’d reached the ledge. Coming in after her, Edie swung the rope a little and stepped off. The palms of her hands were raw meat. Right now, it wasn’t hurting too much. But in an hour or so it would be a different story. Seeing them, Derek wrinkled his nose in sympathy, though his own were just as bad. Willa brought up the rear, untied the double eight and cleaned the anchor. Quickly, he began hauling in the rope and passing it along to Edie to coil. The sound of the engines was almost on them now. Edie crouched beside Willa, Sonia and Derek on the ledge where Markoosie Pitoq had spent the last hour of his life and hoped it would not be theirs.

  The wind came up, taking the sound of voices away from them, then after a brief silence, a fierce, shingly sound hit them at the same time as a shower of scree poured down, powdering their faces in dust. When Sonia gave a little gasp and began frantically scraping at her eye with her fingers, Edie frowned her back to silence. They heard a voice, shouting.

  ‘Christ!’ It was the ape. ‘There’s a body on the beach. It’s a mess. One of ’em must have fallen. Hard to see who from up here. Looks like one of the men. No sign of any of the others.’

  They heard the sound of engines starting up again then moving away along the track which ran parallel to the clifftop then down to link with the coastal route. Edie slid her body around Willa’s.

  ‘We got ten minutes till they make it to the beach,’ Derek said.

  ‘You think we should stay here?’ Gutierrez said.

  ‘Uh nuh. We’re more visible from down there. Besides, we need to get to Kuujuaq. I’ve clambered around these cliffs for twelve years. I know them pretty well. I think I can get us back up to the top. Just follow me, hold on to the rock and don’t look down.’ Directing himself to Willa he said, ‘Hand me the rope. As soon as I get over the lip I’ll reattach it and send it back down. It’ll give you something else to hold on to.’

  He stepped out, keeping his head up, facing the rock, his bloodied hands grasping for a hold. On either side of him, startled seabirds rose, calling. Gutierrez went next, followed by Willa, Edie bringing up the rear. She moved along the rock, placing her feet exactly in Willa’s footsteps. As she moved, her eye caught sight of the beach twenty metres below and she swallowed hard, then carried on. Derek had come to a step which led up to a small rocky table. Here he stopped for a second, checking on the others coming up behind him.

  On the final leg, the wind came up. Willa paused to get his balance. For an instant he glanced back at Edie and, blinking in the wind, managed a fragile smile of encouragement. A young guillemot blew from a crevice directly ahead. The sudden movement startled her. She felt her foot slide and dug in with her hands. The crosswind was buffeting her sideways now and she had to keep moving her weight to keep herself balanced. Looking up ahead she saw Derek get over the rim. Gutierrez had stopped, apparently blindsided by the wind. They waited a moment then Edie saw the rope twist down. Gutierrez grabbed it and moved forward. Derek appeared and offered his arms. Then she too disappeared over the rim.

  A minute or two later Edie found herself at the same spot, but this time it was Willa reaching down for her. With his help she heaved herself up and over onto the sedge. Then the two women picked themselves up and made for the ATV.

  Willa had left the key in the ignition and the engine running, hoping to convince Klinsm
an that they’d run off behind one of the outcrops a little further along the cliff. The key was gone now but in a blink Willa had his multitool out and, disengaging the ignition, he went around the back and connected the two solenoids with the screwdriver attachment and the engine rattled into life.

  A smile came over his face. ‘Finally, my wild past pays off.’

  The ATV lurched forward and in a cloud of grey smoke they roared along the muskeg towards Kuujuaq.

  41

  Edie used the journey across the tundra to do the rough calculations in her head. If it took Klinsman and his men fifteen minutes to figure out that the body on the beach was of no interest they’d almost certainly head directly for the settlement. There were two routes, the first retracing their steps back to the clifftops, the second via the more meandering coastal path. Either way they’d not be much more than thirty minutes behind.

  They swung by the detachment, picked up Gutierrez’s backpack and left, double-locking the door behind them. Willa drove them up to the landing strip and dropped Edie and Derek at the terminal building then went with Gutierrez around the side to the hanger where the police plane was kept. It was the police pilot’s job to keep it ready and fuelled in case of emergencies but Pol was out at summer camp for the weekend and there was no time to call him in. Thankfully, Willa had been a grease monkey ever since he could walk. He boasted he could do a basic check in under five minutes.

  With no scheduled flights running that day, the building was deserted. No CCTV, no alarm system. No one would have thought to put one in. The first Klinsman or anyone else would know of what was happening would be when they saw the plane come over. The spare keys to the police Twin Otter were kept in a cabinet in the office which was, surprisingly, locked. Derek fetched a large wrench from the tool room, came back and broke it open.

  Like every other ranking officer working in a remote area, Derek had his pilot’s licence. Unlike most, since a near miss out of Yellowknife fifteen years ago, he’d been stuck with a flying phobia. The tension in his jaw, the thin veil of sweat gathering on his forehead told Edie that he was doing his best to fight his demons, but also that they weren’t about to roll over while he stuck it to them.