“Duane, what’s the matter?” she said in the way of good morning.
She left the door open. Duane followed Meghan back into the house and closed the door. Meghan left him to take off his boots on the floor mat while she wandered into the kitchen to brew coffee.
Duane followed her. The mayor had a manila folder with him.
“You told me in an email last week that nothing happened,” Duane started. “You said it was ‘business as usual,’ like everything was normal.”
“Okay yeah, we had a few problems.” Meghan started the coffeemaker. “But we got it all worked out.”
Somehow the experience over the last week hadn’t quite rubbed off. He opened the manila folder and started sifting through the emails. Meghan saw a few invoices included in the pile. He referred to one of the pages.
“Hilma Fisher’s dead,” he said.
“We got the guy who did it,” Meghan responded quickly. She didn’t want Duane to ruin the rest of her week.
“Someone burned down her house?”
“Well, it was the same guy who killed Hilma, so we got him.”
He went through more emails and reports. While the mayor attempted to gather his thoughts at the edge of the train wreck in his hands, Meghan included a few other details.
“We think Matthew Anuun worked alone on both crimes.”
“Matthew Anuun?” he repeated.
“Yeah, you know him?”
“My son knows him.”
Duane mentioning his son, Nathaniel, Meghan remembered the two young men from the airlines. She wanted to talk to him about the possibility of alcohol brought in their luggage. Only, at that moment, with Duane deep in processing the week before Christmas, Meghan thought it would keep for another day.
Meghan shook her head. “Yeah, Matthew’s going away for a while. We think her grandson was involved in part of the robbery.”
Duane looked up from the paperwork again. This time he looked at Meghan like she was on fire. “Matt Anuun and Norman Fisher were involved in the same crime?”
Meghan used her hands to illustrate the logic. “See, Matt helped Norman repair his grandmother’s roof. That’s when Matt saw Hilma had a stack of cash in the house. So, he used a hammer on Hilma. After that, Matt took the money and burned down the house. That’s when Norman got involved. It was him and a few others that divided up some of the money.
“Then Matt took off, and Norman went after him. So, Lester and I had to go after them,” she said. Meghan snapped her fingers. “You know there’s still a bootleg problem in Noorvik. I have to get back there and look around.”
Duane managed to keep up. He nodded. “There’s a bunch of invoices and bills to the city, Meghan. You said it was usual business.” He held up a stack of invoices. “This isn’t business as usual. There are fuel bills for search and rescue. You expect the city to pay for two snowmachines.”
“Well, I think the city’s insurance can pay for the snowmachines. We owe Eric and Lester both new machines for chasing after the kids.”
Duane shook his head. “That’s not how it works.”
Meghan rubbed a hand over her face. It was too early in the morning to deal with the mayor’s penny-pinching. “Look, Duane, I am tired. It was a very long week. I know it seems like a lot. But honestly, either way, if the department had snowmobiles instead of my officers having to use their personal equipment, it still falls under insurance.”
Before Duane said anything, but after he opened his mouth to shout at her, Brittany appeared.
She wore flannel pajamas, heavy socks, and borrowed her mother’s other robe. Brittany shuffled into the kitchen, around Duane. She poured coffee in a mug and retrieved milk from the refrigerator.
“Merry Christmas, Duane,” Brittany said.
If she’d heard any of their conversations before her appearance, Brittany played innocent.
“Merry Christmas, Brittany,” he replied. “I didn’t know you were coming for the holidays.”
“Yeah, it was a surprise to my mom too.” She took a sip from the mug. “What are you guys talking about?”
She stood beside her mother in the kitchen, facing Duane.
“Nothing that can’t wait until later,” Meghan said.
“Are you coming into work today?” Duane asked.
“I haven’t decided.”
“Then, this can’t wait.” His face screwed up as if in pain. “We just got back from Anchorage after spending the week going over budgets. The trip to Noorvik, the fuel costs for search and rescue. Do you know how expensive Eric’s snowmachine is? The city can’t afford all those added expenses, Meghan.”
“Hey, Duane,” Brittany said. “It’s probably not a good idea to talk shop in front of guests. I get it, though. You don’t see me. I’m a kid.” She put down the mug. “It seems to me that whatever you’ve got there in your hands is something Mom already knows. And it’s something that can probably wait until later or even tomorrow. Maybe even until after Christmas.”
She moved in front of Meghan. Duane took a step back. She shook her head.
“Doesn’t a nice city like this have insurance for emergencies?”
“Yes, we have insurance,” Duane said defensively. “I don’t expect you to understand how business works because—”
“Because I’m a girl?”
Duane swallowed. “No, because you’re a teenager,” he said.
Meghan didn’t know if one was worse than the other to call her daughter. Duane didn’t know what hit him.
“Oh right, I’m too young to know that my mother is some kind of hero and local legend around here. I couldn’t possibly know how to make social media comments that suggest she can’t do her job right because the mayor of Kinguyakkii thinks police work isn’t quintessential.
“I don’t know anything about how the funding works for an incorporated city that has
