Lester and Oliver followed her to the back office. He had a stern expression. Lester wasn’t as tall as Oliver but shared the Native Alaskan features. His ebony hair matched the color of his trimmed mustache, his eyes the color of raw gold.
Lester was older than Meghan, a permanent part of the police department, and the only officer who cleared the State Trooper investigation into corruption that claimed the former police chief and other officers for the city. It was a negative impression against the department that still left many citizens to think the police were untrustworthy. It was cliché and a problem that Meghan had to address often even after the years on the job.
“I got a call from Freddie Kesuk in Noorvik. They found Hilma Fisher in her house.”
“What happened?” Meghan asked. She didn’t know who Hilma Fisher was, but it wasn’t as crucial as Lester’s urgency.
“She’s dead, died in a house fire.” Lester explained, “I called Rowland. He’s on his way out there in about an hour.”
Rowland Searson was the fire marshal for Kinguyakkii Volunteer Fire Department. As the fire chief, as well as the fire marshal, like Meghan, the man had a lot of responsibility and wore a few hats. He was the only paid member of the department. The rest of the volunteers were genuinely brave men and women who devoted their lives to a just cause.
“Is there something you’re not telling me?” Meghan asked.
“I knew Hilma. She’s a good woman.”
“You want to go to Noorvik?” Meghan asked. “I’m fine with that. Do you need me to go too?”
“I had Freddie take a few pictures for me and send them.”
He opened the email on his smartphone and showed Meghan. She looked at the pictures. Details lost in the miniature view made her squint and expanded the images.
“Okay,” she said. “What am I seeing?”
“That’s Hilma in a blanket on the floor.” Meghan handed Lester the phone. “Freddie said her daughter tried to get a hold of Hilma this morning a few times. She works at the post office here in town. She called Freddie. Freddie went over to see Hilma. That’s when he found her.”
“Did he call Hilma’s daughter back yet?”
Lester shook his head. “Freddie called me first.”
Meghan sat at her desk. She had a week in Anchorage dealing with budget issues. There was a stack of reports on the desk waiting for her reviews. After a two-hour flight back to Kinguyakkii, this awful business landed in her lap. There wasn’t enough time to go home and shower before she had to deal with what looked like someone who had a severe and fatal accident in her home. Her thighs burned from sitting for hours on a plane.
“Remind me again, where is Noorvik?” she asked.
“It’s east of here about forty miles.”
“We can try to charter a flight,” she said. Echoes of budget meeting complaints rang in her head. She had to deal with policing an area the size of the state of Ohio with herself, three officers, and a shoestring budget that stretched too far, the laces always snapped.
“There’s a winter storm coming. I tried getting a pilot to take us out. Everyone passed. We’ll have to go by snowmachine.”
Meghan did her best to look nonplused. It helped when she asked, “Can we drive from here?”
“Yeah,” Oliver added. “The channel’s frozen now. People are coming in from as far as Selawik.”
That meant the rivers were frozen enough for people to ride four-wheelers and snowmobiles. In another month, construction crews used snowplows to clear ice roads that had oppressive traffic ways and no speed limits. People used the Kobuk River as access from Kinguyakkii to Noorvik. It was a new experience for Meghan, and in the dark, with a winter storm advisory, why not have another life-threatening experience to face head-on during the holidays?
“Do we have a snowmobile?” she asked.
Oliver chuckled. She gave away her lower-forty-eight background by using a term reserved for people who weren’t lifelong Alaskans.
“We can take mine,” he said.
Meghan looked from Oliver’s smiling and eager face to Lester, who wore a serious and patient expression.
“I think I’d like you to stay here, Oliver. You and Riley can split twelve-hour shifts until we get back.” It was easier to make Oliver feel useful than turn him down directly. He had a pleasant disposition and maintained a positive outlook. Nonetheless, Meghan wanted Lester’s experience when it came to public safety issues outside Kinguyakkii city limits.
“Do you know if we have a place to stay in Noorvik, or should I make reservations at their hotel?” she asked.
Oliver gave a hardy laugh. “You’re funny, Boss.”
Lester nodded and said, “Freddie’s going to give us an office at the public works building. You can bunk there. I’ll make other arrangements.”
“Are you saying you’re too good to bunk in the same room as me, Lester?” Meghan said it with a smile to let him know she wasn’t offended by the statement.
He shrugged. “I thought you’d want it like that.”
“I once had to sit in a van for seven days with two other male agents. Trust me, trial by fire. I am not afraid of sleeping in the same room as my team.”
“Well, you need to get your heavy snow gear. We’ve got about a five-hour ride to Noorvik. If we leave in an hour, we can be there before ten tonight.” Lester pressed his lips together until they disappeared under his thin mustache. “We need to tell Barbara about her mom,” he said.
“Who is Barbara again?” she asked.
“Barbara McKenzie. She works at the post office.”
It took Meghan all of a moment to realize Lester brought up Barbara in increments. She understood his grimace upon mentioning her.
“That’s the woman Paul Coleman had the affair with, right?”
Lester nodded.
“And your friend
