the ceiling of the old barn. He reached out to touch me with his burning hands.
I woke up then. There was a hand on my shoulder. The face looking down at me was familiar-the white hair, the rugged features.
“Mr. McKnight,” he said.
It came to me. It was Staff Sergeant Moreland, Natalie’s superior officer from the Hearst Detachment. I sat up and rubbed my eyes.
“What time is it?” I said. I looked out the window.
“It’s around eight in the morning.”
“Oh man,” I said, touching my neck. “I need some more drugs.”
“Perhaps we can talk first?”
He sat down at the table. He was moving slowly, and looked almost as worn out as I felt. I got up and joined him.
“Did you drive all the way down from Hearst?” I said.
“Yes, as a matter of fact. I take it you remember me.”
“You’re Natalie’s commanding officer.”
“Do you remember what I told you the last time I saw you?”
“You told me to go back to Michigan and to never set foot in Ontario again.”
“I think it was more like a suggestion,” he said. “But yes, that was the general idea.”
“And obviously I didn’t.”
He rubbed his forehead. “Mr. McKnight, you understand why I said that, don’t you? You were involved in the worst homicide case I’ve seen in thirty-eight years on the Provincial Police force.”
“With all due respect, sir. I’m not sure ‘involved’ is the right word.”
“You were there, eh? You were right in the middle of it. Obviously, the whole thing took a toll on Constable Reynaud. When she went on administrative leave, I was hoping she’d be able to put it all behind her. Imagine my surprise when I find out now that she’s missing and that her mother has been murdered with an old ice hook.”
“An ice hook?”
“Yes. For moving blocks of ice around, when they used to cut them out of the channel. Someone stuck it right through her, McKnight, all the way to the floor. Once again, you’re right in the middle of everything.”
“Sergeant Moreland, I don’t know what happened to Natalie, but-”
He put his hands up to stop me. “If you’re involved in some relationship with Officer Reynaud, that’s none of my business,” he said. “Never mind what I’d say to my own daughter about it, who happens to be around the same age.”
I shook my head and looked away.
“But enough of that,” he said. “When she’s back home safe, then you and I might talk a little more, eh? Right now, I’m sure you’ll agree, our first priority has to be finding her.”
“Of course.”
“Naturally, we’re also trying to find the man who tried to kill you. His brother, too. I’m told that’s the person you were both looking for when you came up here?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“I’d like you to tell me everything that happened,” he said. “I know you’ve already been through this.”
“You want to hear it yourself,” I said. “I understand.”
“Take your time.”
I went through it one more time for him, starting with Simon Grant in the hotel and ending with the scene in the barn. He listened carefully to every word. Even though he had a pad of paper and a pen, he never wrote anything down.
“Go back to Marty Grant,” he said when I was done. “You say you saw him in Batchawana Bay?”
“Yes, when I went up looking for Natalie and her mother.”
“You have no idea why he might have been up there?”
“No, I don’t.”
“And you have no idea why he might have gone to Natalie’s house, assuming he did?”
“No, other than what his brother said about the devil of Blind River.”
“The devil of Blind River,” he said. He slowly tapped on the pad with his pen.
“I’m thinking that had to be Natalie’s father.”
“But you never talked to Grace Reynaud about this?”
“I never talked to her about anything,” I said. “I never got to meet her.”
“At least not alive.”
“No,” I said. “Not alive.”
“We’ve been in contact with the police in Soo Michigan,” he said. “Apparently you know the chief down there, Roy Maven?”
“We go way back, yes.”
He came as close to a smile as he was going to. “So I hear. In any case, they’re looking for both of the Grant brothers down there. They’ve spoken to the rest of the family, but they’re not getting much cooperation.”
“I’m not surprised. They seem like a pretty tight family.”
“Apparently, they told Chief Maven that they weren’t going to say a word to him. That’s exactly how they put it.”
“As opposed to telling him that they had no idea where either of the brothers were?”
“Right. It sounds like they know something, but they’re not talking.”
“Have you checked the hospitals? I was talking to the doctor about that gun, the way it exploded. Michael Grant is probably hurting pretty bad right now.”
“Naturally,” he said. “But we haven’t heard anything on that yet. We haven’t found your truck yet, either.”
“So what’s next?”
“I’m going to give you my card,” he said, reaching into his pocket. “I’m going to put my home number on the back. If you think of anything else that might be helpful, call me immediately.”
“That’s it?”
“An officer will take you back to Michigan,” he said. “You’ll need to call someone to meet you at the bridge.”
“You came a long way just to hear my story.”
“I needed to see you in person,” he said. “You said you were an old cop, right? I’m sure you can understand.”
“I suppose I can.”
“Natalie Reynaud is one of my own. You know that.”
“Yes, Sergeant.”
“If anything happens to her…”
He didn’t say anything else. He didn’t have to.
He called an officer to come pick me up. While I was waiting, I gave Vinnie a ring on his cell phone again. He didn’t answer. So I called Jackie at the Glasgow.
“Jackie,” I said when he picked up. “Is Vinnie there?”
“Alex, you damned fool, what the hell is going on there?”
“I’m coming home, Jackie. I’ll explain everything.”
“I told you, God damn it. Did I not tell you this would happen?”
“Yes, you did. Let me talk to Vinnie now.”
“You don’t have the sense God gave a turnip, you know that? I’ll be waiting right here, Alex. I’m gonna kick your stupid ass all over this bar.”
Good old Jackie, I thought. He knows me too well.
“Jackie, is Vinnie there or not?”
“No, he’s not. I haven’t seen him since yesterday. Do I need to come get you?”
Wait a minute, I thought. Wait one goddamned minute.
“Alex, are you there?”
