Ice Lake Read Online Free PDF Page B

your case.”
Painchaud held the door open a moment, admitting the frigid wind, before stepping outside. “Thank you, sir,” he said, turning, “for everything.” Then he was gone.
Mathers and Cinq-Mars waited in the cabin, listening to the howl of wind around the timbers and plywood surfaces, hearing the old wood creak. Mathers had a grin on his face.
“What?” Cinq-Mars finally bellowed when he had had enough. “What?”
“Emile Cinq-Mars,” Mathers chortled, “confiding in an officer from the SQ. Will wonders never cease?”
“I didn’t tell him any damned thing,” Cinq-Mars huffed. But after a while he asked, gesturing broadly with his chin, “The guy seemed different from the others, though, didn’t he? To you?”
Mathers nodded slightly. “Smaller,” he conceded.
Sergeant Charles Painchaud strode across to the hut where the body had been found. The woman who had discovered it was inside trying to keep warm, and another woman was hovering around her, being helpful. Upon entering, he gave a slight nod to the friend, who understood that she was being asked to leave, and through a series of hand signals and facial expressions she understood also that she should gather up the woman’s daughter and take her along. It took a while to get everyone dressed and out, and only when the door had closed did Painchaud give up the pretence of conducting an official police interview.
“Camille, I’m so sorry,” he said, and pulled up a wooden chair to sit beside her.
“Charlie. My God. They’ve killed Andy. What’re we going to do?”
“You didn’t tell anyone you knew him?”
“I didn’t know what to do,” she confided. “I just started screaming. I figured Cinq-Mars was around somewhere. That he’d come.”
“Okay, Camille, you did fine. Now, think, did you tell anyone you knew him?”
“No, I didn’t. Was that wrong?”
“If it’s found out that you knew him, you can always plead that you didn’t look at his face.”
“I told people I did. Look at his face, I mean. I don’t know why I did it. I told people I lifted up his head to see if it was attached.”
“Camille!”
“I was in shock! I am in shock! Damn it, Charlie.”
“Okay, okay, take it easy.” He held both her coldhands between his, rubbing them. “It’ll only be a problem if someone finds out that you knew Andy. I’m in charge of the case, so the question probably won’t come up.”
“What about Cinq-Mars?”
“He seems interested in what’s going on. I’m going to make that work for us. I’m going to keep him interested.”
“Why don’t we just tell him everything? We were going to talk to him anyway.”
“Andy’s death complicates things. You knew him. He’s dead in your hut. Andy held so many keys that could have helped you and Lucy. Now he’s dead. That’s trouble. Lucy’s in trouble. You are, too. I need time to think this through.”
She began to breathe heavily, and tears welled. “Charlie, Charlie, they’ve killed Andy! Andy’s dead!”
“Shhh, shhh,” he whispered, both cautioning and soothing her.
“How did he get under the ice in my hut?” The mystery of it seemed to make her frantic. “Is that some kind of warning? Do they know about me, too? Are they going to kill me next?”
“Don’t panic, Camille. It’s a coincidence. They would never warn you first.” That seemed of slight comfort, so Sergeant Painchaud moved across to the bunk on which Camille was sitting and took her into his arms. He rocked her and urged her not to worry, but he knew that there was much to fear, and much that was left unexplained. Eventually, the woman who had crossed the ice on a Ski-Doo that morning only to find a friend dead beneath her fishing hut calmed herself.
“Where’s Lucy?” Camille Choquette inquired.
“She’s gone into the city. To blow off steam, I imagine.”
Camille looked up at him, astonished.
“No!” he hastened to add. “She doesn’t know about Andy.”
“Oh my God. Charlie!”
“I