The Bone Seeker Read Online Free PDF

with the arms spread on either side like a cross. The swelling, the shadowy patches on the skin suggested that it had lain in the water some time. The hair was short, exposing the neck, and for a moment Edie felt a rush of relief. She moved forward, her legs propelling her towards the lake, and before she really knew what she was doing she was stumbling through the mud in the shallows, the mosquitoes whirling up around her like black hailstones in a thick wind, yelling, ‘It’s not her, it’s not her!’
    Then there were splashes behind her and a shrill voice. A pair of hands landed on her shoulders, pulling her back towards the waterline. She felt herself being whirled around, caught up in Derek’s arms and unable to move.
    â€˜Stop!’
    She froze. For an instant nothing happened then she felt Derek begin to drag her from the water, his arms squeezed so tightly around her that there was nothing she could do to resist him. They stood at the water’s edge, panting a little, the policeman’s face etched with anger.
    â€˜If you behave like that again, Edie Kiglatuk, so help me I will arrest you for interfering with an investigation.’ He let go of her and stepped back, leaving his frustration draped between them.
    Luc was standing at the water’s edge staring at the body. ‘If it’s not Martha, who the hell is it?’
    Derek stood with his arms hugging his chest. ‘Whoever it is, we’re gonna have to bring them in. I hate to do it. Procedurally, we should leave the body at the scene until the medical examiner and the forensics team get here but it’s a three-hour flight from Iqaluit, and that’s assuming they can leave immediately. If we don’t get the body out of the water that bear’ll be back before you can blink. Then I’ll have to shoot it and the damned Wildlife Service’ll be all over me. Not to mention the elders for depriving them of one of their hunting tags.’ He ran a hand across his face but the anguish in his expression remained. ‘Butlet’s not jump to conclusions. We don’t yet know a crime has been committed here.’ His lips tightened into a thin line. To Edie he said, ‘Luc and I will get the body. I need you to check around this pool here then the boundary of the lake.’ He reached into his pack and took out a camera. ‘Look for prints, tracks, objects, anything that might be useful.’
    Edie hesitated. She felt sidelined, and she didn’t like it. ‘But . . .’
    Derek shot her a dark look, his brow furrowed, hands on hips. ‘Please, Edie, just do as I ask and try not to be such a pain in the ass.’
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    The lake consisted of a series of pools linked by slow-running channels. To walk around them all took some time. By the time she returned, empty-handed, the men had already removed the body. It was lying on the gurney zipped inside a bag. They were now fixing wooden stakes around the immediate area. Derek passed her a roll of crime tape and motioned to her to help him string it around the stakes. Before she had the chance to ask whose body it was, Derek said,
    â€˜What’d you find?’
    â€˜Not much. Some newly broken willow twigs. Looks like a vehicle came this way, but nothing you can follow.’ The weather had been rough over the weekend, with squally rain. Any tracks had long since disappeared back into the willow and the mud.
    â€˜Any drag lines? A blood trail?’
    â€˜Uh nuh.’ She knew he trusted her hunter’s eye to have picked up anything like that.
    They finished with the tape. She jerked her head in the direction of the body.
    â€˜You know who it is?’
    Derek nodded. Something on his face made her heart quicken and a dull dread fill her belly.
    â€˜I want to see the body.’
    Derek shook his head. His voice cracked a little. ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea.