Village of the Ghost Bears Read Online Free PDF Page A

rolling.” He looked at Long. “Was anybody taking names then, Alan?”
    Long’s chipmunk cheeks sagged.
    Barnes patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. Was there a cat?”
    “A cat?” Long said.
    “Or maybe a dog?”
    “A cat,” Active said. “But how did you know?”
    Barnes shrugged. “Just a hunch. Most big public facilities have one or the other. Did it get out?”
    Long shook his head. “Who cares? We’ve got more important things—”
    “If it did, whoever took care of it probably set your fire,” Barnes explained in a patient tone. “Usually, the arsonist will make sure his pets get out.”
    “I didn’t see any cat come out,” Long said.
    “I’ll look for it when I go through the building,” said Barnes.
    Active thought about the Rec Center cat. A light yellow calico. Who had he heard calling the cat? Who had he seen opening a can of tuna and setting it on the office floor?
    “Well, we ought to get to work,” Carnaby said.
    “Damn right,” Long said. “Jim Silver was the best boss I ever had. As chief, I can tell you that everything the city has is at your disposal.”
    “Chief?” Active asked, eyebrows raised in surprise.
    “Acting chief,” Carnaby said. “Alan talked the mayor into appointing him this morning when we got the news about Jim. But it’s only until the new borough assumes public-safety powers and hires a real chief. Right, Alan?”
    Long gave a stiff little nod.
    “And the mayor asked us Troopers to take the lead in this investigation. Right, Alan?”
    Long looked even more crestfallen. “Absolutely, Captain.”
    “Okay,” Active said. Then he looked from Barnes to Carnaby. “So we think it was arson?”
    Barnes scraped at the gravel with his shovel. “Doesn’t do to start with a big load of preconceptions, but most structure fires are.”
    Active had heard this in his fire-investigation course too. “How long till you can get in?”
    Barnes shrugged and studied the ruins. “Couple hours, maybe. They’re going to keep the hoses on it a while, then I guess the state’s sending over a dozer from airport maintenance to take down these last two walls?” He looked at Carnaby.
    Carnaby nodded. “It’s on the way.”
    Active looked at Barnes. “What do we do till then?”
    Barnes looked at the gawkers again. “Not we. It’s you guys, mostly.”
    “But you’re the expert, right?” Long asked.
    “Arson investigation is twenty-five percent physical evidence and seventy-five percent interviews,” Barnes said. “And in a village . . . trust me, it’s better if you guys handle the interviews and I handle the shovel.” He jabbed it into the dirt for emphasis. “People don’t want to talk to a stranger at a time like this.”
    “You’re it?” Active asked. “I thought you guys traveled in teams.”
    “Hah,” Barnes said. “Do the words ‘Republican governor plus Republican legislature’ mean anything to you? You’re lucky there was enough travel budget to send me. ”
    “What about the Feds? With this many fatalities, doesn’t the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms usually come in?”
    “Hah,” Barnes said again. “Maybe if we told ’em al Qaeda did it. These days, it’s no terrorism, no Feds, except for maybe a little consult over the phone if I need it. Basically, I’m it.”
    “Cowboy said we’ve got two survivors here and one at the burn unit in Anchorage?”
    Carnaby cleared his throat. “Two here and none in Anchorage, as of about forty-five minutes ago.”
    Active shook his head. “Can the two here—who are they, anyway?”
    Carnaby looked at his notebook. “Jack Stocker and Enos Rexford. Couple of teenagers.” Active recognized the surnames as belonging to Chukchi families, but he didn’t know either boy.
    “Can they talk?”
    “They can and did,” Carnaby said. “Alan interviewed them this morning.”
    “And?”
    “They weren’t much help,” Long said. “They were playing one-on-one in the gym