I move onto the floor, where Dalton listens, lying on his back as Rory crawls over him. “So they knew Mark, and now they’re in the area where he and his second wife both vanished. Mining might not be our answer. They could be searching for clues about their friend’s disappearance.”
Silence.
“Or not?” I say. “How did that play out? Obviously no one came searching here, and you never saw anything about a missing prospector and his wife.”
“Mark and his wife died in a single-vehicle accident. Back at home, they crashed along a country road.”
“I… What?”
“That’s the story, according to the obituary I dug up.”
“I…” I move back onto the chair, so I can better concentrate on the call. “Well, you obviously didn’t do that, since you just identified Mark.”
“Correct. I’d have told you if I quietly handled it. At the time, we decided it was best if I didn’t dig into Mark’s true identity, for fear of opening a suspicious trail. Instead, I monitored for any sign of a missing woman or a prospector who didn’t reappear after the season ended. When that didn’t come, I presumed those in charge of the mining operation handled it. They knew he was dead, and they essentially took over his claim—presumably without completing their transaction and paying his estate.”
“Do you still think the mining company did this? Covered up his death?”
“Yes, but…”
When she trails off, I wait. Then I say, “Émilie?”
“That’s the only logical explanation. The extent of the cover-up, though, is more elaborate than I would have expected. As you know, from being on the board in Rockton, I saw firsthand how such things were handled. I was prepared to make sure Mark and his wife’s disappearance wasn’t connected to your region. I had ideas and the contacts to pull it off.”
“And this was more elaborate?”
“Faking an accident means buying off a lot of people, especially when you don’t have bodies. That makes me wonder what sort of mining operation we’re dealing with. How deep are their pockets? How much gold—or other valuable resources—are they expecting to be worth that level of cover-up? Granted, Mark’s death meant they didn’t need to pay him, but still…”
“We’ve always suspected the new camp isn’t a simple mining operation.”
“Yes, and then my investigator located your dead miner.”
I pause, and it takes a moment for my brain to segue.
“The man we found buried,” I say.
“Your description of the runelike tattoo helped immensely. It’s specific to one maximum-security American prison. It signifies membership in an internal gang. Once we had that, we easily identified him.”
“Good. I’m not sure how it ties into all this, but any added information on the mining operation helps. Did you track down the other guy? The one who kidnapped Max last year?”
“I did.”
“Former prisoner?”
Again, she goes quiet.
“Not an ex-con?”
“That… would depend on your definition. If you mean someone who served his time and was released, then no. If youmean someone who was incarcerated before his death, then yes.”
I frown at Dalton, who has sat up, leaving Rory chomping on a teething ring.
“Émilie?” he says. “I’m going to ask you to be a lot less enigmatic. It sounds as if you’re saying the guy who took Max was still a convict at the time of his death.”
“Yes.”
I say, “An escaped convict? A paroled one?”
“No.”
