Page 35 of Untamed Coast

Chilton held a finger in the air. “It turns out your late husband might have a stake in that mining claim. Did you know anything about that?”

“Never heard of it,” Anya replied.

“Well, I checked the geologic mineral survey records from just a few years ago,” Chilton continued, “and they confirmed that no significant deposits of gold or valuable minerals exist anywhere in the area of that mining claim. Dead end, right?”

Yes. Dead end. Obviously. So?

Anya was getting impatient with all this showboating.

He took another swig of coffee and winced. “…so I went to the bank and asked to see the historical files from the assay office from those years. That’s the place miners went to sell their gold.”

I know what an assay office is.

“Well, they didn’t call me back until the next day,” Chilton continued, “because someone had to get those records out of storage, but…”

Anya couldn’t stand any more. “Is this going anywhere, or are you just charging me for spinning long yarns?”

Chilton cracked a cocky-looking smile. “Yes, I’m getting to that. I found that, contrary to what the mineral survey suggested, a substantial amount of gold was sold from that mining claim. In today’s values, a very substantial amount. We are talking millions. Did your husband also inherit any significant amounts of money that you are aware of?”

Anya laughed. “Seriously? No.”

Most definitely not a millionaire.

She thought about the meager balance in their checking account.

Had to borrow to buy the fishing boat.

Chilton picked up a red-and-white peppermint from a bowl on his desk, unwrapped it, and popped it into his mouth. “Okay, well, I’ve requested bank account records,” he garbled, the mint clicking between his teeth, “although they informed me that those may take a while longer to dig up. It’s been over forty years. So, that’s one question. Did you ever meet your father-in-law?” The mint created an obvious bulge as he parked it in his cheek.

Anya’s stomach turned. The moose head on the wall looked at her sympathetically. Chilton’s name was engraved on a brass placard below the moose.

Pretty good resemblance.

Anya realized she hadn’t answered yet. “No. He died years before I met my husband.”

She turned her head to the side and took a breath, like a swimmer.

Chilton leaned back, nodding as if she had somehow cleared something up for him. His chair squeaked. “Well, if he inherited half the money that was produced by that mining claim back in the day, he’d be sitting on a good deal of wealth. But, independent of that, I want to know why this outfit is so hell-bent on buying your island with the fishing cabin. With your permission, I’d like to play it a little cagey with the buyers when we get in touch. I want to see what they’re willing to offer.” Chilton put his hands behind his head, elbows out, and rocked smugly back and forth in his chair.

Anya waited to see if anything more convincing would emerge from Chilton’s mouth.

It did not.

She broke the silence. “What would my island and fishing cabin have to do with some abandoned mining claim? And who cares? There must be dozens of them rotting around these parts.”

Chilton frowned and leaned forward again, placing his forearms on the desk, tilting his chin down and eyeing her from an angle, as if over a pair of nonexistent reading glasses. He spoke in a hushed tone. “Something just doesn’t quite add up here, Anya, and I’d like to see if we can get anything else—information at least, from this company. I don’t know why an outfit that owns a bunch of strip malls in St. Louis also has one small chunk of land in Alaska. And I’d like to find out what happened to all the money from that mining claim. If your husband didn’t inherit it, where did it go? Did he have any siblings that you know of?”

He burped loudly. “Pardon me.”

Anya desperately wished there was another lawyer in Sitka. “No, he was an only child.”

Chilton nodded. “Aha! Well, then we should put some effort into locating his share of the proceeds.”

Chapter 28

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Police Station—Juneau, AK