Page 76 of Untamed Coast

The small radio built into the wall picked up only KCAW. They were playing “You Can Do Magic” by America.

Anya decided her best bet was to talk now.

She shouted toward the door. “Hello? Can I speak to Officer Collins? It’s important. Hello?”

After a couple more laps around the small room, keys jangled in the lock.

Collins walked in, sweat circles underneath both armpits. “We’re done questioning you. The state police are taking over.”

“I can tell you who killed Chilton,” Anya said.

Collins seemed to hesitate, then motioned for Anya to follow him. At the door, he took her arm and led her down the hallway to the same room with the one-way mirror where he’d questioned her before. He gestured for her to sit at the table.

She sat down and folded her hands in front of her. “Better get that tape recorder of yours. You’ll need it.”

Collins stepped back out of the room and then returned with the Radio Shack cassette recorder. “This better be worth my trouble. I’m neck deep in paperwork.” He set the recorder on the desk and clicked Play-Record. “This is Officer Ted Collins of the Sitka Police, questioning Anya Baron in the murder of John Chilton.” Collins sounded bored. “Mrs. Baron, are you agreeing to be questioned without a lawyer present?”

“I am. I want to tell you who murdered John Chilton.” Anya leaned toward the tape machine, speaking slowly and clearly. “It was a man named Thomas, a real-estate man from St. Louis. Gateway Arch Development.”

Collins scratched his chin. The tape recorder hummed. He took a pad and his well-chewed pencil out of his pocket and scribbled something. “This—Thomas—first or last name?”

Anya wasn’t sure. She shrugged.

“You need to say it for the tape.” Collins pointed at the recorder. “You don’t know? How come you’ve never mentioned him before?”

Anya hadn’t mentioned him. “I did mention him before—he came to town to have me sign some papers.”

“No, you said you were signing papers.” Collins wrote something else on the pad. “You never mentioned someone coming to town.”

“He came to my boat with the papers. He admitted to killing Chilton.” Anya could smell Collins from across the table. “He threatened me if I told anyone. Said he’d kill me. He also offered me way too much money for my fishing cabin.”

Collins wrote some more notes, glanced up at Anya, and then stabbed his pencil back into his pocket. “That all?”

Anya didn’t understand. “What do you mean? He killed Chilton. I suggest you go arrest—”

“I don’t think this Thomas exists, and I think you’re wasting my time. We talked for hours and you never mentioned a word about him. Then suddenly when you’re about to get transferred to Juneau, you invent this guy and say he’s the shooter?” Collins pressed Stop on the cassette recorder. “Tell me another thing, Mrs. Baron. How did your husband die? I hear it was a convenient accident? Men around you seem to be dropping like flies.”

Anya got to her feet and slammed her hands on the table.

Collins reached across and grabbed her wrists.

She’d blown it. He’d tried to get under her skin. Taunted her to get at the truth, and she’d taken the bait. He had her now. She’d killed her husband, and he knew it.

Anya tried to pull away, but the big man stepped around and maneuvered her arms behind her. She twisted her body, trying to free herself—her slippers kicked—only air.

Her wrists stung as the cold steel of handcuffs latched with a decisive clank. “Wait, I’m sorry—but I’m telling the truth. I’m not…”

Collins pushed her back down in her chair, her arms behind the backrest. A sharp pain shot through her elbow. The sleeves of the orange jumpsuit bunched up above the cuffs and the metal zipper-pull pinched the skin of her neck.

The door opened and the older man she’d seen before, the chief, walked in.

She assumed he’d been watching from behind the glass the whole time.

“Let me chat with Anya for a moment, Ted,” he said.

“Gladly.” Collins picked up his pad. “I’ve got actual work to do.” He showed the chief something in his notes, then stormed out of the room.

The chief turned toward Anya. “Hello, Anya, I’m Chief Sam Worlson.”