The Bone Seeker by M. J. McGrath

He opened his mouth to speak but the words were gone. Then, with a look of puzzlement on his face, he said,
    â€˜What are you doing here, young lady, and where’s Martha?’

8
    Edie walked back to the detachment and retrieved the remains of the fish heads from the kitchenette. Through the back window she could see Derek returning from feeding his lemmings.
    â€˜Any luck?’ he asked.
    She told him it looked as though Martha had been drinking on Friday night.
    â€˜Any idea who with?’
    â€˜No, not yet.’ Edie downed the last of her tea and went on. ‘But I’m beginning to get the feeling something happened in Martha’s life to make her stop talking to the people she loved. Chip told me she was asking him about the south. Maybe she was thinking of moving down there? Perhaps that’s why she started drinking. Couldn’t face breaking the news to her folks.’ She picked up the last fish head and sucked out the eyes. ‘Klinsman get back with that list yet?’
    â€˜Not yet. But one of us should go tell Gutierrez that running to Klinsman behind our backs could be construed as interfering with an investigation. I’m not opening up the site because she says so. We don’t yet know where Martha was first attacked but my guess is that it was likely to have been somewhere in those old buildings.’ The old radar station consisted of half-a-dozen units in various states of disrepair scattered across a rocky plateau which sloped down to Lake Turngaluk. ‘We’re gonna need to drain that pool, see if we can’t find the murder weapon. I’ve called Joseph Oolik and told him to stand by.’ Sam Oolik’s cousin drove the settlement honey truck and emptied the sewage tanks twice weekly.
    Edie stood and picked up her empty plate. ‘I’ll go have a chat with Gutierrez. Woman to woman.’
    â€˜Or should that be woman to wolf bitch? While you’re at it, you might mention the drainage thing to Gutierrez, check there’s nothing in that water that’s likely to be dangerous. She’ll have the list for the decontamination works, I’m guessing. But, Edie . . .’ He lowered his voice, though there was no one else about. ‘That water has a lot of Martha’s blood in it. I want to keep that part from the family as far as I can. You know how Inuit can be about blood. Source of spirit, all that stuff. If Charlie Salliaq finds out, it’s bound to cause trouble. I don’t want the locals all over us saying we’ve disrespected the culture.’
    â€˜Leave it to me, boss.’
    â€¢Â Â Â â€¢Â Â Â â€¢
    Edie pulled on her outerwear and headed for the hotel. After she called out, a door upstairs opened and the lawyer appeared on the landing. They sat on a couple of unloved chairs in the bleak TV area.
    â€˜How’s the family bearing up?’
    Gutierrez sighed and rubbed her hands lightly along her thighs. ‘Do you have a sister?’
    Edie shook her head.
    â€˜I do, back in Guatemala. Her name is Carlita,’ Gutierrez went on.
    Edie was struck by how unusual the lawyer was. Most of the
qalunaat
in the High Arctic were escapees, adventurers, desperadoes, drunkards, criminals and misfits. If they had families they didn’t talk about them.
    â€˜Carlita and her family mean everything to me, but there was a time when I hated her.’ She shot a sideways glance at Edie. ‘Do you see my point?’
    â€˜I can be quite stupid when I want to be and sometimes even when I don’t. Like now,’ Edie said. She hoped Gutierrez didn’t always talk in puzzles.
    â€˜You asked me about the family. My answer is that it’s terrible for everyone, but it’s worse for Lizzie. Even in death Martha outshines her. And soon, even in memory.’ The lawyer pressed her hands togetherand, changing gear, said, ‘But you came for something? Maybe Sergeant Palliser has