He went back to the window and glanced at the frozen tundra below. How long could his old bones stand this cold place? Time would tell.

  Vic looked at the stack of resumes on his desk, and he quickly scooped them up and went out into the main squad room. He was about to hand the resumes to Jane Blacklock, but then he saw Paul Beck come through the door, stamp his feet off on the rug and stand for a moment to let his eyes adjust from the brightness outside.

  “Paul,” Vic said. “Come with me.”

  Paul quickly slung his coat off and followed Vic into his office.

  “Door open or closed?” Paul asked.

  “Wide open,” Vic said. “What you got there?”

  Paul smiled and said, “People are being stupid out there, boss. I handed out a bunch of speeding tickets.”

  “Clear roads and bright skies,” Vic said. “Heading north?”

  “Yes, sir. Most of them were going to Lutsen for the weekend.” He smiled and then added, “All of them from the Twin Cities.”

  “Nice work,” Vic said. Then he reached out his hand with the resumes and Paul reluctantly took them from him.

  “What are these?” Paul asked.

  “Resumes. Find the best three candidates and bring them in for interviews.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Serious as a heart attack,” Vic said.

  “I’ve never done that before.”

  “As a chief, you’d need to do that. You got a problem?”

  “No, sir,” Paul said. “I’m just surprised. That’s a big responsibility.”

  “Don’t go all mushy on me,” Vic said. “It’s not like you’re filling the shoes of a Titan. We’re talking about Bob’s replacement. Anyone has to be better than him.”

  Paul blinked several times before saying, “I hear he was a decent cop back in the day.”

  “Back when Christ was still an altar boy,” Vic said.

  Shrugging, Paul said, “What am I looking for?”

  “A good cop,” Vic said. “High moral character, good education, experience, if possible. Then I want you in on the interviews.”

  “That would be an honor, sir,” Paul said. “Male or female?”

  “I don’t give a crap one way or the other. Just a damn good cop. Read the resumes and find a good candidate.”

  “Timeline?” Paul asked.

  “Yesterday!”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Now, get the hell out of here, process those tickets, and find me three candidates by close of business.”

  Paul nodded and hurried from the office.

  What Vic didn’t tell Paul was that he had already identified the top three candidates. This was simply a test of Paul’s judgement. Could he see through the smoke and mirrors and discover the truth? Vic checked his watch. He’d find out in a few hours.

  15

  Vic got home just as the sun was setting on Lake Superior. In the fading light of day, he wandered out to the lake and gazed at the light waves lapping ashore. It was still hard for him to believe that this great body of water was not an ocean.

  “Tell me you’re not thinking about taking a plunge,” came a woman’s voice from behind him.

  He turned to see Karen Davis, a local real estate agent, holding a bottle of wine in one hand and a paper bag in the other.

  “I’ve brought a peace offering,” Karen said.

  The two of them had been experiencing an on and off relationship of the carnal nature. As far as either of them were concerned, this was nothing more than a physical attraction.

  Vic smiled and said, “How do you know I didn’t have something already in the oven.”

  She gave him a heavy sigh. “My guess is you were about to microwave a TV dinner.”

  “In truth, I was thinking about a peanut butter and jelly sandwich,” he said kiddingly.

  They went inside and Vic started a fire in the living room fireplace. Then they ate sub sandwiches and sipped on red wine to the crackling ambiance of the fire.

  When they had each finished their sandwiches, Vic noticed that Karen had something on her mind.

  “What is it?” he asked her.

  “What? I didn’t say anything.”

  “I’m a trained detective,” he said. “I know when someone wants to say something. Spill it.”

  Karen leaned back on the leather sofa and crossed her legs, which were covered in black yoga pants. Finally, she let out a heavy sigh and said, “It’s just this nonsense with the murder in town. Everyone is on edge.”

  He hadn’t even considered how others in town might feel. Perhaps he had become inure to violence living in a big city with thirty murders a year.

  “I don’t think the public is in danger,” Vic said. But he wasn’t entirely sure he believed this himself. The fact was he wasn’t sure what was going on.

  “But you understand why we might be concerned,” she said. “After all, this is two murders in about two months. Prior to that, the last murder was more than a decade ago. Some are beginning to think the common denominator is. . .”

  “Me?” he asked. “If you recall, I was brought in to solve the former chief’s murder. You can’t tie that one to me.”

  She put her hand on his thigh and said, “I know, Vic. I’m not saying these things. But I hear things.”

  He sipped more wine as he tried to figure out what she was hinting at. Then he said, “You’re worried about how this impacts your business.”

  Karen pointed a finger at him. “That’s very callous.”

  “But true?”

  She bit her lower lip and said, “Unfortunately, we live in wired times. Social media is full of nasty things about you.”

  “I’m not on social media,” he reminded her.

  “I know. But the fact remains that people are savaging your reputation there.”

  He got up and went to the large picture window where only a glimmer of the setting sun still showed remnants of Lake Superior.

  Karen came to him and rubbed her hand across his back. “I’m sorry to bring this up, Vic. But I thought someone should tell you.”

  He turned to her and said, “I can’t be worried about what people think of me. I never have in the past, and I don’t plan on worrying in the future. People are ignorant. They have no idea how hard we’re working to solve this case.”

  “I know. Why don’t you just turn it over to those people from the state.”

  “The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension?”

  She shrugged. “Then it would be out of your hands.”

  He shook his head vehemently. “That’s a cop out. This happened in my town on my watch. I will catch the killer.” He didn’t want to mention there could be more than one killer.

  She led him back to the sofa and emptied the rest of the bottle into their glasses. Then she sipped on her wine and licked off a drop from her upper lip.

  “There’s more,” Vic guessed.

  She shrugged. “I was just wondering how your investigation is going.”

  “You know I can’t discuss that.”

  “When you talk with folks in this town, people notice.”

  “So.”

  “So, everyone knows you’ve talked with Danny Carlson.”

  He didn’t confirm this fact. But he did wonder who could have spread this information. Perhaps the receptionist at the Superior Mining facility. Maybe even Danny Carlson himself. That little weasel would do so.

  “You think Danny Carlson is capable of killing someone?” Vic asked.

  She started to shake her head, but then she said, “I don’t know. If anyone, I’d say Donny could kill someone. He seems more the type.”

  “How well do you know either of them?”

  “I went to school with both of them,” she said. “Danny was in my class and Donny was behind us a couple of years. Neither of them were that bright.”

  “Why do you say that?” Vic asked.

  “It’s a fact. Danny once said, why should he even try? He’d probably end up in the mines or on a ship.”

  This got Vic’s attention. “Did Danny work on ships?”

  “I believe he did. Right after high school.”

  Vic made a mental note to check into that. Maybe that was how he knew the guy from Toledo.

  “You have something else for me,” Vic surmised.

  She raised her left hand palm up and said, “What does a girl need to do to get ravished?”

  “So, this is a booty call?” he asked.

  Karen raised her brows in response.

  How could he deny either of them this pleasure?

  She followed him upstairs and stayed the whole night.

  16

  In the morning, following the awkward sendoff of his overnight guest, Vic got into the office later than normal. Jane was already there. So were Romano and Paul Beck. The two of them sat conspiratorially looking at something on Romano’s computer screen.

  Jane handed Vic a couple pieces of paper. “The mayor called,” she said. “So did some guy from Superior Mining.”

  Vic looked at the papers and then asked, “Did you get a name?”

  “We both know the mayor’s name,” she said with a smirk.

  He waited for her to give it up.

  “Oh. The guy from Superior Mining?” Jane asked. “No. He hung up when I said you weren’t in yet.”

  “Did the mayor say what she wanted?”

  Jane shook her head no. “It’s Friday and the last day before Christmas vacation. She’s probably at school already. But she’s been meeting with that Chinese couple in town. Could be that.”

  Bertha Schultz was a health and gym teacher at the local high school, along with her part-time duties as a weak mayor. She was a frumpy older woman, unmarried and without children. Not that any of that mattered to him. His job as interim chief didn’t depend at all on her opinion. He worked at the pleasure of the city council.

  Romano and Paul approached with paperwork in each of their hands.

  Vic raised a finger as he went to the coffee pot and poured himself a tall mug of Arco. Then he waived for them to follow him into his office.

  Sitting behind his desk, Vic finally sipped his coffee and said, “Shoot.”

  Romano took the lead. “After you texted me last night about Danny working the ore boats, I dug into his background further. Believe it or not, he has a social media presence. He definitely worked the ore boats right out of high school. So, I was able to find the ships he worked on and the list of crew members.”

  “You could find that?” Vic asked.

  “It wasn’t too hard,” she said. “Anyway, I did find a link between Danny and Ernesto Cabrera from Toledo. They both worked on an ore boat together years ago.”

  “Okay,” Vic said. “So they worked together and still work for Superior Mining. That’s like me and an old Air Force buddy still in contact. Does it mean anything?”

  “I don’t know,” Romano admitted. “Like I said before, I don’t have the texts between the men. I just have a bunch of very short phone calls and the texts.”

  “And that’s sketchy in itself,” Vic said.

  She shrugged.

  Vic turned to Paul, who was waiting desperately to speak up.

  “Speak,” Vic said to Paul.

  “Sir, I narrowed the officer candidates down to these three,” Paul said, handing the resumes to Vic.

  Glancing quickly at the three resumes, Vic was nearly satisfied. He had initially told Paul to have the three best candidates to him by the end of day yesterday, but then he gave him the night to complete his search. Two of the three were potentially ideal candidates. But the third one was problematic.

  Vic handed two of the resumes back to Paul and said, “These two are perfect. Nice work. But this third one could be a problem.”

  Paul gulped and asked, “Why, sir?”

  “Did you do a background check on her?” Vic asked.

  Paul’s eyes shifted toward Romano and then settled back on Vic. “Yes, sir?”

  “Was that a question?” Vic asked.

  “I did look into her,” Paul said. “Is it because she’s a woman?”

  Vic was nearly exhausted by this officer. “You handed me three resumes. Two were women and one man. I said yes to one man and one woman. How could this possibly be about gender?”

  Paul looked confused.

  “Son, are you aware of adult subscription services?” Vic asked him.

  Romano held back a smile.

  Paul said, “If I say yes, you could question my judgment. If I say no, you’ll think I’m lying.”

  “So, you checked on this woman’s social media pages and thought she was hot,” Vic said. “Someone you might like around the office.”

  “She had a good background,” Paul complained.

  “She was fired from her last job because of her adult subscription service activity,” Vic said. “She refused to stop doing it, because she made twice as much money on that site as she did as a cop in the Twin Cities suburb. That’s a problem.”

  Paul finally nodded his understanding.

  “Who’s your third option?” Vic asked.

  Shuffling through the resumes, Paul pulled one out and handed it to Vic.

  Good boy, Vic thought, when he glanced at the resume. “Why was this guy number four in your book?”

  “I don’t know, sir,” Paul said. “He’s never worked as a real cop.”

  Vic shoved his finger into the man’s resume. “What the hell do you call this? He has six years as an Air Force Security Forces. He’s a staff Sergeant who spent time deployed around the world. What do you think Security Forces do? They’re Air Force cops! He should be top of your list. He has two Commendation Medals and a Bronze Star.” Vic handed the resume back to Paul and added, “Get those three set up for interviews.”

  “Yes, sir,” Paul said, and then left the office.

  “Sir, you were kind of hard on him,” Romano said.

  He ignored her and said, “Dig deeper into Ernesto Cabrera. I want to know if he’s ever stepped foot in Bay City.”

  She hesitated, as if she wanted something else from him. Then she must have decided he wasn’t going to explain himself further.

  After Romano was gone, he thought about his actions. Was he taking out his own frustrations on his officers? More than likely. Did he care? Not really. It was what it was. He had a killer to catch.

  His cell phone suddenly buzzed on his desk. He looked at the number with the 218 area code, and it didn’t register as one of his contacts.

  Picking up, Vic said, “Yeah.”

  “Is this Chief Victor Gorski?” the man asked.

  He hesitated, thinking someone was going to ask him about his current insurance needs. “Yes,” he said. “What can I do for you?”

  “Meet me at Palisade Head in thirty minutes. Come alone.”

  Before Vic could complain or tell the guy to shove off, the man hung up. He checked his watch and got up from his desk.

  “Jane,” Vic yelled.

  He waited for the office manager to come to him.

  Finally, she came to his door and said, “You screamed?”

  “Close the door,” he said.

  She looked concerned but did as he said. Then she stepped closer to Vic.

  “The guy who called earlier,” Vic said.

  “The man from Superior Mining?” she provided.

  “Yes. You said he didn’t leave a name. Did you give him my private cell phone number?”

  She shook her head. “No way. I never give that out. Why?”

  “Can you check our phone system and get the number the man called from?” Vic asked.

  “I can do it from here,” she said.

  Vic turned his phone to her and she tapped in some numbers, which brought up the call that had come into their line.

  “There it is,” Jane said, turning the phone back toward Vic. “Did I screw up?”

  “No. I’m just curious who might be trying to find me. It’s probably not important. Thanks for your help.”

  “Anything else?” she asked.

  “Yes,” he said. “Could you call the mayor and tell her I can’t get back to her for a while?”

  “Certainly.” Then she left and closed the door behind her.

  Once she was gone, he did a quick search of the number and found the name of the man who wanted to meet him. Then he did a background check on the guy to get a little information on who wanted to meet him. With his limited knowledge of the guy, Vic grabbed his coat and left the office.

  17

  Vic got to Palisade Head north of town before his contact got there. Lake Superior was an eerie calm. The sun that had come up earlier was now obscured by dark clouds. It looked like it could snow at any moment, he thought.

  As Vic sat with the engine running, he used his phone to check further into his contact’s background. Without the internet, though, his phone wasn’t loading the information very quickly.

  A text came in from the mayor. She wanted to talk to him about meeting with a couple from China. Some sort of informal delegation of potential investors in Bay City. Vic texted back saying they shouldn’t get in bed with anyone from China. He got a sad face image and then a thumbs up.

  He didn’t have to wait long for the guy to show up. A newer Chevy Blazer turned off Highway 61, drove down the winding road out of his view for a while, and finally came to the parking lot near the precipice of Palisade Head and stopped with the driver’s window three feet from his own.

  They both lowered their windows and Vic saw his contact in person for the first time. The guy was in his early 50s and his short-cropped hair had gone completely grey. Father time had not been kind to Ralph Fisher. The guy was overweight and he had a red, bulbous nose, probably from excessive drinking.

  “Why did you want to meet me here?” Vic asked the guy.

  “I can’t be seen with you,” the man said.

  “Why, Mister Fisher?” Vic asked.

  With his name called out, the man checked his rearview mirror and then shifted his gaze back to Vic. “So, you know my name.”

 

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