Northern Lights: A Due South Novel

Chapter 28: Knocking on Kevin's Door

The snowmobile trail left town on the south bank of the Bear. After a few kilometres, it veered away from the canyon in great switchbacks to ascend to the plateau before returning to the river. As Elizabeth and Jon rounded the canyon's great bend, the falls came into view. Nestled in the mountain's shadow, a hundred metres above Fraser's cabin, the area had escaped the recent thaw. The falls were still a curtain of ice that hung sixty metres from the lip to the frozen river below.

The old cave was upstream of the crime scene on the canyon's high south rim, almost parallel to the waterfall. Formed by a gap between two truck-sized boulders, it was invisible from above, obscured by trees and a ledge from below and across. 

Elizabeth and Tamara had discovered the cave as teenage adventurers. In summer, they had spent hours huddled against its cool walls after scrambling down the steep slope using only tree roots and rock niches as handholds. Now, with the rocks covered in snow and the ice, Elizabeth wanted a harness, rope, and crampons—just in case.

Jon tied the rope around a sturdy white spruce while Elizabeth swapped her snowshoes for climbing spikes. She put her holster back on over the harness and added a can of bear spray, then tossed a second can to Jon.

"What's this for?" he asked.

"Kevin—a grizzly bear—sometimes dens in the cave," she said. "He came out of hibernation around the time of the murder, but he may have returned. And we are in bear country. You can never be too careful."

"Kevin? The bear has a name?"

"He's quite charming, Jon, as long as you don't surprise him or get too close."

"You have a gun. Just shoot it."

"It's not Kevin's fault that we're here. Kevin! I'm coming." She shouted, then turned back to Jon. "Keep hidden. Keep an eye out."

As Elizabeth took her first steps down the slope, Jon led Montgomery behind a rock.

"Ssh. Good doggy," he whispered as he listened for any sign of Cartier. But all he heard were Elizabeth's kicks and grunts.

The late-season snow was crystalline and granular, like fine sand. Elizabeth hugged the mountain, kicking in her toes and wrapping gloved hands around the spruce trunks and exposed roots that anchored the steep slope.

Here and there, fresh tufts of brown fur clung to the bark. That, and the broken branches, confirmed her suspicions. Kevin had been here this season. And he was awake. In fact, now that she thought about it, nothing seemed more likely to wake a grizzly from hibernation than a human entering his cave.

Elizabeth supposed that, if given the choice between facing a grumpy grizzly and facing an armed criminal, she would choose the grizzly. The grizzly might even attack the criminal. Maybe that had been Tamara's plan when she came to the cliff. Still, Elizabeth wasn't eager to meet Kevin. She shouted every few feet as she descended.

There was no fresh scat on the wide ledge outside the cave. No prints in the snow. The tightness in her chest eased.

"Kevin! Kevin?"

There was only silence. The cave's entrance was two metres wide, while its inside was some four metres deep. The nook was barely more than a shelter from winter's wrath. She unclipped and entered.

Headlamp sweeping the inside, her heart caught when the beam landed on a small black duffel bag, nearly identical to the one they had confiscated at the airfield. Like the bag from the airfield, this one held bundles of American hundred-dollar bills. Unlike the last one, though, it also held Tamara's cell phone.

Elizabeth pocketed the phone and bagged the cash in large evidence bags. But as she exited the cave and reached for the rope, Inspector Cartier leaned over the ledge above her. He pulled the line just out of her reach.