Page 12 of God’s Country

Stephen looked away from me, across the broad body of Shrike Lake. “The people who did this, where do you think they went?”

“Hard to say.”

“Cordell Bishop’s group? They were here, we know that.”

“I can’t tell how old that blood might be. This could’ve happened before they camped here.”

“Should we let someone know? We’ve got the satphone.”

“And tell them what exactly? There’s nothing here now and no way of knowing what really went down.”

As Stephen had just done, I scanned that big lake, so blue and serene beneath the cloudless sky, with wilderness edging it on every side. I’d always thought of the Boundary Waters as a beautifully empty place. Suddenly, it seemed way too crowded.

CHAPTER 8

The fishing expedition was successful. The two pairs of men and boys came back with three walleyes, each about sixteen inches in length. Daniel reported that they’d caught two that were well over twenty inches, but in keeping with good conservation practices, had released them back into the lake. Luke had never cleaned a fish before, and Waaboo, who was already an avid fisherman, delighted in showing him how. Daniel did the filleting. Stephen took responsibility for disposing of the fish remains in the woods, hundreds of yards away so as not to attract predators to our campsite. I prepared the fish, dropping the fillets into a ziplock bag half-filled with my own special breading mixture, a recipe I’ll keep to myself. I’d brought along a single-burner propane stove, but every site has a fire pit, so I put the skillet on the grate over the fire I’d built.

During all of this, Stephen and I had said nothing to the other men about the blood on the tree. I didn’t want to scare the boys. While Stephen, Waaboo, and Luke cleaned up after supper, I asked Daniel and Mal to help me gather more firewood. When we were well away from the campsite, I filled them in.

As I’ve already said, Daniel is an officer with the Iron Lake Tribal Police. Me, I was a cop for a good part of my life and now am an occasional private investigator. Mal was a priest. We each had a different perspective on the darker side of human nature. We stood in the deadfall area where I’d gathered the wood earlier, speculating.

“I can’t think of any reason someone would tie up another human being that way,” Mal said. “Especially out here. You’re sure about this?”

“I can’t be sure of anything. But it looks pretty concerning.”

Daniel said, “Always err on the side of caution, Mal. We’ve got boys along. What do you think, Cork? Should we call it in?”

“Like I told Stephen, I’m not sure what I’d say. At this juncture, we don’t really know anything concrete.”

“Do you think we should head back?” Mal asked.

“Your boys. Your decision,” I said to them both.

Daniel and Mal eyed each other for a moment. Then Mal asked, “Any chance we might run into these guys farther in?”

“Always a chance,” I said.

“Then what if we just stayed put,” he suggested. “This is a big lake. We could canoe it for another day, do some more fishing, then head back.”

Daniel said, “I agree. But I think we should call it in, just to be on the safe side.”

So we did. I took the satphone well away from the campsite so the boys couldn’t overhear, contacted the Tamarack County Sheriff’s Department, and talked with Sheriff Marsha Dross. I’d hired Marsha, the first female on the force, when I was the county sheriff. She had been an excellent deputy and was now a fine sheriff.

“That’s it?” she said. “Bloody scratches on a pine tree and dark dirt around it? Nothing else?”

“It might well have been the group Cordell Bishop guided in. If so, it looks like he lost control of those guys. They pretty much trashed the campsite here on Shrike. That doesn’t seem like something Cordell would’ve allowed if he was still in charge.”

“You’re saying you think Cordell Bishop is in trouble?”

“I’m saying that’s what it looks like.”

“Have you seen him or anyone from his group?”

“They came in ahead of us. I don’t know how long before. You could check with his wife.”

“I’ll talk to Babs,” Marsha promised. “I don’t have enough to authorize an investigation, but I’d advise you to come back out. Or at least don’t go any farther in until we know more. I’ll check with the Forest Service, see if anyone else has reported anything suspicious.”

“Thanks, Marsha. At the moment, we’re planning on staying put. I’ll let you know if plans change.”