It would appear so, Jim said.

And he marched off into the wild to kill himself.

So he wrote.

And Papa Grizzly took him up on his invitation.

Looks like.

Dumb bastard, Dan said.

Dead dumb bastard, Jim said.

And that would seem to be that.

Jim propped his own feet up. It was his damn desk. But at least it means I can put this one to bed. Be nice if they were all this easy.

Kate and Dan both perked up. More bigamists? Kate said.

Dan swiveled around to stare at Kate. Bigamists?

So then of course he had to be told all, and when he stopped laughing he said, Life in the fast lane. Man, the Park is starting to look just like downtown. Which didn‘t come out as quite the joke he had intended, and provoked an uneasy silence that lasted a little longer than it should have while they all thought about what looking just like downtown would mean to the trooper post, the Parks Service, and the Niniltna Native Association‘s resident shareholders. The silence was broken by Maggie, who appeared in the doorway to look at Jim with an expression somewhere between sorrow and pity.

What? Jim said with foreboding.

Maybe nothing, Maggie said, but they could all tell she didn‘t really mean it. I got a call from Cindy Bingley.

Not Willard, Jim said, willing it to be so.

No, not Willard, Maggie said, but she says your presence is required to stop a riot.

So they adjourned to Bingley Mercantile down the hill and around the corner from the post, where a crowd large by Park standards was found milling near the steps that led to the double glass doors. A quick professional glance took the crowd‘s temperature. Edgy but not violent. Jim took his time getting out of the white Blazer with the seal of the Alaska Department of Public Safety on the door, and when he got out took a little longer to settle the trooper badge on his ball cap directly over his eyes, and a little longer than that to hitch the gun belt around his waist. The gravitas was implied.

A respectful silence fell over the crowd at this manifestation of the might and majesty of the Alaska State Troopers, followed by a definite diminution of tension. He strode forward with a ground-eating stride that caused the people in his path to simply melt away. It didn‘t hurt that Mutt had abandoned Kate to trot at his heels, head up, tail held at the ne plus ultra angle, adding her natural imperiousness to his state-sanctioned authority.

They mounted the steps, silver gray husky-wolf and blue-and-gold-clad Alaska State Trooper. At the top, they paused deliberately, looking over the crowd with a stern and daunting eye, a double-barreled assault from which grown men quailed. Satisfied, Jim turned to pull open the door.

It opened outward with a gratifying vigor, in fact so gratifying that it was yanked out of his hand and banged back against the outside wall, hitting hard enough to crack the glass. The impetus shoved Jim backward, causing him to tread on Mutt‘s toes. She let out a series of startled yips, leaped into the air, and came down directly behind him.