“Merilee Twiller thought Unka killed Castain for skimming.”

“Looks like she got it wrong.”

“Is your guy going to testify?”

“We’re discussing the benefits of his doing that.”

“What’s he say about Ruben?”

“Denies knowing anything about her.”

I told Ryan about Eric Skipper and about the ballistics evidence suggesting a different weapon for him and Beck versus the ones used in the Scarborough and Castain hits.

“Most gang bangers own arsenals,” Ryan said.

I noticed King hanging up, so I did the same.

She looked at her notes. “Skipper was a sessional instructor at a small university in Brampton. Had a master’s in environmental ecology or something like that. Applied all over the country but never got an offer for a full-time university position. The wife blames it on arrests dating to Skipper’s student years.”

“Arrests for what?”

“Protests. Sit-ins. Rallies. Marches. The guy was a rabid tree hugger. According to the wife, the lack of employment left him with way too much time on his hands.”

I saw where she was going. “He kept going to protests.”

“Yep.”

“One of which was here.”

“Yep. You want the full story?”

“Yep.”

“Ever hear of the Gahcho Kué project?”

Chapter 34

“HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT GAHCHO KUÉ?” SHE ASKED.

“It’s the new diamond mine De Beers Canada plans to open.”

“Actually, it’s a joint venture with Mountain Province Diamonds, but close enough.”

“The project has caused some controversy, right?”

“Gahcho Kué is the aboriginal name for the Kennady Lake region. I think in some Dene dialect it means Place of the Big Rabbit. The area is lousy with barren-ground caribou and has traditionally been used by the Dene from Lutselk’e and the Métis from Fort Resolution. Back in the day, the Tlicho—or Dogrib Dene—also swung that way.”

“So objections have mostly come from First Nations groups?”

She waggled a hand. Maybe yes, maybe no. “But they’ve had a big impact on the process. You want the full-blown?”

“Hit me.”

“In 2005 the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board ruled that De Beers’s applications for a land-use permit and water license would require a full environmental-impact study, an EIS. De Beers appealed the decision to the NWT Supreme Court but lost in April 2007.

“Long story short, in December 2010 De Beers finally submitted its EIS. Last July the review panel ruled that the EIS is in conformity.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning now the panel will read the monster, all eleven thousand pages of it. The review process is expected to be completed by 2013. De Beers hopes to begin production in 2014.”

“How big is Gahcho Kué?”

“The proposed mine calls for recovery of four and a half million carats annually. They’ll be working three pipes, 5034, Hearne, and Tuzo, using the open-pit method.”

“For how long?”

“I think they put mine life at eleven years.”