No answer. He went out on the bluff between the house and the river and stood post for fourteen minutes, until his thighs decided enough was enough, and then went through all thirty movements of the form three times. It was thirty now instead of sixty-four, Moses had informed him a week earlier, because Liam had learned enough not to have to break each movement down into each of its component parts, and had given him a whole new set of names to memorize. Liam was fully conversant with the statutes describing assault in its various degrees, and had kept his hands in horse stance instead of fastening them around Moses neck.

Doing form wasnt enough to soothe his conscienceBills “social worker remark still rankledbut he showered and changed into jeans and unpacked the bag of groceries hed bought on the way home. Dinner for two, with wine, no less. She couldnt be mad at him if he made her beef Stroganoff washed down with cabernet sauvignon, could she? The cabernet had cost more than all the rest of the ingredients put together.

He cut up the beef and put it into a frying pan to brown, adding a dollop of the wine for the hell of it. He poured out a glass of Glenmorangie for himself and broke into the bag of egg noodles. He was filling the pot with water when the phone rang.

“Yeah? he said, cradling the phone between his shoulder and his ear.

Princes voice said, “Weve got a body down at Kagati Lake, sir.

He put down the noodles and turned off the burner. “Where?

“Kagati Lake, a hundred or so miles north of here.

Something about the name niggled at the back of his mind. He carried the walk-around phone into the living room, where the one wall that didnt have a window had a map of the Bristol Bay area taped to it. He found Newenham and followed the river up. “I dont see it.

“North and west. North of the lakes, she said, and he moved his finger to the left, encountering the mail route Wy had penciled in, asterisks marking the stops. He traced it up the map, Four Lakes, Warehouse Mountain, Weary River, the names some people hung on some places. Russellhe stopped.

The route ended at Kagati Lake.

Prince had taken the floats off the Cessna and put the wheels back on the week before in anticipation of freeze-up, and they were in the air forty-five minutes later. “You sure she said she wasnt hurt?

“Im sure, Prince said patiently. “She found the body, is all.

On either side Newenham airport fell rapidly away from them and Liams stomach gave its usual takeoff flip-flop. “Shes going to kill me, he muttered through clenched teeth.

He hadnt meant to be heard, but the headset was a good one and Prince turned her head to stare. “Why would she be mad at you?

The plane hit a pocket of dead air and dropped fifty feet. Liam grabbed for the edges of his seat. “Because shes done nothing but find dead bodies since I came to town.