62

“For God’s sake, Regis, leave it alone. I’m the one who should be upset. This fool trick of Dal’s was aimed at me!”

“You’re not upset because you got what you wanted. Dal’s out of business. He’s gone off to trap in the Yukon or run an outfitting business. But I’ve got to send Headquarters a report on an investigation that didn’t solve anything.”

“I never should have agreed to that patrol up to Faille’s. It cost near $100 for gas, food and Diamond’s guiding services and it resolved nothing. The story was clear before that— Eppler and Mulholland set out on the river in a skinboat and drowned. All I want you to do is confirm to everyone, especially the boys at Whittington’s, that as far as the police are concerned the investigation is over. In fact, I’d like you to post your report just outside the door, so I don’t have to talk to those idiots anymore, or the greenhorns who go in for a drink and come out believing that Bill and Joe made a gold strike up at Glacier Lake. Can you imagine what would happen here if the Edmonton Journal got wind of Whittington’s and Turner’s version of the story, and word got out that we were keeping the investigation open?”

“Shouldn’t we be taking a closer look around Rabbitkettle Lake?”

“Even if I agreed to let you go there, which I won’t, what would you find? Probably what Faille reported is correct. Dal confirmed it. But what does it add to the story? What’s the connection?”

“That’s what I’m trying to find out! Faille thinks Dal knows something he’s not telling us, and I agree with him.”

“Faille’s another one who believes in the lost mine. His theory is that it’s above the falls and he wants to prove it. Three years ago, he came down from there with a hundred pounds of iron pyrites in a sack. He dragged it into Whittington’s and the boys started getting their outfits together for a rush up the Nahanni. Luckily, Clark was around and set them straight. Faille looked like an idiot, and he used his rocks to pave the path to his outhouse. The story about Bill and Joe finding gold up there vindicates him.”

“Turner thinks Eppler could have killed Joe Mulholland.”

“Eppler must’ve wished for years that he never told anyone that story about his murder charge. He never backs down from an argument, and he always says what he thinks, but he’s a good man, and Jack and all the trappers who ever dealt at that trading post say that. Never had one single complaint about him. Turner, on the other hand, fights with everyone he deals with. So forget Turner. Forget Faille. Finish that report so Headquarters can release it to the papers, and post it outside my door so I can go back to my work.”