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He didn’t tell Markleson what he was doing when he gave Claire the access code. There was no way he would have received permission and if he was discovered he would probably lose his job. He might even go to jail. But if it meant he could figure out who was behind all these murders and thefts, who had threatened Claire and therefore threatened him, then he was willing to risk it. The RCMP computer system allowed access to far more information than any public system. With it he could search everything from immigration records to land titles and from airline movements and passenger manifests to customs and excise. Of course that was only for Canada, but he still thought the answers would be found here and if he solved the Canadian end of things, the Australian crimes would be solved too.
He left Claire in the salon going through a list of the websites and codes and went forward to the wheelhouse to call Markleson.
“I’m going to head back north. If I’m going to be able to sort this out, that’s where I need to be.”
“In November? And what about Claire? She going to stay here? I can probably find her a good place to stay.”
“She’s coming with me, and I might try to pick up Walker on the way. He’s doing pretty well and Annie will probably be glad to get rid of him.”
Markleson gave a brief laugh. “So you’re telling me you’re not following standard police procedure with this one.”
“Have I ever?”
“No, but at least you kept close enough that I could pretend.”
Dan laughed. “Well, just keep on pretending. I only told you because it may be Claire calling you instead of me. If I’m out in the Zodiac, I might need her to relay information and questions. That going to work for you?”
Markleson sighed. “I guess it will have to, but make sure you keep her safe. Seems kind of risky taking her with you and I’m fond of that girl.”
“Not as fond of her as I am, and she’ll be safer with me than on her own, even down here. Whoever this is, they’ve got a long reach.”
***
HE SPENT THE REST OF the afternoon provisioning the boat, filling the water tanks and taking on fuel, and by the time a watery sun struggled up over the ridges of the coast mountains he and Claire were already halfway across Queen Charlotte Sound with Calvert Island looming ahead. By that evening they were sitting around the table in Annie’s boat with an open box of chocolate chip cookies in front of them, taken from a carton Dan had purchased the previous day and given to Annie on their arrival.
“Still maintaining those good eating habits of yours I see.” Walker had been cleaning a salmon down on the shore when they had first arrived but had come up to join them. Dan was amazed at the relative ease with which the man managed to make his way up the old plank leading to the deck. He still had a limp, and a kind of rolling gait, but the twisted body had straightened considerably and his legs were stronger, the muscles more developed than they had been for years.
“Don’t have a choice,” Dan answered. “You haven’t taught me how to fish yet. Kinda hoping you can do that on the way up north.”
Walker looked at him from under raised eyebrows. “On the way up north,” he repeated. “Can’t say I was planning to head north.” He glanced at Annie and grinned. “Pretty comfortable here with winter coming on—and I figure Annie could do with my help.”
“What the fuck you talking about? I don’t need no help.” The look of affront on Annie’s face made them all smile.
“Pain in the ass, the lot of you,” she muttered as she reached for the kettle and poured them all another cup of tea, but the corner of her mouth had lifted in a smile.
“So what’s up north that makes you think I’d want to come with you?” Walker was leaning back, looking totally relaxed as he sipped his tea and nibbled on a cookie.
“Maybe nothing, but if I’m right, then maybe a murderer and a whole bunch of stolen regalia—is that a chocolate chip cookie you’re eating? Weren’t you just giving me shit for my bad eating habits?”
Walker’s grin was unrepentant. “Guess Annie must be leading me astray.” He glanced at the woman whose hospitality had allowed him to recuperate from his surgery on his own terms, then became serious. “So you figure the answers are up there in Rupert?”
“Close. On Porcher Island,” Dan replied. “There’s a woman there whose tied into Voudou and it was a Voudou symbol on that helicopter Annie saw. The woman calls herself by a Voudou name, and there’s a man who does the same over in Australia where the same stuff is happening.”
“Voudou? Can’t say I know anything about that.”
“Neither do I, but Claire’s researching it. Seems it has a lot of spirits—they’re called loas—and you know more about spirits than I do.”
“You back to Bak’wus again? It was no ghost spirit that stabbed Jimmie to death. Probably couldn’t carry off a transformation mask either.”
“No,” Dan said. “But someone dressing up as one could.”
***
THERE WAS SILENCE FOR a while as each of them contemplated what Dan had said. It was Annie who broke it first.
“Well I sure ain’t no detective, but it don’t seem like a whole lot to go on,” she said, helping herself to another cookie.
“There’s more,” Dan said. “Walker told me someone saw a boat over at Dawson’s Landing. Sounds like it had the same Voudou symbol painted on it as the helicopter. And a guy who owns an island near where Claire was working has the same kind of helicopter and it has a symbol too.”
“Could just be the paint job they put on the helicopters,” Annie said. “Don’t mean they committed murder.”
“True. But when I’ve got a guy calling himself Kalfu, which is the name of one of those Voudou loas, asking about how to get his hands on one of the most sacred traditional objects in Australia, and I find out he’s a friend of the guy with the helicopter . . .”
***
HE STILL DIDN’T HAVE a logical explanation for what was happening, but Claire’s research was starting to pull all the pieces together. While he already knew the symbolism associated with Erzulie, and Kalfu, Claire had found other names he had not heard spoken, but which made him think back to a couple of the descriptions he had either read or heard about. A Loa called Ti-Jean Petro was said to be a dwarf like Dahonny, and Petite Pierrette was a glutton and enormously fat like the housekeeper. Yet another, Agassu, had hands that were crooked and stiffened which matched the description of the woman on the boat at Dawson’s Landing.
He still had no proof and it might all be coincidence, simply the product of his imagination, and if it was he was going to feel like an idiot, but it was still the only theory he had and he was going to follow it.
“There’s one more thing,” he said. “Although I can’t be certain. When I was in Darwin I spent some time with the Deputy Commander of the Northern Territory Police and I’m pretty sure I saw the same symbol on a piece of paper on his desk.”
Three pairs of eyes stared at him in shock.
“You think it’s a cop doing this?” All the humour had left Walker’s voice.
“I don’t think he’s doing it himself, but I think he might be involved. Maybe just doing some cover-up, making sure any investigation goes nowhere, or maybe helping get the stuff out.”
“Getting it out to where?” Annie was looking at him like he had grown two heads. “Why wouldn’t it just stay there, in Australia?”
“Maybe it does,” Dan said. “But I think there’s someone organizing it all. And I think he or she is here. In Canada. Maybe even on Porcher Island.”
“And you’re planning to go there by yourself? When they’ve already killed three people?” Trust Annie to hone in on the most practical aspect of his problem!
“No, but I am going to go to Rupert. The Bureau has requested satellite surveillance and I can download that onto my computer. That means I can see what’s happening there in real time, and if the helicopter takes off, I can check with the airport and if it lands there I’ll find out who’s in it”
He really shouldn’t be telling them all this, but they were already involved, and if they were going to be with him, they had to know.
“Perhaps most importantly, I can contact all the delivery people. Anyone likely to take a parcel or a box or a crate over to Porcher. That way I can intercept it and see what’s in it and figure out where it came from. And if it’s from a foreign country, I can trace it back to find out not only who sent it, but also which customs agent approved it.” He smiled. “And if that happens . . .”
He saw nods all around the table.
“Sounds like a good plan, but you don’t need me.” Walker stood up and moved to a window. “I’m no good at sitting around waiting for something to happen. Already been sitting here too long. Should be out catching a fish for supper—or is that what you’re waiting for?”
Dan laughed. “I hadn’t thought of that, but now that you mention it . . .” He turned serious. He might not have been honest with Walker about hauling him down to Vancouver, but he owed him honesty now.
“You’ve taught me to see things I never saw before, Walker, but I’ll never be as good as you. You see things I don’t see. Understand things I don’t understand. You look at things from a different angle. I think I’m going to need your help with this one.”
Walker turned to look at him. The light from the window caught the high planes of his cheekbones and reflected off his black hair and the braid that hung over his shoulder. He looked both regal and remote, and for a moment Dan thought he was going to refuse, but then his mouth twisted into the familiar grin.
“Guess you’ve got yourself a passenger.”