Dana Stabenow - Better To Rest

The weeping sound was coming from two women who sat close together on one couch, and the whispers from two men on the opposite couch. They looked nothing alike, and yet it was evident at first glance that all four were the children of Lydia Tompkins.

Liam stepped forward. “I’m Liam Campbell of the Alaska state troopers. Who found her?”

Prince frowned a little at his blunt question, but after a surreptitious look at the expression on his face decided not to intervene.

One of the women blew her nose and rose to her feet. “I did.”

“And you are?”

“Betsy Amakuk.”

“You’re her daughter?”

“We all are. I mean, this is my sister, Karen.”

“Karen Tompkins,” the other woman said, standing.

“And my brothers.”

The brothers followed suit.

“Stan Tompkins.”

“Jerry Tompkins.”

Betsy was large and regal in clean blue jeans and a dark blue sweatshirt with the boat name F/V Daisy Rose on the front. She wore pearl studs in her ears, her dark hair was immaculate, and her eyes and nose were red. Karen was petite and kittenish in hip-hugger cords and a cropped T-shirt. Her hair was short and streaked with gold and spiked with gel. Thin silver bracelets jangled from both wrists, and silver earrings touched her shoulders. Her belly button was pierced, and her mascara had run.

Stan, burly, tanned and fit, looked at Liam out of assessing eyes. His haircut looked left over from the marines, and his Carhartt’s, though worn, were clean and well-kept, as was the brown plaid shirt beneath them. Jerry, on the other hand, was thin and nervous, with eyes that couldn’t seem to stay focused on any one object for very long. He wore a dark blue windbreaker over a T-shirt with a large hole showing and a pair of jeans worn through at both knees.

They all looked to be in their late forties or early fifties, Betsy the eldest and, if he had to guess, Karen the youngest. He said to Betsy, “What time did you find your mother?”

“I don’t know.” She blew her nose again and looked at Stan. “What time did I call you, Stan?”

“About two o’clock, I think.”

“Did you call him the moment you found her?”

“You understand,” Prince said, “we have to ask these questions, Mrs. Amakuk. We’re very sorry for your loss.”

Liam glared at her and she shut up. He repeated, “Did you call your brother as soon as you found your mother?”

“Yes. No. Wait. I- No, I called the ambulance first.” Her eyes filled again. “Even though I knew it was no use. She was cold when I touched her.”

Rigor had begun to set in. The house was cool. A murder before breakfast, then, most likely. “Did you touch anything else?”

“What? I… no. No, I don’t think so.”

“The stove wasn’t on?”

“No.”

“Did you see anyone leaving the house as you arrived?”

“No.”

To Stan, Liam said, “And you came as soon as Betsy called?”

“Yes. Well, my wife had to come down to the boat to tell me Betsy had called and wanted me up to Mom’s.”

To Betsy, Liam said, “So actually you called Stan’s wife.”

“No. Well, yes, she answered the phone at their house.”

“You might want to ease up a little here, sir,” Prince murmured from the background.

Liam, who knew he was being a jerk, didn’t seem to be able to turn it off. “Why,” he said to Betsy, “did you come to the house today?”

A spark of anger glowed briefly in her eyes but she kept her voice level. “I come by every afternoon for coffee.”

Liam thought of the two mugs on the counter, the box of tea bags, the full kettle, the empty percolator. “Your mother lived here alone?”

“Yes. After Dad died, I wanted her to move in with us but she wouldn’t. Said she’d lived here for fifty-eight years and if she had another fifty-eight in her she wanted to live them in the same place.”

All four siblings gave the same involuntary smile as Betsy called up the memory.

“Now let me ask you something, Mr. Campbell,” Betsy said, drawing herself up to a height that allowed her to meet Liam’s eyes straight-on. “Who did this to my mother?”

“I don’t know.”

“But you’ll find out.” It was a statement, not a question.

“I’ll need to ask you all a lot more questions. I need to know what she did with her days, who her friends were-”

“A friend wouldn’t do this!”

Liam looked at Jerry, red-faced and teary-eyed. “Can you all come down to the post this afternoon? The sooner we interview you, the sooner we can move the investigation forward.”

He waited for their nods. “Who were your mother’s neighbors?”

“There weren’t any close by,” Stan said. “One of the reasons we wanted her to move in with Becky. Jim Earl bought out old Eric the Red six years ago when Eric had to put his wife in the Pioneer Home. That’s the place north of here. The next house down belongs to the Isaacsons.” He gave a dismissive wave. “Outsiders, haven’t been in the country long. Mom barely knew them.”

“We’ll talk to them all,” Liam said. “In the meantime, please leave the house as it is so we can have a chance to go through it.”

“Why?” Betsy said.

Liam, suddenly very tired, pulled off his cap and ran his hand through his hair. His scalp felt tight. “We might find something that will lead us to who did this thing.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know, Ms. Amakuk.”

“You’ll leave everything as you found it?”

Liam’s lips tightened. “Alaska state troopers are not thieves, Ms. Amakuk.”

She had the grace to look uncomfortable. “No,” she said quickly. “Of course not.”

“If you have a key, I’ll make sure we lock up behind ourselves.”

“Of course.” She went into the kitchen and they heard drawers and cupboards opening and closing. In Newenham, house keys were not normally ready to hand. Eventually Becky returned with a brass house key on a ring bearing a Last Frontier Bank fob and handed it over. She gathered what remained of her family together with a glance and they followed her out, Karen hanging behind to cast a languishing glance Liam’s way.

“You sure are tall,” she said. “I like tall men a lot.” She stepped in close to him and her voice dropped to a purr. “They make me feel all little and feminine.”

Liam slapped his cap back on and said to Prince, “Let’s start in the kitchen.”

“Yes, sir,” Prince said woodenly, and followed him from the room.

December 6, 1941

We lost one the other side of the Canadian border. The weather was shitty and it sounds like they might have flown into a mountain. Probably another one of those mountains thats ten thousand feet higher than the map says it is. Didn’t know anyone on board.

Peter invited me to dinner. It was great to get off base. He lives in this little dugout kind of a place down on this creek that is so muddy that the mud soaks through the snow and ice. He says its full of salmon in the summertime. I dont see any self-respecting fish swimming up that but thats what he says. He says the salmon get really big, forty, fifty pounds but I reckon thats just one of his storys. He fried some moose steaks and boiled potatos from his garden. There was even butter I dont know where he got it. Pretty good better than what were eating on base. He showed me some gold nuggets one was the size of a radish I never see such a thing. I asked how does one go about finding more of those and he says you dont stroll out and pick them up off the ground its hard work. He says he might have a proposition for me later on if I can find him a flight to Russia.

A letter from Mom today saying that Aunt Victoria saw Helen down to the Powder House dancing. Im glad shes feeling better. I wonder who she was dancing with. Ira said hed look after her for me.