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Brian had been murdered? What made you think someone else was up here?”
    â€œWe were standing right next to Walter when he called it in over the radio,” admitted Cole.
    Doyle radioed down to his special investigator, who was working with Walter Blackwater and Inspector Reimer at the base of the cliff. Cole heard Doyle say that the team was going to divert the RCMP A-Star helicopter to do a sweep over the mountains to the west of the camp to see if they could locate Foreman.
    â€œIt’s been more than an hour since Mr. McGrath left Foreman on his own,” said Doyle. “He could be three or four miles from here by now. If you don’t get him on the first pass, I’m getting another team up here.” A few minutes later the A-Star buzzed the camp, heading west.
    â€œDerek,” said Doyle, standing before him and Cole and Tad, “I don’t recognize this fellow Blake’s name. Is he new on your payroll this summer?”
    â€œHe’s new this trip , Allan. We were down a man for this outing and he was hanging around, looking for guiding work in East Glacier. He has his ticket from the American Mountain Guide Association and seemed like a pretty congenial type, so we picked him up.”
    Cole interrupted. “What happened to your regular guide?”
    â€œNothing that we know of.” Derek sounded defensive. “He emailed me two days before the trip to explain that he was sick as a dog.”
    â€œDid you talk to him?” asked Cole.
    â€œNo. I just got the email from him.”
    â€œWhen you spoke with Foreman an hour ago, what did he say?” continued Doyle.
    â€œI told him what had happened. He asked that I take Jessica and Mike back here, and he said he was going to have a look around. Just that. He seemed pissed off about Brian. He said he would be close on our heels.”
    Doyle said, “Alright, listen, we need to find this guy, and then we need to talk with every single one of you. Derek, I suggest that you and your colleague here get some lunch started for this crew. If you’ve got any to spare, I think the interviews will go a lot better if we feed everyone.”
    â€œHEY RICK.” COLE was sitting close to Rick Turcotte as they pushed food around in their bowls. Cole saw that the ranger watching them was absorbed in another conversation. “You alright? You look pale.”
    â€œI’m fine. It’s just that, you know, Brian . . . he was my friend.”
    â€œMine too.”
    â€œYeah, well, I’ve known him a lot longer than you have. And we’ve been friends—”
    â€œWhere’ve you been?”
    â€œI had to make a call. To Ottawa. The minister. I had to find a place with cell reception. That wasn’t easy.”
    â€œYou were gone a long time.”
    â€œI had to walk about two miles to find a place where I could hit a repeater. The minister wasn’t very happy. This is going to be awkward.”
    â€œMore so for Brian, I would say.”
    â€œDon’t lecture me, Cole. Brian and I have known each other for twenty years.”
    â€œAre you in the animal soup with Minister Canning?”
    Rick blew his breath out between pursed lips. “You might say that. He didn’t want me to go on this hike. He really doesn’t like Brian. But I told him it would be good for our climate-change program.”
    Cole wanted to ask him what program that was but decided now wasn’t the time.
    â€œLooks like it was a bad idea after all,” said Rick.
    IT WAS ALMOST one o’clock before the investigation team was ready to conduct interviews. The afternoon sun was hot and the hikers had sought out what little shade the kitchen tent provided from the high-altitude rays. Finally, the party was split up and the conversations began. Cole, to his dismay, watched Inspector Reimer walk toward him. “Mr. Blackwater, unfortunate circumstances once again.”
    â€œThey