The Glacier Wraith: A Constable Petra Jensen Novella (Greenland Missing Persons Book 11) by Christoffer Petersen

Author:Christoffer Petersen [Petersen, Christoffer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aarluuk Press for Arctic Noir, Action Thrillers and Greenland Crime
Published: 2021-10-19T23:00:00+00:00

Part 10

Affaq Kimikitsoq was thinner than his son, Kapakka. When we first met, when he and Duneq whispered about ghosts, huddled beneath the cabin window on the trawler’s deck, he was wearing an insulated sailing suit, complete with a buoyant lining that gave him a muscular build. Without it, he was bird thin, wraithlike for lack of a better word. He didn’t need his sailing suit inside the cabin. Annalena and her team of ghost hunters fogged the windows with their breath, while demanding more heat to beat back the winter chill that had descended on Siulittuut through the night. After swapping a few words about the route with Affaq, Apu led Duneq and me to the bow. He shared out the binoculars he had scrounged from the hunters in the village and we each agreed on the arc within which we would search once the trawler sailed closer to the western shore. Kapakka joined us and stood on the starboard side, to my right. He tapped my shoulder and nodded at the cabin.

“Ataata is in heaven.”

“And that’s why you left?”

“Can’t stand the heat,” Kapakka said, as the wind whipped the last streaks of sweat from his brow. “But why aren’t they out on deck? Why aren’t they looking for their friend?”

I wondered the same, but also knew the minute they came on deck, there would be questions and distractions.

“It’s better this way,” I said, raising my voice over the putter of the trawler’s engines as Affaq increased speed. Smoke pillowed from the thin chimney behind the cabin, reaching up to the grey snow clouds with soft white fingers.

“Imaqa,” Kapakka said. He beckoned me closer with a subtle wave of his hand. “I have a theory,” he said.

“About why they won’t come on deck?” I shrugged, and said, “They’re cold.”

“Not just cold.” Kapakka’s forehead brushed against my hair as he leaned close to my ear and whispered, “They’ve got a secret.”

“What secret?”

Kapakka’s bushy black eyebrows twitched as he pulled back. He nodded at the stern of the boat and gestured for me to follow.

“Kapakka,” I said, reaching out to slow him down. “We have to search from the bow.”

“Do we?”

He glanced at Duneq, then took my hand and pulled me past the cabin. I looked over my shoulder and caught the confused looks on Apu and Duneq’s faces, just before Kapakka let go of my hand to grab my arm and pull me out of sight behind the wheelhouse.

“Stop,” I said.

He let go, then dipped his head to whisper.

“I showed ataata how to download a YouTube video. He wants to watch them again and again, so it’s cheaper to have them on the computer.”

The binoculars were heavy, and I slipped the strap over my head, glancing in the direction of the bow as I repositioned them. “And?” I said, slipping my hands into my jacket pockets.

“And,” Kapakka said. “I watched a few of them. Ataata is so into them, I wanted to know what was so special.” A thin smile spread across Kapakka’s lips, and he tapped the embroidered police shield on my jacket.

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