Lightning Strike by William Kent Krueger

Author:William Kent Krueger [Krueger, William Kent]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atria Books
Published: 2021-08-24T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 31

Ruth Rustad knocked lightly on the frame of Liam’s open door. “County attorney wants to see you upstairs, Sheriff.”

“Did he say what it’s about?”

“Didn’t. Sounded unhappy.”

“Not unusual. Thanks, Ruth.”

Liam went back to the documents he’d been reading, extracts from articles on alcohol absorption when introduced into the human body by various means. The librarian at the Tamarack County Library had been more than generous with her time in locating them.

“He said now, Sheriff.”

Liam took his time. When he’d climbed to the second floor of the courthouse, he ran into Nicholas Skinner, who was just about to descend the marble stairway. Skinner’s face was the color of an angry sunset sky, and the look in his eyes was like one Liam recalled from the war just before men fixed bayonets.

“You okay, Nick?” Liam asked.

“I just came from our county commissioners’ office.”

“You don’t look happy about that.”

Clutched in one of Skinner’s hands was a long rolled sheet of heavy paper that Liam figured was an architectural drawing of some kind. More than a year before, Nicholas Skinner and some other investors had bought property on the shoreline of Iron Lake within the town limits. They proposed to build a world-class hotel there, along with an expansion of the town’s small marina. His aim, as he’d said in so many of the articles printed about the project, was to increase the allure of the area as a premier tourist destination. At the moment, most accommodations on Iron Lake were cabin resorts or small motel operations. With businesses already closing due to the downturn in the mining economy and new sources of revenue needed in the area, most folks in Tamarack County seemed to welcome the idea. In the local paper, Liam had seen drawings of what the final structure would look like, and he’d been impressed.

“We need a variance for the hotel,” Skinner said. “I’ve been working on it for six months. I thought we were going to get it, but Arne Tikkanen called me this morning. Our county commissioners have decided, quite suddenly, not to grant it.”

“Did he tell you why?”

“He didn’t need to. I know the reason. Retribution.”

“You’ve lost me.”

“All right. What I’m going to tell you doesn’t trespass on client privilege, because I’m no longer Duncan MacDermid’s personal attorney. I quit last night.”

“Why?”

“He called me late, drunk as usual, said you’d been out to question him.”

“That’s right.”

“He said he told you about his wife’s affair, her trysts out at Lightning Strike.”

“Yes.”

“He’d discussed with me divorcing Mary Margaret. I’d advised against it. Divorce would make everything very public. But word seems to have gotten out anyway. Now it’s the only thing people around here are talking about. Between that and his drinking, Duncan hasn’t been thinking clearly. He said you asked him where he was when John Manydeeds was killed. He said you think it wasn’t suicide, and he believes you’re looking at him as a suspect.”

“He’s a person of interest.”

“I’m not his lawyer anymore, and like I said, I don’t consider what I’m about to tell you covered under client privilege.

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