I’m restless.

Seri is curled up on the bed with Solo keeping her warm.  I woke before sunrise and couldn’t get back to sleep, so now I stand, staring out the window and trying to sort things out in my head.

I seem to be doing that a lot lately.

More than once, I discover that I have to repeat what I’ve said, just to make sure everyone is on the same page.  Though Iris and Netti know of Seri’s presence, they don’t always hear the same thing she hears.  And Seri…well, Seri doesn’t know about the others, and I have to constantly check what I’m saying to make sure I don’t blunder into the wrong conversation.

I’m bad enough at normal relationships, but trying to organize myself around three women is nearly impossible.

It’s been a full week since I spoke with Margot, and I need to get back to her to find out what she’s learned.  The snow is still piled high, but the weather has been tolerable.  I should be able to get into Whatì without any issues, but what do I do with Seri in the meantime?  What happens when I’m not here?  Will Iris appear or Netti?  Do the two of them talk to each other when no one else is around?

Many aspects of the women inside her body continue to elude me.  I still need to make myself a list, but that isn’t something I can easily do with her in the room.  So I am left with these bits and pieces all jumbled up inside my head with a lot of questions and seldom any answers.  I remember how I wanted to make a timeline about the woman who has been living with me, much like the ones I had made to help me sort out the clues in a mystery novel.  Perhaps it could help me answer the prevailing question that has been on my mind: When did Seri become more than one person?

As the sun begins to rise, I finish my second cup of coffee and get myself dressed for the outside.  As I pull on my boots, Seri stirs.  She sits up, yawns, and gives Solo a good morning cuddle.

“I’m going into Whatì,” I say.  “Breakfast is in the pan next to the fire, and there’s coffee ready.”

“Oh, okay.”  Seri looks over at me with a sleepy and confused expression.  “Do you want me to come with you?”

“No reason for you to.”  I grab my parka off the hook.  “I just want to pay back the clinic for their snowmobile gas.  I won’t be gone too long.”

“All right.”  She rubs the kitten’s head.  “Has Solo eaten?”

“No, he’s been as lazy as you this morning.”  I smile at her as I pull on my parka and gloves.  “There’s enough cooked meat for him, too.”

Solo meows and jumps off the bed to run into the kitchen.  I swear he knows when we are talking about food.

“Is there anything you want me to do while you’re gone?”

“Not in particular.”  I open the door a crack.  “Relax.  Read that romance book you know you’ve wanted to dig into.”

“I might.”  She gives me a playful smile.  “Maybe I’ll get some ideas.”

“I’ll grab you some donuts on the way back.”  I wink at her and head out the door.

The Jeep starts on the second try, and I’m grateful that I don’t have to charge the battery again.  The trek to Whatì is bumpy but otherwise uneventful.  I go to the clinic first and leave a can of gas for their snowmobiles and then head for the fishing lodge.

The lodge is on the docks and one of the more modern buildings in town.  It’s one of the few places large enough to hold a good-sized gathering, and Margot prides herself in running the community events there.  I park the Jeep and head through the doors.

Margot is already inside, dragging mats to the center of the room.

“Drumming tonight?” I ask as I pull off my gloves and parka.  I hang them up near the entrance and head towards Margot.

“Hand Game,” Margot says with a smile.  She adjusts the mat and wipes her hands on her jeans.  “It’s nearly time for the tournament.  We have to practice if we are going to have a chance at beating those guys from Garneti.”

“Where is it this year?”

“Behchokǫ̀.  They’re really going all out this time.”

“Not too far a trip, at least.”  I wonder if Seri really wants to go and how she would feel about my rooting for Margot’s team.

 “Let me grab my bag.”  Margot slips into the back room and comes out carrying her laptop case.  She sits at one of the tables off to the side and stares up at me.

“Well?” I ask when she keeps looking at me.  “What did you find?”

“You might want to sit down,” she says.  “Do you still smoke?”

“Sometimes.”

She tosses me a pack of cigarettes and sits on the other side of me.

“Really?”  I raise an eyebrow at her as I pull the plastic off the new pack.  “You’re encouraging this?  You always gave me shit for smoking.”

“I think you might need one or two.”  She places a plate next to me to use as an ashtray and then leans down.  She pulls some papers out of her bag and places them in front of her.

“You’re killing me here, Margot.”  I resist the urge to bang my head against the table.  “Will you just tell me what you found?”

“I know you,” she says, “and we’re going to do this my way—one step at a time.”  She waves her hand at me.  “Light up!”

I glare at her for a moment, but I know she isn’t going to budge.  She’s a stubborn thing, and if I don’t play by her rules, I’m not going to get what I want.  I sigh loudly and fish a cigarette out of the pack.

“First off, I think you should know that Iris McGuire is her married name.  The man looking for her is her husband, Kyle.”

“Yeah, I figured that much out.”  I light the cigarette, take one puff, and then set it down in the makeshift ashtray.

“She told you?”

“Yes.”  I stare at her darkly.  “She’s not lying to me about this, Margot.  It’s just…Seri doesn’t know everything.  Iris told me she was married but that she filled out divorce papers.”

“Yes, I found a record of those.  Filed on her side, but he never signed them.”

“I assumed that.”

“He’s been charged multiple times with drug dealing, money laundering, and extortion,” Margot says.  “Never convicted, but it doesn’t seem like he’s a nice guy.”

This is also not new information.

“I know about this,” I say.  “I really want to know about Seri.”

“I’ll get to that in good time.”  Margot shifts the papers around.  “I want to talk about Iris first.  Iris McGuire, maiden name Haugen.  Born on June twenty-fifth in Indianapolis, Indiana, twenty-nine years of age.  Her father Torsten emigrated from Norway as a child and enlisted in the US Marine Corps after high school, where he met and married her mother, Alyssa.”

“Are you trying to torture me?”

“Be patient.”  Margot shuffles papers again.  “It’s helps to understand the background here.  Iris definitely has a troubled past, a handful of misdemeanor arrests but never any time in jail.  She definitely hung out with a bad crowd though I think Kyle McGuire had a lot to do with that.”

“Yeah, and he threw her off a bridge in the end.  Seri told me about that.”

“Did she?”  Margot raises an eyebrow at me.  “I couldn’t find anything about that, but I did find a missing person’s report on her.”

“There has to be more than that,” I say.  “Her body was found on a riverbank by two kids.  There was an investigation, but they didn’t have enough evidence to arrest anyone, but Seri knows it was Kyle.”

“I couldn’t find anything about an investigation,” Margot says.  “Just the missing person’s report.  It was filed by her landlord.”

“Right.”  I nod emphatically, glad to hear something was falling into place.  “That’s what Seri said.”

“No one has any information on her whereabouts since the report was filed.”

“That’s because she’s dead!”  I slam my hand on the table as my patience wears out.

Margot leans back in her chair, watching me stoically while I try to collect myself.  I grab the half-burned cigarette out of the ashtray and then have to relight it to actually smoke.

“He threw her body into the river,” I say again.  “There has to be something about that.”

“I’m sorry, Bishop,” Margot says, “but there isn’t anything about her being found in a river or next to one.”

“Well, you need to look again.”  I grit my teeth and close my eyes. As my insides roll around, I try to get my focus back.  “Sorry.  I know you put some effort into this.  I’m just…a little worked up.”

“I know you are,” Margot says quietly.  “And just so you know, that guy is still around.”

“I was hoping he’d moved on—maybe gone to look for her in Yellowknife.”

“I think he did, but he’s back now.  He has a room at the B&B, and he’s been asking everyone a lot of questions.  He’s talked to Kirk out at Broken Toy’s and the guys up at the fishing camp.”

“He thinks she’s here.”  I shake my head slowly.  “He’s not leaving until he’s found some trace of her.”

“One thing he didn’t do,” Margot says, “is file a report with the Mounties.  I would think that would be the first place he would go if his intentions were…honorable.”

“Yeah, I kinda doubt he is going to willingly talk to the police.”

 “Bishop, I think this guy is really dangerous.”

“Yeah, so do I.”

“Seriously, Bishop.”  Margot leans forward a little more and lowers her voice.  “I’m not sure you need to be wrapped up in it all.  If he figures out you’re hiding his wife, this guy could come after you.”

“I know how to take care of myself.”

“I know you do, but this is different.”

“No,” I say, “it’s not.”

I stare into her eyes for a long moment.  Eventually, she can’t hold my gaze and looks away.

“Thanks for the info.”  I push my chair back and stand up.

“I’m not done yet,” Margot says.  She pats the stack of papers on the table.

“What else do you have?” I ask as I sit back down.

“The Haugens had one other child—Serenity.  You asked me to look her up, too.”

“Go on,” I say when Margot pauses.  I sit up a little straighter and drag another cigarette from the pack.  I tap it against the table impatiently.

“There isn’t a lot on her,” Margot says quietly.  “A couple of articles from a school paper about honor roll students and a picture from a school play where she played a singing vegetable.  I honestly don’t understand such things, but there it is.”

I close my eyes and tighten my hand into a fist.  She’s wasting my time, and it’s pissing me off.

“There’s only one other piece I found about Serenity Haugen,” Margot says quietly.

“Well?” I ask.  “What is it?”

“An obituary.”