Death by Exposure Read Online Free

doing?”
    â€œThe kids who found the body?”
    â€œYeah.”
    â€œBetter now that they told somebody about it,” the chief said. “Can you imagine finding a body and being more worried about what your mother will say about being where you shouldn’t be than about reporting it?”
    â€œI can understand that.”
    â€œYou can?”
    â€œSure, if I’d been a kid and went against what my mother told me to do, I wouldn’t have said anything because then there would have been two bodies-the one I found and mine. She would’ve killed me!”
    The chief laughed.
    â€œThe important thing is that they finally did report it,” the coroner added.
    â€œThree days later, and only because the girl was having trouble sleeping,” the chief said, shaking his head.
    â€œIt’s pretty disturbing to find a body. Besides, it isn’t like three extra days was going to make much difference with this one.”
    â€œHe’s been in that ice a long time, eh?” The chief stroked his chin. “I was pretty shocked to see you on television last night.”
    â€œYou weren’t the only one. I practically spit out a mouthful of coffee when it popped onto the screen.”
    â€œWhy were you surprised? You knew you’d been interviewed.”
    â€œI was interviewed by a lot of people, including that CBC crew. I just didn’t expect it to come up as a news flash in the second intermission of
Hockey Night in Canada,
that’s all.”
    â€œCan you tell me a better place to air a story about an
iceman
than during a hockey game?” the chief asked with a chuckle.
    â€œVery funny. I guess the only thing that surprised me more than the news flash was what a big deal this whole thing has become here in town. Did you know that half the rooms at the hotel are filled with newspaper, television, and radio people?”
    The chief nodded. “I saw a couple of those big news trucks parked on the street in front of the hotel. Those are really something with the big satellite dishes and wires and lights and aerials. Pretty darn impressive. And all here because of our iceman.”
    â€œStill, how can it be breaking news when the guy’s been dead for at least fifty years?”
    The chief whistled. “Fifty years? You think he was in the ice that long?”
    â€œThat’s my guess.”
    â€œ Your
guess? I thought you were a man of science.”
    â€œIt’s a hard one to tell for sure. Ice preserves things and stops the usual process of decomposition. I made an educated guess.”
    â€œAnd what exactly did you base that guess on?” the chief asked.
    â€œMainly the clothing he was wearing.”
    â€œClothing?”
    â€œHis clothes are typical of those worn in the early and mid-1950s.”
    â€œHow do you know that?”
    â€œI’m seventy-two. I used to wear clothes like that. I wasn’t always this old. Believe me, I was once a pretty stylish cat.”
    â€œI believe you, though I wouldn’t include that as part of your official report.”
    The coroner winked. “Want a coffee?”
    â€œUm...I don’t know.”
    â€œTim Hortons-only the best down here. Just brewed it up.”
    â€œYeah, that would be good.”
    The coroner ambled over to a counter, poured out two cups, and handed one to the chief.
    â€œThanks,” the chief said as he took a sip. “Best coffee there is.”
    â€œWant some Timbits?” the coroner asked, motioning to the box on the counter beside the coffeepot.
    The chief held up his hands. “I’ll pass. I don’t know how you can eat anything when you’re down here.”
    â€œIf I didn’t eat when I was here, I’d have starved to death a long time ago.” The coroner reached into the box, pulled out a Timbit, and popped it into his mouth. “I just try to avoid the ones filled with jelly.”
    The chief shuddered, and his