Death by Exposure Read Online Free Page B

up one of the black-and-white photographs.
    â€œThey are indeed. This man wasn’t just some tourist out taking snapshots on his vacation. He had to be a professional photographer, a well-travelled one, or someone who knew his way around a camera better than most people.”
    â€œHad to be,” the coroner agreed. “These pictures are from a lot of different places.”
    â€œAs far as I can tell. Look,” he said, pointing at one shot, then another. “This is an ocean, and while I can’t put my finger on it, this looks a bit like Newfoundland.” He pointed to a third picture. “And this one has a polar bear in it, so it must be somewhere up north.”
    â€œAnd this is somewhere in the mountains,” the coroner said, picking up another picture. “Beautiful...any idea where it’s from?”
    â€œNot really. Nearest I can figure, these shots are from all over Canada.”
    â€œWhy would somebody be doing that?”
    â€œNow
that’s
a good question.”
    â€œI just wish we had an answer,” the coroner said. “There must be some reason why... Wait a second. Let me have a look at that notebook.”
    The chief extracted the notebook from the briefcase and handed it to the coroner. “Be careful. The pages are pretty fragile.”
    Slowly and with great care, the coroner opened the notebook. At the top of the first page there was the number 1. The first few lines, written in the same ink, were barely legible. Below that the words were blurred and had smeared beyond recognition. He turned the page. The number 2 was atop the page and again just the first sentence could be read. Slowly he continued through the book page by page until he reached the final entry on page 16.
    The coroner glanced up and gestured at the pictures. “Didn’t you say there were sixteen? That’s not a full roll.”
    â€œThe others were unexposed. And, as you can see, the rest of the journal has no entries. Looks as if our friend didn’t get a chance to finish his project.”
    The coroner rubbed his jaw thoughtfully. “So what do you think? The numbered pages refer to the order of the pictures he took?”
    â€œSomething like that. I’ve marked the backs of these photos with the corresponding numbers, you know, one, two, three, and so on. Do you think there are clues about this guy hidden in the photos or the journal entries or both?”
    â€œMaybe... There’s something going on here. Did you notice the numbers in pairs at the bottom of each page of the journal?” The coroner pointed at the first page of the notebook.
    â€œNot really. Hmm, 47 59, 48 35, 47 39...? Seems kind of meaningless to me.”
    â€œMaybe not. I think it’s some kind of code. Who knows? Perhaps our iceman was a spy!”
    The chief frowned. “Now you’re really letting your imagination run away with you.”
    â€œLet me hold on to the photos and notebook for a while. Ever since I was a kid I’ve played around with puzzles, ciphers, and secret codes. Maybe I can figure this out. But I think we’ll need some help...”
    A couple of days later the coroner and the police chief stood together on the elementary school gymnasium stage. On the other side of the closed curtain they could hear the muttering, chattering, and laughing of the audience. The chief stuck his head through the curtain and looked at the assembled group.
    â€œAre there a lot of them?” the coroner asked.
    The chief closed the curtain. “Full house.”
    â€œThen I guess I better get started.”
    â€œJust let me introduce you and then I’ll go to the back and run the projector. Good luck.”
    â€œThanks.”
    After the chief made his introductions and welcomed everyone, the coroner slipped between the curtains and strode to the podium. He tapped the microphone with his finger, and sound bounced around the room, silencing the