7
“On this road
where nobody else travels
winter nightfall.”
― Matsuo Bashō
Wolf River Village, Alaska Prefecture
“Why were you not the successor of Mr. Suzuki?” Doubtful Thomas sipped his tea.
“I don’t know,” Gunther Charles stared at the glowing wood stove. “I really thought I would be selected for the job. I was next in line.”
“Have you met this Fischer person before?”
“Yeah, a couple of times. He blends into the woodwork he’s so quiet. You’d think he was hiding.”
“Perhaps he is. What do you know about him? Is he part of our group?”
“I don’t know much about him and, no, he’s not part of our group to my knowledge. He’s been on the job longer than I have, but always farther south. He was the assistant down in Livengood. His boss had a heart attack a few weeks ago.”
“Heart attack? Did they examine the body to determine that?”
“No idea. The Japanese took over and I’m not about to ask them anything.”
“Do you think he will work with us?”
“I don’t know, Doubtful. What little of him I’ve seen hasn’t given me many hard facts, I honestly don’t know what makes the guy tick.”
“We have to tread very carefully now. The Japanese may suspect something is in the wind and this Fischer person could be a plant. Have we heard from any of those inside the project?”
“No.” Gunther drank the last of his tea and peered into the cup. “I’m not sure they are alive. It’s been over a week since any of them reported in.”
“If they were apprehended, I hope they used their cyanide pills.”
“Chin would have. She lived in total dread of being discovered. I don’t know about the other two, they’re pretty stoic.”
They sat for a moment in silence.
“I think I should invite the new foreman to dinner,” Doubtful said. “What do you think?”
“You’re the chief of Wolf River so you can do anything you want on a social level.”
“Yes,” Doubtful said, finishing off his own cup of tea. “I think I’ll have Mr. Fischer over for dinner. When can you arrange it?”
“How about I just bring him over and you invite him to dinner?”
“I would like that.”