Dead Body in the Dark

A Favor Is Owed

The Iditarod. A race across 1000 miles of Alaska done by dog sled, with a racer and a dozen or so dogs. The ceremonial start is in Anchorage; the real start is in Willow on the first Saturday of March. It will end some 10-15 days later, one of the hardest endurance races in the world.

It takes thousands of volunteers to make it happen. Thousands more turn out to watch.

After a winter of cabin fever, the Iditarod is the first sign that spring will come. Not for a while, mind you. Spring won't happen in Alaska until June. But the days are longer — dawn is at 8 a.m. and sunset is at 5 p.m., a welcome change from the winter days where you never see the sun at all.

Still damned cold, however. Twenty below, at times. Storms. But the worst challenges are always caused by people. Isn't that the way it always is?

Benny Askoak had been a musher once. He'd even finished when he was young. But it was expensive to run a team. Expensive to care for them. Now, he carried for the town of Skwentna instead. A town the Iditarod teams came through every year. It always made his heart glad to see the teams of dogs come through. The race was important to Skwentna. Very important.

But someone wasn't cheering for the dogs and the race this year. Someone wanted bring the race to a halt altogether. Benny Askoak didn't know who. He didn't know why. But he knew Skwentna wouldn't survive without the race.

Finally, he admitted he needed help to solve this. It couldn't be solved quietly after all. He picked up the phone and made a call. A favor was owed. He would call it in, and hope for the best.

"Purdue Flight Services," a woman's voice said crisply. "How can I help you?"

Book 7 in the mystery series Talkeetna.