Sleeping Lady: An Alex Jensen Mystery (An Alex Jensen Alaska Mystery)

321 Pages·1997·1.04 MB·English

by  Sue Henry

SUE HENRY
S
LEEPING
L
ADY
An Alex Jensen Alaska Mystery
This one’s for
Jerry Bunker
(aka Maule 9864 Mike),
pilot extraordinaire
and friendly source of much
valuable advice and information,
whose approach to life is on the step,
who has a knack for finding remote
locations to be put to fictional uses,
and who is always willing to answer even
the dumbest questions with a straight face.
Appreciation and thanks to:
The Abbott Family Proofreading and Promotion Ser-
vice.
The Friday Night Adoption Society, as always, for their
assistance, cheerleading, and essential sense of hu-
mor.
Cindy Schroeder (aka Jane Dyer), Special Agent, U.S.
Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, Division of Law Enforcement, Madison,
Wisconsin, for enthusiastic long-distance assistance.
And for the firsthand story of her hair-raising parti-
cipation in Operation Brooks Range, a successful
international undercover investigation into the illegal
commercialization of wildlife by big-game guides in
Alaska, from 1990 to 1992, that resulted in the ar-
rest of seven in Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Iowa, and
Washington, and the seizure of eight airplanes in
Alaska, Idaho, and Texas.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory,
Ashland, Oregon, and its amazing staff, for a remark-
able tour of its facilities and for generously sharing
technical information about the essential work they
do.
Ken Goddard, its dedicated director, for the assistance
necessary to write both fiction and nonfiction for
publication in the United States and abroad.
Hank Rust, of Rust’s Flying Service (flying Alaska’s
backcountry for over 30 years), for information
iii
iv / Sue Henry
and patient assistance on charter services and use of
the call numbers for his Cessna 206.
Nancy Sydnam, M.D., for information on aviation
communications and the use of the call numbers for
her Piper Super Cub.
The Alaska State Troopers, the Scientific Crime Detec-
tion Laboratory, and its director, George Taft, for
generous technical assistance.
Bill Farber, Alaska State Trooper, retired, for continued
technical assistance.
Karen Boyer, Operations Assistant, First National Bank
of Anchorage, South Center Branch, for information
on the ins and outs of safe-deposit boxes.
Max Rothman, New York Life Insurance Company,
Anchorage, for information on high-risk insurance
for pilots of small charter services.
My sons, Bruce and Eric, encouragers and promoters,
who—booksellers beware—have been known to
stealthily rearrange the display of my books to best
advantage.
And my agent, Dominick Abel—who must have an
inexhaustible supply of patience in a cookie jar on
one of his office shelves—for optimism and the
support of his considerable talent.
It would be fitting, I think, if among the last man-made
tracks on earth could be found the huge footprints of
the great brown bear.
Earl J. Fleming, “Do brown bears attack?”
Outdoor Life, November 1958

Contents
Epigraph (cid:118)
Map xi
1 SHE CAME UP OUT OF SLEEP THE WAY A
POWERFUL… 6
2 ALASKA STATE TROOPER SERGEANT ALEX
JENSEN scowled in resigned displeasure… 17
3 CHELLE USED TWO KEYS TO OPEN THE FRONT
DOOR of… 33
4 THE COCKPIT LOUNGE WAS NOT THE CLOSEST
BAR to the… 41
5 AFTER SIX O’CLOCK THAT EVENING, AN HOUR’S
drive northeast of… 49
6 ROCHELLE LEWIS SLEPT THE EVENING AWAY
AND woke up just… 65
7 WHEN THE ALARM CLOCK WENT OFF AT SIX THE
next… 77
8 AS SOON AS HE REACHED HIS OFFICE IN PALMER
THE… 86
9 WITH CASWELL HEADED DOWNTOWN TO
RETRIEVE a copy of the… 98
10 AS SOON AS ALEX PARKED IN FRONT OF THE
LEWIS… 107
11 BY THE TIME POLICE FINISHED GOING OVER
HER house, Rochelle… 116
12 “YOU’VE BEEN SOMEWHERE ELSE ALL NIGHT,”
JESSIE said as she… 136
13 THE EARLY-MORNING SKY WAS CLEAR WITH
ONLY a few scattered… 142
14 JENSEN AND CASWELL ALSO GOT AN EARLY
START, but it… 153
15 THEY SPOTTED CHELLE’S CESSNA AT THE SMALL
lake where Alex… 167
16 COLLECTING SURVIVAL EQUIPMENT AND FOOD,
they quickly started west. Jensen… 179
17 AS SHE RAN, CHELLE TRIED TO MAKE SENSE OF
what… 194
18 BACK AT THE SMALL, NAMELESS LAKE, CASWELL
had built another… 204
19 IT WAS ALMOST DARK BEFORE JENSEN, TOBIAS,
AND Chelle Lewis… 214
20 EXCEPT FOR NORMAL NIGHT SOUNDS—THE
SUBDUED hoot of an… 224
21 BY THE TIME THE MOUNTAINS ON THE EASTERN
HORIZON were… 235
22 ROCHELLE, WEATHERBY STILL CAUTIOUSLY
AT THE ready, stood looking down… 252