“Seven?”

Jimmy nodded. “Seven.”

Christ. Liam absorbed this in silence. “Who found it?”

“The Jacobsons on theMary Jwere drifting just outside of Metervik Bay. They saw theMarybethiacome out of Kulukak on the tide. They didn't think anything of it until it got closer. Larry said you could see she wasn't under power, and then when they got closer you could see the burn marks on the cabin. She was low in the water, too.”

“Burn marks? It had been on fire?”

Jimmy nodded, looking sick, and Liam understood why. On a boat, there was nothing worse than a fire. On a boat in Alaskan waters, which were an average temperature of forty degrees and where hypothermia set in after two minutes' immersion, it was especially deadly. Nowhere to run, no place to hide. “Didn't they have a skiff, or a life raft?”

Jimmy nodded. “Both. The skiff was tied off to the stern, and the raft hadn't been popped. Maybe the fire burned too fast. Maybe they were all asleep, and died of smoke inhalation.”

“Where is the boat now?”

“Larry and his dad towed it into Kulukak Bay. It's tied up to a slip in the small boat harbor.”

“Can you fly in? Is there a strip?”

Jimmy nodded. “A long one. There's a road to a gold mine a couple of miles inland. They fly supplies into Kulukak strip on a Herc at least once a week.”

“Okay. Thanks, Jimmy.” Liam pulled the billed cap with the Alaska State Troopers insignia on the brim low over his eyes and headed for the line of vehicles parked between the two docks leading down into the boat harbor. The white Blazer with the same insignia on the door as his cap was midway down the row.

He didn't start the engine at once. What would be the best way to approach her? It didn't have to be personal; he was a state trooper, she was a pilot, there was a case, he needed a ride, the state paid top dollar. Pretty simple.