By the Cloudwalker

At Benton Fraser's annual job performance review, there were some questions by the committee concerning the pursuit and subsequent killing of an escaped criminal by the Constable and his American friend. The following documents were entered into evidence of Constable Fraser's actions.

Written reportBenton Fraser, Const.

Detective Vecchio and I were travelling from Chicago to Tuktoyaktuk, in order to effect repairs on my late father's cabin, which had recently burned. That's a long story, takes exactly two hours to tell, and is not really germane to this report. The upshot of it was that we were at that airport to catch a flight for the last leg of our journey, and boarded the plane completely unaware that anything was amiss.

I immediately noticed, however, that our pilot was flying south instead of north toward the Territories, and that several times he descended quite close to the treetops in what I can only assume was an attempt to avoid radar detection.

I also ascertained that the man flying our plane could not have been our intended pilot by the absence of dandruff on his scalp, as well as the prominent bullet hole in his leather jacket and ligature marks on his wrists consistent with someone who had recently been in handcuffs. He had obviously done violence to the actual pilot and hijacked our flight. I determined to arrest him at the earliest opportunity, with the assistance of Detective Vecchio and the illegal handgun he had smuggled aboard the aircraft. However, before I could put my plan into effect, the man took the only parachute aboard and jumped from the plane.

I swiftly took over the piloting duties and landed the craft in the forest. On the way down, I spotted a river and Detective Vecchio and I started toward it. I was certain that the hijacker would be making his way to the river as well, and figured to catch him there.

Unfortunately, Detective Vecchio lost our only compass and we ended up circling back to the plane. The hijacker was there before us, raiding the plane for supplies. Although shots were fired, I must admit that I failed in my duty to catch him at that time. The hour was late, and so Detective Vecchio and I camped near the plane that night after foraging for our dinner.

I prepared breakfast for us the next morning, and as soon as my partner was ready we set out again for the river, driving hard in order to catch the hijacker. On a rest break, I made an Inuit style bola and taught Detective Vecchio how to throw it, in order to conserve ammunition.

We got to the river ahead of our quarry, and set about to make a raft. Just as we completed this project, the hijacker arrived. I provided a distraction while Ray threw the bola at a loose boulder in order to cause a rockslide in which to trap the hijacker. Unfortunately, the criminal was killed in the process. I made note of the location, and then Detective Vecchio and I made our way down river until we reached this detachment.

Detective Vecchio's report

Constable Fraser and I were going up north to work on his dad's cabin. You don't need to know why. Anyway, we were on this plane, no bathroom, no in-flight movie, not even any food except what we brought with us, which wasn't much. We were planning on living off the land. We'd been flying about two hours when we figured out that the pilot was not taking us to the Northwest Territories. Also, Benny saw that he had handcuff marks on his wrists and a bullet hole in his jacket, so we figured him for an escaped criminal, but before we could subdue him, he jumped. Took the only parachute and left us hanging.

Fraser tried to fly the plane, but we ended up crashing in the middle of nowhere. I got some bumps and bruises, and Diefenbaker---that's Fraser's wolf--- was completely uninjured, but Benny must have his head pretty hard, because he lost his vision. He insisted on trying to find the river he'd seen as we were going in, but due to his incapacity and my lack of experience with a compass, we ended up walking in a big circle, right back to the site of the crash. We got there just in time to scare off the guy who ditched us. He was raiding the wreck for supplies. Gunfire was exchanged, and he ran away.

By this time, it was getting pretty dark, so Constable Fraser and I settled down by the wreck for the night. By morning, Fraser had lost the use of his legs. I gathered up what supplies I could find, making packs for Dief and I to carry, then picked up Constable Fraser and started walking toward the river, hoping that it would lead us to civilization.

While we were taking a break, Fraser made a Inuit weapon called a bola, out of some rocks and rope. He explained to me how to throw it, and I practiced a bit, then we moved on.

We finally found the river, and drank our fill of the most wonderful water I have ever tasted, and then I tried out the life raft we had found in the plane. Unfortunately, it was unusable. It was about that time, I guess, that Fraser started to get some feeling back in his legs. After I cracked his back for him, he was able to walk again, although he was still blind. We still had to get somewhere there were people, so we started building a raft. About the time we got it finished, the bad guy showed up, and started shooting at us again. I threw the bola at him, and knocked down a pile of rocks, burying him. Fraser can tell you where he is.

Anyway, we finished the raft and floated down here to this Mountie post, and just as soon as the doctor releases Fraser, we'll be on our way. We've still got a cabin to rebuild.

Memo

From: Tiverton, Gerald, Insp.

To: Abernethy, Albert, Sgt.

Bert, go and check out Const. Fraser's story, will you? Take a couple of Constables with you. I guess you'll need picks and shovels to find this fellow, if indeed he is there. Frankly, the reports made by Fraser and his detective friend are so far apart as to seem to describe different events entirely. If I hadn't already seen the report on that RCMP officer that was killed at the airport they started from, I wouldn't even bother sending you out.

Let me know what you find.

Gerry