The Bone Orchard: A Novel (Mike Bowditch Mysteries) (37 page)

“So what’ll it be?” I said.

“This is too weird.” She gave that snorting sound she made when she was in disbelief. Then she rolled her eyes and shook her head. “I’ve got to take a shower.”

Without another word, she stepped around the wheelchair and me and pushed open the screen door. The three of us watched her cross the pine-needled yard to her cabin.

I turned to Charley with my eyebrows raised. “Was that a yes or a no?”

“It was a yes,” said Ora. Her husband’s big hand was still on her shoulders. She looked up at Charley with a smile. “A man in uniform is always hard to resist.”

“I always said you’d regret leaving the service,” Charley said.

“You were right, as usual.”

“What made you decide to come back?”

The question had been turning in my mind for weeks. Colonel Malcomb had asked me the same thing in his new office when I’d taken the oath again. I’d fumbled for an answer then, but now the words came to me clearly, as if someone else was whispering them into my ears.

“I realized it was the best job in the world.”

AUTHOR’S NOTE

This book is a work of fiction, but it contains references to actual places and organizations. Among these is the 488th Military Police Company of the Maine Army National Guard, which served with distinction in the War in Afghanistan. I am grateful to Specialist Erick Helpin for educating me about the mission, equipment, and daily challenges that the “Guardians” faced at Bagram Air Base—and I honor his service and that of his company. The character of Jimmy Gammon has no real-life counterpart among the MPs of the 488th, but his troubles reflect the difficulties many wounded warriors are dealing with in the aftermath of the longest armed conflict in this nation’s history.

I am indebted to Corporal John MacDonald of the Maine Warden Service for answering my questions about the protocols wardens use to manage crises in the field. Maine Today Media’s investigative series “Deadly Force: Police and the Mentally Ill” provided me with a solid bedrock of information about police shootings in Maine. To those who would learn more about conditions in Maine’s prison system, I would recommend the many articles that award-winning journalist Lance Tapley has written for the
Portland Phoenix
since 2005. Thank you, Lance.

Many friends, relatives, and colleagues assisted me during the research, writing, and publication of this book. First and foremost is my wife, Kristen Lindquist, who also happens to be my best critic as well as my best friend. CB Anderson helped me make the writing better. Jeff McEvoy treated me like a celebrity at Weatherby’s in Grand Lake Stream (and showed me some guiding tricks). Tom Judge and Eric Hopkins shared their stories about LifeFlight of Maine and the indispensable role its helicopters play in saving lives in the most rural state in the country. My father, Richard Doiron, formerly Director of Psychology at Maine Medical Center, gave me a tour of the fast-growing hospital.

Thanks to the people in the Flatiron Building: Charlie Spicer, Andrew Martin, Sally Richardson, the late Matthew Shear, Hector DeJean, Sarah Melnyk, Paul Hochman, and my unsung team at Macmillan Audio.

Ann Rittenberg, I am so grateful for all you do on my behalf—especially the work behind the scenes.

Last but not least, thanks to the many booksellers and librarians who have pressed one of my novels into the hands of a new reader and said, “Here’s a book I know you’re going to like.”

ALSO BY PAUL DOIRON

Massacre Pond

Bad Little Falls

Trespasser

The Poacher’s Son

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

PAUL DOIRON, a native of Maine, attended Yale University, where he graduated with a degree in English, and holds an MFA in creative writing from Emerson College.
The Poacher’s Son
won the Barry award and the Strand award for best first novel, and has been nominated for the Edgar, Anthony, and Macavity awards in the same category. He lives on a trout stream in coastal Maine with his wife, Kristen Lindquist. Visit his Web site at
www.pauldoiron.com
or follow him on Twitter @pauldoiron.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

THE BONE ORCHARD.
Copyright © 2014 by Paul Doiron. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

www.minotaurbooks.com

Cover design by David Baldeosingh Rotstein

Cover photograph © Dirk Wustenhagen / Trevillion Images

eBooks may be purchased for business or promotional use. For information on bulk purchases, please contact Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department by writing to [email protected]

The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.

ISBN 978-1-250-03488-5 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-250-03487-8 (e-book)

e-ISBN 9781250034878

First Edition: July 2014