The Cold Hunt

by Ken Brosky

About the Author: Ken received his MFA in writing from the University of Nebraska-Omaha. He is currently represented by Fairbank Literary, and they're shopping around a mystery novel this summer. His most recent mystery story, "Bricks and Mortar," was published by Akashic Books.

Excerpt

In the video, everything is there: victim, investigators, and killer.

Roxy Kapi’olani is standing with her mentor, Dr. Isaac Siddig, a few feet away from the body. Dr. Siddig is speaking with a clinical detachment, pointing to the mess of bloody, shredded fabric that was once a jacket. Another man, Alexander Karlov, is sweeping away snow with the branch of a fallen pine tree. They begin arguing about the investigation. Dr. Siddig wants to touch the remains, but Alexander won’t violate Orthodox burial customs.

Oksana Kursanov walks into frame. When she sees what’s left of her husband, she screams and falls into the snow. She recognizes Nikolai’s haircut and gently touches it as if the hairs might snap off at the roots. Alexander’s men stand back, watching with hunting rifles cradled in their arms. They belong to Tiger Encounter; one of Russia’s official agencies that handle cases of tiger attacks. They’ve seen this before, though perhaps not quite so gruesome. One of them says something in Russian and Alexander translates for Roxy and Dr. Siddig, his soft voice barely picked up by the video camera’s microphone:

“Normally, there is more of the body left.”

Their hunting dog is barking in the background.

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