Smoke still rose from the pistol in Mark's hand as he turned to look out the window and found a massive bear peering in at him. Mark dropped the gun, his intended contemplative post-murder look over the remote mountain landscape forgotten.

The bear's mouth opened in an ursine smile. Though its mouth otherwise didn't move, it clearly said, "I saw that."

"Saw... saw what?" Mark struggled not to look at the still-warm body behind him.

"Murder."

Mark leaped backward, nearly tripping over his victim, as the bear invited itself in through the window. It sniffed the body, lapped once at the pool of cooling blood, and fixed Mark with beady eyes.

"You want it, you can have it." Mark groped behind himself for his pack. "I'm just going to hike outta here." He started edging toward the door.

"You won't get away with this," said the bear. Mark was growing accustomed to words emanating from its open mouth.

"Courts won't have any proof." Mark dared a grin. "Especially once you're done."

The bear stepped toward him. "You won't get away."

Mark blanched. He ran.

The bear's land speed nears 35 miles per hour. The bear didn't need nearly that much.