Mary Daheim - Snow Place to Die - A Bed-and-breakfast Mystery

“We found him.” Judith chewed her lower lip. “Let’s call

and then you can tell them about Barry.”

“Me?” Renie placed a hand on her semiexposed chest and

gulped. “ I didn’t find him. You did.”

“You fell and knocked down that big snow pack,” Judith

countered.

“I didn’t go crawling around inside the cave.”

“This is your big project.” Judith was beginning to get annoyed. “Where’s all that bravado you were showing off an

hour ago?”

“I don’t know,” Renie replied, gazing around the kitchen.

“Where is it?”

“Oooh…We’ll do it together. As usual.” She marched over

to the phone. “I’ll even call the cops.” She punched in 911.

A quavery voice answered on a crackling line. Judith

40 / Mary Daheim

could barely understand the woman—she guessed it was a

woman—at the other end. “I’m calling from Mountain Goat

Lodge,” Judith said, speaking more loudly and precisely than

usual. “We’ve found a corpse.”

“You want a Coors?” the voice said, sounding slightly

stronger. “This isn’t a tavern, it’s the county sheriff’s emergency line. Please hang up at once.”

The line went dead. “She thinks I’m a nut. Now what?”

“What?” Renie, who hadn’t heard the other half of the

conversation, looked bewildered.

“Never mind.” Irked, Judith redialed. The same voice

answered. “This isn’t a joke,” Judith shouted. “We have a

dead body at Mountain Goat Lodge.”

There was a long pause. Judith figured the woman in the

sheriff’s office was trying to figure out if this was a genuine

call. “Mountain Goat?” the woman finally said. “That’s not

our jurisdiction. Try the next county to the east.” She hung

up again.

“What is the next county to the east?” Judith demanded

of Renie.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Renie replied

in an irritated tone. “I’m going to put our wash in the dryer

while you figure out how to call the cops. You’re married to

one, for God’s sake, you ought to know.”

“I’ll try the forest service,” Judith said, trying to put a check

on her impatience. “Their number is posted by the phone.

If they used to own this property, they ought to know what

county it’s in.”

Renie’s eyebrows lifted in mock amazement. “A government agency knowing where they are? Who they are? What

they’re…”

As the connection was made, Judith made a shushing

gesture with her hand. But the voice on the other end was a

recording. The staff was out of the office, but if the caller

would care to leave a name and number…

Judith hung up before the message droned to its conclu- SNOW PLACE TO DIE / 41

sion. “What staff? I’ll bet there’s only one person in a snow

shelter next to the nearest restaurant.”

She was looking for a phone book when the man that

Renie had called Russell poked his head in the kitchen. “Excuse me,” he began, then gasped as he saw Judith adorned

in the towel. “Sorry, I didn’t realize you were…ah…um…”

“Russell?” Judith made a reassuring gesture with her free

hand. “You work for the phone company. Do you know

where I can find a phone book?”

The ordinary question seemed to calm Russell. “Of course.

There’s one in the…er…surely it would be…um…have you

looked…ah…I’ve no idea.” His face began to turn a deep

red.

Judith put a hand to her shoulder-length silver-streaked

hair and rubbed furiously at her scalp. “Okay, okay. Tell me

this—how can I reach the local sheriff?”

Russell’s eyebrows rose above his rimless glasses. “You

dial 911, just as you would in the city.”

Judith shook her head. “It doesn’t work that way. Maybe

the lines are crossed. Have you got another suggestion?”

“Ohhh…” Russell seemed at an utter loss. “I’m R&D, not

operations. Really, I’m not what you’d call…practical.”

Judith would have held her head with both hands if the

effort wouldn’t have caused her to drop the towel. “R&D?

What’s that? I know R&B is rhythm and blues, but…”

“Research and development.” Renie was back in the kitchen. “Russell Craven is vice president-R&D.” She nodded

at Russell. “Hi again. What county are we in?”

“County?” Russell’s thin fair hair seemed to twitch. “Well,

I really couldn’t say…We are in one, though…I mean, we

have to be, don’t we? Counties are like that, sort of next to

each other and all…ah…Do you ladies need some clothing?”

Renie gave Russell a toothy grin. “Now there’s a helpful

42 / Mary Daheim

idea, Russell. We wouldn’t mind borrowing a few items for

just a bit. Let me see…” Renie glanced at Judith. “How about

asking Ava and…” She paused, gazing down at her own

towel-wrapped figure. “…Nadia. I think.”

“Yes. Yes.” Russell nodded enthusiastically. “Ava and Nadia. Shall I…?” He gestured at the door.

“You shall. And we thank you.” Renie cocked her head.

Russell started out the door, then turned back. “Oh! This

business about the sheriff…is it urgent?”

“It’ll keep,” Renie replied dryly.

Russell left. Five minutes later, Ava Aunuu was in the kitchen, hand-tooled leather suitcase in hand. “What

happened?” she asked, evincing what Judith took for actual

concern.

Renie introduced Judith to the woman who served as

OTIOSE’s vice president–information technology services.

The long-winded title didn’t mean much to Judith, but she

recalled that Ava was some kind of computer genius.

“We fell in the creek,” Renie explained. “You and my

cousin are about the same size, so when Russell Craven

suggested we borrow some clothes, I thought of you.”

“Sure,” Ava said, undoing the straps and flipping the locks

on her suitcase. “I brought extra everything along. There’s

underwear, too. I’m not really into clothes, but you never

know what can happen on one of these retreats.” Her brown

eyes danced with what might have been amusement—or

something less pleasant.

Judith picked up the first items she saw. A high-necked

blue sweater and navy slacks, almost exactly like the dark

green outfit Ava was wearing. “This’ll be great. Are you

sure…?” She gave Ava a questioning look.

“Well…” Ava reached into the suitcase and a removed a

red crewneck sweater and matching slacks. “How about

these? I’ll bet red’s your color.”

“It is.” Judith smiled. “Thanks a lot.”

“Don’t worry about returning them right away.” Ava’s

strong, handsome features seemed to radiate good will.

SNOW PLACE TO DIE / 43

“I’ll probably be seeing your cousin at corporate headquarters

in a week or two.”

Judith grabbed the garments and headed for the laundry

room to dress. She had just slipped into her own boots when

Renie joined her.

“Nadia’s stuff is going to be a squeeze,” Renie said, shaking

out a gray cashmere sweater that had been carefully wrapped

in tissue paper. “But Margo’s too thin and Andrea’s too

plump. It was Nadia or nobody, unless I wanted to wear

one of Russell Craven’s soup-stained suits.”

“Let’s go back,” Judith said abruptly.

“Back? Back where?” Renie’s head poked through the