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

that belonged to Nadia had been left in the women’s restroom on purpose. I thought at first it was used to jam your

stall. You recall that I asked how long you were in the bathroom?” Seeing Ava nod, Judith went on. “Then it occurred

to me that someone had purposely put the note on

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the floor of the restroom. It needn’t have been a woman. My

guess was Gene, because he’s an attorney and would realize

the significance of Frank’s appointment with Hukle, Hukle,

and Huff. Gene wanted everyone to know that Frank’s marriage was on the rocks, but because he’s such a cautious man,

he felt compelled to act in a covert manner.”

Ava looked impressed. “My God, I didn’t realize we’d

hired a sleuth as a caterer!”

Judith eschewed the compliment—if indeed that was what

had been intended. “Identifying the killer shouldn’t have

been too hard. In fact, I’m kicking myself for being so slow.

Everything pointed to Frank all along. But so many bits and

pieces only fell into place in the past few hours. Like Rudy

Mannheimer.”

“Rudy?” Renie and Ava both echoed the name, like a shrill

Greek chorus.

“That’s right,” Judith replied. “Frank’s personnel records

showed he was a Ranger in Korea. That was the old name

for Special Forces, which utilizes all sorts of dirty tricks, including a garrote. Sad to say, the Rangers were trained to

be ruthless killers. In fact, if I recall correctly, they themselves

suffered tremendous casualties in Korea. I suppose some of

them never quite got over the killer instinct—and the fear of

being killed.”

“Paranoia?” Renie put in. “Or self-defense? Bill would say

that in cases like Frank’s, where killing is not only legal, but

condoned by…”

“A bit of both,” Judith interrupted hastily before Renie

could go off on one of her tangents. “But we digress. Frank

used to be in partnership with the previous owners of

Mountain Goat Lodge. He and Rudy go back to Korea. Rudy

seems like an odd duck, and I can’t help but wonder if Frank

didn’t get him the job up here. If so, Rudy’s in his debt. I

also wonder if Rudy knew about Barry Newcombe but kept

his mouth shut. It wouldn’t surprise me if Rudy Mannheimer

helped hide Barry’s body. Still, I don’t

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think it will be easy to get Rudy to open up.”

“Barry,” Ava murmured. “It’s strange how we keep forgetting him.”

“Not really,” Judith said with a touch of irony. “Barry

wasn’t in upper management. That made him a nonperson.

But last year when he was hired as caterer, this whole series

of tragic events was set in motion. Barry must have swiped

Andrea’s private personnel files. I’ve no idea what he intended to do with them—blackmail, perhaps? Or just a bit of

clout to get some financial support to start his own catering

business?”

“I don’t know.” Ava’s response seemed candid. “I wasn’t

lying when I said I didn’t know Barry very well.”

“Whatever the reason,” Judith continued, “it was a terrible

mistake on his part. He must have told Frank, who looked

at the files and saw certain things that could never be made

public. Barry might not have recognized their significance,

but Frank did, especially the part—which has turned up

missing—about using Patrice’s personal funds to help set up

the company. Leon Mooney knew all about it, he had to as

chief financial officer, and no doubt altered the books under

duress. But Barry had signed his own death warrant. Everyone knew he was a notorious gossip and wouldn’t hesitate

to barter his juicy tidbits. Unlike Andrea and Leon and the

rest of you, Barry couldn’t be manipulated by threats of losing a prestigious position. So Frank killed Barry and hid his

body by the creek. He also hid the files there.”

Renie’s head swiveled. “What? You never told me that!”

Judith gave her cousin an apologetic look. “Sorry. It didn’t

dawn on me until you mentioned that I should piddle in the

library wastebasket. Then I remembered you found an empty

plastic garbage bag in Andrea’s wastebasket. Why would

she have such a thing? It was incongruous. Andrea wasn’t

the type to carry her belongings in a garbage bag. But more

to the point—why had we uncovered Barry’s

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body so easily? The answer had to be because someone had

already been rooting around in the snow by the ice cave.

Frank had disturbed the hiding place earlier in the day when

he went to retrieve the files.” Judith gazed at Ava. “But you

already knew that. That’s why Frank tried to strangle you.”

Ava nodded. “I saw him go out to the creek. I couldn’t

figure out what he was doing, so I followed him partway.

He was digging around in the snow, and then he had

something in his hands—the garbage bag—and I kept

watching while he tried to cover up the place where he’d

been searching. Suddenly I had this sinking feeling. Since

we’d only arrived an hour earlier, I knew whatever Frank

had found must have been there much longer. Like from last

year. I thought about Barry, and after our afternoon meeting,

I confronted Frank. That’s when he tried to kill me.”

Renie looked stunned. “That was terribly risky, Ava. Why

didn’t you wait until you were back in town?”

Ava’s fingers twisted around the juice can. “I don’t know.

I felt compelled to act. Maybe I thought Frank would confess

and turn himself in and that would be that. In retrospect, it

was a very stupid thing to do.”

“You’re right.” Renie grew thoughtful. “I suppose Frank

originally intended to leave the files there with the body, but

realized he could use them against the others. That’s why

there were no entries for an entire year.”

“That’s right,” Judith agreed. “Those files took on a life of

their own. I suspect Frank planted them in Andrea’s room

after he killed her. Then Nadia stole them—or Frank did

later. Either way, they were meant to be found. Ward and

Leon’s vacancies on the board would have to be filled,

probably by Gene—and you.” Judith inclined her head at

Ava.

Ava gingerly touched the bruises on her neck. “So any dirt

about us could be used to coerce us into changing the bylaws. And Leon was killed because he knew how Frank had

bankrolled the company. But Ward…He was so loyal

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to Frank. Surely he’d have gone along with Frank’s wishes

not to retire.”

Judith offered Ava a sad little smile. “Maybe so. But Frank

had promised you Ward’s job. Ward had to go.”

In distress, Ava ran her fingers through her long black

hair. “That’s what I was afraid of. Everything suddenly

crashed in on me this afternoon. I couldn’t work for a murderer. And I felt guilty, too. You’re right—Ward’s blood is

on my hands.”

“You put your career ahead of justice,” Renie said quietly.

“I’m afraid it’s true—lives might have been saved if you’d

acted sooner.”

Ava dropped her hands into her lap. “It’s like tunnel vision

up there on the executive floor. They talk about career

pathing. It’s literal. You travel down that path and you never

look left or right. All you see is that title or that salary or

those perks at the end of the tunnel. Nothing else matters.