mistake. Maybe Frank Killegrew was about to find out.”
After creeping downstairs, the only items the cousins put
into the safe were the pillowcase, the water glasses, the pill
bottle, and Barry’s belongings. Inside the safe, the Eskimo
carving still lay on the towel. Judith breathed a sigh of relief.
The remainder of their pilfered collection had been returned
to Andrea’s room.
The OTIOSE staff, or what was left of them, had retired
to the library. “If any more of them get bumped off,” Renie
said as they cleared away the lunch plates in the
142 / Mary Daheim
dining room, “they can start meeting in the elevator.”
“That’s not funny, coz,” Judith snapped. “You’re the one
who thinks we’re next on the hit list.”
Renie sobered. “Not next. Last.”
“Swell.” Judith paused, holding several coffee mugs against
her chest. “We’ve got to figure this out, coz. I really want to
know who is going to try to do us in.”
“That’d be nice,” Renie admitted, then gave Judith an
apologetic look. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be flippant. I just
don’t know how else to keep the horror at bay.”
“Margo’s gun might do that,” said Judith as they returned
to the kitchen. “Maybe we can eliminate some of these
people.”
Renie was startled. “With Margo’s gun?”
“No.” Judith gave her cousin a twisted smile. “I mean, as
suspects. Russell, for example. Can you see him as a coldblooded killer?”
“He’d be very cunning,” Renie said, again quite serious.
“Devious, too. Under that supposedly squeamish, vague exterior lurks genius. He’s the R&D man, remember. I never
put anything past people who sit around and just think.”
“Okay, we leave Russell in,” Judith said with reluctance.
“If Margo was the killer, would she brandish that gun?”
“Why not? It’s a great cover. No one’s been shot. Yet.”
“I like Ava,” Judith said, putting away the uneaten ham
and turkey. “Maybe it’s because she lent me her clothes.
Couldn’t we cross her off the list?”
This time, Renie’s response didn’t come so promptly.
When it finally did, it was qualified. “I like her, too, but she’s
ambitious. Don’t you remember what she said about how
she could be running WaCom if she’d stayed on? That implies she’d like to be running OTIOSE.”
“I thought you said Ward Haugland was a shoo-in for
Killegrew’s job.”
“There are no shoo-ins in the corporate world,” Renie
SNOW PLACE TO DIE / 143
responded. “He’s the heir apparent. The key word is ‘apparent.’”
Judith began unloading the dishwasher. “How about
Ward?”
“Ward’s viable. Under that ‘aw-shucks’ manner there’s
big-time drive and determination. Of course,” Renie added,
“he’s been very loyal to Frank. I’ve heard that Ward has
turned down a couple of other offers this past year.”
“I suppose we can’t rule out Max, if only because he has
a hot temper and a lot of resentment,” said Judith.
“He’s strong, too,” Renie noted.
“Which Nadia isn’t. Could we skip her?” Judith’s tone was
hopeful.
“She’s thin, but wiry. Like me, before I got fat. I’d never
trust me. I can be vicious when aroused.” Renie finished
clearing off the counter. “Nadia’s another one who’s very
loyal to Frank. I could see her committing a crime not for
herself, but for him.”
Judith stared at Renie. “Is she in love with Frank?”
“I don’t know. Naturally, there have been rumors. A man
and a woman don’t work that closely together without having
people talk about them.”
“There’s Gene,” Judith said disconsolately. “Too prudent,
too cautious, right?”
“Precisely the kind that can snap,” Renie said. “Pressure—you don’t understand what it can do at the executive
level.”
“So we’re left with Frank Killegrew.” Judith picked up a
dish towel, gave it a frustrated yank, and tossed it onto the
counter. “He founded OTIOSE. Why would he ruin it by
killing off his employees?”
“Good question. To be honest, I can’t think of an answer.
He is OTIOSE. The perfect solution is that someone is out
to get him, indirectly. If there was an outsider in this bunch,
everything would make sense. But that’s not the case, and
we’re up a stump.” Renie heaved a big sigh just as Max and
Ward entered the kitchen.
144 / Mary Daheim
“We’re looking for shovels,” Max announced. “Crazy as it
sounds, we’re going to try to tunnel our way out.”
“The snow stopped,” Ward said on a note of optimism.
“We may get a thaw.” The two men headed for the basement.
Judith and Renie exchanged curious glances. “Tunnel?”
said Judith.
“Thaw?” said Renie. “Don’t count on it.”
“They can’t tunnel for a mile,” said Judith. “That’s crazy.”
“They’re desperate,” Renie responded.
Judith gave a slight shake of her head. “Aren’t we all?”
ELEVEN
MAX AND WARD had decided to go out through the front
entrance because it faced west and the snow might not be
as deep. Judith and Renie joined the others in the lobby as
Gene and Russell attempted to open the big double doors.
“One at a time!” Killegrew shouted. “We don’t want an
avalanche in here!”
The knotty pine door on the left slowly swung inward. As
feared, the snow came with it, spilling onto the flagstones
and showering the onlookers with frozen particles.
“Eeek!” cried Nadia. “We’ll be buried alive!”
But the pile of snow only reached about four feet into the
lodge. Near the top of the open door, they could see daylight.
Max, with hands on hips, surveyed the task that lay ahead.
“We’re snowed in, all right,” he said, stating the obvious.
“This is going to take some time.”
“Better bundle up,” said Killegrew, going over to the coffee
table. “Say, Nadia, could you fix me a Scotch and soda?”
Nadia busied herself with bottles and glasses. Judith noticed that the liquor supply was getting low. She wondered
if there was more in the basement. Given all that
145
146 / Mary Daheim
had happened so far, it wouldn’t do to run out of booze.
Max and Ward headed for the elevator, presumably to put
on their all-weather gear. Gene and Ava wandered back into
the library. Margo and Russell followed Judith and Renie
into the kitchen.
“Do we have enough food?” Margo inquired.
“We’re fine,” Judith assured her. “In fact, I was just wondering about the liquor. Maybe we could all go downstairs
and see if there’s a backup supply.”
“They should have a wine cellar,” Margo said. “Come on,
Russell. It’ll give us something to do.”
Russell trailed Margo like a well-behaved pup. Judith and
Renie joined them, carefully going down the narrow stairway.
The basement wasn’t quite what Judith had expected. It was
partitioned into rooms. They passed the storage area for
outdoor equipment, the game room with billiard and pingpong tables, a large, well-stocked woodpile, a much larger
laundry room than the small alcove off the kitchen, a heating
and furnace room, another storage room where extra furniture was kept, and finally what passed for a wine cellar.
The bottles were stored in their original cases. To Judith’s
relief, there were also boxes filled with every imaginable liquor as well as two kegs containing beer, light and dark.
Each member of the foursome grabbed as many bottles as
possible and returned upstairs.
The lobby was empty and quite cold. The snow was
melting on the flagstones, creating puddles of water. Judith
and Renie went in search of a mop and some rags.
“When do we make our big threat?” Renie asked after they
were in the supply room.
“I’d like to have more evidence first,” Judith replied. “The
pillowcase might prove that Andrea was murdered, but except
for possible DNA results, it doesn’t tell us who smothered
her.”
They didn’t find any rags in the cupboards, so they had
to make do with towels. Renie piled such a tall stack in her
SNOW PLACE TO DIE / 147
arms that only her eyes and hair showed. “Hold it. You said
we had a life insurance policy. Show them, tell them.” Renie
bit off the words. “Now, before we expire, right along with
your stupid policy. Come on, coz—we can’t wait to get more
evidence.”
“I didn’t say get,” Judith responded, carrying a mop and
a bucket. “I said have more evidence. Which isn’t exactly
right, either. What I meant was…um…”
“You haven’t made up the evidence.” Renie sighed, balancing the towels and following Judith out of the supply room.
“In other words, you’re going to tell one of your monster
lies.”
“I never lie,” Judith said, indignant. “I might fib, but only
when it’s absolutely necessary.”
“So what’s the fib?”
“I don’t know. That’s why I’m stalling. You got any bright
ideas?”
They were back in the lobby before Renie could come up
with an answer. Ava and Nadia were exiting the women’s
rest room; Russell and Gene were standing in the doorway
to the library; Frank Killegrew and Margo were nowhere in
sight; Ward and Max hadn’t yet returned from upstairs.
The cousins began wiping up the wet floor. Nadia offered
to help. The heat from the lobby was causing the snow to
melt fairly fast. It was almost impossible to get the flagstones
dry.
“I suppose the snow that was up against the building was
fairly soft anyway,” Judith murmured, more to herself than
to Renie or Nadia. “I’m not sure that opening the front door
was a good idea.”
“It’s the only way to get help,” Nadia said, down on her
hands and knees.
“How’s Frank?” Renie asked, wringing out a towel in the
bucket.
“He’s fine, he’s really fine,” Nadia replied. “We went to
check on one of the smaller conference rooms. Margo’s
148 / Mary Daheim
with him now. We may move our meeting there. It’s a bit
chilly in the lobby with the door open.”
“What about the library?” Judith inquired. “Isn’t that where
you were earlier?”
Nadia made a face. “Yes. But those big leather chairs are
so…comfortable. Russell in particular tended to nod off.”
Renie, who had also been kneeling, stood up. “This is a
losing battle. Between the warmer temperature outside and
the heat from the lodge, we’re getting a regular little stream
across the floor. Look,” she said, pointing to the top of the
open entrance way, “we could see barely six inches of daylight when the door was first open. Now it’s nearly a foot.”
Judith followed Renie’s finger. Her cousin was right. She
could make out a fallen tree branch across the drifted snow,
or perhaps it was a piece of the roof that had blown off
during the blizzard. From what Judith could tell, the afternoon was overcast, but there was neither snow nor rain
falling on the mountainside. Perhaps their prospects were
looking up.
“Where the hell is Ward?” Max demanded as he exited
from the elevator.
Everyone turned to stare at the marketing vice president
who was bundled up in a red and black hooded lumber
jacket.
“He went upstairs with you,” Ava said. “Isn’t he in his
room?”
“If he is, he’s in the can,” Max retorted, then pushed back
a heavy glove to look at his watch. “It’s almost two-thirty.
We went up to change just before two. What’s taking him
so long?”
Killegrew and Margo were coming from the conference
room area. “Now, now,” said Killegrew, “what’s going on?
I thought you and Ward were going to start digging.” He
gave Max an accusing look.
The vice president of marketing’s slightly simian features
SNOW PLACE TO DIE / 149
always looked pugnacious, but now they turned obstinate.
“I’m not starting alone. I’ll wait for Ward if it takes all afternoon. What’s he doing in his room? Taking a nap?” Suddenly Max’s big, burly body sagged. “What is he doing?” he
mumbled.
“What are you talking about?” Killegrew demanded, taking
a step forward and looking as if he wanted to shake Max.
Max paled. “We couldn’t. Not the whole time. We had to
get our gear from our separate rooms. It seemed pointless
to change clothes together. Hell, we locked our doors. I
mean, I did, and Ward’s was locked when I tried it just now.
Otherwise, I’d have gone in to see if he was in the can.”
“Oh, dear!” Nadia’s exclamation was very faint.
“Ward!” Ava clutched at the rolled-up collar of her blue
sweater.
Frank Killegrew seemed to be at war with himself. The
muscles in his face worked, his strapping body twitched, his
eyes darted around the lobby. “We’d better all go,” he finally
said in a thick, uncertain voice.
Nadia pressed both of her small hands against his chest.
“Not you, Frank! You’ve already had one terrible shock
today. Please, stay here. I’ll wait with you.”
“So will I,” Russell chimed in. “I’m squeam…ooof!”
Margo had belted Russell in the stomach. “Don’t you dare
say that again, you chicken! Go ahead, stay down here and
cower in the corner. I’m going.” She lifted her chin at Ava.
“How about you?”
Ava shook her head. “I don’t think so.”
In the end, it was Max, Margo, and Gene who got into
the elevator. The cousins would join them in the hallway,
but they’d get there via the back stairs. They’d also bring an
ax.
“I don’t
really want to do this,” an unenthusiastic Renie
said as they went down to the basement. “What we find isn’t
going to be nice.”
150 / Mary Daheim
“Probably not,” Judith sighed, “but we should be there as
witnesses.”
“Why?” Renie asked as they headed for the alcove that
housed the woodpile.
“Why?” Judith hesitated. “Well, because we need to know
everything if we’re going to figure out whodunit. More
evidence, that’s the ticket.”
“I thought you were going to make some up,” Renie replied
in a peevish voice.
“I was, but real evidence would be better.” Judith found
two axes, but chose the one with the longer handle. “Let’s
go.”
When Judith and Renie got back to the second floor, they
saw Margo trying to turn the lock with a paper clip. She
wasn’t having much luck. Max and Gene hovered behind
her. Judith had considered offering her expertise, but thought
better of it; perhaps it wouldn’t be wise to admit that she
could not only crack a safe, but pick a lock.
“I could push it in,” Max said. He had taken off his lumber
jacket to reveal a heavy olive-green flannel shirt.
“No,” Gene said, avoiding Max’s gaze. “We don’t want a
gaping hole. That is, in case…” His voice trailed off.
Max saw the ax in Judith’s hand. “Then we’ll chop around
the lock.”
Gene nodded. “Go ahead. Let’s hope Ward didn’t shoot
the dead bolt.”
Ward hadn’t. It took Max almost ten minutes to hack away
at the solid pine, but eventually he freed the lock, doorknob,
and brass plate from the door itself. Gingerly, Max reached
into the opening and swung the door free.
The room looked like all the others that Judith had seen.
It appeared to be empty. Max led the way, going to the foot
of the twin beds, peering beneath them, checking the small
closet, then opening the door to the bathroom. He looked
in the tub. There was no sign of Ward.
Renie was shivering. Judith put a hand on her cousin’s
arm. “Hang in there, coz,” she whispered.
SNOW PLACE TO DIE / 151
“I’m okay,” Renie said under her breath. “It’s cold in here.”
“It is, actually,” Judith agreed. She glanced at the small
fireplace. The grate was empty.
“I don’t get it. I saw him go in.” Max scratched his bald