Snow Angel

by Melanie Jackson

  “You mean he died in the suite you’ve been staying in?” I asked.

  “It’s the corporate suite,” Elmore explained.

  How ghoulish, I thought, but did not say it out loud.

  “He actually died on the driveway below,” Ellis clarified, but his statement only added to the uncomfortable atmosphere building in the confined space.

  I was silent for a time, but in the end I couldn’t control my curiosity. Regardless of the threat of impending death, I wanted to know what had happened to Fenton Slaughter to satisfy my own inquisitiveness.

  “Tell me more about Mr. Slaughter,” I prompted.

  “He was good looking,” Tiffany offered.

  “Very good looking,” Claire surprised me by agreeing.

  “He was a womanizer and a braggart,” Ellis contributed.

  “He was a lusty man, a powerful man with needs that he readily satisfied,” Elmore clarified from his place at Tiffany’s enhanced bosom. “And he ran the company with precision.”

  “He was a petty tyrant who ran your company with an iron fist,” Ellis corrected.

  “He was a shrewd businessman. After all, we’re successful, aren’t we,” Elmore countered. “At least, successful enough to attract your kind.”

  A simmering silence filled with unspoken animosity followed this observation. But I didn’t want the talking to end.

  “Assuming that Fenton Slaughter was murdered, and I grant you it’s a weak assumption, who among us would have had a motive to kill him?” I asked tentatively. I thought it was nice of me to include myself and Alex in this list.

  No one was eager to speak up, so I volunteered to start.

  “I didn’t even know the man,” I offered. “Besides, I know that I didn’t kill him. So, that takes us down to six suspects.”

  “This is outrageous,” Ellis opined.

  “I hardly knew him,” Sterling offered. “We only spoke briefly in passing. Besides, what would I have to gain by killing him?”

  “Five,” I said, and then there was silence. “Alex?”

  “Chloe, you aren’t seriously suggesting that I killed Mr. Slaughter?”

  “I just want to be thorough.”

  “I was with you in Colorado during Christmas.”

  “So, we both have an alibi. Four.”

  The remaining suspects remained silent, looking resentful at my questions. Eventually, Elmore began balling again.

  “Well, I didn’t kill him,” he insisted. “It was an accident. It had to be.”

  “Of course it was,” Ellis agreed.

  “It was you, wasn’t it?” Elmore said, pushing himself from Tiffany’s arms to confront Ellis directly.

  “You’d better mind your words, little man,” Ellis retorted.

  “Fenton didn’t want you buying into his company, so you had him murdered,” Elmore accused, shoving a finger in Ellis’ face.

  “You liar!”

  Ellis slapped Elmore hard across the face. Elmore’s head jerked to one side and his hand shot up to cover what I was sure would become a nasty welt. Again he started to cry, this time balling himself up in the corner of the elevator to hide his battered face along with his shame.

  “Reginald!” Claire scolded.

  “I warned him,” Ellis said in his own defense.

  “Why don’t you try that with someone bigger,” Alex challenged.

  “Alex!” I exclaimed, tugging at his coat sleeve.

  “You’d better keep that wench of yours quiet or I will,” Ellis warned, not backing down one millimeter.

  I could sense that a full-scale brawl was about to break out in the crowded elevator and knew the two combatants would not be the only casualties. So I tugged harder on Alex’s sleeve. Ultimately, Sterling muscled himself between the two men.

  “Maybe we should all settle down,” Sterling suggested, posturing in a way to emphasize his substantial size.

  Alex and Ellis did back down but continued to glare at each other across the compartment. I buttoned my lip and was determined to keep it that way. That’s when the emergency telephone rang again. I answered it hesitantly and placed the receiver to my ear.

  “Keep asking your questions,” the voice said before the line went dead.

  The elevator lurched as if to underscore the threat behind the words. Everyone braced themselves for another drop which ultimately did not come. I replaced the handset and considered my options, which amounted to one.

  “Well, what did he say this time?” Ellis asked.

  “He wants me to continue my investigation.”

  “Your investigation?” This time it was Tiffany’s turn to chime in. “Who the hell do you think you are, Sherlock Holmes?”

  “Strong words coming from a prostitute,” Elmore quipped from his place in the corner.

  “Alex, you had a one-night stand with a prostitute?” I erupted in dismay.

  Alex flapped his jaw but no words came out.

  “I’m a female escort, you lush,” Tiffany protested. “And besides, it wasn’t that way with Alex and me.”

  I had half a mind to slap her across the face and start the brawl all over again. Sensing what I was thinking, Sterling shoved himself between us and faced me down. It was beginning to get warm in the elevator, which wasn’t helping settle my temper. I backed away, turned from Alex, and tried to clear my cluttered mind.

  “Mind if I light up?” Elmore asked.

  “Yes!” everyone else responded in unison.

  “Wait one second,” Claire commented, discarding her wrap. “How did the gentleman on the line know that you were asking questions?”

  Claire’s meaning struck me like a physical blow. How did the disembodied voice on the phone know that I was asking questions, unless he was listening to us? I looked around the compartment, noticing that the others were doing the same, but saw no obvious evidence of a listening device. As I scrutinized the walls, I wondered silently whether we were being watched as well.

  “I don’t see anything,” Ellis said.

  “Me neither,” Alex agreed.

  “Wait, what’s this here?” Elmore asked.

  Everyone turned their attention to Elmore, who was reaching behind the brass support rail in the corner. The sound of tape being ripped away from the wall followed. Elmore had removed a small manila envelope from its hiding place behind the handrail.

  “What’s that?” Ellis asked.

  “It’s an envelope, you fool,” Elmore snapped back, apparently having reclaimed some of his flagging courage. “It’s labeled ‘Ellis’,” he announced.

  “Here, let me see that,” Ellis demanded, grabbing for the envelope.

  “I’ll look inside, if you don’t mind,” Elmore insisted, holding his find out of grasp’s reach.

  Elmore tore open the flap and removed a single sheet of paper.

  “Well, what is it?”

  “It’s a copy of a handwritten page from a diary, written in Fenton’s hand. Let me read it out loud.”

  December 19th,

  I just got off the phone with Ellis. Again, I refused to sell any portion of my stock in the company to that odious man. I assured him that I would force Elmore to refuse his demands as well. Ellis concluded our conversation by threatening my life.

  There was silence in the elevator as we all considered the implications of those written words.

  “There’s more,” Elmore said, clearing his throat.

  Before he could begin reading again, Ellis succeeded in tearing the page of writing from his hands. He then read the rest for himself before ripping the diary page to shreds and casting it to the floor at our feet.

  “Utter rubbish,” he concluded.

  Still, everyone looked to him as if we were now sure we’d found our murderer, even his wife. Ellis became visibly agitated under the stress of our regard.

  “What? Are you going to believe the ravings of a madman?” he himself raved. “Because Fenton Slaughter was quite mad, I assure you.”

&nbs
p; “I wonder,” Claire interjected, “whether there might be other packets hidden somewhere in this lift.”

  Her statement prompted a flurry of activity as everyone searched behind the handrails for additional envelopes. It didn’t take long to strike pay dirt.

  “Here’s another one,” Ellis offered. “It’s labeled ‘Frye’. Oh my, I can’t wait to read this.”

  “Here’s another,” Alex declared, tearing an envelope from the wall. “It has no label.”

  Ellis opened his envelope, which contained several sheets of paper. He began reading them silently the moment he had extracted them.

  “Well, what is it?” Elmore urged impatiently.

  “It’s a copy of your letter of resignation from the board of directors, signed by you,” Ellis explained. “Along with copies of several pages from a ledger which purport to show that you’ve been embezzling money from the company, for quite a number of years.”

  Elmore blanched and fell back against the wall holding his heart.

  “But he promised he would burn those papers,” Elmore moaned.

  “Looks like he lied.”

  In a pathetic display, Elmore launched himself at Ellis, knocking Tiffany aside in an attempt to get ahold of the papers. Ellis easily fended off his attack, slapping his hands away and holding the papers high over his head, the better to taunt the little man. Elmore eventually ceased his futile efforts and fell back against the wall where he slid to a sitting position on the floor.

  “I’m ruined,” Elmore concluded.

  “Now who has a motive for murder?” Ellis asked with a smug smile.

  “What have we here?” Alex said, removing a small card from his envelope.

  Attached to the card was a pair of extremely expensive-looking diamond earrings. The huge stones sparkled in the light of the fluorescents overhead as Alex held them high for all to see. After everyone had had a good look, he lowered them and began rummaging back inside the envelope.

  “Wait, there’s a note,” he declared.

  “What does it say?” Sterling asked.

  “‘These were found on the end table beside the deceased’s bed the night of his murder.’”

  “The police report said nothing of earrings found at the scene of the crime,” Ellis protested.

  There was a brief silence before everyone looked to consider Tiffany’s reaction.

  “They’re not mine,” she exclaimed nonchalantly. “If I owned anything that nice, I’d be wearing them right now.”

  “They’re mine,” Claire admitted, holding out her hand to Alex.

  No one questioned her assertion that the earrings were hers. After all, to whom else could such expensive gems belong? Not Elmore’s bimbo girlfriend, that was for sure. Alex handed the earrings to Claire without hesitation.

  “Would you mind explaining, Claire?” Ellis prompted.

  “Isn’t it obvious?” Claire replied, slipping the earrings into her beaded clutch.

  “Not to me it isn’t.”

  Claire released a sigh of irritation and then stood tall before addressing her husband.

  “Fenton and I were having an affair,” she announced bluntly.

  “I see,” Ellis said flatly.

  It was entirely due to Sterling’s anticipation of Ellis’ reaction to his wife’s declaration, to say nothing of his fast reflexes, that Ellis’ hand never connected with Claire’s face. Instead, his arm was seized by Sterling and stopped abruptly several inches away from the intended target.

  “You’d better unhand me this minute, young man. That is if you’d like to keep your job,” Ellis snarled.

  “You’d better put your arm back down if you’d like to keep it attached to your body,” Sterling retorted.

  Ellis yanked his arm away from Sterling and leaned back against the wall to brood. Sterling kept his eyes fixed on the man as Ellis glared at his wife.

  “You pompous ass,” Claire snapped at her husband. “Any real man would have known by now that something was going on between Fenton and me. That is, any man who gave a damn.”

  I felt the ANALYTICO engine in my mind click smoothly into gear. Three envelopes equaled three suspects. One man a pathetic drunken and thieving partner, another an arrogant hothead desperate for a piece of the pie. And then there was the victim’s secret lover to consider. Still something tickled at the back of my brain, some portion of this case that I knew I could only bring to light by asking more questions.

  “Alex, what time is it?” I asked impatiently.

  “Eleven thirty,” he answered after checking his watch.

  “Ladies and gentleman, we have a half an hour to crack this case. We now have three suspects. I’d ask if anyone would like to step forward and confess, but maybe a more productive line of enquiry would be to ask who it is that’s holding us captive in this elevator.”

  At the mere suggestion we direct our attention toward our captor, the elevator jerked, no doubt sending me a clear warning. Then the emergency phone rang. I answered it immediately.

  “Question time is over. Look outside the access hatch. I left you another present.”

  The line went dead.

  “Well?” Ellis asked.

  “He wants us to look for something outside the access hatch.”

  “You mean there’s a way out of this trap?”

  “It’s up there, in the ceiling near the corner,” Sterling explained, pointing above to where there were obvious seams in the mirrored ceiling.

  “Well, why didn’t you say so before, you abusive oaf?” Ellis chastised. “Come over here and lift me up.”

  “I don’t think this is wise,” Sterling cautioned.

  “Wise or not, I’m going to take a look at what’s up there, with or without your help.”

  “Let’s boost him up,” Alex suggested.

  Grudgingly, Sterling shuffled positions along with Alex and Ellis until they were all standing below the access hatch. Then Alex and Sterling made cups with their hands and easily lifted Ellis to the ceiling. Ellis pushed a ceiling panel and it swung up, showing itself to be a hidden door. The two men lifted him higher and the top of Ellis’ body disappeared beyond the hatch.

  “Has anyone got a flashlight?” he called down to us.

  “Oh sure, I always carry a two-foot-long torch in my handbag,” Tiffany replied in a nasty tone.

  “Never mind, I think I’ve found something. Let me back down.”

  Alex and Sterling lowered Ellis gently to the floor. He was holding something wrapped in a piece of cloth. After he unwrapped it, I was shocked to see a gleaming black automatic pistol lying in his hands. Ellis immediately grabbed the gun by its handle, placing his finger against the trigger, and backed into the corner.

  “Alright now, I want everyone to move back into that far corner,” he demanded, brandishing the weapon at us.

  “Ellis, you fool! What are you doing?” Elmore gasped.

  “Reginald, darling. Think of what you’re doing,” Claire coaxed, trying to defuse the potentially lethal situation.

  “You shut up and get over there in the corner with the rest of them,” Ellis barked, directing the weapon at his wife.

  Alex and Sterling backed up, squeezing the rest of us into the corner behind them. They kept their hands raised to shoulder height to show that they weren’t willing to offer a fight. Still, I had visions of Ellis pulling the trigger and spraying us with deadly projectiles.

  “Now, suppose we have an honest conversation,” Ellis said once we’d given him sufficient room.

  Oh Lord, he’s going to confess and then kill us all, I thought.

  “He’s going to kill us all,” Elmore said, echoing my own concerns. “Let’s rush him.”

  “I will kill you if you make a move toward me,” Ellis assured him. “Otherwise, you’re perfectly safe. In the meantime, I’d like to conduct my own investigation. You, the little one hiding in the corner. The detective. Who are you?”

  “My name is Chloe Boston. I’m a meter mai
d for the Hope Falls Police Department,” I said, pushing myself forward to shield Alex’s body with my own.

  Alex placed his hands on my shoulders.

  “A meter maid,” Ellis scoffed. “What are you doing at this party?”

  Instead of answering his question, I opted to voice one of my own in the hope that he would realize we had no time for his tomfoolery.

  “Alex, what time is it?”

  “Fifteen minutes until midnight,” he replied after consulting his watch.

  “We’re all going to die one way or the other,” Elmore pointed out. “I say we rush him and take our chances. He can’t get us all.”

  “Yes, you’re right, Elmore. We are all going to die,” Ellis agreed. “So what difference will it make then if I shoot you dead right now?”

  Ellis pointed the pistol at Elmore, who cringed back behind the rest of us for protection. Then I got an idea.

  “You know, we don’t all have to die,” I said.

  As I said this, I pointed up to the access hatch in the ceiling. I placed the pointer finger of my other hand to my lips in a signal to keep quiet.

  “Suppose you tell us what you want, Mr. Ellis,” I said.

  Crouching down, I made a cup of my hand and mimicked a hoisting motion. I then pointed at Ellis and then back to Alex and Sterling. I looked to them in turn and each nodded their head to show that they understood. Ellis was the last to acknowledge my plan by pointing at me to indicate that I would be going first.

  As Ellis shuffled to a neutral corner, Alex, Sterling, and I stepped forward to position ourselves under the escape hatch. I cast aside my faux fur shawl and then bent down to tear away my skirt just above the knees so that I’d be able to maneuver. I felt half-naked in this altered attire.

  “You were saying, Mr. Ellis,” I prompted so that Ellis would cover my exit with empty prattle.

  Instead of prattle, he went for his wife’s jugular.

  “Let’s move on to you, you worthless whore,” he snarled at his wife.

  “Why Reginald, you’re so unbecoming when being you,” his wife replied, displaying a poisonous wit.