I strode to the front door and tried to ignore the somersaults in my stomach. Unfortunately, in my nervousness, I yanked the door open so hard the jingle bell wreath on the condo’s front door could probably be heard all the way into town.
“Merry Christmas, Sheriff Morgan. Won’t you come in?”
I winced at the forced cheerfulness I could hear in my voice. I needed to calm down before he took my nervousness as guilt.
Which only made me more nervous.
“Thank you, Holly. I know I’m early, but I’m anxious to get this murder solved and give Andrew’s family some peace.”
“Of course.” I blinked back tears at the thought of my own family waking up Christmas morning to this kind of tragedy. “I hope you can give his family comfort soon.”
We walked into the kitchen, with everyone sitting where I’d left them.
“Would you like something to eat, Sheriff Morgan?” Ophelia asked.
Sheriff Morgan took off his hat and set it on the counter. “No thank you, ma’am. This isn’t a social call. I’m here to ask further questions. Where are the other girls?”
Helen jumped up from the table. “I’ll go get them.”
As Helen scrambled down the stairs, Sheriff Morgan looked around the room. His gaze stopped at the empty bottle of champagne and opened bottle of Kahlua, Irish cream, and Rye still sitting on the counter.
“We had a glass of champagne last night before the talent show,” I quickly explained. “We just forgot to throw the bottle out.”
Sheriff Morgan lifted a brow. “I wasn’t assuming you were celebrating this morning, Holly.”
Ophelia yanked me down in my chair and gave me the teacher look synonymous with ‘keep your mouth shut.’ I nervously picked up a chip and nibbled until Helen finally came back upstairs.
“They’ll be up in a few minutes,” Helen said.
An awkward silence ensued. By the time Margot and Chloe made their way upstairs, I was ready to jump out of my skin.
“Sheriff Morgan, thank you for coming on this horrific day,” Margot stoically said as she wiped a tear from her eye.
Chloe daintily blew her nose into a tissue. “We’re so saddened by Andrew’s death. We still can’t believe our friend is gone.”
Sheriff Morgan said nothing, and his face gave away nothing. “I’d like to split you girls up into pairs. Sometimes it’s easier to talk with a friend beside you.”
That’s so nice of him.
It was decided that Margot and Chloe would go first since they could shed background on Andrew. Then Bitsie and Helen would be called up, with Ophelia and I bringing up the rear.
The four of us silently walked down the stairs and into our bedrooms.
“Okay, what’s the motive behind him splitting us up?” Ophelia asked as we sat down on our beds.
“What do you mean? He said he knew it would be easier for us.”
Ophelia snorted. “That man has an agenda. He isn’t doing anything for us. He’s after something.”
I worried my lip and tried once again to calm my nerves. I was terrified about what the other girls would say to Sheriff Morgan. Especially about how I was probably the last person to spend time with Andrew before he died.
“Stop doing that to your lip,” Ophelia chided softly. “I brought cards. Let’s play a game to get our minds off this.”
While I appreciated her effort at distraction, there was nothing that was going to take my mind off the fact four people I didn’t know could be pointing out evidence that might show why I’d make a good suspect in Andrew’s murder.
Half an hour later, a swollen-eyed Bitsie knocked on the door and informed Ophelia that Sheriff Morgan was ready for us. As Ophelia gathered the cards together, I wiped my palms on my yoga pants and took a few deep breaths. From the way Bitsie looked and sounded, the next few minutes were going to be pure torture.
Sheriff Morgan was sitting at the table, a water bottle and notebook in front of him, when Ophelia and I joined him. He motioned for us to sit. Without a word, he picked up his notebook and began reading silently. I tried not to squirm.
Now I know how my first graders feel when they’re in the hot seat.
“Let me start with this question,” Sheriff Morgan said. “Do you both ski?”
I swallowed so hard, everyone at the table heard me.
“Yes,” Ophelia answered. “I actually ski very well. Holly is more of a novice.”
The sheriff nodded and wrote in his notebook.
“Were one of you girls dating Andrew?” the sheriff asked.
“No!” we both replied at the same time.
“We didn’t even know him,” I said.
“Hmm.” Sheriff Morgan flipped back through his notes. “I have someone stating that you, Holly, was taking private lessons from Andrew, and that you’d been seen flirting outrageously with him in hopes of him asking you out.”
Ophelia huffed and rolled her eyes. “Don’t believe a word that snake Margot says. Did she tell you that after Andrew left us yesterday afternoon to get ready for his ski lesson with Holly that she pretty much told us that if she couldn’t have him then no one would?”
Sheriff Morgan frowned. “No, she did not.” He scribbled in his book.
“Yeah,” Ophelia continued, “Margot and Chloe were the ones that were all over Andrew and flirting with him. Not us.”
“That reminds me,” I said. “I forgot to tell you this last night when you questioned me, but right before we were to perform in the talent show, I saw Margot and Clive, the chateau manager, arguing.”
“Interesting.” He picked up his notebook and wrote. He then paused as if thinking of his next question. I got the feeling Sheriff Morgan was playing slow more than he actually was slow. Like he was trying to trick us. “Since you both ski—and I’m aware you, Holly, are a novice—perhaps you’d be able to recognize the murder weapon if I showed it to you.”
I sucked in a breath. “I really don’t know if I want to see what killed Andrew.”
Sheriff Morgan reached over and patted my hand sympathetically. “I understand this may be difficult, but I really need you to look. I’ve found out from Bitsie and Helen that they really don’t ski, so they never recalled seeing the weapon or even what it’s used for.”
I looked questioningly at Ophelia. “I thought Bitsie said she skis? It was just that yesterday she and Helen wanted to go into town to do some shopping instead of skiing.”
Ophelia looked up at the ceiling as if recalling Bitsie’s words. “I think you’re right.”
“I’ll make note of it,” Sheriff Morgan said as he shuffled around in a stack of pictures.
Had I just implicated Bitsie in the crime? Margot and Chloe were one thing…they’d actually threatened Andrew in front of us. But I don’t want to be responsible for Bitsie being a suspect!
“I’m not saying Bitsie lied,” I said.
Sheriff Morgan smiled. “Duly noted. Now, this might be difficult, but please take a look and tell me if you know what these are and if you’ve ever seen them before.” He placed the picture on the table and I felt myself gag. Clamping a hand over my mouth, I closed my eyes and looked away.
“It’s okay.” I felt Ophelia touch my shoulder. “I can’t believe those are the murder weapons. I mean, of course I know what they are and what they’re used for. I don’t know if Holly would because she doesn’t really ski much.”
I shook my head.
“Can you tell me, Ophelia, what they are and if you’ve ever seen them before?”
I opened my eyes and looked at Ophelia. She picked up the photo, grimaced, and placed it back on the table. “Those are ice axes. A skier would use it on a mountain if he or she has fallen and needs to self-arrest. But I’ve never seen those particular ones before.”
“Neither of you girls own ice axes?” the sheriff asked.
I shook my head.
“I do,” Ophelia said. “But they’re at my apartment in Kansas City. I really didn’t th
ink I’d need them here. I didn’t plan on skiing down anything too difficult—like a double black diamond—because of Holly. I brought a good portion of my own equipment, but I didn’t bring ice axes.”
“And I don’t really own equipment,” I said softly. “I rented mine from the chateau.”
Again Sheriff Morgan remained silent as he wrote in his notebook.
“Let me ask you, Ophelia, as an avid skier, would this be a piece of equipment someone who skies often might use? If you knew this mountain and the dangers it imposed, would you maybe carry it then?”
Ophelia shrugged. “I guess so. I hadn’t planned on skiing alone very much. I was going to let Holly get her lesson in and then I planned on doing the smaller slopes with her. But if I skied here a lot and knew there were places that…”
Ophelia trailed off and looked sharply at Sheriff Morgan. He said nothing but motioned for her to continue.
What had I missed?
“If I were a ski instructor, or maybe I lived around here and knew the mountain well enough, I’d probably carry a pair of ice axes if I felt I needed them.”
I frowned. “Do you think those are Andrew’s ice axes?”
Ophelia sighed. “Yes. Or they might belong to others who ski this mountain regularly.” Ophelia looked pointedly at me then cocked her head.
“Oh! Omigod!” I leaned forward in my seat. “You mean like Margot or Chloe?”
Sheriff Morgan held up his hand. “I didn’t say that. I merely asked if a person who knew the mountain well and knew it had dangerous places, if they’d carry the ice axes.”
Were we bunking with murderers?
Sheriff Morgan flipped through his notes then turned to me. “I think I remember from our conversation last night that you, Holly, stayed out on the slopes until around one or one-thirty, grabbed a sandwich from the lounge in the chateau, and then came back to the condo. You saw or heard no one until around three-thirty. Is that correct?”
“Yes.”
“And you, Ophelia, stayed out and skied the mountain until around three-thirty?”
“Yes,” Ophelia said. “Then I came straight here to the condo and woke Holly up from a nap.”
“I’m going to tell you that when I questioned both Margot and Chloe about whether or not they saw you on the slope skiing, Ophelia, that they said they never saw you once.”
Ophelia rolled her eyes. “Of course they didn’t see me. I’m not exactly someone they’re going to look for. Those two superficial females aren’t going to pay attention to a nobody like me. They’re more worried about their image. They flat out told us that the first night we were all here.”
Sheriff Morgan’s brows shot up at Ophelia’s hot words.
Ophelia shrugged. “What? We all know it’s true. I will tell you this, I happened to see Chloe once without Margot anywhere around. I don’t know what time it was, but Margot wasn’t with Chloe, and Chloe looked angry.”
“Okay.” Sheriff Morgan jotted down those notes.
I had to wonder how in the world he was going to keep everything straight. His notebook had to be a complete wreck.
Sheriff Morgan looked up from his notebook and scrutinized us once again. “Let’s talk a little about science,” Sheriff Morgan said.
“Science?” I asked.
Sheriff Morgan nodded. “For instance, what do you think would happen if you put vegetable oil on wood?”
I chuckled. “Well that’s easy. If you were walking, you’d probably slip and fall.”
I felt Ophelia watching me. I looked at her and shrugged.
She sighed audibly.
“What if the oil was on top of the chimney where Andrew was leaning over? What then?”
“Oh.” Feeling stupid for not picking up on his line of questioning, I said nothing.
“Ladies, I asked what might happen if Andrew was leaning precariously over something that was greased with oil.”
“He’d almost guarantee a fall,” Ophelia said through gritted teeth.
Sheriff Morgan pursed his lips and nodded sagely. “Hmm. I suppose you’re right.”
I suddenly hated Sheriff Morgan and his stupid way of questioning…like he didn’t already know the answers.
“And the fact,” the sheriff continued, “the killer knew they had to use a lot of duct tape to secure not only the ice axes to the side of the chimney, but that the duct tape would have to be enough to hold when the body hit the blades, that takes a little bit of knowledge, wouldn’t you two agree?”
“Where are you going with this?” Ophelia demanded.
Sheriff Morgan shrugged. “I’m not really going anywhere. It just seems to me since the ice axes were able to stay in place before, during, and after the fall, the person that did the killing would probably know a lot about physics, gravity, and motion.”
CHAPTER 9
* * *
“Omigod!” I cried. “Are you thinking because we teach first grade we know how to kill someone? Like what, we took a course in college called Killer Physics 101? Or that our curriculum for first grade somehow incorporates using physics and gravity to kill someone?”
Ophelia burst out laughing.
“It’s not funny,” I said. “He thinks because we teach science to first graders we know how to kill someone!”
Ophelia held up her hand. “I’m not laughing at you, Holly. I’m just laughing at your reaction. I’m assuming Sheriff Morgan asked that question to gauge our reactions…and yours was priceless.”
I bit my lip. “Like maybe I went a little over the top?”
Ophelia chuckled. “Like maybe you just took a huge leap over the edge of the cliff and screamed all the way down.”
Sheriff Morgan’s lips twitched. “Holly, you mentioned the night of the talent show that you saw Margot and Clive Wellington fighting. Did you hear what they were discussing?”
I thought back to the two of them fighting. I could picture it, just not with sound. “No. I’m afraid all I could tell you for sure was body language. And really it was only Clive’s body language that changed between angry, pleading sadness, and angry again. Margot was indifferent for the most part.”
I squirmed when the sheriff continued to stare at me…saying nothing.
“And just so I’m clear, before you came to the Winterdale Chateau and Ski Resort, you two had never met any of the other girls staying in this condo?”
“No,” we both said emphatically.
“Friday night was the first night we’d ever met any of them,” I added.
“When you arrived at the talent show, the fireplace was already out on the platform, is that right?” Sheriff Morgan asked.
“Yes,” Ophelia and I answered.
“So you don’t know who brought out the fireplace?”
“I figured Andrew did,” I said.
Ophelia nodded her head. “Same here.”
“Did all six of you girls know the chimney would be used as a prop?” the sheriff asked.
“Yes,” I said. “Andrew had it out during rehearsal, and he showed us how he’d slide down the chimney halfway and kick his legs out because he thought it would be funny. He said he had good core muscles and could hold himself upside down in the chimney and make it look funny.”
Sheriff Morgan looked over his notes once again. “All right. I think that’s all the questions I have right now.” He closed his notebook. “I know the chateau has nightly activities. If you attend them, please go in pairs, and use common sense. No one goes anywhere alone.”
A shiver of apprehension ran down my spine.
“Don’t worry, Sheriff Morgan,” Ophelia said as she turned to me. “We won’t.”
I nodded my head in promise.
We saw the sheriff to the door then went back to the great room. Everyone else was still downstairs in their bedrooms, so the house was eerily silent. Ophelia and I walked over to the large picture window and watched as skiers made their way down the bunny slope, losing sight of the ones that chose not to turn aro
und and go back down the mountain again…instead, they elected to whiz past the condo toward the chateau.
“It’s still early,” Ophelia said softly. “Do you want to go skiing? I’m not sure anything in town will be open. Not only is it Sunday, but it’s Christmas.”
“Sure. Bunny slope, right?”
Ophelia laughed. “Right.”
We ambled downstairs to change into more appropriate attire. Our footsteps must have alerted the others, because the bedroom doors opened and everyone filed out and waited for us.
“Is the sheriff gone?” Chloe asked.
“Yes,” I said. “He said if we go anywhere, we are to go in pairs. No one goes somewhere alone.”
Helen’s hand flew to her mouth, her eyes as big as saucers.
“What did you all tell the sheriff when he asked for your alibis during yesterday afternoon?” Margot demanded.
“The truth,” Ophelia retorted. “How about you?”
Margot sniffed. “Of course we told the truth. We told him that Chloe and I were on the mountain skiing the whole time yesterday afternoon. There’s no way we could have tampered with the chimney.”
I frowned at Margot’s obvious lie. I could feel Ophelia’s gaze on me, so I turned to her. She gave me a slight shake of her head. I could tell she didn’t want me to contradict what Margot had just said.
“And I told the sheriff that after I dropped Helen off,” Bitsie said, “I went back into town. Luckily I did buy something, so I showed him a receipt that had the timestamp on it.”
“What time was it?” I asked.
“Around three-fifty.”
That’s nearly a two-hour gap from the time you dropped Helen off until you bought something.
Helen cleared her throat before speaking. “And I told the sheriff that I came inside the condo after Bitsie dropped me off.”
And yet I never heard you. Of course, I was drifting in and out, but still.
“What about you two?” Margot demanded. “Where were you?”
“I was skiing the mountain,” Ophelia said. “Don’t you remember seeing me?”
Margot paled and her eyes darted to Chloe’s. “Of course we remember seeing you. We were on the mountain pretty much the whole time.”
Cozy Christmas Murder Page 34