Spring into Murder (Alaska Cozy Mystery Book 5)

by Wendy Meadows

  “Yep,” Milton said in a disgusted voice, “that bat waited until the muscle was out of town, that's for sure.”

  Sarah stared into Chet's eyes. The man was speaking the truth. “Guys, where did your father keep his hunting Subaru?”

  “In his garage,” Milton stated.

  “And you checked to make sure his Subaru was missing, right?”

  Chet nodded his head. “I checked when we got back from the cruise.”

  “Did you check his bedroom?”

  “For what, doll face?” Milton asked.

  “Oh, clothes missing, toothbrush and deodorant gone. You know, items that would indicate he had packed for a trip,” Sarah explained.

  “Well,” Milton said and sipped on his coffee, “I took a look in Pop's room. Everything seemed okay.” Milton lowered the coffee mug from his face. “But Pop lives in a mansion, hot stuff. It takes me days to get from the front door to the kitchen. And don't get me started on the size of Pop's bedroom. Oh boy.”

  “Daddy has a really big master suite with a private bathroom,” Chet explained. “Charlene said it didn’t matter if he was missing, I still shouldn’t go in there. He was real private about his room. But I did see his toothbrush and deodorant in the bathroom.”

  “Hey, wait a minute,” Milton interrupted. “And I saw the cup he soaked his false teeth in. Would he have left without that?”

  Chet sipped on his coffee. “Also, Daddy's closet had a little row of empty clothes hangers and his green camouflage duffel bag was gone.”

  “Good eye,” Sarah complimented Chet, who blushed a little.

  “It’s hard to know for sure, but it seems like someone got messy and left behind some crumbs,” Sarah told Chet. She leaned forward and picked up a coffee mug. As she did, Amanda reappeared, carrying a platter heaped with hot, fresh cinnamon buns. She handed everyone a plate and then sat down next to Milton. “Better?” Sarah asked.

  Amanda nodded her head. “Better,” she promised.

  Chet took a bite of his cinnamon bun. “Good,” he said.

  Milton followed after Chet. “Hey, not bad,” he complimented Amanda. “Your husband is a lucky guy to have a great chef like you in the kitchen.”

  “Well, my husband is currently driving me crazy with a certain bell,” Amanda explained, as she retrieved the last mug of coffee. “My husband has a broken leg because he refused to listen to his wife when she begged him not to go up onto the roof of our cabin and knock snow off.”

  “Ouch,” Milton said and continued to work on his cinnamon roll.

  Chet nodded his head slowly. “I broke my leg when I was seventeen years old. It hurt.”

  “I bet it did, love.” Amanda couldn't help but smile. Chet had such a flat demeanor, but she was beginning to understand that he was very sympathetic.

  Sarah took a bite of her cinnamon roll and listened to the rain fall outside. In her mind's eye, she wondered if Natalie and Charlene were lurking somewhere outside in the shadows. “Excuse me, please,” she said and stood up. “I need to make a quick call.”

  Sarah put down her coffee and plate and hurried into the kitchen, grabbed the phone, and called the lodge where Natalie and Charlene were staying. “Yes, this is Sarah Garland. I'm acting detective while Detective Spencer is away.”

  A very bored young lady yawned into the phone as if she had just moments ago put down her Nancy Drew novel. “Sure, I know who you are. Everyone in town knows who you are.”

  “Oh,” Sarah said, wondering if that was a compliment or insult. “I need to know if two of your guests are currently at the lodge.”

  “You mean the big lady and the skinny lady from California?”

  “Uh, yes,” Sarah said and fought back a grin. The young lady pronounced ‘California’ like it was in a foreign language.

  “Nope. They left about an hour ago, about ten minutes apart. And good riddance. My parents have owned this lodge since I was born and we have never had any trouble with a guest until today,” the young lady complained.

  “I'm sorry.”

  “So am I,” the young lady said gloomily. “Anything else I can do for you?”

  “No, that's it. Thank you.” Sarah hung up the phone and looked around the kitchen. “An hour ago,” she whispered. “Now, where did those two get off to?” she wondered.

  Amanda walked into the kitchen. “What's going on, Los Angeles? You looked worried.”

  “Natalie Hopski and Charlene Nelton left the lodge about an hour ago, according to the front desk clerk.”

  “You mean Shelly Brights?” Amanda said. “I know her. The only girl in town who doesn't know that smiling is a good thing. And what a shame, too. Shelly is a pretty girl, but her depressed attitude makes people run the other way.”

  “She didn't sound very happy when I spoke to her, either,” Sarah agreed and walked over to the back door, looking out at the rain. She checked that the deadbolt was secure. “I'm sure Natalie Hopski and Charlene Nelton doesn't know where I live, so they can’t be headed here. But that leaves me to wonder where those two went off to?”

  “Maybe they went to meet the killer?”

  Sarah went back to the phone and called Andrew. “Natalie Hopski and Charlene Nelton left the lodge. Do you have a man following them?”

  Andrew sounded distracted. “Uh...no,” he apologized. “Old Man Trapp swerved to hit a deer out on Ice Ridge Road and slammed his truck into a power pole. His truck caught fire.” Sarah could hear Andrew scratching his leg even through the phone. “I’m sorry…I'm dealing with a vehicle fire and a power outage, Sarah. I had to send my guys out to the scene of the accident.”

  “When did this happen?” Sarah asked.

  “I called the patrol away from the lodge about an hour ago,” Andrew told Sarah.

  “Okay, Andrew, I understand. You did the right thing. Is Mr. Trapp okay?”

  “He's bruised a little but none the worse for wear, I guess,” Andrew replied. “The roads are slippery with the rain and it's dark. I can't really jump down the poor man's throat.”

  “No, you can't,” Sarah answered, but she wasn’t thinking of Mr. Trapp.

  “Say, is everything okay?” Andrew asked Sarah in a worried voice.

  “Natalie Hopski and Charlene Nelton left the lodge about an hour ago,” Sarah explained. “About the same time you pulled the patrol away to go handle Mr. Trapp’s accident.”

  “That's not good, is it?” Andrew asked.

  “Not really. But you can't arrest two people for leaving the lodge, either.” Sarah bit down on her lip. “Chet and Milton Hopski are still at my cabin with me and Amanda. We're having a question and answer session. I'll fill you in on the details tomorrow morning.”

  “Do I still need to pick you up at Amanda's cabin in the morning?”

  “We'll meet you at the police station instead,” Sarah told Andrew and hung up. “Well,” she told Amanda, “two snakes are loose in the rain and we don't know where they're at.” Sarah looked toward the living room. “Our best option is to continue asking questions while we can.”

  Amanda looked at the back door. She listened to the rain falling outside. “And hope no one else shows up.”

  “Exactly,” replied Sarah grimly. She headed back into the living room with a false smile on to hide the bad feeling that had settled in her gut like a brick.

  Chapter 5

  Overcast Spring

  Sarah glanced up at a low, overcast sky. The rain had stopped, leaving behind a gloomy, miserable dampness that chilled her to the bone. “Rain, rain, go away,” she whispered and kicked at a rock with one rain boot. The Snow Bear Trail was soaked from the rain and the lush spring landscape showed no signs of drying up anytime soon. Rain boots and a dark gray rain jacket protected her from the damp but caused a heavy feeling to soak her heart. “Is this the place?” she asked Andrew as she surveyed the landscape. Andrew had driven her the several miles up the trail to the place closest to where the body had been found.

  Andrew
leaned back against his green truck and pointed off into the distance. Bright yellow police tape was tied to four large, powerful trees, forming a solid square perimeter around where Mr. Hopski's body had been found. “That's the place.”

  Amanda stood next to Sarah and shivered. She shoved her hands down into the pockets of her bright pink rain coat and looked around. “We're really far out,” she said in a worried voice. “You never really realize how big Alaska is until you're out here. It's like a person could just vanish and never be seen again...like the land could just swallow a person whole.”

  “Yep,” Andrew agreed and yawned. He was wearing a bright orange vest over a brown wool shirt and a pair of blue jeans instead of his uniform. His face was sleepy and his hair was messy. Evidently the emergency with Mr. Trapp’s truck and the power lines had taken most of the night to clear away and Andrew had barely dragged himself out of bed to meet them at the police station that morning. “I'm not sure what we're going to find out here, Sarah.”

  Sarah looked around. Anyone could be watching her. And even though she had her gun and Andrew was holding his rifle, she still felt unsafe. “We won't know until we look,” she said and began walking toward the taped-off area. Andrew looked at Amanda and nodded toward Sarah. Amanda nodded back and hurried to follow her best friend. Andrew took a quick look around and got moving.

  Sarah walked through knee-high grass and stopped when she came to the edge of a thick line of trees. Beyond the woods, she heard the sound of a river flowing and immediately thought of Peter. Surely the river was full of delicious trout that would excite her old partner to no end. “Maybe someday, Pete,” she whispered and looked over her shoulder at Amanda. “Are you okay, June Bug?”

  “Sleepy, cranky, damp and a bit chilly, but okay,” Amanda told Sarah with a grin. “I wish we hadn’t stayed up so late last night asking a million and one questions.” Amanda yawned. “I think I got three hours of sleep after I drove home.”

  “Too much bell?” Sarah asked.

  Amanda nodded her head. “That bloody bell.”

  “Sorry,” Sarah winced.

  Amanda shrugged her shoulders. “Love is grand in the spring...except when a bloody bell is involved.”

  Sarah patted Amanda on her shoulder. “Hang tough,” she said and focused on the police tape. “Andrew, where exactly was the body...I mean, Mr. Hopski found?”

  Andrew walked up to Sarah, studied the overcast sky, and then pointed at a large tree. “Over there near that tree,” he said and lifted the police tape. “Ladies first.”

  Sarah and Amanda ducked under the yellow crime scene tape and walked over to the tree. Sarah flipped on the detective switch in her mind and focused only on the scene before her eyes. She methodically examined the area where Mr. Hopski's body was found, and the positions of his belongings, which had been bagged up as evidence but were still signaled with numbered markers on the ground. “Andrew, which way was Mr. Hopski's head facing when you found him?”

  Andrew rubbed at his eyes a little, thinking back. “Let's see,” he said and knelt down, “when I arrived, the old man was laying this way,” he said and sketched an outline on the wet ground with his right finger, “so his head would have been facing...east...toward the trail.”

  Sarah looked toward the trail. “So, assuming he wasn’t moved, if he fell like that then Mr. Hopski was walking toward the trail and not away from it.”

  Andrew stood up. “Yeah, that makes sense,” he said, squinting as if forcing his mind to wake up.

  Amanda watched Sarah make small loops around the taped off area. “If Mr. Hopski was facing east, he was traveling from the west,” she said, then stopped pacing and looked into the thick wilderness. “Andrew, I have a compass in my pocket. I want to walk a few miles west, okay?”

  Andrew nodded his head. “I thought as much,” he said. “Stay here.” Andrew jogged back to his truck and returned with two cans of bright orange spray paint. “Here,” he said and handed Sarah a can of the spray paint, “we'll mark our path.”

  “Good thinking,” Sarah told Andrew as he shook the can of spray paint to mix it. “June Bug, are you up for a hike?”

  “Sure, why not,” Amanda forced a smile to her face.

  Sarah grew silent and listened to the sound of the river in the silence of the deep woods. Andrew caught notice of her face. “That's the Trout River that runs out toward the coast,” he explained.

  “Oh, I know what river it is,” Sarah told Andrew in a polite tone, “I was just wondering if Mr. Hopski used the river as a road? I'm wondering if he was familiar with this area, if he ever hunted here before.” Sarah shook her head. “No sense in wondering over questions I can't answer right now. Andrew, lead the way.”

  Andrew hesitated. “Listen, ladies, there's a lot of mean bears roaming around in these woods. My rifle can rip a bear in half, but that's not to say we can walk around like we're on a picnic,” he said in a stern tone. “Sarah, take your gun out and keep it at the ready. Amanda, stay between me and Sarah at all times. I'll lead and Sarah will cover the rear. If you see or hear anything let me know. I'm a good shot, but I don't have eyes in the back of my head.”

  “You think...we might run into a bear?” Amanda asked worriedly.

  Andrew couldn't say. “Maybe. There's always a chance. Grizzly bears live mostly up in the high country, but we could run into a black bear. Don't really matter what kind of bear we might run into, either. All bears are dangerous. Got it?”

  “Got it,” Amanda promised.

  “Got it,” Sarah assured Andrew, grateful that Andrew was a skilled outdoorsman. Sure, maybe the guy wasn't the smoothest cop in the world, but he was an Alaskan man through and through, and he knew his stuff when it came to the wild.

  Andrew hesitated again. He looked into the woods. “Sarah, one more thing. If you don't live in Alaska and you come up here hunting bears, you're required to have a licensed guide with you in the field. And you must stop and pick up some big game locking-tags. Now, if you're hunting a black bear, a guide isn't required. I made a few calls last night and talked to a friend at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and had him run some checks on Mr. Hopski. We came up empty-handed. Mr. Hopski had never registered a kill on a bear in Alaska, picked up any locking-tags, nothing. So if he was up here hunting bears like his kids said, it could only have been for black bears.”

  “And you're just telling us this now?” Amanda fussed.

  Andrew shrugged his shoulders. “I was going to show you the report when we got back to my office,” Andrew explained. “I've had four hours sleep, ladies. Sorry if my mind isn't catching up to my mouth yet.”

  “No, sorry I fussed,” Amanda apologized. “I guess we're all a bit cranky.” Amanda looked at Sarah. Only Sarah seemed fully awake. “What are you thinking Los Angeles?”

  Sarah stared off into the woods. “Could be Mr. Hopski hunted illegally,” she suggested. “Money does buy people hidden, undeserved privileges. Or it could be the man never came here to hunt to begin with.”

  “What do you mean?” Andrew asked.

  “Maybe Mr. Hopski came to Alaska to rest,” Sarah suggested. “From what I understand, he liked hunting in Africa. And anyway, why would a man his age come to Alaska during the winter months? It’s not just cold, but the bears would be in hibernation. It doesn't make sense.”

  “I was wondering that myself,” Andrew told Sarah. “But Mr. Hopski was an old man, and from what I understand, he was kinda eccentric, too. I figured he might have been new to the game of hunting bear and didn't understand the proper season to hunt in. I hate jumping to conclusions, you know, so I didn’t say anything initially. It ain't my place to judge a man.”

  “But it is your place to ask logical questions,” Sarah reminded Andrew. “You're a cop, and it’s your duty to kick over every stone.”

  Andrew kicked at the ground. “I know that Sarah, but I've never been the pushy type. Nagging away at people is hard for me. I know I'm a cop, but sometimes my p
oliteness gets in the way.”

  Sarah wasn't in the mood to coddle a cop who was licking his wounds. “Time to stop being polite,” she said in a professional tone. “Today we're cops and nothing else. All of us,” Sarah said and pointed at Amanda for emphasis. “A man was murdered and we're out to find out why and who did it. Is everybody on board?”

  “You bet,” Andrew said and checked his rifle.

  “Yes, love, I'm on board,” Amanda promised. “Andrew, lead the way.”

  Andrew nodded his head and stepped into the woods. Amanda followed. Sarah took up the rear. “We'll move slow,” Andrew called back over his shoulder. He walked a few yards, stopped, and marked a large tree trunk with the spray paint.

  Sarah kept her eyes peeled, searching every tree, every fallen log, every sound, with patient skill. Thirty minutes later, she was completely engulfed in the woods, miles from the groomed trail, not to mention miles away from any road, house, building or human being other than Amanda and Andrew. The depth of the woods sent a solemn, lonely feeling into Sarah’s heart that no words could explain. Instead of speaking, she looked at the river that surged out of a gap in the trees next to where they stood. The river was filled with wild rapids, racing over and past large rocks on an urgent mission that no man could understand. The river was untamed, free, and deadly. “Beautiful,” Sarah said, standing on a low cliff and staring down at the river.

  “The river is wild out here,” Andrew agreed, “but calmer more toward town. I wouldn't recommend going for a swim in those waters.”

  Amanda stared down at the raging waters. The chilling image of people attempting to raft down this wild river came into her mind. She saw a group of people wearing red and blue helmets and life vests tossed headlong into the river and carried into a watery abyss under the churning surface. A shiver walked down her spine. As much as she loved Alaska, the dangerous rapids scared her. That's when she wondered if dangerous rapids scared Mr. Hopski, too.

  “Hey,” Amanda said, signaling the other two to stop. “I just noticed there's no place to cross over to the other side. Mr. Hopski would had to have been on this side of the river unless he was the world's greatest swimmer. Even if he was, I doubt he would chance a swim in freezing waters at his age.”