“Nat!” she screamed, inching away from the grotesque fingers.
Nat turned instantly and began slogging his way back up the trail. “I’m coming,” he yelled. “Just stay put.” Imagining her with a broken arm or leg, his mind was in turmoil. How was he going to get her back to the parking lot? “What’s the matter?” he asked, when he found her standing in the middle of the trail, apparently unhurt.
Her answer was to point down.
“Bloody hell!” He kicked off his skis and knelt beside her to brush the snow off the “log.” The man was most definitely dead. And frozen stiff.
Maggie’s voice quivered. “His head’s covered in blood. Do you think he had a fall or something?”
Nat looked all around him then shook his head. “No broken branches, and he’s sort of tucked behind those bushes. Besides, he’s not wearing skis . . . or ski clothes.” He got to his feet. “We’d better get some help.”
“You can ski faster than I can,” Maggie answered. “You go and I’ll wait here.”
He shook his head. “No way. It’s already getting dark.”
“But we can’t just leave him.” She peered back up the way they had come. “There’s bound to be someone else coming down the trail soon.”
“I doubt it. We’re probably the last on the mountain.” Nat thought for a moment. “By the look of him, he’s been dead for quite a while, so another hour won’t make any difference.”
Maggie shivered as the cold wind blew the thickening snow into their faces. “I do hope the police won’t want us to come back up here tonight.”
“One of us will have to come back, I guess,” Nat answered. “You got a hanky or something that we can tie on the bushes to mark the spot?”
“Here, take this,” she said, taking off her red silk scarf and handing it to him.
It seemed an eternity before they reached the parking lot. They piled their skis into Nat’s old Chevy and then drove to the nearest phone booth, which was outside a coffee shop. “They want us to wait back at the parking lot,” Nat said after he had replaced the receiver. “They’re sending someone.” He opened the door of the store. “I’ll get them to refill our Thermos, okay?”
They drove back to the deserted lot and huddled close to the car’s feeble heater while they sipped their tepid coffee and waited. Finally, an RCMP car drew up beside them. Nat reluctantly got out to meet the two officers who emerged.
“You the one found the stiff?”
Nat nodded. “I suppose you want me to go up the trail with you.”
“Naturally. How far is it?” The second officer had opened the trunk of the police car and was hauling out a sled and some blankets. “I’m Sergeant Murray, and this is Constable Jefferies.”
Nat nodded acknowledgment. “Southby,” he said. “The body’s a half mile or so up the trail.”
“Let’s get going then. You get to carry the lantern.”
Nat opened the passenger door of his car. “Will you be okay here on your own, Maggie?”
“I didn’t know you had someone with you.” Jefferies walked over to peer into the car. “You saw the dead man, too?”
“Yes,” Maggie replied miserably. “I found him.” All she could think of was being home in her own house by her own fire.
“Don’t go anywhere,” Jefferies ordered.
Maggie felt like asking where the hell he thought she would go, but she watched in silence as the three of them, Nat leading the way with the lantern, trudged through the snow and disappeared into the entrance to the dark trail.
GWENDOLYN SOUTHIN was born in Essex, England and launched her career after moving to the Sunshine Coast of Canada. She co-founded The Festival of the Written Arts and the region’s writer-in-residence program. She co-edited The Great Canadian Cookbook with Betty Keller and her short stories and articles have appeared in Maturity, Pioneer News and Sparks from the Forge. She lives and writes in Sechelt, British Columbia.
Stay tuned for more adventures in the Margaret Spencer series which currently includes: Death in a Family Way, In the Shadow of Death, Death on a Short Leash, and Death as a Last Resort.
“The flow is smooth, the action well-paced.”
—Quill & Quire
“A good puzzle plot and an engaging character to carry it along.”
—Globe and Mail
“[Margaret] has her way with the reader . . . you want to find out how she’s going to make out as a detective (she seems better at it than the professionals).”
—The Vancouver Sun
“Satisfies throughout. Fascinating story.”
—Sunstream Magazine
“Margaret Spencer is a smart and feisty woman to whom people open up. Original.”
—The Saskatoon Star Phoenix
DISCOVER MORE GREAT MYSTERIES LIKE THE ONES HERE AT OUR WEBSITE, TOUCHWOODEDITIONS.COM
THE PAULA SAVARD MYSTERY SERIES BY SUSAN CALDER
Deadly Fall
THE CASEY HOLLAND MYSTERY SERIES BY DEBRA PURDY KONG
The Opposite of Dark
THE DANUTIA DRANCHUK MYSTERY SERIES BY KAY STEWART
Sitting Lady Sutra
THE HAL BANNATYNE MYSTERY SERIES BY RON CHUDLEY
Act of Evil
Act of Justice
THE LULU MALONE MYSTERY SERIES BY LINDA KUPECEK
Deadly Dues
THE ISLAND INVESTIGATIONS INTERNATIONAL MYSTERY SERIES BY SANDY FRANCES DUNCAN AND GEORGE SZANTO
Never Sleep with a Suspect on Gabriola Island
Always Kiss the Corpse on Whidbey Island
Never Hug a Mugger on Quadra Island
THE MARGARET SPENCER MYSTERY SERIES BY GWENDOLYN SOUTHIN
Death in a Family Way
In the Shadow of Death
Death on a Short Leash
Death as a Last Resort
THE SILAS SEAWEED MYSTERY SERIES BY STANLEY EVANS
Seaweed on the Street
Seaweed on Ice
Seaweed Under Water
Seaweed on the Rocks
Seaweed in the Soup
Copyright © 2008 Gwendolyn Southin
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, audio recording or otherwise—without the written permission of the publisher or, in the case of photocopying, a licence from Access Copyright, Toronto, Canada.
Originally published by TouchWood Editions Ltd. in 2008
with ISBN 978-1-894898-70-6.
This electronic edition was released in 2011.
e-pub ISBN: 978-1-926741-55-0
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Proofread by Christine Savage
Cover image and design by Tobyn Manthorpe
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