The Travelling Detective: Boxed Set

by Joan Donaldson-Yarmey

  "There are a lot of them on this street," Elizabeth said.

  "And they are full up all winter and most of the summer."

  Although she had solved other mysteries, Elizabeth had initially been reluctant to get involved in each of them. Since she was already talking with these people it wouldn’t hurt to learn more about this one. She was unsure, however, how to broach the subject about the old rumour.

  "Well, I guess we can go," a man said. "Doesn’t look like they will be doing anything more today."

  "Yeah," another man agreed. "They won’t find any bones until they start to remove all that rubble."

  "Bones?" Elizabeth asked, giving a mental sigh of relief. It’s nice when people cooperate.

  "Haven’t you heard?" the woman asked.

  Elizabeth shook her head wondering if, by not actually saying the word "No," she was still telling a little white lie. "My friend and I just arrived from Edmonton. We’re staying in that the SnowBound Bed & Breakfast. My name is Elizabeth Oliver."

  "I’m Alison and this is my husband Rick. We live in that house across the road." She pointed to a gray, two storey place with a multi-coloured stone parking area.

  "So, what was this about bones?" Elizabeth asked.

  "Back in the 1980s a woman who lived in this house disappeared and has never been seen since," Alison said.

  "Right," Rick agreed. He had gray brown hair and was dressed in shorts and a golf shirt. The Maui Jim sunglasses he was wearing hid the colour of his eyes. "She was living with her daughter and from what we’ve heard she was hard to get along with and they fought all the time. Everyone thought that the daughter had killed her."

  "What did the daughter say?" Chevy had grown tired of the bush and wanted to go into the yard. Elizabeth held firm onto his leash causing him to turn and look at her.

  "She denied it, of course." Alison said.

  "Were the police notified?"

  "Yes, but they had nothing to go on. The daughter said the mother had left with her boyfriend."

  Elizabeth was disappointed that she hadn’t learned anything new. "Did you know either the mother or daughter?"

  "No, we just moved here three months ago. But our neighbour, Cynthia, did and she’s the one who told us the story."

  Chevy pulled on his leash. Elizabeth knew he was anxious to begin exploring his new surroundings. She looked at the pile of splintered wood. The backhoe operator hadn’t been too careful at knocking the place down. Obviously, he and the present owners didn’t believe the story.

  For a little dog, Chevy had a lot of pulling power. Elizabeth’s arm stretched out and her upper body leaned forward. "I’d better go," she said. "He has a one track mind when he’s on his walk and that doesn’t include me stopping and talking."

  She walked to where Ambassador Crescent intersected with Fitzsimmons Road South and crossed it. She passed three houses on the left and reached some large boulders across the road. Ahead was a berm with a wire fence at the top. The gate in the fence was open. Elizabeth climbed the berm and was thrilled to see the rushing waters of Fitzsimmons Creek. She let Chevy off his leash and he headed to the nearest fence post where he lifted his leg. What looked like an old road ran alongside the river and she began walking down it. Chevy, his nose to the ground, zipped from rock to rock.

  * * *

  I thought the story was finished for today but the images and flashes of light begin again. I haven’t replaced my computer in its case so I leave my packing and return to the keyboard. It’s Gwin’s story this time.

  She’d had a career as a space explorer on Terrene and she’d been part of a three-person team that had gone in search of a suitable planet to colonize with the prisoners of Terrene. They’d found three which had the right atmosphere to support a colony. On the last planet, Gwin had done some exploring on her own and had seen some inhabitants who stood on two legs and wore animal skins. Their interaction with each other had been gentle and they seemed content with their lives. The first thing that entered her mind was, what would the arrival of murderers and cigarette pushers from her planet do to those people?

  At the meeting of the Global Alliance the other members of the team had stated that in their opinion the last planet was the best. Gwin hadn’t told anyone else about her sightings but she’d read a statement at the meeting citing reasons for why she thought the first planet they had visited would be better. She’d been invited back to present her evidence. However, other people had had their own lucrative plans that involved the settling of the last planet, and to stop her from influencing the decision they had framed her for murder. Found guilty, she was sent to the Orbital Prisons. Her ship was one of three that were being sent to establish a settlement on the new planet.

  Also, she’d been engaged to Mikk.

  * * *

  When they arrived at the planet the ships had landed near a large clearing by a river and Gwin recognized the site immediately. She and her co-explorers had stayed here for three days during their exploration.

  It was deemed that all prisoners would sleep and be fed on the spaceships until the dormitories, warehouses, and kitchens were built. Lots were laid out and decisions made as to where each building would go. However, the prisoners had been raised in the Megalopolis. They had no idea what to do with the equipment and tools sent and few had any willingness to learn. The project supervisors were equally in the dark. They had a rudimentary understanding of what the tools were for but no experience in using them.

  However, some of the convicts realized that their existence depended on setting up the colony. Eventually, the sides of the dorms and warehouses were completed. To speed up construction canvas was stretched overhead for a makeshift roof. The prisoners were moved into the dorms and the supplies stacked in the warehouses. Pens were erected for the animals that had been brought. Ground was dug up with the tools that had been sent and seeds planted.

  When this was done two of the space ships were readied to fly home.

  Gwin didn't consider herself a convict. She hadn’t committed a crime as the others had. So she didn’t feel the need to help with the building of the colony. Instead she set about trying to find a way to get off the planet and back to Terrene to clear her name. She watched for a favourable time to sneak aboard one of the ships before it took off. But she wasn’t the only one with that idea. It seemed that most of the prisoners wanted off the planet.

  Guards with their weapons ready were stationed at the ships and five prisoners were shot when they attempted to climb aboard during the night. No one made it on the ships before takeoff.

  One space craft was left. It housed the police and guards until their barracks were built and was also there to travel to the nearest supply planet in an emergency. Since she knew how to fly it, Gwin waited for an opportunity to board. But it was heavily guarded so she had to bide her time, watching for any opening in their routine that could be to her advantage.

  Leaving the planet wasn’t the only thing that occupied Gwin’s mind. When she could, Gwin snuck away to look for any planet people in this area.

  "Where are you going, Gwin?" Sari, another prisoner, asked one day when Gwin was heading into the nearby bush.

  Damn. She’d tried to disappear quietly into the trees each time she went and so far had been successful.

  "I see you have some food," Sari continued. "Are you setting up a cache somewhere?"

  "No, actually, I’m going for a walk. Do you want to come?"

  Sari had been one of the women in her cell on the voyage over. They had fought for the first few days then had reached a mutual agreement to leave each other alone. Gwin knew that if she tried to hide anything, Sari would be the first to begin digging into what she was doing.

  "No," Sari shook her head.

  As Gwin headed through the bush she pretended to be interested in the flowers she saw. At the same time she kept an eye out for Sari. She’d been curious enough to ask and Gwin didn’t trust her to just walk away. So, instead of taking
her usual route, Gwin wound her way through the trees, making a show of eating the food as she went. Then she hurried back to the settlement.

  The next day she took a roundabout way along the river to go into the bush. When she was sure that no one had seen her she crossed a large meadow into more trees. Here, on a previous search, she’d found a well-worn path. She wasn’t sure if it was from animals or the inhabitants. She’d already checked through the trees to see if there was a camp or a sign of habitation and hadn't found any.

  She’d decided to extend her search towards some hills in the distance. Maybe they lived in a valley or a cave. She was so intent in scrutinizing the trees and open areas that she wasn’t prepared when one of the inhabitants stepped out in front of her on the edge of a clump of bush.

  Gwin stopped cold, staring at him. Her heart beat faster. After all the rehearsing she’d done for this moment she couldn't think of anything to do. So far, she’d assumed that any of them she met would be friendly, but now looking at what she supposed was the male of the species she realized just how stupid that thought had been.

  He stood on two legs and had two arms. He was taller than she was and very sturdily built. He had long shaggy hair on his head and shorter hair on his chest, arms, and legs. He wore an animal skin around his waist and it hung half way to his knees. He carried a tool with a long handle and what looked like a pointed end made of rock. He had two blue eyes, a nose, two ears, and a mouth. He was carrying a small dead animal.

  He was exactly like the ones she had seen on another part of the planet during the exploratory visit.

  Gwin calmed enough to smile at him and hold her hand with the food in it towards him. He looked at it then back at her. Thinking he might not know what it was, she took some and put it in her mouth. She chewed and swallowed it, then offered him the rest. He made no move to take it.

  What did she do now?

  Suddenly another man stepped out of the trees. Behind him were a woman and child. The second man was much the same as the first while the woman was shorter and her skins covered her from shoulder to knee. The hair on her head was just as shaggy but she didn't have as much body hair. The child was small with only hair on his or her head.

  They stared at Gwin. None of them made a sound nor moved their hands in any type of greeting. They turned and went back into the bush. The first man waited a few moments before taking off after them.

  It looked like they were on a path and Gwin decided to follow it. She'd just started into the trees when the first man stopped and turned back. He shook his hand with the tool in it at her. She stopped. It looked as if he was warning her not to continue.

  She hesitated then smiled and waved to the man before retreating. She would try again in a few days. That may give them time to get curious about her and maybe be friendlier.

  * * *

  Unfortunately, these episodes come at their whim not mine. I quickly finish packing then grab my suitcase and laptop and head to my car.

  I didn’t enrol in the retreat for the instruction on how to write science fiction and fantasy. I enrolled for the one-on-one session with the instructor. I’ve already e-mailed her the first few chapters so she can read them before our meeting. That way she will be able to give me some ideas on how to pull this together. I’ve already decided that I’m not going to tell anyone where this is coming from and about the images and lights. They might think I’m crazy.

  Chapter 3

  "I saw you talking to the people in front of the demolished house," Sally said with a grin when Elizabeth and Chevy returned to the room. "Did you learn anything more about the possible body?"

  Elizabeth shook her head. "They told the same story as Beverly. The only new thing I learned is that the person who lives next door to them knew the woman who disappeared."

  "Well, while you were gone I got directions to the nearest grocery store from Beverly and I made a list. Have you phoned your dad and Terry and Sherry yet?"

  Elizabeth took out her cell phone. "I’ll do that now." She dialled the numbers for her younger twin siblings and left messages on their machines then called her dad’s number. Her mother had died a few years ago from cancer and she and Sally had moved into his basement suite to keep him company. When he answered the phone she told him they had arrived okay.

  "Did you stop in and see your Grandmother on your way through Vancouver?" Phil asked.

  Her maternal grandmother lived in a condo on False Creek near Granville Island. When the final arrangements had been made for the trip, Elizabeth had called her to let her know she was coming to Whistler. She’d agreed to contact her when she arrived so they could get together.

  "No," Elizabeth said. "Sally wanted to get here and set up. But I called her and I’m going to see her next weekend."

  "Good."

  Her last phone call was to Jared, the man she had met and fallen in love with last year. He was in a wheelchair due to an accident and because of that had trouble with his bowels. He’d already had one operation for an obstruction two years ago and had had a colonoscopy three weeks ago. The doctors had found precancerous polyps and were going to remove part of his large intestine tomorrow.

  She’d been willing to cancel her trip to be with him for his operation but he’d insisted she go. He understood how important her writing career was to her. "Besides," he’d said. "I’ll be spending my convalescence at Paul’s. We’re still adjusting to our new family dynamics."

  Elizabeth had nodded. Last year, at Jared’s request, she’d helped him discover who had murdered his mother but in the process they had found out that Paul, the man who had raised him and whom he called Dad, was not his biological father. She was glad that he was coming to terms with that because the knowledge had destroyed the family concept he’d thought he’d belonged to.

  In the grocery store, Elizabeth and Sally pushed the cart up and down the aisles not sure what to purchase. They’d be having breakfast at the bed and breakfast and Sally’s lunches were included in her package. They didn’t know how their schedules would work for supper so they’d decided to wait until each evening arrived. Either they would fend for themselves, or they would buy something to cook in their kitchen, or they’d go out.

  So, really Elizabeth just needed something for her lunch. She stocked up on sandwich meat, bread, butter, and mustard and grabbed a carton of Pepsi. She didn’t drink coffee, getting her caffeine jolt from the pop. Sally added vegetables and fruit for her snacks, and juice containers. They also threw in a pizza for their supper and some crackers, cheeses, and salsa.

  When they’d unpacked the groceries, Elizabeth went to her bedroom to set out her research equipment. Besides her laptop and tape recorder she also had her digital camera with its four rechargeable batteries, charger, and extra memory cards for pictures. She plugged in the charger to made sure the batteries were topped up for tomorrow. As a precaution in case she took a lot of pictures she carried regular batteries as backup.

  She had begun planning her research for Whistler by looking up the town’s web site on the Internet. Then she used Google Map to see all the streets. Since she could only see small sections of the town at a time, she’d bought a Whistler map so she could lay the whole town out at once and see how the streets interconnected. She wasn’t sure if she was going to begin the article with the reader arriving in the town or if she was going to start at the Whistler village and spread out from there. She would have to gather her information first and see which worked best.

  * * *

  After a shower and a quick early morning walk with Chevy, Elizabeth joined Sally and they headed downstairs to the dining room for breakfast. She liked staying at bed and breakfasts while doing her research because the owners were always friendly and usually gave her information for her article.

  In the dining room there were three round tables that each accommodated four and one that sat two people. They all had white crocheted tablecloths over a multi-coloured underlay. The chairs had cushions to match the u
nderlay. There was a couple at the smaller table so Elizabeth and Sally chose one of the larger ones. The plates, cutlery, and cups were already in place. On the table was a candle burning in a holder.

  While they waited Elizabeth looked around the room. The Whistler Question and the Vancouver Sun newspapers were on a small table by the hall entrance. Beside the table was a yellow sideboard with a coffeepot, kettle, teapot and various teas, a pitcher half full of orange juice and matching glasses, a vase with a single artificial rose, a bowl of mints, and two burning candles. On the wall above it hung four Anne of Green Gables collector plates.

  The living room consisted of a couch, a loveseat, and two chairs arranged in front of a fireplace. On the mantle of the fireplace were four old-style oil lamps. Along one wall were three cabinets with shelves full of books, and a roll top writing desk. Floor length windows with sheer drapes made up the opposite wall. Just about all the space on the other three walls was covered with photographs or paintings or needlework.

  The guest kitchen had an apartment sized fridge and stove, and a glassed-front upper cupboard full of cups, glasses, and dishes. On the counter was a microwave, toaster oven, paper towels, and various other utensils. The bottom cupboards were closed but Elizabeth imagined they held pots and pans for cooking. She doubted that she and Sally would be using them very much.

  A man in his early forties and then a woman in her mid-thirties came down the stairs. They each chose to sit by themselves at the other tables.

  Beverly entered the room with two, three-tiered trays. On the top tier were grapes and strawberries, the second one contained bran and fruit muffins, and the third held butter and various jams. She set one each on the two other occupied tables and headed back down the hall. She returned with two more.