"You have to watch her. Rumour has it that she steals ideas from her students."
"She does?" This was important. "Then how come she’s allowed to teach?"
"Well, it’s just a rumour and nothing has been proved since she hasn’t had anything published for years. Many students like her, giving her top marks on the evaluation papers that are passed out at the end of the retreat. Plus, she has helped some get published. Me included.”
"How did Kat Mac treat Sylvia during your course?"
"Do you want to tell me why you are asking about Sylvia again?"
Sally hesitated then explained everything to Michael. "Elizabeth and I are not sure what we are looking for but we feel we have to carry on what Bonnie asked us to do. So will you help us?"
"Okay," Michael agreed. "But I don’t remember Sylvia being treated any different from any other student."
"Did she discuss her manuscript with you?" Maybe he knew where it was.
Michael shook his head. "I asked her once and she said she was working on one but didn’t want to talk about it until she had it just right. Why do you ask?"
"Her aunt can’t find it anywhere. Do you think she gave it to Kat Mac or to a publisher who was here?"
"I really don’t know."
Sally tried a different subject. "When Bonnie talked with you last week did she ask you anything about a man Sylvia had met?"
"Yes and she sure caught me off guard when she asked if Sylvia and I had dated."
"And did you?"
"No," Michael looked shocked. "I barely knew her."
"What did Bonnie do when you said that?"
"She looked disappointed, then asked me if I was sure. I said of course I was sure."
"Was there anyone who didn’t get along with Sylvia, someone who may have had an argument with her?"
"Not that I recall," Michael said thoughtfully. Then he stopped. "Bonnie did say something odd the day before she died."
"What was that?" Sally asked eagerly.
"We were talking and she suddenly brightened and said something like, ‘Now I remember.’"
"Now I remember," Sally repeated. "Do you know what she remembered? Did it have something to do with Sylvia?"
"I don’t know. She just smiled and said goodbye."
Sally had trouble concentrating on the lecture. Her mind kept going over the conversation with Michael, especially the last part. What was it that Bonnie had remembered? Did the memory have something to do with her death?
At the end of class Sally waited until everyone had left the room then went up to Kat Mac.
"May I speak with you?" she asked, leaning against the table across from her desk.
"Sure." Kat Mac put down her pen and looked up.
"First, I’d like to congratulate you on your upcoming book. I read about it on the Internet."
"Thank you. I’m pleased with it."
"I’ve been talking with Michael Wolf who was part of your class two years ago. He said you were instrumental in getting his book published."
Kat Mac shook her head. "I can’t take credit for that. He had a good idea and the publisher was receptive to it. It’s that old publishing mantra: right day, right idea, right publisher. And speaking of manuscripts, have you thought about discussing your work with me. I still have Thursday afternoon open."
So much had happened since she arrived at the retreat that Sally hadn’t thought about her manuscript. She could understand how Elizabeth got wrapped up in a mystery and had to fight to do her research.
"I’m really not ready for that yet," Sally said. "but I would like to ask you if Bonnie talked to you about her cousin, Sylvia, last week?"
"And why would you like to ask me that?" Kat Mac cocked her head to one side.
Geeze, what was with everyone? Why couldn’t they just answer her questions so she could get on with finding out about what happened to Bonnie and Sylvia? Where were the blabbers, the ones who readily answered and even gave more information than asked for?
"Bonnie thought her cousin had been murdered and had asked my friend and me to help her prove it."
"Why would she ask you that?"
Sally sighed inwardly. Should she tell her or just leave? She hated to be telling so many people what she and Elizabeth were doing and especially not Kat Mac with what she had learned about her this morning. But there was nothing else she could do. It didn’t look like Kat Mac was going to volunteer anything.
So for the second time that day Sally explained about her and Elizabeth’s quest.
"And what do you want to know from me?" Kat Mac asked at the end of Sally‘s speech.
"What did Bonnie speak with you about last week?"
"She wanted to know what I could tell her about Sylvia. Honestly, I can’t remember much about her. I’ve had lots of students over the years plus it’s been two years since Sylvia was here."
"But wouldn’t her death stick out in your mind."
"Oh, yes, the death does but the person doesn’t."
"Did Sylvia take much part in class, had she booked a time to discuss her manuscript with you?"
"I really don’t recall."
"Sylvia’s aunt hasn’t been able to find Sylvia’s manuscript and we were wondering if maybe Sylvia gave it to you."
Kat Mac shrugged. "If she had I would have returned it with her things."
Sally was stymied. What more could she say? Should she mention the rumour that Michael had told her about? She decided not to. It was just hearsay but she would tell Elizabeth about it.
* * *
Elizabeth took Chevy and went down to the pool. She stretched out on the lounge chair and closed her eyes. Her article was complete except for the few attractions she had to visit this week. And for those all she had to do was give a few words about what the reader could expect and take pictures.
For the first time her work was done before the mystery was cleared up. She liked that. It took the pressure off. She lazed a while longer then, telling Chevy to stay under the chair where he had crawled, she dove into the pool. A few laps and she climbed out. Sally should be back from class soon, hopefully with some news.
She and Chevy went to their room where she stepped into the shower. When she was dressed she checked the clock. Where was Sally? Surely she would have talked to Michael and Kat Mac by now. Maybe she should have gone with her. Maybe they should have made arrangements for her to pick Sally up.
Elizabeth put Chevy on his leash and went out to the street. She looked both ways expecting to see Sally coming towards her. Instead she saw a woman on the sidewalk staring at the lot. She was crying.
Even though her investigation had become a bit of a joke between her and Sally since Cynthia had hired her, there were still questions that ran through her mind. Now, one of them was, could the young girl who died here be a relative of this woman’s? Elizabeth thought of the couple she had accosted last week just after the body had been found. They had been shaken by her questions. While she still felt the pull of the mystery, she wasn’t in favour of intruding on anyone’s grief again.
She waited a few more minutes. Chevy looked up at her impatiently. He was ready to go for the walk he had thought they were heading on. Elizabeth wondered if should she go over and talk with the woman. She looked for Sally again then, her curiosity getting the better of her, sauntered over to where the woman stood .
"Are you one of the relatives waiting for news?" Elizabeth asked quietly.
The woman looked at her.
"It’s really sad," Elizabeth said, beginning to feel stupid. Obviously this woman wanted to be left alone.
The woman wiped at her eyes with a tissue.
"Are you okay?" Elizabeth asked.
"I think the young woman found here was the mother of my grandchild."
"I’m sorry," Elizabeth said. Instead of asking more questions, she decided to let it alone. Now was not the time. She turned to leave. Chevy hurried ahead.
"She and my son were dating."
“I’m Polly MacNeil."
"Elizabeth Oliver." Elizabeth held out her hand. Polly’s shake was fast. Elizabeth took a deep breath and ask the question that was on her mind. "Who was she?"
"Her name was Leslie Brown." Polly’s eyes got a faraway look to them. "It’s a typical teenage story. She was sixteen, my son was seventeen and she got pregnant. My son wasn’t ready to be a father so he broke up with her. Leslie took off and neither her parents nor my husband and I have heard from her since."
"What makes you think the young girl is Leslie?" Elizabeth wondered if this had something to do with the adoption group that had involved Penny.
"Her parents reported her missing and now every time there is a body found they are notified. They are on a trip to Europe so the police contacted me as the backup person."
Polly paused. She took out a fresh tissue from her purse and dabbed her eyes. "Three months ago my son was killed." Her voice caught. "He was our only child." The tears began to flow again and Elizabeth wondered if she had been crying for Leslie or for her son or for her grandchild.
Chevy dug his claws into the ground as he pulled on his leash. Elizabeth wanted to hear more from this woman who seemed to need to talk and tugged back. He looked up at her with disgust and went over to the fire hydrant to lift his leg.
Polly blew her nose. "Since we are never going to have any more grandchildren now, we are hoping to find Leslie and learn where our grandchild is."
"So really you are hoping the girl is not Leslie."
"Yes. We have hired a detective to locate her but so far he hasn’t been able to find anything about her. It’s like she’s vanished."
"When did she leave?"
"Eleven months ago. She was six months along at the time so the baby would be eight months old."
Chevy gave a little yip. Polly looked down at him as if seeing him for the first time.
"What type of dog is he?"
"He’s a cross between a cocker spaniel and a poodle. He’s called a cockapoo."
"Cute."
"I’m staying in the bed and breakfast next door," Elizabeth said, pointing. "If you need a place to stay while you are here, I think there’s an empty room."
"Thank you," Polly said. "I’m not sure of my plans yet."
Elizabeth felt guilty leaving Polly standing staring at the empty lot, but there was nothing more she could do.
She walked Chevy along the way she had driven Sally that morning. She smiled with relief when she saw Sally coming around the corner. Sally waved and hurried up to her.
"So how did it go this morning?" Elizabeth asked. "Did you learn anything new?"
"Yes," Sally said, excitedly. "Michael never saw Sylvia’s manuscript but he did tell me about a rumour that Kat Mac has stolen ideas from her students."
"What?"
"Yes. And the reason she’s still teaching is because it has never been proven and most students give her high marks at the end of the classes."
"But didn’t you tell me that she had helped Michael get his manuscript published?"
"Yes, so that kind of negates the rumour, doesn’t it?"
"Did you talk with Kat Mac?"
"Yes. She said that she didn’t see Sylvia’s manuscript. I didn’t ask her about the rumour."
"So we have Sylvia telling Bonnie how much Kat Mac liked her manuscript and Kat Mac saying she never saw it."
"Right. Which one is lying."
"Well, since both Sylvia and Bonnie are dead we will have a hard time figuring that out."
"Madeline said that Sylvia told her she would get to read it when it was a best seller."
"Making it sound like there is a manuscript."
Polly McNeil was gone when they reached the bed and breakfast and they went up to their suite.
"I don’t know what to make of all this," Sally said, flopping on the couch. "And I’m getting tired of thinking about it."
"I know what you mean," Elizabeth agreed. "Do you want to do something different this afternoon?"
"Sure, what do you have in mind?"
"Well, I still have to do the Peak 2 Peak Gondola."
Sally grinned. "I could go for that."
Elizabeth looked at her watch. "We’ve got to go now. I was told that I should head up before three o’clock in order to see the whole thing before it closes down. As it is we won’t be able to do any of the hikes."
Elizabeth quickly took a ginger pill for her motion sickness and grabbed her tape recorder and camera. Since animals were not allowed on the gondolas, Elizabeth left Chevy with Beverly. They drove to the free parking and hurried across the road. They stopped at the ski lift and watched as some mountain bikers loaded their bikes onto a bike lift then ran to the seat ahead and hopped on. Bikers were zipping down the hill, dismounting, and getting in line again.
"That looks like fun," Elizabeth said.
They went over to the Whistler gondola building and bought their tickets. Elizabeth could feel the butterflies in her stomach at the thought of going up in the gondola. She hated that she had the combination of motion sickness and fear of heights. The ginger pills took care of the motion sickness but there was nothing to combat her heights issue except staying firmly on the ground. She smiled grimly at the joke she had read about the woman with a fear of heights who liked staying on good old terra firma--the more firma, the less terra.
Luckily the line was short and she didn’t have to spend too much time thinking about the ride. She climbed on the gondola quickly not giving herself time to back out. Sally and two other people followed her. They sat down. The door closed and the gondola moved ahead. Suddenly they were outside and rising.
Elizabeth gasped at the fear that stabbed her stomach. She fought the urge to close her eyes. Instead, she took out her camera to take pictures. However, the Plexiglas was too scratched to get a good shot. She searched for a spot that was clear.
"Good luck with that," the young man said.
"How come this glass is so marked up?" Elizabeth asked.
"When there are lots of mountain bikers or if they are having a meet, the bikers are allowed to go up in the gondolas."
"They can get their bikes in these?" Sally asked.
"If they work at it they can get three bikes and bikers in at one time. They hold the front wheel up or prop them against the windows."
Part way up they reached a station where the gondola stopped and the doors opened. That was short, Elizabeth thought as she and Sally prepared to get off.
"No, stay on," the young man said. "This is where they let the bikers off for their downhill trip."
Elizabeth made a mental note to put that in her article as she and Sally sat back down. The gondola took them ever higher up the mountainside and she looked out the marred glass in awe at the mountains all around and the sight of the town of Whistler getting smaller and smaller. Her fear was still there but as usual once she got up and going the adventure overrode her anxiety.
Eventually they reached the Roundhouse at the top of Whistler Mountain where they disembarked. They toured through the Roundhouse, a huge log building with shops and a restaurant inside. Elizabeth took pictures of the building and the mountains around.
They walked across the grass and Elizabeth took pictures of the large Inukshuk that looked out over a valley. They walked past the Inukshuk to see the valley better.
"This is so beautiful," Sally breathed.
"Is that a rat?" A woman shrieked behind them.
They turned in time to see a giant black rat sitting on the Inukshuk. Suddenly two men laughed and went up to it. One of them held it up so that everyone could see that it was just a stuffed rat. He carried it over to one of the tables and the other man took pictures of it with the mountains behind.
Elizabeth and Sally smiled at each other,
then went to the Peak 2 Peak station. Elizabeth recorded all the World Records on the Peak 2 Peak such as: it is the world’s longest unsupported (free) span for a lift of this kind; it is the world’s highest lift of its kind; and it is the world’s longest continuous lift system.
"Look, we will be travelling at 7.5 metres per second," Sally said, reading the sign. "It’s 4.4 km across and will take us eleven minutes to the other side."
Good, just what I want to be thinking about as I’m hundreds of metres above the ground, Elizabeth thought.
They entered the station where there were two lines. One was to get on the red cabin which came every few minutes and the other was for the glass bottomed silver cabin which arrived every fifteen minutes. Elizabeth and Sally opted to wait for the silver cabin. They climbed on with six other people, two of them the men with the rat, and headed across the valley to Blackcomb Mountain.
The bottom wasn’t totally glass. There was a square of glass surrounded by a barrier that came up to their waists. They could look over the edge of the barrier and see the ground below but couldn’t stand on the glass.
Elizabeth took her pictures of the mountains, the other cabins going by, the towers holding the cables, and the river in the valley below. Looking out one side of the cabin she saw Whistler in the distance, looking the other way was mountains. She noted that there are about sixty black bears in the peak to peak area so hikers should be aware of them.
The two men snapped pictures of the rat on the glass bottom, sitting on the seat, and hanging from the ceiling.
"Where are you from?" Elizabeth asked.
"Switzerland," one of the men replied with a thick accent.
"This was given us by our friends," the other explained. "They want us to put him in the pictures we are sending back home."
This story reminded Elizabeth of the garden gnome prank where gnomes are ‘liberated’ from their dull lives and returned to the wild. Some pranksters would take the stolen gnome on holidays and send pictures back of it at famous attractions. Sometimes the gnome was returned to his spot in the garden with no one admitting to being the liberators or the thieves depending on a person’s point of view.
Elizabeth and Sally had a juice and pop at the restaurant on Blackcomb Mountain then climbed aboard a red cabin for their return trip to Whistler Mountain.
The Travelling Detective: Boxed Set Page 73