Snow Place to Die : A Bed-and-breakfast Mystery

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by Mary Daheim


  park service four-by-four, heading for the pass. Judith never

  looked back.

  Joe was soaking his feet in a galvanized tub and watching

  the eleven o’clock news when Judith finally arrived home

  that Sunday night. He barely looked up when she came into

  the third-floor den.

  “Hi,” she said, trying to sound cheerful despite her state

  of exhaustion.

  “Hi.” Joe’s gaze was riveted to the TV screen.

  Judith leaned down and kissed his forehead. “I got back

  sooner than I…”

  “Shh!” Gesturing at the TV, Joe cut her off.

  “…Leading national park service law enforcement officials

  believe that Killegrew may have killed at least three of his

  employees in an attempt to retain his position as

  SNOW PLACE TO DIE / 275

  president and CEO of OTIOSE.” The pert Asian anchorwoman was shown against a stock shot of Mountain Goat

  Lodge and an inset black-and-white photo of a smiling, benign Frank Killegrew. “While rumors spread this weekend

  that WaCom plans to merge with OTIOSE, it is not known

  how the tragedy in the mountains will affect the independent

  telecommunications company’s future. An unidentified

  spokesperson told KINE-TV this evening that customer service should not be affected, however.”

  The screen changed to highway footage, showing

  snowplows working along the interstate. Joe hit the mute

  button.

  “Good Lord,” he said, staring at Judith. “Why didn’t you

  tell me?”

  Judith sank down next to him on the couch. “I started to,

  then I lost my nerve. You sounded so grumpy.”

  “I was.” Joe put an arm around Judith. “It was a rough

  weekend. But not as rough as yours.”

  “They forgot Barry.” Judith bit her lip and pointed at the

  silent TV.

  “Barry?”

  “The staff clerk, the body we found by the creek. Killegrew

  killed him, too.”

  “Jeez.” Joe shook his head. “Want to make us a couple of

  drinks and tell me all about it?” He indicated his soaking

  feet. “I’d do it, but…”

  Judith grinned. “Yes, you would. You’re not like some

  men, who have to be waited on.” She got up to fetch their

  nightcaps.

  They had finished their drinks by the time Judith got to

  the part about Mike’s unexpected arrival. Naturally, Joe was

  astonished.

  “Mike and Kristin got their transfer midweek,” Judith explained. “Because of all the snow and avalanche danger in

  the pass, they were shipped out of Idaho right away. They’ll

  both be working in the national park, just an hour away.

  Isn’t that wonderful?”

  “It’s great,” Joe enthused. “You see, Jude-Girl? You

  276 / Mary Daheim

  worry about all kinds of things that don’t happen.”

  “I know.” Judith snuggled against Joe. “I worried tonight

  I wouldn’t get home, but the driving wasn’t bad at all. Of

  course the rangers who brought us home knew what they

  were doing. The worst part was when we got to Heraldsgate

  Hill. We came up on the north side, to drop Renie off first.

  That’s much easier than coming up the south side. It’s so

  steep. The only problem is, Renie tried to drive the Chev.”

  “I thought she didn’t drive in snow,” Joe said.

  “She doesn’t. The Chev’s piled into a gas station pump at

  the summit. I’m afraid it’s totaled. Bill will be awfully upset.”

  Joe grimaced. “I don’t blame him. I remember when you

  ran your Nissan into the wall at Falstaff’s Grocery.”

  “Maybe Bill won’t retire, now that they have to get a new

  car,” Judith mused. “Have you thought any more about it?”

  Joe gave a single nod. “Sure. I’m not changing my mind.

  Bill won’t either. Hell, we’ve both earned retirement. Why

  not?”

  Judith started to say something, nebulous thoughts about

  financial uncertainty, changes in lifestyle, the future of the

  B&B—but she kept silent. Joe and Bill looked forward to

  retirement. Frank Killegrew had feared it, hated it, fought

  it—and left a path of death and destruction behind him.

  Retirement wasn’t a dirty word, it was a new experience.

  For men like Joe and Bill, who had paid their dues and invested not in corporations but in family, the work place was no

  magic kingdom.

  “You could cook,” Judith said suddenly. “You’ve always

  been a good cook.”

  Joe moved away just enough to look into Judith’s face.

  “Cook what?”

  “You know—some of the meals for the B&B guests.

  Breakfast, of course. You do wonderful eggs.”

  SNOW PLACE TO DIE / 277

  Joe laughed. “Only to serve you in bed. Which sounds like

  a good idea.”

  “What? Eggs?”

  Joe shook his head. “No. Bed.” He clicked off the TV where

  the weatherman was showing lingering snow clouds.

  “Bed.” Judith repeated the word and smiled. “You’re right,

  it’s a good idea.”

  “Shall we?” Joe got up, stepping out of the tub.

  Judith’s dark eyes danced. “Shall we what?” she asked

  coyly.

  “You know what,” said Joe.

  They retired.

  About the Author

  Seattle native MARY DAHEIM began telling stories

  with pictures when she was four. Since she could

  neither read nor write, and her artistic talent was

  questionable, her narratives were sometimes hard to

  follow. By second grade, she had learned how to string

  together both subjects and predicates, and hasn’t

  stopped writing since. A former newspaper reporter

  and public relations consultant, Daheim’s first of seven

  historical romances was published in 1983. In addition

  to Avon Books’ Bed-and-Breakfast series featuring Judith McMonigle Flynn, Daheim also pens the Alpine

  mysteries for Ballantine. She is married to David Daheim, a retired college instructor, and has three

  daughters—Barbara, Katherine and Magdalen.

  Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

  Bed-and-Breakfast Mysteries by

  Mary Daheim

  from Avon Books

  DEAD MAN DOCKING

  THIS OLD SOUSE

  HOCUS CROAKUS

  SILVER SCREAM

  SUTURE SELF

  A STREETCAR NAMED EXPIRE

  CREEPS SUZETTE

  HOLY TERRORS

  JUST DESSERTS

  LEGS BENEDICT

  SNOW PLACE TO DIE

  WED AND BURIED

  SEPTEMBER MOURN

  NUTTY AS A FRUITCAKE

  AUNTIE MAYHEM

  MURDER, MY SUITE

  MAJOR VICES

  A FIT OF TEMPERA

  BANTAM OF THE OPERA

  DUNE TO DEATH

  FOWL PREY

  Copyright

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and

  incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are

  used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any

  resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or

  persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.<
br />
  SNOW PLACE TO DIE. Copyright © 2007 by Mary Daheim.

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American

  Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees,

  you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable

  right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No

  part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted,

  down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in

  or introduced into any information storage and retrieval

  system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or

  mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the

  express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  Adobe Acrobat eBook Reader February 2007

  ISBN 978-0-06-135775-6

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  About the Publisher

  Australia

  HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.

  25 Ryde Road (PO Box 321)

  Pymble, NSW 2073, Australia

  http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com.au

  Canada

  HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

  55 Avenue Road, Suite 2900

  Toronto, ON, M5R, 3L2, Canada

  http://www.harpercollinsebooks.ca

  New Zealand

  HarperCollinsPublishers (New Zealand) Limited

  P.O. Box 1

  Auckland, New Zealand

  http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.nz

  United Kingdom

  HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

  77-85 Fulham Palace Road

  London, W6 8JB, UK

  http://www.uk.harpercollinsebooks.com

  United States

  HarperCollins Publishers Inc.

  10 East 53rd Street

  New York, NY 10022

  http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com

  Document Outline

  Title Page

  Dedication Page

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  About the Author

  Bed-and-Breakfast Mysteries by Mary Daheim

  Copyright Notice

  About the Publisher

  Table of Contents

  ONE

  TWO

  NINE

  NINETEEN

  Table of Contents

  ONE

  TWO

  NINE

  NINETEEN

  FB2 document info

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  Document authors :

  Mary Daheim

  About

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