Holiday Hangover

by Kathi Daley

  “Chance said your father left the party while you were eating,” I said after a moment of silence as I tried to sort things out.

  “Yes. That’s correct.”

  “He also said your father was arguing with Kyle before he left the restaurant, so I’m assuming that he and Kyle were seated together.”

  “No. Kyle was sitting at a table with Michael, Mercedes, Stephanie, Brian, and Jordan. Dad was seated at another table with Dr. Townsend, myself, Nikki, and two staff members. The staff members left, so Kyle took advantage of the empty seats and joined us. He was trying to convince Dad to join his table as some sort of a peace offering. Dad refused and they argued.”

  “And then?”

  “Nikki got up and went to sit with Michael and the others, making use of Kyle’s empty seat. Once it became apparent to me that Kyle and Dad were going to ruin the party with an inappropriately timed conversation, Dr. Townsend and I got up from the table as well and went to chat with some friends.”

  “So Kyle and your father were left alone at the table?”

  Veronica nodded.

  “And what happened after that?”

  “Dad got up and left. I noticed him leave and assumed he just needed to cool off and would return. I never saw him again alive.”

  “Did anyone else originally seated at either your table or Kyle’s leave the restaurant between the time your dad left and Chance found his body?”

  “You’re checking for alibis,” Veronica stated in an accusatory tone.

  “Yes, I guess I am.”

  “I want to make it clear I really hate this conversation.”

  “I know, and I don’t blame you in the least.”

  “I can assure you no one from either table killed my father.”

  “I believe that to be true as well. I’m not on some sort of witch hunt. I just want to help.”

  Veronica looked at her watch. “Oh, shoot. I have to go.”

  “I understand. But if you could just tell me who left the restaurant it would really help.”

  “Dr. Townsend left to look for my father when he didn’t return to the restaurant. He wanted to be sure he was okay after he’d been upset.” Veronica looked me directly in the eye. “He was my father’s doctor and he’s a good man. I can assure you he isn’t the person you’re looking for.”

  “Anyone else?”

  “Kyle left with Mercedes. I don’t know where they went. I saw them later, after my dad’s body was found, so I know they didn’t leave the mountain. I imagine they just wanted a chance to talk without being overheard.”

  “Was that all?”

  “Michael left as well. I don’t know where he went. Maybe to track down Mercedes.”

  “Before your father’s body was found?”

  “Yes, before. I think he’d come to the party to make peace with my dad, and when it was clear Dad wasn’t having any of it, he left.”

  “Why do you think he chose the party as the place to attempt to speak to your father?”

  “My dad has been mostly housebound in the past couple of years. He has employees who take care of his needs and monitor who’s allowed to visit him. Michael would never have gotten past the front door if he’d tried to see Dad at his home.”

  “I see. I guess I don’t have any more questions at this point. Thank you for speaking to me.”

  Veronica gazed at me again. “I would appreciate it if you’d use discretion as you conduct your investigation. The last thing we need is to make the feud between the families worse than it already is.”

  With that she walked away.

  Later that evening I sat staring into the flames of the fire in the living room. Zak was answering some emails and Alex was in her room reading. I had intended to make use of this quiet time to figure out who was still on and who was definitely off my suspect list, but it seemed the more I learned about the residents of Bear Mountain, the more confused I became.

  “Penny for your thoughts,” Zak said as he walked up behind me and kissed me on the top of my head.

  “I’m just trying to figure out exactly what’s been going on around here. So far all I am is confused.”

  Zak sat down next to me. “Confused how?”

  I tapped my pencil on the small notepad on which I’d been trying to organize my thoughts. “We’ve been operating under the assumption that Daniel Carrington’s murder is related to the upcoming vote. And on the surface, it seems like as good a place to look for a motive as any. We put Michael on the suspect list because he wants to buy the land, Aunt Stephanie because she wants to sell her stock, Kyle because if Michael buys the stock and Kyle marries Mercedes, eventually he’ll own the whole enchilada, and Jordan because he won’t inherit anything from Stephanie’s stock unless she sells it.”

  “Sounds right.”

  “Here’s the thing: When I spoke to Veronica today she gave me a different take on things. She asked me not to tell anyone about this, but I need your help so we can figure things out and narrow down the list. But you can’t say anything to Chance or anyone else.”

  “Okay.”

  “Despite what Chance thinks, Veronica wants to sell her stock. She said she’s wanted a life away from the resort for some time, but her father guilted her into taking her place at the resort.”

  “I suppose that fits what I know about her,” Zak answered.

  “And I think there’s more. Nikki mentioned to me that Dr. Townsend is totally in love with Veronica, but she won’t commit to him, so he just waits. I think the reason she won’t marry him is because she hasn’t, up until this point, felt she could leave the mountain and she didn’t want to trap this talented and overqualified doctor here by marrying him. And Veronica told me something about not wanting to ask someone else with a bright future to settle for a life on the mountain the way she had.”

  “If that were true, Parker Townsend would have a reason to want Daniel dead as well.”

  I frowned at Zak. “Veronica did say he’d left the restaurant to look for Daniel when he’d been gone a while. I suppose that gave him opportunity.”

  “Did Veronica mention who else left?” Zak asked.

  “Michael, Kyle, and Mercedes. There may have been others, but those are the only family members she mentioned. All three were on our original list, although Veronica told me Kyle might not want to sell, which surprised me as much as her admission that she might. She doesn’t want Chance to find out because she hasn’t made up her mind. That’s why she didn’t want me to tell anyone what we discussed.”

  “I won’t say anything to him, but I’d be willing to bet Chance could very well be struggling with the same decision.”

  “You think Chance wants to sell? That doesn’t make any sense.”

  “If you knew what I do, it makes a lot of sense. When I first met Chance he wanted very badly to be a pilot. He has his pilot’s license, but he wanted to fly commercial jets. The problem was that he had a destiny all picked out for him, so he married his college sweetheart and moved back to the mountain after college.”

  “Nikki’s mom?”

  “Yes, Nikki’s mom. Unfortunately, Nikki’s mom found life at the resort to be too confining, so she gave Chance an ultimatum: her or the resort.”

  “And he chose the resort,” I realized. “When we spoke today he made it seem like he really loves this place.”

  “I think he does in a way, but I suspect he wouldn’t be as crushed as everyone thinks if the others decided to sell. Chance was a good son who has done his duty to his family, but I know he intentionally went into sales so he could spend some time away from the mountain. I imagine his new role as CEO has stifled him somewhat.” Zak shrugged. “I could be wrong. It’s been ten years since Nikki’s mom left him. Maybe Chance has changed his view of what the resort has to offer.”

  “It seems to me that if Stephanie, Veronica, and Chance all want to sell, they can work out a deal where Kyle will be taken care of.”

  “I agree. It seems to me there are
a lot of people making a lot of assumptions, at least some of which are simply untrue. Having said that, I’ve been thinking about this a lot. I don’t think any of the family members on our suspect list are guilty of killing Daniel Carrington.”

  “I agree. So who?”

  Zak shook his head. “I wish I knew.”

  Chapter 6

  Thursday, December 29

  I woke the next morning to the sound of my cell phone ringing on the bedside table. Zak and Charlie were gone and the sun was streaming through the window. A glance at the clock told me it was already a quarter past nine. Since when had I made sleeping in a habit? I glanced at the caller ID before I answered.

  “Hey, Jeremy, what’s up?” I tried not to yawn into the phone as I greeted my friend and coworker.

  “I hope I didn’t wake you.”

  “No, I’m awake. What’s going on?” I knew Jeremy wouldn’t call me while I was on vacation unless it was something important.

  “I think we might have a dognapper in town.”

  I frowned. “Someone is kidnapping dogs?”

  “Maybe. I’m really not sure how best to deal with this, so I thought I’d better call to discuss the situation with you.”

  I adjusted my position so I was sitting up in the bed. “What’s going on?”

  “It all started on Monday morning. A woman come in and said her dog was missing. She swore she’d last seen the dog in her fenced backyard, but you know how those things go.”

  I did; a lot of people let their dogs run free and then, when the little darlings disappeared, they didn’t want to admit they’d violated the town’s leash law, so they swore the dogs were last seen in their yards.

  “I didn’t think much of it,” Jeremy continued. “I asked for a photo and the usual information, then followed the normal procedure for a missing dog.”

  That consisted of putting a photo and description of the dog on our website, as well as providing the owner with a stack of flyers to put up around town. If the dog didn’t show up within twenty-four hours we’d also put a photo and description in the local newspaper.

  “Later that same afternoon, a man came in and told me his dog had been taken from his front porch. He said the dog liked to sit in the sun and watch people go by. I asked if the dog was on a lead and he said he wasn’t, but he assured me that he sat on the porch all the time and had never wandered off. Again, I took his information and followed the procedure.”

  “So far it sounds like what I would have done,” I assured my shelter manager.

  “Tuesday morning another woman came in, and like the first, she said her dog was missing and had last been seen in her fenced-in backyard. By this point I was beginning to think there could be something going on, but I didn’t have anything concrete to go on because none of the dog owners could provide any evidence that someone had taken their pet. The second woman assured me that her dog wouldn’t have dug under the fence, nor had she found evidence of digging, and the gate that led out to the street was still closed, as it had been when she’d let the dog out. Yesterday two more dogs turned up missing, so I called Sheriff Salinger to fill him in. He reminded me that finding missing dogs was my job. When I reminded him that finding a dognapper was his job, he scoffed and told me to call you.”

  “Five missing dogs in a three-day period sounds like more than just negligent owners. Do the animals have anything in common?”

  “They vary as to size and breed, but I did notice they’re all black. You don’t think we have a 101 Dalmatians thing going on, do you?”

  “God, I hope not.” I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I think we need to warn people. Go ahead and put up a notice on the website, and call the paper to see if they’ll do a notification as well. I’d also put up flyers on all the major bulletin boards in town. I’m not sure Salinger is going to see this as a high priority, but I’ll call him to see if I can get him to keep an eye out for suspicious activity at the very least. Oh, and make sure Tiffany knows she needs to be careful with the dogs she’s watching at our house and not leave them alone. While it sounds like whoever is taking the dogs is only interested in black ones, I wouldn’t assume they won’t decide they’re interested in other colors as well.”

  “I agree with everything you said, but I did have an additional thought that could play into the action we take.”

  “And what is that?” I asked.

  “It occurred to me that if the person taking the dogs is just collecting them for some reason and not harming them, we might be able to rescue the dogs that have already been taken. I’m afraid that if word gets out that we’re on to what’s going on, the dognapper may dispose of the animals to get rid of the evidence.”

  Jeremy made a good point I hadn’t thought of.

  “What if we set a trap?” Jeremy suggested.

  “I’m listening.”

  “I thought I’d offer a substantial reward for one of the dogs to see if anyone bites.”

  “That’s a good idea. But it won’t work if you offer the reward. The dognapper will most likely know it’s a trap. Have one of the owners do it. If someone calls to return the dog and collect the reward, have them notify you and then you notify Salinger. I’ll call Salinger and fill him in.”

  After I hung up with Jeremy I climbed out of bed and headed for the bathroom. While I fully intended to call Salinger, I figured it could wait until I had showered, dressed, and ingested my first cup of coffee. I wasn’t usually one to sleep late, but it seemed my body had somehow not yet caught up with the mental and physical exhaustion of the past few weeks. All I seemed to want to do was sleep.

  By the time I went downstairs Zak had headed into town to pick up some groceries and Alex was curled up by the fire with Charlie, reading one of the books she’d gotten for Christmas.

  “Sorry I slept so late,” I said as I poured a cup of coffee.

  “That’s okay. You were tired and we’re on vacation.”

  “Did you get some breakfast?”

  “Zak made me an omelet. Charlie ate too, so we’re both good.”

  I debated whether to eat something, then decided coffee was enough for the time being.

  “How’s your book?”

  “It’s really good. You can read it when I’m done if you’d like.”

  “Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind. I need to head upstairs to make a couple of phone calls. Do you have any plans for the day?”

  “Nikki offered to let me hang out with her, but I told her I wasn’t sure what our family plans were, so I’d have to let her know.”

  Family plans. I liked the sound of that. “I’ll check with Zak when he gets back to see where he is with his computer stuff. When we talked last night it sounded like he only needed another hour or two with the mainframe and then he would have done what he could. If Nikki calls and you want to do something with her, it’s fine with me. I’m not sure we’ll get anything organized for today.”

  After I downed my first cup of coffee and poured my second, I headed upstairs and called Salinger. Unfortunately, he was out, so I left a detailed message. I hoped he’d cooperate with Jeremy. The last thing I wanted was for Jeremy to put himself in danger by confronting a dognapper. It seemed odd that someone was stealing only black dogs. I didn’t think the 101 Dalmatians analogy was accurate—at least I hoped it wasn’t—but what other reason could anyone have for wanting a bunch of black dogs?

  I heard a car in the drive and assumed it was Zak in the Jeep Chance had lent us. I headed downstairs to help him put away the groceries he had bought. There were so many restaurants on the resort grounds we didn’t really need to cook, but Zak and I both preferred to eat in for at least part of our meals even when we were traveling.

  “Oh good, you got apples,” I said as I unloaded the first bag.

  “I figured you’d want some fresh fruit. They didn’t have pears, but I got oranges and bananas too. I also got a steak to grill for dinner and fresh veggies for a salad.”

  �
�Sounds good. I’m feeling tired and lazy today. I’m not sure I feel like getting dressed up to go out.”

  “I agree on the dressing up, but I’m not sure about the going out. I ran into a man who works at the resort as a lift operator. We got to chatting and it occurred to me that it might be a good idea to speak to the person who was operating the tram on the day Daniel Carrington was murdered. I called and asked Chance who had been assigned and he told me it was a man named Boswell. I sort of know him. He’s lived and worked at the resort for years.”

  “I assume Chance and local law enforcement have already spoken to him?”

  “They have, but you seem to have a knack for asking just the right questions, and even if talking to him turns out to be a dead end I thought it was worth the effort.”

  “I agree. Do you want to go now?”

  “If that’s okay with you. I’m waiting for the diagnostics on the security system to generate a report, so I have some free time this morning.”

  “Do you know where we can find Boswell?”

  “We can check with human resources to see where he is today.”

  As it turned out, Boswell was scheduled to operate the same tram taking people to and from the mountaintop restaurant that day as he had on the day of the murder. He was due for a break at eleven, so we arranged to take him to lunch to pick his brain.

  “Okay, so walk us through the day,” I suggested once we’d ordered.

  “I was asked to arrive at the tram at eight in the morning. The party wasn’t set to start until one, but the catering staff needed to go up early to prepare things.”

  “Do you have a list of who went up early?” I asked.

  “There were three groups. The first consisted of the kitchen staff. I don’t know the names of everyone, but the head cook is a woman named Isabella Vanderhouse.”

  “What about the second group? Do you remember anyone specifically?”

  “There was a problem with the plumbing, so two men from maintenance, Tom Walters and Fred Grant, went up to see if they could make the repairs.” I jotted down those names from group two as well.