by Kathi Daley
“Yes, I saw him leave.”
I glanced at Zak before I asked the next question. “Did you see where he went?”
“No. Not really. Mr. Carrington was speaking with Kyle. It looked like they were arguing. After a bit I saw Mr. Carrington take out his phone and look at it. He sort of frowned. I imagine he must have received a message he wasn’t real happy about. Anyway, he said something to Kyle that caused him to throw his hands in the air and walk away.”
“And then…?” I prompted.
“And then Mr. Carrington walked down the hall toward the restrooms.”
“Did you notice if he went into the restroom?”
“He didn’t. He kept walking down the hall.”
“Did you see where he went?”
“No. Izzy came up behind me and told me to start clearing away empty dishes. I never saw Mr. Carrington again after that.”
“Did you notice anyone else get up and leave the room after Mr. Carrington did?”
“Yes. There were a few people. Kyle spoke to Mercedes for a moment and then they both left the room. Dr. Townsend left as well.”
“Did you see where they went?”
“It looked as if Kyle and Mercedes might have gone outside. They were headed toward the exterior door, although I didn’t actually see them leave. I’m not sure where Dr. Townsend went. He headed in the same direction Mr. Carrington had taken.”
“What now?” Zak asked after Leslie left the room.
I paused to review my suspect list. “We’ve spoken to most of the people on the list with the exception of Dr. Townsend and Kyle. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to stop by the clinic. Daniel rode up the tram with Dr. Townsend and Dr. Townsend went to look for him after he left the party. Even if he didn’t kill Daniel he might know something.”
Zak shrugged. “I’m game. The clinic is just down the street.”
The clinic, in a small log building, was comfortably furnished but smelled of antiseptic. It boasted a reception area and several offices. I imagine that when the ski runs were open the clinic would be busy with broken bones and cuts and bruises, but today the place was quiet. It seemed that other than us and the people clearing the streets everyone had hunkered down to wait out the storm.
“Can I help you?” the receptionist asked.
“We’d like to speak to Dr. Townsend if he’s available,” I answered.
“Are you ill or injured?”
“No,” Zak replied. “He and I are old acquaintances and I thought I’d stop in to say hi if he isn’t busy.”
“And your name?”
“Zak Zimmerman.”
“Have a seat and I’ll let him know you’re here.”
“I didn’t know you knew Dr. Townsend,” I said after the receptionist had walked away,
“He’s worked here a long time and is good friends with the Carrington family. We both attended several events when I came here to ski.”
We looked up when the receptionist returned. “Please follow me.”
We got up and followed the girl, who was, I imagined, the friend Nikki had spoken about, down the hall.
“Zak.” A tall, good-looking man with dark hair and eyes stood up from behind a desk and offered his hand in greeting.
“Parker. It’s good to see you.”
“Please, have a seat. I heard you were at the resort. This must be your wife.”
I smiled at him.
“I’ve heard a lot about you,” Parker said as he sat back down.
“I guess I’ve ruffled a few feathers,” I admitted.
“How can I help you today? You both seem to have the use of all your limbs and neither of you looks ill, so I’m assuming you’re here to talk about Daniel’s murder.”
Zak leaned forward and rested his elbows on his legs. “I guess you know Chance asked us to take a look at the situation.”
“I heard.”
“We understand you arrived at the party with Daniel, and we hoped you might be able to provide some insight that only a trusted friend would be able to provide,” I said diplomatically.
“Daniel was a good man and a good friend. I’m happy to tell you anything I can if it will help you figure out who killed him. Do you have any suspects?”
“A few,” I offered. “But nothing solid enough to talk about quite yet. There are still a lot of unanswered questions at this point. Do you have any insight at all as to what might have been going on with Daniel on the day he died? Did he seem anxious, happy, distracted?”
Parker sat back in his chair. “I assume you know Daniel had been ill. His overall health declined sharply after his stroke. I actually tried to talk him out of attending the party because I was afraid it would be too much for him, but he would hear nothing of it. I was somewhat surprised at his determination.”
“And why is that?” I asked.
“He’d settled into a depression, which is understandable given the decline in his health and the loss of his ability to partake in activities he’d previously enjoyed. It had been some time since he’d left his home or allowed anyone other than myself and his children to visit him.”
I guessed that made sense. A change in lifestyle, any change, had to be hard.
“Anyway, as I said, Daniel was determined to attend the party, so I agreed to support his decision as long as I was able to accompany him and keep an eye on things.”
“Did you come up the mountain after most of the crowd had arrived intentionally?” I asked.
He nodded. “I wanted the day to be as easy on Daniel as possible. We arrived at the party and settled in. Daniel seemed to be in good spirits until Michael arrived. At that point he became anxious and agitated. I planned to find an excuse to take him home early, but I never got the chance to make the suggestion.”
“I understand Daniel argued with Kyle before leaving the restaurant.”
“Yes. He was angry that Kyle had invited Michael.”
“Chance told us that he believed his father had gotten up to make a visit to the men’s room. Did you have that same impression?”
“To be honest, I didn’t see him leave. I was talking to Veronica about a plan to convince Daniel to go home early when he left. After I realized he was no longer sitting at the table where I’d left him I went to look for him. It never occurred to me to look at the foot of the deck where Chance found him.”
Zak glanced at me and gave me an unspoken request to take over the questioning. I sat back and allowed him to do so.
“We have reason to believe Daniel was lured to the deck where he was pushed.”
“Lured? You think it was premeditated?”
“We do, although we don’t know how it happened. Did he have a cell phone on him?”
Zak and I already knew the answer to that question, but it seemed wise to ask Townsend as if he didn’t know the answer.
“Yes, I’m sure he did. I mean, I didn’t specifically ask him, but everyone carries a phone these days.”
“You said you didn’t notice Daniel leave the room. Did you see anyone approach him other than Kyle?”
“No. One minute Kyle and Daniel were arguing and the next Daniel was gone. I have no idea why he left the restaurant or whether he planned to meet anyone.”
Zak paused and looked directly at Dr. Townsend. “If you had to guess, who do you think killed Daniel Carrington?”
The doctor frowned. I could see he was seriously considering the question. “I don’t think I can. I’ve played that afternoon over and over in my mind and I honestly didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. I know Michael and Daniel have been at odds for years, but I don’t see Michael killing Daniel. I also know there’s been tension between Kyle and Daniel since Kyle began dating Mercedes, but there’s no way Kyle would kill his father. I’ve known the Carrington family for a very long time, and based on everything I know to be true, I have to assume the killer was someone other than a family member.”
“What about Izzy Vanderhouse?” I asked.
P
arker frowned. “Izzy? Why would Izzy kill Daniel?”
“It seems he was the reason she was transferred from administration to the kitchen. There are those who feel she may not have been happy about the transfer.”
Parker leaned back in his chair, a serious expression on his face. “I hadn’t considered Izzy, but you may be on to something. Izzy and Kyle used to date. I don’t think it was a serious relationship in Kyle’s eyes, but I’m pretty sure it was in Izzy’s. After Daniel’s stroke and Chance’s promotion, I ran into Izzy at the pub. She’d been drinking. A lot,” Parker emphasized. “I offered to give her a ride home, and on the way we chatted a bit. She seemed to blame Daniel for the fact that Kyle and Mercedes were dating.”
“Did she say why?” I asked.
“She wasn’t making a lot of sense, but she rambled on and on about the fact that the only reason Kyle was dating Mercedes was to get back at his dad for passing him over for the promotion.”
“Izzy mentioned to us that she thought the job of CEO should have gone to Kyle,” I confirmed.
“A lot of people thought that. Chance is a great guy and we’re close friends, but he’s never been as dedicated to the resort as Kyle.”
“So if Izzy believed Daniel was the reason Kyle broke up with her and began dating Mercedes, do you think that would be a good enough reason for her to push Daniel off the deck?” I asked.
“Maybe. It’s hard to say, but Izzy can be irrational at times. I would at the very least try to confirm where she was when Daniel was killed.”
Chapter 11
“Any ideas?” I asked Zak. We’d returned to the Jeep and were sitting waiting for it to warm up.
“It seems like we need to speak to Kyle, although as operations manager he’s probably swamped organizing snow removal.”
“Why do you think Daniel promoted Chance over Kyle? It sounds like Kyle really was the logical choice.”
“I’m not sure, although Nikki did say Kyle began visiting over at Echo Ridge after Jordan began working there, which was before Daniel had his stroke. I suppose Daniel might not have liked the idea that Kyle was associating with anyone he considered to be his enemy.”
“That’s really sad. Maybe Michael is right. Maybe uniting the mountain under a single owner really would be the best thing for the family.”
“Maybe. Let’s head back to the house and regroup. We can go over everything again and try to figure out what to do next. We can ask Kyle if he’s willing to meet with us when he has the time, although I don’t think he’s guilty of killing his father.”
“And we can talk to Izzy again, although if she’s the one who killed Daniel I doubt she’ll admit it.”
“I agree. I want to help Chance figure this out, but at this point I’m not sure if that’s even a possibility. It’s not like we can stay here indefinitely. We do need to head back to Ashton Falls in a couple of days.”
“Let’s take one last look at the list, and if we can’t figure it out I guess we’ll just need to tell Chance we tried. It’s too bad someone thought to cut out the video feed. It would have made things a whole lot easier if it had been uninterrupted. Unless you know the tape has been spliced it appears as if no one was on the deck at all that day.”
Zak pulled out onto the main thoroughfare and headed toward the guest house. Almost everyone other than the staff clearing the roads had elected to stay inside, so there was very little traffic.
“What do you think about the party tonight?” I asked as we drove. “With all this snow, I’m not feeling inclined to get dressed up to go out.”
“I’m not either, although I suppose the party would give us a chance to speak to anyone we still need to interview.”
“All the lights in the house are still off, so I guess Alex is still with Nikki. I should call her to find out what her plans are.”
Zak pulled into the driveway and parked. ‘You go inside. You can let Charlie out. I’m going to shovel the walk before it gets too deep to be manageable, so I’ll keep an eye on him.”
“Okay. I’ll call Alex after I get the fire started.”
Once I’d let Charlie out and tossed several logs on the fire, I called Alex, who said she was going to spend the night at Nikki’s. Apparently Nikki had decided to have a slumber party for her friends after it became evident that going out in the storm wasn’t going to be a wise option. I asked Alex if she needed anything, but she said Nikki had an extra toothbrush and an extra pair of pajamas she could borrow. By the time I hung up the phone Charlie was scratching at the door, so I let him in and set to drying him off.
I was trying to decide if I wanted to try to go to the New Year’s Eve party, which Alex had informed me was still on, or if I’d rather settle in and enjoy the storm when Zak came in from shoveling. I explained about Alex spending the night at Nikki’s, which meant Zak and I didn’t need to take her needs into account as we tried to figure out what to do next.
“What do you think?” I asked. “Party or no party?”
“I suppose we could pop in for a few minutes, say hi, and then come back here to wait out the storm. If I remember correctly, cocktails and appetizers will be served at six and dinner is at eight. I say we go early and leave early. We have food here if we don’t want to wait around for dinner to be served.”
“Sounds good, but I’m going to wear warm clothes.”
“I think most people will. Before I clean up I’m going to check the generators. With the wind the storm is bringing in, we may have need of a backup.” Zak frowned. I could almost see the wheels in his head turning.
“What is it?”
“Backup. Of course; why didn’t I think of that before?” Zak leaned forward and kissed me. “I have to go. I won’t be long, but I need to check something. Go ahead and get ready. I’ll shower when I get back.”
I headed into the kitchen to feed Charlie after Zak hurried out the door. I was curious what had occurred to him, but when Zak got an idea he seemed to be compelled to act on it. Chances were he’d just remembered something he forgot to check out in the computer system.
I bent down and petted Charlie. We’d been out most of the day and I hated to leave my little buddy alone again. I probably should have dropped him off at doggie daycare, but I hadn’t anticipated that our errands would take as long as they had. I understood Zak’s point about at least dropping by the party, but I would really have preferred to skip it altogether.
Charlie ate and then I headed upstairs to get ready for the party. Zak had been gone for over half an hour, so I was sure he’d be back soon. He knew we had plans to go out; if his errand was going to take too long I figured he’d call to let me know.
I saw bright lights out the window and realized a car had pulled into the driveway. I didn’t recognize the dark-colored sedan. I thought it could be a tourist who had become disoriented in the snow, so I headed back downstairs, opened the door, and waved to whoever was in the car to let them know the house they’d pulled up to was occupied. I was just about to close the door when Charlie darted out from between my legs and began barking at the vehicle that was still idling in the drive. I called to him but he didn’t respond, so I pulled on my boots and jacket and headed out into the storm.
I grabbed Charlie and then knocked on the driver’s side window. As long as I was out here, I might as well try to find out what the motorist wanted.
“Hello,” I said. “Are you lost?”
The driver rolled down the window just a bit. It was hard to make out any details, but the driver appeared to be a male in his early sixties. “Zak sent me to pick you up. He said it’s important and you should come right away.”
“Why didn’t he just call?”
“Phone lines are down. Now hop in.”
“I need to take Charlie back inside.”
“Bring him. I’m afraid time is of the essence.”
I frowned but didn’t argue. Maybe Zak had found out something. I hurried around to the passenger side of the door, opened it, and
slid inside. The car pulled onto the road immediately but headed away from the village, where the administration office was located.
“I think you’re going the wrong way. Zak was going to the administration office.”
“There was a change in plans.”
“Change in plans? What sort of change?”
The man ignored my question. Instead, he pulled out his phone and made a call. “I have the girl. Make the deal.” Then he hung up.
“Deal? What deal?” I suddenly realized how dumb it had been to get into a car with a total stranger. “Who are you? What do you want with me?”
The man ignored me as he drove farther away from the village and deeper into the storm. I tried to keep my wits about me and not to panic. I’d been in tough situations before and managed to survive. I was sure I could survive this as well.
“Whatever it is you’re trying to do, you won’t get away with it,” I challenged.
He just smiled. I was sure I didn’t know him, though he did seem familiar. I hugged Charlie, who had begun to growl, I assumed in response to the tension in my body.
“Shut that dog up or I’ll toss him out,” the man demanded.
“Toss him out? You can’t toss him out. We’re in the middle of nowhere. He’ll freeze.”
“Look, lady, I like dogs and I mean yours no harm, but I need to concentrate, so make him be quiet or he’s out of here.”
I began speaking softly to Charlie to assure him that everything was going to be okay. Charlie is a very smart dog and I doubt he bought my empty promises for one minute, but he did stop growling, although he never took his eye off the man. After fifteen minutes of driving he pulled into the drive of a large house. He stopped the car and told me to get out. After we were both out of the car he told me to follow him inside. I didn’t have a good feeling about this at all.