“I love you, Bo,” she said.
“I have a problem with that.”
“What?”
“I love you, too. So we can’t ever do this again.”
53
DRIVING BACK TO BLIGHT CITY, Tully felt as if Janice’s kiss would affect him for the next six months. Well, at least for an hour. At every possible place to turn around, he slowed down.
“What’s wrong with you, anyway?” Pap said.
“Loss of oxygen,” Tully said.
Pap rolled himself a cigarette and punched in the dashboard lighter. “Now, tell me how you’ve got this caper all worked out.”
“I was hoping you might ask. First of all, the avalanche was deliberately set, for two purposes. One was supposedly to isolate from town everyone on this side of the avalanche. It was avalanche as alibi for murder. That way anyone on the lodge side of the avalanche wouldn’t be suspected of murder, even if they had a motive.”
The lighter popped out. Pap lit his crooked little cigarette. “Well, it fooled me.”
“It would have fooled me, too, except that when I first met him, Grady volunteered the information that Mike Wilson had apparently driven the Sno-Cat while Grady was in town. He was covering his tracks, or more specifically, the Sno-Cat’s tracks. Later I would discover that those tracks ran all the way to the end of the ridge above the lodge. I couldn’t think of any reason why anyone would run the grooming machine way out there, when no one skied out there.”
“So why did Wilson run it out there?”
“Would you mind rolling down your window, so your lethal-smelling smoke goes out your side, instead of into my lungs?
The old man cracked his window. “Satisfied?”
“Not really. Anyway, while I was looking at the 3-D map one time it occurred to me that someone like Mike could ski downhill all the way to Blight and then ski downhill all the way back. But Grady had to drive him out to the end of the ridge in the Sno-Cat. Otherwise it would take Mike too long to get into Blight and back. Then Grady had to bring the vehicle back to the lodge. Grady was covering up his part of the scheme, in case I started wondering about the track out to the end of the ridge.”
They came to the spot where Tully had rescued Lindsay and Marcus from the cabin. “Hard to believe the river was such a menace that night,” Pap said. “Anyhow, I’ve figured out how he got back. He rode the Blight Mountain ski lift to the top of the mountain. Then he was able to ski downhill all the way back to the West Branch side.”
“That’s right. The one weakness in the plan was they had to bring another person into it, to pick Mike up at the base of the mountain, haul him to Baker’s office, and then up to the ski lift before it shut down at one a.m. That was Bitsy.”
“Bitsy?”
“There were three calls from the West Branch Lodge to Countryman’s Feed Store. Why would anyone from a lodge be calling a feed store? It was because of Bitsy. Wilson made the three calls to make arrangements with Bitsy.”
“Shucks, I know Bitsy!” Pap said. “I must have bought five hundred pounds of chicken feed from her.”
“You don’t have any chickens.”
“What has that to do with anything?”
Tully shook his head. “It never stops, does it?
“Nope.”
“Anyway, I don’t think Bitsy had any idea Wilson intended to kill Baker, but she had to know afterward. She’s the one who can tie Wilson to the Baker murder.”
“And we have the gun that killed Baker,” Pap said.
“Yeah, and just as I thought, the gun turned out to be registered with Mike’s insurance company. He may have been a tough guy, but he had a soft spot for guns. He couldn’t bring himself to dump an original Colt Woodsman.”
“How did Bitsy get involved with these bad guys anyway?”
They came to the site of the avalanche. Tully pulled over and stopped. “I think Grady set her up. My theory is that he had been dating her for a month or two.”
“Bitsy wouldn’t date somebody like Grady!”
“You may not know it, Pap, but the pickings are pretty thin these days in the man department. She can tie Grady to the scheme and Mike, too. So I suspect Bitsy wasn’t long for this world either.”
Both of them got out and looked at the remains of the avalanche. Snow, rock, and trees had been cleared from the road and dumped over the edge at a place where the river curved out away from the mountain.
Tully said, “It was all the rock and trees in the avalanche that made me think this thing had been manufactured. I don’t know much about avalanches but my impression is they consist almost entirely of snow. Mike, Grady, and Lois had been planning this thing for quite a while. Mike had found some holes in a rock-slide up by the ridge and covered them up before the snow fell. Then he went back, uncovered them, and placed the ditching dynamite down in the rocks. When the dynamite went off, it ripped everything loose, snow, ice, rock, trees, everything. When it became clear the avalanche had been started by someone, I figured the main purpose was to kill us. My impression was that Blanche was the only person who knew when we would be coming along the road. Then I remembered that Lois had been sitting right next to her.”
“So Grady stopped the Sno-Cat up on the ridge, and he and Mike waited for us to come along. Mike set off the dynamite, and then Grady drove him out to the end of the ridge.”
“Yep. He could have used the night-vision glasses to make sure it was us.”
They got back in the Explorer. “So why did Grady kill Mike Wilson?” Pap asked.
“Greed,” Tully said. “Two million wasn’t enough for them. They decided to go for four. The three of them had conspired to kill Horace Baker for the key-man insurance. Then Mike probably mentioned he had key-man insurance, too. Lois decided four million dollars was better than two million. They would figure out later how to separate it from Blanche.”
“You don’t think Blanche was in on it then?” Pap said.
“No, even though she certainly had the motive. In any case, she would have been another victim before this thing was over. Lois probably had already separated her from a considerable sum. But even without the insurance money, I think Blanche has far more than she’ll ever need or want. That goes for DeWayne, too.”
“What! You think DeWayne is her lover?”
“Not her lover. Her son. He was born out of wedlock when she was a teenager. The father’s family took him and raised him.”
“Scraggs?”
“Yeah, some of the good Scraggs.”
“You think DeWayne knows?”
“Maybe not,” Tully said. “But I bet Blanche is taking him to the Caribbean with her. Probably intends to set him up with his own little beachfront bar. Sounds pretty good. I wish she was taking me.”
“Me, too!” Pap said. “So Lois put on Mike’s boots and made the tracks from the lodge to the river. And Grady picked her up in the jet boat.”
“I’m not so sure about that now.”
Pap stared at him. “You don’t think Grady picked up Lois in the boat?”
“Grady is stupid, all right, but I don’t think he’s that stupid. A person could get himself killed driving a boat up through those rapids.”
“That was my opinion. But the person making the tracks couldn’t get to the river and then float up into the air. Hey, here comes a sheriff’s vehicle.”
“It’s my CSI unit.”
Lurch pulled up alongside them and rolled down his window. “You got the murders all wrapped up, boss?”
“Pretty much, Lurch. Tomorrow the department will be back to normal.”
“I was afraid of that. So what is it you want me to check?”
“There’s a toboggan in the rental room of Grady’s shop. I think I detected some tiny spots of blood on it that should match Mike Wilson’s. I’m pretty sure Grady used that toboggan to haul Mike’s body to the river. He couldn’t have carried it.”
“Anything else?”
“Yeah, Cabin Three up on
the mountain is where Wilson was hit over the head. There’s a stain where I think his nose hit the floor. See if you can get a big enough sample to have his DNA in it.”
“By the way, boss, the state crime lab picked up both Wilson’s and Grady’s DNA on the same piece of evidence the cleaning lady took out of the cabin. That should nail Grady for the murder.”
“Great! See you later, Lurch.”
The CSI unit drove on up the road.
“What evidence is that?” Pap said.
“Sunflower-seed shells.”
“Sunflower-seed shells?”
“While Grady was waiting at the cabin for Mike to return from murdering Baker, he calmed his nerves by chewing sunflower seeds and blowing out the shells. When Mike fell and broke his nose, he splattered some blood on the shells. So we’ve got both his and Mike’s DNA on the same shells.”
Pap shook his head. “Technology is taking all the fun out of crime.”
“It has done that,” Tully said. “So what do you think of my crime solving, Pap?”
“Fair to middling. That’s how I had it figured all along. You can’t do better than that.”
54
TULLY DROPPED PAP OFF AT his house. Deedee ran out and gave the old man a big kiss. His cap actually flew off and landed in the snow. Deedee picked it up and slapped it back down on his head. Then she took him by the arm and led him up on the porch. Before going in the door, the old man turned and gave his son a grin. Tully thought maybe he could use a housekeeper himself.
The next morning, as usual, he found Herb sitting on the edge of Daisy’s desk. “That’s exactly where I left you, Herb,” he said. “How does Daisy get any work done with you around?”
“Bo! You’re back!” Daisy cried.
“I hate to admit it, boss,” Herb said, “but even I’m glad to see you.” He walked over and shook Tully’s hand.
Tully looked over in the corner of the briefing room. “Where’s Lurch?”
Daisy said, “He’s probably home sleeping.”
“I don’t allow Lurch to sleep. Call him up, Daisy, and get him down here. Where’s Pugh?”
“He went out to get breakfast.”
“I don’t allow Pugh to eat. Get him back here.”
He walked down to the women’s jail and asked the matron, Lulu Tate, if Lois was decent.
“About as decent as she gets,” Lulu said. “That broad has a really bad mouth on her. We got her into a nice orange jumpsuit and fixed her a nice breakfast this morning. Apparently she didn’t find the chunk she took out of Brian’s arm yesterday all that filling.”
“She bit him?”
“Yeah, but I disinfected him and bandaged him up. He’s pretty cute for a deputy, but he squeals like a pig when you pour disinfectant into a bite. You need to toughen up your deputies, Bo.”
“I’m working on it, Lulu. Bring Lois out here, will you? Put some cuffs on her first.”
“I should put a muzzle on her.” Lulu walked back to the cells and shortly returned with Lois, her hands cuffed behind her.
“They treating you all right, Lois?” Tully asked.
“What do you think?”
“Oh, yeah, that’s right, they put you in jail. Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln?”
“I’m glad you think this is so funny.”
“Actually, I don’t. Jail is about the most boring thing I can think of. Prison is almost a relief, when you get moved up to it. But you already know that.”
“It sounds kind of familiar,” she said.
“Here’s the deal, Lois. I’ve got you nailed six different ways from Sunday. If you help me confirm a few details, though, I’ll do what I can for you with the judge. You’ll probably still do twenty years, but maybe I can get you in a nicer prison and a job where you can help with the bookkeeping or something.”
Lois rolled her eyes. “What is it you want to know, Bo?”
“For one thing, what happened at Cabin Three. The way I’ve got it figured, you, Grady, and Mike arranged to meet at the cabin after the murder of Baker. Mike skied in about three that morning. He went into the cabin, filled you in on what happened, and at some point Grady hit him in the back of the head with a sap.”
“That’s about it. He wasn’t supposed to hit him so hard that it killed him, though. Grady is seriously stupid.”
“I know. You wanted Mike to live long enough to drown in the river. You had a pair of Mike’s rubber boots in the shop. You put them on and made the tracks from the Pout House to the river. You later removed Mike’s ski boots, and put the rubber boots on him. Then you loaded Mike on the toboggan in the rental room, and Grady hauled him up to the middle of the suspension bridge on the toboggan and threw him off. That’s why the flat track of the toboggan is lighter coming back over the bridge than it is going out.”
“What do you need me for, if you think you know it all?”
“I just need it confirmed.”
“You got it about right. But I didn’t know Grady and Mike were going to do any killing.”
“Sure. Okay, Lulu, you can take her back.”
“You promised to help me, Bo,” Lois yelled back at him as she was being led away.
“I never go back on my word, Lois. Also, keep in mind that neither deceased was greatly loved. You may even get an award for helping dispose of them.”
He pulled out Lulu’s chair and sat down in it. When the matron returned, he asked her to bring out Bitsy.
“You want her cuffed, Bo?”
“No, she’s harmless.”
Bitsy wasn’t nearly as cute as he remembered. Her orange jumpsuit was too big for her and her hair was a mess. He jumped up and offered her the chair. She sank into it.
“They treating you okay, Bitsy?”
“I guess,” she said. “I’ve never been in jail before.”
“Yes, you have,” Tully said. “Once you did a couple years for passing phony twenties.”
“Oh that?” she said.
“Yep. Anyway, if there is any possibility of your going straight, I may be able to get you out of this mess. I suspect you didn’t realize that Mike was going to shoot Horace Baker when you drove him over there.”
“I didn’t!”
“But you knew something was up.”
“Yeah.”
“Did Grady set you up for this?”
She nodded her head yes. “I was supposed to get a thousand dollars for picking Mike up, taking him to Baker’s, and then hauling him up to the Blight Mountain Lodge so he could hop on the ski lift. I work almost a month at Countryman’s for that much. But I’ve been going pretty straight since the counterfeit mess.”
“I’m glad to hear it, because I’m going to let you go, Bitsy, even though I’m aware that the next day you had to realize that Mike had killed Baker. Countryman’s will keep you on, I’ll make sure of that. So don’t try to run.”
“Gee thanks, Sheriff! I didn’t expect this.”
“I would do the same for any pretty woman. But you better not skip out on me, Bitsy. I need you to get up on the witness stand and tell the truth. If I have to hunt you down, you’ll be very, very sorry.”
“I’ll be good.”
“I hope so.”
After signing for Bitsy’s release, Tully walked over to the men’s jail. As usual, he created a considerable row among the inmates.
“Just making sure you’re all being treated humanely!” he yelled above the noise. That only increased the volume. Several of the inmates were dragging tin cups along the bars, something they had seen in prison movies. Stubb Speizer yelled, “Bo, you got to get me out of this cell with Lister Scragg. He’s killing me!”
“How come you’re not back in your own cell, Stubb?”
“Because Daisy is keeping that stupid dog in there!”
“What!” Tully said. “Clarence is supposed to be nonexistent by now.”
“Well, he ain’t! He’s still in my cell!”
Tully walked over and looked down at the little do
g. Clarence growled at him.
“See what I mean, Sheriff. I’m thrown in with Lister, and a dog gets a whole cell to himself!”
“Shut up, Stubb!” Then Tully yelled at the jailer. “Hank, find me a length of rope. I guess I have to take care of this myself.”
Tully walked into the briefing room dragging Clarence behind him. The little dog skidded along on his hindquarters.
“Stop, Bo!” Daisy cried. “You’re hurting him!”
“I’m not hurting him. If he would walk along like a decent animal, there wouldn’t be any problem at all.”
“What are you going to do with him?”
“Only what I asked you to have done, Daisy. Now I have to do it myself. You knew better than to leave this up to me.”
“But he’s so cute, Bo!”
“Daisy, we’ve been through the cute thing before. He bites people. He bites little old ladies. Townspeople hate him. Idiots shoot at him with high-powered rifles right in the middle of town. Worse, they miss! Somebody is going to get killed. Clarence has created a reign of terror around here for the last six months, and I’m putting an end to it.”
Daisy’s eyes welled up and she dug around for a Kleenex.
Lurch came through the door. He had big circles under his eyes and his hair was standing on end. Tully thought he looked better than usual. “What’s going on?” Lurch asked, looking around.
“Bo is going to kill Clarence!” wailed Daisy.
“Oh, that,” he said.
“You get the evidence I asked for, Lurch?”
“Yeah, boss. The drops on the toboggan in the rental room were blood, all right. I’ll get their DNA checked. The stain in Cabin Three was also blood. Might be able to get the DNA on that, too.”
“Good. By the way, Lurch, here’s something you’ll find amusing. I don’t think Grady used the inflatable boat to pick up Lois.”
“No!”
“Yes! I got to thinking about our trip up the river and decided that Grady would have thought it far too dangerous.”
“Don’t tell me any more, boss!”
“Perhaps you remember, Lurch, that the river was quite mild where the tracks were!”
Avalanche: A Sheriff Bo Tully Mystery (Sheriff Bo Tully Mysteries) Page 19