Snow Place to Die

by Mary Daheim

  Ava didn’t respond. She seemed to sink into deep thought, her eyes on the brightly striped rug beneath her feet.

  “My cousin’s right,” Judith chimed in. “It was too late for Nadia, which is why she killed herself. She had nothing but Frank—and OTIOSE. That was her family, her gang, where she belonged. She was utterly devoted to him, as much as any wife is to a husband. In fact, she acted just like an old-fashioned wife, waiting on him, fetching and carrying, soothing, selfless. If his horrible schemes were uncovered—as Nadia knew they would be—he’d face disgrace and ruin. He’d go to prison, and she’d lose him. Nadia couldn’t bear that. Nor could she face what might happen to OTIOSE, which was her real home. Don’t make the same mistake as Nadia did, Ava. Find a life—a real life—while you still have the chance.”

  Ava was still staring at the carpet. “I have no family here. Everyone is in Samoa. But I have some friends outside the company. Maybe I could start to…” Her voice trailed off.

  “We need your help,” Judith said abruptly. “We have to trap Frank.”

  Ava’s head jerked up. “What are you saying? There’s no evidence? I thought you had…”

  Judith slowly shook her head. “We have next to nothing. These were virtually bloodless crimes. There will be fingerprints, yes, but not just Frank’s. We’ve all been in and out of the guest rooms, either in groups or as individuals. For all we know, Frank wore gloves. There may have been a struggle with Ward—I suspect there was. We found a Bell System service pin on the floor in his room, which may have come loose when he tried to fight Frank off. But that doesn’t prove anything. None of it does. All of his victims trusted him—he was the boss. I imagine Andrea drank whatever Frank gave her without a qualm. No doubt he told her it would be good for her. Whatever Frank said was law. It’s the way you corporate people think.”

  “Good Lord.” Ava took another sip of juice, then rose from the chair. “What do you want me to do?”

  “First,” Judith said, also standing up, “we’re going to call the park service. Their law enforcement personnel have jurisdiction at Mountain Goat. Then we’re going to restage that little scene with you and Frank in the conference room. Are you game?”

  Ava grasped her throat. “I…I don’t know. It was terrifying at the time. Just now, before you stopped me, I was about to…But I really…” She lowered her face into her hands and began to sob.

  Judith bit her lip. Ava, like the rest of the OTIOSE executives, had been stripped of all surface emotions. The weekend had pared them down to the bone. Judith saw the bruises on Ava’s throat, and understood how deeply the young woman had been wounded.

  “Never mind,” Judith said. “I’ll do it.”

  “Whoa!” Renie grabbed her cousin by the arm. “Don’t you dare! It’s not your fight!”

  “Yes, it is,” Judith said grimly. “I threw down the gauntlet. Let’s go.”

  Renie was still arguing when the three women reached the kitchen. Judith, however, had made up her mind. “I know, I know. It’s a dirty job, but someone’s…”

  “Why you?” Renie demanded. “What about me? I’ve got the corporate connection. Let me stick my neck out for once. Literally.”

  “No. Absolutely not.” Judith picked up the phone and dialed the park service number. “Let’s see how fast they can get here.”

  A woman, instead of a recording, answered the park service phone this time. She sounded flabbergasted when Judith informed her what had happened at Mountain Goat Lodge. It was clear that she initially thought Judith was playing a practical joke.

  “Look,” Judith said, at her most earnest, “if you send some of your police personnel, they’ll be able to see the bodies for themselves. Or is it impossible to get someone into Mountain Goat until the snow melts some more?”

  “Of course it’s not impossible,” the woman huffed. “We can have someone there within the hour.”

  Judith frowned into the receiver. “You can? But the first floor here is still mostly snowed in.”

  “Drifts,” the woman said, not sounding quite as suspicious. “The lodge is out in the open. There’s no real wind-break. It’s a problem, all right, but the caretaker and the staff should have seen to it.”

  It was pointless to try to explain that the lodge was off-limits to anyone but the conferees. “So the roads are passable?” Judith inquired.

  “For the most part,” the woman responded. “The highway crews have been working through the weekend. How else,” she added on a note of exasperation, “do you think the phone company got through?”

  “The phone company?” Judith echoed.

  “Yes. I understand they restored telephone service late yesterday. Didn’t you see or hear them?”

  Judith had. Noise. Lights. Laughter. Real phone company people doing real work. The outsiders had been insiders. Even as the highly paid OTIOSE executives had created mayhem at Mountain Goat Lodge, the humble craft technicians had come through. Maybe, Judith thought, the spirit of service was still alive, even if some of the officers weren’t.

  Judith finally convinced the woman to send at least two park service police officers and a couple of rangers to the lodge. While still dubious, the woman had finally allowed that it wouldn’t hurt to check on the situation, but it might be up to an hour before the personnel arrived at the scene of the alleged crimes.

  “We’ll have to stall a bit,” Judith said to Renie and Ava, then glanced at the digital clock. It was going on five. “Maybe we should get dinner.”

  “I can’t cook,” Ava declared. “Shall I set the table?”

  Before Judith could answer, Margo charged into the kitchen. “Ava! Where have you been? We’ve been worried sick!”

  “I’ve been with them,” Ava replied, gesturing at Judith and Renie. “How’s…everything?”

  Margo blinked at the cousins but didn’t question their liberation. “Awful,” she replied, making a face. “Frank and that horrid Mannheimer are drunk as skunks. If you ask me, that caretaker is an alcoholic. Gene and Max have hardly said a word in the last half-hour, and Russell just stares off into space.”

  Judith frowned. The last thing she wanted was to have Frank pass out. “We’ll make coffee,” she said quickly. “Ava, Margo, you start pouring it down all of those men as soon as it’s ready. And keep them away from the liquor.”

  By five-thirty, Margo reported that Frank and Rudy were still drunk, but in upright positions. Refilling the men’s coffee mugs, she hurried back to the lobby.

  Grimly, Judith turned to Renie. “You’re going to have to let the park personnel in through the second floor. They can use Mannheimer’s ladder. I’ll be with Frank in his room. Remember, it’s opposite ours—the other corner room.”

  Renie nodded. “I don’t like this. What if they don’t come?”

  Judith grimaced. “Then you’ll have to rescue me.”

  “Oh, swell!” Renie twirled around the kitchen, hands clasped to her head. “How do I do that?”

  “With Margo’s gun,” Judith said, pointing to the suede bag that Margo had left on the counter before carrying out the coffee refills. “Take it now.”

  “Oh, good grief!” Renie reeled some more.

  “Do it quick, before she comes back.”

  With a big sigh, Renie opened the suede bag and removed the handgun. “I haven’t fired a gun since my dad took me target shooting forty-odd years ago. It was up at the family cabin, and I blew a hole through Uncle Corky’s picnic ham.”

  “Better than blowing a hole through Uncle Corky.” Judith gazed at the gun. “Is it really loaded?”

  Renie checked the chambers. “Yes, ma’am. And so’s Frank. Now what?”

  Judith squared her shoulders. “Now we nail him. This may be our finest hour.”

  She didn’t say that it could also be their last.

  NINETEEN

  FRANK KILLEGREW WAS sulking. “Sh’almost shix,” he mumbled. “Who drinksh coffee at shix? Time for martoonis and shotch. Cocktail time, co
ckroach hour, cock-a-doodle-doo!”

  “Chicken if you don’t,” Judith said with forced cheer. “Frank, I’d like to talk to you for a minute. Do you mind? Dinner’s almost ready.”

  “I’m the cock of the walk,” Killegrew declared, trying to get up off the sofa. “I can do anything I damned well…” He fell back, but was given a hand by Max.

  “There you go, Frank,” Max said. “I think you’ve got a customer with a complaint. Turn on the service-is-us charm, okay? You big dumb moron,” Max added under his breath.

  “Customer? Complaint?” Glassy-eyed, Killegrew gazed at Judith. “So what’s the problem, little lady? Not enough lines? Interference on toll calls? Equipment not up to Western Electric standards? Well, let me tell you, ever since we started letting those little yellow people over there in Chinkville build phones, we’ve had…”

  “Frank!” Margo screamed right into the CEO’s ear. “Stop it! You’re the most bigoted man I ever met!”

  “Hey!” Killegrew whirled on Margo. “I hired you, didn’t I? And Gene and Ava and…and a bunch of other ethnic types. Get off my back before I fire your scrawny Asian ass!”

  “I already quit!” Margo yelled back. “You’re a disgrace, Frank! You embarrass everyone, especially yourself!”

  “Awww…” Killegrew waved a hand in disgust. “Got to see what this little lady wants. Need to set things straight. Service, that’s what counts. Where’s m’ slide rule?”

  Judith finally got Killegrew into the elevator. She was filled with doubts about her proposed plan. In the CEO’s current inebriated state, she wondered if he’d even remember his terrible crimes, let alone be incited to act in a manner that would incriminate him.

  “I thought,” Judith said in an uncertain voice as they moved slowly down the second-floor corridor, “we might speak privately in your room. I’d prefer not to have anyone overhear what I have to say.”

  “Privacy,” Killegrew murmured, his speech no longer slurred. “Confidential. No letters to the editor, no complaints to the state utilities commission, no calls to the FCC. That’s the way it ought to be, just one-on-one, as if you were a real person.”

  “Yes,” Judith agreed, though Killegrew’s ramblings weren’t uppermost in her mind. “Here we go—your room, right?”

  “My room. My corner room. My beds. My…stuff.” He staggered inside, allowing Judith to close the door behind them.

  “Well.” Judith put her hands together in a prayerful attitude. “Do you remember when my cousin and I told you about our insurance?”

  “Insurance?” Killegrew’s expression was puzzled. “Wait a minute—are you selling insurance?”

  Judith shook her head. This wasn’t going to be easy, she thought. Maybe she had miscalculated. “I’m speaking of the insurance we have regarding the killer. We know who has killed all these people, Mr. Killegrew.” She paused, taking a deep breath. “We know it was you.”

  Frank Killegrew’s gray eyes narrowed. And then he laughed. It was a hearty sound, full-bodied and rich. “That’s good! I killed Andrea and Leon and Ward! That’s damned good! Ha-ha!”

  “You left out Barry.” Judith’s tone was solemn.

  “Barry?” Briefly, Killegrew again looked puzzled. “Oh, that clerk. He was queer. I don’t get it. Why do people want to be queer?”

  Judith wasn’t about to explain homosexuality to Frank Killegrew. Indeed, she was beginning to think she couldn’t explain anything to him. “You didn’t kill Nadia,” she said, hoping to strike close to the heart. “She killed herself because she couldn’t bear to see what would happen to you when you were found out. She really loved you, Frank. And, in your own weird way, I think you loved her.”

  “Nadia.” Killegrew spoke the name with a certain reverence. “What’ll I do without her?”

  “Life, with no possibility of parole,” Judith retorted. “You’re crazy, Frank, drunk on power and prestige.”

  Killegrew tipped his head to one side. “Well…I am a little drunk. But you’re the crazy one.” He held the slide rule in one hand and tapped it against his leg as his gray eyes hardened. “Your insurance isn’t worth ten cents. Where’s your proof?”

  With a flash of insight, Judith glanced at the slide rule. “In your hand. You used that stupid slide rule to garrote Barry and Ward by twisting the leather thong and the belt around their necks. Oh, I’ll admit it would be impossible to prove in court. But circumstantial evidence is admissible, Frank. You’ll be charged and brought to trial. Any hope you’ve had of staying on as CEO is doomed. The other members of the board will vote you out even before you’re due to retire. It’s over, Frank. You’re cooked.”

  “Uh-uh.” Killegrew swung his head from side to side, and suddenly he looked quite sober. It dawned on Judith that maybe the wily CEO hadn’t been drunk in the first place. “You’re cooked,” Killegrew roared, raising the slide rule and starting to bring it down on Judith’s head.

  Judith ducked, feeling the slide rule cut into the air above her. Killegrew was a big, powerful man in more ways than one. Judith knew she couldn’t elude him for very long. Where were the park rangers?

  “Coz!” she yelled as Killegrew swung again and she felt her hair being ruffled.

  The door burst open. Two national park service rangers stood on the threshold, their weapons drawn. Killegrew turned around, then dropped the slide rule. “Thank God!” he shouted. “This woman was trying to kill me!”

  “Let’s all calm down,” said the older and taller of the rangers. “What’s going on here?”

  Killegrew moved swiftly to the two men, putting a hand on each of their shoulders. “Frank Killegrew, president and CEO of OTIOSE. By God, I’m glad to see you! This woman is a crazed customer who thinks that Martians have invaded her telephone system. It happens all the time. Take her away, boys!”

  The taller officer, whose name tag read “R. Westervelt,” stared at Judith. “Who are you?” Westervelt asked.

  “Judith Flynn, the caterer. But I…”

  “The caterer!” Killegrew roared with laughter. “You see—these people will use any excuse to come after the phone company! My God, we’ve been a target of every crank and crackpot for years! If your life is all screwed up and you’re playing with a half a deck, go after the phone company! It’s an easy target, we’re under government scrutiny! Would you like to see our nut file? It’s full of people like her!”

  Westervelt turned to his partner, a square-built young man with crinkly red hair. “Nunnally, we’ve got a situation.”

  Nunnally nodded. “Didn’t somebody mention bodies?”

  Returning his gun to its holster, Westervelt looked at Judith. “On the phone, someone referred to possible homicides. Where are the victims?”

  “All over the…” Judith began, but was interrupted by Killegrew.

  “Victims? Now, now,” he bellowed, shaking a finger at Judith who was trying to peer into the hall in hopes of catching sight of Renie, “that’s an exaggeration, isn’t it? We’ve had a couple of nasty accidents. Look, fellows,” he continued, putting an arm around each of the officers, “you don’t have to get mixed up in this. I’ve already got a call in to the chief of police in town. He’s flying back from Hawaii, and he’ll get everything straightened out. We may be on your turf, but it isn’t really your responsibility. Why make trouble for yourselves? Eh?” He gave each of the officers a nudge.

  “Well…” Westervelt looked again at Nunnally. “This is our jurisdiction.”

  “So?” Killegrew seemed amused. “You’re in the business of stolen skis and drunken picnickers and people who pick wildflowers and attacks by bad-tempered bears. This is phone company business, big city stuff, and we’ll sort it out with the chief.” Killegrew winked. “He’s a pal—know what I mean?”

  Westervelt’s long face was a mask of uncertainty. “That’s…fine, but we still need to check out any complaints…”

  “Complaints!” Killegrew threw his head back and roared with laughter. “That�
�s it! Complaints! You can’t get half as many as I do! See here, fellows, we’ll turn this poor soul over to our p.r. vice president and get everything squared away. Ms. Chang knows how to handle these people. Now how about coming down to the lobby and having an adult beverage or two?”

  Westervelt cleared his throat. “Well…sorry, we can’t do that, sir. We’re on duty. But maybe we should talk to the others.”

  Killegrew slapped Westervelt on the back. “Good idea! They’ll set you straight.” Halfway to the door he stopped and turned back to Judith. “What about her? Shouldn’t you arrest her now before she does something really dangerous?”

  The officers exchanged dubious glances. “Well…” Westervelt scratched an ear. “We really should search the lodge in case the homicide story is true. Meanwhile, are you pressing charges against this woman, sir?”

  “You bet!” Killegrew snapped his fingers. “Assault, attempted murder, whatever it takes! My God, I’m lucky to be alive!”

  Judith bridled. “Wait a minute! This is absurd! He’s the one who tried to attack me! He’s the one who murdered four people and caused the death of another one! He’s a maniac, a psychotic, a man without a conscience!” Frantically, Judith tried to look out into the hall. Where the hell was Renie?

  Killegrew was chuckling indulgently. “You see? She’s raving. They always do. Come on fellows, let’s put this plane in the hangar. Haul her away, and we’ll keep in touch.”

  Killegrew started to leave the room, but Westervelt detained him. “Sir,” Westervelt said in a deferential tone, “hold on just a minute. We have two other rangers downstairs. Let’s wait here for them. They can take the prisoner to our vehicle.”

  The CEO rocked impatiently on his heels, the slide rule protruding from his back pocket. “What?” Killegrew frowned. “Oh, yes, why not? If there’s been any trouble around here, she caused it.”

  “Shall I cuff her?” Nunnally asked, reaching for his belt where a pair of handcuffs dangled.