Winter Festival Murder

by Linnea West

I felt myself starting to sweat and I looked at the clock again. I'd told Lennie to meet me five minutes ago and he was nowhere in sight. My thoughts turned towards Max again. He hadn't talked to me since that night he got mad at me and I realized that I hadn't messaged him either. I wasn't sure what to say because Max was partially right; I did sometimes use him to get more information about cases the police were investigating. He also seemed to be right about me being immature, but that would take some time to work on.

  But I wasn't using him in a bad way. What I meant was that it wasn't the only reason I went out with Max. It was more of an added bonus to going out with a police officer. I could see his point, though. Maybe I was getting too into these mysteries and forgetting about the fact that they involved real people. I needed to try to scale things back a bit.

  Now I was sweltering in all of this outerwear besides feeling a bit embarrassed by how I had treated Max. I stripped off my jackets and scarf, trying to save myself from melting. If I got too comfortable in my outdoor gear inside, I'd be freezing cold during our snowshoe hike. That is, if we were going on the hike. Lennie was still nowhere in sight and the hike was going to leave in about five minutes.

  I stood up from the armchair, resigned to the fact that the hike was just not going to happen today. That was alright though. I needed to figure out how to apologize to Max. I started to unbutton my snow pants.

  "Where's your jacket? We need to go. We are going to be late."

  I turned and saw Lennie coming down the stairs, fully dressed in his outdoor gear. He looked fully annoyed to find me undressing which was rich coming from someone who was coming down 15 minutes late.

  "We're mostly going to be late because you are running late," I said as I wound my scarf back around my neck. "How are we going to know where to hike if they've left without us?"

  "I don't think it's that kind of hike," Lennie said as I put my jackets on. "I think you can go with the big group if you want. But I also think they have the trail marked for anyone who wants to hike it without the group."

  I rolled my eyes as I jammed my hat on my head. I grabbed my mittens and the keys to the station wagon. My phone was already in one of my inner pockets. I wasn't sure I could even find it in all of my layers, but I wouldn't need it.

  "Let's go," I said. I whipped open the front door and plowed my way out into the cold with Lennie hot on my heels.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  If I had thought ahead, I would have gone out and started the station wagon while I was waiting for Lennie to come downstairs. I guess I was kind of hoping it meant I wouldn't have to go face Max at the snowshoe hike. Instead, we were now stuck sitting in a freezing cold car. I made a note to ask for an automatic car starter to be put in for either my birthday or next Christmas, not that it would help us now.

  The cloudy puffs of air that came out of our mouths hung in the air in front of our faces. At least the windshield didn't need to be scraped this morning. I assumed that someone had already done it for me and I felt a sudden rush of thankfulness for my family.

  Lennie and I sat in silence for a few minutes while we waited for the car to warm up a little bit before heading out. I glanced at the clock and saw that we were already five minutes past the meeting time for the hike. Lennie better be right about them marking out the trail for those of us that can't manage to be on time. At least I wouldn't have to worry about being too close to Max.

  Finally, I felt like I had let my poor, old car warm up enough to not immediately die in the cold weather, so we headed towards the snowshoe hike. The hike was taking place in a big park that was within the town boundaries, but was so large that it was useful for things like this snowshoe hike. It was situated next to the old country club that had closed down a few years ago and now the old golf holes had kind of been tacked onto the side of the park almost as an unofficial extra green space.

  As I drove around the lake towards the park, I could see Lennie shifting around in his seat next to me. It was like he couldn't stop moving and I wondered what was wrong with him. But like always with Lennie, I didn't know whether I should say something or not. I always seemed to pick the wrong one.

  Finally, out of sheer curiosity, I decided to say something.

  "What's wrong?" I asked as I kept my eyes on the road. I figured that would help the conversation a little bit. "Why are you moving around so much?"

  "I just can't get comfortable," Lennie growled.

  "Why do you have to be comfortable?" I asked. "It isn't like we are driving that far."

  "Just shut it and drive," Lennie said. "We're already late."

  I grumbled to myself. We were late because of him, but I decided not to remind him of that. I was having a grouchy enough day and poking the bear was not going to make that any better.

  The streets were a little icy and as I tried to turn into the parking lot of the park, I slid sideways a bit up and over the curb as I turned the steering wheel into the same direction as the sliding back end of the station wagon.

  "Ope, sorry 'bout that," I said. It didn't matter how many sand bags you put in the back of this old station wagon, it was still going to slide around on the winter roads. I was used to it by now. I had to get used to it if I ever wanted to go anywhere during the winter.

  Lennie just scowled harder, which I didn't think was possible until I watched his face shrivel up more.

  I pulled the station wagon into a spot and put it in park. The parking lot was full of cars, but strangely there didn't seem to be anyone there. In front of the car was a large building that was rented out for parties and other events. I assumed we would need to go inside there to check in before we started the hike. But before I could shut the car off, Lennie stopped me.

  "Hold on," he said. "I wanted to ask you something. It's about Gerald's, umm, death."

  "You mean the murder?" I asked. Lennie's eyes darted around the car and I felt like maybe I shouldn't have brought up the word murder if he was going to act so weird. Maybe he just felt guilty about having threatened Gerald. Or maybe, and this was more likely in my mind, he was more upset about the medallion hunt being cut short and figured that maybe if Gerald's death was solved fast enough, the hunt would be back on. That would explain why he extended his reservation at the B&B. "What did you want to know?"

  "Well, did you ever solve it?" he asked like it was something I had just figured out in my spare time one day and had told nobody about.

  "I wouldn't say I solved it, but I have a strong feeling that I know who did it," I said, narrowing my eyes at him. If he was going to be a jerk to me, I was going to make it seem like I knew exactly who had done it. Maybe that would show him and he'd treat me a little better. I pushed back the thought that this may be the immaturity that Max was talking about in action.

  "You know who did it," Lennie said slowly and evenly.

  "Sure I do," I said. "In fact, I was planning on going to the police later today to tell them what I knew."

  The air was still inside the car and I felt like time had slowed down. There didn't seem to be anyone else here. Were we wrong about where the snowshoe hike started? How come no one was here?

  "I wouldn't do that if I were you," Lennie said. "It might be dangerous for you."

  Lennie was shifting around in his seat again. This time, I looked over and one of the large cargo pockets on the outside of his coat fell open and I could see two things inside: a gold coin and a handgun.

  "Is that the medallion from the medallion hunt?" I asked slowly. Suddenly the car felt very warm and very small. If time was slow before, it felt like it had stopped now.

  "Yes it is Tessa," Lennie said. He was staring at me and his eyes were wild. "Sorry to spoil your surprise, but I was the one who found the medallion. And I can't let you turn me in."

  My mind was racing a million miles a minute and I just couldn't seem to put any sort of plan into place for myself. Should I try to jump out of the car? Should I try to drive somewhere? Before I could make a decision, Lenni
e made the decision for me.

  "Here is what we are going to do," Lennie said. He casually put his hand on the gun, almost as a warning to me. "We are going to get out of the car and join the snowshoe hike."

  I started to protest, but Lennie stopped me by tightening his hand on his gun.

  "Ah ah ah, no arguing," he said, waving the pointer finger on his other hand in my face. "I have a plan and you are going to do as I say. I'm a pretty good shot, so don't try anything."

  He opened his door and stepped out, motioning me to hurry up. I shut the car off and got out, grabbing my snowshoes out of the back of the car for us. Lennie jerked his head towards the park building in front of us and I started that way.

  I had a realization that Max was the one leading the snowshoe hike. If I could find him, I could get his help. Maybe they hadn't left yet. Maybe they were all inside preparing for the hike. Now I just needed to stay calm and figure out where Max and the rest of the hike were. No matter how upset Max might still be, he would help me.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  I pushed open the double doors of the park building. The main room was decorated in a rustic cabin style and was large enough to handle gatherings like graduation parties, birthday parties, or even a small wedding reception. On one side, there was a kitchenette with a large island counter where currently a large coffee urn and a picked-over tray of cookies was set up. On the other side was a wall of windows except for a large fireplace with a roaring fire that was centered in the middle. Dotted all through the rest of the room were large, round tables.

  I was hoping I would see people bustling around getting ready for the hike. I was especially hoping to see Max getting ready. It didn't matter that he was mad at me, I knew that if he was inside, I would be able to signal to him that something was wrong and that I needed help.

  Instead, the building was empty except for Donna, who was cleaning up some paper cups that were sitting on table around the room and little Bobby, who was running around with a toy car in his hand, lost in his own world of childhood.

  A sudden wave of guilt washed over me. Why had I thought it was a good idea to lead a killer with a gun into a place with innocent people, including children? Of all the times that I had wished that I'd stopped to think, this seemed like it was the worst one of all.

  I took a deep breath. I needed to clear my head because the only one to blame here was Lennie. It wouldn't have been a good idea to go against what he was saying, so I didn't have much choice, did I? I made a quick decision to just try to plow forward with my plan to get Max's help.

  "Hi Donna," I said. I tried to sound casual, but I ended up sounding like I was dementedly happy. "Where are all of the snowshoe hikers?"

  "Oh you just missed them," she said with a smile, her hands full of paper cups. "But if you hurry and get your snowshoes on, you might be able to catch up or at least follow along from a distance. Hold on, let me see."

  Donna walked over to the wall of windows and glanced out. Bobby was playing some sort of game with himself and as I watched him happily playing, my mind flashed back to the gun in Lennie's pocket. I needed to get Lennie out of here and away from Bobby.

  "Oh yeah, see there they are," Donna said, pointing outside. I joined her next to the window.

  She was right. I could just see the group of snowshoers across part of the field that was next to the park building. If we could get our snowshoes on fast enough, maybe we could catch them. The only problem would be that I'd never actually been snowshoeing before. Oh, and the gun was also a problem, I suppose.

  "Let's go Lennie," I said, grabbing my snowshoes and heading out the door. I wanted to get Lennie out of there as fast as I possibly could. Thankfully, Lennie followed me out into the cold. The wind was starting to pick up. I just hoped that the storm would hold off for just a little while.

  Snow had started to fall and I took a seat on a park bench outside to figure out how to get the snowshoes on. My dad showed me how to do put them on correctly and I hoped that I would be able to get them on fast enough to get out of here and catch up with Max.

  I jammed my boots down onto the snowshoes and tightened the straps around them as fast as I could, feeling grateful that it was easier than I remembered. Lennie plopped down next to me on the bench and set his snowshoes down on the snow in front of him. He slowly started to strap his feet onto them. I couldn't tell if he was doing it to annoy me or because he just didn't know what he was doing.

  Finally I dropped to my knees on the snow and strapped them to his feet myself. If we didn't get out of here soon, we would never catch up with the group. But I couldn't just leave Lennie behind. I have no idea if he is a good shot or not, but I wasn't going to risk it now that I had snowshoes strapped to my feet.

  The last of the hiking group was just rounding a corner behind a row of pine trees. We needed to get a move on or we would never catch them. If I could at least get closer to them, I figured I could try to get Max's attention.

  "Come on, let's get a move on," I said.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  I turned and promptly fell on my face into a large drift of snow. My legs tangled together and while trying to untangle them, I managed to kick myself in the shins a few times. I could feel bruises instantly start to bloom on both legs. Okay, so snowshoeing may be a bit harder than I thought.

  But I couldn't give up hope. If I didn't at least try to catch up with Max, I would be stuck with a killer here at the park building and I couldn't do that to Donna and Bobby. So I did the only thing I could: I awkwardly picked myself up and out of the snow.

  Lennie was still sitting on the bench snickering at both my fall and my awkward attempts to get up. I would have gotten angry if he hadn't been carrying a gun, but instead I just scowled to myself as I brushed the snow off of my front.

  "Let's go," I growled again. Lennie just snickered again, but at least he stood up from the bench this time.

  I started out again, this time looking down at my feet to make sure I wasn't stepping on my own snowshoes. It was odd, but after a few steps I started to get the hang of it. If I kept part of my mind on the snowshoes, I just might be able to catch up with those hikers.

  Behind me, Lennie was taking his sweet time. I couldn't help but be a little annoyed, both at Lennie for threatening me and at myself for stupidly walking myself into this whole trap.

  "Come on," I said. "You're going too slow."

  "Oh I'm sorry," he said sarcastically. "I forgot you wanted to come to catch up with your cop boyfriend. Let me just speed up so that you can tell him that I'm the killer and I'm carrying a gun."

  Darn, he had picked up on that right away. I was hoping he'd be so focused on me that he wouldn't figure out what I was trying to do. But the one plan I'd thought up was now totally blown. I needed to just keep moving forward while I tried to figure something else out.

  Lennie burst out laughing again behind me. It was a loud, gut laugh that immediately got on my nerves. I hadn't even fallen down, what did he possibly have to laugh about? I tried to wait it out, but he just kept going until I whirled around.

  "What?" I shouted. "What is so funny to you?"

  "Oh, I was just thinking again about how I foiled your little plot," Lennie said. "You totally thought I was going to let us catch up with that group where you could tell that cop all about me. It is just hilarious. You know, you aren't as smart as you try to be."

  I started to boil with anger inside. It was one thing when I thought I wasn't smart. It was quite another when someone else tried to tell me that. Especially because it was Lennie's own stupidity that had gotten him here in the first place.

  Instead of saying something that might get me shot, I turned and plowed forward. The snow and wind seemed like it was starting to pick up but besides having a cold face, the rest of me was quite warm. Score one for learning to layer up.

  The bank of trees that the hiking group had turned behind was coming up and I couldn't wait to round that corner and figure out
a way to get Max's attention. The line of trees had been planted too close together originally and now they had gotten so big that they were all intertwined in a row. I couldn't see through the branches to see how fast or slow the rest of the group was going. I just needed to pick up speed and get around that corner.

  I stumbled again, getting so excited that I stepped on my own snowshoe. My body pitched forward and my arms flailed wildly. I managed to keep my balance but decided I needed to just focus on staying up right and making it around the corner.

  Lennie laughed again from behind me and I couldn't ignore it this time. His laugh wasn't a spontaneous one that you just can't quite stifle. It was loud and braying, meant to annoy.

  "What exactly is so funny?" I asked. "I've never been on snowshoes before today."

  "This is the first time?" Lennie said, howling with laughter. "Oh that is rich. Out of all the times to try out snowshoeing, you picked to do it with a man with a gun. Hilarious!"

  "I take it you've been snowshoeing before?" I asked.

  "I've snowshoed my entire life," Lennie said, puffing up his chest. "I grew up way out in the country and my family loved to snowshoe. Sometimes if a big enough storm came, it was the only way to get anywhere. We would snowshoe into town to get more supplies. Some of us didn't grow up soft, like you."

  Leave it to Lennie to be Mr. Pioneer with his snowshoes. I ignored him, stomping on in the snow. I couldn't let him get my goat because he was definitely the one with the upper hand right now.

  The wind was picking up and every time it hit me, it was an ice cold blast to the face. I wish I would have looked closer at the weather forecast before we came out. The sky was dark gray and I wondered if the storm was coming sooner than the meteorologist had originally said. But there was definitely a different kind of storm brewing around that line of trees. I just needed to plow on and get there.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  I was almost around the corner, past the trees. My hope bubbled up. I was almost to safety. If I could just get around there and get Max's help, this would be all over with. Lennie was about five snowshoe steps behind me. No matter how fast I was going, Lennie would pick up the pace and stay right with me. I guess when you grow up snowshoeing, it is much easier to keep a steady pace.