A Christmas to Die For_Mrs. A 1

by Kristine Frost

  “Well, I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary, but I probably wouldn’t because I didn’t know them well. They were upset about the man in the plaid coat. He had nearly knocked them over on the zigzag, but they didn’t seem worried or unhappy.”

  “Did you notice what the girls were doing when you left?” Ruth asked.

  They told me that they were going back into the Big Room. They went through it yesterday, but they wanted to check out some of the formations. They asked me a lot of questions for their project. I made a few suggestions about some formations that might make their presentation more spectacular and showy. They were going to take some pictures. When I left they went back into the Big Room.”

  “Back into the Big Room,” Ruth and Duncan said together. “They had been in the Big Room before?”

  Chapter 12

  Carlsbad Caverns

  “They had started down the trail toward the Big Room and then decided that they were hungry, so they turned around and went back to the lunchroom. That’s when I talked to them.”

  Inspector Lepley scratched his head, then was silent for a few moments. “I think that’s all. I really appreciate your ability to think and remember. Those are rare traits in this day and age.

  Evens blushed a little and mumbled, “Thank you. I’m glad I could help you a little. I hope you can find what happened to those girls.”

  Lepley said, “Please don’t talk to anyone, especially the press, about what you saw. Don’t tell your wife or your girlfriend either.”

  “I don’t have a wife or a girlfriend and I don’t live with my mother so I can’t tell her. I won’t talk to anyone.” He promised them.

  Ruth said, “None of us asked you if you overheard what the two men were saying. Did you hear anything at all?”

  “Well, not much. They talked really softly even when they were arguing. I could hear snatches. “Words like ‘well you’d better’ or ‘you can’t make me’.” The one statement that the murdered man said that I could hear was: ‘No, I won’t and you can’t make me.’ Then the plaid coat man grabbed his arm and began arguing with him. He was gesturing wildly with his arm and that was when he nearly knocked over one of the girls as they tried to get around them. That was what the girls were so upset about. The plaid coat man said something to them and they turned and walked over to a bench and sat down and waited until the two men got further down the zigzag.”

  Lepley said, “Did the girls happen to mention if they’d overheard anything the men said?”

  “No. The thing that bothered them was the plaid coat man hissed at them to get lost when he hit the blond girl with his hand. He didn’t even apologize. I guess that shook her up.”

  Mrs. A nodded, “It doesn’t take much to upset her since her father’s death.”

  Lepley said, “If nobody has any other questions, we’ll let you get back to work.”

  Evans nodded and started walking up the incline toward a group of tourists that were clustering around the Baby Hippo formation.

  They continued their tour of the Caverns, following in the footsteps of the murdered man and the kidnapped girls.

  “Smart young man,” Mrs. A whispered as they walked on. “I suppose it would be a miracle if they were all like that.”

  “Don’t build up your hopes, Mrs. A.,” Duncan said, “Very few people are that intelligent or that observant and the intelligent ones aren’t observant and those few who are observant can’t always think.”

  “We’re lucky to get one on a case. Most of my witnesses would have described the one girl as maybe a blond or well, perhaps she had light brown hair. She was wearing a black, or maybe, a dark brown or perhaps a navy blouse or maybe it was a dress. I just don’t remember.”

  Mrs. A sighed. “I’ll have to be more observant. I never realized how handicapped the police are when they have to depend on witnesses for their evidence.”

  She turned to Connelly. “Where are we on the map?”

  “That huge rock there is called Iceberg Rock and this lake is Green Lake.”

  She looked at the massive rock that towered above her. I thought that was part of the cave. It makes you wonder how big the Caverns were when it fell.”

  “Most of it is hidden. National Park Service geologists estimate that nearly seven-eighths of it is underground. Only the tip is showing which is why it is called Iceberg Rock.

  They passed through a narrow opening. “This is the Keyhole which opens into the Kings Palace area. I have to keep rangers here because we only let people go through on tours. The ground here is a very gentle slope and there are so many small fragile stalagmites and stalagmites, not to mention helicities that can be broken if someone touches them. My predecessors allowed a lot of damage to happen that can’t be repaired.” He shook his head. “For some reason, most people feel an urge to touch things that they’ve been told not to touch.”

  “Human nature.” Mrs. A said. She stopped and looked up at the ceiling and the walls as they entered the Queen’s Chamber. “What incredible, fantastic beauty. I wish I could have seen it under more pleasant circumstances.”

  “Well, you still seem to be enjoying it,” Inspector Duncan said rather maliciously.

  Mrs. A turned on him. Slowly, she said, “You think I’m a rich, callous, old bat. You--”

  “I don’t,” Duncan protested.

  “I can tell what you think by the way you act, but I want you to know that I feel all that has happened very much. The one girl is my granddaughter, after all.” Her voice broke and she strangled a sob.

  “But I decided that I was going to help get my granddaughter and her friends back or if they’re dead, then I’d see that their murderers are brought to justice. I pretend to be hard-nose and if it will help Antonia, I can be as hard as an industrial diamond and as persistent as an IRS tax collector.”

  Inspector Duncan flushed a deep red. “Sorry,” he muttered.

  The tense situation was eased when a tall, skinny ranger joined them. Mrs. A. looked him over critically and decided that she didn’t like what she saw. He had a thin, pimply, weaselly face. His eyes were set too close together and he never looked anyone in the face. His uniform was rumpled and had a grimy appearance. His hands and nails were dirty.

  Superintendent Connelly said, “You met Robert Smith, yesterday. Smith, Inspector Lepley has some more questions for you.”

  “I don’t know nothin’.” He protested. “I’ve been stuck in this hole all mornin’.”

  “Why don’t you listen to the questions before you answer, Mr. Smith?” Lepley said in a cold voice.

  “Oh all right. Ask your questions.” He snarled.

  “Did you notice two men, one wearing a bright green plaid coat, the other was wearing a white shirt and jeans?”

  “No.”

  “No?” Lepley asked in a quiet, deadly voice.

  “No, I didn’t notice anyone like that,” he mumbled sullenly.

  “Did you notice three girls walking together? They were pretty and well-dressed. One was a blond, one a brunette and one had brown hair.”

  “No, I didn’t notice anyone like that.”

  “Why not?” Ruth asked. “By all accounts they must have walked right by you and as Inspector Lepley said, they were very pretty.”

  “I don’t have to answer your questions,” he snapped. “You’re not the police.” He glared at her angrily.

  Connelly opened his mouth, but Ruth held up her hand. “How do you know that I’m not with the police?”

  “Because you’re Ruth Arbuthnot. You own a bunch of companies. You think you’re a big shot. My aunt talks about you all the time.”

  “Watch yourself, Smith. She’s helping the police as a consultant. Now answer her question.” Lepley said sternly.

  “I had three tours this morning. If they weren’t on my tour I wouldn’t have seen them. Beside I had a bunch of amateur geologists on my 9:30 tour and it took a lot more time than it should have because I had to answer about a milli
on stupid questions. I didn’t get my break until nearly eleven.” He whined.

  Lepley looked at him intently. “Smith, I think you know something you’re not telling. You’d better come clean.”

  “You’re full of crap.”

  “Smith consider yourself on report.” Connelly roared. “I’ve been afraid to let you go because you got the job on political pull, but you’ve really gone overboard this time. Now I have a reason to fire you.”

  “Fine with me. I never wanted this stupid job anyway,” he snarled. He stuck his hands in his pockets, then turned and strode off.

  “Sorry,” Connelly said apologetically. “He hasn’t been too satisfactory lately, but I haven’t dared fire him. Like I said, his aunt is a friend of my boss. It’s tough when the man is as worthless as Smith is.”

  “Who’s his aunt?” Mrs. A asked.

  “Alice Van Ostendorf.”

  Ruth looked thoughtful. “I do know her. In fact, I’m not one of her favorite people, nor is she one of mine. Her husband tried to cheat mine, and ended up losing his shirt. She and every one of her family have been trying to get even for years.”

  Connelly said, “She is a political power, so I get stuck with rangers that have an attitude, a bad attitude.” He turned and began walking up a steep hill. “This is Appetite Hill. The lunchroom is at the top. Do you want to stop and eat?”

  “Yes, let’s,” Mrs. Arbuthnot said eagerly.

  Duncan nodded. “Lunch was a long time ago. I think we’d all think better with some food in our bellies.

  Inspector Lepley looked from Duncan to Mrs. Arbuthnot who winked at him and smiled.

  Connelly looked concerned and then relieved. “Thanks. I’ve got some other pressing problems that need attention. If I’m not back when you’re ready to leave feel free to go on. You’ve already been to Lower Cave Overlook.” He turned and walked briskly toward the elevators.

  Mrs. Arbuthnot breathed a sigh of relief. “Good, I have some questions that need answers and I don’t trust that man at all.”

  She headed for the island which served fried chicken in a box lunch. The two men followed her. Even though then were starting to close, the woman at the island, quickly filled three boxes with chicken and fixings. After they were served, they found a table in a corner away from the door.

  They had opened their boxes and had taken a few bites when Lepley turned to her and said, “Okay, Mrs. A. what’s bugging you?”

  Ruth swallowed the bite of chicken she had been chewing. “I read a lot of murder mysteries and I know that they aren’t like real life, but I’ve been wondering if all your investigations go this smoothly. This seems much more like a mystery book investigation than what I imagined an investigation would go.”

  Duncan raised an eyebrow, “I’d appreciate it if you’d explain further.”

  “I don’t know exactly how to explain what I’m feeling, but it seems like you’ve already asked these questions of these same people and then forgot the answers and so you are asking the same questions again. See what I mean?”

  Both Inspectors nodded. Lepley said, “Yes, with the exception of Smith, everything has gone incredibly smoothly. Part of that could be because Connelly had already interrogated his people.”

  “Is that really a breach of regulations?” Mrs. Arbuthnot asked. “I didn’t want to ask in front of the superintendent, but you seemed very annoyed about it.”

  Lepley shook his head. “No, it isn’t a breach of regulations. He does have first jurisdiction in the Caverns. The thing that irritated me was that he gave away more information that he got.”

  “Another thing,” Mrs. A. said, “That bothered me was that things don’t add up. If plaid coat left before the girls went down into the Big Room, then they couldn’t have seen the murder and if they didn’t see the murder, why were they kidnapped? I’ve been wondering if we’re not dealing with two separate, but coincidental crimes.”

  Duncan shrugged, then said, “There could be several explanations. They could have seen the murder, but what probably happened was that the person who committed the murder thought they saw or heard something that would incriminate him or her. In our experience, criminals can’t leave well enough alone, because they have a guilty conscience so they have to cover the tracks that they haven’t left.”

  Lepley added, “If you remember, Evans said that he left shortly after plaid coat entered the elevators. Plaid coat could have ridden to the top. Met someone at the top or just pushed the down button and came right back down or plaid coat had nothing to do with the murder and someone else killed the victim and kidnapped the girls.”

  Duncan said, “Another possibility is that the murder wasn’t committed at the Lower Cave Overlook, but was committed in a less public place and the body was brought to the overlook and thrown over.” He looked at the map of the Big Room. “However, I’m wondering why Lower Cave Overlook, why not the Bottomless Pit?” He tapped his finger on the formation on the map. “If it had been thrown down the Bottomless Pit, the body wouldn’t have been found until the smell got bad. It would have muddied the time of the crime, giving the perp more of an alibi.”

  “It’s hard to tell by a map, but maybe the Lower Cave Overlook is a little more private. The Bottomless Pit is much more open.”

  “I hadn’t thought of those possibilities,” Mrs. A. admitted.

  Lepley nodded. “There are a lot of possibilities that will be considered, but there must have been a good reason for the kidnapping. Whoever did it must have been desperate. That long drive down the narrow dugway with no side roads could have been a trap. If the Park Service and the police had acted fast enough they could have stopped the kidnappers before they got out of the Park.”

  “But they didn’t act fast enough,” Mrs. A. said. “I’ll bet the kidnappers counted on that.”

  Lepley nodded. “We’re just not used to mobilizing fast in this country. We don’t have the riots or revolutions that other countries have, so we don’t know how to move quickly and precisely.”

  He looked at his notes. “Give me your opinion of Robert Smith and Superintendent Connelly. You’ve already said that you didn’t trust Connelly. Why?”

  “I didn’t like Smith, but that’s neither here or there.” She said, adding thoughtfully, “I thought his sullen attitude was a cover, a front to hide something. It was obvious to me he knows more than he will admit.”

  Lepley smiled. “Yes, I thought so too, but I didn’t think it would be a smart move to press him hard right then. Sometimes with these weak types, I let them stew about their testimony then I haul them down to the office and really work on them. They usually talk. They’re too afraid for their own skins to hold out for long.”

  Mrs. Arbuthnot grinned. “I see. I’m learning a lot about FBI procedure.”

  Smith goes on my suspect list, she thought.

  “What about Connelly?” Duncan said.

  “He’s hiding something but I’m not sure what or even if it has anything to do with the murder or the kidnapping.”

  Lepley stared down the lunchroom for a few moments then he pulled a small, two-way radio out of his pocket. Bending his head and speaking softly, he said, “Jameson, I want tails on Connelly, Evans, and especially Smith when they leave tonight. Make sure you put our best men on Connelly and Smith.

  Mrs. Arbuthnot turned to Inspector Duncan and demanded, “What about that man who was following us this morning?”

  “Someone was following us?” Lepley demanded. “Why didn’t someone tell me about it?”

  “Duncan answered, “Mrs. A. noticed him following us. I called Jameson on the radio and he was supposed to put a tail on the man who was following us. Neither of us said anything because we weren’t sure of Connelly.”

  Mrs. A. said, “The man kept stepping back into the shadows so I didn’t get a really good look at him, but that man in the gray slacks and sweater has the same build.”

  Lepley called Jameson. “Did you tail the man Inspector Dunca
n told you about?”

  “Inspector Robinson is tailing him. He’s in the lunchroom by the elevators.”

  “Good. Tell Robinson to keep after him. I want to know who he is and what he’s up to.” Lepley said firmly.

  Mrs. A. looked over at the man. “Could he be a reporter?”

  “I doubt it. I’ve put a muzzle on the press for 24 hours.” Inspector Duncan said quietly. “I thought that we might need a breathing space before the ghouls converged.”

  A man in a gray sweater pulled out a cigarette and looked around the lunchroom, saw the no smoking sign, then put the cigarette away. A tall thin man in a dark brown shirt got up from one of the tables and disposed of the remains of his lunch. Then he strolled over to one of the souvenir counters. He picked up some postcards. The man in the gray sweater opened the doors to the elevator room. The thin man shook his head regretfully and quickly followed the gray sweater man into the elevator.”

  “That must be Bishop,” Mrs. A. said.

  “Yes, he’s one of the best we’ve got. He can absolutely disappear in a crowd when he’s following someone.

  “We’d better be going if you’re finished,” Lepley said. They stood up. Duncan gathered up their garbage. “I’ll just dump this and we can go.”

  Suddenly, a heavy-set man strode up to their table and sat down. “I got the information that you wanted.” He said. “Do you have time to listen to it?”

  Lepley nodded his head, and sat down again.

  “Okay, nothing is known on Evans. He hasn’t any debts, pays his bills on time, no wife or family, never been in trouble. Top of his graduating class in college. Hobbies, stamp collecting and tracing family trees.”

  Lepley said, “I thought he’d be clean.”

  “Smith is a dirty bum. He has a rap sheet a mile long, plus some run-ins with the cops but nothing serious that could be made to stick. He was up twice for attempted rape and harassment of different girls but in both cases the charges were dismissed. The girls were too scared to testify against him or they had been bought off. His aunt, a Mrs. Van Ostendorf is politically powerful. She’s the one who got the charges dismissed.”