Descent (A Stone Mountain Mystery Book 1)

by Kristina Stanley

  “I did.” She handed Reed two sheets of freshly printed paper. If he noticed the shaking pages, he’d know her nerves weren’t under control. “The first page outlines the actions I’ve taken since we last spoke. The second page is a list of possible suspects.”

  Reed placed the papers on the table and didn’t glance at them. “Have you spoken to the RCMP?”

  “Only about some of what’s written there.” Kalin pointed to the papers. She’d spent the last hour and a half working on the report, making sure the contents were perfect, and Reed dismissed it as if it were a wad of chewed gum.

  “Is there anything you’ve talked about with the RCMP that’s not in your report?”

  “Constable Miller asked me for my whereabouts from the afternoon before McKenzie died until he was on the hill the next morning.”

  “Why isn’t that in your report?”

  “I didn’t think it was relevant. He said he was placing everyone, making sure all stories lined up.”

  Reed flattened his palms on the table and leaned forward. “That’s unacceptable. I expect to be informed about every interaction you have with the RCMP.”

  Taking his time, Reed read the suspect list. “You haven’t included Ben’s name.”

  “He’s not a suspect.”

  Reed eyed Kalin with what she interpreted as suspicion. “I spoke with Miller. He has him on his list.”

  Kalin jiggled her knees up and down. Where was the conversation going? “When?”

  “When did I speak to Miller? Meaning before or after you did?”

  “I’m hoping it was before.” Kalin shouldn’t have been surprised he knew about Miller’s call. “Ben has an alibi.”

  “An alibi from his girlfriend. Now, let’s talk about the other elephant in the room.”

  Kalin picked up her pen, put it down again, shifted in her seat. Reed was going to wait for her to speak. That’s twice someone pointed out she was Ben’s alibi. She was in a position to prove Ben’s innocence, and the way to end the speculation was to figure out who killed McKenzie.

  “Ian is your son. I couldn’t take him off the list just because of that.”

  “Yet you took Ben off because he’s your boyfriend. What reason would Ian have to kill McKenzie?”

  “Well, he did want on the team.” And he tried to get at McKenzie by sleeping with Nora. Maybe when that didn’t work out, he went one drastic step farther.

  Reed laughed. “Is that all?”

  “Yes. But—”

  “But nothing. Do you know how many kids want on a team? They don’t kill someone to get a spot. I think you can remove his name.”

  Kalin figured she’d get one shot to discuss Ian with Reed. “Did Constable Miller ask you about Ian?”

  “Of course he did. He agrees Ian’s not a suspect.”

  Reed’s eyes darted from Kalin’s, only for a second, and she knew he lied.

  “I don’t want to see Ian’s name printed anywhere. I’m the president of this resort. I can’t have it out there that my son is a suspect.”

  Kalin would keep her own list and one for Reed. Miller wouldn’t reveal any information she gave him, and Reed couldn’t control her interaction with the RCMP. The wild thought that her boss could be the murderer struck her. Maybe he’d wanted his son on the team badly enough to do something about it. And maybe I’m crazy.

  “Now let’s talk about the others. Why is Nora on the list?”

  Kalin hated talking about Nora, but she couldn’t pretend Nora wasn’t a suspect. Reed probably already knew the answer to his question and was testing her. “She and McKenzie broke up the night before he died.”

  “A crime of passion?”

  “I don’t know. I can’t believe it was her. Nora’s fiery but angry enough to kill McKenzie? I think the murder was premeditated.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “First the person had to know how to tamper with a binding without anyone noticing. Then he or she had to access the binding and alter the DIN setting. It’s not like someone in a rage would do that. I think a person carefully thought about a way to get at McKenzie. Maybe the goal was to injure him, not to kill him.”

  “Interesting. You do realize Nora had knowledge and access. The RCMP has a witness who saw Nora running from McKenzie’s place the night before he died. The witness said she yelled ‘I won’t let you off the hook.’”

  Kalin didn’t want to admit Nora was a serious suspect, but the words sounded incriminating. Doubt crept into her mind and she shook it off. “She was angry, but that doesn’t mean she killed him.”

  “So who else?”

  “Charlie had access, but I have no idea what his motive would have been. I’ve listed everyone on the team along with the top skiers from the other teams and all the tuners. Donny Morley, for obvious reasons. Jeff Morley held the number two spot on the Holden team until Ian joined, and he has a temper.” And McKenzie was dating his high school sweetheart.

  “Jeff’s a possibility. I read the security report. Jeff could have picked a fight with Edwin Bucher to stop him from competing in the upcoming season. I believe Bucher is the fastest German skier.”

  * * *

  Kalin and Fred entered Tom Bennett’s office. She had to organize his belongings but felt as if she were invading his privacy. He’d left his security jacket hanging on the back of his door. His winter boots stood in the corner. His skis and poles hung from hooks. Except for the musty smell, the office gave the impression of a man thinking he’d return and go on with his life. Get a grip.

  Tom’s office was in the back of the mountain operations building and too far from the busy action of the administration building, so she decided to stay in her HR office, close to her HR team. She asked Fred to help her go through Tom’s office and determine what she needed to keep, what Fred needed and what they should shred.

  She rested her ski jacket on the back of Tom’s chair and sat. Her jeans slipped against the shiny wooden surface. Photos of his wife and people she assumed were his kids decorated the desk. She wiped dust from the desk’s surface with her sleeve and shook her arm. The dust floated through a stream of sunlight coming through the office’s single window.

  “I guess we should collect his personal items. Do you want to give them to Ginny?” Kalin asked Fred.

  “Thanks. I’d like to.”

  Kalin placed the photos into a cardboard box. She unlocked his top drawer and sifted through the contents. She found a pen engraved with Tom’s name and added it to the box. She handed Fred a set of keys. “Here, these must be for the filing cabinets.”

  “I’ll start a pile for shredding. Some of this stuff is in the security office files too.”

  Kalin called IT and asked for the password to Tom’s computer. She turned on the computer and stared at the screen. She had no idea where to start. She called IT back, had them remove Tom’s user-id from the security database and asked them to transfer the contents of his computer to hers.

  She searched his desk. She pulled a sealed envelope from Tom’s bottom drawer. Charlie Whittle/Private was written across the top. She held it up for Fred to see. “Should I open this?”

  “You probably need to. Everything in this office is your responsibility now.”

  Kalin considered not opening the envelope until she was alone but decided to use the opportunity to prove to Fred she trusted him and they were a team. She slid her finger underneath the seal and let the contents fall to the surface of the desk.

  “It looks like a traffic report from a month ago.” Kalin read the document. “Does Charlie have a drinking problem?”

  “He used to. His license was suspended about ten years ago. I think he stopped drinking then.”

  “This says he drove his car into a snow bank, and he had alcohol on his breath.”

  “Who signed the report?”

  Kalin glanced at the bottom of the form. “Tom.”

  “Are there any witness statements?”

  She flipped to the
next page. “You won’t believe this. There’s one from Steve McKenzie. He saw Charlie driving erratically right before he hit the snow bank.”

  Fred held a file mid-way out of a cabinet drawer and waited.

  “Why would Tom keep this sealed in his desk?” Kalin asked.

  “Charlie and Tom were friends. Maybe he didn’t want Charlie to get into trouble.”

  “Would McKenzie threaten Charlie with this?”

  “I can’t imagine why. Charlie was his head tuner. What would he have to gain?”

  Kalin called Constable Miller and left him a message.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  “Hey, you awake?” Ben nudged Kalin with his elbow.

  She squished her face into her pillow. “No.”

  “How can you answer if you’re not awake?”

  She moaned.

  Ben leaned forward and kissed the back of her head. “I’ve got to be in early. I’ll call you later.” He felt bad about disturbing her when she was sick, but with what was going on he wanted her to know where he was.

  After dressing in the dark, he slipped out the garage door. He started his truck, and the headlamps illuminated Chica, standing in the snow, staring at him expectantly. She must have snuck out with him, and he hadn’t noticed. He returned her to the house and backed out of the driveway.

  The avalanche forecaster had the day off and asked Ben to record the weather and snow conditions. Getting up at five was not Ben’s idea of fun, but avalanche forecasting was cool. Besides, Ben wanted to be first choice for the manager role if his boss moved to Calgary, and in order to get promoted he’d have to show he could do more than patrol.

  Ben parked his truck beside the mountain operations building, grabbed his gear bag from the back seat and hustled across the parking lot. The lights from the groomers flittered across several ski runs. The groomers were in the latter part of their shift and would finish the lower runs within the next hour. They pushed snow from the whales created by the snowmaking guns, flattening out the runs, prepping for opening day.

  A group of people walked from the base of the Alpine Tracks run, heading toward the mountain operations building. The snowmakers were coming off shift. Other than the snowmaking manager, Jason Tober, Ben didn’t see the crew often. They came to the mountain, worked the night shift and went home before the daytime employees arrived.

  “Timlin. Sup?” Jason raised his fist, and the men gave each other props. Awkward considering the size of the canvas gloves Jason wore. His thick blue jacket hung midway down his thighs. The fur-lined flaps of his hat were tied underneath his chin. A face mask covered the bottom half of his face.

  “Avi reports. Derek’s off today. What’s it like up there?”

  “Cold.”

  “You going to be awake later? I’ll be off in time to get in a few runs.” Ben and Jason were good buddies, often skied together, and both loved the preseason runs. Because of his job, Jason always found the best snow.

  “Yup. We can catch a ride with one of the groomers and hit the bowl. I’ll call ya.”

  A light shining through the glass door of the administration building distracted them. The tuning room was across the foyer from that door, and it looked as if that’s where the light came from.

  “Did you see who that was?” Ben asked.

  “Nope.”

  “That’s weird.” Ben left Jason and jogged to the administration building. A pile of snow prevented the lock on the exterior door from catching, and he entered. The door to the tuning room stood ajar. He held the door handle for a moment. Chicken.

  Ben took a deep breath and entered the tuning room. Even this early, the room smelled of wax. He listened to the silence for a moment. Funny how eerie a room can be when it’s empty, and it’s pre-dawn, and no one should be in it, but maybe somebody was. “Anyone here?”

  “I’m in the back. Come in.”

  Ben didn’t recognize the voice. “Please come to the door.”

  Charlie emerged from the storage room, wiping his hands on a cloth. “Morning.”

  Ben stood close to the exit with his body tense.

  Charlie scratched the birthmark on his head. “Is something wrong?”

  “What are you doing here so early?”

  “I had a date with my wife last night. I didn’t finish the skis for today.”

  Without moving away from the door, Ben released the tension in his shoulders and calmed his breathing. Charlie seemed too relaxed to be a threat. “How did you get in?”

  “I used my key.”

  Kalin was not going to like this. “You have a key to both doors?”

  * * *

  Kalin banged her palm against her forehead. She’d been stupid. Fred had been stupid. They’d missed an obvious security issue. She stomped to the resort’s locksmith office, preparing her plan. First, she needed to find out who had keys.

  Fred should have known about the keys issued to people. Had he forgotten? Did he purposely keep the information from her? Without Fred’s cooperation, she might fail as director of security, and now that she was the mini police chief, she wanted to keep the job. She couldn’t be a director if she was only responsible for HR.

  Located in the basement of the same building that housed the front desk, the locksmith office contained a key-grinding machine. The keys to the hotel rooms were created using a card system, but the keys to the resort’s offices and conference rooms hadn’t been upgraded and still used metal keys. Kalin knew all this, but hadn’t understood the implications. She dreaded telling Reed.

  The locksmith was a crusty man in his mid to late fifties with a full head of frizzy hair, thick arms and an unfriendly demeanor. Kalin introduced herself. One quick nod and a grunt from him. Nice.

  “I know who you are,” Ted Brightman said in a husky smoker’s voice. By the odor emanating from his person, Kalin figured he still smoked.

  “I need a list of people who have keys to the tuning room.”

  The scowl on Ted’s face deepened. “What for?”

  “Surely you know what’s been going on at the resort.”

  “I do.”

  “It’s important the room is secure, and to secure it, first I need to know who has access.”

  Brightman rubbed his beard. “I can’t tell you that.”

  Not the politest employee she’d met. Was he rude to everyone or just to her? She wanted control of the conversation and wasn’t going to take any crap from him. “Can’t or won’t?”

  Brightman eyed Kalin from where he sat. “I don’t have a list.”

  “How can you not have a list? How are the keys issued?” And how could Fred not be on top of this?

  “The locks haven’t been changed for years. There’s no point in a list.”

  “I’m not sure I get what you mean.”

  “Here’s how it works. I get an email from a director authorizing me to issue a key. It’s up to the director to get the key back when the person should no longer have it.”

  Kalin ignored his defensive manner and pushed for more information. “Where are the emails kept?”

  “On my computer.”

  “How often do you delete them?”

  “I don’t. I just read them and do as I’m told.”

  “Okay, I can sort through your account and find any email asking for keys.”

  Brightman waved at his computer and slid his chair out of the way. “Do what you need.”

  Kalin clicked on his email icon. She sorted by title and scrolled to K, hoping to find anything with “key” in the title. She scanned hundreds of emails before stopping and realizing she needed a better plan. Some of the titles included information such as the room or door the key was required for. She glanced at other emails, some without titles and some with a key request buried in the middle of the text. This was going to take a while, and she didn’t want Brightman watching her.

  On the way back to her office, she called IT and told them what she needed. By the time she reached her computer, IT h
ad given her access to Brightman’s. She popped up his email on her screen.

  First, she read the emails, checking for people who had access to the tuning room. She created a spreadsheet and entered the relevant data. She cross-referenced her list with names in the payroll system, flagging current and past employees. She expanded her list to people who had been issued keys to the building’s exterior door. She bolded the names of people with keys to both doors. One of the names surprised her, and she wasn’t sure how she felt.

  Two hours slid by, and she was ready to discuss her findings with Fred. She called him and asked to meet in his office. She grabbed a printout of her list and headed his way.

  Kalin stopped abruptly when she entered the security office. “How come you’re so dirty?”

  Fred’s black pants were wet and covered with grit. His security jacket, spread on the back of a chair, had a water stain across the back and shoulders. “A guest had a flat. When I changed the tire for her, I slipped and got wet. I haven’t had time to go home for dry clothes yet.”

  “That was nice. We missed something significant for securing the tuning room.” She waited until she had his full attention before she continued. “We forgot about hard keys. Here.” Kalin handed Fred her printout.

  Fred glanced at the list. “Where did you get this?”

  “I made it. I went through Brightman’s email. I’ve bolded the names that could be an issue. Brightman doesn’t keep track of the keys after he distributes them. I’m not sure what your relationship was with Tom, but I want to be clear on my expectations. I don’t have his detailed knowledge. This is the type of information I need you to bring to my attention.”

  Fred’s face reddened, and he kept his eyes lowered as he read the names. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of this. I’m sorry. We should get the locks changed and issue new keys. That’ll secure the room for now. I’ll talk with Brightman about getting a recording system in place. I didn’t realize it was this bad.”

  “I hope there wasn’t more to it. You can’t be forgetting things like this. I know you’re not happy about our situation, but you still have a job to do. Until we know who killed McKenzie or how his gear was accessed, you need to think about the tuning room security from every angle. I’ll call Miller and give him an update. I want the locks changed by the end of today.”