“I do. I got them when I took over security.”
“Was that before or after McKenzie died?”
“Before. Why?” Not even for a second could Miller stop himself from being suspicious. Had Becky’s gift been an excuse for finding out if she had keys?
“Does anyone else have the same keys?”
“As far as I know, Fred Morgan. Also, the locksmith, Ted Brightman. Gavin Reed might, but I don’t know. I’ll confirm that tomorrow.”
Miller followed Kalin into Becky’s office. He placed the box and a card on top of her chair.
“Did you hear that?” Kalin asked.
Miller listened. “It sounds like someone pounding on something.”
“It’s coming from downstairs.” Kalin and Miller ran to the stairwell and jogged down the steps. They discovered Ian Reed ramming his shoulder into the tuning room door.
Miller stopped and placed himself between Ian and Kalin. “What are you doing?”
“My key isn’t working.”
How could Ian have a key, not mention that important little fact and be using it to access the tuning room after hours? Idiot. None of the tuners or skiers seemed to be taking the security issue seriously. Was Ian the only tuner to have a key or did others? She had no idea how complete her key list was. Kalin moved from behind Miller. “I had the locks changed. No one is allowed in the room after hours.”
Ian rubbed his shoulder but didn’t move away from the door. “How come no one told me? I need to get in there.”
Miller relaxed his stance. “Why?”
“Why’d you bring the cops after me? How did you know I was here?” Ian asked Kalin.
“I think you should tell us why you need in the room,” Kalin said.
“I want my skis.”
“Badly enough to break the door down?” Miller asked.
“You don’t understand,” Ian whined.
“Try to explain.”
“Am I under arrest?”
Miller spoke before Kalin had a chance to answer. “Of course not. Kalin’s job is to secure this room, and she needs to know why you want in after hours. If you have a good reason, she can open the door for you.”
“Really?” Ian glanced at Kalin. “There’s usually someone in the room until seven. I don’t know why it’s empty early today. I’m going to take my skis home at the end of each day after Charlie tunes them. I don’t want them tampered with.”
“You’re that worried?” Miller asked.
“McKenzie was killed and you haven’t arrested anyone, even after what I told you. You know why I’m worried. I’m not taking any chances.”
“Take it easy,” Kalin said. “I asked security to close the room since the tuners were done for the day. You might want to keep in mind the room’s not always open until seven.”
Kalin and Miller escorted Ian to his skis and let him take them from the room. Kalin held the door as Ian departed. Maybe he had just wanted his skis. Or maybe he was up to something else entirely. And what had Ian told Miller?
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Kalin was not a morning person, and five a.m. was a ridiculous hour to be at work. Yet there she stood, freezing her tush, waiting for the snowmakers’ shift change.
Chica stood guard beside her, making her feel secure in the isolated area outside the mountain operations building. Wind whistled through the lodge pole pine trees and stung Kalin’s skin. In the darkness, she couldn’t see the trees but could imagine them bending with the wind’s pressure. She pulled her toque low, keeping the cold off her forehead. The glow of lights appeared on the horizon, and she counted six headlamp beams as they neared.
Kalin followed the snowmaking crew and the odor of diesel they carried with them into the building and found the replacement team preparing to start the dawn shift. It was convenient that the manager, Jason Tober, was on duty. He was one of Ben’s closest friends and that should make asking questions easier.
Jason removed his fur-lined hat. Bits of snow and ice spattered when he tossed it on the table. His curly hair was flattened to his head and, together with his pale skin, he reminded Kalin of an egg.
He assembled the team and reviewed the current snow gun placements, snow conditions, which runs had been completed, and recommended the next gun placements. If there were injuries or equipment failures, he would review those too. The process was repeated at each shift change.
Kalin listened to the information, familiar with the details. Jason often talked about snowmaking when he wasn’t working. Wind, temperature and snow conditions were all important in setting the gun flow level.
“I have some questions I’d like to ask the team.” Kalin waited for Jason to approve her request. “I’m sure you’ve all heard Steve McKenzie’s bindings were tampered with.” Kalin looked each snowmaker in the eye and received a nod in return. She used the pause to ensure she had their full attention. “Gavin Reed asked me to assist with the RCMP investigation. It’s possible someone entered the tuning room before operating hours on the day of the murder.”
Jason stood in front of his team as if protecting them. “Are you saying one of us killed McKenzie just because we’re here early?”
Kalin gave him and the room of snowmakers her friendliest smile. “No. I was thinking one of you might have seen someone enter the admin building. Ben mentioned being able to see the door closest to the tuning room when snowmakers change shift. I’d like each of you to think back to the morning Steve died and see what you can remember.”
There was head shaking and shoulder shrugging around the room, and no one offered any information.
“Did anyone see anything at all unusual?” Kalin asked.
“I saw Nora Cummings get out of her car, but I didn’t see her go into the building,” one of the snowmakers said.
Kalin’s heart picked up speed. This was not what she’d been expecting to hear. “What time was that?”
“Around five thirty.” While he had the floor, the snowmaker asked, “Did someone tamper with the German skier’s gear too?”
She should have expected the question, but it caught her off guard. “The RCMP’s investigating. I don’t have any information.” Her eyes travelled across the room, searching each face. “Anything else?”
When no one spoke, she let the room clear and asked to meet with Jason privately.
“Do you have a list of everyone who was on duty that night?”
“Sure.” Jason picked up a blue binder and flipped through time sheets. He snapped the rings open and placed the relevant pages in the photocopier.
“Was there anyone on duty that night who isn’t here today?”
“I’ll check.” He waited until the photocopier spit out the final pages. “One person. Mark Gardner.”
“Where is he today?”
“He went home. Vancouver I think. He received a call during the shift before McKenzie died. His dad passed away. He signed out at four.”
“Do you know when he’s coming back?”
“In a couple of days.”
* * *
Kalin walked home from the early morning meeting and let Chica bound in front of her. She kicked her feet through the snow, using her headlamp to light the way, meandering and giving herself time to think. The path rose and fell between the forest and the golf course and, even at the slow speed, her legs strained in effort.
During her first winter at the resort, Kalin had avoided being in the forest in the dark, but she’d gotten used to living in the wilderness. She carried bear spray and a whistle. She also had her cell. Any animal in the area would smell Chica and probably stay clear. At least that’s what she told herself.
She mulled over how to approach Nora. She must have had a reason for arriving at work at five thirty on the day of the murder. She couldn’t bring herself to believe Nora killed McKenzie, but she’d only known Nora since the previous summer. If Nora had wanted to hurt McKenzie, she couldn’t have done it face to face. She was too petite, and he’d been s
trong.
Chica caught a scent and bolted into the forest.
“Chica. Come,” Kalin yelled, and of course, Chica was too focused to obey. Her rump disappeared behind a lodge pole pine, one that hadn’t fallen victim to pine beetle infestation and morphed from green to rusty red, and she was gone.
Minutes later, Chica returned with a dead rabbit between her jaws. She pranced toward Kalin, tail high, and dropped the white rabbit at Kalin’s feet.
“Gross.” If she left the rabbit on the ground, Chica would run back for the dead animal. The rabbit looked as if it slept, not a drop of blood spilled, meaning Chica had shaken the poor creature until its neck broke. She picked up the rabbit and placed it in the joint of two branches a foot above Chica’s reach.
McKenzie’s neck had snapped just like the rabbit’s. He might have been scared for a second, but he couldn’t have known he was going to die. What if Nora tampered with the binding but only meant to injure him or ruin a training run? Kalin needed to confront her and see her eyes when she asked about her early arrival at work on the day McKenzie died.
She returned home, showered, ate and waited until it was late enough to visit Nora. She did all this without waking Ben. At seven, she knocked on Nora’s door. When Nora didn’t answer, she rang the doorbell several times. A light within brightened the hallway and streamed onto the porch.
“Who is it?” Nora asked from behind the closed door.
“Kalin. I need to talk to you.”
Nora opened the door. “Has something happened?”
“Not really. I wanted to catch you before you went to work.”
Nora led Kalin into the kitchen, shuffling her feet along the floor as she walked. “Coffee?” Nora asked in a voice deep with sleep.
Kalin sat at the kitchen table. “Sure.”
Nora opened a fresh bag of coffee beans, and the aroma spread through the kitchen. She placed a quarter cup of beans in the grinder and hit the button until the beans were finely ground. She poured the fresh ground beans into the coffee maker, and the machine gurgled when the brewing process started.
Nora shouldn’t be drinking coffee in her condition, and then it occurred to her she didn’t know if Nora was still pregnant. “I talked to Charlie. He thinks you’re going to work hung over.”
“He said that about me? What a jerk.”
“Does he know you’re pregnant?”
Nora shook her head, and Kalin took that as confirmation she still carried the baby.
“Then it might look like you’re hung over. Do you trust him enough to tell him?”
“I guess. I don’t want to get fired.”
“I need to ask you a question, and I’m hoping you won’t be offended. I found something out today.”
“You look serious. Is everything okay?”
“On the morning Steve died, you were seen in the parking lot beside the mountain ops building.”
“So? There’s nothing unusual about that.”
“At five thirty in the morning.” Kalin watched Nora’s face and was disappointed when Nora stood, turned her back to Kalin and fussed with the coffee pot.
“What are you saying?” Nora asked.
“I’m not saying anything, but I would like to know why you were there so early.”
“When I asked you to help find out who killed Steve, I didn’t expect you’d think I was the murderer.”
“I don’t think you killed him, but the police are going to want to know what you were doing, and I wanted to talk with you first.”
Nora whirled on Kalin. “You’re going to tell the cops?”
“Hang on a sec. I only want to talk to you. You know I have to tell Miller. He’ll find out anyway, and it’s better if he hears it from me.”
As if trying to control herself, Nora breathed slowly. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me these days. I can’t seem to control my temper.” She poured one mug of coffee and handed it to Kalin.
Kalin added milk and sugar and took a sip. “This is good. You’re not having anything?”
Nora rubbed her hand across her belly. “I can’t eat or drink this early. As for that morning, I went in early to work in the rental shop. I told you I didn’t get time off, but I have flexible hours. I can’t afford to lose the job or my benefits.”
“Did you go in early any other day?”
“No. Steve broke up with me the night before. I couldn’t sleep. I went to work because it was better than lying in the dark feeling shitty.”
“Did you tell the RCMP that when they interviewed you?”
“No. They didn’t ask, and it’s none of their business.”
Kalin placed her mug on the table and looked Nora in her eyes. “Did you see anyone else that morning? If you did—”
“Nope.”
The abruptness of the answer made Kalin wonder if Nora was hiding something, but how could she accuse Nora of that without risking their friendship. “Did anyone see you in the rental shop?”
“I doubt it. I was working in the back room.”
“This doesn’t look good.”
“I think I’ve had enough of this conversation.”
“Please don’t be mad. You know I have to tell Miller. Really, I’ll position it better than if he hears it from someone else.”
Nora’s emotions bounced around like a skier on a mogul run. Must be hormones. Kalin had pushed too hard again. Somehow, she had to find a balance between her job and her friends. Kalin eased her chair away from the table.
* * *
Kalin left Nora’s and headed in the direction of her office. Nora had a reasonable explanation for being in the parking lot at five thirty, but she’d hidden her actions from the RCMP. A guilty person would do that. She could have snuck into the tuning room, altered the binding and then gone to the rental shop. Or she could have gone straight to the rental shop. Or she could have seen someone else go into the tuning room and didn’t want to say. Kalin didn’t know what to believe, but she did know she’d better call Miller and update him. She slipped her hand from her mitt and dialed.
“It’s Kalin,” she said.
Miller chuckled. “You’re calling me early. What’s happened?”
Was he laughing at her, or was something else going on wherever he was? “Nothing happened, but there’s something I want to talk to you about.”
“I’m sure this will be interesting. It always is with you.”
“Hey, that’s not fair. I’m trying to help.”
“I know you are. I’m teasing. What’s on your mind?”
Miller came across as strong, ethical and fun to be around. She understood why Becky had fallen for him. She was sure other women were attracted to him, but thought Becky would look further than his appearance. They made a good couple.
“I met with the snowmaking team this morning. They get off duty between five and five thirty every day and walk by the tuning room on their way from the hill to the mountain ops building. No one saw anyone in or around the tuning room on the morning McKenzie died, but one of them saw Nora Cummings in the parking lot at five thirty but not anywhere near the tuning room.”
“That was good thinking, but you shouldn’t be investigating on your own. I’ll take it from here.”
“There’s something else.”
Miller sighed. “Of course there is.”
“I talked to Nora.”
“You have to stop interfering. My job is to question her, not yours. Now she’ll be able to prepare herself before I talk to her.”
“Sorry. I hadn’t thought of that. I don’t think it matters. She told me she went straight to the rental shop and didn’t go in the tuning room. She’s not the murderer. I thought she might have seen someone or something if she was there that early.”
“Please don’t talk to her again or tell anyone else about this. I’ll get up there when I can.”
“I hear you, but the snowmakers all know. Any news on Edwin Bucher?” Kalin listened to silence for a moment and
thought Miller had hung up on her. “Hello?”
“I’m still here. I wanted to speak with your boss before talking to you.”
“What’s happened? Come on, I shared with you, and you know you can trust me.”
“Alright. We received news that Edwin’s bindings were not tampered with. The DIN setting was set to his usual number, and the display unit hadn’t been touched.”
Kalin felt a rush of relief. She hadn’t realized how tense she’d been, thinking someone might be killing skiers. The motive for McKenzie’s murder had to be personal. “So it wasn’t attempted murder?”
“It doesn’t look like it.”
“And it’s not related to McKenzie’s death?”
“We don’t think so.”
Kalin skirted the edge of the mountain operations parking lot. At seven forty-five, the street lamps lit the lot but not the path to the buildings, leaving Kalin in the shadows.
A car drove across the hard packed snow of the parking lot and parked beside the mountain operations building. Amber jumped out of the driver’s side, slammed the door and skipped around to the back. She pulled a wheelchair from the hatch, opened the front door and Donny lifted himself from the car to the chair.
Amber wasn’t due to move out of staff housing until five, and Donny lived in town. Either Amber had driven to town to pick up Donny, which she didn’t believe, or he’d slept up on the resort. Another budding romance.
* * *
“Come on, Amber, I need to see him.” Jeff stood at the entrance to the tuning room, glaring at her.
“I can’t let you in. You’re not on the list.” Amber placed herself mid-doorway, giving Jeff no room to slide around her. “I’ll go get him. Wait here.”
“Fine.” Jeff watched her ass as she walked away. Too round for his tastes. He liked smaller women, like Nora.
Donny returned a few moments later, grinning at Amber, and asked Jeff, “What’s up?”
“Come outside for a minute.”
“I’m busy. Charlie will get pissed if I’m gone too long.”
Jeff glanced at Amber and back to Donny. “Just for a sec.”
Descent (A Stone Mountain Mystery Book 1) Page 17
