A Taste of Death (Maggie Olenski Series)

by Hughes, Mary Ellen

  "Wow!"

  "He's the Big Bear mascot," Dyna explained. "And don't worry - he was never real. Plastic and acrylic, and stuff like that. I heard Regina was getting all geared up to protest animal cruelty when he was first set up - designing posters, organizing a demonstration, - until someone finally clued her in."

  Maggie smiled. "She seems to have a protesting personality."

  "You got that right," Dyna said. "Although, if it had been a real bear, I would have been right with her. If I'd been here in the first place, of course." She pointed to the left. "Over there's where we get our tickets."

  Maggie tramped over with Dyna to the ticket window and leaned her skis against one of several high wooden racks next to it. She bought her ticket, attached it to a D-ring on her jacket, then picked up her ski boots and followed Dyna into the lodge.

  "The food and stuff is up here. The lockers are downstairs," Dyna explained. "We can leave our snow boots there, and I think I'm going to take off one of these sweaters and stow it. It's so sunny and calm today I was getting too warm just walking from the car."

  "So was I," Maggie said. She had unzipped her jacket the moment she stepped inside. The aroma of grilled hamburgers and coffee drew her attention as she walked past the dining area on her right. Her gaze swept appreciatively over a large room with an open-beamed ceiling and a cafeteria set up at the far end. A small fire glowed in a centrally-placed circular fireplace with benches surrounding it. A few people lounged with their feet propped up close to it, looking lazily contented, sipping from glass mugs. Large windows gave spectacular views of the slopes.

  Maggie's pace had slowed, taking all this in, and she would have stopped altogether if she hadn't glimpsed Dyna disappearing around a corner marked STAIRS. Maggie hurried to catch up and tramped on down after her. The lower level had vending machines, benches, and the lockers Dyna had promised.

  They chose an empty bench and sat down to change from their snow boots to the shin-high ski boots, adding a second layer of thick socks. Other skiers milled around, some heading for the rest rooms, others dropping coins into the vending machines, most moving clumsily and noisily in the heavy boots which were designed for safety and maneuverability on the slopes, but not for easy walking.

  As Maggie was stowing her unneeded gear in a small locker, she heard Jack Warwick's name mentioned. She glanced around and saw two young men wearing matching red jackets with white crosses on the sleeves - ski patrollers. They sat a few benches away, holding Styrofoam cups of coffee and apparently discussing the incident of last night. But Maggie couldn't say for sure with half their words disappearing in the din. Without a second thought she closed up her locker and moved to the bench opposite them, sitting down at the end. She began fiddling with her boots, bent nearly double, her ears perked in their direction.

  "I'm sorry the old guy popped off and all," the dark-haired one said, "but at least that'll stop the sale of Big Bear."

  His blond companion nodded.

  "Paul was so mad about the whole thing, though, I mean the sale idea," the darker one added, half grinning, "that I almost wonder if he did it, you know, slipped something into the old guy's drink. A lot of his problems sure got solved."

  "Keep your mouth shut," the blond ski patroller said, flushing. He glanced around the room with a scowl and Maggie, who had chanced a peek in their direction, immediately looked down. "C'mon," he said, standing up and dumping his cup into a trash can. "Let's get out of here." They stomped off, and as they disappeared around the corner Maggie straightened up, realizing that Dyna was now nearby and had likely heard them too. Dyna raised an eyebrow at Maggie but said nothing, only handing Maggie the gloves and hat she had left near the locker. They both headed for the stairs.

  I was just curious, Maggie insisted to herself, mentally arguing her non-involvement in the town's mystery as she climbed upwards. Suddenly she got a faceful of Dyna's jacket as Dyna abruptly stopped near the top. Paul Dekens had rounded the corner in a hurry and nearly collided with her.

  "Whoops, excuse me" he said, stepping back out of the way. He was dressed in stretch ski pants and turtleneck but held a thick file of papers. "Back in town, huh?" he said to Dyna. "Are your folks here too?"

  "No, I'm just here for a couple days getting my friend Maggie, here, settled. She'll be staying at our place for a while."

  "Great," he said, turning to Maggie. "I saw you at the meeting last night. You picked a heck of a time to come, I'm afraid."

  "It wasn't exactly what I expected."

  Paul nodded. Maggie thought he looked distracted but much less tense than he had the night before.

  He asked Dyna, "Did you see Elizabeth today? This might be hard on her, the police talking to her and all. Her mother died just a few months ago, you know – her heart, finally – and Elizabeth's still getting over it. She doesn't need any more stress."

  "No, we haven't seen her since last night. But we could stop in at the bookstore on the way back home and see how she's doing."

  Paul smiled, and Maggie was struck with how much more attractive he was without the grim look he had worn last night. She guessed his age at early thirties - young for someone in his position. "That'd be great. Maybe – " He was interrupted by a call from a Big Bear employee at the bottom of the stairs.

  "Paul, could you come take a look at this?"

  "Sure thing." He said a quick, "Nice meeting you," to Maggie and trotted on down.

  As they retrieved their skis outside and headed for the nearest lift, Dyna said, "Paul's a great guy, really. Don't pay attention to that remark we heard downstairs."

  "Remark?" Maggie asked vaguely, then looked ahead past Dyna. "Is that a good slope to start on? The lift line is nice and short right now. I need to limber up first on an easy one and get my balance." She chattered on while stepping into her skis and moving over to the line, not sure if she was trying to convince Dyna or herself, that, despite appearances downstairs at the lodge, she was not getting interested in the mystery of Jack Warwick's murder.

  <><><>

  The chair lift on the beginner's slope moved slowly, and Maggie enjoyed the ride, soaking up the view, feeling the combination of cold air and warm sun on her face. But on her exit from the chair at the top she wobbled uncertainly, while Dyna slid smoothly over to the edge of the hill.

  "Your Mom's skis are a little longer than mine," Maggie said, catching up to Dyna. "But that's okay. I've been putting off getting this size, but now I'll get used to them and won't want to go back to my own. Maybe I should say if I get used to them."

  "You will. You're just a little shaky 'cause it's your first time out. I've skied a couple weekends in Pennsylvania already this year. The snow's much better here, though. See you at the bottom."

  Maggie watched Dyna push off and whoosh her way down like a pro, impressed. She, however, began her descent more cautiously and was happy to stay upright all the way down, making her turns careful and wide.

  They rode the lift again, and Maggie’s second run was better. She felt her confidence return along with her balance. Her turns became tighter, and she let her speed pick up.

  "You're doing great," Dyna said. "Ready for an intermediate slope yet?"

  "Almost. Do you mind one more run here?"

  "Fine with me." Dyna skated over to the short line at the lift, Maggie close behind, and soon they were scooped up by the double chair, pulling the safety bar down as they began their ascent. As they rode up on the gently swinging chair, Maggie watched the skiers below, mostly beginners and children, all somewhat anonymous-looking with the camouflage of ski hats and goggles.

  Maggie's attention was caught by a young mother with her child as she skied down the hill with him, his small skis inside the "V" of her own, she lightly holding his shoulders, guiding him in long, wide, slow turns. He looked almost ready to be on his own.

  "Hey, I think that's Karin Dekens," Dyna cried. "You know, Alexander's wife. I recognize that green and white outfit. My gosh, that must be E
than. I can't believe it! He's gotten so big!"

  Maggie looked at them, taking in Karin's tender solicitousness and motherly pride. They watched until the lift took them out of view.

  "Ethan must be about four now," Dyna said. "He's named after his great-grandfather by the way, Alexander and Paul's grandfather, who started up this resort back in the thirties or forties. I heard he began with just one rope tow that pulled skiers up the hill. Can you imagine? He must have had a lot of guts and determination."

  "Mmm. From what I've seen so far, he might have passed on some of that determination to Paul, but not very much to Alexander. By the way, I thought I noticed a certain coolness between Karin and Alexander last night," said Maggie.

  "Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised. From what I hear Alexander's gambling's been getting worse. Annette told me last night that she thinks he's got into a lot of debt because of it, which is why he's so anxious to sell the resort - to raise cash. He never cared about the resort that much. She says it all must be rough on Karin, who loves it here, for herself and for Ethan.

  "Paul, of course, does too," Dyna went on. "He wants to continue his grandfather's work, to build on it. Unfortunately, he's only one stockholder. Some cousins own parts of it too, and from what Annette says they live far away and care only about profits and losses."

  "You know that gives Paul a strong motive to murder Jack Warwick," Maggie said. "Killing him, I assume, stops the negotiations, and Paul keeps his ski resort."

  "I know," Dyna said reluctantly, her face wrinkling with concern. "But I know Paul just couldn't do something like that. He just couldn't."

  "Maybe you're right. But that motive will keep him high on the suspect list, I'm afraid, unless they find someone to replace him."

  Maggie suddenly realized their chair was nearly at the top of the slope. She focused her attention to positioning her skis and poles properly to disembark, and, unlike her first attempt, skied off and away from the chair smoothly.

  As she and Dyna adjusted gloves and poles, preparing to push off once more from the top, Maggie said, "I saw the way Paul was looking at Elizabeth last night. That, and his asking about her with such concern today, tells me he has strong feelings for her."

  Dyna looked at Maggie, her face clearly showing this was a new idea to her. "You might be right. I wonder if Elizabeth is aware of it, though. She seems kinda down, maybe because of her mother and all. I don't think she's been in much of a mood for seeing anyone."

  "What about that comment Annette made this morning? She seemed to be hinting that Elizabeth would be upset about Jack Warwick's death."

  "Yeah, that was pretty weird. I don't know what she meant, but Annette's a big gossip, as you probably noticed. Half the time I think she's just trying to stir something up."

  Maggie nodded, but she still wondered. She and Dyna pushed off together, Maggie keeping up with Dyna easily now. She skied on auto-pilot, though, her mind flashing over Paul, Alexander, Karin and Elizabeth. Suddenly she realized what she was doing and braked in the middle of a turn.

  Stop this Maggie! You told Dyna you weren't going to go looking for things, and there you were, at the drop of a hat, eavesdropping on those ski patrollers back at the lodge. Now you're trying to come up with suspects. Remember what you're here for. To write a math book. Nothing else!

  "Anything wrong?" Dyna called to her from the base of the slope.

  "No," Maggie called back, annoyed with herself. She dug her poles in and aimed her skis downward again. Yes. Too much was wrong, but it wasn't up to her to make it right.

  "On your right," a voice behind her called, and a skier swooshed by, passing a few feet to her right side. Maggie watched as he made it speedily to the bottom, then followed at her own, slower pace. She came to a stop a few feet from Dyna and pointed one pole in the direction of the intermediate slopes.

  "Let's move on over. I'm ready for something that will make me work harder and think less."

  "Great!" Dyna turned and led the way to the next chair lift some distance away. Maggie followed, pushing with her poles, skating on the flat terrain. It took much more effort than skiing downhill, but she was grateful for it, hopeful that it would help clear her head of things she didn't want there.

  However, as they passed in line with one of the lodge windows, she glanced over and caught sight of Karin Dekens inside, lit up by the sharply angled beams of the winter sun. Karin still wore her green and white jacket, but her hat and goggles had been removed. She faced a man whose back was to the window. It might have been her husband, Alexander, Maggie couldn't tell, but he was obviously upset about something, his hands chopping at the air as he spoke.

  What's going on, Maggie immediately wondered, then quickly forced herself to look away, up the slope. She clamped her jaw and silently repeated a mantra as she kept moving. The words sounded in her head in time to each forward push of a ski: "I won't get into it. I won't get into it. I won't get into it!"

  <><><>

  They skied the rest of the afternoon, trying out one slope after another, Maggie pushing herself hard. During resting time, if her thoughts strayed back to Jack Warwick and the problems he had generated she quickly moved her mathematician's mind to calculating the angles of slopes and rate of speed and distance covered by the skiers. There weren't too many other skiers, though, which surprised her on this perfect ski day, and she mentioned that to Dyna.

  "Big Bear's been getting battered by competition from some of the newer, bigger resorts," Dyna said. "They have more money to advertise and to offer special deals. It's a shame, because a lot of people don't know what they're missing. This might be a small place, but it's still got a lot to offer. I love it here."

  At the bottom of one of the harder runs, after four hours of skiing, Maggie looked at Dyna's red cheeks and nose and grinned, sure that hers were the same.

  "Had enough?" she asked.

  Dyna nodded. "Uh-huh."

  They headed back to the lodge and wearily racked up their skis. There was no sign of Paul Dekens, or of Karin and Ethan as they walked into the dining area, shaking snow out of their hair and rubbing their cold hands. Dyna suggested they stop and get mugs of hot, mulled cider and relax a while by the crackling fire, a suggestion that didn't take much coaxing with Maggie.

  Deep shadows now covered the mountain, and a wind had picked up, sending puffs of powdery snow into the trees. Maggie shivered as she watched it through the large windows, and leaned a little closer to the fire, happy now to be comfortably indoors. Most other skiers had left or were leaving, although she noticed a few adventurous ones arriving, getting set for a few hours of night skiing.

  She sipped her warm, spicy drink and stretched her legs out lazily onto the low hearth. She felt she could stay right there forever.

  Eventually, though, her stomach growled, and she looked over at Dyna. Dyna looked as enervated as she felt.

  "I guess we should go home and fix dinner"

  "Uh-huh."

  "We bought all that food this morning."

  "Uh-uh."

  "Did we get anything that says `add water and heat'?"

  "I sure hope so."

  Neither moved, and they stayed where they were until all the light had disappeared outside except for the slope lights now dotting the view. Finally Maggie stirred, thinking of the trek back to the car they still had to take, loaded up again with all their equipment. Better do it while they still had an ounce of energy left. She pulled a reluctant Dyna to her feet and aimed her towards the lodge door. There they paused to zip, re-glove and brace themselves for the icy blast sure to be waiting on the other side.

  <><><>

  After a dinner that filled them up with calories with the least amount of effort, Maggie felt her energy slowly revive. She lingered for a while on the counter stool, sipping coffee, letting the caffeine do its work. When she found her thoughts toying with ways to present math puzzles she knew she was ready. She helped Dyna clean up, then went to the oak table to turn on her comput
er, eager to finally begin the work she had come all the way up here to do. She sorted through her notes and began spreading papers around her.

  "I can practice my yoga upstairs and let you work in peace," Dyna said, folding up a dish towel and hanging it over the oven door handle. "I've been working on Sirshasan - you know, the headstand - and haven't quite got it yet. But I'm okay on Padmasan." At Maggie's questioning look she explained that was the lotus position. "I've got that down pat, no problem there. But I'm still having some trouble with Soorya Namaskas. That's where you bend over, touch your knees with your head and put your hands flat on the floor. I can get fingertips there, but not the rest yet."

  "Well, good luck," was all Maggie could think of to say. Dyna had many interests, and for as long as they lasted, she threw herself into them wholeheartedly. Maggie wondered how long the yoga would last. She watched Dyna trip up the winding wrought iron stairs and disappear into her room. She turned her attention to her laptop and stared at the blank screen for several moments, trying to organize her thoughts.

  Thoughts of murder and motives tried to creep in, and she pushed them away firmly to focus on math puzzles. Still, nothing was popping onto her monitor. Well, might as well type in the title page. Perhaps that would get her juices flowing. She typed in "Fun with Math", looked at it and erased it, replacing it with "Math Games and Puzzles". Better? Maybe "Math Can Be Fun"? No, she went back to "Math Games and Puzzles", typed her own name underneath it and decided to print it out to see how it looked. She could hang it on the wall beside her for inspiration.

  A tiny light at the base of her key pad blinked. Oops, battery's running low. Should have hooked up the power adapter. Where is it? Maggie looked around, then realized she didn't remember unpacking the thing. She must have brought it, though. Didn't she?