by Dawn Eastman
“The cake was for Isabel—to celebrate her new book,” Wally said as he dumped the remains in the trash.
“I can make another one,” Emmett sighed. “Why did you bring it back in here?”
Wally held his hands out. “I was trying to help. The title was spelled wrong—I wanted to have you fix it before anyone saw it.”
After most of the mess was under control, I left Seth to his food prep and ducked back out into the hall to see how Vi was doing with the dogs. Mac followed and went upstairs to change.
“What happened?” I said to her.
“Baxter just went nuts when he saw that cat. I don’t know why—he’s never had a problem with cats before. . . .”
I wondered where she got her information since he had been known to chase the neighbor cats up a tree. I knew he wouldn’t have hurt Duchess—it was more of a game to him than anything else. I had seen him slow down while pursuing an older cat. It seemed the chase was the goal, not actually catching the feline.
“You’re going to get yourself kicked out of here and then what will you do?” I said to him.
He had the decency to lower his ears and look at the floor, but I wasn’t fooled.
“We better check on the cottage and get these guys out of here before they cause any more trouble,” I said to Vi.
She nodded and headed off toward the front desk to talk to Wally.
I sat and petted Baxter and Tuffy while waiting for Seth. He eventually appeared, munching on a muffin that was left over from breakfast.
“Did you leave any food for the rest of us?” I asked. “We have to get through another day or two, you know.”
Seth broke off a piece and shared it with the dogs. “There’s plenty,” he said through a mouthful of muffin.
As I pointed out some crumbs Baxter had missed, the lights clicked on. And I heard the whirring of a fan blowing in the heating vents.
Seth and I heard a round of applause and cheering start up in the lounge.
“Papa’s a genius with the generators,” Seth said.
I nodded and thought I had underestimated my dad’s skills. If he could fix something that the maintenance guy had been unable to repair, either Dad was way better than I thought, or Kirk was a terrible mechanic.
“Let’s get the boys outside after all the cat excitement,” I said.
We grabbed our coats from the hooks by the back door and stepped outside with the dogs.
The crunch of snow underfoot was the only sound in the softly padded yard. We took the dogs through the garden toward the cottage, which I had assumed was some sort of outbuilding, but now saw was a small house. The walkway became more snow covered as we moved farther from the parking lot.
I smelled snow on the air and knew that we were in for more of it later that day. I started thinking about winters as a kid when we had lost power and schools had shut down. It only happened a couple of times, but it had been fun then. In Crystal Haven, we lived close enough to town to at least walk to buy food and I had had access to all of my things. And there wasn’t a murderer on the loose.
“So what’s the deal with that chef guy?” Seth interrupted my thoughts.
“He’s engaged to the owner’s daughter and I guess he’s trying to make the restaurant some sort of destination dining. Why?”
“In New York, I took French in school and we had this teacher from Quebec.” He threw a snowball for Baxter who chased after it with glee. “He was really cool and taught us all the swear words.”
“I’m sure your parents are thrilled that their tuition money was well spent.”
Seth grinned. “Did you hear what he said when the cat jumped on him?”
“Something angry in French,” I said.
“He said, ‘Tabarnak.’”
“So?” I said. Baxter returned and bounded around Seth until he made another ball to throw.
“It’s a swear word, but only in Quebec. Someone from France wouldn’t use it.”
“So, you think he’s not French, but Canadian?”
Seth nodded. “I don’t know if it matters. Who cares where he’s from? But why would he lie about it?”
It was a truth in police work, and probably many other fields, that people lied. Sometimes it was a big lie and sometimes a small one. The trick was figuring out which it was and how it related to the case.
Baxter loped back to us without the snowball and waited for Seth to make him another one. Tuffy barely cleared the snowdrifts and after finishing his business, pawed at Seth to pick him up.
“He’s covered in snow,” I said. “We better get him inside and dried off.”
We turned and made our way back to the hotel. Holly came out of the cottage as we passed and said it was ready.
“I’ll ask Kirk to clear a path from here to the back door so your parents can get in and out easily,” she said as we walked back together.
“It feels like we’re all going to be stuck here for a while. Unless we use the snowmobiles to shuttle everyone out of here.”
“Well, now that the power is back on, it won’t be too difficult to tolerate.”
She held the door for us and we went just inside the door with the dogs.
“Do you have any old towels we could use to dry off the dogs?”
She nodded, went down the hall toward the kitchen, and came back with a pile of fluffy white towels that looked anything but old.
“You can use these. Maybe you can put one on the floor there so they don’t drip too much.”
She patted Baxter and he leaned into her hand. Tuffy stretched his head forward to sniff her leg while Baxter distracted her. Tuffy seemed satisfied she wasn’t dangerous because he stepped closer and wagged his tail. Holly bent down and rubbed his ear. Tuffy sat and looked at her adoringly.
“Wow, he doesn’t usually like strangers,” Seth said.
Holly shrugged. “Dogs typically like me. It’s cats that I have a hard time winning over.”
“If you’re talking about the white cat, she seems to be nothing but trouble,” I said.
“She’s not so bad,” Seth said. “She just got scared of Baxter.”
“Duchess? She’s been in a snit since Ms. Carlisle moved here,” Holly said. “I used to find her up in the turret room sleeping in the sunshine in the window. I think when she had to share her room, she got mad.”
“She didn’t belong to Clarissa?”
Holly snorted. “Hardly. They barely tolerated each other.” She lowered her voice. “They were too much alike. Predatory and entitled.” Her eyes grew large and she put her hand over her mouth. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
I was surprised by how easily she had criticized her dead boss, but remembering the way Clarissa had berated her, I couldn’t really blame her.
I held up my hand. “Don’t worry about it. Already forgotten,” I said. But I did file it away to mention to Mac later.
18
Vi strode into the hall just as we were finishing with the dogs. They were still damp and filled the hall with that distinct wet dog odor.
“Here you are! We’ve been looking for you. Lunch is set up in the dining room.”
“Oh good, I’m starving,” Seth said.
“You just ate!” I said.
“That was just a snack. What’s for lunch?”
Vi waved her arm in the direction of the dining area and Seth disappeared down the hall.
I stood there holding the leashes and wondering what to do with the guys.
“I just had something to eat—you go ahead and I’ll guard the dogs. As long as that cat doesn’t show up again, I should be fine.”
“Thanks, Vi. I’ll be quick and then we can get them out to the cottage. Holly said it’s ready.”
She nodded and knelt to talk to Baxter and Tuffy.
&nbs
p; Everyone crowded around Dad in the dining room, congratulating him and thanking him for fixing the generator. He glowed with all the attention.
I filled a plate with pasta salad and half of a sandwich and sat at an empty table. Mac came to the door and scanned the room—his face lit up when he saw me. He wore the blue snowman sweater and pink plaid Bermuda shorts. As he walked toward me, conversations dwindled.
I tried to control the smile that spread across my face, but couldn’t.
He twirled for the knitters and took a bow. Everyone clapped and went back to their discussions.
“I asked Holly to put my jeans in the wash, but it’ll be a little while,” he said.
“If anyone can pull off that look—and I’m not saying it’s possible—you can.” I laughed when I noticed his white socks and boots.
“Baxter isn’t getting any treats from me for a while. I’m just glad the soup was cold.”
“Go get some food,” I said. “Maybe not the bouillabaisse . . .”
He nodded and returned a few minutes later with a loaded plate.
“Your dad is the hero of the hour, I see.” He tilted his head toward Dad, who stood in the center of the young-knitter contingent. He moved on from talk of generators to teaching them his ten-code vocabulary gleaned through his police scanner hobby.
I nodded. “He doesn’t usually get so many accolades for his repair work. Now I know why Vi volunteered to stay with the dogs—she probably couldn’t stand it.” I scanned the room. “Where’s your mom?”
“She had some secret knitting project to work on. She’s still upstairs.” He spread mustard on his sandwich from the little pots of condiments. “I’m thinking about taking one of the snowmobiles out to the road and calling the police. I don’t like the idea of Clarissa out there in the shed,” Mac said.
I shivered.
Mom and Seth came to our table, and Mom sat next to Mac.
Seth glanced at Mac’s shorts and blinked. He wisely stayed mute.
“We don’t have another workshop until three. Your father wants to check out the cottage to be sure everything is working before it starts getting dark.” She narrowed her eyes at the fawning knitters. She lowered her voice. “He doesn’t trust that everything will be in working order.”
“I’ll come and help Seth with the dogs,” I said.
“Do you need help with your suitcase, Mrs. Fortune?” Mac asked.
Mom smiled and put her hand on his arm. “I keep telling you, you need to call me Rose. And yes, I could use some help—it’s slippery out there. Thank you.”
After lunch, Mom and Mac went to get the suitcase and we met them in the hall where Vi was waiting with the dogs.
Tuffy began vibrating when he saw Seth walking toward him. Baxter stood and wagged his tail. He pushed his head against my leg when I approached. They sensed that something was happening and Tuffy began a little tap dance on the tile.
Baxter’s ears drooped when he saw Mac walking toward him. Either he was a fashion critic, or he was picking up on Mac’s irritation.
Seth grabbed his backpack from the floor. Tuffy dropped his ears and curled his tail downward. He brightened and hopped straight into the air when Seth pulled out the leash. I grabbed Baxter’s short lead and we all ventured out into the cold. I ruefully noted that now that the heat was back on I seemed to be spending a lot of time outside.
The path had been cleared as promised. Dad opened the door with the key Jessica had given him. Inside we found a cozy living room and small kitchen. Holly had started a fire in the fireplace and the whole room glowed. I sighed.
Wally had some explaining to do. Mac and I could have stayed here all this time and it would have been almost as wonderful as Mexico. Except for the murder.
The dogs ran ahead into the bedrooms, sniffing every inch. Baxter’s deep bark sounded from the bedroom on the right. I went to investigate with Seth close on my heels.
The room was decorated in deep blues and greens. Baxter sat in the middle of the small Persian rug and looked at us expectantly. When we didn’t respond, he barked again, turned a circle and lay down.
“Do you think he likes the room?”
Seth shrugged. “I’m not sure what he’s trying to say.”
Tuffy joined Baxter and curled up next to him.
Seth and I went back out into the living room.
“The dogs seem to have picked that room,” I said. “I guess you two will have to take the other one.”
Dad lugged Mom’s suitcase into the second bedroom. “Wow, fancy.” His voice floated out into the living room.
“This place is great,” Dad said as he came out of the bedroom.
Vi sniffed. “It’s not as castle-y as the hotel. I’ll bet there aren’t any ghosts, either.”
“Most normal people would consider that a good thing, Vi,” Dad said.
“Well, normal people think they have to visit the dentist twice a year,” Vi said. “Doesn’t make them right.”
Vi had as much as declared war with that remark. She must have been really irked that Dad was getting so much attention. Dad was a mostly retired dentist and Vi had floated this theory that dentists were “in cahoots” with an unnamed dental overlord to whip up a frenzy of fear of gum disease. She trotted out the theory whenever she was feeling particularly prickly.
“We’ll let you get settled,” I said. I pulled Vi back outside and Mac followed, pushing her from behind as he swung the door shut before Dad could retaliate.
“Do you have to do that?” I asked.
Vi shrugged and grinned. “Keeps him on his toes.”
Kirk was outside again with his snowblower—we could see the plume of snow in the parking lot.
“I’m going to go talk to Kirk about taking a snowmobile down the road,” Mac said. “Your Dad gave me the keys.”
“We’ll come, too,” Vi said. “I need to talk to him about my yarn bombing. I really want those knitting needles.”
She hooked her arms through ours and dragged us toward the noisy parking lot.
We saw Kirk inside one of those drivable snow throwers slowly working his way along the sidewalk toward the parked cars. Vi waved her arms to attract Kirk’s attention. After a few minutes, Kirk finally noticed us and shut the engine off.
I took a moment to enjoy the silence and then followed Mac and Vi as they crunched through the snow to Kirk.
Mac raised a hand in greeting. “I have the keys to the snowmobiles.” Mac held them out to demonstrate. “I was hoping you and I could ride out to the road to see if we can move the tree—”
Kirk started shaking his head even before Mac finished explaining his plan.
“This is the biggest snowblower we have. It’s almost a mile down the road to the turnoff. It could take days to try to dig our way toward the road through this. I’m not even sure I can deal with the sidewalk. We have a truck service that comes to do the heavy plowing—now I know why he hasn’t shown up yet.”
“With the phones out and the tree down, we’re stuck here unless we can find some help,” Mac said. “We can at least go evaluate the situation.”
“Yeah, okay,” Kirk said. “Let me just finish up here.”
Vi stepped forward, heedless of Kirk’s put-upon attitude.
“I’ve got a doozy of a yarn bombing planned,” she said. “But I really need a ladder . . . and someone to climb on it.”
Kirk nodded. “When I’m done helping the detective clear the tree, I’d love to do some more yarn bombing.” The sarcastic tone was either too subtle for Vi or she chose to ignore it.
“You’re the best!” Vi slugged him in the arm.
Kirk cranked up the snowblower again and steered it toward the parking lot.
We turned and waded back through the snow toward the hotel.
Inside, we stomped our boots and h
ung our coats on the hooks.
“I’ll catch up with you later,” Mac said and dropped a kiss on my forehead. “I need to get my jeans back before we take the snowmobiles out.” He took the hallway that led toward the stairway to the basement.
I followed Vi up the wide staircase toward our room. She wanted to get her knitting organized for the next workshop and I felt like I needed my own notebook to keep track of all of the suspects in this murder. I hoped she would pack her bag and head down to the lounge.
“So, who should we interview while Mac is off riding around on snowmobiles?” Vi said.
I stopped and turned to look at her.
“We aren’t going to interview anyone. Mac will get the police involved and then it will be up to them to figure this out.”
Vi put her hands on her hips just like my mother always did when she was ready to dig in her heels.
“That’s exactly why we need to interrogate people now,” Vi said. “As soon as the police arrive, we won’t have any authority to ask questions.”
My mouth dropped open and I quickly closed it. “Vi, we don’t have any authority now.”
She grabbed my arm and began hustling me toward our room, shushing me the whole time. As we got to the turn in the hallway, she glanced around and said, “You and I know that, but the rest of them don’t. They’ll tell us their story because they think you and Mac are investigating. We don’t have much time.”
I followed her toward our room, and we both stopped when we saw the door was open. I held my finger to my lips and Vi nodded once. Someone was humming and banging around in there. We approached the room slowly and peeked around the corner of the door.
Holly Raeburn hummed to herself and pulled the sheets smooth on Vi’s bed.
“Oh, it’s you,” Vi said.
Holly whirled around, her hand to her neck, eyes wide.
“You startled me,” she said, and smoothed her skirt.
“Hi, Holly,” Vi said. “We didn’t mean to scare you. We just came up during the break between lunch and the next workshop.”
