there’s something you should know.”
“If it’s about that body you found, forget it,” Joe said,
sounding increasingly irritable. “The deputy chief talked to
some bozo or some bimbo up there Friday, and that accidental death you mentioned isn’t our problem. Have them call
the park service. They have jurisdiction.”
“Oh. That’s good. I’ll tell them right away.” Judith took
another deep breath. “While we’re on the subject, I should
come clean about…”
“Clean? Sorry, somebody’s trying to talk to me at this end.
Hold on.” Joe must have put his hand over the receiver; Judith could hear only muffled voices. “Yeah, I need clean underwear,” he said, coming back on the line. “Your goofy
cleaning woman didn’t come Friday because she was afraid
it would snow. I couldn’t find any dark socks yesterday.
Where does she put the clean stuff after it comes out of the
dryer?”
Judith always marveled at her husband’s inability to find
any of his belongings, even when they were right under his
nose. Or, as had occasionally happened, in his hands.
“Phyliss,” she said, referring to her daily help, “keeps three
separate baskets in the basement. The blue one is for the
B&B laundry, the green is for our personal linens and tow- 250 / Mary Daheim
els, and she puts our clothes in the yellow one. They should
all be lined up by the washer and dryer, which, in case you’ve
forgotten, is in the basement laundry room.”
“Hey!” Joe barked. “What’s with the sarcasm? I not only
get called in on a weekend, I get stuck with a stiff in a house
that hardly has any food in it. Plus, I have to share a bed
with the M.E. who snores like a steam engine and smells
like…well, like an M.E. Woody was smart—he grabbed one
of the twin beds in the master bedroom.”
“Why didn’t you take the other one?” Judith asked.
“Because the stiff was lying on it.” Joe sounded as if he
were gnashing his teeth.
“Oh.” Judith’s urge to tell Joe about the other murders
faded. “I’m sorry about that. Really. Will you be able to get
home?”
“I don’t know.” Joe now sounded glum. “Even with fourwheel drive, it’s almost impossible to get up Heraldsgate
Hill in snow this deep.”
“Maybe we’ll both be home by tomorrow,” Judith said
with what she hoped was optimism.
“Maybe.” Joe obviously wasn’t convinced. “I’ve got to go.
There’s a pile of paperwork on my desk.”
“Okay. Be careful. Please.”
“Right. You, too.”
“Bye.”
“Bye.” Joe rang off.
“He’s in a bad mood,” Judith said, replacing the receiver
and looking for the telephone directory, which he finally
found under a turkey roaster.
“He’d be in a worse one if you’d told him about the other
bodies,” Renie pointed out. “Who’d he say to call?”
“The park service.” Judith ran her finger down the listings
under federal government. “Here’s the number.”
Renie’s round face was troubled. “Why you?”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s their problem.” Renie jerked a thumb over her
shoulder. “Tell them to call. Why get involved?”
SNOW PLACE TO DIE / 251
“We are involved,” Judith countered. “We’ll be questioned,
we’ll have to give statements.”
“So? Deal with that when the time comes. But for now,
have one of the survivors out there call. Better yet, tell Mannheimer. He’s the caretaker, it’s his job.”
Judith put the receiver back in its cradle. “Okay, I will.
Let’s see how the rest of them are faring.”
They weren’t faring particularly well. Having reopened
the liquor bottles, the distraught OTIOSE executives had
now degenerated into a maudlin state. Frank Killegrew was
feeling very sentimental and was exchanging old war stories
with Rudy Mannheimer, who appeared to have gotten drunk
rather quickly.
“…out on patrol…cold as a well-digger’s…then these gooks
came…” Killegrew’s voice was lost in a maundering mumble.
“Gooks?” Margo sounded indignant, though she lacked her
usual fire. “What kind of language is that?”
“Slopes,” Mannheimer said, his voice thick with whiskey.
“North Korean S.O.B.s. Hell, honey, you’re too young. You
don’t know nothin’.”
Judith and Renie were hiding next to the French doors
that led to the lobby. They could hear, but not see the
speakers.
“Screw Korea,” Max declared. “That was a picnic compared
to ’Nam. Jungle, heat, bugs, civilians loaded with grenades…”
“Bull,” Mannheimer retorted. “You ain’t fought a war till
you freeze your nummies off at Pyongyang.”
“War’s horrible,” Ava said, her voice shaking with conviction. “Killing is horrible. Death is horrible. Life is…horrible.”
The cousins heard footsteps hurrying from the lobby.
“Ava,” Judith breathed. “Let’s head her off.”
Judith and Renie ran back through the dining room, the
kitchen and the laundry room. Down the hall, they could
see Ava getting into the elevator. The cousins raced up the
252 / Mary Daheim
backstairs, arriving just as Ava stepped out onto the second
floor.
“Don’t!” Judith yelled. “Wait!”
Ava ran, too, heading for her room which was two doors
down from the elevator. She nipped inside, but couldn’t close
the door before Judith put a shoulder against the solid pine.
“Stop it, Ava!” Judith commanded. “Let us in! Please! Don’t
do anything else foolish!”
Ava and Judith were about the same size and build. As
each woman put her weight on opposite sides of the door,
it appeared that the younger and more physically fit Ava had
the advantage. But Judith had Renie. The cousins finally
managed to triumph.
Ava turned a ravaged face on her pursuers. “Why do you
want to stop me? It’s none of your business!”
“Yes, it is.” Judith spoke through taut lips. “Unlike the rest
of you, we’re not indifferent to the sufferings of other people.
Besides, OTIOSE got us mixed up in all this. We couldn’t
get out of here free and clear if we wanted to.”
Ava, who had been backing away from the cousins, shook
her head. “I don’t care. It still has nothing to do with you.
Not really. Leave me alone.”
“No.” For emphasis, Judith sat down on one of the twin
beds while Renie closed the door. “Why waste your life? It’s
not worth it. OTIOSE isn’t worth it, and,” Judith went on,
raising her voice, “neither is Frank Killegrew.”
Ava’s dark eyes widened. “It’s not about Frank!” she
shouted.
“Oh, yes it is,” Judith said. “You know it is. It’s always
been about Frank. Given what I’ve come to understand about
the corporate world, it couldn’t be about anybody or anything else.”
“You know?” The words were whispered as Ava collapsed
into one of the armchairs.
Judith nodded. “I didn’t really figure it out until today,
when I saw how Frank reacted to Nadia’s death. He was
SNOW PLACE TO DIE / 253
truly devastated. I realized then that Nadia had in fact killed
herself. She’d taken the sleeping pills along with the gin and
committed suicide.”
“No!” Ava covered her face with her hands.