a homicide spree. But they kill in other ways—they demean
their subordinates, they stifle them, they control them—and
often, they fire them. You can destroy other human beings
without violence. In the isolated corner office, someone like
Frank becomes so disassociated that he lives in a different
world, a false world where the only values are the ones he
makes up.”
Renie nodded slowly in agreement. “Not only that, but
he’d invested his entire life in OTIOSE. Oh, he may have
had a boat and played golf, but those were just extensions
of his executive persona. Unlike other people—like my husband and my cousin’s husband—he had nothing outside of
his exalted position. He was a shell of a man, hollow inside,
and incapable of living anywhere but in the corporate world.
When reality touched him in the form of retirement, he went
over the edge. As my psychologist husband would say, Frank
Killegrew…went nuts.”
“My God!” Ava clapped a hand to her cheek. “Will I be
like that? Am I already there?”
“Let’s hope not,” said Renie. “You’re still young. This
weekend, you’ve seen how corporate thinking can cause total
devastation. Follow Margo’s example—get out before it’s
too late.”
Ava didn’t respond. She seemed to sink into deep thought,
her eyes on the brightly striped rug beneath her feet.
“My cousin’s right,” Judith chimed in. “It was too late for
Nadia, which is why she killed herself. She had nothing
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but Frank—and OTIOSE. That was her family, her gang,
where she belonged. She was utterly devoted to him, as much
as any wife is to a husband. In fact, she acted just like an
old-fashioned wife, waiting on him, fetching and carrying,
soothing, selfless. If his horrible schemes were uncovered—as
Nadia knew they would be—he’d face disgrace and ruin.
He’d go to prison, and she’d lose him. Nadia couldn’t bear
that. Nor could she face what might happen to OTIOSE,
which was her real home. Don’t make the same mistake as
Nadia did, Ava. Find a life—a real life—while you still have
the chance.”
Ava was still staring at the carpet. “I have no family here.
Everyone is in Samoa. But I have some friends outside the
company. Maybe I could start to…” Her voice trailed off.
“We need your help,” Judith said abruptly. “We have to
trap Frank.”
Ava’s head jerked up. “What are you saying? There’s no
evidence? I thought you had…”
Judith slowly shook her head. “We have next to nothing.
These were virtually bloodless crimes. There will be fingerprints, yes, but not just Frank’s. We’ve all been in and out
of the guest rooms, either in groups or as individuals. For
all we know, Frank wore gloves. There may have been a
struggle with Ward—I suspect there was. We found a Bell
System service pin on the floor in his room, which may have
come loose when he tried to fight Frank off. But that doesn’t
prove anything. None of it does. All of his victims trusted
him—he was the boss. I imagine Andrea drank whatever
Frank gave her without a qualm. No doubt he told her it
would be good for her. Whatever Frank said was law. It’s
the way you corporate people think.”
“Good Lord.” Ava took another sip of juice, then rose from
the chair. “What do you want me to do?”
“First,” Judith said, also standing up, “we’re going to call
the park service. Their law enforcement personnel have jurisdiction at Mountain Goat. Then we’re going to restage
262 / Mary Daheim
that little scene with you and Frank in the conference room.
Are you game?”
Ava grasped her throat. “I…I don’t know. It was terrifying
at the time. Just now, before you stopped me, I was about
to…But I really…” She lowered her face into her hands and
began to sob.
Judith bit her lip. Ava, like the rest of the OTIOSE executives, had been stripped of all surface emotions. The weekend
had pared them down to the bone. Judith saw the bruises
on Ava’s throat, and understood how deeply the young woman had been wounded.
“Never mind,” Judith said. “I’ll do it.”
“Whoa!” Renie grabbed her cousin by the arm. “Don’t
you dare! It’s not your fight!”
“Yes, it is,” Judith said grimly. “I threw down the gauntlet.
Let’s go.”
Renie was still arguing when the three women reached the
kitchen. Judith, however, had made up her mind. “I know,
I know. It’s a dirty job, but someone’s…”
“Why you?” Renie demanded. “What about me? I’ve got
the corporate connection. Let me stick my neck out for once.
Literally.”
“No. Absolutely not.” Judith picked up the phone and
dialed the park service number. “Let’s see how fast they can
get here.”
A woman, instead of a recording, answered the park service
phone this time. She sounded flabbergasted when Judith informed her what had happened at Mountain Goat Lodge. It
was clear that she initially thought Judith was playing a
practical joke.
“Look,” Judith said, at her most earnest, “if you send some
of your police personnel, they’ll be able to see the bodies for
themselves. Or is it impossible to get someone into Mountain
Goat until the snow melts some more?”
“Of course it’s not impossible,” the woman huffed. “We
can have someone there within the hour.”
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Judith frowned into the receiver. “You can? But the first
floor here is still mostly snowed in.”
“Drifts,” the woman said, not sounding quite as suspicious.
“The lodge is out in the open. There’s no real wind-break.
It’s a problem, all right, but the caretaker and the staff should
have seen to it.”
It was pointless to try to explain that the lodge was offlimits to anyone but the conferees. “So the roads are passable?” Judith inquired.
“For the most part,” the woman responded. “The highway
crews have been working through the weekend. How else,”
she added on a note of exasperation, “do you think the phone
company got through?”
“The phone company?” Judith echoed.
“Yes. I understand they restored telephone service late
yesterday. Didn’t you see or hear them?”
Judith had. Noise. Lights. Laughter. Real phone company
people doing real work. The outsiders had been insiders.
Even as the highly paid OTIOSE executives had created
mayhem at Mountain Goat Lodge, the humble craft technicians had come through. Maybe, Judith thought, the spirit
of service was still alive, even if some of the officers weren’t.
Judith finally convinced the woman to send at least two
park service police officers and a couple of rangers to the
lodge. While still dubious, the woman had finally allowed
that it wouldn’t hurt to check on the situation, but it might
be up to an hour before the personnel arrived at the scene
of the alleged crimes.
“We’ll have to stall a bit,” Judith said to Renie and Ava,
then glanced at the digital clock. It was going on five. “Maybe
we should get dinner.”
“I can’t cook,” Ava declared. “Shall I set the table?”
Before Judith could answer, Margo charged into the kitchen. “Ava! Where have you been? We’ve been worried
sick!”
264 / Mary Daheim