“I’m so glad you did.” I smiled gratefully at him.
That seemed to galvanize him and we quickly made it to the inn.
I opened the back door and swung it wide so Wally could get inside with Vi. Then I shoved Linda in before closing it against the cold.
René met us in the hall. He stopped short, taking in the scene.
“I thought you might be Emmett,” he said. “I heard from Holly that Emmett took the snowmobile and Kirk went after him,” he said. “What’s going on?”
“Vi might be hypothermic,” I said. “Please find Heather. She’s the blond one and she’s a nurse.”
“I know where she is,” Wally said. “I’ll go get her.”
René took Vi’s limp form from Wally and rushed her to the lounge.
Linda’s head hung and her hair covered her face. It looked like she had given up on the idea of escaping, but I didn’t trust her.
Dad and Seth rushed toward us as we stood in the back hall.
“We heard Vi was hurt,” Dad said. “Where is she?” Dad was breathing hard and his shock of white hair seemed to stand even taller than usual.
“Wally went to find Heather,” I said. “René took Vi to the lounge.”
Seth ran down the hall to check on Vi.
“Clyde, are you okay?” Dad asked. He searched my face and squeezed me into a bear hug.
“I need to go call the police,” I said to Dad. “I’ve got our murderer.”
Linda slumped against the wall and held her hand on her leg wound.
“She’s been hurt,” Dad said.
I looked at Linda, who had now begun to moan in light of Dad’s sympathy.
“She’ll be fine,” I said. “Keep an eye on her until I get back. I hope Wally knows a place we can put her until the police get here.”
I rushed to the front desk and called 911 from the landline. I reported the need for an ambulance if they could get through and asked her to get a message to Pete Harris that we had a suspect in custody. I then ran back to Dad and Linda.
Just as I arrived at the back hall again, Wally and Seth approached. Seth’s eyes were big and he said, “They took Aunt Vi into the lounge by the fire.” He swallowed and looked from me to Dad and back. “She’s not waking up.”
“Dad, we need to secure Mrs. Garrett somewhere,” I said. “Wally, I don’t trust her—do you have a place that can be locked?”
Wally shook his head. “Not really.” He glared at Linda. “But I know where Kirk keeps the zip ties.”
Jessica ran toward us down the hall. She was out of breath.
“Mom! I just talked to René. What’s going on? Are you okay?” She moved to examine Linda’s leg.
I stepped between her and Linda. “Your mother is under arrest.”
“What? What for?” Jessica stepped back, her hand to her chest.
“Reckless endangerment, attempted murder, and probably the murder of Clarissa.”
Jessica’s hands shook as she covered her mouth. Her eyes were huge and she stared at her mother.
“I don’t believe it,” she said. Linda dropped her head. “You’ve made a mistake. Mom, tell them.” Jessica stepped toward her mother again and I steered her back down the hall.
René must have heard the noise and came out of the lounge. He approached Jessica and turned her toward the reception area.
Linda remained silent, but scrubbed at her eyes as Jessica walked away.
40
Thirty long minutes later, Vi groggily sipped the hot tea with brandy that René had prepared. She made a face and pushed it away.
“What’s in that tea? Is it that healthy green stuff?” she said. “It’s horrible!”
I grinned at Mom. Vi would be okay.
Heather had done a quick check of Vi’s extremities to be sure frostbite hadn’t set in. I was worried about Vi’s left hand since she’d lost her mitten and I had no idea how long she’d been outside.
Heather gave a thumbs-up and said it looked like Vi would be just fine. She quietly told me it would be better if we could get her to a hospital just to be safe.
I was mulling this over and wondering if it was worth trying to get the hospital helicopter to fly in and take her, when we heard boots stomping in the front reception area. Wally’s eyes got big and he scurried off to take up his post.
I thought it might be Mac and Kirk finally returning. My spirits lifted and I followed Wally out of the room.
I rushed to the front entrance and stopped short when I saw police uniforms. Even though I had called them, my gut clenched as I thought they might come bearing horrible news about Mac.
As the sky began to turn deep purple, I knew the wind would pick up again and the temperatures would plummet. Were they stuck in the woods? Did they crash into a tree? Did Emmett have a weapon? I crossed my arms to keep my hands from shaking and stepped forward to meet the police.
“I’m Detective Harris.” The plainclothes officer with salt-and-pepper hair and the weather-beaten face of an outdoorsman addressed Wally. “Someone called emergency dispatch and said there was a suspect in custody?”
“I’m Wallace Prescott.” Wally stepped forward and shook hands with the officers. “We have her . . . detained in the office.”
Wally saw the officers’ attention had shifted to me, and he turned to see who had come into the room.
“Detective Harris, this is Clyde Fortune,” Wally said. “She’s the one who caught our suspect. She and Detective McKenzie have been trying to identify the murderer.”
I was amused at Wally’s use of the word “our.” I supposed he deserved it after coming to my rescue.
Detective Harris stuck out his hand and we shook.
“I’ve known Mac for a long time. He told me you were here as well when we spoke on the phone. From Ann Arbor, right?”
“Formerly Ann Arbor. I live in Crystal Haven now.” I felt a calm settle over me as I said it. It felt right.
“We finally cleared the road down below,” he said. “It sounds like we got here just in time to miss all the excitement.” He turned to Wally. “Maybe you should show me where you’re keeping our suspect.”
The three officers trooped after Wally and me. We briefly filled them in on the afternoon’s events as we made our way to the small supply closet where Wally had incarcerated Linda. I summarized the situation for Detective Harris and he asked for a few minutes to talk to Linda.
I returned to the lounge to check on Vi.
She sat with a bright afghan over her lap and sipped a different cup of tea. René had provided a tray of sandwiches and cookies, which Seth eyed carefully. I saw the wheels turning in his brain, trying to figure out how to get some of Vi’s food without appearing insensitive.
Vi wasn’t paying any attention to the food; she was too busy telling her tale.
“I just knew there was something going on with her,” Vi said.
I bit my lip to keep from interrupting and reminding her that her main suspect had been Kirk.
“But she was a tricky one,” Vi continued. “She invited me to her room for coffee and cookies.” Vi looked around to be sure she had everyone’s attention. “I wanted to see their apartment and thought I could pump her for information about . . . her staff.”
Vi glanced at me and I smiled. I wasn’t going to ruin her story by telling the young swooning knitters that Vi had suspected their yarn-bombing beefcake.
“She must have put something in the coffee,” Vi said. “I started to feel funny, but she insisted she’d just seen someone sneaking around out near the shed where Clarissa’s body was.” Vi adjusted her afghan, and Tina stepped forward to assist.