enrollment card—the whole lot.” Still clutching the wallet
and the towel, Judith leaned against the counter.
“I guess,” Renie said in a subdued voice, “Barry’s not
missing anymore.”
Judith gave a single nod. “Are you going to call the cops
or shall I?”
“Why call the cops?” Renie objected, puffing frantically at
her cigarette. “We need an undertaker. Barry must have
gotten caught in the middle of a snowstorm and froze to
death.”
“We need a cop because he was a missing person,” Judith
persisted. “Besides,” she began, then made a face, “we need
a cop, because that’s what you do when you find a body.”
Renie winced. “I wonder if we should tell the rest of them
about Barry first. I mean, he belonged to them, not us.”
“We found him.” Judith chewed her lower lip. “Let’s call
and then you can tell them about Barry.”
“Me?” Renie placed a hand on her semiexposed chest and
gulped. “I didn’t find him. You did.”
“You fell and knocked down that big snow pack,” Judith
countered.
“I didn’t go crawling around inside the cave.”
“This is your big project.” Judith was beginning to get annoyed. “Where’s all that bravado you were showing off an
hour ago?”
“I don’t know,” Renie replied, gazing around the kitchen.
“Where is it?”
“Oooh…We’ll do it together. As usual.” She marched over
to the phone. “I’ll even call the cops.” She punched in 911.
A quavery voice answered on a crackling line. Judith
40 / Mary Daheim
could barely understand the woman—she guessed it was a
woman—at the other end. “I’m calling from Mountain Goat
Lodge,” Judith said, speaking more loudly and precisely than
usual. “We’ve found a corpse.”
“You want a Coors?” the voice said, sounding slightly
stronger. “This isn’t a tavern, it’s the county sheriff’s emergency line. Please hang up at once.”
The line went dead. “She thinks I’m a nut. Now what?”
“What?” Renie, who hadn’t heard the other half of the
conversation, looked bewildered.
“Never mind.” Irked, Judith redialed. The same voice
answered. “This isn’t a joke,” Judith shouted. “We have a
dead body at Mountain Goat Lodge.”
There was a long pause. Judith figured the woman in the
sheriff’s office was trying to figure out if this was a genuine
call. “Mountain Goat?” the woman finally said. “That’s not
our jurisdiction. Try the next county to the east.” She hung
up again.
“What is the next county to the east?” Judith demanded
of Renie.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Renie replied
in an irritated tone. “I’m going to put our wash in the dryer
while you figure out how to call the cops. You’re married to
one, for God’s sake, you ought to know.”
“I’ll try the forest service,” Judith said, trying to put a check
on her impatience. “Their number is posted by the phone.
If they used to own this property, they ought to know what
county it’s in.”
Renie’s eyebrows lifted in mock amazement. “A government agency knowing where they are? Who they are? What
they’re…”
As the connection was made, Judith made a shushing
gesture with her hand. But the voice on the other end was a
recording. The staff was out of the office, but if the caller
would care to leave a name and number…
Judith hung up before the message droned to its conclu- SNOW PLACE TO DIE / 41
sion. “What staff? I’ll bet there’s only one person in a snow
shelter next to the nearest restaurant.”
She was looking for a phone book when the man that
Renie had called Russell poked his head in the kitchen. “Excuse me,” he began, then gasped as he saw Judith adorned
in the towel. “Sorry, I didn’t realize you were…ah…um…”
“Russell?” Judith made a reassuring gesture with her free
hand. “You work for the phone company. Do you know
where I can find a phone book?”
The ordinary question seemed to calm Russell. “Of course.
There’s one in the…er…surely it would be…um…have you
looked…ah…I’ve no idea.” His face began to turn a deep
red.
Judith put a hand to her shoulder-length silver-streaked
hair and rubbed furiously at her scalp. “Okay, okay. Tell me
this—how can I reach the local sheriff?”
Russell’s eyebrows rose above his rimless glasses. “You
dial 911, just as you would in the city.”
Judith shook her head. “It doesn’t work that way. Maybe
the lines are crossed. Have you got another suggestion?”
“Ohhh…” Russell seemed at an utter loss. “I’m R&D, not
operations. Really, I’m not what you’d call…practical.”
Judith would have held her head with both hands if the
effort wouldn’t have caused her to drop the towel. “R&D?
What’s that? I know R&B is rhythm and blues, but…”
“Research and development.” Renie was back in the kitchen. “Russell Craven is vice president-R&D.” She nodded
at Russell. “Hi again. What county are we in?”
“County?” Russell’s thin fair hair seemed to twitch. “Well,
I really couldn’t say…We are in one, though…I mean, we
have to be, don’t we? Counties are like that, sort of next to
each other and all…ah…Do you ladies need some clothing?”
Renie gave Russell a toothy grin. “Now there’s a helpful
42 / Mary Daheim
idea, Russell. We wouldn’t mind borrowing a few items for
just a bit. Let me see…” Renie glanced at Judith. “How about
asking Ava and…” She paused, gazing down at her own
towel-wrapped figure. “…Nadia. I think.”
“Yes. Yes.” Russell nodded enthusiastically. “Ava and Nadia. Shall I…?” He gestured at the door.
“You shall. And we thank you.” Renie cocked her head.
Russell started out the door, then turned back. “Oh! This
business about the sheriff…is it urgent?”
“It’ll keep,” Renie replied dryly.
Russell left. Five minutes later, Ava Aunuu was in the kitchen, hand-tooled leather suitcase in hand. “What
happened?” she asked, evincing what Judith took for actual
concern.
Renie introduced Judith to the woman who served as
OTIOSE’s vice president–information technology services.
The long-winded title didn’t mean much to Judith, but she
recalled that Ava was some kind of computer genius.
“We fell in the creek,” Renie explained. “You and my
cousin are about the same size, so when Russell Craven
suggested we borrow some clothes, I thought of you.”
“Sure,” Ava said, undoing the straps and flipping the locks
on her suitcase. “I brought extra everything along. There’s
underwear, too. I’m not really into clothes, but you never
know what can happen on one of these retreats.” Her brown
eyes danced with what might have been amusement—or
something less pleasant.
Judith picked up the first items she saw. A high-necked
blue sweater and navy slacks, almost exactly like the dark
green outfit Ava was wearing. “This’ll be great. Are you
sure…?” She gave Ava a questioning look.
“Well…” Ava reached into the suitcase and a removed a
red crewneck sweater and matching slacks. “How about