“What are you talking about?” Killegrew demanded, taking
a step forward and looking as if he wanted to shake Max.
“Didn’t you two stay together?”
Max paled. “We couldn’t. Not the whole time. We had to
get our gear from our separate rooms. It seemed pointless
to change clothes together. Hell, we locked our doors. I
mean, I did, and Ward’s was locked when I tried it just now.
Otherwise, I’d have gone in to see if he was in the can.”
“Oh, dear!” Nadia’s exclamation was very faint.
“Ward!” Ava clutched at the rolled-up collar of her blue
sweater.
Frank Killegrew seemed to be at war with himself. The
muscles in his face worked, his strapping body twitched, his
eyes darted around the lobby. “We’d better all go,” he finally
said in a thick, uncertain voice.
Nadia pressed both of her small hands against his chest.
“Not you, Frank! You’ve already had one terrible shock
today. Please, stay here. I’ll wait with you.”
“So will I,” Russell chimed in. “I’m squeam…ooof!”
Margo had belted Russell in the stomach. “Don’t you dare
say that again, you chicken! Go ahead, stay down here and
cower in the corner. I’m going.” She lifted her chin at Ava.
“How about you?”
Ava shook her head. “I don’t think so.”
In the end, it was Max, Margo, and Gene who got into
the elevator. The cousins would join them in the hallway,
but they’d get there via the back stairs. They’d also bring an
ax.
“I don’t really want to do this,” an unenthusiastic Renie
said as they went down to the basement. “What we find isn’t
going to be nice.”
150 / Mary Daheim
“Probably not,” Judith sighed, “but we should be there as
witnesses.”
“Why?” Renie asked as they headed for the alcove that
housed the woodpile.
“Why?” Judith hesitated. “Well, because we need to know
everything if we’re going to figure out whodunit. More
evidence, that’s the ticket.”
“I thought you were going to make some up,” Renie replied
in a peevish voice.
“I was, but real evidence would be better.” Judith found
two axes, but chose the one with the longer handle. “Let’s
go.”
When Judith and Renie got back to the second floor, they
saw Margo trying to turn the lock with a paper clip. She
wasn’t having much luck. Max and Gene hovered behind
her. Judith had considered offering her expertise, but thought
better of it; perhaps it wouldn’t be wise to admit that she
could not only crack a safe, but pick a lock.
“I could push it in,” Max said. He had taken off his lumber
jacket to reveal a heavy olive-green flannel shirt.
“No,” Gene said, avoiding Max’s gaze. “We don’t want a
gaping hole. That is, in case…” His voice trailed off.
Max saw the ax in Judith’s hand. “Then we’ll chop around
the lock.”
Gene nodded. “Go ahead. Let’s hope Ward didn’t shoot
the dead bolt.”
Ward hadn’t. It took Max almost ten minutes to hack away
at the solid pine, but eventually he freed the lock, doorknob,
and brass plate from the door itself. Gingerly, Max reached
into the opening and swung the door free.
The room looked like all the others that Judith had seen.
It appeared to be empty. Max led the way, going to the foot
of the twin beds, peering beneath them, checking the small
closet, then opening the door to the bathroom. He looked
in the tub. There was no sign of Ward.
Renie was shivering. Judith put a hand on her cousin’s
arm. “Hang in there, coz,” she whispered.
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“I’m okay,” Renie said under her breath. “It’s cold in here.”
“It is, actually,” Judith agreed. She glanced at the small
fireplace. The grate was empty.
“I don’t get it. I saw him go in.” Max scratched his bald
head, then went back to the closet. “His parka’s gone. So are
his ski pants. Look,” he went on, pointing to a hanger.
“There’s the blue shirt and the navy cords he was wearing
earlier today. He must have changed.”
“Weird,” breathed Margo. “What did he do? Go outside?”
“He couldn’t get outside,” Gene reminded her. “He must
have left this room, locked the door behind him, and…”
OTIOSE’s legal counsel turned a bleak face to the others.
“My room’s just across the hall,” Max said. “If anything
had happened out in the corridor, I would’ve heard it.”
The room, with its chilly atmosphere and missing occupant, seemed to have acquired a sinister air. In a body, five
unsettled people made for the door. Max closed it behind
them, then stared down at the hole where the hardware had
been.
“What are we going to tell Frank?” he asked in a dismal
voice.
“The truth,” Margo retorted. “Frank can take it. Besides,
we don’t know if anything happened to Ward. He might be
wandering around the lodge looking for us.”
The suggestion, no matter how overly optimistic, buoyed
Max and Gene, who fairly bounded to the elevator. Even
Margo seemed more amiable. As Judith and Renie hung
back, they heard Margo call to them, “Come on, squeeze in.
I’m skinny as a flagpole and you’re kind of small, Serena.”
“I used to be,” Renie murmured, but she and Judith managed to fit into the small car.
Killegrew, Nadia, Ava, and Russell were waiting for
152 / Mary Daheim
them with an air of dread. “Well?” the CEO demanded when
they stepped out into the lobby. “What’s happened to
Ward?”
“Nothing,” Margo replied. “We couldn’t find him.” Her
face fell slightly as she looked around. “He’s not here?”
“Of course not,” Killegrew growled. “You mean he wasn’t
in his room?”
“No, he wasn’t.” Max seemed to topple from his brief elation. “I suppose we could search the basement.”
“We went down there to get the ax,” Judith said. “We
didn’t see him. But then we really didn’t look. We went
straight to the woodpile.”
“Let’s go.” Max was already heading down the hall towards
the basement stairs. Margo and Gene followed, but this time
the cousins held back.
“We’d have heard him if he was there,” Judith whispered
to Renie.
“Probably,” Renie replied. “But the basement is pretty big.”
“Why would he go down there?”
“To get more shovels?” Renie shrugged, then added in a
doubtful tone, “I wouldn’t think he’d go alone.”
Nadia gestured at the flagstones. “It’s been melting quite
steadily. We’d better mop up again.”
“I’ll get more towels,” Renie volunteered, starting out of
the lobby.
“Not alone, you won’t,” Judith said, hurrying after her.
“I’ll join you,” Nadia put in, almost running to keep up
with the cousins. “Frank’s safe. The others are here.”
“Goodness,” Judith said in amazement she hoped didn’t
sound feigned, “your devotion to Mr. Killegrew is really admirable. But then I work for myself. When you’re your own
boss, you can’t look up to yourself.”
“Frank Killegrew is a very exceptional man,” Nadia declared as they reached the supply room. “I was with him
when he was a Bell System vice president. In fact, I worked
SNOW PLACE TO DIE / 153
for him from the time I left my post with the Red Cross in