New Delhi and moved back to the States. Frank had just
made middle management. Twenty-four years. I was teasing
him the other day, and saying we had a silver anniversary
coming up this November.”
“Really.” Judith surveyed the towel supply, which was beginning to dwindle. “That’s a long time.”
“We’ve made a good team over the years.” Nadia’s voice
was wistful.
Judith started out of the supply room with her stack of
towels, then stopped. “Say, Nadia, I’ve got an odd question
for you. Remember last year when you were at the lodge?”
She paused for Nadia’s faint nod. “You told us you drove
the company van back to town after Barry disappeared.
Where did you get the key?”
Nadia rested her chin on the armload of towels. “The key?
Oh, dear—where did I get it?” She pursed her lips. “Oh! I
found it on the coffee table in the lobby.”
Judith’s face fell. “You don’t know who put the key there?”
“Keys,” Nadia corrected. “There was a small ring with three,
perhaps four keys on it. One was for the ignition, one was
for the storage compartment in the undercarriage, and the
other one—or two—were…” She paused. “I’m not sure.
Maybe they were duplicates of the others.”
“But you still had no idea who left them on the coffee
table?” Judith persisted.
Nadia shook her head. “No. At the time, I assumed Barry
had left them after he’d…gone off.” Behind the big glasses,
Nadia lowered her eyes.
“I see.” Judith didn’t know what else to say. She’d come
up against a dead end. The three women traipsed back out
to the lobby.
“Drat!” Renie exclaimed as they reached the entrance. “It’s
snowing again. I can see it coming down by the top of the
door.”
“It must have gotten colder,” Ava said, getting up from
154 / Mary Daheim
one of the sofas. “Once the sun—whatever there is of
it—starts going down around three or four o’clock, the temperature drops.”
“I could use another Scotch and soda,” Killegrew called
from his place near the hearth.
Nadia set down her stack of towels and hurried over to
serve her master. Judith and Renie exchanged sardonic
glances. A moment later, Gene, Max, and Margo appeared
in the hallway.
“No luck,” Max stated, looking disturbed. “We searched
every freaking nook and cranny. No Ward.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Killegrew said in a gruff voice. “He has
to be somewhere. What about the other rooms?”
Margo gave Killegrew a skeptical look. “Why would Ward
be in somebody else’s room? That doesn’t make sense.”
“We know he went to his own,” Gene put in. “We saw his
clothes.”
Killegrew drew back on the sofa, squaring his broad
shoulders and tossing his slide rule from one hand to the
other. “That doesn’t mean he stayed there. For God’s sake,
use your brains. My executive vice president didn’t just
evaporate in a cloud of smoke! I say, everybody check out
their own rooms. Andrea and Leon’s, too. Let’s hit it!”
Everyone scurried for the elevator except the cousins and
Killegrew, who gave his key to Nadia. Even Russell was
dragged along by Margo, despite his squeals of protest.
“We’ll go last,” Renie said. “We can’t all get in the elevator
anyway.”
“You bet you’ll stick around,” Killegrew said ominously.
“I’m not staying down here by myself. It’s not that I’m
afraid,” he added hastily. “It’s just that we agreed on the
buddy system. If you don’t sail your ship by the book, you’ll
end up on the skoals.”
“That’s shoals, Frank,” Margo called, just before the elevator doors closed on her and Max, Gene, and Russell.
Nadia and Ava decided to take the stairs. Killegrew, with
SNOW PLACE TO DIE / 155
his fresh drink, put his feet up and stared off into the crackling fire. The cousins returned to their task of mopping up.
“Consider the big picture,” Frank Killegrew said suddenly.
Judith and Renie turned curious gazes on OTIOSE’s CEO.
“Which big picture?” Renie finally asked.
“The future of telecommunications in the Northwest,”
Killegrew said, sounding sententious. “Where do you see
yourselves ten years from now?”
“Paris?” Renie had gotten to her feet.
Killegrew waved a beefy hand, then retrieved his slide rule
from the coffee table. “I’m talking about your lifestyle, your
quality of communications service, your wants and needs
when it comes to…ah…”
“I think,” Renie said slowly, “you need to be more specific.”
Killegrew’s blue eyes narrowed. “Okay, try this. If OTIOSE
goes down the toilet, a whole bunch of other, smaller, less
efficient companies will leap into the breach. You think it’s
bad now with all your different phone bills and companies?
If you can’t figure out which one can fix your inside wiring
or your outside line or even your five different phones, think
what will happen then. Rates will go up, quality will go
down, you’ll be lucky if you can get two tin cans and a piece
of string to call your next-door neighbor.”
“I don’t call my next-door neighbor,” Renie retorted. “She
hates me.”
Killegrew didn’t try to hide his exasperation. “Don’t act
stupid. You get my point.” He waited, his eyes moving
between Renie and Judith. “How much will it cost us to keep
the two of you from shooting your mouths off?” he finally
said.
“Let’s start the bidding at three point five million and stock
options,” Renie replied. “That’s each. Our silence isn’t merely
golden, it’s platinum.”
“Too much.” Killegrew’s chin jutted.
Renie flicked a wet towel at the air. “It’s not negotiable.
156 / Mary Daheim
Remember, I want to be in Paris in ten years.”
Ava and Nadia returned via the elevator. “No luck,” said
Ava in a grim voice. “The others are checking the…deceaseds’
rooms now.”
Judith nudged Renie. “Our turn,” she said under her breath.
In the elevator, Judith expressed her shock over Killegrew’s
offer. “Is he serious? Does he think he can bribe us?”
Renie shrugged. “The idealistic stuff about OTIOSE got
nowhere. What else did you expect?”
“This is terrible.” Judith leaned against the rear of the car.
“You were right. He’s unscrupulous.”
“I’ve been trying to tell you, they all are,” Renie said as
the doors slid open to reveal the second floor. “Most of them,
anyway.”
Max and Gene were coming out of Andrea’s room while
Russell quavered in the hallway with an irritated Margo at
his side. “No Ward in any of the rooms,” Max said in a
morose voice. “Try yours.”
The cousins’ room was empty, too. “What about the third
floor?” Gene asked.
“Why the hell would Ward go up there?” Max demanded.
“The only thing of interest is Leon, and he’s stiff as a board.”
“It was a thought,” Gene said apologetically.
Max sighed. “I suppose we’d better look. Come on, Gene.
The others can go back downstairs.”
Along with Margo and Russell, Judith and Renie took the
elevator to the lobby. No one spoke during the brief descent.
As soon as they stepped out of the car, Killegrew made a