Renie made a face. “Better to have an unknown homicidal
maniac wandering around the mountains than one of the
OTIOSE gang prowling the halls. I like outside; I really hate
inside.”
Judith got up and went to the honor bar where she removed a Pepsi for Renie and a diet 7-Up for herself. “I understand your reaction. But it doesn’t work for me.”
Renie looked mildly offended. “Why not?”
“Because,” Judith said, sitting back down on the bed, “it
doesn’t fit. I’ve been thinking this through for the last couple
of hours, and much as the outsider theory appeals to me,
the rest of the pieces don’t mesh. Barry was killed a year ago,
during the retreat. We find Barry, and suddenly other people
start dying. I’m convinced there’s a connection. Except for
the conferees, who could know we’d found his body?”
“Whoever is out there,” Renie replied.
“I don’t think so,” Judith said, though there was a tinge of
doubt in her voice. “We didn’t see any tracks in the
snow when we went back the second time. And after that,
it started to snow pretty hard. I’m sure that little cave has
been covered up again. No, coz,” Judith said with a sad shake
of her head, “it doesn’t wash. I still think the killer is in the
lodge.”
“You want the killer to be inside,” Renie accused. “Otherwise, you couldn’t figure out whodunit.”
“Don’t say that, coz!” Judith shot Renie an angry look.
“I’m trying to use logic. Does it make sense that somebody
follows the OTIOSE conferees to Mountain Goat Lodge two
years in a row and starts killing them?” She didn’t wait for
Renie’s response. “Of course it doesn’t—it would be easier
and safer to do away with them in the city. If we knew why
Barry was killed in the first place, then we’d know why the
discovery of his body meant that Leon, Andrea, and Ward
also had to die. What is the common link between the four
of them? That’s what we should concentrate on.”
Renie sipped her Pepsi and considered. “First link—OTIOSE. They all worked for the same company, never mind at
what level. Second link—each other. They knew each other.”
“Hold it.” Judith gestured with her soda can. “That’s not
precisely true. Barry worked for two different departments,
human resources and public relations. Except for his occasional catering jobs and driving the conferees to the lodge
last year, how would the others have known him? Russell
doesn’t even seem to remember Barry.”
“Russell’s a dreamer,” Renie responded. “People aren’t
important to him, only ideas matter. A week from now,
Russell won’t remember
have had contact with all of them. Human resources and p.r.
deal with all the other departments. He certainly knew Nadia,
and therefore, no doubt came into contact with Frank and
Ward.”
“The files,” Judith murmured. “Andrea’s personnel files
