above downtown, and still did, according to the address on
the sleeping pill prescription. Thus, I assumed that Frank
was the one who was moving, and the logical conclusion
was that his wife had given him the thumb. He also had an
appointment with a law firm that specializes in divorce. Gene
knew about that, didn’t he?”
Ava, who had taken a sip of her juice, looked startled.
“Yes, I told him. How did you guess?”
Judith gave a modest shrug. “The slip of paper I mentioned
that belonged to Nadia had been left in the women’s restroom on purpose. I thought at first it was used to jam your
stall. You recall that I asked how long you were in the bathroom?” Seeing Ava nod, Judith went on. “Then it occurred
to me that someone had purposely put the note on
the floor of the restroom. It needn’t have been a woman. My
guess was Gene, because he’s an attorney and would realize
the significance of Frank’s appointment with Hukle, Hukle,
and Huff. Gene wanted everyone to know that Frank’s marriage was on the rocks, but because he’s such a cautious man,
he felt compelled to act in a covert manner.”
Ava looked impressed. “My God, I didn’t realize we’d
hired a sleuth as a caterer!”
Judith eschewed the compliment—if indeed that was what
had been intended. “Identifying the killer shouldn’t have
been too hard. In fact, I’m kicking myself for being so slow.
Everything pointed to Frank all along. But so many bits and
pieces only fell into place in the past few hours. Like Rudy
Mannheimer.”
“Rudy?” Renie and Ava both echoed the name, like a shrill
Greek chorus.
“That’s right,” Judith replied. “Frank’s personnel records
showed he was a Ranger in Korea. That was the old name
for Special Forces, which utilizes all sorts of dirty tricks, including a garrote. Sad to say, the Rangers were trained to
be ruthless killers. In fact, if I recall correctly, they themselves
suffered tremendous casualties in Korea. I suppose some of
them never quite got over the killer instinct—and the fear of
being killed.”
“Paranoia?” Renie put in. “Or self-defense? Bill would say
that in cases like Frank’s, where killing is not only legal, but
condoned by…”
“A bit of both,” Judith interrupted hastily before Renie
could go off on one of her tangents. “But we digress. Frank
used to be in partnership with the previous owners of
Mountain Goat Lodge. He and Rudy go back to Korea. Rudy
seems like an odd duck, and I can’t help but wonder if Frank
didn’t get him the job up here. If so, Rudy’s in his debt. I
also wonder if Rudy knew about Barry Newcombe but kept
his mouth shut. It wouldn’t surprise me if Rudy Mannheimer
helped hide Barry’s body. Still, I don’t
