Literally.”
“No. Absolutely not.” Judith picked up the phone and
dialed the park service number. “Let’s see how fast they can
get here.”
A woman, instead of a recording, answered the park service
phone this time. She sounded flabbergasted when Judith informed her what had happened at Mountain Goat Lodge. It
was clear that she initially thought Judith was playing a
practical joke.
“Look,” Judith said, at her most earnest, “if you send some
of your police personnel, they’ll be able to see the bodies for
themselves. Or is it impossible to get someone into Mountain
Goat until the snow melts some more?”
“Of course it’s not impossible,” the woman huffed. “We
can have someone there within the hour.”
Judith frowned into the receiver. “You can? But the first
floor here is still mostly snowed in.”
“Drifts,” the woman said, not sounding quite as suspicious.
“The lodge is out in the open. There’s no real wind-break.
It’s a problem, all right, but the caretaker and the staff should
have seen to it.”
It was pointless to try to explain that the lodge was offlimits to anyone but the conferees. “So the roads are passable?” Judith inquired.
“For the most part,” the woman responded. “The highway
crews have been working through the weekend. How else,”
she added on a note of exasperation, “do you think the phone
company got through?”
“The phone company?” Judith echoed.
“Yes. I understand they restored telephone service late
yesterday. Didn’t you see or hear them?”
Judith had. Noise. Lights. Laughter. Real phone company
people doing real work. The outsiders had been insiders.
Even as the highly paid OTIOSE executives had created
mayhem at Mountain Goat Lodge, the humble craft technicians had come through. Maybe, Judith thought, the spirit
of service was still alive, even if some of the officers weren’t.
Judith finally convinced the woman to send at least two
park service police officers and a couple of rangers to the
lodge. While still dubious, the woman had finally allowed
that it wouldn’t hurt to check on the situation, but it might
be up to an hour before the personnel arrived at the scene
of the alleged crimes.
“We’ll have to stall a bit,” Judith said to Renie and Ava,
then glanced at the digital clock. It was going on five. “Maybe
we should get dinner.”
“I can’t cook,” Ava declared. “Shall I set the table?”
Before Judith could answer, Margo charged into the kitchen. “Ava! Where have you been? We’ve been worried
sick!”
“I’ve been with them,” Ava replied, gesturing at Judith and
