and showering the onlookers with frozen particles.
“Eeek!” cried Nadia. “We’ll be buried alive!”
But the pile of snow only reached about four feet into the
lodge. Near the top of the open door, they could see daylight.
Max, with hands on hips, surveyed the task that lay ahead.
“We’re snowed in, all right,” he said, stating the obvious.
“This is going to take some time.”
“Better bundle up,” said Killegrew, going over to the coffee
table. “Say, Nadia, could you fix me a Scotch and soda?”
Nadia busied herself with bottles and glasses. Judith noticed that the liquor supply was getting low. She wondered
if there was more in the basement. Given all that
had happened so far, it wouldn’t do to run out of booze.
Max and Ward headed for the elevator, presumably to put
on their all-weather gear. Gene and Ava wandered back into
the library. Margo and Russell followed Judith and Renie
into the kitchen.
“Do we have enough food?” Margo inquired.
“We’re fine,” Judith assured her. “In fact, I was just wondering about the liquor. Maybe we could all go downstairs
and see if there’s a backup supply.”
“They should have a wine cellar,” Margo said. “Come on,
Russell. It’ll give us something to do.”
Russell trailed Margo like a well-behaved pup. Judith and
Renie joined them, carefully going down the narrow stairway.
The basement wasn’t quite what Judith had expected. It was
partitioned into rooms. They passed the storage area for
outdoor equipment, the game room with billiard and pingpong tables, a large, well-stocked woodpile, a much larger
laundry room than the small alcove off the kitchen, a heating
and furnace room, another storage room where extra furniture was kept, and finally what passed for a wine cellar.
The bottles were stored in their original cases. To Judith’s
relief, there were also boxes filled with every imaginable liquor as well as two kegs containing beer, light and dark.
Each member of the foursome grabbed as many bottles as
possible and returned upstairs.
The lobby was empty and quite cold. The snow was
melting on the flagstones, creating puddles of water. Judith
and Renie went in search of a mop and some rags.
“When do we make our big threat?” Renie asked after they
were in the supply room.
“I’d like to have more evidence first,” Judith replied. “The
pillowcase might prove that Andrea was murdered, but except
for possible DNA results, it doesn’t tell us who smothered
her.”
They didn’t find any rags in the cupboards, so they had
to make do with towels. Renie piled such a tall stack in her
arms that only her eyes and hair showed. “Hold it. You said
