Snow Happens (Alaska Cozy Mystery Book 3) Read online

Conrad dipped his head over the bed of the truck. “Clean. Nothing except a spare tire and a jack under the snow in there,” he said in a disappointed voice. He went for the driver’s side door. To his relief, the door was unlocked. “Let’s see what we can find. Sarah, try the other door.”

  Sarah walked to the passenger’ side door and found it unlocked. She pulled it open. “Based on the amount of snow on the hood and roof, this truck’s been sitting here for at least three or four hours.”

  “Yep,” Conrad said, studying the interior with skilled eyes.

  Sarah carefully opened the glove compartment box and began sifting through its contents. Amanda peered over her shoulder. “Insurance cards... vehicle registration... and a map,” she called out to Conrad.

  Conrad bent down and studied the underside of the driver’s seat. “Clear,” he said.

  “Let’s check behind the seat,” Sarah suggested. Conrad located the metal latch, pushed it down, and pulled the seat forward toward the steering wheel. “Clear,” Sarah said calmly. “We’ll need to check for prints.”

  “Yep,” Conrad said, pushing the seat back into its original position.

  Sarah closed the passenger’ side door and walked around to Conrad. “Dave’s Subaru—”

  “Yep,” Conrad said again, “it should have more snow on the roof and hood.”

  “You guys are good,” Amanda whispered.

  “Training,” Sarah explained, “and years of trial and error, ups and downs, good and bad.”

  Conrad casually walked over to the brown Subaru and slid his hand under the snow covering the hood. “Cold,” he told Sarah and Amanda. He spotted Dave standing a little ways off, regarding him with worried eyes. “Come on,” said Conrad to the two women.

  Conrad walked over to where Dave and Andrew stood, where Andrew was shaking snow off the green tarp in his hands. “Why did you lie?” Conrad asked Dave without preamble.

  Andrew’s head shot up and he stopped shaking the snow off the tarp. “Is there a problem?” he asked.

  “Ask him,” Conrad said, nodding his head at Dave, who had a look of panic in his eyes. “You haven’t been here very long, have you, Dave? I’d say your story is missing some time.”

  Dave nervously looked back at his Subaru. He could see now that the lack of snow on the car marked him as guilty. “I...” He began to speak, but hesitated.

  “Talk to me or go to jail,” Conrad snapped.

  Dave swallowed nervously. “I...” he began again, and then his shoulders sagged in defeat. “Okay, okay,” he admitted, “I didn’t arrive at the lake at the time I logged in on my arrival sheet. I... made a side stop.”

  “Where?” Conrad demanded.

  “Betty Capple’s house,” Dave admitted in a low, embarrassed voice. “Betty and I are seeing each other, okay? I mean, what’s the big deal, anyway? Was there any rush to get out to the lake and pick up a fallen sign or lug a fallen tree off the ice? Who cares if I stop at Betty’s house for a cup of coffee and a slice of apple pie?”

  Conrad looked at Sarah and saw her reading Dave’s eyes. He could tell by the expression on her face that Dave was telling the truth. “Okay, good enough,” he said.

  “Is it?” Dave asked, the misery plain in his voice. “I mean, what if I had arrived on time? Maybe... just maybe I might have been able to help Charlie. But no,” he said, “I had to stop for coffee and pie. How was I supposed to know Charlie was out there, huh? Maybe he wasn’t anybody’s best friend, but that don’t make a difference when you’re dying. Nobody should die out in the cold like that.” Tears began dripping from his eyes. “I swear if I had known... I would have... I’m sorry I lied, okay?”

  “I understand,” Conrad said, and patted Dave on the shoulder. “How were you supposed to know?”

  A thought suddenly struck Sarah. “May I ask you a question?”

  “Sure, go ahead.” Dave wiped his tears away.

  “Would Charlie have known you were going to make a check of this area?”

  “We have a duty roster back at headquarters,” Dave explained. “There’s only four of us... me, Shelia, Matt and... well, Charlie. A ranger has to be on duty twenty-four seven. I make out the duty roster and the schedule and post them a week in advance.” His voice quavered as he said this, as if he were realizing for the first time that Charlie would never be on the roster again. Anyway...” Dave shielded his eyes from the sun with one hand, clearing his throat to steady himself again. “Anyway, everyone knows the ranger on morning duty is responsible for checking the green areas after any storm.”

  “Green areas?”

  “For us park rangers, that means lakes, picnic areas, playgrounds, camping areas, rental cabins, RV areas. Anything that’s not a forest, basically. It’s a shame Diamond Lake is so remote that all we have to offer is a few lakeside areas, some hiking trails and a camping area that is seldom used. Denali National Park is the state’s hot spot. Our little park, even though it’s beautiful, just doesn’t bring in many people.”

  “Charlie would have known you were assigned to check the lake this morning, then,” Sarah concluded.

  “Yeah, I guess so.” Dave shook his head regretfully. “Do you think maybe... Charlie came here because he needed my help?”

  Conrad looked toward the entrance to the south trail. “Who knows?” he said. “But it does seem interesting that the deceased showed up in an area where he knew a fellow co-worker would be arriving sooner or later.”

  Sarah bit down on her lower lip. “Charlie was wearing his ranger uniform... maybe he didn’t want the killer—or killers—to think he had the day off?”

  “Possible,” Conrad agreed.

  “Killers?” Dave asked, taken aback

  Conrad shook his head. “We’ll talk more down at the station. I’m going to need you to come down and make a statement, okay?”

  “I...” Dave hesitated, then nodded. “I guess I can call Shelia in early.”

  Andrew looked at the tarp he was still holding. “Well, I’d better go cover the body. You coming with me, Detective?”

  “Yeah,” Conrad answered. “Sarah, Amanda, you girls take Andrew’s truck and drive back into town. Andrew can ride back with me.”

  “I’ll start seeing what I can dig up,” Sarah promised. She looked at Dave. “I’m going to need Charlie’s full name and Social Security number.”

  “Of course,” Dave agreed. “I’ll make a pit stop at headquarters and get his personnel file for you.”

  Conrad nodded. “You can use the computer in my office,” he told Sarah and then walked off through the snowy parking area with Andrew.

  “Ms. Garland?” Dave asked, as they watched Conrad and Andrew walk toward the north trail.

  “Yes?”

  “Me, Shelia and Matt weren't fond of Charlie,” he said, “but he was still one of us. Is it possible that whoever killed Charlie might come after other park rangers?”

  Sarah hadn’t considered that possibility yet. She looked into Dave’s worried eyes. “I don’t know,” she answered honestly.

  Dave shoved his hands into the pockets of his coat and looked down into the gulley again. He didn’t say another word, and they left him alone with his thoughts in the quiet, gray light. Amanda gave Sarah a worried look and walked to the passenger side of Andrew’s truck, opened the door, and climbed into the cabin. Sarah watched Conrad and Andrew disappear down the north trail, into the snowy unknown.

  Chapter Two

  Sarah leaned back in Conrad’s office chair and rubbed her neck with tired hands. “Charlie Edward Raymond was a fifty-one-year-old man who spent his entire life in Wyoming. He graduated from high school in a small Wyoming town, went to college in Wyoming, worked a series of uninteresting jobs, and began working for the National Park Service at the age of twenty-eight.”

  Amanda sat across the desk from Sarah, eating the cheeseburger she had bought from the local diner. “Any family?”

  “No,” Sarah said, “and that's what's strange. Charlie R
aymond seems to have been a confirmed bachelor. He was an only child and his mother died when he was forty and his dad died when he was forty-three.” She continued to rub her neck. “He does have an aunt in Georgia who is eighty-four years old.”

  Amanda was still working on her cheeseburger. “Any reason why he left his beloved Wyoming?”

  Sarah began rubbing her eyes. “Not a clue... yet.”

  “You need to eat. Your food is getting cold.”

  “Huh? Oh, sure.” Sarah stopped rubbing her eyes. Looking down at her white carryout container, a cheeseburger, french fries, and a slice of pecan pie stared up at her. “Are you trying to get me fat?” she joked.

  “I’m depressed, okay?” Amanda replied, upset and apologetic. “My Jack isn’t coming home anytime soon. He’s been delayed in London.”

  “When did this happen?” Sarah asked in a sympathetic tone, forgetting about the food again.

  “An hour ago. I called Jack when I walked down to the diner,” Amanda explained, finishing off her cheeseburger. “He said he was going to call me tonight and tell me.”

  “Is he being delayed because of his dad?”

  Amanda nodded her head. “Who else?” she said and picked up a few french fries. “You know, there are times when I could just punch that smelly old goat of a man right in the nose.”

  “I’m sorry,” Sarah said, laughing. “You still have me, though.”

  “And frozen feet, frostbite, double pneumonia, nightmares and a whole bunch of mean people who now know who I am and what I look like,” Amanda added. “I really don’t think I’ll tell Jack about that sour old Gatti bloke.”

  “Sorry about that,” Sarah said remorsefully. “I guess being my friend is kinda hazardous, huh?”

  Amanda stared at Sarah for a moment and then offered her friend a loving smile. “You can pay my medical bills when I end up in the hospital with pneumonia.”

  “Deal,” Sarah promised and picked up her cheeseburger. “So, any thoughts on the case?” she asked.

  Amanda munched on her french fries. “I keep thinking about what Dave said. What if there is someone out there... some crazy felon who is targeting park rangers?”

  Sarah took a bite of the cheeseburger. “So good,” she said. “I guess I’m hungrier than I thought.”

  “Then eat, love. You need your energy.”

  “We actually have two mysteries to solve,” Sarah mused. “Is someone targeting park rangers? And why did Charlie Raymond move to Alaska? The two questions might be connected, they might not. I still think it’s possible he was an isolated target. But,” Sarah added, thinking back on her years of experience, “there is always the unknown variable that lingers in the darkness.”

  “So you think Mr. Raymond was running from someone who caught up to him?” Amanda asked.

  Sarah nodded. “For now,” she admitted. “I also think that there might be more than one person involved in the murder, too.”

  “I was afraid of that,” Amanda said in a worried voice. “But, for now, let’s just pretend that the killer... or killers... is targeting park rangers. Let me explain.”

  “Please,” Sarah said amiably, taking another bite of her cheeseburger.

  Amanda stood up. “Suppose the killer or killers originally only wanted Mr. Raymond dead, right?”

  “Okay.”

  “But now the killer... or killers,” Amanda said, slowly paced around Conrad’s office, “may go after the other park rangers Mr. Raymond worked with because he... she... or they... fear Mr. Raymond might have talked to the other park rangers.”

  “Not bad,” Sarah complimented her friend.

  “I watched an old rerun of ‘Murder, She Wrote’ last night,” Amanda confessed. “Jessica was trying to prove who killed someone on a bus on a very rainy, stormy night,” she finished in her best spooky Scotland Yard voice.

  “Be that as it may, you make a vital point,” Sarah said gratefully. “Whoever killed Charlie Raymond, whether it be one person or two, might go after the other park rangers to silence them.”

  “So that means we need to warn them, right?”

  “We’d better wait and see what Conrad thinks. I don’t have the authority to do that,” Sarah explained. “If anyone caught me using Conrad’s computer, he could be in a lot of trouble. But this is a small town and Andrew is a good man who looks the other way when needed.”

  “You could always come out of retirement,” Amanda suggested.

  “Oh no,” Sarah said, shaking her head, “this town only has enough room for one detective. We’re offering a helping hand and nothing more. I’m perfectly content with my coffee shop and writing my books. And speaking of books, I’m falling way behind. My publisher isn’t going to be happy.”

  “You tell your publisher that murder is serious,” Amanda said playfully, “and that your talents are needed away from the keyboard.”

  “Easier said than done,” Sarah grimaced. She put down her cheeseburger and picked up a cup full of hot coffee. “Conrad is going to have to question the people Charlie Raymond worked with at Yellowstone,” she said, trying to forget the reminder of her missed writing deadlines.

  “Good idea,” Amanda said as she sat back down. Drawing in a deep breath, she quickly grabbed a slice of pecan pie out of the carryout container. “I blame you for the future fat rolls, Jack,” she said and took a bite of the pie.

  Sarah laughed. “I’m sure Jack will love your future fat rolls.”

  Amanda shrugged her shoulders. “If he doesn’t then I’ll hide his custard tarts from him. Custard tarts are Jack’s one weakness.”

  Sarah leaned back in Conrad’s chair. “My husband and I... we used to know each other’s weaknesses. Mine was always mint chocolate chip cookies.”

  Amanda could hear the sorrow in Sarah’s voice behind the reminiscence. “It’s so sad that the divorce rate is up. Not only in America but everywhere. People can’t commit to love anymore. I was reading an article a few weeks ago by a man named Oliver Halcomb who has been married for over fifty years. And do you know what this man wrote about?”

  “The secret to love?” Sarah took a wild guess.

  “Nope,” Amanda said. She put down her pecan pie. “Mr. Halcomb wrote that marriage is from God and unless people commit to God, they can’t have a successful marriage. Now, as a Christian, I agree with him. Every day Jack and I pray together and manage to read our Bibles as a couple.”

  “My ex-husband and I never read our Bibles together,” Sarah admitted. “He was more of an agnostic. He never minded when I went to church, but he did always seem to dodge the question of God when I brought it up... so I stopped.”

  “People are weak,” Amanda stated not unkindly. “They want love and romance and those warm fuzzy feelings. But when they find out marriage takes work, they run for the nearest divorce lawyer and then begin the search for love and romance and those warm fuzzy feelings all over again, hoping to land the right fish, only to come up empty-handed, over and over again.”

  “Love does take... commitment,” Sarah agreed.

  “It sure does,” Amanda said emphatically. “When I kiss my husband, I don’t feel warm and fuzzy all over... not the way I did when we first met. Instead, I feel security and comfort. I feel that I’m home. Jack and I sure go around the table sometimes, but at the end of the day, we always make up. I realize that he’s human and he realizes that I’m human. I accept that he has bad breath when he wakes up and he accepts that I have some very wacky hair days.” Amanda took a breath and looked gently into Sarah’s eyes. “What I’m trying to say is that... well, you got caught in a bad deal, love. You married a bad fish who wasn’t willing to work at his marriage.”

  “He just stopped loving me,” Sarah said, feeling tears sting her eyes. “My ex-husband just stopped loving me.”

  “You can fall in love—when it’s real love—but you can’t fall out of love if the love was real.”

  Sarah, comforted, gazed at her friend in admiration. “You’r
e a very blessed woman to have a husband like Jack.”

  “Yeah, I guess I am,” Amanda smiled. “But love, I’m not going to let you spend the rest of your life alone. Somewhere out there, your Jack is waiting... your real Jack.”

  Before Sarah could answer, the door to the office opened and Conrad stepped in, his coat stiff and frosted with gray. “Wind really started picking up at the lake,” he said in a voice that told Sarah and Amanda that he was grateful to be back inside a warm building. “Find out anything yet?”

  Sarah began to get up from his chair but Conrad gestured for her to remain seated and sat down next to Amanda instead. “Well,” Sarah said, pushing the thought of her ex-husband out of her mind, “I confirmed that Charlie Raymond had no wife or children. Both of his parents are dead. The only living relative seems to be an aunt who is living in an assisted living center in Georgia.”

  “Pecan pie?” Amanda asked Conrad, offering him her half-eaten pie.

  “No thanks,” Conrad said. Instead, he reached forward and plucked Sarah’s coffee off of the desk. “I need coffee.”

  Sarah smiled, glad to know it was still hot enough to warm his stiff hands. “Did you discover anything else at the lake before the coroner arrived?” Sarah asked.

  “Yes and no,” he replied. “After Andrew covered the body with the tarp, we decided to explore the surrounding woods some. We spent about forty minutes out there.” Conrad took a big gulp of coffee. “Andrew found a single piece of gray thread stuck to a low-hanging tree limb.”

  “How far back into the woods were you when Andrew found the thread?” Sarah asked.

  “Maybe a quarter of a mile?” Conrad took a guess. “The woods just keep running north. Andrew didn’t want to go too far in. To be honest, I didn’t either. It’s too easy to get turned around and lose your way.”

  Sarah nodded her head. “It’s possible the piece of thread belonged to the killer.”

  Conrad finished off Sarah’s coffee in another gulp and set the cup down on his desk. “No boot prints, no snowmobile tracks, nothing,” he said. “I’m going to question the other park rangers and then make a few calls to Yellowstone. Maybe someone there can help us out.”