Murder at Icicle Lodge

Jinx’s scream reverberated up into the pine trees, across Lake Ariel, and inside Icicle Lodge. Lights went on, windows were opened, and voices started shouting. None, however, were louder than the ladies as they were scrambling on the ice to get out of the Zamboni’s path.

Helen was just about to make it to the opposite side of the rink when she fell onto her side and slid. At the same time, Patrick’s body shifted and he slumped forward onto the steering wheel making the Zamboni turn to the right and exactly where Helen was lying on the ice.

“Helen!”

Alberta tried to run toward her sister, but realized she would reach her much quicker if she just slid so she deliberately fell on her backside and used the momentum to crash into Helen, pushing them both out of the way of the Zamboni that swerved in the opposite direction a few inches away from clipping Alberta’s foot.

Still on the ice, Alberta and Helen saw two legs move quickly past them, work boots pressing down onto the ice firmly and securely as if they were walking through a forest. They looked up and saw Max climb onto the footboard on the driver’s side of the Zamboni, open the door, and grab hold of the steering wheel. Next, he pushed Patrick’s body out of the way and sat in the driver’s seat manipulating gears and levers until the Zamboni came to a complete stop.

Alberta and Helen simultaneously made the sign of the cross and reached for each other’s hand. They didn’t need to say a word, they only needed to hold on to one another. Jinx and Joyce felt the same way. Together, they slowly walked over to Alberta and Helen, helped them stand up, made sure they weren’t injured, and exchanged hugs. They only separated when they heard a commotion behind them.

“What is going on around here?” Stephanie had a point, unfortunately, no one had a logical answer. Or at least an answer that anyone wanted to hear.

“It looks like someone killed Patrick,” Alberta said to the crowd.

Gasps and shocked cries rose up in a tidal wave of emotion. Freddy and Sloan hopped over the side of the rink and gave their girlfriends a quick, reassuring hug before answering Max’s calls for help. They bounded carefully to where the Zamboni had stopped, and as Max lowered Patrick’s body down, Freddy and Sloan grabbed him and gently placed him onto the ice.

As Charlie and Stephanie helped the women climb over the side of the rink, another woman made a mad dash to get onto the ice and next to her brother’s body.

“Patrick, no!” Cathy screamed as she knelt down next to Patrick’s seemingly lifeless body. She shrieked again to announce, “He’s alive!”

“What?” Max cried, jumping out of the Zamboni.

“He’s still breathing,” Cathy assured. “We have to get him to a hospital.”

“Cathy we can’t do that,” Max said, his voice calm, but firm. “The roads are too dangerous.”

“We can’t just leave him here! He needs help.”

“Let’s take him to his room and then we’ll see if we can get an ambulance to come here,” Sloan suggested.

Cathy, couldn’t answer, she merely wiped away her tears and nodded.

“Max, can you lift his shoulders if Freddy and I each take one leg?” Sloan asked. “You seem to be a lot surer of yourself on the ice.”

“Yes,” Max replied. “We lift on my count of three.”

Slowly, the men walked on the ice holding Patrick’s body, and everyone held their breath that they wouldn’t fall and worsen Patrick’s condition. When they got to the side of the rink, Max instructed Charlie to come over and help them so they could lift Patrick onto safer ground.

Charlie held on to the leg Freddy had been holding as he climbed over the side. Once on snowy ground instead of ice, Freddy grabbed Patrick’s other leg and then Sloan straddled the side of the rink. They moved farther away from the rink until Max was pressing against the side and Sloan took the weight of Patrick’s shoulders as Max expertly grabbed the railing and flung his body over. In an instant he was back underneath Patrick’s body holding him by the shoulders. They quickly went into the lodge with the women behind them.

Cathy watched the men carry her brother into the lodge and seemed lost. She looked like she couldn’t comprehend what was happening and instead of joining them, she stayed behind. Alberta and Joyce were the last to enter the lodge and as they were about to enter they saw Cathy still next to the rink, unable to move. They ran to her and stood on either side, each grabbing an arm.

“We’ll stay here as long as we need to, Cathy,” Joyce said.

“But I think your brother would rather you be by his side,” Alberta added.

Startled into movement, Cathy turned to face Alberta and looked like the little girl Patrick must have grown up with. “You know?”

Alberta nodded and she felt Cathy’s entire body relax. It really did feel good to disclose a long-kept secret.

Joyce patted Alberta’s hand and the women tugged on Cathy’s arms. It was time they got inside or else they’d be frozen and they’d all have to be carted into the lodge just like Patrick.

Once inside, they found the main room empty. Cathy stood immobile and squeezed Alberta’s and Joyce’s hands as if hoping to siphon some of their energy to get her moving. That didn’t work, but Stephanie did.

“Patrick opened his eyes!”

Without saying a word, Cathy let go of their hands and raced down the hall after Stephanie who disappeared into Patrick’s room. Alberta and Joyce quickly followed, brushing off all the snow from their bathrobes and hair.

“I don’t know about you, Berta, but I’m going to need a vacation from this vacation.”

“If we make it out of here alive, we’re starting to drop like flies around here,” Alberta said. “I’m still terrified something bad has happened to Vinny. If he doesn’t show up soon I’m going to have to call the police station. We can’t wait much longer.”

“Agreed,” Joyce said. “But let’s focus on one crisis at a time.”

As worried as Alberta was about their survival in what was fast becoming a very dangerous place to be, she was thrilled to see Patrick’s eyes wide open when she walked into his room. Cathy was kneeling by his bedside holding his hand, and Max was kneeling on the other side.

In the corner of the room that faced the bed, Helen was sitting in a chair silently saying the rosary with Jinx, Freddy, and Sloan flanking her on either side. Charlie was on the opposite side of the room with Stephanie while Alberta and Joyce were standing in the doorway. The room was crowded, but all Alberta could think was that one of these people was a murderer. And if Patrick didn’t keep his eyes open, there might be another victim to add to the list. All of those thoughts, however, became unimportant when Patrick started to speak.

“Cathy,” he whispered.

“I’m right here.”

“She . . .”

“What, Patrick,” Cathy pleaded. “What are you trying to say? Who did this to you?”

Patrick shook his head slightly and repeated, “She . . .”

“Who, Patrick? Who are you talking about?” Cathy begged. “Pamela?”

Instead of answering Cathy’s question, Patrick closed his eyes.

“No!” Cathy shrieked. “Wake up! Patrick, don’t you dare leave me!”

Cathy grabbed Patrick by the shoulders and shook him in an attempt to revive his now limp body. Alberta and Joyce raced to Cathy’s side and pulled her away fearful that her impassioned, but physical, pleas would do more harm than good.

Helen got up and picked up Patrick’s arm by the wrist to check for a pulse, she also put her hand inside his shirt to feel his heartbeat. Then, she lifted up his eyelids to examine how they reacted to the light.

“He’s not dead,” she pronounced.

“Thank God!” Cathy gasped.

“I think he might be in a coma,” Helen said. “I’m not certain, but he’s breathing and his pulse rate is slow, but normal.”

Jinx stood next to Helen and put her arm around her shoulder. “You really do know everything, Aunt Helen.”

“Keep it a secret,” she replied. “I don’t want it to get around.”

“Speaking of secrets, it looks like there’s no longer any doubt that you two are brother and sister,” Charlie said, his words slurring making it no secret that he’d been drinking. “And if anyone is still in the dark, I’m talking about Cathy and Patrick O’Dell sib . . . sibyls . . . siblings!”

Still kneeling next to the bed, holding Patrick’s hand, Cathy replied, “We didn’t mean to lie to everyone, we just didn’t want to spoil the reopening.”

“Too late for that,” Charlie quipped.

When he saw that no one appreciated his attempt at humor, he shrugged his shoulders and turned his hands over, palms up, in the universal sign that says, “Yup, I’m an idiot.”

“How could knowing you and Patrick were brother and sister ruin the reopening?” Freddy asked.

Shaking her head, Cathy stood up, never letting go of Patrick’s hand. “Because of our baggage. We’re not just siblings, we were partners, U.S. national bronze medalists in pairs figure skating.” She smiled wistfully and looked at Patrick. “Isn’t that right, brother? Whoop-de-doo.”

“I think what you achieved was pretty amazing, if you ask me,” Jinx said.

“That’s because you’ve never been a skater,” Cathy scoffed. “Our career or whatever you want to call it was over a long time ago. It’s ancient history and it didn’t end well. Pamela was the star, not us.”

“Is that what Dimitri thought?”

Cathy snapped her head to look at Alberta. “How do you know about Dimitri?”

Ignoring Cathy’s question, Alberta responded with another. “He was your coach, wasn’t he?”

Sitting back down on the bed, Cathy shot a quick glance at Max. Alberta wasn’t sure if she was trying to be subtle, but it didn’t matter, she already knew Max knew about Dimitri and their past relationship on and probably off the ice.

“For a while he was until the Olympics, and then everything changed,” Cathy conveyed. “Like I said, Pamela was the star.”

“Solo una stella può brillare di più,” Helen said.

Joyce translated for the confused faces around the room, “Only one star can shine brightest.”

“And that star was most definitely Pamela Gregory,” Cathy said. “But I’m done talking about the past and about Pamela and things that never were. We need to focus on my brother. I really think we should try to get him to a hospital.”

“No,” Max declared. “I called the hospital and the roads are blocked. They’re going to send an ambulance the moment the weather clears up. We have to keep him stable and comfortable in here until then.”

“But that might be too late,” Cathy said, her voice quivering.

“Would you like me to ask Father Sal to perform last rites?” Helen asked.

“No!” Cathy screamed. “You keep that sick man away from my brother. He’ll only make things worse.”

“And how exactly can things get any worse around here?” Charlie blurted out. “I mean, come on! First Pamela is murdered, then Vinny disappears, and now Patrick’s in a coma. It’s like we’re in some crazy remake of And Then There Were None! Seriously, who’s gonna be next?”

No one responded to Charlie’s drunken outburst because no one could deny that what he said was the truth. They were stranded at a remote mountain lodge with no way of leaving, and one by one they were being knocked off. They all looked around the room wondering who was going to be the next person to surrender to harm’s way and become the fourth victim. And scarier than that, who was the person doing the harm?

“Somebody in this room is behind all of this mayhem,” Charlie said. “And, you know sumpthin’? I’m getting a little sick and tired of it.”

“Okay, that’s enough, Charlie,” Sloan said. “We’re all dealing with a lot of stress.”

“This isn’t stress!” Charlie yelled. “This is insanity! Let’s not forget that one of you people is a murderer!”

“One of us?” Freddy cried. “You’re as much of a suspect as the rest of us.”

“I’m a photographer, not a killer.”

“Dude! You suck at photography!” Freddy shouted. “I doubt you’re even a real photographer, and you probably faked your way in to get close enough to Pamela to kill her.”

“Like your dumb girlfriend is any better at being a reporter?” Charlie shouted. “She’s got the scoop of the year and she hasn’t written one word about it.”

“That’s because Vinny made us promise we wouldn’t leak any info to the press or the outside world,” Alberta reminded him. “And my granddaughter knows when to play by the rules.”

“That’s not entirely true, Gram.”

“What are you talking about, lovey?”

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t wait any longer, not with Vinny missing along with Pamela being murdered,” Jinx explained. “I submitted an article to Wyck yesterday and asked him to wait twenty-four hours to publish it in case Vinny shows up and can explain his absence. But if Wyck doesn’t hear from me, he’s going to publish the article.”

“So much for your precious granddaughter playing by the rules,” Charlie spat. “She’s like every woman I’ve ever met! Selfish, no good, and out for herself!”

“You watch your mouth!” Freddy lunged at Charlie from across the room, and it took Max and Sloan to pull him back so there wasn’t a brawl at Patrick’s bedside.

“You say another word about my girlfriend and I’ll make you pay!”

“Is that what happened to Vinny and Patrick?” Charlie asked, finding courage now that Freddy was being held back by the two men. “Did they say something mean about your girlfriend that you didn’t like?”

Charlie’s courage quickly faded when Freddy, enraged, broke free from Max and Sloan’s grasp and attacked him. While Freddy held Charlie by the throat with his right hand, his first punch landed square against Charlie’s jaw, and his second was aimed right at his stomach. Stephanie tried to scurry out of the way but didn’t make it in time, and Charlie fell to the floor on top of her. He grabbed at Stephanie’s sweater, pulling so hard that he ripped it at the seam. Alberta came to her aid and pulled her away from Charlie so more of her outfit wouldn’t get ruined, while Jinx pulled on her boyfriend’s arm.

“Freddy, stop!” Jinx cried. “This is really sweet and all, but knock it off!”

Words, no matter how forceful, weren’t going to stop Freddy from pummeling Charlie, who despite his mouthy bravado was no match for the younger, more physically fit, and furious Freddy. Max bent down and wrapped his arms around Freddy and lifted him off the floor. At the same time, Sloan pulled Charlie out of the way and back into the corner. Sloan stood in front of Charlie as Max continued to bear-hug Freddy until both men calmed down.

“As Alberta would say, basta!” Sloan cried.

“Let go of me!” Freddy shouted.

“Not until you promise not to go all Incredible Hulk again,” Jinx demanded.

Breathing deeply through his nose several times, Freddy finally agreed, “Fine.” Max let him go but didn’t move an inch away from him, which was good because Freddy pointed a finger right at Charlie. “As long as he remembers what I said.”

“Maybe if you didn’t toss Vinny into Lake Ariel, he’d arrest you for assault and battery!” Charlie retorted, clearly not having learned his lesson.

Once again Freddy lunged to attack Charlie, but luckily this time Max was ready and grabbed Freddy, twirled him around, and pushed him into the open closet. The impact of Freddy crashing into Patrick’s clothes made them and the hanging bar holding the items fall to the ground, upending the shelf so some of the contents fell onto Freddy.

“Freddy!” Jinx cried, running to his side.

“Now that is enough!” Alberta cried. “There’s a man fighting for his life right here, in case you’ve forgotten.”

“Um, Gram.”

“We should be doing everything we can to help him recover,” Alberta said. “And he isn’t going to recover with all of this shouting and carrying on.”

“Gram, seriously, you need to see this.”

“Jinx, what are you talking about?”

She didn’t have to do any talking, all she had to do was hold up something that had fallen on top of Freddy. It was the other missing skate with the letters CO written on the bottom. And now they knew who the owner of the pair of skates was.

“Cathy O’Dell,” Alberta muttered. “Those skates are yours.”

Frightened, Cathy looked around the room and knew that there was no way she could talk her way out of this. “Yes, the skates are mine,” Cathy admitted. “But I didn’t kill Pamela, someone must have stolen my skates.”

“Your brother?” Jinx asked.

“No, never! Patrick isn’t a killer.”

“Are you?” Alberta asked.

“No! This is ridiculous!” Cathy cried. “I invited Pamela here to skate at the grand reopening and she agreed because she owed me, she owed both of us.”

“Why?” Joyce asked. “Because she had a lucrative professional career and you didn’t?”

Shaking her head furiously, Cathy looked at her brother and squeezed his hand harder as if she was desperately trying to get him to wake up and come to her defense.

“None of that matters,” Cathy said, starting to cry. “The only thing that matters is finding out who killed Pamela and who’s doing these other things before someone else gets hurt.”

“According to what I’m holding in my hand the suspects are either you or your brother,” Jinx declared. “So which one is it?”

“Neither one of us would have killed Pamela!” Cathy cried. “I haven’t put on those skates in years, someone must have used them as the murder weapon and planted them in Patrick’s closet to frame him.”

“Or Patrick used one of your skates to kill Pamela and kept the other one hidden in his closet,” Alberta deduced. “The most logical reason is usually the right one.”

“Your theory is completely illogical!” Cathy cried. “My brother is innocent! He would never have killed Pamela!”

Alberta understood the primal urge to protect a relative so she wasn’t surprised by Cathy’s passionate defense of her brother’s innocence. But she felt she wasn’t being honest, she wasn’t telling the whole truth.

“You’re lying, Cathy,” Alberta claimed.

“Alberta, please . . .” Cathy begged.

“How can you be so sure that Patrick didn’t kill Pamela?” Alberta demanded.

“Because Patrick was in love with her!”