| |
Starr said, “Well, it sounds like Maggie is a real possibility. Have you spoken much with her?”
“Yes, but I didn’t hear anything about her having an affair. I guess that’s to be expected, though. She certainly didn’t seem like she was antagonistic toward Aspen at all. I mean, she agreed with everyone else who said Aspen had changed the whole tone for their guild. But she said at first that she and her sister thought Aspen would bring some fresh ideas to the group.”
“Sister?” asked Starr, looking distracted.
“That’s right. Her name is Nicole.”
“Got it,” said Starr. “They’re rooming together. The different last names threw me.”
“Maggie is married,” said Beatrice. “Although apparently, she might not be very satisfied with her marriage.”
“What else did Maggie talk about?”
Beatrice said, “Well, she mentioned that Aspen often picked at her for being so attached to her phone. It sounded like petty stuff.”
Starr nodded. “But if Aspen was threatening to tell Maggie’s husband about Maggie’s affair, that would be a totally different matter. Not petty at all.”
“Yes, but I have to wonder how much of a secret Maggie’s affair actually was. If Cora knew about it, maybe other people did, too. Maybe Maggie’s husband was the only one who didn’t know.”
Starr said, “Yes, but no one else probably intended on approaching Maggie’s husband and filling him in. Aspen was probably the only one who wanted to inflict that kind of damage.”
Beatrice said, “And who knows if she was blackmailing Maggie about it? It seems like the kind of thing Aspen might have done, from what I’ve heard about her.” She looked at the battery-powered clock on the wall. “Okay, who’s next?”
Starr rubbed her face. “It doesn’t even really matter, I guess, as long as we speak to everyone. I have other things I need to tend to.”
“Regarding the lack of power ... is the stove gas-powered? Or the oven?”
Starr shook her head grimly. “Not a bit. Everything is electric, which means there’s no way to heat up our food. Or cook it.” She thought about it. “I guess I could pull out the meat and put it in coolers and stick it outside. It would certainly keep cold that way.”
Beatrice said, “The only problem with that is that it might attract animals.”
“True. Bears should be hibernating, or at least somewhat hibernating. But raccoons might be a problem. We always have them at our bird feeders, and they try to get into our trash sometimes.” Starr sighed. “What a mess.”
Beatrice said, “I’m not trying to pile on or anything, but don’t we need to think about how to keep everybody warm? Especially at night? The cabins are going to be freezing without electricity.”
“Oh my gosh. I hadn’t even thought about that. I don’t know if there’s enough room in the lodge for everyone to pull mattresses into the room. And we don’t have any sleeping bags.”
Beatrice asked, “Do you have many extra blankets? Even though there isn’t enough room for everyone to be in front of the fireplace, this building should still be warmer than the cabins, even if people are sleeping in the hallways. We could create pallets. We might not be very comfortable, but we’d be warm.”
Starr considered this. “I think in the housekeeping area, there are blankets in storage. I’ll check that out.” She paused. “Actually, I think I should make a list of all the different things I need to do.” She reached over and grabbed herself a notebook and a pen from the desk.
Beatrice said wryly, “Our oldest guild member, Miss Sissy, has been very keen on having s’mores. Maybe a firepit might actually work as a way to cook other food, too.”
Starr considered this. “We do have a firepit that’s open on the sides but covered on the top. The only problem is that it wouldn’t really provide any protection with the weather we’re experiencing right now. The way the wind is howling, it’s just going to throw ice right into everyone’s faces.”
“Maybe we should check in with the group as a whole and see if anyone has any ideas. Before we speak to anyone else.” Beatrice paused. “There’s always the fireplace. We could cook over sticks there.”
Starr was already shaking her head. “That would take forever for this group to cook that way.”
Beatrice said wryly, “We could always make the s’mores for Miss Sissy. That’s one way to keep her from bringing them up again.”
“Those would definitely be easy to make. But it might seem a little too festive, given the circumstances.”
“Agreed,” said Beatrice.
So Beatrice and Starr left the office and headed back to the others. The Monopoly game had been put on hold and everyone seemed listless. They looked up when Beatrice and Starr entered the room.
Starr stood by the fire, facing the women. “Okay. So, we’re having some setbacks with the weather. Unfortunately, as you’ve all noticed, we’ve lost power. I’m open to suggestions about how we might handle food prep and staying warm so that it works better for us.”
Ivy made a face. “How about suggestions about how we can get out of here? There’s a killer on the loose, in case no one has noticed.”
Miss Sissy intoned, “Evilllllll.”
The Sew and Sews stared at the old woman. The Village Quilters, on the other hand, didn’t even notice the interruption.
Ivy shot Miss Sissy a look and then continued, “We’re all in danger, for heaven’s sake. It’s not safe here. Plus, now we don’t even have a way to stay warm or to eat! I say we get out of here while we still can.”
Starr was clearly trying to listen patiently to Ivy, but Beatrice could tell she was automatically rejecting her suggestion. She said in a calm voice, “I understand what you’re saying. And believe me, there’s nothing I’d like more than to get all of us safely out of here.”
“No, I don’t believe you do understand,” insisted Ivy. “We’re scared. We want to go home. You can even walk home, from what I understand.”
Beatrice turned to Starr. “She has a point. Do you think your house has power? Or do you have a generator for bad weather?”
Starr shook her head. “Generators cost a lot of money . . . money I don’t have. And, like I’ve said before, this is unusual weather for this area. This will definitely go down in the records as a historical storm. It’s highly unlikely that I have power, living as close as I do to the conference center.”
Maggie gave Starr a cold look. “Maybe the smart thing would be to go home and see if you do have power. Then you can host us at your house.”
Beatrice could tell that Starr didn’t want to make the trip. She clearly felt a lot of responsibility for the group and was hesitant to leave anyone alone, especially under the circumstances.
“I can go,” suggested Beatrice.
The women all stared at her.
“Mama, no,” said Piper, looking appalled. “Didn’t you see how slippery it was outside? You’d fall. You might even break something. I can go, instead.”
Meadow frowned ferociously. “The mother of my grandson? The weather is awful out there. We can’t have anything happen to you. Think how upset Will would be if something terrible happened!”
Starr held up her hands to prevent further talking. “No one else needs to risk it. I’ll go. Just to be sure. And maybe I can grab some extra supplies while I’m there.”
Beatrice shook her head. “I don’t think you should go by yourself.”
Nicole said, “I’ll go with Starr. I’m feeling kind of stir-crazy in here, anyway. It’ll be good to get out and about.”
Starr gave her a doubtful look, but finally nodded. “Okay,” she said reluctantly. “We’ll plan a trip out. But let’s do it tomorrow. Today has already been stressful enough. I’m tired, I’m sure Nicole is tired, and it won’t be long before we start losing light.”
Ivy gave a plaintive cry. “And then it’ll be even colder. What are we going to do?”
Posy cleared her throat and everyone turned to look at her. “We probably should all sleep in the same place, shouldn’t we? Body heat and that sort of thing?”
Starr said, “That’s what Beatrice and I were talking about. Unfortunately, there’s not enough space in this room for us to put our mattresses down. But the fire will make it the warmest area.”
Miss Sissy made a loud grumbling noise and the Sew and Sews continued to look quizzically at her.
Piper said, “I think mattresses might be tough for us to drag around anyway, especially considering the bad weather outside. Like I mentioned before, the risk is pretty high that someone could fall and get injured. I don’t think any of us has any sort of medical background, do we?”
The women looked at each other before shaking their heads.
Piper continued, “Then maybe we should just create some makeshift beds. We can pile up some of the armchair cushions I’ve seen around the conference. We can take the bedding from our cabins. Then we can lay everything out on the floor. It’s not going to be super-comfortable, but we’ll be warm.”
Beatrice added, “And safe. Something else we should consider is ensuring we’re always together. Go everywhere in groups.”
The quilters looked solemnly back at her.
Ivy wailed, “Because there’s a killer loose. Are we sure we can’t get away from here?”
Starr shook her head firmly. “There’s no way. It would be too easy for a car to go off the side of the mountain.”
Ivy gave an unhappy sigh.
Posy cleared her throat and said uncertainly, “I was wondering if perhaps we ought to have a small memorial service for Aspen and Olive.”
Piper said, “That’s a wonderful idea, Posy.”
Thus encouraged, Posy continued, “It’s just that I feel bad about them being shut behind locked doors. Out of sight. Of course, I understand why it’s important for them to be locked away,” she added quickly. “But I think it might be nice if people who knew them said a few words.”
The Sew and Sews glanced at each other, looking to see who might volunteer for the task. No one seemed eager to do it.
Posy said, “If it’s too tough for the ladies who knew them, I’m sure I could say a few words.”
Maggie spoke up then, “No, it makes more sense for someone who knew them to memorialize them. I’m not the best speaker, but I’ll do it.”
Starr nodded. “Great. And that was an excellent idea, Posy. I was feeling uncomfortable, and I wasn’t exactly sure why. Would you like to put that together?”
Ivy drawled, “Surely it doesn’t have to be anything formal. After all, we know the location for the service—it has to be in this room. It’s the only one with a heat source. None of us likely brought dressy clothes.” She looked derisively at Maggie. “Except for Maggie, of course. She dresses up all the time. And it’s not like we have food to plan. We don’t even have a way of cooking food.”
Posy looked slightly deflated and Beatrice quickly spoke up, “No, it won’t be formal. But it might be nice to allow Maggie a bit of time to figure out what she wants to say. And maybe to arrange the room so that everyone can see Maggie when she eulogizes the women.”
Posy smiled at Beatrice.
Maggie said, “I won’t need much time. Maybe we should do it right after dinner.” She paused. “Speaking of dinner, do we have any sort of plan for that? Is the food spoiling in the fridge and freezer as we speak?”
“It’s not spoiling yet because we haven’t opened the doors since the power went off. But I’m planning on putting the food in coolers outside to keep it fresh. As far as cooking it, I suppose we might try grilling outside. There are some covered areas, although the wind might blow snow or ice in through the sides,” said Starr.
“S’mores,” growled Miss Sissy.
Starr glanced her way.
Beatrice said, “Starr, you’ve already agreed to head over to your house for supplies. There’s no reason you have to do everything. I’m happy to help put things in coolers.”
Meadow said, “Nope. Beatrice, your job is to figure out what’s going on here. You need to get to the bottom of these murders. I can take care of the food.”
Piper said, “Why don’t you focus on cooking, Meadow? I’ll help load the food into coolers and put it outside.”
“Georgia and I will help you,” said Savannah.
That having been decided, Beatrice said, “We’re going to be speaking with everyone, as we’ve mentioned before. One of us may have witnessed something helpful and may not even be aware of it. I appreciate everyone’s cooperation.”
Nicole stood up. “I’ll speak with you now.”
Starr looked at Beatrice, “I’m going to let you handle this. I think I should take a look at the fuse box and make sure it’s genuinely a power outage and not some tripped circuit breakers. Plus, I’ll grab those extra blankets from storage.”
Nicole followed Beatrice into Starr’s office. Sher gave a shiver. “I’m glad Starr’s going to hunt down those blankets. It feels pretty arctic in here.”
Beatrice sat down behind Starr’s desk again and flipped to a new page of the notebook as Nicole plopped down into the chair in front of the desk. Beatrice noticed that Nicole seemed more agitated, more fidgety, than she had when she’d spoken to her before. But then, there was more reason to be agitated.
Nicole said, “Do you think you’ll really be able to figure out who’s doing this?”
Beatrice gave a little shrug. “I’m not sure, but I feel I’ve got to try. We’ll feel a lot safer if we know what happened to Aspen and Olive. And why it happened.”
Nicole rubbed her face. “That’s what I don’t get. I don’t understand why somebody would kill Olive.” She gave a short laugh. “I totally get why someone would have wanted to kill Aspen. But not Olive.”
“Olive was pretty well-liked in the guild?” asked Beatrice.
“Sure. She was always really involved in our group. She was one of the oldest members of the guild.” Nicole suddenly swallowed. “Sorry. I think it’s all just starting to hit me. I can’t imagine us having meetings and events and not having Olive there.”
“So she got along with everyone.”
“Yes, generally. I mean, Olive could be kind of prickly, but we all knew that was just her personality. She was always the kind of person to lend a hand with advice—on quilting or life. She was a very sensible person. Why someone would do this, I just have no idea.” Nicole drummed her fingers on her leg, still very agitated. “Aren’t you supposed to ask me if I have an alibi or something? Isn’t this going to boil down to who had the opportunity to murder Olive?”
Beatrice nodded. “I think you’re right. Could you recount your movements?”
Nicole blew out a sigh. “I’ve been all over the place, so I certainly don’t have an alibi. I played Monopoly for a few minutes, but then I ended up quickly going bankrupt. One of the Village Quilters took my place at the table. Then I went to the kitchen to see if I could find a snack. I ended up making hot chocolate instead. After that, I headed back to the cabin for a while to get something for Maggie, who was still playing the game.”
“It sounds like you wouldn’t be able to give an alibi for anyone else, either. Since you were walking all around the grounds.”
Nicole quickly said, “Maggie and I had absolutely no reason to kill Olive.” Her chin was squared, and she looked directly at Beatrice.
“What about Aspen?” asked Beatrice.
“You obviously think the two deaths are connected.”
Beatrice raised an eyebrow. “It seems pretty certain that they would be. It’s hard to imagine that two women would have two completely different people responsible for their deaths, especially in a closed environment like this. It’s definitely not an outsider.”
“Okay, I get that, but you’ve already asked me about my feelings about Aspen the last time I spoke with you.”
Beatrice said, “I thought you might have more to add, on reflection.”
Nicole sat back in her chair, fingers now drumming on the arm.
“Women can be catty sometimes,” said Beatrice.
“Cattiness is different from wanting to kill someone. I don’t think I have anything else to say about Aspen.”
“Can you talk a little more about Olive, then? Any background you can offer on her or how she fit into the group could be helpful. I didn’t know her at all, apart from the brief impressions I had of her since we’ve been here,” said Beatrice.
Nicole shot her an impatient look but finally relented. “Olive fit into the group very well. She stepped into leadership roles whenever we needed someone. She ran meetings, planned events, reached out to service organizations we might partner with, and coordinated with other guilds on quilt shows.”
It sounded rather like Nicole was building a resume for Olive instead of offering personal information, but Beatrice nodded encouragingly.
Nicole continued, “As far as her personality, she could be very self-contained. A lot of the time, I wasn’t completely sure what she was thinking. I mean, we knew Olive wasn’t happy about Aspen marrying her brother, but she never said much about it. She just kept that stiff upper lip. She was one of Aspen’s bridesmaids and kept a tight smile on the whole time. But I could tell, as time went on, she was less and less happy with Aspen. Even though she didn’t say much about it, I could see a muscle in her jaw start working overtime whenever she was around her.”
“It sounds like Olive probably wasn’t devastated over Aspen’s sudden death.”
Nicole shook her head. “To be honest, it crossed my mind that Olive might have been responsible for Aspen’s murder. Still waters run deep. And Olive was always the protective big sister for her brother. She’d always portrayed her parents as these sorts of hands-off people and said she’d practically raised her brother. I figured she resented Aspen for stepping into that role. Except Aspen couldn’t have been farther from a nurturer. She was more of an every-man-for-himself sort of person. She wasn’t a caregiver in any way.”
Beatrice said, “And Aspen was apparently unfaithful to her husband? From what I’ve gathered, anyway.”
Nicole nodded. “That’s right. Completely unrepentant about it, too, as if she didn’t totally understand what marriage was supposed to be about. So she didn’t only wreck her marriage, she had a hand in wrecking Ivy’s, too.” She quickly added, “But like I was saying, just because someone was angry at Aspen doesn’t mean that they’d kill her.”
Nicole moved restlessly in her chair, glancing around the office. Then she froze, squinting at something on the edge of the desk. “What’s that?”
“What?” asked Beatrice.
Nicole shoved aside some papers and picked up a book. She studied it for a few moments, then flipped it around and held it out to show it to Beatrice. “That’s Aspen.”