Edie Black, Marjorie and Alan stood together at the big front door saying goodnight to the neighbors. Two of the couples had parked near the garage on the back side of the property. Their vehicle was out of sight from the front door.
“The guest room bed is made up, if you’d like to stay the night,” Edie said. There was a faint wistfulness in her tone.
“Oh, thanks awfully, but I don’t think that’s wise” said Marjorie. “I’m perfectly okay to drive and it isn’t quite dark yet.”
“I need a couple of minutes to orient myself before we go,” said Alan, turning back into the house. With your permission, Ms Black, I’d like to take a gander at the scenery from the master suite.”
“Of course. Make yourself at home. I’ll have another martini and show Marjorie around.”
Snagging a small pair of high-powered binoculars from an inside pocket, Alan went up two flights and entered the large master suite that took up the entire top floor. The suite consisted of a large bedroom with two closets and a massive bed against the only solid wall. The room was trapezoid shaped with three window walls and a solid polished log wall that separated the double bathroom from the bedroom. On the south side window wall facing the lake and distant mountain range was a door leading to the third level veranda or deck.
Lockem took a quick look around the room then crossed the thick wool carpet to a door that led onto the veranda. He stepped through and leaned his elbows on the railing. Fitting the binocs to his forehead, he slowly scanned the heavily forested mountainside that ran below him almost all the way to the lake. Here and there, he noted rooflines peeking through the trees. There were roads and buildings at the lower levels, he knew, but the dense underbrush and the high angle gave the impression of unbroken forest. A faint glow filtering through the treetops identified a house he couldn’t see. The near buildings were hardly visible through the growth. He heard a vehicle slowly descending the mountain on a nearby but invisible road.
He walked around the perimeter of the house on the uppermost level. Here the third-floor porch seemed to brush the tops of nearby trees to the northwest where they grew thickest and rose up the steep slope. He knew at least two other owners had their houses on that slope so they too had the benefit of the vast panorama, but he couldn’t locate them. It was very still. Only an occasional bird twittered. There was no movement in the underbrush and the sun, setting in the west, sent fiery fingers of orange and red to touch the tops of the tallest trees. Below the tops, color faded into darkness. Darkness was swift in coming at this latitude and Lockem turned back to the door to the bedroom where he encountered Edie Black.
“We loved this view, Alan. Sometimes Charles and I would bring our supper up here to watch the sunset while we ate. It’s even more spectacular than from the hot tub because the trees have grown so since we built.”
“How long have you been a widow?”
“Three years next July.” Edie rested her hands on the railing and stared out at the darkening waters of the lake. “I still miss him terribly.”
Lockem and Edie stood side by side staring at the landscape spread out beneath them, each busy with private thoughts. Marjorie Kane walked into the room and came up behind Alan. She raised her hand and placed it on Alan’s shoulder.
“Ready to leave?”
“Yep, we better be on our way, Edie.”
She nodded and turned to her cousin. They embraced briefly. The fading light was still bright enough to spark a glistening unshed tear in Edie’s eye.”
“Take care going down the mountain,” she said.
With Marjorie at the wheel of their rental, Lockem made a series of notes in the small notebook he habitually carried. Darkness deepened as they went farther down the winding mountain road. They passed an occasional driveway leading off into the forest, usually at a steep upward angle.
“Do we know where Ketchum’s trail comes into the road?” asked Marjorie.
“Not yet. That’s something we need to get a handle on as well as revisit the plat of the whole mountain. It won’t tell us a lot, but I’d just like to get a little more familiar with the lay of the land, so to speak.” Lockem smiled but there wasn’t a lot of warmth in it.
“The home owners seem pretty copacetic; don’t you think?”
Lockem looked out the window at the dark greenery going by. The car swayed as Marjorie cranked the wheel around yet another curve. “I guess. The old mountain man, Derek McKinnon, seemed the grumpiest of the lot.”
“If one of them’s a killer…whoa!” The vehicle lurched to the right. Simultaneously there was a thump and Marjorie brought the car to a skidding halt on the side of the road.
“What just happened?”
“Oh. Oh, God, I think I just hit an animal. A deer?” Marjorie unhooked her seatbelt and started to clamber out of the car.
“Hang on.” Alan grabbed her arm to hold her back. “Sit there. Breathe. You’ve had a shock. I’ll look.” He opened his door and stepped out onto the gravel. For a moment he listened and then softly closed the door to extinguish the interior light. The headlights carved twin paths through the thin dust raised by the wheels of the car. With the engine off, Lockem listened some more. He heard the engine ticking as it cooled, a faint rustling off to his right in the thick underbrush and nothing else. He walked to the front of their rental and ran his hand over the hood. He bent and peered at the bumper, then at the hood glistening in the starlight.
After some minutes of examination, he went to the driver side and leaned over. Marjorie wound down the glass. “I can’t find anything amiss. “Well that’s not entirely accurate. There’s an indication that someone has wiped the day’s dust off the left front headlight. It’s a mark, as if someone deliberately cleaned off just a part of one light. I think, if one is looking for it, one could pick out that partly cleaned headlight on a passing car. On the hood I can see a faint depression. It’s very small and shallow and doesn’t even damage the paint. Whatever you saw, whatever hit the car, it was a glancing blow. Are you sure it was a deer you saw?”
“Actually not. I just assumed so because of the height. What I really saw was sort of a shadow, an impression going by. It couldn’t have been a raccoon or a skunk. I didn’t think birds flew around at night.”
“Odd. If you’d hit a deer head on, even a small one, there’d be a lot of damage. This incident requires some research. Feel all right? Would you like me to drive?”
“No sweetie. I’m fine now. Besides, we’re almost back to town.” She pointed down the road to where they could see a dim and lonely street light high on a pole that marked the edge of the town of Grand Lac.