Snowmen In Paradise (Book 2 Tj Jensen Paradise Lake Mysteries) (25 page)

“
She looks sort of familiar, but I don’t think I know her. Why?”

“This is the sketch artist
’s depiction of a woman one of the maids at the Inn saw in the hall near Travis’s room the night he was killed. The maid admits to only glancing at her as she walked by.”

“Chances are the
likeness isn’t even close,” Tj guessed.

“Yeah, the odds of it being close enough for anyone to recognize are slim
, but it was worth a try. You were in the bar an hour before Travis was killed. Do you remember anyone with a yellow jacket and dark hair?”

Tj thought about it
. “No, sorry. At least not specifically. I’m sure there were a lot of people with dark hair, but I’m pretty sure I didn’t see anyone with a yellow jacket. Can I keep the drawing?”

“Yeah, I have copies.”

Tj folded the portrait and put it in her pocket. “Did you have a chance to talk to Corbin?”

Dylan nodded.
“He says he was drunk when he was spouting off at the bar and doesn’t remember what he said. He claims he was most likely just showing off, because as far as he knows, his sister has never even met Travis.”

“Does he have an alibi?”

“A weak one. He said he was at a nightclub on the strip in Indulgence. I checked with the owner, who verified that Corbin’s a regular, but he can’t swear he was there that night. He’s going to check credit-card receipts and get back to me.”

“Do you think
Corbin lied?” Tj wondered.

“Honestly
, no. He must know I’ll check his alibi. If he wasn’t at the club, why say he was? He would have been better off telling me he was alone than giving an alibi that won’t check out. Still, he stays on the list until I talk to the nightclub owner again tomorrow.”

“And Wendy?”
Tj wondered.

“I went by her apartment
, but she wasn’t home. Tim said he knows her pretty well, so he’s going to track her down and have a talk with her.”

“Anything else?”

“I found out that Pete Quinn made a call to the Inn on Sunday, demanding to talk to Travis. My guess is that he heard about the fire and was outraged.”

“Sounds like
a motive to me,” Tj replied. “Whatever happened with his alibi?”

“
He said he went for a bike ride along the American River Bike Trail in Sacramento because the roads up here are covered with snow. Unfortunately, he went alone, and he claims he paid cash for everything, so he doesn’t have any receipts or any other proof to show he was there.”

“
Sounds fishy to me,” Tj said. “It doesn’t track that he’d pay cash for everything. Although, if it helps, I know he’s a serious road biker. Let’s go in. The pageant is going to start any minute.”

“Tj
. . .”

“Yeah
?”

“There’s one more thing
. You’re not going to like this, but I had to add Hunter to the list of suspects.”

“What?” Tj was certain she’d misunderstood
. “Why would you suspect Hunter?”

“When I was up at Angel Mountain talking to Pete Quinn,
he mentioned he’d seen Hunter there on the day Travis was killed. He said it was earlier in the day—at least several hours before Chelsea came bursting into the bar—but he thought he’d mention it all the same.”

“Why would he do that?”
Tj wondered.

“He
’s one of the prime suspects in this case. His alibi can’t be confirmed, and Josh has already suggested that he’s guilty of blackmail. He needed to give me something. It’s a ploy I’ve seen time and time again; suspects often attempt to divert the attention away from themselves.”

“So he threw Hunter under the bus,” Tj supposed.

“Basically. At first I wasn’t too worried about it, but I called Hunter and explained what I had heard and why I needed his alibi.”

“And?”

“Hunter verified that he’d been at Angel Mountain and that he’d argued with Travis. I guess Travis had been giving Chelsea a bad time and Hunter wanted to communicate to him that if he valued his health, he’d best back off of hassling his sister.”

“I’m sure it was just a figure of speech,” Tj defended
. “Hunter would never hurt anyone.”

“I agree.”

“So why put him on the list?”

“It’s my job
to put everyone on the list who has motive and opportunity and doesn’t have an alibi.”

“
Hunter doesn’t have an alibi?” Tj paled.

“According to the staff at the hospital, Hunter took an early lunch but promised to be back for his afternoon appointments
. Two hours later, he called his nurse, told her something had come up, and asked her to clear his day. Hunter admitted that after his discussion with Travis he’d been too worked up to see patients, so he got in his car and took a long drive. He doesn’t remember seeing anyone who could vouch for his whereabouts between noon and nine o’clock, when he got home.”

Dylan put his hands on
Tj’s upper arms. “I don’t believe Hunter did this any more than you do, but I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t put him on the list. Tomorrow I’m going to work on finding someone who saw him after he left the resort, but I wanted you to hear this from me now, in case someone said something to you about it tonight.”

“What if
he doesn’t have an alibi?” she asked.

“Then he’ll be cleared when we find the real killer,”
he assured her. “Okay?” Dylan bent his head so he was looking her in the eye.

Tj looked back at him
. “Okay.”

By the time Tj got home, she was physically and mentally exhausted. Her dad helped her to carry the girls up to bed. Crissy, Midnight, and Snowy were asleep on Gracie’s bed. The silly cat must have moved her babies from the closet to the bed while they were gone. Gracie was small and she had a big bed and, in spite of what Ashley said, she was actually a very quiet sleeper. Tj thought about moving the cat family back to the box in the closet but decided to trust Crissy’s mothering instinct and let her decide where she wanted to sleep. If she wanted her babies back in the box, Tj supposed she could move them there the same way she’d gotten them from the box to the bed in the first place.

Echo was thrilled to have Tj home
. It had been a busy couple of weeks and he hadn’t gotten his usual amount of mom-and-dog time. Grabbing her snowshoes and pulling on a heavy coat, Tj slipped a hat onto her head and mittens onto her hands and went back out into the cold night air. Echo romped along beside her as she walked down the path to the lake. In spite of the frigid temperature, it really was a beautiful night. The moon was bright, the sky was clear, and the air was perfectly still.

The dog
picked up a stick and ran down the snow-covered beach as Tj followed behind. She couldn’t imagine living in a city where a late-night stroll would take place on a busy street with the smell of exhaust and the sound of traffic as the backdrop. She paused and closed her eyes, letting her senses take over as she felt her stress dissolve. The only sound she heard was panting as Echo sat down on the sand by her side.

Tj tried to focus on the serenity around her
. She wasn’t going to be able to help Hunter or anyone else if she drove herself crazy. She took a deep breath and focused on the scents around her. During the summer, fires from the campground filled the air with a smoky aroma that brought back fond memories of camping with her dad. Tonight, however, the only fragrance that permeated the night air was the smell of something wonderful coming from the Lakeside Bar and Grill, which served appetizers until 2 a.m. on Saturday nights.

Calling Echo to her side, Tj changed direction
. She’d poke her head in the kitchen to see if whoever was working that night would make her an order of chili fries to go. Luckily, the night chef, Jason, was in the kitchen, so she was able to put in her order from the back door.

“Why didn’t you call ov
er?” Jason asked. “I would have had it ready for you when you got here.”

“I was out for a walk a
nd had a craving,” Tj explained as she slipped off her snowshoes and leaned them against the wall outside the door.

“I heard your
downhill team dominated at the carnival events.”

“First place,” Tj bragged.

“Want me to bag up something for Echo?” Jason asked. Tj had left Echo waiting obediently outside the kitchen door, but his adorable face could be seen looking in through the nearby window.

“Yeah, he deserves a treat
. Is the bar busy tonight?”

“Most of the guests have left
. Sean Wright and his coach are finishing up a beer.”

“And
Dolly?” Tj asked. Anyone who’d been around during the past ten days knew exactly who she was referring to.

“I haven’t seen her
all day.”

“Does
she ever talk to anyone when she’s here?” Tj asked.

“Nope
. Just sits with her book. Although I don’t think she’s actually reading.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I was working the bar the other night. It was slow, so I was watching her out of the corner of my eye. In the hour she was here, I never saw her turn a page.”

“And Sean was here as well
?”

“Table in the corner
, where he’s spent almost every night since he’s been here,” Jason confirmed. “Your order’s ready. Want some ranch dressing for dipping?”

Tj quietly wound her way along the walkway that connected the cabins. The beach was a more direct route to the main house, but she’d already cleared the snow from her snowshoes and didn’t want to have to repeat the exercise. As she passed Sean’s cabin, she paused. There was definitely someone inside. She’d noticed that Sean was still in the bar when she’d left the restaurant and wondered who it could be. As far as she knew, he was staying alone.

She
paused and looked in the front window. Inside was a young girl sitting in a recliner, watching television. The girl was petite, with a slight frame and long dark hair. It was hard to tell from her vantage point, but if Tj didn’t know better, she’d swear the girl looked remarkably like the one in Dylan’s sketch.

Tj made a split
-second decision and jogged to the lodge. She left her snowshoes, fries, and Echo with the desk clerk and grabbed a handful of towels. Returning to the cabin, she knocked. She looked in through the window as the girl looked around frantically. Tj knocked on the window to let the girl know that she’d seen her. The girl hesitated, then walked toward the door.

“Can I help you?”
She opened the door a few inches and peeked out.

“I brought the towels you requested.”

“I’m sorry, you must have the wrong cabin. I didn’t ask for any towels.”

Tj frowned, intentionally conveying a look of confusio
n. She took a blank piece of paper out of her pocket and pretended to be studying it. “This is Sean Wright’s cabin?”

“Y
—yes,” the girl stammered.

“That’s odd
; the desk clerk specifically asked me to drop these towels at Sean Wright’s cabin.”

The girl opened the door wider
. “I’ll take them.”

Tj tried not to gasp when she noticed the yellow jacket on the coat rack
inside. “It says here,” she pretended to consult the fake information sheet, “that Sean Wright is staying alone.”

“I’m his cousin
, Serena,” the girl explained. “I’m in town on a project. Sean said it would be okay if I stayed with him. It’s a big cabin,” she pointed out.

“I’m sure that’s fine,” Tj
said, trying for a friendly smile. “We should add you to the guest list, however. The resort likes to keep track of who’s staying on the property.”

“
Um, okay. I guess that will be fine.”

“What’s your last name
, Serena?” Tj asked.

“It’s Wright
, like Sean’s.”

“And how long have you been here?”

“Not long,” she answered vaguely.

Tj pretended to ponder something
. “I think I remember seeing you at the Inn at Angel Mountain on Monday. In the late afternoon. You were wearing that yellow jacket.” Tj nodded toward the garment.

“I have to go
. If you need any other information, you can ask Sean.”

She started to close the door
, but Tj put her foot between the door and the jamb.

“Perhaps we should have a talk,” Tj suggested.

“About what?” The poor girl looked like a scared rabbit. Tj almost abandoned her mission and went to talk to Sean instead.

“I
know that you were on the third floor of the Inn at around five o’clock on Monday. A witness saw you.” Tj pulled out the drawing the sheriff’s sketch artist had made. “Do you want to tell me what you were doing?”