Snowmen In Paradise (Book 2 Tj Jensen Paradise Lake Mysteries) (26 page)

The girl didn’t say anything.

“You can tell me, or you can tell the sheriff. It’s totally up to you.”

“Okay
.” The girl opened the door wider. “Come in.”

Tj followed
her to the dining table, where they both sat down.

“What do you want to know?”

“What you were doing on the third floor of the Inn if you were staying here,” Tj began.

“Is it aga
inst the law to be on the third floor?”

“It’s against Inn policy for people who are
n’t guests to be on the floor for security reasons, but I don’t suppose it’s technically against the law.”

“I was in the bar
. Sean and I had a fight. I just needed some space. I saw one of the guest’s get into the elevator and followed him. I told him I forgot my key. I didn’t do anything. I just needed to gather my thoughts.”

“I see
. Is that your final answer? Remember, a man was found dead in the room you were seen standing near, and the sheriff is very interested in speaking to anyone who was in the area.”

The girl looked panicked but didn’t answer
. Tj was about to try another approach when Sean walked in. “Tj, Serena,” he greeted them. “Is everything okay?”

“Someone saw me
on the third floor of the Inn after our fight on Monday,” Serena answered. “Tj was just asking me about it.”

“You work for the
sheriff?”

Sean and Tj had spoken briefly once or twice
, but they’d never shared personal information.

“No,” Tj
said. “At least, not officially. I guess you could say I’m an informal consultant.”

“Did Serena break any laws?”

Tj hesitated. She had a few options at this point, but after a bit of thought she decided on the truth. “Not that I know of. I guess you know that Travis Davidson was murdered.”

“I’d heard.”

“One of the maids remembered seeing a woman in a yellow jacket outside his room just prior to the medical examiner’s estimated time of death. She gave the sheriff’s office this description.” Tj handed Sean the drawing. “I was walking back to the house after getting a snack in the bar and saw Serena through the window.”

“Did you call the sheriff?”
Sean asked.

“No
, and I won’t unless I think it’s necessary to do so.”

“Maybe we should tell her,” Serena suggested.

Sean shrugged. “Yeah, okay. I don’t see that it can hurt.” Sean sat down at the table. “Last year at nationals, when it looked like I was gaining ground on Travis in terms of points and sponsorships, he called to tell me he had proof of my participation in certain behaviors during the event that would disqualify me from the competition. Initially, I ignored him because I knew I was innocent, but a few months ago, I was notified that an official investigation had been opened. I argued that any documents Travis might have provided must have been falsified. I gave them what I thought was adequate documentation to provide an alibi.”

“But you needed more?”
Tj guessed.

“The review board argued that although I appeared to have s
olid alibis for most of my time at the competition, there was some that couldn’t be accounted for. To make matters worse, in addition to some photos, which had to have been altered, Travis somehow managed to come up with an eyewitness to corroborate his claim. I’m not sure how he managed it, because the witness was a fairly reputable woman, but I suspect he may have blackmailed her; that seems to be his MO.”

Tj looked at Serena and smiled
. “So you had Dolly follow you around while you were here for the exhibition.”

Sean laughed
. “You noticed her, did you?”

“
Everyone
noticed her.”

“Since the national
s, I’ve managed to make even more progress toward the number-one spot. I could tell that Travis was getting nervous, and I didn’t want a repeat of the fiasco at nationals, so I asked my cousin, who happens to be a film student, to follow me around and record my every move so there would be no question of my exemplary behavior. Serena decided to use the opportunity not only to provide me with an alibi for all of my time but to do a documentary for her film class about the life of a professional snowboarder.”

“I can understand why you had Serena film you
, but I have to ask why you had her dress up as Dolly Parton.”

“
Serena suggested using a disguise. We started with the blond wig and then realized she looked a lot like Dolly. After that, one thing led to another.”

“Like the enlarged chest and overuse of makeup
?”

“I love Dolly Parton
.” Serena giggled. “She’s really beautiful and so talented. It was fun to dress like her. I may have gone a bit overboard with the makeup once I got started, though.”

“
The book she carries, as well as several other props we’ve outfitted her with, have cameras with date and time stamps,” Sean added. “There’s no way anyone can say I can’t account for all of my time while I’ve been here.”

“We even keep a camera on at night,” Serena offered
. “It’s focused on Sean’s door after he retires for the evening.”

“Wh
at about tonight?” Tj asked. “You were in the room and Sean was in the bar.”

“Travis is dead,” Sean reminded her
. “The committee dropped the investigation. I was officially informed of that a few hours ago.”

“Which brings us back around to Serena’s presence outside Travis’
s door,” Tj said. “You realize this will make you a prime suspect in his murder.”

“We didn’t
kill him,” Sean assured her. “Serena has been downloading the footage we shoot every day onto discs. One of them was missing. We thought Travis must have somehow gotten hold of it. We were afraid he was planning to tamper with it, so when he left the bar to run after that woman who slapped him, Serena changed out of her Dolly costume, which would have been way too conspicuous, and into her street clothes, which she keeps in her backpack. She took a master key from the maid’s cart and let herself into Travis’s room. She was looking for the disc when she heard the maid in the next room and left.”

“Okay,” Tj decided
. “Your story seems plausible to me. I won’t report the break-in, but you might keep in mind that Deputy Caine gave this sketch to me, so he’ll be looking for you as well. You might want to keep a low profile until everything gets straightened out.”

Tj groaned as she looked at the clock on the nightstand beside her bed. It was the one day of the week when she was able to sleep in, and here she was, wide awake at five-forty. Deciding to give up on her quest to return to the land of dreams, she slid out of bed and pulled on her knee-high slippers. Picking up Cuervo, she cautioned Echo to be quiet as she tiptoed down the hall.

Settling Cuervo in the laundry room with his breakfast
, she let Echo out of the door for his morning romp, then turned on the coffeemaker before lighting the fires in the kitchen and living room. The view from the front of the house was priceless: a huge alpine lake framed with evergreen mountains that took on a hint of red and gold in the fall, when the few deciduous trees in the area shed their leaves in preparation for winter. Although the moon continued to shine on the glassy surface of the lake, a few snowflakes began to float through the air, reminding her that another storm was forecast to hit the area by midday.

S
he went out to the living room with a cup of coffee, curling up on one of the sofas framing the fireplace and pulling a quilt over her legs. She sat, sipping her coffee in the dark, watching the flames in the structure her grandfather had built by hand dancing and crackling as she listened to the stillness of the early morning. Cuervo jumped up onto the couch and curled into her lap. Prior to Crissy’s coming to live with them the previous fall, he’d had little use for human contact and would growl more often than not if you tried to cuddle with him. Once the cat moved in, however, he’d staked his claim to Tj by attaching himself to her side whenever she was home.

Echo began to snore as he continued his nap in front of the fire
. He was about as mellow as a dog could be, which was a good thing, because they lived in an environment where hundreds of ever-changing guests wanted to pet and play with a large black dog that looked like a small bear.

Tj leaned her head against the back of the sofa as she thought about the day ahead
. The events in town started later on Sunday, giving folks who were inclined to do so a chance to attend church services before the planned competitions. When Tj’s Grandma Maggie had been alive, they’d attended services every Sunday, but after she’d passed, her dad and grandpa rarely bothered to make the trip into town.

“You’re up early,” Ben commented as he walked into the room.

“It figures I’d wake up early on the one day I could have slept in.”

“Somethin
g on your mind?”

Tj yawned
. “I don’t know. I guess I’ve just had a busy week and my brain is trying to process everything. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think I’m actually looking forward to carnival being over so we can settle back into a less-hectic routine.”

“Yeah, I have to agree
. Quite a few of the guests are checking out today, and the rest will be gone by tomorrow. Things should slow down a bit until the spring-break rush. I heard they let Chelsea go,” Ben offered.

“Albert Pitman provided
her an alibi, in a roundabout sort of way.”

“Too bad his prank landed
him
in the slammer.”

“Drugging Travis was a dumb idea
, but I get it. The guy had a way of pushing buttons. When I decided to look into this whole thing, Jenna, Kyle, and I made a list of suspects. I couldn’t believe how long it was.”

“Any luck narrowing it down?”

“Actually, we’ve managed to clear everyone except for Barney Johnson, Pete Quinn, Mayor Wallaby, and Corbin and Wendy Wells. Johnson claims to have been at home, but he was alone and so is short on proof, Pete claims to have been in Sacramento bike riding but has no receipts or other proof to back that up, Mayor Wallaby was with an individual he refuses to name, and Corbin and Wendy Wells are new suspects I haven’t had a chance to talk to yet.”

“Seems like now that Chelsea has been cleared and Josh has been located
, you can leave it to the professionals to finish up,” Ben suggested.

Tj thought about that
. It was true that the only reason she’d gotten involved in the first place was to help clear Chelsea. “I guess you’re right, although Dylan added Hunter to the list.”

“Hunter?”

“Apparently, he was at Angel Mountain on the day of Travis’s murder. They argued, and then Hunter went for a drive. He didn’t get home until after nine and he has no proof of his whereabouts.”

“I’m sure it will get cleared up,” Ben assured her
. “If you want my opinion, you should let Dylan do his thing so you can enjoy the last day of the carnival.”

“
It would be nice to focus on having fun. Besides, I’m not really worried. There’s no way Hunter killed Travis, and I’m pretty sure Dylan doesn’t really think he did either.”

“I was thinking of making an egg and cheese pie for breakfast
. Would you rather have bacon or sausage?”

“Either is fine
. I noticed that someone bought a bunch of fruit. How about I make a big fruit salad to go with that pie?”

After sharing a leisurely breakfast with her family, Tj decided to check with the lodging staff before heading into town. Sundays tended to be busy, and with everything that was going on, that day was likely to be busier than usual. They’d had a rash of staff members calling in sick in the past few weeks, and Tj wanted to be sure they were covered.

“Mornin
g, Tj,” Serena said as Tj passed through the lodge on her way to check in with the manager on duty. “I wanted to thank you again for not ratting me out.”

“Are you going home?”

“Yeah. Sean and I thought it was best, given the circumstances. He and his coach are going to stay until tomorrow, as planned.”

“I’m sorry Sean had to deal with Travis and his attempt to discredit him
, but it was fun watching you follow him around all week. You created quite the mystery.”

Serena
laughed. “It
was
fun, but I wish my charade could have been under different circumstances. It was pretty stressful for a while. Sean said he wasn’t the first competitor Travis pulled that on. The other guy missed out on a major competition that cost him a key sponsor. The whole thing was such a nightmare that the guy ended up quitting snowboarding. Sean said it was a real shame because he was a really good boarder, the best he’d seen in years. I guess Travis knew he’d need to get the guy out of the way if he wanted to make it to the number-one spot.”