Murder in the Devil's Cauldron (36 page)

He breathed a little easier when he saw it
wasn't an official car, but it still worried him. As he drove, he
considered the possibilities. It couldn't be his name. He had never
used Fowler in any previous con, so there wouldn't have been a hit
on that. Besides, he hadn't used his name during lunch, so they
didn't know any version of it, current or otherwise.

It was unlikely they had a picture. He made
sure not to get his picture taken and, as far as he knew, the only
one out there that was remotely incriminating was a really old
booking photo from the only time he'd screwed up. And that was
years
ago.

All he knew for sure was that something
wasn't quite right. That he didn't know what it was bothered him
more than the possibility of a problem existing in the first
place.

Whatever was going on, it gnawed away at him
like a cat on a freshly-killed mouse. He wasn't sure what to do,
but he knew he couldn't ignore it.

Fae knew the moment she walked into the lobby
at the Naniboujou Lodge that she had arrived too late. The look on
the manager's face telegraphed the bad news all the way across the
room.

"I'm sorry," Dana said as Fae reached the
desk near the entrance to the dining room.

"How long ago did he leave?"

"A couple of minutes?"

"Damn." Fae wondered if the car she had seen
leaving as she arrived had been his. But even if it was, she'd
never be able to catch him now.

"He didn't even wait for his check," she
said, bewildered. "He asked for it, but then just put some money on
the table and left."

"He must've realized something was
wrong."

"I swear we didn't say anything." She looked
as if she was about to cry.

"I'm sure you didn't," Fae said. "He's one of
those people who picks up on the smallest things. Don't beat
yourself up. What you might be able to help me with is anything he
might've let slip while he was here."

"Like what?"

"I take it he's not a guest here."

"No, he's not." Dana turned to a young woman
who had just joined them. "Did he say anything to you?"

"No." She looked at Fae. "I was his server,"
she explained.

"And you are…" Fae pulled out her
notebook.

"Tammy Johnson. I go to school at St. Kate's,
but work here part time."

"Did he talk about where he might be going?
Mention his plans? Say anything about what he's been doing? Ask
about anything in particular?"

Tammy shook her head. "He was nice, but just
ordered. Didn't really say much. Asked what I recommended."

"So you didn't ask him how long he was going
to be up here, or ask if he was looking for anything special?

"I did. But he didn't really say."

"What
did
he say?"

"Just that he was here for a couple of
days."

"Did you ask him where he was staying?"

"No. I guess I figured he was staying
here."

"OK. How about what he was doing or where he
was going?"

"Well, I could tell he wasn't a hiker, so I
didn't say anything about that. But I did ask if he was here for
anything special."

"And what did he say?"

"He said, 'you could say that'. Whatever that
means." Tammy shrugged. "And then he asked what I recommended for
lunch and I said the trout and that's what he ordered."

Fae sighed. She supposed she wasn't surprised
he was too smart to give anything away that easily. She handed
Tammy one of her cards.

"If you think of anything, please call me.
Maybe something you noticed. Even if you think it's nothing."

Fae turned back to the manager. "Anything you
can add?"

She shook her head. "Do you think he'll come
back?"

"I doubt it," Fae said. Then she had another
thought. "By the way, tell me what he looked like. Was he a lot
like the picture? Only a little bit? Anything that stood out?"

Dana flipped over the papers on her desk,
picked up the picture and gave it a long look. "His hair was
shorter and I think he was thinner."

"He was older than that," Tammy said. "Way
older. And he used some gold rim glasses when he was reading the
menu."

"What else? What about his clothes?"

"Very expensive," Tammy said.

"Really?"

Tammy nodded enthusiastically. "Like, I'm
into fashion design and I know about fabric and tailoring and stuff
like that. Anyway, I could swear he was wearing Versace. Which is
really weird 'cause who wears stuff like that up here? You know? I
mean, everyone who comes up here wears jeans and stuff that won't
get messed up when you're hiking or climbing or whatever. You
never
see expensive stuff like that here."

"That's very good," Fae said. She wasn't sure
yet how she could use it, but it was one more piece of the puzzle
that might come in handy. The thing with investigations, was that
you never knew what would end up being useful.

"Oh, and his wedding ring? Like I
know
that cost an arm and a leg and he sure as heck didn't get that up
here."

"He was wearing a wedding ring?"

Tammy nodded. "Couldn't miss it. Diamonds and
a ruby.
Very
unusual. I mean, you know guys, right? It's
hard to get them to wear
anything
, so you're lucky if
they'll even go for a plain gold band. Makes it super hard to spot
the ones who are available for real. I just hate dating someone and
then find out they're, like, already married. Really pisses me off.
Anyway, I took one look at his ring and thought his wife must be
pretty darn special that he'd wear something like that. You could
tell it wasn't junk. It
had
to cost a fortune."

"But he didn't have anyone with him?"

"No, and he wasn't expecting anyone
either."

"How do you know?"

"He didn't keep looking at the door," Tammy
said. "I could tell he was on his own for the afternoon."

"Did he say anything about his wife?"

"No, and I didn't ask."

"Did you see his car?"

Both women shook their heads. "He was gone by
the time I thought of it and got to the door," Dana said.

"And I was in the kitchen trying to make it
take some time to get his check," Tammy added.

Fae repeated her request that they call her
if they thought of anything else, but suspected she had probably
gotten everything she was likely to.

While she was sorry she hadn't managed to get
here just a little sooner, Fae felt as if she had a much better
mental picture of her quarry. Tammy had turned out to be
unexpectedly observant.

The good news was that this sighting was
confirmation that Devious Dave was up here and she wasn't chasing
ghosts. What she still didn't have, though, was a clue as to what
he was up to or where he was going to do it. At least she knew now
that he wasn't staying here, but that didn't tell her where he
was
staying.

Fae wondered about the ring. The files
indicated he was single. But that didn't necessarily mean he was.
Maybe the blonde he'd been seen with was the wife and maybe she
would be the key to tracking this guy down.

She checked her watch and thought about the
guy in St. Paul who had seen them together at the Ordway. She would
call him as soon as she got home. He must have gotten the
information by now.

That still left the question of what Devious
Dave was up to. If there was anything Fae was certain of at the
moment, it was that he was here for a reason. And if that reason
was an innocent one, she'd eat her cat.

Now that lunch was over, the frenzied sound
of meals being cooked, servers running platters of dishes to and
from the dining room had given way to the clatter of pans being
washed and silverware being sorted. Soon all sounds would trickle
away as the kitchen workers vanished temporarily into their own
lives for awhile before starting everything up again for
dinner.

Karen could still smell the garlic sauce that
had been in the pasta she had had for lunch. Seeing the primavera
in the serving line had rekindled her appetite after all and she
had ended up eating far more than she should have. Pasta was her
biggest weakness, next to chocolate. She adjusted the waistband on
her skirt, not liking the way it pinched her too full tummy. Now
that matters here were a little more under control, she knew she
was going to have to start exercising if she didn't want to unpack
her fat clothes.

Back in her office, Karen closed the door and
took a deep breath. She loved this time of day. She could usually
count on being undisturbed and liked to use this time to deal with
things that needed concentration. It also let her get caught up so
she had no distractions in the evening when her time was needed for
making sure the guests were happy.

But this afternoon, she needed to do
something about her daughter before moving onto Lodge business.
Although her To Do basket had several items laying in wait for her,
when she looked at her desk, all she really saw was the Rolodex
card with the phone number on it. The writing was jagged and sharp
and unlike her normally neat printing.

She had written the number for Rick's parents
on the card early in her marriage right after he had left for the
first time. She had never memorized it for some reason. Maybe
because she had never cared much for his parents. They were the
quintessential Minnesota Norwegian farm couple. Karen doubted they
had ever known how to have fun. Getting conversation out of them
was like getting a car started without a block heater when it was
32 below. Sometimes she thought the only words they knew were yep,
nope and maybe.

Yet, at the same time, they had been
tremendously helpful ever since Rick had taken off. This time for
good. While not enthusiastic, they had taken their granddaughter
several times. That it was primarily out of duty went without
saying, but it
had
helped and it was more than her own
parents had been willing to do. Her parents believed everyone
should make it on her own with no help from anyone. Which had made
the last few years even more difficult than they might have been.
If Rick's parents hadn't helped out the few times Karen had finally
been compelled to ask, she couldn't even imagine how she would have
taken care of both herself and Starr until she was back on her
feet.

What never failed to surprise Karen, was that
her husband was so much more like her parents than his. So much so
that she had wanted to scream on more than one occasion. Even
worse, he had gotten along with them much better than she ever
would. It wouldn't surprise her even a little to discover he had
contacted them and they hadn't said a word to her.

Because Karen had been raised not to expect
or even request help, it took a great deal to break that
conditioning and ask, even when things were really bad. Her parents
could be counted on to always say no. Rick's parents, on the other
hand, had made it clear that they would do what they could if she
asked them. But they had also made it extremely clear that she
should only call if she was completely out of other options. They
didn't want her asking if there was an alternative. Which made her
feel as if she was begging.

It was humiliating. And that only made it
harder to pick up the phone.

Which is why she continued to stare at the
number written on the card. Calling them made her feel like a worm.
The bitter taste of failure filled her mouth and she pulled her
hand away from the phone, feeling as if she was about to throw
up.

Then she thought about the guest who might be
showing up at her door to complain about Starr and knew she had to
do something.

Karen took a deep breath, picked up the phone
and dialed.

Alma's dry voice answered after five rings.
"Hello?"

Karen closed her eyes. "Hello, Alma. It's
Karen."

"I've only got just a few minutes," Alma
said. "There's a potluck at the Grange and the beans are just about
done. I don't want them to burn."

"That's fine. I just wanted to ask you a
quick question."

"Is it about taking Stella again?"

Cutting right to it, Karen thought. Well,
that certainly saved a lot of time and dancing about the bush.
"Possibly," she said. "She's having a little trouble settling in
and it's not a good time for trouble right now. I'm on probation
here."

"I don't know that it's good for us right
now," Alma said. "And it'd be better if you can get her in line, ya
know. It's not going to get any easier from now on."

"I know that," Karen said, trying to keep the
irritation out of her voice. "I'm working on her and everything
might turn out just fine. But I wanted to check and see if you'd be
willing to take her for a little while. Just until I'm on firmer
ground here."

She had been about to say for a couple of
weeks, then left it unclear at the last minute. Maybe she could get
them to take the kid for a little while for starters. Then she
could keep stretching it out and maybe never get around to taking
her back. If they got sick of her, they might work on Rick to take
her.

"I'd have to talk to Walter about it first,
ya know."

"Of course."

"We'd have to think about it some."

"Of course." Karen gritted her teeth as she
listened to the silence at the other end of the phone.

"Looks like the beans are done. I'll talk to
Walter. See what he says. Can't promise anything though."

"Of course."

"It'd be better if you could get her in
hand."

"I know. I'm working on it."

She heard a deep sigh on the other end of the
line.