Peril at Granite Peak Read online

  “There might be a few things in one of the cabinets,” Mrs. Gallagher told the kids, gesturing at the shelving system built into one of the walls. “Why don’t you take a look?”

  “Yay!” the little boy yelled. He raced over to the cabinets and started flinging open all the doors he could reach.

  “Not the ones on the bottom row,” Mrs. Gallagher called. “Try a little farther up.”

  But the boy was staring into one of the cabinets, a small one built into the narrow area at the edge of the fireplace. “Hey!” he shouted. “My boots!”

  Joe and I wandered over just as the kid pulled out a pair of red snow boots. “Are those the boots that got lost?” I said in surprise.

  “Not lost.” The little boy glared at me. “Stolen!”

  “How did those get in there?” Mrs. Gallagher bent to peer into the cabinet. “Oh, my!”

  She pulled out several other items—a pair of sunglasses, a baseball cap, a paperback book, and an MP3 player.

  “It’s all the missing stuff!” Joe exclaimed. “How’d it get in there?”

  “I have no idea.” Mrs. Gallagher looked confused. “We don’t store much stuff in the lowest row of cabinets.”

  “What’s this?” Joe bent and poked at another item in the pile, a raggedy bit of cloth in the shape of a bone. “Looks like a dog toy.”

  “That must belong to Toy Toy.” Mrs. Gallagher sounded distracted as she gathered up the other items. “I’d better start returning these things to their rightful owners.”

  As she hurried off, Joe and I stared at each other. “Weird,” he said. “Think Josie did it?”

  “Why would she steal her own dog’s toy?” I nudged the cloth bone with my toe.

  Joe shrugged and grabbed the toy. “Let’s go ask her.”

  I couldn’t think of a better idea, so I followed. Josie wasn’t in the dining room or kitchen or any of the other public spaces in the lodge. Come to think of it, I hadn’t seen her since witnessing her argument with Cody earlier. I filled Joe in on that incident, which left us both wondering: where had she gone?

  “Better check her room,” Joe said, leading the way to the staff’s quarters.

  We knocked on Josie’s door, which was closed now, but there was no answer. “Josie?” I called. “You in there?”

  “What are you guys doing?” It was Cody. He’d just rounded the corner at the end of the hall.

  “Looking for Josie.” Realizing he might be the last person who’d seen her, I added, “Have any idea where she might be?”

  “No, why would I?” he replied quickly. Then he shrugged. “Hang on. I was just coming to get Blizz. She had a busy night with those raccoons, so I stuck her in my room to nap after breakfast.”

  He hurried over to his door and pushed it open. All three of us gasped as frigid air blew out at us.

  “Hey!” Cody shouted, rushing in.

  Joe and I followed. The room’s two windows were wide open, and snow was pouring in!

  HOT AND COLD

  14

  JOE

  BLIZZ BARKED AS FRANK AND I entered the freezing-cold room. With her thick fur coat, she was in a lot better shape than we were. I was already shivering as I helped Frank wrestle one of the windows shut. Cody was working on the other, kicking snow out of the way with his sneakers.

  Soon both windows were closed and locked. “What a mess!” I exclaimed, brushing snow off my shirt. “How’d it happen?”

  Blizz seemed bright-eyed and happy as she sniffed at the snowy floor. Cody watched her, frowning slightly. “I don’t know,” he said. “I’d better grab a mop to clean this up.”

  We followed him out of the room. Blizz came along, her tail wagging.

  “Good thing it was Blizz in there and not Toy Toy,” I joked, giving the dog a pat. “Poor little Toy Toy isn’t used to facing the cold without his full winter wardrobe.”

  Frank chuckled, but his eyes looked serious. “Seems like our saboteur might’ve struck again,” he said as soon as Cody was out of earshot.

  “Yeah.” I shrugged. “So let’s get back to work.”

  We decided to start by checking out the scenes of the various crimes. There was nothing much to see in the stairwell or by the side exit, and Josie still wasn’t answering her door. We couldn’t very well go look at the ski trail at the moment—the snow was lighter than ever, but the wind had picked up again, blowing the drifts around—so we headed for the kitchen next.

  The chef was puttering around near the stove when we came in. “What can I do for you, boys?” she asked.

  “Nothing,” Frank said. “Um, Mr. G just asked us to check on the window. See if it’s letting any cold air in.”

  That seemed to satisfy the woman. She returned to whatever she was doing, humming tunelessly under her breath. Frank and I headed for the boarded-up window. Nothing seemed out of place inside, so I opened the next window and stuck my head out into the cold.

  “See anything?” Frank asked.

  “Hard to see much with the snow blowing in my face,” I complained. “Wait—what’s that?”

  The wind had just shifted the snow banked up against the building, revealing a flash of silver. Another gust covered it so quickly I would have missed it if I’d blinked.

  I pulled my head inside. “There’s something in the snow out there,” I told Frank. “Give me a boost.”

  Frank looked dubious, but offered me a leg up. “Don’t get frostbite,” he joked.

  “Trust me, I’m not planning to stay out there long.” I hoisted myself over the window frame. “Just make sure nobody locks up behind me. Or if they do, call Blizz!”

  “Hey!” the chef said, finally noticing what was going on. “What are you two doing?”

  Then I dropped to the ground and couldn’t hear her clearly anymore. Brr! It was cold out there. Really cold. Wrapping my arms around myself, I stepped carefully toward the base of the other window.

  Okay, a real detective would probably slow down at this point, be careful not to disturb the scene too much. But I was too cold to take things slowly. Instead I kicked at the drifted snow until I felt my foot hit something hard.

  “Aha!” I muttered through lips that were already half-frozen.

  Bending down, I dug into the snow. My hands started to go numb almost immediately, but it was easy to feel what I was looking for. Mostly because whatever it was poked me in the finger.

  “Ouch,” I yelped, yanking my hand back.

  Then I reached down into the snow more carefully. This time I pulled out the object—a large pair of stainless-steel scissors.

  “You okay out there?” Frank was looking out the window.

  “Yeah. Got it.” I hurried over, tucking the scissors into my back pocket so he could pull me up with both hands.

  Inside the warm kitchen, I showed Frank what I’d found. “Scissors?” he said.

  The chef gasped and hurried over. “My kitchen shears!” she cried, grabbing the scissors. “I’ve been looking for those all day!”

  “How’d they get outside?” I wondered.

  She shrugged, cradling the scissors like a baby. “Search me. Last I saw them was yesterday after I washed them and left them in the rack to dry.”

  She hurried off toward the sink, and my brother and I traded a look. “Scissors,” Frank said again, more quietly this time so the chef couldn’t hear. “Think those things would cut a generator wire?”

  “They’re pretty sharp.” I sucked a drop of blood off my finger where the scissors had poked me. “Still doesn’t tell us who did it.”

  “Yeah.” Frank glanced at the chef as she disappeared through the door to the dining room. “The kitchen’s never locked, as far as I know. Anyone could’ve wandered in and grabbed those scissors anytime the chef’s back was turned.”

  I nodded. “Maybe the same person who messed with that waffle.”

  At that moment Mr. Gallagher burst into the kitchen. “Oh, hello, boys,” he said, sounding almost cheerful. “I wa
s looking for Chef, but I might as well tell you, too. I just called the county for the weather update, and it’s good news for once.”

  “Really?” I said, wiggling my toes inside my sneakers. They were still half-frozen.

  “The worst of the storm has passed,” the lodge owner said. “The roads should be passable again by tomorrow morning.”

  “Great.” Frank smiled weakly. I could guess what he was thinking. That didn’t leave us much time to solve the case!

  We hurried out into the hallway. “We need to talk to Josie,” I said. “Where could she be?”

  Frank looked troubled. “Do you really think she put glass in that waffle?” he asked. “It doesn’t make sense. She already confessed—why pull another stunt? Especially a potentially deadly one like that?”

  I shrugged. “Who knows? She seems pretty emotional. Maybe she wasn’t thinking straight.”

  “Maybe.” Frank didn’t sound convinced. “I guess we should talk to her either way. It’s not like we’ve got any other hot leads.”

  We resumed our search. We didn’t find Josie, but we spotted Cody and Blizz walking down the side hall. “Cody! Hold up!” I called, jogging to catch up to him. “Have you seen Josie?”

  “Didn’t you already ask me that?” he said with a crooked half smile.

  Frank shrugged. “We still haven’t found her. We’re starting to get worried.”

  “Yeah,” I agreed. “The girl’s a little unhinged. Who knows what she could be up to?”

  Cody frowned. “She’s not crazy,” he said sharply. “Just maybe a little emotional, and, um . . .”

  He was starting to look a little emotional himself. “Dude,” I said, peering into his face. “What’s wrong? Are you afraid she’ll come after you next?”

  “Maybe she already did,” Frank pointed out. “Those windows in his room didn’t open themselves. And I seriously doubt Blizz did it.”

  I gasped as I realized something. “No, Blizz didn’t open the windows!” I exclaimed. “But she didn’t stop someone else from doing it either.”

  Frank glanced at me. “What do you mean?”

  “Blizz wouldn’t let some random person come into her room and mess around, right?” I asked Cody. “She’d only let someone she trusted in. Like you, or your folks, or maybe—”

  “Josie,” Frank finished. “Good catch, bro!”

  “Thanks.” I was still watching Cody. His face sort of crumpled. “Cody? What’s wrong?”

  Cody glanced down the hall as the honeymooners wandered into view. “Can we go somewhere private to talk?” he said. “Chet’s told me a few things about you guys, and with all your questions . . . well, there’s something you probably need to know.”

  Okay, so it sounded like he was on to us. But what did he need to tell us? Did he know more about Josie than he’d let on so far? Or was there someone else he wanted to talk about—maybe Rick, or the chef, or someone we hadn’t even thought of yet?

  “Sure, let’s go talk,” Frank said.

  “Let’s not make it your room, though, Cody,” I added. “I’m still warming up from playing in the snow.” At his confused look, I shook my head. “Never mind. Let’s go to the infirmary—we should check on Chet anyway. And if you’ve got something important to say, he will want to hear it.”

  Chet was sitting on a cot looking groggy when we walked in. Nobody else was in the infirmary, a tiny, sterile-white room tucked in behind the office.

  “Hi,” Chet mumbled, sounding as if he was talking through a mouthful of cotton. No wonder—the lower half of his face was swollen to twice its usual size. He tried to smile when Blizz walked over and licked his hand, though he was only semi-successful.

  “How are you feeling?” Frank asked.

  Chet just shrugged. “Been better.” He eyed Cody. “What’s with you, dude? You look kind of weird.”

  “I have a confession to make,” Cody blurted out. “But you guys have to promise not to tell anyone.”

  Chet looked confused. Frank and I traded a look. “Just tell us, Cody,” Frank said.

  Cody took a deep breath. “Josie and I—we—um, we’re sort of . . . a couple.”

  I stared at him. Whatever I’d been expecting him to say, that wasn’t it. “A couple?” I said. “Like, a couple couple?”

  “We’ve been together for about six months now,” Cody said. “But we don’t want my parents to find out—we don’t think they’d approve.”

  “Why not?” Frank asked. “Josie seems . . . nice.”

  Yeah, nice and crazy, I thought. But I didn’t say it out loud.

  Cody shrugged. “They just wouldn’t,” he said. “Especially now. It’s killing me to see her taking the fall for all the stuff that’s been going on around here. Especially since I know she’s just trying to protect me.”

  “Protect you?” Frank said sharply. “What do you mean? Why would she need to protect you?”

  Cody sighed and rubbed his face, not quite meeting anyone’s gaze. “Because I removed that closed sign from the ski slope the other day,” he confessed.

  I gasped. This guy was full of surprises!

  “You did that?” I cried. “Why?”

  Cody rubbed Blizz on the head. “I was trying to set up a little rescue scene,” he admitted. “It seems stupid now, but it made sense at the time. I figured some beginner would go down the slope and get in trouble on the ice. Then Blizz and I could track him there, be the big heroes, maybe get some free publicity for the lodge. . . .” He shrugged. “People love any kind of news story with an animal in it, right?”

  “Wow.” I was having trouble taking this in. Cody had been right there when Frank had noticed the missing sign. If I hadn’t jumped in, Stanley would have been his “rescue” story!

  “The trouble is,” Cody continued, “when I told Josie about my plan, she was totally freaked out—thought it was too dangerous. I tried to explain that the ice patch wasn’t that bad, so it was seriously unlikely anyone could actually get injured, but she still acted like I was some kind of lunatic for wanting to try it.” He bit his lip, shooting us a sidelong glance. “But I had to try something. Mom and Dad have actually started to talk about trying to sell the lodge if business doesn’t pick up soon.”

  He sounded miserable. Chet’s eyes were wide. “Dude!” he said.

  “So what about the other stuff that’s happened?” Frank sounded disapproving. “The locked door, the icy stairs, the generator, the glass in the waffle—were those more publicity stunts?”

  “No!” Cody said immediately. “I’d never do anything like that. I didn’t want anyone actually getting hurt.” He looked miserable. “But try to tell Josie that! I keep telling her I don’t know anything about those incidents, but she doesn’t believe me. That’s why she confessed—she’s trying to protect me.”

  “So you didn’t do any of the other bad stuff around here?” I asked.

  “No. Well, except for messing up Josie’s room—I did that.” He shrugged. “I was trying to, you know—”

  “Un-frame her for the crimes?” I suggested.

  Cody nodded. “Pretty much.”

  “So you didn’t do anything except remove that sign and trash Josie’s room,” Frank said. “And Josie didn’t do anything at all—”

  “Except open my windows earlier,” Cody put in. “She was trying to make extra sure that nobody would suspect me of anything. Even though she thinks I’m a monster who’s out to kill half our guests.” He grimaced, somehow managing to look both annoyed and heartbroken at the same time.

  “Wait,” I said. “So when Frank saw you two arguing in the stairwell earlier . . .”

  “You saw that?” Cody shot a surprised look at Frank, then shrugged. “Yeah, that was when she accused me of putting glass in the food. I can’t believe she thinks I’d do something like that!”

  I glanced at Frank and Chet. Frank looked thoughtful. Chet looked shocked and a little confused.

  We spent a few more minutes questioning Cody.
But I was pretty convinced that he was telling the truth, and I could tell Frank was too. Cody’s confession also explained why Josie was so concerned about keeping the lodge in business. It wasn’t just her job she was worried about—it was her boyfriend and his family.

  Leaving Cody talking to Chet, we wandered out of the infirmary and down the hall. “Looks like we’re back at square one,” I said.

  “Yeah. Guess we’d better look into some of the other suspects,” Frank said. “Look—there’s one of them now.”

  I followed his gaze. Rick was hurrying past at the end of the hall.

  We took off after him, tailing him across the lobby and down the hall on the far side. When he disappeared outside through the side doors, Frank and I traded a look.

  “You stay here—I’ll go after him,” I said. “I’m already soaked through from my last trip out into the snow. No sense both of us getting frostbite.”

  Not waiting for a response, I dove out into the waning storm. The wind was still whipping the drifts around, but the snow had almost stopped.

  Rick was a dozen yards ahead, rounding the corner of the ski shack. If I wasn’t mistaken, the generator shed was that way. Was he going out to check on it—or to tamper with it again?

  I broke into a run, not wanting to lose sight of him. As I rounded the corner, I spotted Rick just ahead. He paused and bent down to poke at something on the ground by his feet, muttering something that I couldn’t make out due to the wind.

  WHOOSH!

  I gasped and jumped back as a huge pile of snow slid off the roof of the ski shack, completely burying Rick!

  GUILTY

  15

  FRANK

  I WAS LEANING AGAINST THE door, thinking about the case and wondering if it was time to give up, when I heard a shout from outside.

  “Joe?” I murmured, shoving the door open.

  “Frank!” Joe’s voice came again, sounding frantic. “Help! Avalanche!”

  Avalanche? That didn’t make much sense, but I didn’t hesitate. Diving out into the cold, I followed the sound of my brother’s voice.

  I rounded the corner to find Joe digging wildly in a huge pile of snow. “Rick’s under here!” he cried. “We have to get him out!”