The Alpine Menace Read Online Free PDF Page B

cobwebs. “Three weeks ago tonight. I remember because it was a Friday and I was supposed to go salsa dancing, but my allergies were acting up. They always do this time of year. Pollen and trees and all that.”
    “Yes,” Vida said in a sympathetic tone, “spring is such a difficult season for people with allergies. Was it very late? Did it wake you up?”
    Maybeth shook her head. “It was around nine. I forget what I was watching on TV.
Nash Bridges
comes on atten, and it was too soon for that. Don Johnson's a hunk, don't you think?” The question was aimed at me.
    “Yes,” I said, though I hadn't seen the actor since his days on
Miami Vice
. For my lonely Friday nights, I'd preferred
Homicide
, which seemed appropriate under the circumstances. “Was there a lot of screaming?”
    “Yelling, mostly,” Carol replied, making a face as she tried to apply a third nail. “Ronnie was still yelling when he slammed the door.”
    Vida's eyes slid in my direction. “Really,” she breathed. “Most interesting. Did you tell the police that?”
    Maybeth looked up. “What?”
    “That this Ronnie was still yelling?”
    “I suppose.” Maybeth shrugged. “Hey, you want a beer or something?”
    This time Vida's shudder was real. “Heavens, no! We're fine. As I mentioned, we're going to supper. Tell me, Maybeth, why do you think this Ronnie and Carol stayed together if they didn't get along?”
    Maybeth examined her new nail. “Don't ask me. Carol was a real bitch.”
    “You weren't friends, I gather?” Vida said.
    “Not exactly.” Maybeth's mouth puckered up. “We used to hang together, way back. When she first moved in, she seemed okay. Then—” She stopped and stared at us. “Hey—how come you're asking all these questions about Ronnie and Carol and me? What's that got to do with renting Carol's apartment?”
    Vida placed a hand at her bosom and laughed merrily, a very uncharacteristic sound. “Do forgive an old lady her rampant curiosity. People are so interesting, don't you think? Especially when one of them gets murdered.”
    The explanation didn't quite erase Maybeth's skepticism. “I probably shouldn't be blabbing all this. I mean, I don't know you two, do I?”
    “No, you don't,” Vida agreed, standing up. “But perhaps you soon will.” With a Cheshire cat smile, she headed for the door.
    Naturally, I trailed along behind her, feeling like a small dinghy behind a large yacht.
    “Very unreliable,” Vida remarked as we headed for the parking lot. “Why would Ronnie still be yelling when he left if Carol was already dead?”
    “Good point,” I replied. “How long do you intend that we should keep up this farce that I'm looking for an apartment?”
    “As long as it works,” Vida replied, waiting for me to unlock the passenger door. “I'm glad I thought of it. Now you know.”
    “Know what?” I asked as we both got into the Lexus.
    “That Ronnie's innocent.” Vida looked very smug. “Isn't that what we came for?”

V IDA CONFESSED THAT she hadn't been to the Woodland Park Zoo since she was eight.
    “Monkey Island,” she said as we finished our meal at Val's just two blocks from the zoo. “That was my favorite, such busy little creatures, so like us. As a child, I found them fascinating, rather like watching neighbors through a window.” Vida smiled in reminiscence; I smiled at Vida's early proclivity for voyeurism. “Shortly before the war,” she continued, “we drove to Seattle to see the floating bridge over Lake Washington. My father refused to believe it wouldn't fall down. Of course, eventually it did.”
    “They all do—eventually,” I said, thinking of the Hood Canal floating bridge between the Kitsap and Olympic peninsulas that had collapsed twice.
    “I should think so,” Vida said, then grew pensive. “It's not yet eight o'clock. There's no point in wasting time. Who's next on your list?”
    “I don't have a list,” I admitted.
    Vida scowled. “Really, Emma, that's