Alpine For You Part 20

"My suitcase!" There it was. Sitting on its little wheels beside him. My twenty-six-inch tapestried pullman. I suppressed the urge to scooch down and hug it. "You found my suitcase! This is wonderful! Where was it?"

He wheeled it into the room. "Apparently, a member of our housekeeping staff noticed a rend in the material when it was sitting outside your room, so she took it to luggage repair to have it mended. We have our own mender in house."

"So it was here all the time?"

"In the bas.e.m.e.nt."

"It was in the bas.e.m.e.nt, and you couldn't find it?" Incredulity in my voice.

"You should have told us there was a rend in the material, Madame."

"I didn't know know there was a rend in the material." there was a rend in the material."

"Yes, but if you had noticed, that would have clued us to check the repair room rather than the storage room and lost and found."

"I didn't know you had had a repair room." a repair room."

"Every hotel in Switzerland has a repair room, Madame. It's rather a necessity considering what the airlines do to luggage these days." He broke into a smile that stretched ear to ear. "The Grand Palais prides itself on keeping their guests' luggage in perfect repair. It's hotel policy."

I thought about the pink teddy bear sweatshirt. The Sunday sweatshirt with lace. The dead muskie sweatshirt. My words squirted out of my mouth between clenched teeth. "Does the hotel have a policy about guests being forced to run around without their clothes...WHILE YOU REPAIR A MICROSCOPIC TEAR IN THEIR LUGGAGE?"

"As far as I know, Madame, the hotel has no policy concerning nudity."

I was busy emptying my suitcase when Nana came out of the bathroom a few minutes later.

"Well, would you look at that," she marveled. "Your suitcase is back. Where'd they find it?"

"In the bas.e.m.e.nt being mended."

"Did it need mendin'?"

"Someone seemed to think it did." seemed to think it did."

Nana shrugged. "They must have better eye care here than we do back home."

By the time we hung up the rest of my clothes and put away my toiletries, the Jacuzzi was full and the jets were percolating. Nana checked her watch. "Supper's in fifteen minutes, Emily. We gotta hurry."

"You go on without me," I insisted. "I plan on soaking until my skin wrinkles like a prune. But I'll meet you in the lobby around seven for the group meeting." I failed to mention that my tooth was aching so badly, I probably wouldn't be able to eat anyway.

I set my Swiss Army knife on the side of the bathtub so I could watch the time, then sank down into the bubbling water to warm my frigid bones. I tried to let my mind drift toward happy thoughts, but d.i.c.k's sudden death kept intruding. I wondered how Lucille was taking the news. It was sad her last words to him had been so harsh. She'd have to live with that for the rest of her life, which was a good lesson for me. No matter how angry you are, some things are better left unsaid, because once the words are spoken, there's no taking them back.

d.i.c.k's death reminded me so much of Shirley Angowski's. Shirley could have either fallen accidentally or been pushed. d.i.c.k could have either died from natural causes or been poisoned. At least, that was my take on it. Neither Wally nor Nana had seemed surprised by d.i.c.k's death, so maybe I was out in left field about my poison theory. But it had happened to Andy. Why not d.i.c.k? Except, who would want to kill d.i.c.k? He wasn't sleeping around. Other than being a little loud and boisterous, he wasn't a bad sort. What could be the motivation?

I stared at the ceiling, completely confused. Here I'd thought d.i.c.k was part of the death squad to get me and he ends up dead himself. Boy, I'd called that one wrong. Maybe that would teach me not to be so suspicious. But that still left a big question unanswered. What had had Helen and Grace been discussing yesterday in Spengler's dressing room if not how to eliminate me? Helen and Grace been discussing yesterday in Spengler's dressing room if not how to eliminate me?

I put it out of my mind as I felt my bones start to thaw. In fact, I put my brain in neutral and concentrated on the positive forces that were making inroads in my life. I had my suitcase back. I was staying in the room of my dreams. Etienne wanted to see me naked. Maybe I'd rounded a bend in the road of life and my future was on the upswing.

I was humming the second verse of "She'll be Comin' 'Round the Mountain When She Comes" when I heard the knock on the door.

I decided to ignore it.

It sounded again, loud and persistent.

I checked my knife. Six-thirty. Maybe it was housekeeping to turn down the covers and leave the mint on the pillow. Sigh. I supposed it was time to dry off and get ready for the meeting anyway. "Just a minute!" I yelled.

I hopped out of the tub, slid into the thirsty terry cloth bathrobe that was hanging on the door, and scurried into the bedroom. "Who is it?" I called as I crossed the floor.

"It's the police, Madame. Please open the door."

Chapter 13.

The police?

My knees liquefied. So much for life taking an upswing. Wait until I saw that turncoat Wally again. Not going to drag my name into the investigation, was he? He set me up! He stuck me with the dead body all the way home, and now he was going to feed me to the police. My list of possible offenses flashed before my eyes in big neon letters: OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE. PERJURY. FLEEING THE SCENE OF A CRIME. LITTERING. I was hoping they might overlook the littering charge though since I hadn't intended intended to leave my bag of postcards behind on the spa bench. to leave my bag of postcards behind on the spa bench.

But wait a minute. The police? Maybe it was Etienne.

I raced to the door and glued my eye to the peephole. Not Etienne. But he was wearing a police uniform, so it looked pretty official. Unh-oh. I opened the door.

"Ms. Andrew? Ms. Emily Andrew?"

"Yes." He was carrying a small pewter vase that he thrust at me. Unprepared for the handoff, I bobbled it for a moment before cradling it like a football in the crook of my elbow. "What's this?" I asked.

"Inspector Miceli instructed me to deliver this to you."

A gift? For me? From Etienne? I took back all the spiteful thoughts I'd just had about Wally. "Why, it's beautiful," I said, smoothing my fingertips over the brushed satin sheen of its deep curves. Oh yes, life was definitely looking up. I imagined setting this on the mantel of our first house and filling it with tulips. "Is he at work? I should call him and thank him for it."

"I'm afraid you won't catch him at the station this evening. He's at the Forensics Lab." He removed a paper from his breast pocket. "You'll need this certificate to expedite the parcel through Customs."

I blushed at Etienne's extravagance. The vase was so expensive, it needed separate papers. "Tell him he shouldn't have."

"It's a requirement, Madame. All bodily remains pa.s.sing through Customs need to be doc.u.mented."

My hand froze on the vase. "Excuse me?"

He regarded the paper. "According to the doc.u.mentation, the urn bears the remains of Mr. Andrew Simon, late of Windsor City, Iowa."

I plucked it from the crook of my elbow and held it at arm's length away from my body. "THIS IS ANDY?"

"Yes, Madame. What's left of him."

"What happened to the idea of a coffin? What happened to the idea about one of his former wives flying over here to escort the body back?"

The officer shrugged. "He was cremated, Madame, and Inspector Miceli indicated you would be the one to take responsibility for the urn. You are are the escort for the tour group, aren't you?" He looked suddenly concerned. "Should I tell the Inspector you'd prefer to pa.s.s the responsibility on to someone else?" the escort for the tour group, aren't you?" He looked suddenly concerned. "Should I tell the Inspector you'd prefer to pa.s.s the responsibility on to someone else?"

Oh, sure. That would be a great way to impress Etienne. Shirk my responsibility. Be uncooperative. Whine. Smart people hid those parts of their personalities until after after the wedding vows were spoken. "I'll do it," I said reluctantly, "it's just that, it comes as a surprise." the wedding vows were spoken. "I'll do it," I said reluctantly, "it's just that, it comes as a surprise."

"Death always comes as a surprise, Madame, even when you're expecting it."

I turned back into the room and eyed the heap of packages I was supposed to stuff into Andy's coffin on the trip home. I held the urn up to gauge its measurements.

By my calculations, it was going to be a tight fit.

At seven o'clock I walked into the lobby of the hotel to find the entire tour group huddled around coffee tables and sitting shoulder to shoulder on the settees and sofas. Lucille Ra.s.smuson was absent, as would be expected, but the other two d.i.c.ks and their wives were there, which indicated to me that they hadn't heard the news about d.i.c.k Ra.s.smuson's death yet. I waved to Nana, then sauntered over to one of the lobby's marble columns to use it as a backrest.

"Looks like we're all here," announced Wally. "After the meeting you can purchase the group photo we had taken at the Lion Monument in the bar area."

"How much?" asked d.i.c.k Teig.

"Fourteen American dollars."

"That's too much," replied d.i.c.k.

"Then don't buy the d.a.m.n thing!" snapped Wally.

I suspected Wally had been spending a little too much time around Sonya.

"You don't have to get crabby about it," d.i.c.k shot back.

"We could buy one copy and have it reproduced in the Pills Etcetera photo machine back home," offered Jane.

"That would only cost four ninety-five per photo, not including tax."

Wally fanned his hands through his hair. "Look, I'm sorry. It's been a stressful day, and that's part of the reason I called this meeting. I have some tragic news to report to you, people. d.i.c.k Ra.s.smuson appears to have suffered a ma.s.sive heart attack on the way back to Lucerne today. I'm sorry to have to tell you that he has pa.s.sed away."

A collective gasp. Hands flying to mouths. Then silence as the news sank in.

"Lucille is with the authorities at the moment. She's been sedated and will probably need someone to stay with her tonight if any of you would like to volunteer."

Helen and Grace allowed tears to stream unashamedly down their cheeks. George Farkas hung his head. Jane tented her hands over her face. d.i.c.k Teig and d.i.c.k Stolee sat in stunned silence, probably realizing there were only two of them now. It had to be hard to lose a d.i.c.k. Bernice sat quietly watching how everyone else was reacting.

Lars Bakke stood up. "I'm only speaking for myself, but I think this tour has been cursed from the beginning. The weather's been foul. The food's been inedible. Three people have died." He paused for effect. "I don't know about anyone else, but I say we get the h.e.l.l out of here before anyone else else dies. I say we get on the first plane heading home and cut our losses while we still can!" dies. I say we get on the first plane heading home and cut our losses while we still can!"

"Hear, hear!" yelled Solvay.

Nods of approval. Whispers. Mumblings.

"You want to go home?" asked Wally to the group in general.

Home? Wait a minute! I I didn't want to go home. I just got my clothes back. I had the good room. The good view. At least, I'd have the good view when the fog cleared. I had another week with Etienne! I couldn't leave. He hadn't even seen me naked yet. didn't want to go home. I just got my clothes back. I had the good room. The good view. At least, I'd have the good view when the fog cleared. I had another week with Etienne! I couldn't leave. He hadn't even seen me naked yet.

"Okay, let's have a show of hands," said Wally. "How many of you are ready to cancel the rest of the tour and head home?"

Hands flew up all over the room. No! This couldn't be happening. This was a trip of a lifetime! How could they be throwing it all away?

"I guess I don't need to ask how many opposed."

I raised my hand. Wally looked in my direction. "One opposed," he said. "You're way outnumbered, Emily."

"Things could start to get better," I reasoned. "The food isn't that that bad. The fog could lift. And since people die in threes, we've already met our quota." bad. The fog could lift. And since people die in threes, we've already met our quota."

"You can say that because you're young," shouted Bernice. "You're not worried about dying. You probably don't even know what your cholesterol level is."

"Yeah," said George Farkas. "Three gone already. What's to say we won't start on another another set of three? I agree with Lars. I say we head out to the airport in the morning and camp out until they find a plane to take us home." set of three? I agree with Lars. I say we head out to the airport in the morning and camp out until they find a plane to take us home."

More nods of approval. "Is that what everyone wants to do?" asked Wally.

"You bet it is," barked Lars.

"Get us out of here," agreed Bernice.

Since I was the lone dissenter, it seemed futile to protest the decision. Majority rules. We were going home, and there was nothing I could do about it. I couldn't even stay behind on my own because I was the freaking escort. I was the freaking escort.

Wally quieted everyone down. "I'll still be continuing the tour for the people from Rhode Island, but I'll call the airport right away to see what I can arrange for flights for the rest of you. If there's anything available, you'll have to be prepared to have suitcases outside your doors at five o'clock tomorrow morning and be ready to leave the hotel by seven."

I'd just unpacked my suitcase and now he wanted me to re re pack it before I went to bed tonight. Typical. pack it before I went to bed tonight. Typical.

"I'll call each of you tonight to let you know the plan, so please don't stray far from your rooms. And don't forget about the photos in the bar."

Nana walked over to me as the group broke up. "Are you disappointed we're leavin'?"

I nodded. "I didn't even get to send any postcards."

d.i.c.k Teig walked past us in a daze. Helen touched my arm on her way by. "When d.i.c.k and Lucille didn't show up at dinner, we called their room, but there was no answer. We thought they were probably still miffed at each other and not in the mood to socialize." She shook her head. "We had no idea."

"I wasn't at dinner either," I said, wondering why they hadn't bothered to call me.

"You weren't at dinner?" Helen said, looking perplexed. "Isn't that odd? I guess I never noticed."

"I'm gonna have a peek at that group picture at the Lion Monument," Nana interrupted, taking a step toward me.

"OUCH!" wailed Helen.

Nana looked perplexed. "My goodness, was that your foot, Helen? I'm sorry. I guess I didn't notice you standin' there."

I rolled my eyes at Nana's need to even the score.

"You wanna come with me, Emily?" Nana asked.

If this was the group photo where I was bending over for one shot and had my mouth hanging open for the other, I'd rather have a root ca.n.a.l. "I don't think so. I need to head upstairs. I have some unfinished business to take care of."

Nana understood unfinished business. She'd just taken care of hers.