Snowmen are Murder - Part #3

Cozy Mystery

Recap: Paisley & Ellie check into their room at the Italian ski resort… and settle in. Kinda feels like the calm before the storm.

This book is the 5th in the cozy mystery series, which means four other mysteries with Paisley & Ellie are out! You can find them on Amazon. They are fun, fast short reads. I write them under my pen name, Ann Audree. You can read about the series ON MY WEBSITE.

If you’re new Snowmen are Murder, start at Part #1.

Fit Girls: Snowmen are Murder - Part #3

“That looks deadly!”

Ellie pointed through the bedroom window at a black diamond ski slope. “And I can’t wait to get up there!”

Lugging a suitcase onto a rack, Paisley didn’t take the bait. “I know you feel like things are off to a rocky start, but I appreciate you trying to find the upside.”

“I came here to ski,” Ellie stated. “With or without things going horribly wrong, I’m skiing.”

Paisley briefly shut her gray eyes, opening them and willing herself to remain calm. “But nothing’s wrong. You do realize that.”

“Ziggy?”

The single word held so much meaning. “Sure,” Paisley admitted, “he said some things that didn’t make sense. But they will. He doesn’t know what’s going on.”

“Or… maybe we don’t.”

“We’re attending an evening reception to meet the guests, and tomorrow, we’ll teach them how not to blow out a muscle skiing down those steep runs.” Paisley pointed toward the window. “That’s all the danger coming our way.”

“Ziggy used the language barrier to gloss over telling us anything about that Ricci dude.” Ellie put her hands on her hips, practically daring Paisley to contradict her. “And something about him is odd. Too happy? Is that a thing?”

Not wanting a fight, Paisley agreed. “He was guarded, and that’s disconcerting. If it really makes you uncomfortable, we can leave.”

Ellie threw up her arms. “Don’t overreact!”

“Aren’t you?”

“No, I’m just calling it for what it is.” Ellie ignored her suitcase, preferring the view out the window. They had two, but the drapes were closed on the other one. “Can you open those?” She tilted her chin at the second window.

Paisley already had her suitcase unzipped and was hanging up her clothes. She didn’t want to stop. Having everything in its proper place made a hotel room feel like home. “I’m changing for the party, but nothing too fancy, right? No one dresses up at a ski resort.”

“It seems darker,” Ellie noted, caring about nothing but what was outside the window. She studied the sky over the ski slope. “Dark clouds moving in, maybe? Did you check the weather? If it dumps overnight, we could have powder in the morning.” And suddenly, all seemed right in Ellie’s world.

The thought of deep powder snow lit up her eyes. Of course, most skiers wanted to be the first to carve up the hills with fresh ski tracks—or snowboarding grooves, which would be Ellie’s first choice. She excelled at both.

Paisley grabbed a feather pillow off the bed and tossed it at Ellie’s head. It hit her ear.

“Hey!” Ellie gasped. “What did I do?”

“You are denying me fashion advice, and you’ve got me worrying about what’s going on,” Paisley complained. It wasn’t like her to complain. “Does it only take the promise of a snowstorm to distract you from the tiny red flags you’ve noticed?”

“My job is done,” Ellie smiled. “You worry. I’ll ski.”

Paisley stopped unpacking. “I don’t need to worry. I’m sure it will make more sense. Soon. And if something is wrong, I’ll fix it.”

“I know you will,” Ellie admitted. “Now, check that other window. I think clouds are moving in. Is that West?”

Paisley rolled her eyes and went to the window. It stretched from the floor to the ceiling. She threw open the heavy brocade curtains. “Oh!” she shouted, startled but quickly laughed.

Just outside the window was a snowman. He stood about 4 feet tall with rocks for eyes and bits of twig, creating a lopsided grin. It slanted downward on one side, almost in disapproval.

“Well, hello there,” Paisley greeted him.

Ellie came over to see the Welcoming Committee of one. He’d been positioned right in front of the window. She peered out, seeing that the back side of their room was level with the ground outside. “The resort must be built into the mountain. The lower levels on this side won’t have much of a view.”

Positioned on the parallel ridge to the ski slope, the first level of the lodge opened to the road while the back dug into the mountain. Beginning on the third floor, the rooms had a clear view of the sweeping mountain range out the front, while the back was at ground level. It was a clear view both ways from the fourth floor and above.

“We’re on the first level that has a view out the front and a walkout on the back, which allowed someone to come right up to our window.” Paisley stepped back from the view with a shiver. “I don’t get it.”

“It’s just a snowman,” Ellie teased, happy for once to be the practical one. She went over to get a better look at Frosty. “Not like you found a clown peeking in our window.”

“True,” Paisley agreed, although she wasn’t afraid of anything man-made. “That’s not it.”

Ellie considered the source. “Maybe it’s an Italian tradition like pasta.” She thought it over, not seeming to convince herself. “Or maybe just a resort tradition.”

“Unlikely.” Paisley didn’t offer a reason.

“Then what makes this snowman so scary?” Ellie asked. “He looks kinda sad to me.”

Paisley nodded at the window. “No footprints.”

“Wouldn’t a snowman leave slide marks?” With another glance out the window, Ellie saw that the ground all around the snowman was pristine snow. Not a human footprint in sight. “Okay, that’s weird. Should be some footprints, but the weather’s bad. Wind could’ve swept them away.”

Planting her hands on the window, she leaned close to study the snow outside, noticing a buildup of light snow. It wasn’t fresh. Whoever placed the snowman at their window should have left prints. Ellie frowned, not sure what to think.

“The person that left the snowman,” Paisley said, making it very clear, “took great care to leave no footprints. That’s what disturbs me.”

Ellie turned away from the window.

“What?” Paisley asked. “Do you see something?”

“I remember something,” Ellie answered. “It was a story about a snowman. A creepy story.” Worry shaded her features, but then it cleared. “I forget how it goes, but it will come to me. Let’s get dressed. I hope we meet a resort full of fun people.”

Paisley nodded, agreeing with the suggestion. “Did you read something about a scary snowman?”

“In college, I think,” Ellie said. She finally went to her suitcase, opening it on the floor.

“You’re not going to keep that there, are you?” Paisley asked, sure she’d trip over it.

Ellie shoved the suitcase as much out of the way as possible, which wasn’t far. “The thing I remember about the creepy snowman story… the killer was the snowman.”

“Nice twist, but rather ridiculous.” Paisley held up a blue sweater that made Ellie pull a face, overriding it as an option for the cocktail party.

Ellie pointed at a lavender one with a snowflake pattern. “Sure, a killer snowman doesn’t sound realistic until someone dies.”

An eyebrow lifted, followed by a smirk. The girls fell on their beds, laughing.

---