Read Online A Cold White Sun: A Constable Molly Smith Mystery (Constable Molly Smith Series) by Vicki Delany - Free Book Online
Authors: Vicki Delany
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d&d to killing Mom.”
“Just putting it out there.”
“Do any of his friends have the resources or contacts to obtain a weapon of the sort was used?”
“Not that I’m aware of. But who knows what people have hidden in their basements.”
“A shot like that one,” Gavin said, “wouldn’t have been exceptionally difficult, but the shooter had to have some skill with firearms. Two shots. The first a direct hit.”
“When do you expect to hear from ballistics?” Winters asked, rubbing his thumb across the face of his watch.
“It’ll be a week at least. Ten days maybe. Same with getting DNA off the cigarette butt, if there is any.”
“If it was a hit by mistake, it’ll be a tough one,” Winters said. “What do we do on any investigation? We start with the victim. Does she have enemies? Why would someone, anyone, want her dead? Family usually. A friend sometimes. A lover, a person with a grudge. If it was a mistake, if it had nothing to do with Cathy Lindsay? All our normal line of questioning will be a waste.”
“There’s one possibility that’s worse,” Townshend said.
“What’s that?”
“Random. No motive. He popped the first person to walk into his sights. Because he could.”
***
“Excuse me, can I speak to you for a moment?” Molly Smith asked the young couple strolling along the hiking trail above town. They stopped and gave her nervous smiles.
She’d been standing here since six a.m. when it was still dark. Told to talk to anyone who walked by. Find out if they came here regularly, and if they did, get their names and numbers so the detectives could ask them about people who were in the habit of hiking here at this time of day.
So far, there hadn’t been many to ask.
Today was Sunday. Not too cold, the air crisp and fresh, new snow underfoot. The trail should be as busy as it ever got.
But this couple was the first to come by in a long time.
Word, obviously, had spread. People were keeping away from the path, in case someone was still out there. With a rifle scope trained on their backs. Gavin and Townshend had pronounced themselves finished, the body had been removed, the tent dismantled. The clearing where Norman led them remained closed off.
Kids had been sneaking through the woods earlier, teenage boys, searching for blood spatter in the snow. Smith had ordered them to get lost.
“It’s about that shooting yesterday, right?” the woman tittered. “We heard about it at the hotel. They said it’s safe to come up. Is it?”
“You don’t live around here?”
“We’re from Toronto. Here to ski for a week. Great conditions, fabulous snow. Do you ski, Officer?”
“Oh yeah. If you’re looking for…” She snapped herself back to the job at hand. Nothing Molly Smith would rather talk about than skiing. She cleared her throat. “I mean, were you here yesterday?”
“The bus picked us up outside the hotel at eight. We got back after dark. Sorry. This morning we decided to have a bit of a lie-in, room-service breakfast, a hike, and go shopping later.”
“Thanks,” Smith said. “Hope you enjoy Trafalgar. Oh, and the best view on the mountain is at the top of the run called Blond Ambition.”
They thanked her, linked gloved hands, and strolled on. The man said something and the woman laughed. As they rounded the bend, a single woman passed them, warmly dressed with a woolen cap pulled over her forehead and a scarf wrapped around her mouth.
In this weather, you couldn’t tell a hiker from a bank robber.
“Excuse me,” Smith said, “Can I speak to you for a moment?”
“You can speak to me all you want, Molly.” Constable Dawn Solway pushed her hat back.
“Oh, it’s you. What are you doing up here? I thought Francesca was visiting. Did you have a fight or something?”
“No, we did not have a fight. But we might well if our plans for this evening get screwed up. I got called in. I’m undercover .”
“What?”
“I suppose one could get more onerous duties on a pleasant
“Just putting it out there.”
“Do any of his friends have the resources or contacts to obtain a weapon of the sort was used?”
“Not that I’m aware of. But who knows what people have hidden in their basements.”
“A shot like that one,” Gavin said, “wouldn’t have been exceptionally difficult, but the shooter had to have some skill with firearms. Two shots. The first a direct hit.”
“When do you expect to hear from ballistics?” Winters asked, rubbing his thumb across the face of his watch.
“It’ll be a week at least. Ten days maybe. Same with getting DNA off the cigarette butt, if there is any.”
“If it was a hit by mistake, it’ll be a tough one,” Winters said. “What do we do on any investigation? We start with the victim. Does she have enemies? Why would someone, anyone, want her dead? Family usually. A friend sometimes. A lover, a person with a grudge. If it was a mistake, if it had nothing to do with Cathy Lindsay? All our normal line of questioning will be a waste.”
“There’s one possibility that’s worse,” Townshend said.
“What’s that?”
“Random. No motive. He popped the first person to walk into his sights. Because he could.”
***
“Excuse me, can I speak to you for a moment?” Molly Smith asked the young couple strolling along the hiking trail above town. They stopped and gave her nervous smiles.
She’d been standing here since six a.m. when it was still dark. Told to talk to anyone who walked by. Find out if they came here regularly, and if they did, get their names and numbers so the detectives could ask them about people who were in the habit of hiking here at this time of day.
So far, there hadn’t been many to ask.
Today was Sunday. Not too cold, the air crisp and fresh, new snow underfoot. The trail should be as busy as it ever got.
But this couple was the first to come by in a long time.
Word, obviously, had spread. People were keeping away from the path, in case someone was still out there. With a rifle scope trained on their backs. Gavin and Townshend had pronounced themselves finished, the body had been removed, the tent dismantled. The clearing where Norman led them remained closed off.
Kids had been sneaking through the woods earlier, teenage boys, searching for blood spatter in the snow. Smith had ordered them to get lost.
“It’s about that shooting yesterday, right?” the woman tittered. “We heard about it at the hotel. They said it’s safe to come up. Is it?”
“You don’t live around here?”
“We’re from Toronto. Here to ski for a week. Great conditions, fabulous snow. Do you ski, Officer?”
“Oh yeah. If you’re looking for…” She snapped herself back to the job at hand. Nothing Molly Smith would rather talk about than skiing. She cleared her throat. “I mean, were you here yesterday?”
“The bus picked us up outside the hotel at eight. We got back after dark. Sorry. This morning we decided to have a bit of a lie-in, room-service breakfast, a hike, and go shopping later.”
“Thanks,” Smith said. “Hope you enjoy Trafalgar. Oh, and the best view on the mountain is at the top of the run called Blond Ambition.”
They thanked her, linked gloved hands, and strolled on. The man said something and the woman laughed. As they rounded the bend, a single woman passed them, warmly dressed with a woolen cap pulled over her forehead and a scarf wrapped around her mouth.
In this weather, you couldn’t tell a hiker from a bank robber.
“Excuse me,” Smith said, “Can I speak to you for a moment?”
“You can speak to me all you want, Molly.” Constable Dawn Solway pushed her hat back.
“Oh, it’s you. What are you doing up here? I thought Francesca was visiting. Did you have a fight or something?”
“No, we did not have a fight. But we might well if our plans for this evening get screwed up. I got called in. I’m undercover .”
“What?”
“I suppose one could get more onerous duties on a pleasant
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