On Thin Icing by Ellie Alexander

storage room. “Wow, she’s wound up,” I said to Sterling.
    “That’s an understatement.” He glanced at the fire. “I thought she was going to impale me with the poker.”
    “I’m going to call Thomas while you take care of the marina. If help isn’t going to get here for a while, I want to see if there’s anything else we should do.”
    “Good idea.” Sterling tugged on his hoodie. “When did Tony leave last night?”
    “I wasn’t paying close attention to time—maybe around ten-thirty or eleven.”
    “And you found his body when?”
    “A little after five.”
    “So there are about six hours between when he was last seen alive and when we know he was dead. That seems like a pretty tight window, don’t you think?”
    I grabbed the coffee that Sterling had given me earlier and took a sip. It had gone cold, but I didn’t care. “I’ll ask Thomas about that, too. Maybe we should write this down while it’s fresh in our heads?”
    “Isn’t that why the police always question people right away while their memories are fresh?” He laughed. “Or is that just on TV?”
    “No, I think that’s true.” I could hear Mercury’s footsteps returning. “Keep an eye on her,” I whispered. “I’m not sure I trust her.”
    “Why do you think I offered to go?” Sterling raised an eyebrow.
    “Thanks,” I mouthed as Mercury came toward us with a roll of twine tucked under her arm.
    “Will this work?” She held up the bundle of string.
    “We’ll make it work,” Sterling replied.
    “I’m going to continue the breakfast prep,” I said. “Murder or no murder, everyone needs to eat.”
    “I wish you wouldn’t call it murder,” Mercury said. “It sounds so terrible.”
    “It is terrible.” I stared at the phone on the wall. Why wasn’t the operator calling me back?
    She tossed the twine at Sterling. “I know. I guess I never thought something like this would happen here.”
    Sterling started toward the front door. “Murder can happen anywhere.”
    He was right.

 
    Chapter Eleven
    I glanced at the clock on the wall. It was almost six-thirty. Where had the time gone? I had a ton of work to do before Lance and his guests descended on the dining hall. But first I had to check in with Thomas. Since I didn’t know his number, I called Torte. Mom could track him down.
    Andy answered on the first ring. “Torte, how can I help you?”
    “Andy, it’s Jules.”
    “Hey boss, how’s the lodge? It’s dumping snow down here. I can’t imagine how much you must be getting up there.”
    “Yeah, it’s coming down pretty hard. Is Mom around?”
    “Sure, let me grab her. Hey, before I do, I wanted to ask—do I get a prize or something?”
    “A prize?”
    “Yeah, for making it snow?”
    “What?”
    “Remember how I told you that my snowflake latte was a gift to the snow gods? It worked! You mom is letting me take off early to go hit this fresh powder.”
    I laughed. “Good job. I’ll be sure to bring you back something special.” Yeah, like a dead body.
    Mom’s voice was full of energy. “Good morning, honey, I didn’t expect to hear from you. How’s everything going? It’s a winter wonderland here. There’s probably a good two inches on the ground and I’m watching fat flakes fall outside the window right now. I have a feeling the whole town is going to be out playing in it soon. I have Stephanie making extra cookies and muffins, and Andy has all of our extra carafes filled with his signature hot chocolate.”
    “That’s great, Mom.” I hated having to tell her my news and ruin her snow day. I paused and thought about how to frame it.
    “Juliet, I’m sorry.” She lowered her voice. “I know that you’re probably upset.”
    How did she know?
    “I am. I’m not sure what to do, so I was hoping maybe you could give me Thomas’s number.”
    She sounded surprised. “Thomas? What does Thomas have to do with this?”
    “He’s a detective. He’ll know what to do.”
    “Why do you