The Grudge by Kathi Daley Page A

it.”
    “Were there any lift stoppages, manual or accidental?” Andi asked.
    “Yeah, right before the accident we had a disabled man wanting to ride the lift up. I had to stop the chairs for a minute or so while he loaded. Other than that it was a pretty quiet morning.”
    “Do you remember what this disabled man looked like?”
    “Middle-aged. Dark hair. Seemed to get around pretty well for someone in a wheelchair. If I didn’t know better I’d say the wheelchair thing was a scam, but I’m not sure why anyone would fake something like that.”
    “Did he ride the lift back down?” Andi wondered.
    “Not as far as I saw. Guess he could have skied. Saw something on the news about disabled folks skiing.”
    “Did it look like he had special skis?” Alyson asked.
    “No, they seemed like the normal type. Now that I think about it, the whole thing was kind of strange.”
    Andi looked at Alyson. She shrugged.
    “Did you notice anything odd about the man who rode in the chair that had been tampered with?” Alyson asked.
    Randy shrugged. “He looked like a regular skier. Seemed like a nice guy. He stopped to ask me about the resort and how I liked working here.”
    “Did you see anyone who was in line behind him load while he was talking to you?”
    “I guess three or four others might have.”
    “Any idea how the lift jammed?” Alyson asked.
    “None. It’s been running real smooth. Of course with the storm, some debris could have gotten into the gears. Something jams one of those gears and the whole thing comes to a grinding halt. Anyway, it was a real tragedy.”
    “It really was,” Andi agreed. “Oh, by the way, I’m helping HR out with some recordkeeping because they’re so backed up. They have you on record for using comp nights this week. Do you mind telling me who they were for?”
    “Some friend of Bret’s. He gave me a couple hundred dollars to let him use them. I had no plans to use them any time soon so I decided to take the cash.”
    “Okay, thanks. Have a nice evening.”
    Andi and Alyson filled the others in as they drove back to the house. Due to the late hour they decided to pick up a couple of pizzas on the way for dinner.
    “This pizza’s really good.” Trevor took a large bit of a slice from the cheesy pie. “We have a great pizza place at home, but this is almost as good.”
    “Can you believe it was only last week that we were at Pirates Pizza?” Mac mused. “It seems like we’ve been here for months rather than days.”
    “A lot has happened in the past three days.” Alyson picked a piece of pepperoni off the top of her slice and nibbled on the edge. “I think my brain is on overload. I’m sure there’s an answer to this whole thing, but there are so many things going through my mind that I can’t process anything.”
    “Okay, what do we know and what do we need to find out?” Trevor asked. “We went through this with the mayor’s murder and it really helped us get focused.”
    “That’s a good idea.” Mac walked over to the table and picked up a tablet of paper. “Last week when we were trying to put together a series of seemingly random events at the Christmas carnival,” she explained to Devon, Eli, and Andi, “we made three lists. What we knew, what we suspected but didn’t have proof of, and what we didn’t know but wanted to find out.”
    “Okay, I’m game.” Devon helped himself to a second slice of pizza. “Where do we start?”
    “Let’s start with what we know.” Mac sat poised with a pen and the pad.
    “We know we have four victims,” Andi started. “Mario, Bruce Long, Stacy King, and Todd Wallford.”
    “We know Mario was in the marines and was stationed in Afghanistan,” Eli said. “We suspect Bruce and Stacy were in the marines, although a ring and a bumper sticker don’t constitute proof, so I guess we should put that under things we suspect.”
    “We know Mario was injured in an explosion and we suspect it was deliberate,”