For A Few Murders More: An Addie Girard Mystery

By Judy Spoon Ertel

After a mysterious and frightening phone call from daughter Madison, Addie Girard rashly dashes off to Colorado with friends Lottie Frisham and Lacy Tindal to rescue Madison from…what? At fire-damaged Shadow Tree Mountain ski resort, they find Madison and a dead body…or did they? The malfunctioning resort is leading Maddie on a merry chase of activities…or is she leading them?

With a dark cloud of suspicion lowering over her daughter, Addie along with Lottie and Lacy must find a missing body and match wits with a stubborn sheriff while uncovering the resort staff’s most dangerous secrets. A mountain of mayhem and murky identities dog the Wanderwood threesome’s steps as they meet famous romance writer Tenatha Holmes…or who? Delaying their investigation could set up the resort…for a few murders more…

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: May 6, 2024
• ISBN: 9798385021604

Judy Spoon Ertel

Judy Spoon Ertel, world traveler and author extraordinaire, grew up in several towns (Chickasha, Duncan Altus) in Oklahoma. A former columnist and teacher in Central Texas, she is very familiar with life in small Texas towns like Wanderwood, Texas, the fictional setting for the Addie Girard Mysteries. Currently, she co-habs with her daughter Kate and their three cats in Central Oklahoma.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

The roof is tumbling down, Mom! my older daughter, Madison, cried in something of a hoarse whisper. Can you come here right away? I really need your help!

Maddie, where are you and what do you say is happening? I thought my daughter sounded very upset.

I can’t talk about it on the phone. I just need you to come as quick as you can to help me, she pleaded in that same hoarse whisper.

Tell me where you are, Madison, I insisted.

Shadowtree Mountain Resort. Mom, please come or I don’t know--- The call disappeared into the nothingness where calls go when a signal or connection is lost.

I tried frantically to redial the number which I was seeing on my phone’s display, but I didn’t get an answer or even voicemail. The number wasn’t from Madison’s cell phone or her office phone. I knew that she didn’t have a land line at the condo apartment she shared with her friend from work, Laniece Starber. Madison sounded so panicky that now I felt panicky, too.

I tried her cell number, but the computer voice on the line told me that her phone was out of the area and sent me to voice mail. I left a succinct message for her to call me immediately. Then I tried her office number but got her voice mail stating that she was unavailable and offering to transfer me to someone else.

Addie, was that a call from Madison? asked Lottie Frisham, my best friend and near neighbor. I joined Lottie at the home of Marolly Hamilton who lived next door to me on one side and next door to Lottie on the other side. The Hamiltons had the corner house at the intersection of Serenity Lane and Hopeful Way in the peaceful, though small, town of Wanderwood, Texas. I, Adelaide Bonner Girard, lived on Serenity Lane. Lottie and her husband, Walter Frisham, lived on Hopeful Way.

Yes, it was Madison, but we can talk about it later, I replied.

Well, what did she have to say, Addie? Lottie asked.

Later, Lottie, I insisted. We’ll talk after the party.

Shelby Draper was recently elected the new and official President of the Wanderwood Library Friends organization of which Lottie and I were members. Tom and Marolly Hamilton were hosting a backyard party in honor of Shelby and the other newly elected officers. I previously served as Interim President which pulled me into helping investigate a murder. Now I was recuperating from a not so restful cruise that I took with my younger daughter, Lindsey, and enjoying the company of my friends and neighbors. ‘Life does not get much better than this,’ I thought.

Today’s celebratory party was in Tom and Marolly’s backyard which was more a fragrant and lush garden than merely a yard. The couple were founding members of the Wanderwood Garden Club and often won many honors for their hard work and beautiful garden beds. Toward the back of the yard, Lottie and I were seated at a quaint wooden table in one of several floral alcoves designed into the yard plantings. Our good friend, Lacy Tindal, brought her plate and joined us at the table.

These marbled caramel blondies look rich, but I took one anyway, Lacy laughed. I decided that I could count calories tomorrow. My good friend Lacy Tindal was a partner with her husband Bart in Bart’s Amazing Autos located conveniently between Wanderwood and Dripping Springs. This month, Lacy’s hair was a classy, champagne blonde shade done up in a waterfall of curls pulled back from her face, and I thought that the color set off her blue eyes remarkably. The new hairdo was no doubt the work of LaDonna DeValle at LaDonna’s Cut Yer Guff Salon.

Good choice, I chuckled. Did you bring the blondies, Lottie?

Velma Plott, Lottie informed us. She’s experimenting with recipes from a new cookbook.

Which cookbook? I questioned, thinking that I might want to borrow it the next time I was having a get together for a group of friends.

Velma is being mysterious about this new cookbook and won’t reveal the title, said Lottie.

Maybe Velma decided to write her own cookbook, suggested Lacy before taking a bite of the caramel blondie. You know she prides herself on her specialty baking. Velma is always experimenting with recipes. Wow! This is scrumptious!

Or maybe Velma is working on a recipe for a cooking contest, and we are her guinea pigs for testing the recipe, I speculated. "I tried one of those blondies and you are right. I’d say scrumptious is an accurate description."

Well, speaking of recipes, Addie, I forgot to get your Almost Healthy Oatmeal Cookie recipe, said Lottie. I’ll need to pick it up today. I want to practice making the cookies before my book club meets on June 20th.

We’ve already heard the speeches, noshed a little, and devoured dessert, I said. We could probably adjourn to my house. I’ll pull the recipe up on the computer and print it out for you.

I’d like a copy of that recipe, too, it you don’t mind, Lacy agreed. That’s the cookie with all of those great fruit and nut ingredients, isn’t it?

Raisins, dried cranberries, apricots, dates, walnuts, and pecans, I listed for them. The dates are optional. I add them when I have part of a package of chopped dates left over from another recipe. I grabbed my plate and cup and headed for our hosts and the trash can with Lottie and Lacy following. After tossing our trash, as well as expressing our thanks, congratulations, and goodbyes, we ambled next door to my house.

My office, that used to be the downstairs bedroom, was looking tired and worn since I updated my nearby kitchen earlier in the Spring. While we were waiting for my computer to boot up, Lottie brought up the phone call again. Adelaide Bonner Girard, I have waited long enough. She fussed, shaking her bouncy gray curls which seemed to be a little shorter this week. Later is now. What did Madison say that got you so upset?

Madison was the one who was upset, I recounted. She said that she was at some resort and the roof was coming down. I remember the way my daughter had whispered to me like she was afraid.

Well, what did she mean by that? demanded Lottie. The word well was well-used by Lottie since she used that word to start many sentences.

Yes, Addie, what did Madison mean by that? Lacy Tindal echoed in a more reasonable tone.

I don’t know exactly, I replied as I accessed my recipe file document on the computer screen. Oh, no. Just a minute. I have to turn on the printer and let it set up. I punched the power button on the printer.

Well, Addie, tell us what you do know about the call, Lottie insisted. Madison must have said something more than just reporting that the roof was falling down.

The printer takes a minute or two to set up, so I’ll try to remember what Madison said. The call was short, but Madison told me that she was at the Shadowtree Mountain Resort and that the roof was tumbling down. Finally, the printer readout said ready so, with a couple of clicks, I told the computer to print two copies of the Almost Healthy Oatmeal Cookie recipe that my friends requested.

Was that all she said? asked Lacy.

She was very insistent that I come to the resort to help her, I explained as the printer methodically coughed up two neatly typed pages.

She wants you to go to that resort? asked Lacy.

What kind of help did she want? Lottie chimed in as she scanned the recipe.

She said that she couldn’t explain on the phone. Then we were cut off, I answered both of my inquisitors. The call dropped and went into a telephone black hole. After that, I couldn’t reach her on any of the numbers that I had. I left messages, but she hasn’t called back. That is all that I know, and it’s very frustrating to me.

I certainly understand that frustration, said Lacy. Are you going to the resort to help her?

I don’t even know where Shadowtree Mountain Resort is located. It’s probably that resort facility that Madison told me she had to investigate for some Writers Conference she was trying to schedule. I attempted to explain the inexplicable call from my excitable older daughter to my two inquisitive friends.

Well, I suppose you’re planning to look up the resort now so that we can all find out where it is, aren’t you? prodded Lottie with a nudge to my shoulder. You have the computer booted.

Without another word, I turned back to the computer and clicked the icon to move the screen to my home page. Then I typed Shadowtree Mountain Resort into the look up space, and clicked for it to search. A few more clicks and I was looking at a picture of Shadowtree Mountain Resort with my friends gazing over my shoulders.

Wow! said Lottie. That’s some resort.

Double wow! said Lacy. That doesn’t look like the roof would be coming down…any one of the roofs.

Before us on the screen was a picture of a huge, three-story, rustic lodge building with two other huge, three-story hotel buildings adjacent on each side of the Lodge. The mountains in the background were substantial and covered with evergreen trees, making it look like the resort was in a high valley surrounded by mountains. The resort’s web site stated that the location was near Desavilla, Colorado. I dug in the file cabinet for my Colorado map. Then we checked the town list for Desavilla. The town was listed with a population of 48 people. ‘How did a town so small rate a listing on the map?’ I wondered.

There should be directions somewhere on the web site, suggested Lacy.

Addie, why don’t you print a copy of the web-site listing. Then we’ll have all of the information when we go there, said Lottie.

"When we go there? I asked as I complied with her proposal to print all of the information. Soon the printer was diligently coughing up more pages complete with pictures and diagrams of room plans. What makes you think that I am going to take off for Colorado on the basis of one phone call? Actually only a partial phone call."

Well, Madison wants us to come and help her, insisted Lottie. You said that’s what she asked during her phone call. I don’t have a lot going on right now. Besides, if you don’t go, I’ll go anyway. She said that she needs help, and you said that she sounded upset.

I could see Lottie mentally sorting her clothes and packing her bags as she spoke to me. I had to say something decisive to slow down this runaway speedboat before we ended up drowning in a river of hasty plans. If I don’t hear from her by tomorrow, and I still can’t reach her by phone, I’ll consider going there. As you said, she did ask, I acquiesced.

Addie, you and Lottie are not going to leave me here in the heat with Bart and his fishing trips, protested Lacy. Not when I could be luxuriating at a four-star resort in the Rockies.

Luxuriating at a four-star resort in the Rockies? I questioned.

That’s what their web site says. Lacy pointed to the large type on the printout describing the Shadowtree Mountain facilities. Four hundred and eighty elegantly appointed rooms, twenty-two ultra-deluxe suites, sixteen spacious meeting rooms, indoor swimming pool, six hot tubs, eight saunas, seven ski slopes and two snow-board slopes in varying degrees of difficulty, two zip lines over mountain glens, and occasional horseback riding, she read to us.

What was that about Bart and fishing? I asked.

Bart has two mammoth fishing trips planned with some of his buddies while business is slow in late May and early June. He wants me to go along with another guy’s wife to cook and clean up after them, Lacy explained. Your trip to this resort would be a good excuse not to go fishing in the heat and mosquitoes at Inks Lake or Lake Buchanan.

"My trip, Lacy?" I was surprised at how quickly I was nominated to lead this mythical expedition to Colorado.

You know…your and Lottie’s trip. It could be fun for the three of us. Please say you’ll save me from these fishing trips, Lacy pleaded. We can stay in one room and split the cost. It shouldn’t be that expensive.

Did you see these room rates? asked Lottie, looking over the pages that she took from Lacy. Even staying in one room and splitting expenses, we might need a bank loan to finance this trip. But I’ll call their number and double check the rates and availability, she hastened to add. I’m sure we can find a way to make it happen. It’s a ski resort. Maybe the resort has off-season rates in May and June.

Meanwhile, I stated, trying once more to impose some reason on the situation, I’ll call Madison to make sure that she truly wants us to descend on her at her work situation. She recently received a promotion, and I wouldn’t want to cause problems for her. Madison told me that her boss can be difficult at times, and I know that she’s trying her best to prove to him that she can handle this new position.

Well, didn’t you tell me two days ago that we would have a discussion about Madison’s promotion. You know that I worry about her, fretted Lottie. She is still with the same company, isn’t she? Lottie worried more about my children than I did sometimes. She knew them most of their lives. Lottie Frisham was the first person to welcome us to Wanderwood when George and I bought this vacation home that was now my full-time home.

Madison is still with Exclusive Seminars and Events. Her previous position was some kind of assistant to an event planner, doing research on sites for different types of seminars and events. With this promotion, I understand that she replaced that Event Planner but unfortunately getting her own research assistant didn’t come with the job. So now she’s gone off to this resort to plan some conference for a group of romance writers. That’s all I know about the promotion and what Madison is doing, Lottie.

What did she say about the trouble she was in? Lottie questioned.

Not nearly enough, Lottie. Not nearly enough.

Though I spent time later in the day trying to contact Madison with her cell phone number, her cell continued to say that she was out of the service area and to send me to voicemail. I tried the phone number listed for Shadowtree Mountain Resort but that line produced no answering voice or even an automated answering system. In late afternoon, I was about to try again when my phone sent out the rock music twang that told me my younger son, Will, was calling me.

Hey, Mom, whatcha up to?

I had a call from Madison, and I’ve been trying to call her back.

Maddie hasn’t quit her job again, has she? Mom, you know that she’s one of my inspirations. I wish that I was a free spirit like Maddie.

If you made as much money on your job as Madison does on hers, that idea would probably be more feasible, I said. Then, not wanting to seem judgmental or showing favorites, I added, but I’m glad that you’re applying yourself to your job at High Plains Products. I’m sure that you’ll get a raise soon.

Will snorted (or that’s what it sounded like). Big brother Travis would croak a toad if I didn’t. Any time I don’t look one hundred and ten percent efficient, he reminds me that he put himself on the line to get me this job.

Travis is concerned for your welfare, I said to be encouraging.

Travis is a stuffed shirt and you know it, Will insisted. Travis is not anything like Dad. Dad was cool.

I didn’t know which Dad he meant. The only father Will had was my late husband George who was anything but cool. I loved George, but he surely was a stick in the mud and a very conventional thinker. Your father cared a lot for you, was all that I could think to say.

Yeah. Dad knew where I was coming from. He could really get me.

I didn’t want to burst that bubble, but George told me many times that he didn’t understand Will at all. Now George was spending his time trying to understand the other angels in God land. So to be supportive, I said, I know that you miss your dad. I miss him a lot, too.

I heard. Lindsey told me that you miss him so much that sometimes you talk to him. Out loud. In public. Mom, sometimes I talk to him, too. Just not in public. Yeah. Dad was cool.

Were you needing something, Will? You did call me, I reminded him.

I was looking for my acoustic guitar the other day, Mom. Do you know what I did with that? It wasn’t anywhere in my apartment. I thought that it might be at the Wanderwood house. Maybe in the attic?

There’s only a remote possibility that it could be anywhere in this house, Will. I’m sure that it’s not in the attic because I moved everything around up there in March when I was clearing things out to sell at the yard sale. It might be in one of the bedroom closets, but I probably won’t have time to look for it in the next few days. Are you sure that the guitar isn’t at Travis and Paula’s house? You stayed there after college.

I would never trust my guitar to Travis, Mom. He’d probably try to sell it on-line.

Will, are you and Travis having difficulties again? I know that he sees life differently than you do, but he does care about you and he means well.

I just need to find my guitar, Mom.

I’ll try to check the closets later…maybe next week, Honey. Can you hang on until then?

Okay. I’m good at hanging. Love you, Mom. He was disconnected in an instant. He certainly did have that in common with his sister. Madison’s call earlier that day came to mind. What was going on with Madison and her new job?

The next day was a lovely Texas sunshiny Spring day as all days in late May should be. Being the newly independent single person that I found myself to be, I was out in the yard by seven-thirty to get some weeding done around the sage and abelia bushes behind my house. The sun glinted off the shiny metal wind spiral hanging inside my new and larger kitchen window. The spiral was necessitated by the fact that birds flew into the reflection of the pecan trees on the window. Somehow that wasn’t a problem with the older, smaller window I’d had before my kitchen remodel.

As I pulled and tugged on the stubborn weeds around my plants, my mind wandered to Madison and my three other children. My two boys, Travis and Will, both lived in Lubbock and worked for the High Plains Products Company. High Plains was the purveyor of all types of jerky snack products which were sold under the brand name Grab ‘Em. My daughters, Lindsey and Madison, lived and worked on opposite sides of the Denver, Colorado, area. While Travis and Lindsey were no-nonsense, steady workers, Madison was very out-going and ephemeral about work, and Will…was Will.

Well, what did Madison say when you called her back? asked Lottie as she entered my back yard from the driveway. Lottie looked ready for anything that the day might offer in her spiffy, navy safari shorts, tan knit shirt, and matching navy safari vest. Her neatly clipped gray curls were held back by a striped navy blue and off-white hair band.

I called Madison several more times and got no answer, so I called her flat mate, Laniece Starber, to see whether Laniece knew what was happening with Madison.

And---? Lottie verbally nudged.

I was struggling with a handful of weeds which, at first, refused to come out of the ground and then released to send me tumbling flat on my rear. My! Wasn’t that fun! I laughed, and Lottie laughed with me. When I recovered my balance and my dignity, I continued detailing my efforts to contact my daughter. Laniece confirmed that Madison was at Shadowtree Mountain working on arrangements for the Writers Conference. Madison didn’t plan to be back this week. I quickly dispatched a few more, smaller clumps, of the offending weeds.

I also called Lindsey to see whether she heard from Madison, but all Lindsey knew was what Madison told her last week. Maddie told Lindsey that she was spending this entire week at Shadowtree Mountain Resort and possibly longer. Also, Maddie told Lindsey that the resort recently was acquired by new owners. The facilities needed to be checked out because the resort has been closed for almost two years. That was all Lindsey could tell me about what her sister was doing. Of course, now Lindsey is worried, too.

Well, I’m packed, Lottie stated perfunctorily. Lacy is also packed and waiting for a call. We are ready to leave today. How soon can you be ready?

Did you pack warm clothes? I questioned. The mountains can be pretty chilly at the end of May and early in June. It might even snow.

Considered, discussed, and done, answered Lottie.

Discussed? I asked.

Well, Lacy wasn’t sure what to pack, explained Lottie. She said she’s never been skiing except on the Highland Lakes.

Lacy is not likely to be skiing in late May, I laughed, even in Colorado. Lottie, we probably need reservations. It’s a two-day trip to Desavilla from Wanderwood. I checked the mileage last night…just in case.

I checked the mileage, too, Addie, and the GPS gizmo on my phone says that we can make the trip in eighteen hours, give or take. Lacy and I figured that, with three drivers, we could make the trip in one excruciating trek. Lottie obviously wanted to be on the road as soon as possible. Today. The motel cost we save by making it a one-day drive will help pay for the room at the resort.

How much is this room costing us? I asked with trepidation.

"Well, the resort did have off-season rates that were lower than the rates we saw on their web site. So, the room rate is halfway between What! and You can’t be serious! But, Addie, I wasn’t sure how many days we would be staying. That’s why I did it."

Lottie, what are you trying to tell me that you did? I questioned, trying to clear away the fog of her reply.

Well, I only booked us for five days even though Lacy kept telling me to book for two weeks. You see, we had to make a deposit of half the cost, and I told Lacy that this resort seemed to have lots of available rooms. If we want to stay more than five days after we get there, we can just book five or however many more days we want and pay another deposit, Lottie stopped in her explanation for a breath and I grabbed that