Remeriz was on bacon duty and Davis was making pancakes when Westerby walked into his kitchen in the morning. The two other troopers were making eggs and toast while the smell of brewing coffee was thick in the room giving a hint that it might be strong enough to melt a spoon.

McKenzie was on the couch going over the notes she'd spread out on the coffee table. His biggest coffee mug was in her hand.

There were grunts and waves of greetings as he sat next to her. "Where's the EMT, what's his name?"

"Polinsky. He's checking on the kid."

Westerby nodded and accepted the second biggest coffee cup he had from Remeriz. He sipped it cautiously: two sugars and some cream, perfect. Remeriz walked back to the stove with a smile, McKenzie had been right. Westerby sipped more of the coffee and relaxed. This was no longer his shit-show and he was happy to hand it over to the professionals.

"Hey, Westerbay, you sign up for the pool yet?" Davis ladled batter onto the griddle to add to the growing stack of cakes. McKenzie snorted and shook her head but didn't look up from the reports.

"What's the buy in?" The caretaker asked.

"Five bucks," one of the younger troopers said. Westerby remembered him. He was the one who'd unloaded three days worth of lunch after seeing the body. His first murder and it was a strange one indeed. Not something he'd forget any time soon, if ever. You never really forget your first one.

"Five bucks," Westerby repeated. "Hmm, by the time you get back to the station this could end up being a nice bonus for the season."

Remeriz piled bacon onto a plate and headed to the kitchen table, "Aw, come on, who do you think did it?"

Putting his coffee down and standing Westerby pulled out his wallet and extracted a five. He handed it to McKenzie as he looked at the troopers, each one of them staring at him waiting to hear his reply.

"The mother." He said.

"Which one?" McKenzie took the bill and tucked in into her breast pocket.

"The boy's. The other one is more of a poisoned apple type."

McKenzie snorted again and handed him a few sheets of paper as he sat down. They were the reports on people's activities after the argument.

There were six basic questions. Laurel's were short but still vague.

1. "Where did you go after the argument? " Kitchen.

2. "Were you with anyone?" Muriel.

3. "How long were you there?" Two hours.

4. "Where did you go after the kitchen?" To our room for a nap, I was exhausted.

5. "Did you see where the young woman and man went after the argument?" No.

6. "Weren't you worried when they didn't show up for dinner?" Of course.

There was more said for each question but the basic answer boiled down to just a few

words.

The rest of the reports were very much like Laurel's. Hugh had gone down to the smoking

shed and had remained there enjoying a couple of cigars and a good book and a drink or two. Dan was in the lodge's small library checking out the historical books of the region. Lastly Muriel had gone to her room to give herself a facial, the heat system in the lodge having dried out her skin she said, and then also a manicure and a pedicure. Molly and Todd had gone into the woods to explore but were deterred by the rain and went to their rooms to occupy themselves with newlywed activities.

He put the reports down and frowned. "Does it strike you as unusual…" he started and McKenzie finished for him, "That no one was worried about Jackson and Mara for hours?"

"Eat up, guys. Family's going to be bugging us to head down the mountain soon." Remeriz and Davis stood by the breakfast table with extra coffee.

As they sat and Davis poured more coffee he asked Westerby, "So none of the family said anything to you about the two kids still being gone?

Westerby filled his plate, it was nice to have someone else cook. Otherwise he would have just made instant oatmeal. "Not a word until they missed dinner. When it was good and dark outside. Like I said in my report, I took McDuff out for a quick look but he's not really much of a tracking dog, especially in the rain."

"How far out did you go?" McKenzie was attacking her breakfast with pleasure. If there was one thing Westerby liked, it was a woman who enjoyed her food and ate hearty.

"I went as far at the outer cottages. None of them were tampered with so I unlocked them, turned on the heat and left lights on. I figured if the kids were lost and saw lights they might end up there. All the coms between the cottages and the lodge work so…" He shrugged. "After that I just kept sweeping the area, checking back every time I'd done a loop. I also turned on every light outside the lodge. I was coming back from a sweep when the kid walked out of the woods."

They ate in silence for a bit and Remeriz stopped and looked at Westerby. "Why the mother? I mean, really, why do you think it was her? They all have lousy alibis. Why her?"

McKenzie hid a little smile, then gave Westerby a gentle elbow in the ribs. "Go on."

"They all have a motive, of some type or another, but their alibis can be checked. Except hers."