Constable Molly Smith 01 - In the Shadow of the Glacier

mob were chasing him, rather than just Meredith. The onlookers remained behind to suggest that someone call the police, or an ambulance, or to ask Lucky if she needed help.
    Perfect.

Chapter Twenty
    Big Eddie’s Coffee Emporium was empty. John Winters had walked up from the station, needing time to think. He was still surprised at how many people he passed knew who he was, and how many of them smiled a greeting. Sometimes, after the anonymity of the city, it felt nice to be part of a community. Nice, until you were with your partner when she found the battered body of her childhood friend. He ordered four coffees to take back to the station.
    “Is Christa gonna be all right?” the black woman behind the counter asked him. Her accent made him think of the late Princess Diana. “She was in here just this morning.”
    Amazing how fast news traveled. “She was here? When?”
    The woman shrugged. “Morning rush. I can’t say for sure, it gets so busy.”
    “I’m John Winters, by the way.” He put his hand across the counter.
    She shook it with a flash of white teeth. “Jolene.”
    “Was she with anyone?”
    “No. Christa’s always on her own.”
    “Anyone seem to be paying her any particular attention?”
    Jolene passed him a take-out tray for the coffees. Her hair was a mass of braids sprinkled with beads so colorful they might have been selected from a child’s toy box. They flew around her face as she shook her head. “No. People were talking about that TV program last night. This isn’t a town where people keep their opinions to themselves.”
    He smiled. “So I’ve noticed. In your opinion what was the general feeling about the show?”
    She tilted her head to one side and thought before speaking. “Sixty percent maybe were upset about it. They thought it put the town in a bad light, regardless of their thoughts about the park. Twenty percent thought that any attention to the garden was a good thing, as it will get support moving again. Another ten percent said that if it helped stop the park it was a good thing. What am I up to?”
    “Ninety percent.”
    “And at least twenty percent felt bad for the park committee, saying that it made them look like fools.”
    “You’re over one hundred, Jolene.”
    “I haven’t even counted those who agreed with everyone,” she said, placing Styrofoam cups into the tray.
    “Nor those who disagreed with everyone,” the bulky man behind the cash register said. “There are always folks who just like to get up everyone’s noses. So what’s the story about the fire, eh? Not an accident, I’m suspecting, not after that TV show. I’m Eddie by the way. Welcome.”
    “Thanks. John Winters.” He balanced the tray of coffee and shook the outstretched hand. “The full report on the fire isn’t in yet.” He pulled a handful of coins out of his pocket. “Did you notice Christa Thompson here earlier?”
    “I might have. But before you ask, I didn’t see anything that made me sit up and pay attention. Too busy.”
    “If you remember anything, either of you….”
    “I’ll call you,” Jolene said.
    “We care about our customers here,” Eddie said as he rang up the charge. And somehow it didn’t sound to Winters like an advertising slogan.
    He walked back to the station. He handed out the coffees and was told that Rose Benoit had called. His former partner, Rose was an inspector now, in charge of the commercial crime section. Which suited her—there was not much Rose loved more than getting her head around a set of books.
    He returned the call, and caught her at her desk. They exchanged pleasantries before Benoit got to the point. “There’s no reason to believe the resort’s in any trouble.” Winters put his feet up on his desk and took a sip of his coffee. “Unless….” He straightened up. “Unless opposition to the resort, which opponents claim will disrupt prime grizzly bear territory, finds focus and draws enough attention to the environmental dangers that people hesitate to buy into the resort. In addition, if the proposed Commemorative Peace Garden is built in Trafalgar, the nearest town, and vacationers from the U.S., to whom the company is aiming sixty percent of their marketing efforts, avoid the area because of the political implications, the Grizzly Resort could be in deep financial trouble. It’s unlikely that M&C Developments could survive the collapse of Grizzly.”
    “Partnership insurance?” he asked.
    “Seems