Death as a Last Resort Read Free

time Nat returned a half hour later, she was ready to explode. “Your ex-wife came in a short while ago,” she said, leaving Henny to finish sorting the files and leading the way into her office.
    â€œNancy?” he said, following her.
    â€œApparently she read about me when our last case was written up in the newspapers, and now she seems to think I’ve got my hooks well and truly into you.”
    â€œWhat the hell did she want?”
    â€œLunch for starters, but she’s coming back around two to tell you the rest of it,” she answered sweetly.
    â€œIf she thinks I’m giving her more money,” he thundered, “she’s got another think coming.” He stormed out, heading for his own office.
    Maggie smiled as she closed her door quietly behind him.
    â€¢ • •
    â€œIS HE IN?” NANCY asked, shedding her Persian lamb coat as she made a beeline for Nat’s office.
    â€œYou wait!” Henny interposed her bulk between the woman and Nat’s door, ready to defend her boss. “I’ll see if he is busy, ja?”
    â€œDon’t bother,” she answered, pushing Henny aside.
    â€œI’m sorry, Mr. Nat,” Henny said miserably. “I ask her to wait.”
    â€œIt’s okay, Henny.” He turned to his ex. “What is it this time, Nancy?”
    â€œYou got any decent coffee in this place?”
    â€œI’ll get coffee,” Henny answered, closing the door behind her and making straight for Maggie’s office. “She’s back again.”
    â€œWho’s back again?” Maggie asked, looking up from her work.
    â€œMr. Nat’s old wife.”
    â€œI wonder what she wants?”
    â€œThat’s what Mr. Nat ask her. But she wants coffee . . . now.”
    â€¢ • •
    â€œOKAY, NANCY,” NAT SAID. “What gives?”
    â€œThe police told my friend Jacquelyn Dubois that it was you that found her husband dead on that mountain,” she said.
    â€œNot exactly. My partner, Mrs. Spencer, found him.”
    â€œAnd now this has come out,” she carried on as if he hadn’t spoken and waved a newspaper at him. “Yesterday’s paper. Have you read it?”
    â€œNo,” he answered, bewildered. “Should I have?”
    â€œHere, read it.” And she thrust the article in front of him.
    The Sun has learned that the body of a man in his late fifties that was discovered by two unidentified skiers on Saturday, January 6, on Hollyburn Mountain, was the late Maurice Dubois. He had been reported missing by his wife, Jacquelyn, on January 3 when she returned from a vacation in Montreal. He had been on a fishing trip with a few friends at St. Clare Cove Resort and Marina, situated in Pender Harbour on the Sunshine Coast, when he disappeared.
    Dubois owned a successful logging company operating on the Lower Mainland, Sechelt Inlet and Vancouver Island and was a business associate of Schaefer’s Lumber and Building Supplies in North Vancouver. Mrs. Dubois was too distraught to be interviewed, but according to a close acquaintance, she was completely mystified why her husband’s body was found on Hollyburn Mountain.
    When this reporter enquired the cause of death, he was informed that the autopsy showed the death was from a severe blow to the head.
    â€œSo what has this to do with me?” Nat demanded.
    â€œJacquelyn wants to know who murdered him.” She paused for a moment before bursting out, “So I gave her your name.”
    â€œWhy? The police are taking care of it.”
    â€œShe doesn’t trust the cops too much. She wants an independent inquiry.”
    â€œBut why me?”
    â€œYou’re supposed to be some kind of detective, aren’t you? So,” she added, “when can she come and see you?”
    There was a tap on the door and Henny came bustling in with two cups of coffee and one huge, lumpy cookie, which she pointedly placed on a