“It’s what you do, right?” she said helpfully.
“And how do you figure that?”
“You’re a detective,” she said. “You solve puzzles.” And, with that, she gave him a beaming smile and added, “If that’s all, I’ll go inside and make some dinner.”
“I do have a few questions for some of your roommates. Who was out on the mountain with you when I arrived?”
“That’s Wendy,” Gabby said. She unlocked the main entrance door, pushed it open, and asked, “Do you want to come up and see if she’s there?”
“Well, I knocked a while ago, and nobody answered.”
“Nobody likes to answer anyway,” she said candidly. “Nobody here likes to come down three flights of stairs just to open the door either. Essentially we’re all a lazy lot.”
“So, if somebody is coming over, you don’t open the main entrance door for them?”
“Well, of course, if we know they’re coming,” she said. “But nobody was expecting you, were they?”
A little lost in the conversation, he nodded slowly.
“See? So it’s not like anybody was planning on you coming, so why would they let you in? You could have been anybody, like a serial killer or something.”
“Ah,” he said, “you mean, you don’t open the door to strangers?”
“Isn’t that what I said?”
He looked at her, frowned, and said, “Uh, no. You gave some convoluted explanation that made absolutely no sense whatsoever.”
At that, another voice joined them. “Well, that’s our Gabby,” Wendy said.
He looked over and recognized her friend, who had been on the mountain. “And she’s like this all the time?” he asked humorously.
“Yes,” she said. “I’ve known her a long time. We came to Aspen together.”
The threesome headed up three flights of stairs in silence. Wendy watched as Gabby walked into their apartment and headed to the living room, then flopped on the couch. “You could at least invite him in,” Wendy said.
“Come on in,” Gabby said, with a wave of her hand.
He stepped inside, wondering at the odd turn of affairs. He looked at Wendy and said, “I wanted to speak to you. To ask if you saw who pushed her on the mountain yesterday.”
“I didn’t,” she said immediately. “It was the darnedest thing. We were all just about to head down the mountain, and she was right there beside me. The next thing I know, she’s careening off at breakneck speeds, heading off the mountain,” she said, shuddering. “I didn’t sleep a wink last night.”
“And yet she slept fine apparently,” he said, nodding at Gabby.
Gabby just lay there, watching the two of them. “I don’t know why,” she said. “It’s only you guys who seem to think it’s weird.”
“Yeah, you’d think it’s weird too if you were me. You’re the one feeling good and energetic,” Wendy said. “Me, on the other hand, the one who’s feeling like death warmed over, does find it weird. Very weird.”
At that, Gabby grinned. “You know I’m always a little bit on the high-energy side.”
“More than a little bit, I would say,” she said, “and that’s okay too. We love you anyway.”
Immediately Gabby hopped up, and the two women exchanged a quick hug. She sat back down on the couch, now beside the detective. “I really don’t know what to tell you. I didn’t see who pushed me. Wendy didn’t see who pushed me. I was hoping somebody might have seen something.”
“Well, we were hoping for that too,” he said, “but we haven’t found anybody else who was up there at the same time who might have seen the incident.”
“That’s too bad,” she said. “They would help me feel like I wasn’t making it up.”
“Are you making it up?”
“I said, I wasn’t making it up,” she snapped.
He grinned. “Okay,” he said, “I’ll take that at face value.”
“Good,” she said. “It would be nice if somebody did.”
“How was your boss today?” Wendy asked, changing the subject.
“Oh, the usual. Glum, depressing, dour. You know, all the downer words.”
“Old man Jerry?” Damon asked. “He’s always been like that.”
“Always? Something must have happened to make him that way.”
“Well, he’s old and alone,” he said. “That might do it. His world is probably pretty dark sometimes.”
“No wonder he doesn’t carry the book with Aspen’s dark history in the store,” she said with a chuckle.
“Dark history?” Damon asked.
Gabby hopped up, as he watched, and walked to her purse that she’d set on the counter and took out the book. “He told me this was the book with the dark history of the area, but he refused to carry it in the store.”
“Well, it’s a tourist town. He probably thinks it’s best for Aspen to put its best foot forward.”
“I feel so sorry for him,” Gabby whispered. “It never occurred to me how lonely he probably is. Yet he doesn’t welcome any extra conversation or anything. I guess that’s why I know so little about him. Who knows what his life may have been like?”
“Everybody’s got a story,” Damon said. “People just generally don’t like to share.”
“True enough,” she said. “Anyway, I need to get cooking. Is there anything else you wanted to ask me?”
He shook his head. “No, but please keep an eye on your injuries,” he said.
“Well, I would,” she said, in exasperation, “but, as I keep telling you, there aren’t any.”
“And that’s just the damnedest thing too,” Wendy said, staring at Gabby.
“I’m doing well, and I won’t feel guilty about it. I’m blessed that a scary tumble was all there was to it. For once, something went right in my life.”
On that note, Damon looked at Wendy to see her studying her friend Gabby with an odd speculative glance. “Is there something you want to tell me?”
Wendy looked at him in surprise, shook her head, and said, “No. It’s just Gabby. She’s a very unique person.”
“I can see that,” he said. “I just don’t know if I should hear anything else about this.”
“I don’t know,” Wendy said in surprise. “I’m not sure what to tell you.”
“But you’ve known her for a long time.”
From the kitchen, Gabby called back, “I can hear you two.”
“Good,” Wendy said, “because we’re talking about you.”
Gabby poked her head around the corner, then grinned and asked, “Nachos for dinner?”
“Perfect,” Wendy said. “I might get a few of those down.”
“Not a problem. If you don’t want them, I do. I’ve been starving all day.”
At that, Damon looked at her. “How hungry?”
“Starving,” she said, her tone exaggerated. She flashed that bright grin that he started to find a little too attractive for his peace of mind. “I mean, I ate sandwich upon sandwich today. I just couldn’t get full. Jerry even gave me one of his. But I was still hungry and had to buy more.”