Chapter 23

CHAPTER 23

A s Andi and Simmy veered into the dining hall, Duke and Ranger headed toward the small cabin where Pepper had been living. After hearing Gibson approved of the visit, Tim said he’d meet them there to unlock it.

True to his word, he was there with the key. Duke was thankful Tim didn’t try to squeeze his way inside also. Instead, he unlocked the door and then left them alone.

Duke hesitated before pushing the door open and stepping inside. He wasn’t sure exactly what he expected to find. But he hoped that it might be something.

The first thing he noticed was the scent of peppermint. As he looked to his right, he saw a long table set up. Clear vials lined the space, probably filled with peppermint essential oil, if he had to guess. There were also candy molds, bags of sugar and corn syrup, spools of yarn, and boxes and bags of all sizes.

While Ranger headed to the closet, Duke went to the dresser.

He went through the drawers but saw nothing of note.

Then he searched her bed. Again, nothing caught his eye.

Maybe coming here had been unnecessary. Searching her phone or computer would probably be his best bet of finding out information, but the police had taken those.

He paused in the middle of the room and looked around.

What were they missing in here?

“Check this out,” Ranger muttered as he stood in front of the closet, looking inside.

Duke walked over to him and peered at the shoes on the floor.

That was when he saw two pair of slippers, one larger than the other.

“Most people don’t have two different sizes of shoes,” Ranger said. “I think Pepper had a second pair for a friend who might visit her here.”

“Based on the size, I’d say that friend was a male.”

“Bingo.” Ranger nodded slowly. “I don’t think a boyfriend has been mentioned yet, has he?”

“What’s the chance Juniper doesn’t know about this boyfriend? Otherwise, why would she keep it quiet? The police should question him.”

“I think we need to meet up with Simmy and Andi. Then we need to ask Juniper some more questions.”

Andi and Simmy didn’t find Juniper in the dining hall, but one of the employees told them he’d seen her walking toward the reindeer pasture.

Andi and Simmy headed that way, hoping to find her.

Sure enough, when they reached the area, they spotted Juniper inside the fence, feeding one of the reindeer.

They quietly stepped inside the enclosure, closing the gate behind them. Then they trudged through the snow toward Juniper.

“This is where I come when I like to think.” Juniper didn’t even turn to look at them. But she’d clearly been aware of their presence.

Andi was glad Simmy was here with her. Simmy truly did have a natural, nurturing way about her.

She was also glad Ranger’s daughter Anastasia had Simmy. Andi knew Simmy had always wanted to be a mother. In fact, they’d recently learned she’d been a surrogate when she was younger, even though she never had any kids of her own.

“Did you know that reindeer are protective of each other?” Juniper asked, still staring at the reindeer in front of her. “Sometimes, they even form something called a reindeer cyclone.”

“What’s that?” Simmy asked.

“When one of the reindeer is in danger, the reindeer start walking in a circular formation around it—almost like tornado pattern. When they do that, it throws the predator off and confuses them.”

“That’s real?” Andi said. “I thought it was fiction.”

“No, it’s real. I’ve only seen it once, and that was when a grizzly came into the camp. It was amazing.” She paused. “We all need a community like that who will gather around us and offer protection, don’t we?”

“I’d say we do,” Andi said. “For sure.”

“The children who visit the camp are the best, especially the ones who still believe in Santa Claus,” Juniper continued. “We always go through a spiel about how Santa only chooses the best reindeer to do his runs on Christmas Eve. We tell them that on occasion Santa had even chosen some of the reindeer here at the Borealis Reindeer Camp.”

“I love that,” Simmy said.

“Some of the kids even ask if this was where Rudolph came from.”

“What do you tell them?” Andi reached forward to stroke the reindeer’s head.

“I always laugh and tell them Rudolph came from another farm farther north, but that I’m not allowed to disclose the location for privacy’s sake.”

“Smart thinking.”

A few minutes of silence passed.

Simmy touched her shoulder. “And how are you holding up, sweetie?”

Juniper shrugged and swallowed hard. “I’m not sure.”

“I take it that your talk with Caleb didn’t go well?” Andi asked.

Juniper pressed her eyes closed and didn’t say anything for several seconds. “He doesn’t even seem like the same person I initially met. I don’t know what’s going on with him. He’s been especially moody the past couple of days.”

Andi wondered if what was going on with Caleb was that he was a cold-blooded killer and afraid the podcast team would catch him. But she didn’t say those words out loud.

Without knowing him, Andi couldn’t really say.

But he still took first place on her list of suspects.