He pointed out the mercantile and they wandered inside. Still pretending to be travel writers. A middle-aged woman came up to them and asked if she could help.
“Ski masks,” Cade said. “I swear the temperature has dropped twenty degrees since noon.”
“You wouldn’t be wrong,” the woman answered. “Are you the travel writers?”
“The same,” DeeJay answered, looking around. Only another cop would recognize how she was casing the place, not simply staring with pleasure. “I love your store. How old is it? Oh, by the way, I’m DeeJay and this is my husband, Cade.”
“Mary Carliss,” the woman answered, smiling. “This is a fun place to rummage around in. It’s nearly as old as the town. We have a little bit of everything, although that’s probably going to change when the resort opens.”
DeeJay immediately became sympathetic. “Why should it change? I’m a visitor and I love it. I think stores like this were gone about the time I was born. Wooden floors! That alone is a charm worth saving.”
Mary evidently agreed, warming to her. “I get that things have to change. The resort will be good for a lot of people. But it would be a shame to sacrifice our whole way of life to it. And this place is a landmark around here.”
“I can certainly see why,” Cade remarked. “If it’s not available here, it doesn’t exist.”
Mary laughed. “Not quite. But we have what our customers need. I suppose people who come to ski will need something else altogether.”
“They’ll probably have ski shops and things like that at the resort, won’t they? Did they say they were going to change the town?”
Mary shook her head. “Not exactly. I hear we’re going to get brick sidewalks and new streetlights. A face-lift is what they’re saying, but they claim they don’t want to change the character of the town.” She lowered her voice a bit. “I don’t quite believe it. I’ve been to a couple of ski towns.”
DeeJay nodded. “So have I. But some of them were built just for skiers, weren’t they? This place has a real history. Maybe they can find a way to take advantage of it without making you all miserable.”
Mary brightened a hair. “Well, if you say good things about us the way we are, I’m sure that’ll help.”
Cade felt pretty bad just then about their deception. But it was necessary, he reminded himself, and they had a killer to find.
“Let me take you to the ski masks,” Mary said. “Then you can wander around and if you have any questions, just ask.” She hesitated. “You’re not writing about those boys who disappeared, are you?”
“Purely travel,” DeeJay answered. “I know everyone’s worried, but surely they’ll solve this soon.”
“They didn’t solve it last time,” Mary said darkly. “I can’t believe it started up again. Everyone’s angry and a whole lot are afraid. People with kids are terrified. Can’t blame them.”
“But you have a good sheriff,” Cade said.
“Good enough. But it seems to some of us like he ought to bring the old sheriff in on this. When that man was in office, we had things happen like any place else, but nothing like this.”
DeeJay spoke quietly. “You can hardly blame the sheriff for what a crazy man does.”