Page 54 of Canyon Killer
She nodded and began sorting the invoices from miscellaneous notes, flyers and receipts. She studied a hand-written note. Ian leaned over her shoulder and read the note. “You can toss that,” he said. Weeks ago, he had been looking up flights to Argentina on a passing whim.
“Are you thinking of going to Argentina?” she asked. Her voice sounded strained.
“I was thinking of spending next winter there, climbing. But I haven’t decided yet.” He silently cursed himself the moment he said the words. He hadn’t decided anything for sure. At the time, Argentina had sounded great. He hadn’t been there in years. But now, with the via ferrata just starting and with this new relationship with Bethany, he was in no hurry to leave Eagle Mountain.
I should tell her that, he thought. “I—” he began. And his voice failed.
“I’ll bet Argentina is great,” she said. She gave him a big smile. “You’ll have to send me pictures.”
She turned away, and the moment was lost. Never mind. He had plenty of time to figure out how to tell her what she was coming to mean to him.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Ian isn’t like Justin.Bethany reminded herself of this over and over in the next few days, as she kept replaying their conversation about Argentina. He wasn’t pretending he wanted to stay with her forever only to yank that dream away at the last minute. Ian was being upfront with her. This was his life. He wasn’t a family man. He didn’t come from that kind of background. She knew what she was getting into. If she wanted to be with him now, these were the terms she had to accept.
Did that make her a strong woman or a fool for willingly walking toward pain instead of protecting herself and running away?
Maybe a little of both. She wanted to be strong and she wanted to guard her heart against hurt, but she didn’t know how to pull away from Ian when being with him felt so good. Not just making love to him, but talking to him. Laughing with him. Enjoying the way he looked at her, as if he trulylikedeverything about her, just as she was. He thought she was smart. Capable. Brave. He laughed at her terrible jokes and kissed her as if he never wanted to stop. Who would ever want to pull away from that?
All she knew to do was keep moving forward, enjoying the good feelings for as long as they lasted.
While Ian focused on overseeing the last of the construction in Humboldt Canyon, Bethany paid another visit to the Rayford County Historical Society. “I’m looking for an obituary and some photos,” she told Caleb.
“You’ll have to search the newspaper archives for the obituary,” he said. “Do you know when the person died?”
“I do.”
“That will make it easier. Let me show you our photography index.” He led the way to a computer in a back corner. “You can search our photo collection by the name of a person or place,” he explained. “We have thousands of photographs, most donated by area families, as well as some of the old newspaper archives. Your search will pull up a call number and a brief description. Give me that information, and I’ll pull the photos for you.”
“This is going to be easier than I thought,” she said.
She typed in her search terms and came up with a list of possible photos. She gave these to Caleb, then turned her attention to issues of theEagle Mountain Examinerfrom 1985. She found the obituary for Katherine Boston, accompanied by a grainy black-and-white photo of an older woman with short hair and a stern expression.
Katherine Berringer Boston was born in 1950 in San Antonio, Texas, the beloved daughter of Jacob Berringer, a successful merchant, and his wife, Nina Leon Berringer. The family moved to Eagle Mountain, Colorado, when Katherine was ten, and she quickly became known as a local beauty. Many a man competed for her attention until she met the love of her life, Gerald Frankline Boston, of Denver, Colorado. After her marriage to Gerald, Katherine became involved in all the social organizations in town, including Eastern Star, the Women’s Club and the Arts Guild.
Tragedy struck the couple when Katherine was injured in an automobile accident, which left her unable to walk without difficulty for the rest of her life. She never fully regained her health and finally went to her reward. Internment at Eagle’s Rest Memorial Park, Eagle Mountain.
Bethany reread the words. No mention of Katherine and Gerald’s divorce. Anyone reading this would think they’d had a happy marriage. There was no list of survivors, either. No mysterious lover who might have committed murder on her behalf.
“Here are your photographs.” Caleb returned with a shallow tray full of envelopes, each envelope containing one or more photographs.
As she had hoped, her search for Humboldt Canyon had produced a trio of shots of climbers from the 1960s, complete with bell-bottom jeans, striped rugby shirts and long hair. “Their equipment looks pretty primitive compared to what we use today,” Caleb said as he laid out the photos on the table in front of her.
“No helmets,” she said. “And is that one guy barefoot?”
He peered more closely at the photo in question. “I think he is. They’re obviously having a blast.”
She also found some undated scenic shots taken in winter, showing icicles on the cliffs and snow deep on the rocks. “Can I get copies of all of these?” she asked.
“Sure. It takes a few days to a week to get them produced.”
“No hurry,” she said. “I’ll probably want some of these others, too.”
“I’ll go get the price sheet while you finish looking.”
Her searches for Abby Boston and Katherine Boston or Katherine Berringer yielded nothing. She had better luck with Gerald Boston. At the last minute, she did a search for Walter Spies. One of the photos associated with Walt was the same as a photo she had requested of Gerald.
The first photo of Gerald showed a young man with side-parted brown hair long enough to touch his shoulders and a thick moustache. He was pictured with a group of men labeled as employees of Atlas Mining. She didn’t recognize any of the others standing with him.
