A/N: Okay so this story is coming together a lot better than I had originally planned. Plus I found I have a snow day tomorrow so I don't have to work. So I am getting it typed out quickly. Heading back to Aspen, the couples are going to be dealing with a bit of the aftermath of the "murder" that took place. I place it in quotes because we still aren't sure it is real or not. You will have to wait to find out. Okay so I am introducing a few minor characters into this chapter just to keep the story moving. I hope I don't confuse you with all the names. And boy I hope I didn't get them messed up myself. There is a bunch of dialogue in this chapter. So enjoy.
I don't own any of the characters you recognize, I do however own my own that I came up with...
Leonard, Howard, Bernadette and Penny had breakfast in their rooms. Penny called down to the front desk to see if they were still able to have their spa treatments in the afternoon. She was pleased to find out that they would be able to accommodate them. After breakfast the couples decided to go to the pool and hot tub and just relax for a while. They were grateful to find that no one else was at the pool when they arrived.
The couples decided to swim for a while then they hit the hot tub. As they were getting in, they were joined by a couple of older women. Bernadette recognized one of the women as the woman who helped her solve the mystery from the night before. She saw the group and walked over to them.
"Hello, my name is Carole and this is my friend Jane. I wanted to introduce myself because you were really good last night when you solved that murder."
"Thank you." Bernadette said to her.
"I was wondering if you could help us now." Carole said to her.
"What can I do for you?" Bernadette asked.
"Well it seems my friend, Dawn, is a suspect in a murder that happened in her room. She claims she didn't do it because she was in the shower. Now I know her and she isn't capable of doing the things they said she did. You didn't happen to see anything suspicious last night?"
"No we already told the detective that we didn't notice anything out of the ordinary other than your friend asking for the extra room key from Jane over there." Howard interjected. "I am not sure how we can help you."
"I gave her the key so she could invite her boss up to the room." Jane said. "She was up for a promotion and she wanted to help her chances if you know what I mean."
"Jane! Don't put Dawn's business out there like that." Carole said to her.
"So what you are saying is she willingly invited the gentleman to her room?" Bernadette asked curiously.
"Yes she did. She gave him the key. They were the only two with access to the room. I know it looks bad but believe me, she is not capable of killing anyone." Carole said.
"You know how bad this looks right?" Leonard asked.
"We know which is why we are asking for help. She didn't know her boss had ordered the champagne so when she answered the door she just assumed it was him even though she had given him the key. It surprised her to find him on her bed dead." Jane said.
"Did anyone else know she invited him to the room?" Bernadette asked. She wanted to help this woman. She seemed really nice but it wasn't looking good at all.
"Not that we are aware, but her competition for the promotion is also on this trip." Carole said.
"Oh really?" Bernadette asked. "That seems like a motive for someone else."
"What do you mean?" Penny asked.
"I mean what if that woman saw your friend give their boss the room key. Then she followed him up and knocked on the door. He thinks it is the champagne he ordered and answered the door. She then kills him in a fit of rage or jealousy." Bernadette answered.
"That sounds like something out of a mystery novel." Howard said. "It's a little to cliché."
"That might be but it makes sense. I think you need to tell Detective Alvarez what you know." Bernadette said.
"I told him about it and he said he would look into it." Carole said to them.
"Well since it looks like we are snowed in tonight, I will keep an ear out and see if I hear anything that can be of help." Bernadette said.
"Thank you so much." Carole said to her. "We will let you enjoy the rest of your day."
"Okay I will let you know if any of us hear anything." Bernadette told her as they left.
As soon as they were out of earshot, Howard turned to Bernadette. "You aren't seriously considering getting involved in this, are you?" He asked her.
"Why not? They seem like very nice ladies. Carole reminds me a little bit of my grandmother."
"Why not? Um because this is not a mystery that needs to be solved, this is a real murder. That is why not." Howard yelled.
"Okay Howard calm down." Leonard reasoned.
"Why should I calm down? My wife wants to get herself involved in a real life murder mystery on Valentine's Day!"
"I am not getting involved. I simply told the women I would keep an ear out and listen for anything unusual." Bernadette said to him.
"I am actually with Bernadette on this one." Penny said to the astonishment of both Howard and Leonard.
"What? I thought you hated this stuff." Leonard said.
"Yes but like you guys have both said, this is real life and it seems that this woman is being set up or a really good actor. I think if we hear something we should let them know." Penny said.
"Thank you Penny." Bernadette said.
"You know what, the girls are right. Maybe we just listen and maybe we will hear something." Leonard said to Howard.
"Okay fine. But we will not confront anyone. If we hear something we either tell Carole and Jane or we talk to Detective Alvarez. We don't need to get ourselves injured or worse, killed if we try and confront a murderer." Howard said.
"Okay agreed. You girls okay with that?" Leonard asked them.
"Yes." They both said at once.
The couples left the pool area and the girls got ready to go for their spa treatments. They arrived at the spa just before 3 and there was several other women waiting in the lobby. Penny walked up to the counter.
"Hello I have an appointment for 2 at 3:00." She said to the woman behind the counter.
"Are you Penny?" The woman asked.
"Yes." She answered her.
"Okay great. Laura and Andrea will be taking care of you two today. They will be right out to get you. You can have a seat. I see you are down for massages facials, manicures and pedicures. Is that correct?" She asked them.
"Yes it is." Penny answered.
"Oh I haven't had a massage in years." Bernadette commented. "Howard tries to give them to me, but he just doesn't have the strong hands needed to work my aching muscles."
'I know what you mean. Leonard tries to rub my neck sometimes. It can be downright painful." Penny laughed.
The girls were greeted about 5 minutes by two ladies who introduced themselves as Laura and Andrea. They were taken back to start their spa treatments. The first thing they did was the massage. 60 minutes later the women were treated to a facial. They then met up together to have their manicures and pedicures.
"Oh Penny that was wonderful." Bernadette said to her after she picked out the color nail polish she wanted.
"I know. I wish I could do that more often. It was extremely relaxing."
"Agreed." She said to her.
The women chatted while they were having their manicures and then they were led to the chairs for the pedicures. There were three other women sitting in the chairs. They seemed to know each other as they were having an animated conversation.
"I can't believe he's really dead. He was such a great man." The woman said. Bernadette looked at Penny. They knew these women had to be talking about their dead boss.
"But do you really believe that Dawn did it?" The second woman asked.
"It certainly looks that way." The first woman said.
"I know what it looks like, Kathy. But seriously, why would Dawn plan this whole trip for the company just to turn around and kill Adam?"
"Cindy, don't you see she was jealous that Martha was going to get the promotion." Kathy said to her.
"Yeah well we all know why she was getting it don't we?" The third woman weighed in to the conversation.
"Now we don't know that, Sandy." Cindy said to her.
"Oh please, she was bragging about it at lunch the other day." Sandy said. "She was sleeping with him. She told me that he said he loved her. I bet Dawn found out and invited him to her room just to kill him."
"But why would she invite him to the room? I mean if she wanted to kill him why not just visit his room? No one would have thought it was her." Cindy said.
"Martha was sharing a room with Adam. She told me. According to her, Adam was going to let Dawn know that Martha was getting the promotion." Sandy said.
Penny and Bernadette looked at each other. This was definitely not looking good for Dawn. If she knew that this Martha woman was staying with their boss, Adam, then maybe she did kill him in a fit of rage and jealousy. They just kept listening.
"Well maybe Dawn really didn't know what was going on and had invited Adam to her room for the same reasons Martha was staying with him." Cindy said casually. "We know that Adam got around and so does Dawn."
"Do you think Adam was going to sleep with Dawn?" Kathy asked.
"Maybe." Cindy said.
"So do you believe Dawn's story then?" Kathy asked.
"I don't know what to believe." Cindy answered.
The ladies finished with their pedicures and left the spa. Penny and Bernadette had heard it all.
"What do you think?" Bernadette asked Penny.
"I don't know, it sounds like this Adam guy was a real player. He was sleeping with one and then going to the other's room. Maybe neither one of them was going to get the promotion. But this is important stuff. Should we let Carole and Jane know or just go right to Detective Alvarez?"
"I am not sure. Why don't we ask the guys what they think we should do and go from there." Bernadette said.
"That sounds like a plan." Penny agreed.
The two left the spa and headed back to their rooms to talk to the guys and then get ready for dinner. This weekend was getting really interesting.
Okay sorry, cliffhanger. Next up more Shamy and let's bring in Rajily to help with the story. We haven't seen them in a few chapters.
Please review...you guys are awesome for doing so. They help me write really fast.