Snowman by Norman Bogner Read Free Book Online

told his secretary that he'd be gone for a few days, but he would check in with her every evening.
    He pulled the choke out on his Cherokee, listened to the engine's bronchial rumble, and set off on his mission with the stealth of an assassin. He drove past Pat's office and was tempted to stop for a moment. But his journalist's instinct of always listening to a confidence but never giving one made him push down hard on the accelerator.
    The Explorers Club occupied a massive Tudor-style house on Rossmore in Los Angeles's serene Hancock Park area, and Ashby parked in the lot beside the house. A caretaker raking leaves squinted at him and said, "Safari?"
    "No, I'm a climber. Himalayas." That as a backpacker in the summer he had never gone higher than four thousand feet along wide trails hardly mattered.
    "I'll show you to Mr. Ravel's office."
    According to one of the articles Ashby had seen, George Ravel had been responsible for Bradford's expulsion from the club. Ashby would have to be careful questioning him. He was led into a wide circular corridor. A display case held a variety of vipers, and he looked with interest at his first deadly krait snake. The heads of lions, tigers, panthers, and leopards were mounted on the walls. Beside Ravel's office there was a giant stuffed gorilla with a deep barrel chest. It all struck Ashby as quaint, remnants of a bygone era. People took cameras on safari nowadays, not rifles.
    Ravel was one of those rosy-cheeked, heavy-set men with the bluff manner and capacity for earbending that Ashby had encountered among local fishermen. He'd spoken about the club for a good five minutes before Ashby was able to interject a word.
    "I'm planning to climb Nuptse this summer and I need a danm good guide."
    "Well, I can fix you up with some Sherpas in Katmandu."
    "Any of your members interested?"
    "No, they just like to shoot. I'II check our files. There is of course a fee if we put the party together for you."
    "I assumed as much."
    As Ravel went through a file of index cards, Ashby noticed that the caretaker was eavesdropping, dusting a display case at great length.
    "I've heard about an American who's supposed to be good," Ashby said.
    "Which one?"
    "Daniel Bradford."
    Ravel's manner changed abruptly. His anger was choleric, but he subdued it.
    "You must be joking. That bastard lost his entire party in 'sixty-six. You might as well climb with a murderer."
    "What makes you say that?"
    "Listen, when nineteen people die on a climb and one comes back with a story that a ten-year-old wouldn't swallow, any normal man would be suspicious."
    "I've read about Bradford. What's your theory?"
    "I think he went crazy and murdered a few of the people with him, then he led the others to a point where they couldn't climb along Lhotse and he deserted them."
    Ashby continued to prod the delicate nerve.
    "But wasn't he the best climber we've ever produced?"
    "That may have been, but the man was insane." He glanced at a card. "I can recommend Geoffrey Griggs. He was picked by Edmund Hillary for the World Book Expedition but broke his arm before they set off."
    "When can I meet him?"
    "When you arrive in Katmandu. Griggs lives there now. I can send him a cable and he can arrange everything for you—porters, equipment."
    "I'd hate to fly all that way and find that we weren't compatible. At least if I had Bradford's address I could interview him and make up my own mind."
    "You're just looking for trouble, Mr. Ashby. If you want Bradford, then I won't be the one to tell you where you can find him. I don't want you on my conscience."
    "I'll think about Griggs."
    As he walked back to his Cherokee, Ashby was aware that the caretaker was behind him. Ashby turned and suddenly felt uncomfortable. The old man seemed overtaken by an inexpressible fury. His hand quivered as he pointed toward the club.
    "Don't believe that lying son of a bitch," he said. "He'd never accuse Bradford to his face."
    "Then why—"
    "They had an argument.