Murder on the Northwind Trail

By the time the sun was fully up, I sat inside the patrol car, watching through the window as the coroner and investigators kept moving around the SUV.

The coroner pulled off his outer gloves, his voice heavy in the cold air as he said, "Initial assessment: Cause of death is complex. Acute altitude complications are suspected—possibly sudden cardiac arrest or brain swelling. There might also be carbon monoxide poisoning or sudden hypothermia involved.

"Because people react so differently, some may have blacked out instantly, while others might've felt pain first. But their deaths all seem to have happened close together, sometime between 1 and 3 AM."

Detective Captain Alex Bell turned to me then, his eyes sharp, pinning me in place. "You were in that car, too. You must've experienced the same altitude and freezing temps."

I nodded, my throat dry and tight.

He studied me, as if he was trying to peel back layers. But instead of pushing harder on that point, he switched gears. "You're sure you went to sleep around 10 PM, and you didn't wake up once? Didn't notice anything strange?"

I tried to think, but my head throbbed, feeling as if it might split open. "I don't think so. I was dizzy from the altitude, so I took some meds. I slept like a log."

Alex squinted, clearly turning something over in his mind.

The coroner added, "The car was mostly sealed, though the front passenger window had a small crack open. That part is strange. They all seemed very calm. None of them showed signs of fighting for air. Most looked either in pain or just blank, but there were no signs of violent struggle like you'd expect with acute altitude sickness."

"Like they just drifted off," Alex murmured, his voice lower now.

The coroner nodded. "There's something else—the doors. All four doors and the trunk were locked from the inside, with the central lock engaged. The key was still in the ignition, but the car was off. Besides that one cracked window, everything was sealed."

Alex's eyes swept over the cliffs and jagged rocks around us. "So, you're saying that when it happened, that SUV was basically a sealed metal box. No one came in, and no one got out."

I tightened the blanket around me, knuckles white as I gripped the edge. The words "sealed metal box" pressed down on my chest until I could hardly breathe.

Why would they lock the doors like that? Normally, on a trip like this, you wouldn't lock up tight—it made getting out for bathroom breaks or whatever too inconvenient.

The coroner kept going. "We'll check for mechanical issues. Odds are low, but it's possible there was incomplete combustion from the heater, maybe leaking carbon monoxide. Still, altitude sickness is the stronger theory."

Alex shut his notebook and looked back at me. "On this trip, did anyone seem sick before things went bad? Especially right before you all got back in the car?"

I thought for a moment. "Mike's altitude sickness was pretty rough. He threw up when we stopped at the pass for photos. After that, he pretty much stayed out cold. Damon, the driver, mentioned chest tightness yesterday, but he said it was an old problem."

Just then, a tech officer walked over. "Detective Bell, the dashcam's memory card is missing. The slot's empty. We searched the whole car and didn't find it."

Alex's sharp gaze snapped back to me. "You know about the dashcam? Any idea where the card is?"

I shook my head fast. "No. I was sitting all the way in the back. I didn't pay attention. Honestly, I fell asleep right after I got in the car."