Bribery, booze, bombshells and mayhem! The story was there and I needed to get it.

It was treacherous climbing the steep, snowy incline up to the Baldpate Inn near Asquewan, a summer resort on Baldpate mountain.

The place was usually closed in winter and rather frigid this time of year, but I’m a very determined reporter.

The Reuton Star sent me to follow a tip involving the mayor of Reuton. We’d heard a bribe had been made and the money was left in the safe at the inn. There was also an interesting wager that I got wind of, and so I went to investigate.

The story is not yet under wraps, but it is certain that someone at the Baldpate Inn is playing a desperate game!

There was a motley crew of undesirables who showed up at the inn.

A rather handsome chap named Billy Magee, a writer, is staying there to work on his latest book. I’m told he was challenged to write the book in 24 hours in order to win a wager with the famously rich bon vivant Mr. Bentley.

The caretakers of the inn, Mr. and Mrs. Quimby, told Magee that he would not be disturbed as there was absolutely only one key to Baldpate.

Well, the procession of characters that interrupted poor Mr. Magee in the course of one evening would put anyone off as there seemed to be more keys to Baldpate than on a Steinway grand!

My landlady, Mrs. Rhodes, and her personal assistant, Mabel, accompanied me on this wild adventure to find out just what sort of wager our Mr. Bentley had made with Magee. While we were there, the parade of suspects began and the story unfurled.

Myra Thornhill, a red-headed woman who tangos constantly and has a rather fetching wardrobe, seemed to be involved in the bribery scheme more deeply than anyone first realized. That’s what Lew Max said, at least.

Max is an ex-con who undoubtedly knows his way around the back end of a safe. He found himself startled, I bet, when Mayor Jim Cargan brandished a gun at him.

There was also a young man named Bland who was ostensibly having trouble laying off the sauce, and who seemed to be drawn into the scheme unwillingly by Mr. Thomas Haydn, president of the Asquewan-Reuton-Valley-Junction Suburban Railway.

Haydn apparently was digging around for the dream of a railway franchise, only to be duped by the mayor and his crowd. This was a surprise, certainly, for it is well-known around Asquewan Falls that old lady Haydn is a delicate creature and could not bear the thought of her husband being caught up in such a dastardly and unflattering bit of bribery!

They say it will kill her if she finds out, poor thing.

Mayor Cargan turned out to be a rat, of course, and probably thought he could get away with filching the money right out from under Max’s nose, who it seemed was under the spell of the Thornhill and her intoxicating tangos.

I’m afraid Mrs. Rhodes may end up with a broken heart from the whole affair.

You see, Mrs. Rhodes was due to marry the widower Mayor Cargan next Sunday morning but things will not go well with that match. Mabel, a wonderful orphan girl, will have her work cut out for her now as it is she who has the impossible task of keeping Mrs. Rhodes sober, or from falling down, anyway.

Mrs. Rhodes, Mabel and me hunkered down at the Commercial House in Asquewan waiting to see what happened next. Magee managed to keep the bribe money from the crooked cabal with the help of a couple of ghost-like hermits, and then gave it to me to guard.

Unfortunately the money is lost and now I must return to Baldpate Inn as I have been summoned by Police Chief Jiggs Kennedy. I know they will be unhappy that the money is lost and I can’t imagine what has happened to it.

At least I will be able to return to Baldpate Inn to get another glimpse of the handsome and talented Billy Magee who may never win that wager but may yet win my heart.

I wonder if he will ever finish the book and how many keys there really are?

I am hot on the trail to find out during the “Seven Keys to Baldpate” at Whidbey Island Center for the Arts at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, Feb. 9 – 24 and 2 p.m. Sundays,

Feb. 11 and 18. Call 221-8268 or visit www.WICAonline.com for tickets.