Cynthia thought about it. "Edith cut the rope too close to the end so he didn't fall far enough to be killed," she said.
"Not exactly. When Shipton looped the rope to descend, after he faked cutting it, Edith's cut was then positioned differently. Fortunate for him it was then near enough to the end of the line that his fall wasn't far enough to kill him."
"Wouldn't the police have examined the rope after Shipton fell?"
"This part gets confusing. The rope was cut. The fact that the other end was also cut must have looked like the natural end of the line."
"But there would have been a shorter severed piece, wouldn't there?" Cynthia protested.
"Yes. But Weller told me in the hospital that in the confusion of getting Shipton out of the gorge, no one examined the bottom of the cliff, where he landed. Remember, the police were sure the rope was cut when Shipton was part way down. The crime scene was the top of the cliff, where the rope was slashed. My guess is the missing piece of line fell into the river."
"But Shipton had two ropes," Cynthia said. "How could Edith be sure which rope he'd use?"
"Bingo!" Dean said.
It dawned on both of them at the same time but it was Cynthia who said it. "She cut both ropes! That's how he fell to his death when he was after you!"
Dean nodded his head in agreement. "That's why I ran off to the ice park. I guessed the second rope might be cut, putting Shipton in serious danger. But he wouldn't believe me."
"So Edith Shipton killed her husband from the grave," Fred said.
"I guess you could say that," Dean answered.
"Why would he be fool enough to go back up there and climb again?" Cynthia asked her husband.
Dean remembered the Ride the Rockies bike tour, when he had fallen, nearly killing himself, but put his bruised and cut body back on a bike, just to finish.
"It's a macho thing," he answered
"Men!" Cynthia snorted. "How can anyone be that macho, or stupid is a better word!"
"Am I forgiven for trying to warn him?" Dean asked with a smile.
"Perhaps. But I'm required to be standoffish a little while longer. Otherwise you might take up ice climbing as a sport."
Fred stood up and stretched. The others followed and the trio went back inside where Dean began building a fire.
Cynthia settled into the sofa where Dean joined her, putting his arm around her shoulders. "I realize in most ways Edith isn't deserving of too much sympathy, but I still think of her as a tragic figure. She was a lot like Annie. In a way, this whole business started with Annie Quincy. Neither one of them had any place or anybody to turn to." She reached over and picked up the translated pages of Annie Quincy's notebook and began reading aloud.