Off Season

by B. Allison Miller

  “Do you think that Shannon was blackmailing Crater? It would explain why he agreed to pay the child support, I mean if Shannon threatened to tell his wife.”

  “I honestly don’t know. I guess it would explain things. In case you haven’t noticed, Shannon and I don’t have a good relationship. She wasn’t likely to tell me that she was blackmailing my old commanding officer.”

  “Tate, you didn’t kill Crater McMurphy, did you?” I had to ask.

  “What? No.”

  “It’s just that you said you had unfinished business with Crater, and ...”

  “No. I promise you, I didn’t kill him, Mandy. I just wanted to know that he wasn’t planning to file for custody rights. Crater told me he had no plans to do that. He didn’t want Skye. I think he wanted the whole thing to just go away.”

  “Tate, you realize that you have to tell Agent Riley about Shannon and Crater.”

  “Do I?” His voice was incredulous. I heard the ice cubes clink again.

  “Yes, because Shannon could be a suspect in Crater’s murder.”

  Tate let out a deep breath. “If Shannon killed Crater, and I tell the police everything, what will happen to Skye?”

  “I suppose Skye would stay with you?”

  “I don’t know. If I tell Agent Riley that Shannon’s motive to kill Jonah was that he was Skye’s dad, everyone will know that I’m not her biological father. I might have to give up custody. I can’t do that, Mandy.”

  Oh no. I hadn’t even considered this possibility. Tate wasn’t Skye’s biological father. If Shannon was charged with Crater McMurphy’s death, Tate might not have any rights to the child. Someone else might claim the little girl.

  THIRTEEN

  “Mystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis of man’s desire to understand.” – Neil Armstrong

  ONCE AGAIN, I DIDN’T sleep well. The problem was, I couldn’t stop thinking about Crater McMurphy’s murder. I knew that Shannon was a possible suspect. I also knew that if Shannon was convicted of murder, Skye might lose both of her parents. But if Shannon was guilty, she couldn’t get away with it. I couldn’t let someone else take the fall for what she had done. As much as I felt that I didn’t like Crater McMurphy, he didn’t deserve his murder to go unsolved. I tossed and turned until I finally got out of bed and readied myself for work.

  I got to work early and I huddled in my office trying to decide what to do about Tate and Shannon. I needed to talk to someone. I said a little prayer that Tate wouldn’t hate me for what I was about to do, and I picked up my phone.

  “Mandy, I’m glad you called,” Jed said, surprising me.

  “You are?”

  “Yeah, are you alone?”

  “I am. What’s up?” I stood and closed the door to my office and I locked it. The move was most likely unnecessary, but it made me feel better.

  “I just got the preliminary report back from the medical examiner. I have confirmation about how Crater McMurphy died.”

  “How did you get that? Did Agent Riley agree to go out with you after all?”

  Jed chuckled. “No, I spoke privately to Officer Bates. Also, David Kincaid is still the Medical Examiner. Can you believe that? After all of these years?” David Kincaid was the ME Jed’s father was on the police force. The man must be ancient.

  “So, what did Officer Bates and ME Kincaid tell you?”

  “Three things of note. The first being, Crater McMurphy suffered from head trauma before he was killed.”

  “What?”

  “Yeah, it looks like he suffered a blow to the head before having his throat cut. We’re still trying to identify the weapon. I guess we didn’t notice the head wound at the scene because there was so much blood.”

  “Does that mean that he died from the head wound?”

  “No. Crater definitely died from exsanguination,” Jed cleared his throat, “he bled to death from the knife wound. But the head wound might have been enough to subdue him so that a weaker individual could kill him.”

  “So, we’re still going on the theory that a woman murdered Crater?”

  “It’s a definite possibility.”

  I let out a sigh of relief. “You said there were three things of note. What was the second thing?”

  “The wastebasket in the bathroom.”

  “What about it?”

  “It wasn’t empty when we arrived at the crime scene.”

  “Okay. So?”

  “Ask me what was found in the trash, Mandy.”

  Ugh. “What was found in the trash, Jed?”

  “A used condom.”

  Well, that was interesting, and it also made me thankful that I wasn’t a crime scene investigator. I was glad I didn’t have to go through our guest’s trash. A used condom in his wastebasket supported our theory that Crater McMurphy had a guest in his room the night that he died. The guest might have killed Crater.

  “So, if housekeeping cleaned Crater’s room Friday night, then the evidence appeared sometime later. Crater did have a female guest in his room,” I verbalized my thoughts. I had been through the housekeeping checklists. There was no doubt in my mind that his suite was cleaned that night.

  “That’s the theory, although, let’s not be hasty in our assumptions, the guest could have been a man.”

  “That’s true,” I agreed. But then again, Crater only seemed to have eyes for the ladies. I doubted he had a male guest that night. I found it interesting that Agent Riley made a point of telling me about the bloody boot print but not the condom. “Okay, and what’s the third thing?”

  “Yes, this one is really interesting too. You’re righthanded, Mandy.”

  “Yes.” What did that have to do with anything?

  “And when you hold a knife, which hand do you use?”

  “Um, my right.”

  “Okay, now imagine that you are holding a knife in your right hand.”

  Following Jed’s instructions, I clenched my hand in imitation of holding a knife.

  “Now, if you were to cut something cross-wise, like if you were cutting...”

  “Someone’s throat?”

  “Uh, yeah, like someone’s throat,” Jed cleared his throat uncomfortably and continued, “Which direction would you cut?”

  I held up my knife hand and imitated the motion of slicing something crosswise. My hand started in the left and moved to the right.

  “I guess I would slice left to right.”

  “Exactly,” Jed said with a lilt in his voice.

  “Okay, so what are you telling me?”

  “The killer cut Crater McMurphy’s throat from right to left, Mandy.”

  “The killer was a leftie?” I asked.

  “That’s our theory.” I imagined Jed nodding his head with excitement. Suddenly, I wondered if Jed was wearing his cowboy hat or if he was holding it. Was he wearing his police uniform or was he dressed in civilian clothes? Was he a boxers or briefs man? Wait! What was wrong with me? What did it matter what Jed Link was wearing? Get back on track, Miranda Elizabeth Swift!

  I shook my head to clear all of the Jed wardrobe nonsense from my brain. “But wait. Let me just play devil’s advocate for a second. You know I love watching horror films?”

  “Regrettably, yes,” Jed replied, clearing his throat again.

  “Oh, that’s right. I won our wager... the delightful Agent Riley turned you down!”

  “Stay on track, Mandy. I believe you were playing devil’s advocate?”

  I laughed. “Right. In about ninety percent of the movies I’ve watched, if a person gets his throat slashed—trust me, this happens in a lot of movies—the killer is standing behind the victim. Therefore, a right-handed person like me would slice the victim’s throat from the victim’s left to his right. The killer could have been right-handed, Jed.”

  “Mandy, are you trying to protect Tate?” Jed asked, catching me by surprise. That wasn’t what I was doing. I was merely pointing out a flaw in Jed’s theory.

  “What? No
, why?”

  “I happen to know that Tate’s a leftie. And you two are dating so...”

  “No, Jed, I wouldn’t do that. I wouldn’t lie to protect a killer. You should know better. And anyway, Tate and I are definitely not dating. Not even a little bit. Nope.”

  Jed hummed a second before he replied. “Methinks the lady doth protest too much.”

  “No, seriously, Jed, I’m not dating Tate. And please don’t try to quote Shakespeare to me—badly—I might add. Yes, we went to lunch together on Sunday, but it was definitely not a date. And even if it were a date, Tate and I are not dating now.”

  “Oh? Is there something you want to tell me?”

  “It’s not relevant to the case,” My face grew warm. I was blushing and I was alone in my office with no one to see me. Stupid overactive capillaries! “I’m just saying, it’s possible that the killer slit Crater’s neck from behind, and if he or she did, then the killer would be righthanded.”

  “Ah, but the killer didn’t do that. I won’t bore you with the details, but Crater McMurphy definitely died lying down. Flat on his back.”

  “Oh. So, the killer is probably a leftie.”

  “Yes.”

  We both remained silent for a moment. Then I remembered the reason that I called Jed.

  “Jed, I know something that might be relevant to the case. That’s why I called you.”

  “Right. You did call me.” Jed’s voice grew serious again.

  “It’s about Tate’s ex. Her name is Shannon.”

  “Mandy.” His voice was cautionary. I imagined Jed was shaking his head at me. If he was wearing his cowboy hat, it was definitely bouncing.

  “No, listen. Tate told me this in confidence last night.”

  “You were with Tate last night?”

  Ack! Suddenly, I wanted to strangle Jed. That’s a perfectly natural reaction, right?

  “No, we were talking on the phone. Why do you sound like a jealous boyfriend, Jed? Ugh. Anyway, Tate told me this in confidence, but I think it might be relevant.”

  “Okay, what is it?”

  “Shannon had a past with Crater McMurphy.”

  “Can you be more specific?”

  Ugh! I really didn’t want to spill the beans about Skye’s paternity. It was obviously a secret, and I knew that Tate didn’t want anyone to know the truth. While I understood Tate’s feelings, I thought he was wrong. Crater McMurphy’s killer needed to be apprehended, and if Shannon killed Crater, she needed to pay for it.

  “Okay, bear with me while I explain. On Saturday Tate’s ex, Shannon was supposed to drop off their daughter, Skye, at the Chalet at two-thirty. Sometime after one, Don, our concierge, called to tell me there was a lost child on the premises.”

  “Code Angel?”

  “Yes. I headed up front to help, and the angel in question was Skye. Apparently, Shannon had dumped Skye off alone in the parking lot. No one saw Shannon, but Skye said that is what happened.”

  “Okay, but that only proves that Shannon is a bad parent. What does it have to do with the case?”

  “I will tell you. Please be patient, Jed.”

  Jed sighed, “Fine.”

  “The next day, I met Tate and Skye in town for lunch. Then we rode skateboards, and took the gondola to the top of the mountain to get ice cream.”

  “And you don’t think that was a date? That sure sounds like a date to me,” Jed replied with a groan. Yes, he definitely sounded jealous.

  “Jed, focus. Once we were at the top of the mountain, Skye took off running. Tate went after her. When he found Skye, she insisted that she saw her mom by the ski lifts.”

  “Okaaay,” Jed drew out the word. He sounded exasperated. “I’m still not following you.”

  “Skye’s mom, Shannon, was supposed to be in California. But here’s the thing, I believed Skye. I mean, why would she make up a story like that? Only, Tate told me that he’d gotten a text message from Shannon the previous night with a photo taken in California, so I dropped it.”

  “You think that Shannon lied about being in California?”

  “Maybe? The most compelling thing I can tell you, Jed, and I only just thought of this now, is that Shannon knew too much. She knew what happened on the mountain on Sunday. Yesterday she came into my office and accused me of a bunch of ridiculous stuff. One of the things she accused me of was being a bad childminder. Shannon knew that I was with Tate and Skye on Sunday and she knew that Skye took off. How could she know those things if she was not on the mountain that day?”

  “Maybe Tate or Skye told her what happened?” Jed offered.

  “Maybe, but I don’t think so. First, because Tate and Shannon have a history of disagreeing over their custody arrangements, and second because Tate told me a secret last night.”

  “Okay, Tate, who you maintain is not your boyfriend, shared a secret with you?” Jed groaned again.

  “Ugh! Why are you so infuriating?”

  Jed chuckled. “I’m just trying to get a clear picture of everything, Mandy. You still haven’t convinced me that Shannon had a motive to kill Crater.”

  I sighed, “Tate won’t want anyone to know this, Jed.”

  “And yet you’re going to tell me? I didn’t think you trusted me.”

  “You’re the one who doesn’t trust me, Jed. Anyway, you may owe me dinner along with our double feature once I break this case for you. But you have to promise me, if the secret I know turns out to be irrelevant, you have to keep it to yourself.”

  “Done. No arguments here—unless you want to bring Tate along on our date—then we might have an argument.”

  I felt my face growing warm, but I shook my head trying not to let Jed side-track me. He is the king of subterfuge. I exhaled deeply. “Crater McMurphy is Skye’s biological father, and I am pretty sure that Shannon was blackmailing him to pay child support.” I held my breath and waited for Jed to reply.

  “How do you know that?” Weirdly, Jed didn’t sound surprised by my claims of blackmail.

  “Tate told me. There was a paternity test and everything.”

  “Do you know what you just did, Mandy?” Jed’s voice creaked in disbelief. “You just made Tate a suspect again.”

  “No, I just told you that Shannon is the suspect. Were you not listening to me?” I was growing frustrated with Jed.

  “Mandy, you just gave Tate a motive to kill Crater. He’s been caring for the other man’s daughter for eight years. And Tate is a leftie. Furthermore, Tate has about five hours of unaccounted time on Friday night. He could have easily found his way out of those woods and killed Crater.”

  “So what? Tate loves Skye. He wouldn’t put himself in jeopardy that way. Tate wouldn’t risk losing his daughter. I’m telling you, Jed, you need to look into Shannon as a suspect.”

  “Mandy, I’ve met Shannon. That little woman wouldn’t weigh one hundred pounds soaking wet. How do you suppose she killed Crater McMurphy? And why would she? She was already getting child support from him.”

  “I don’t know. I just have a feeling. Maybe Crater decided he wasn’t going to pay her anymore. And don’t forget, we were looking for a female suspect. Maybe Shannon is tougher than you think. Please, speak to Agent Riley about the possibility of Shannon being Crater’s killer.”

  Jed let out a deep frustrated breath. “Fine. I will talk to Agent Riley. But Mandy, this doesn’t necessarily let Tate off the hook.” He was right. I just needed to have a little faith.

  “Thank you for agreeing to look into Shannon,” I sighed. I hoped I hadn’t messed things up too badly for Tate. “By the way, what did Agent Riley say when you asked her out?”

  Jed groaned. “You won our bet, but you can’t let this go, can you? You are a sore winner, Mandy Swift. You still have that competitive edge.”

  “You are right. I can’t let it go, Jed. Especially since you refuse to believe that Tate and I are not dating.”

  “Why aren’t you dating him? You like the guy, don’t you?”

&
nbsp; “Really?” I sighed again. “What if I were to tell you that I liked Tate, but things were just too messy to pursue anything with him?”

  “Messy how?” Jed asked. His voice sounded more upbeat.

  “I don’t know.” I looked out my window and pondered his question for a few seconds. “Tate’s life is really complicated. He has a young daughter who knows me, and she is impressionable. If Tate and I dated and it didn’t work out—what would happen? Also, his ex is a nightmare. I don’t think that is the kind of relationship I want to find myself in.” I took a deep breath. “I know I seem amazing and worldly, Jed,” I laughed uncomfortably, “but I’m still a simple small-town girl at heart.”

  “Don’t you think most relationships are complicated?”

  “I don’t know. I just know that I saw what it would look like to be involved with Tate, and it scared me. I think I need to be in a relationship with someone who I have more things in common with than I do with Tate.”

  “I understand that. In answer to your question, Agent Riley said that she wouldn’t go out with me because it was a conflict of interest. We work together. It wouldn’t be ethical for us to date. Also, she’s in a hurry to get back to Denver. My guess is that she might have someone there. Agent Riley also said that she thought that you were interested in me.”

  Ack! “What? She didn’t.” What the hell did Agent Riley think she was doing?

  “She did.” I could practically hear the smile in Jed’s voice. “Agent Riley said she thought I was interested in you too. I guess she’s a pretty good investigator.”

  “Jed?” I said his name questioning what he was up to.

  “Mandy.” His voice was soft but firm, and righteous.

  I didn’t know what to say. There I was, speaking to my oldest friend, no, my oldest ex-friend, and he admitted that he still had feelings for me. It had been a decade since we had our dispute. And weirdly, I was questioning if I had feelings for him too. Lately, it seemed like I thought about him constantly. Jed wasn’t the same guy he was when we were kids. When we were kids, I thought of Jed as ‘brotherly,’ but after a decade apart, I didn’t think of him that way anymore. I just wasn’t sure how I felt about Jed. I knew he frustrated me, I knew he astounded me, and I knew I was thinking about this too much. If my recent thoughts about him were any indication, then yes, I did have new feelings for my ex-friend.