MURDEROUS MORNING: A heart-stopping crime novel with a stunning end.

by Bernadette Calonego

  Glenda turned toward her. “Harrison sometimes helps Cindy with bookkeeping. But apparently he’s not here now.”

  Tessa felt trapped in somebody else’s car. “Glenda, can I help you in any way?”

  “Was Harrison here? He wanted to talk about the press conference with you.”

  “No. It was Cindy who contacted me.”

  “Aha. She did.” Glenda drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. By mistake she hit the horn, and both of them jumped.

  “I offered her the possibility of talking it over with you first,” Tessa explained. “You shouldn’t have any worries about it.”

  Glenda pushed her hair to the back of her head. It looked messy and uncombed.

  “Fran was a good mother,” she volunteered. “She gave us wonderful grandchildren, and now there are none left.” Tessa had never heard her talk positively about Fran until now that she was dead. “It’s terrible, everything is . . . simply awful,” she whispered. “Find the murderer, Tessa. Find him fast.”

  “The police have to do that.”

  “I know, I know, but you simply can’t wait and watch what the police are doing. You can’t do that.”

  No, she couldn’t. But she didn’t want to admit that to Glenda. She didn’t want to raise any expectations she couldn’t fulfill.

  “The main investigator, Ron Halprin, has a really good reputation . . .”

  “If people don't speak up, he can’t do anything.”

  “He’ll do everything he can to make people talk. And sometimes they also make mistakes.”

  “Who? The police or the murderer?”

  “I was talking about the murderer.”

  Glenda pressed her face against the steering wheel. She stayed like that for a while without talking. Tessa smelled something new. She was familiar with it. The smell of fear. Spontaneously she stroked the shoulders of the desperate woman next to her.

  Suddenly Glenda sat up. Tessa saw determination in her eyes. “I won’t tell Cindy that you were in there alone. And you won’t tell anybody I was here.”

  Tessa thought about it before she asked Glenda: “Can you put the key back into the flowerpot? That’s where it belongs.”

  “As sure as there’s Amen at church,” Hank’s mother replied.

  As Tessa headed for the highway, leaving Glenda behind, she thought about their conversation. About the crushed figure behind the steering wheel. It wasn’t true that pain unites people, as it is often said. When you’re desperate, you’re on your own.

  Back on the highway to the center of Whatou Lake, she stopped at a dirt road that turned off to the right. During the night she had sent Boyd Shenkar an email about the events of the day. She wanted to hear his opinion. But first she looked in the bag from the boutique in order to see what Cindy had put in it. It was a bottle of essential oil. She opened it and sniffed. The aroma seemed familiar. Where had she smelled it before? She grabbed her cell phone from the passenger seat and called Boyd’s number. He picked up right away. And this was on a Saturday.

  “So you’ve found Fran,” was the first thing he said. “How are you holding up?” Boyd’s voice was as warm as a cozy room at Christmas when you have come in from the cold.

  “I’m trying to suppress it all, otherwise I can’t think straight. I’m running around like a zombie.”

  “Then let me help you think, Tessa.”

  “My father and I touched Fran and left some clues behind. Afterward I was questioned by Ron Halprin, and my father was also taken in for an interrogation. What should I do now? Naturally we are under suspicion.”

  “Don’t sweat it. Cooperate with the investigators. Usually that helps. Tell your father that as well. Drill that into his head.”

  “Are you trying to say that my father is under suspicion of murder?”

  “No, Tessa, I don’t want to say anything like that. Apparently you haven’t ruled out suicide.”

  “If it was suicide . . . why would Fran commit suicide . . . maybe even on the same day that the murders happened? And who hid Fran in Bob Barker’s shed after her death? I saw drag marks on the ground.”

  “Did you see tire marks that weren’t from your Pathfinder?”

  “I didn’t notice any. The ground is pretty dry here. In the last couple of days there was some rain but then the wind dried everything up.”

  In the background, she heard somebody calling Boyd, but he continued talking: “If it wasn’t Bob Barker, it was somebody who knew the area around Whatou Lake really well.”

  “Yes, I agree. It drives me crazy that I’m not making any real progress.”

  “These are crazy times, Tessa. It would also drive me nuts if it were my family. But as an outsider, I see—”

  “Don’t try to protect me, Boyd. It can’t get any worse for me than it already is.”

  “It’s a big help to the investigators that her body has been found. They don’t have to waste their time anymore looking for her. A body speaks volumes . . . DNA, microscopic marks on the body.”

  “Why can’t we find the murderer or the murderers through the gun that shot Hank and the children?”

  “Halprin has certainly called in the gun experts. They need time for their investigation. They need time to trace the origin of the gun. Especially if they find out that the gun doesn’t have any special features.”

  “How much time? Weeks? Months?”

  He didn’t bother answering because he didn’t have to give an answer. She knew that as well as anybody. “I can’t wait that long, Boyd. Because my parents can’t wait that long for an answer.”

  “Please don’t forget: it hasn’t even been a week since it happened.”

  “I know, I know.” A feeling of helplessness rose up in Tessa that threatened to smother her. “Today at four the public will be informed. I can hardly wait.”

  Several cars from Whatou Lake drove by, and Tessa turned her face away from the road. She didn’t want to meet any curious eyes.

  Boyd dampened her hopes when he gave her one final thing to think about: “My instinct tells me that Halprin is not going to reveal much today. Take that as a good sign. In case they’ re close to their goal, they will not want to have the work that they’ve done so far fall to pieces.”

  That was not what Tessa wanted to hear. And she also didn’t want to hear what Boyd said next: “Please don’t try to put a spike in their wheel, Tessa. Don’t wake sleeping dogs. They know what they’re doing.”

  She felt exhausted. “I want to see if I can get my pistol back from the police.”

  This time Boyd was too smart to try to prepare her for another possible disappointment. “Call me at any time. I will be in court on Monday and Tuesday, but I can call you back during the breaks.”

  “Thanks, Boyd. You’re an angel.”

  “Where there are devils, there are also angels.” He ended the conversation abruptly, as if he was already regretting having made a joke.

  She closed her eyes and tipped her chair back. Just give me five minutes before the hunt starts again. Now and then she heard a car driving by. Her heartbeat slowed down and her breathing relaxed. Just five minutes.

  A knocking woke her up. She blinked into the light until she saw a face through the glass.

  34

  “My God, you almost scared me out of my wits,” Dana exclaimed. “I saw Ken’s car and then I saw you lying in it.”

  Tessa reacted sleepily. “I was talking with Boyd. Then I just dozed off.”

  “Oh poor thing, you’re so exhausted. Come on over to my place. Then we can talk things over in peace and quiet.”

  “Okay.” Tessa put the seatback up straight and turned on the motor. She felt like a sleepwalker.

  Fifteen minutes later she was drinking tea in Dana’s living room. Her friend sat in a rocking chair and listened to what she had to say. She was wearing native jewelry. Tessa told her everything, even about her conversation with Tsaytis Chelin, but not about her meeting with Glenda Miller, since she felt obligat
ed not to talk about Hank’s mother.

  Dana sometimes replied with a Mm-hmm or a Really? until Tessa started talking about Telford Reed. Then Dana expressed her doubts.

  “I don’t really understand that guy,” she said. “Why isn’t he selling the outfitter license to Harrison Miller? Reed seems to need the money. Why is he still trying to make a deal with the Sitklat’l? Normally businessmen aren’t so . . . generous and patient, if you understand what I’m saying.”

  “Maybe he’s convinced that something is more important to him than fast money.”

  “Yes, sometimes that happens in movies, but in real life . . .”

  “He met with Fran at least once in the cabin on Beaver Lake. Somebody saw the two of them.”

  Dana’s eyes opened wide. “When?”

  “About ten days ago.”

  “Really? Tsaytis saw Telford, right?”

  Instead of answering the question, Tessa went on: “Telford and Fran came out of the cabin and then drove off on their ATVs in the direction of the V4 logging road.”

  “You should ask Telford directly about that.”

  “On Monday, Fran flew to Whatou Lake on the floatplane. She must have arrived there in the late afternoon. Are nosebleeds dangerous?”

  “If you can’t stop it, it probably is. If she arrived late in Whatou Lake, she must have been in the ER at the hospital and a lot of people would have seen her.”

  “Maybe she went right to Dr. Kellermann? The doctor’s assistant would have known about it,” Tessa pointed out.

  Dana shook her head. “She’s not allowed to talk about such things. She has to be discreet. Otherwise she’ll lose her job. The police must certainly know about it.”

  “And what did Fran do after that? Who did she meet?”

  Dana stopped rocking. “Why are you looking at me like that? She didn’t come to my place, and I haven’t seen her, if that’s what you mean.”

  “Wouldn’t she stop at your place on the way? Spend the night here?”

  “She used to do that. But not since February. Maybe you should ask Telford Reed about that.” Dana stood up. “I’m hungry. You too? Would you like soup and a sandwich? Like the last time?”

  “I should at least try to eat. I haven’t had much for the last couple of days. I feel groggy.”

  Soup and a sandwich. Tessa remembered the two plates and the two glasses she had seen in Dana’s kitchen after her father had left. I saw Ken’s car, Dana had said half an hour earlier on the highway. Tessa watched her as she got the food ready.

  “Was Dad here yesterday afternoon, before he picked me up at the floatplane dock?” she blurted out.

  “Yes, he made a quick visit here.” Dana didn’t explain further.

  Tessa pictured the envelope in Dana’s wastebasket that had drawn her attention. She had seen the same envelope in Dad’s office. It had a blossoming Pacific dogwood tree stamped on it.

  Dana arrived with the sandwiches and handed a plate to her. Their eyes met. She sat down in the rocking chair. “I know what you want to know. I have nothing to hide.”

  Tessa lowered the sandwich she had just picked up and put it back on the plate. She had the feeling she was about to experience something that would have serious consequences.

  “Your father is the love of my life. But it’s unrequited love. Nothing has ever happened between us. Ken loves Martha. Period.”

  Tessa stared at the native jewelry on Dana’s black top. Dana laid her hands in her lap. “There’s nobody who’s his equal. That’s why I never married . . . or never lived with another man. For Ken I’m just a good friend, nothing more.”

  She got up and sat down next to Tessa on the sofa. “Our friendship has lasted over all these years and I’m proud of that. I don’t go around talking about it because only a few would understand.” She looked right at Tessa.

  “Of all people, you’re the one who should understand me the best, Tessa.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you once had the same feelings for Tsaytis. But you got rid of them. You went away. I didn’t want to leave here. Whatou Lake needed me. The new social workers could never stand it here for long. And I feel at home here.”

  Tessa heard the ticking of the old grandfather clock, an heirloom Dana was proud of. In the courtroom and with clients, Tessa always had a reply ready, an argument, an accusation. In her personal life, it wasn’t so easy.

  “Thank you for your openness, Dana. I . . . simply have to deal with too many other things at the moment.”

  “Come, eat your sandwich. And your tea is getting cold. That’s no big deal. The really big dramas play out somewhere else.”

  They both ate silently without looking at each other. Tessa understood only too well that her father was a fascinating person to other people. She would have had great difficulty describing her intense bond with him. While her mother was busy giving her attention to the many children, her father’s affection had remained unchanged. Their bond also had a genetic manifestation: their feet had six toes. This anomaly that she shared with her father made her feel special.

  “Does Mom know about this?” she asked spontaneously.

  “Probably not. I never gave her any reason for suspicion. And neither did your father.”

  “But . . . what about his visits with you?”

  “Ken is always visiting people. Women and men.” Dana looked at her thoughtfully. “Ken would never leave Martha. Back when he was getting to know her, she pulled him out of a deep hole.”

  “What deep hole?”

  “He was very much in love with a woman who later left him painfully in the lurch. He had serious intentions and big hopes. But then she dropped him and almost immediately after that married another man. Later Ken found out that she had slept with the man while she was still together with him.”

  Tessa was speechless. She had never heard anything about this story.

  “Who was this woman?” she asked when she found her tongue again.

  “He never told me that. There’s another thing that you don’t know about your father. Yesterday . . .” Dana suddenly seemed to realize that she had gone too far. But it was already too late.

  “What did you want to say?” Tessa asked.

  Dana hesitated, but then she saw that she had to finish her statement. “Yesterday he took the dogs to a woman he knows, where they are going to stay. Her dog had just died, and she wanted new dogs to have around. It’s a good home.”

  “That will make Harrison Miller furious.”

  “Ken will never give the dogs to Harrison. Never.”

  “Dad won’t get away with it. They were Hank’s dogs.”

  “They were also Fran’s dogs.”

  “And Lionel?”

  “Lionel doesn’t want them. Cindy has enough to do with her own little dog. The poor animal is sick, diabetes. She has to give it insulin injections every day.”

  Tessa absent-mindedly chewed on her sandwich. Dana would always defend her dad. Could it be that it was Dana who had warned her mother about Fran accusing Dad of giving her tranquilizers without telling her? She had to put the pressure on.

  “Did you, by any chance, pass along information to my mother?”

  Dana wiped mayonnaise off her mouth. “What kind of information?”

  “Fran accused Dad of having given her strong drugs to calm her down when she was a child. Mom got this information from somebody. Was that you?”

  Dana’s answer was a simple yes. Tessa waited. She had the feeling that her friend was about to spill the beans. Instead she went back into the kitchen and got some napkins. When she sat down, she began to talk again: “Fran came to me after a séance with Melanie Pleeke. She was . . . she was completely out of control. She told me that Melanie had succeeded in taking her back to her childhood. And what she found out was that Ken routinely gave her drugs. Far too many drugs. And because of that, she was now addicted. That’s of course complete bullshit, and right away I said that to Fran.”

&n
bsp; Dana was about to take a sip of tea, but her hands were shaking so much that she had to put the cup down. “I tried to talk her out of that nonsense. I said to her that I would confront Melanie Pleeke and accuse her of slander. Nevertheless, Fran defended Melanie.”

  Tessa sat there as if she were paralyzed. What had been brewing in Whatou Lake over the last few weeks? And she had had no idea of the looming catastrophe.

  Dana continued: “The longer I talked with Fran, the more insistent she became. I could have shaken her in anger. She thought that she had found a scapegoat for her problems.” Dana’s fury was written on her face. “In the end, she ran outside. She was really upset. She was completely beside herself! I desperately tried to figure out what I could do to stop her from doing something really stupid. I didn’t have any idea what she might do with her ‘new’ information. So I called up the only person I knew who could stop Fran.”

  “My mother.” It sounded like a computer was speaking through Tessa.

  Dana nodded. “Martha knows everything about Fran. She would do the right thing to stop her from spreading lies about Ken.”

  “What do you mean by stop? What does Mom know about Fran that we don’t know?”

  “You have to ask her that yourself.”

  Dana tried again to drink her tea; she swallowed quickly and almost spilled it.

  Tessa was concentrating on what she had heard. On the cross-examination.

  “So you and Mom joined forces against Fran?”

  “Call it what you want. But in my eyes Fran was a ticking bomb that was threatening to go off at any time. Not only Ken, but the whole family would have been affected by it.”

  “Did you confront Melanie Pleeke?”

  “Of course.”

  “How did she react?”

  “Like a mouse in a trap. I really scared her. That’s the only method that works with such people.”

  “How did you scare her?”

  “As a social worker, I know things about people that others don’t know.”

  “Did you tell the police about this whole matter?”

  Dana fell silent. So the answer was no. Tessa pursed her lips and exhaled loudly. She was always amazed at how much people could stick together if necessary. They could be absolutely watertight. People gossiped a lot, and a secret often didn’t remain a secret for long. But when it was really important, they kept mum.