by J A Whiting
“Has Kyle ever shared personal things with you? Has he talked freely about how he was feeling? About anything that was wrong in his life? Did he confide in you?”
Brayden hesitated. “Why do you ask me these things?”
Peter said, “Because his wife is dead and we’re concerned about Kyle. He seems to have gone away. No one has seen him or spoken with him for a couple of days.”
Brayden’s face seemed to pale. “Oh, no.”
19
“I need to tell you a few things.” Brayden looked down at the floor.
A wave of nervousness flashed through Nell’s body, and she took a quick glance at Peter.
Letting out a long breath of air, Brayden ran his hand over his hair. “Kyle’s been on edge lately.”
Peter and Nell waited for the man to go on.
“Kyle doesn’t want to get married. He wanted to break off the engagement.” Brayden looked straight at Peter. “This doesn’t mean Kyle hurt Jen. It doesn’t mean he’s guilty. He would never do anything like that. He’s a good guy.”
Nell wondered how many times Peter had heard such things only to find out the person being defended was indeed guilty.
Peter used a calm, steady tone of voice. “Did Kyle tell you he didn’t want to get married?”
“He did. He was over here about a month ago. He got weepy-eyed. Kyle said he couldn’t get married. He didn’t want to hurt Jen, but he didn’t want to marry her. He got swept up in things, but he realized he wanted to stay single. Kyle didn’t want a family, but Jen did. He couldn’t go ahead with it. He was very upset. He didn’t know what to do.”
“Did you give him advice?” Nell asked.
“I told him to just tell her. There wasn’t anything else that could be done. I told him it would be hard, but eventually they’d both be glad he spoke up. He couldn’t get married. He’d regret it and it would end badly, and that would be worse for Jen than being honest and telling her now.”
“How did Kyle take your advice?” Nell asked the man. “Was he receptive to it?”
“I think he knew what he had to do even before he asked for my advice,” Brayden said.
“Did he bring it up with Jen?” Peter asked.
“He didn’t get around to it.” Brayden shook his head. “He couldn’t bring himself to talk to her about it. After Jen died, Kyle said he was glad he hadn’t brought it up. At least, Jen died thinking that he wanted to marry her.”
“Was Kyle seeing someone else?”
Brayden sat straight. “No, he wasn’t. That wasn’t the reason he wanted to call off the wedding.”
“He’d fallen out of love with Jennifer?” Nell asked.
“The marriage wouldn’t have worked out. Kyle isn’t the type of guy who could settle down. He has wanderlust. He likes his job, but he wants to be done with it. He wants to hike the world, travel everywhere. He wants to do it by himself, on his own terms. Kyle can’t be tied to someone, to a regular middle-class lifestyle. He tried to think he could, but it just wouldn’t have worked. He realized that just recently.”
“And he talked to you about all of this?” Peter asked.
“He did. I think I’m the only one he felt comfortable talking about it with.” Brayden looked out the window. “When you went to do a wellness check on Kyle, was his car in the driveway?”
Peter nodded.
“So he didn’t leave and take his car.” Brayden seemed to be thinking things over.
“Is there a friend Kyle would have gone off with?” Nell asked.
“Yeah, me.”
“Anyone else?” Peter asked.
“Not in the state he was in. Kyle would have been embarrassed. He would never discuss deep feelings with other guys.” Brayden shook his head. “Where did he go? Did the police run a check on his credit cards? Did he rent a car? Do you know where he might have gone?”
“A check on his cards was run. It didn’t turn up any activity involving travel plans. Can you give it some thought? Can you think of someone Kyle might have gone away with for a few days?”
Brayden rubbed at his temple. “I can’t think of anyone.”
“Does Kyle have a place he goes to in order to relax? To get away from things?” Peter questioned.
“The state park. He’d hike, kayak, be by himself.”
Peter nodded. “Anywhere else?”
“I’m sorry.” Brayden lifted his hands helplessly.
“What about family? I understand he didn’t have any siblings.”
“No brothers or sisters. He was estranged from his father. Kyle’s mom died a couple of years ago.”
“Do you know what caused the estrangement?”
“His father walked out on Kyle’s mother when he was just a baby. He never knew his father. He didn’t care to know him.”
“So there isn’t anyone he would go to visit?” Nell asked.
“I don’t think so. I never knew him to go visit anyone.” Brayden looked from Nell to Peter. “Do you think something bad has happened to Kyle? Do you think he … took his own life?”
“We’re still investigating,” Peter said solemnly.
Brayden’s eyes misted over and he coughed to clear his throat. “It’s so strange, isn’t it? Two weeks ago, Jen and Kyle were alive and active. Now Jen is dead and Kyle is missing. Maybe he’s dead, too. I can’t believe it. What’s happened to the world? It’s like I’m living in a nightmare.”
“Did Kyle ever mention a life insurance policy?” Peter asked with a gentle tone.
Brayden stared at him, blinking. “Life insurance?”
“On Jennifer?”
“Kyle held a life insurance policy on Jen?” Brayden looked like he’d been struck. “Oh, no, it’s not what you’re thinking. He wouldn’t do that. Kyle would never hurt Jen. Never. Not for all the money in the world.” The young man shook his head. “This is an unbelievable mess.”
More like a catastrophe, Nell thought.
When Nell returned home, she and Violet went for a walk with the dogs. A sliver of moon shone in the dark sky while Nell told her sister about the meeting with Kyle’s good friend, Brayden Sales.
“Every time I hear something new about Kyle, it makes me think he’s the killer,” Violet said. “He didn’t want to get married. He wanted to quit his job and hike around the world. I bet he wanted to get rid of Jennifer so he could collect the life insurance money. I bet he skipped town when he thought the police were close to figuring it out. I don’t think he hurt himself. He’s running away. He’s been hopping on trains trying to get as far away from Bluewater as he can go.”
“That could be, or he could be hiding out in the state park watching and waiting,” Nell said. “He might want to lay low for a while. He might be afraid the police will find him if he’s traveling around.”
John Patrick, the neighbor, spotted the young women and the dogs strolling down the street in the dark, and he called to them. Iris and Oscar woofed when they heard the man’s voice and they trotted over to John’s porch to greet their friend.
“I knocked on your door earlier,” John told the sisters. “I decided to sit out here on the porch and watch for you to come home.”
“Is everything okay?” Nell asked.
“I talked to an old buddy of mine, Bob Willoughby. We worked together for years. He still works part-time writing for news outlets, enjoys keeping his finger on the pulse of things.” John smiled. “I loved the job, but it was time to go. I don’t know why Bob can’t slow down. He knows a lot of people … and finds out a lot of things. Anyway, he had some interesting gossip to tell me about your case.”
Nell and Violet had taken seats on the porch and were eager to hear what John had learned.
“Jennifer’s body has been released to her next of kin,” John said.
“To her sister, Mari?” Nell asked.
“No. Jennifer’s parents have some health problems and prefer not to travel so they sent a representative here to town to collect the woman’s body and
take her back to Seattle.”
“Why not have Mari accompany the body?” Violet asked.
“Mr. and Mrs. Harding had a falling out with Mari about two years ago. Both Mari and Jennifer were on the board of directors of their parents’ company. Due to the health problems, they were lessening their involvement with the business. Mari had been taking over a lot of duties even though she lived here in Bluewater. Anyway, the Hardings discovered that their dear daughter, Mari, was stealing from them. They didn’t want to prosecute their daughter, but they cut her off and were slowly transferring Mari’s duties to Jennifer. They don’t want to see Mari again which seems harsh to me, but that’s their choice. They would not allow Mari to escort Jennifer’s body back home. In fact, they won’t allow Mari to take part in the planned services for Jennifer.”
“Wow.” Nell shook her head. “Mari can seem hard and really driven. She must have thought she could take her inheritance while her parents were still alive.”
“We see how that worked out for her,” Violet said. “That was really bold to steal from the company. Since she was handling more duties, maybe Mari thought of it as the family’s business so decided she could take money from it as she wished.”
Nell said, “When we’ve talked to her, she’s seems like a bit of an odd duck. Mari seems like she has a hard time reading people. Things seem black and white to her. She doesn’t show emotion. She’s very business-like. She’s sort of militant in her training. We heard she could be hard on her sister, chiding Jennifer for not being a better athlete. Mari is probably one of those people who doesn’t realize how harsh her words and actions can seem to others.”
Violet said to John, “It’s a good thing you found out this stuff. If we see Mari again, we’ll be careful not to bring up anything about Jennifer’s body being accompanied home by her parents’ representative. It’s probably a sore spot for her.”
“Yeah,” Nell agreed. “No need to get Mari angry when we’re trying to talk to her about the case. She’ll shut right down and won’t be any help at all.”
20
In the afternoon, Nell and Violet met Peter and Mari Harding at Dani’s café where they took a table out on the patio away from everyone else. Before arriving, Peter texted the sisters to tell them he’d found out some interesting information and wanted to see how Mari reacted when he brought it up.
On the way to the café, Nell and Violet discussed what Peter might have discovered, but couldn’t come up with anything.
Mari Harding did not look thrilled to be there. She wore a frown on her face and she answered general questions with an edge of annoyance.
“I didn’t think I’d have to talk to you again,” Mari told Peter. “Unless you have some news on the case, are you planning to rehash everything we’ve talked about previously?”
“There is some news,” Peter said. “It’s news to me, but it won’t be to you. I’ve learned that you were let go from your job.”
Nell and Violet took a quick look at each other.
Mari’s eyes darkened. “You go around behind my back to look for dirt on me?”
“Not exactly.” Peter poured a little milk into his coffee. “We check on facts and details to corroborate that people were where they told me they were. When we checked with your employer, they told us you’d been let go three weeks ago and no longer worked there.”
“It’s an invasion of privacy,” Mari huffed.
“Why didn’t you tell me about the change in your employment status?” Peter asked.
“I didn’t think it was any of your business. What’s that got to do with Jen’s accident? If I thought it was important to Jen’s case, I would have told you. Getting laid off is a blow to a person’s confidence. I didn’t want to talk about it or bring it up. It’s embarrassing. I feel sensitive about it.”
“I understand,” Peter said. “Did you see your sister at the park on the morning of her death?”
“I answered that question before, too. I was running in the park already … before Jen and Kyle got there.”
Peter leaned forward. “So you didn’t see Jennifer in the park?”
“No.” Mari was so exasperated that she answered unnecessarily loud.
Violet asked, “You stopped by Jen’s house before you went to the park that day, right?”
Mari turned her head to look at the young woman. “Yeah, I did. I already told you people that. I was on my run. I stopped at her house for a bandage.”
“Was Jennifer acting differently than usual?” Violet knew that Mari had answered this question when Peter interviewed her before, but she wanted to see how Mari responded to being asked again.
“She was normal. Why are you asking me everything over again?” Mari looked at the three people. “Are you trying to trip me up? You can’t find the criminal so you have to trick innocent people into mixing up their answers so you can pin Jen’s death on them?”
Peter said calmly, “It’s important to ask questions more than once in case the person remembers something they’d forgotten.”
“I have a very good memory,” Mari reported. “I don’t forget important stuff.”
“Did you see Kyle that morning?” Peter asked.
“Briefly, at the house,” Mari said. “He was fussy. I ignored him. Kyle doesn’t like the heat and he was annoyed that Lindsey and Joel were making them leave later than he wanted to.”
“Did you notice how Kyle and Jen were interacting?”
Mari let out a sigh. “They seemed abrupt with each other like maybe they’d had an argument before I got there. I was glad to leave and get on with my run.”
“Did Jen know you’d lost your job?” Peter asked.
Mari made a face. “I hadn’t told her yet.”
“What about Kyle? Did he happen to know?”
“He’d be the last person I’d tell.” Mari crossed her arms over her chest. “I told you, Kyle and I weren’t exactly pals. He would have been gloating over me losing my job. I didn’t want to see his smug face.”
“Will losing your job be a financial hardship?” Peter asked.
Mari’s eyes widened. “Would it be a financial hardship if you lost your source of income? Of, course it would. It would be hard on most people, but I have some savings. I’m an electrical engineer. It won’t take long for me to find a new job. I’ll be fine.” Mari shook her head slowly. “Jen and I were talking about living together again. We bought a small house together a few years ago before I got divorced and Jen was just out of school. She asked if I’d be interested in living together again if she decided to break up with Kyle. We’d been discussing the possibility. Then this happened.”
“We understand Jennifer’s body has been released by the medical examiner.” Having learned from Nell and Violet that Mari had a poor relationship with her parents, Peter wanted to see her reaction to this statement.
Mari’s expression hardened. “I heard that, too. I won’t be accompanying her home. You probably know that my parents and I don’t have the best relationship.”
“What happened?” Peter asked.
“I’d been helping my parents with their company. I borrowed some money from the business, sort of a short-term loan. My parents accused me of stealing the funds. I planned to pay it back, but they wouldn’t listen. They wouldn’t believe me. My parents don’t want me around. They won’t let me attend Jen’s service.” Mari shook her head.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Violet told the woman.
Nell had been watching the colors around Mari. They’d changed from red to yellow to orange in the space of a few minutes. The specific shades represented anger, conflict, and aggression … probably reflecting Mari’s feelings of injustice towards her parents.
“Jen knows how I felt about her,” Mari said with a sigh. “I don’t need to be at the service. It’s just as well.”
“Have you applied to new jobs?” Violet asked. “Do you want to stay in the area?”
“It doesn’t matter to me.
I might like a place with better weather so I don’t have to run and bike in snow. A warmer climate appeals to me. If I find an interesting job in the south or southwest, I’d take it.”
“Is your old company downsizing?” Nell asked. “Did they lay off a number of people?”
“No, just me. I take too much time off from work for competitions and events,” Mari said. “My priority is not my job. That’s what they told me. The company has been bought out. The old management liked the publicity my athletic accomplishments brought them. This new company doesn’t care about things like that.” The woman shrugged. “Things change and I can’t control it, so I’ve decided to consider change to be new opportunity. I have to let go of the past and move forward.”
When the discussion ended, Peter, Nell, and Violet headed to the car.
“Sometimes I don’t like Mari at all,” Nell said. “She’s harsh and abrupt and can seem unfeeling. And then other times, I feel sorry for her. I don’t know whether to believe what she tells us or not. Are her feelings put on? Is she playing the victim when she talks about her parents? Does she even care that her sister died, or is she glad because now she can collect the life insurance money?” Nell told them about the colors she saw coming off of Mari. “They seem to be a reflection of the resentment she feels for her parents.”
“There are at least two sides to every story,” Peter said. “Did the parents blow the money issue out of proportion? Did Mari have no intention of paying it back? Is she making her parents out to be the bad guys when she’s actually the bad guy who stole from the company?”
“It’s hard to get a handle on Mari,” Nell said. “I’m having a hard time figuring her out. I can’t tell if she’s being truthful or not.”
“Well, her marriage failed and now she’s lost her parents, her sister, and her job,” Violet pointed out. “It’s a good thing Mari says she’s embracing change because at the moment, she’s got a whole heap of it to deal with.”
