“That’s nothing but a big lie,” Eric said.
“Then why did you approach Sabrina yesterday, warning her not to publish the book?” Meg asked.
“The only thing worse than the truth is having lies published about you,” Eric revealed.
Connor could see they were making no progress on this front. He decided to take the questioning in a new direction. “Where were you between midnight and one?”
“My father and I were at the bar,” Eric answered.
“What bar?” Connor asked.
“Shorty’s.”
Shorty’s was a local dive bar. That wasn’t the kind of place Meg would expect to find two of the most well-heeled men in town to ever set foot in. Meg’s gut immediately had a reaction to that answer.
Connor also found that reply to be quite curious, for another reason. “You were with your dad?”
Eric clearly hated having to repeat his answer. “You heard me.”
“That’s funny. Your dad told us he was at home with your mother between midnight and one. Since he couldn’t be in two places at once, obviously someone is lying,” Connor reasoned.
Eric stammered. “He might have gotten the time mixed up. My dad had a few drinks. Sometimes he’s not great with exact times.”
Connor wasn’t buying Eric’s story. “Uh huh. Well, this will be easy enough to verify. I’ll just have Shorty pull the security tape from last night.”
Connor hoped that would be enough to strike fear in Eric, but he didn’t budge an inch.
“Go ahead. I’m not afraid. I didn’t do anything,” Eric insisted.
“We’ll see about that. In the meantime, I’d head back inside if I were you,” Connor warned.
Chapter Fifteen
Meg and Connor headed over to Shorty’s bar to try and sort out Eric and Adam Treadwell’s alibis.
Shorty Jacobs, a height-challenged former biker turned barkeep with enough ink to single-handedly keep the local tattoo parlor in business on his own, did not seem eager to show off his establishment’s security tapes.
He was even less excited about the idea of being served with a search warrant. Shorty had the look of a man that wanted Meg and Connor to do as little poking around his bar as possible. He reluctantly gave them a peek at his security tapes while simultaneously looking completely on edge.
In this instance, Meg was happy to be working alongside Connor with this case. No way would she have been able to get a look at the tapes without Connor’s police badge. As a matter of fact, witch powers or not, Meg didn’t even like setting foot in a dive bar like Shorty’s.
That’s why it was so surprising to see visual evidence that Adam and Eric Treadwell really did come here last night. Just as Meg and Connor suspected, the video also confirmed that Eric had only told them a half-truth.
Meg looked at the time stamp on the videotape, clearly showing Adam and Eric leaving the bar shortly before midnight and not returning.
Connor turned to Meg after watching the tape. “Looks like someone has some explaining to do.”
Chapter Sixteen
Getting Eric Treadwell to talk to them again wouldn’t be easy. Meg and Connor returned to Eric’s house, only to receive no answer when they knocked on the door. They knew he was home because his car was in the driveway. The question became, why did he think he could get out of talking to them?
Connor groaned as Eric didn’t answer his latest set of knocks.
“We’re getting nowhere fast,” Connor said.
“Keep trying,” Meg replied.
She then started walking away.
Connor furrowed his brow. “Where are you going?”
“I’m going to go check around back,” Meg said.
“Good idea,” he replied.
***
Connor thought Meg was heading to the backyard to make sure Eric Treadwell didn’t try to slip out. Really, she just wanted to be out of Connor’s eye line so she could cast a spell. The moment she was out of view, Meg cast a spell that set off the sprinklers in Eric’s house.
As the inside of Eric’s place got doused with water, she knew it wouldn’t be long before he came out running.
She was right.
It only took half a minute for Eric to get flushed out of his house, where Connor stopped him on the doorstep. Meg darted back to the front of the house and rejoined Connor to question Eric.
Connor wasted no time, firing a question at Eric. “Why were you trying to hide from us?”
Eric was still trying to figure out what had just happened. His shirt was wet, he was cold, and now he was being confronted by an angry homicide detective.
There was panic in Eric’s voice as he replied. “I just had my headphones on while I was working out. I couldn’t hear the doorbell.”
Connor didn’t buy that for one second. “Stop lying to us.”
“But--”
Eric tried to get a word in edgewise, but Connor was on a roll.
“We were just at Shorty’s. He showed us the security tape. You and your father left the bar before midnight. Even more, Shorty’s is only a few blocks from where Sabrina was murdered. You could have easily gone straight from Shorty’s to the motel and killed Sabrina,” Connor explained.
Eric went into damage control mode. “This is all just a big mix-up. Like I said, my father and I had a few drinks, so we were shaky about the time. Trust me, I left the bar and came straight home.”
“First of all, the last thing we’re going to do is trust you. Second, you have no one to verify your alibi,” Connor said.
“I didn’t kill Sabrina. What do I have to say to you to get you to believe me?” Eric asked.
“That’s the thing; there’s nothing you can say. You’ve already lied to us once, why should we believe you now?” Connor wondered.
“Because I’m telling you the truth,” Eric insisted.
Meg knew things could go around in circles like this for another hour if she let them. Instead, she realized there was something she could use to prod the truth out of Eric. She pulled out the key ring she found outside the hotel and held it up.
“Are you missing a key ring?” Meg asked.
Eric stared at the key ring with fear in his eyes. He reached into his pocket, then pulled out a set of keys. There was a key ring on the set Eric held up, but it featured the logo of the minor league baseball team he played for, not his parents company.
“Sorry. I have a key ring of my own,” Eric said.
Meg was having trouble reconciling the panicked look on Eric’s face with the confident answer he’d given. She was convinced that he wasn’t telling the whole truth. His logic also wasn’t as ironclad as he seemed to think it as.
“A person can have more than one key ring,” Meg reasoned.
He shut her down. “I don’t.”
“How do we know that?” Connor asked.
“You’ll just have to take my word for it,” Eric said.
“I have a strict policy of not taking the word of a murder suspect,” Connor replied.
If Meg and Connor were hoping for a confession, they’d be leaving sorely disappointed. Eric seemed to be in no hurry of tying up the loose ends he’d left. Instead, he decided to get tight-lipped.
“That’s all you’re getting from me,” Eric said. “I don’t have anything else to say to you, and apparently, I have a set of sprinklers that need fixing, so if you have any more questions for me, you can direct them to my family’s lawyer.”
Chapter Seventeen
Meg and Connor sensed they were finally getting closer to uncovering the truth, but there were still plenty of lies to weed through. One such lie led them right back to Adam and Vikki Treadwell. Unfortunately, Connor ended up getting stonewalled as they pushed the call button at the gate outside the Treadwell mansion. After two minutes of buzzing the call box, they received no response.
Connor got frustrated. “Who do they think they’re fooling? I know they’re in there.”
“Mo
re importantly, if they have nothing to hide, why are they so afraid to come out and talk to us?” Meg asked.
“That too.”
He groaned. “Well, I might have to get a search warrant.”
“Let’s give it one more buzz,” she suggested.
Meg knew this called for desperate measures. A spell was in order, although she’d have to be sneaky in casting it. She leaned over and pressed the call button, which made a buzzing sound.
The buzzing sound was just loud enough to give Meg the chance to whisper a quick spell under her breath that opened the gate. Thankfully, she was able to pull off the spell so seamlessly that it appeared as if the Treadwell’s had opened the gate from inside the mansion.
“I guess you were right,” Connor said.
Meg played it off as luck. “Some things need a woman’s touch.”
Connor smiled. He then pulled his car up the driveway and parked, ready for another showdown with the Treadwells. This time, it turned out they wouldn’t have to knock. As Meg and Connor approached the front door, they heard voices talking in the backyard.
They circled around the house where they found Adam and Vikki Treadwell sitting by their pool.
Connor took them completely by surprise. “I have some more questions for you.”
Vikki and Adam turned Meg and Connor’s way looking completely shocked.
Vikki’s mood changed on a dime. She lashed out. “How did you get back here?”
“Easy. We pushed the button on your call box, and the gate opened,” Meg replied.
Vikki gritted her teeth. “I want you two out of here. You’re trespassing.”
“You have bigger things to worry about,” Connor said.
Vikki didn’t back down. “You’re going to have bigger things to worry about when I call my lawyer. Now, leave.”
“We’ll be happy to leave once you tell us why you lied about your alibis,” Connor replied.
Vikki remained outraged. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Meg knew just how to shut her up. “We saw the security tape from Shorty’s. It’s time you both stop lying. We’re not leaving until we find out the truth.”
Chapter Eighteen
This time, Meg and Connor decided to question Vikki and Adam separately. They started with Adam, knowing he had the weaker will of the two, not to mention a non-existent alibi. With any luck, they could get some useful information out of him so they could put pressure on Vikki.
Adam looked squirmy as Meg and Connor stared him down. Meg spotted some beads of sweat forming at the top of his forehead. He looked ready to break, and they hadn’t even said a word to him yet.
Connor started off the questioning. “Where were you really at the time of the murder?”
Adam averted his eyes and took a deep breath. “I was driving back from the bar.”
“Did you stop by the Enchanted Bay Motor Lodge on the way?” Connor replied.
“No. Look, I didn’t do this,” he insisted.
“Why should we believe you? You’ve already lied to us once?” Meg asked.
“You want the truth? Here it is. I went to Shorty’s bar with my son, had a few drinks, then drove home, and went to bed,” Adam revealed.
“If that’s what really happened, why did you lie to us in the first place?” Connor wondered.
Meg dug deeper. “Who are you trying to protect; your wife, or your son?”
Adam bit the corner of his lip. “Neither.”
Meg stared deep into his eyes. His pupils were dilating. He was as nervous as ever. She didn’t believe him for a minute. “When are you going to stop lying to us?”
“I’m not,” Adam insisted.
Connor kept the pressure on. “Of all the bars in town, why did you meet your son at a dive like Shorty’s? What did you talk about?”
“It was his choice. Being a baseball player, he gets recognized at all the other bars in town. At Shorty’s, people just keep to themselves,” Adam explained.
“You still haven’t told us what you two talked about? Was it Sabrina’s book?” Meg asked.
Adam was quick to answer. “No. He was just down about his career and feeling sorry for himself. He was in the dumps about whether he’d ever get a shot at making the majors. I gave him a pep talk, then headed home.”
Meg actually believed that part was true. There was another issue nagging at the back of her mind. “Was your wife really here when you returned home?”
“Yeah, of course,” Adam replied.
This time, he was less convincing.
Neither Meg nor Connor believed it, but Meg was the one to speak up first.
“Why are you covering up for her? The woman is cheating on you with the mayor,” Meg said, quoting a line from her friend’s manuscript.
Adam held firm. “She was here.”
“That’s the story you’re sticking with?” Connor asked.
“It’s the truth,” Adam declared.
“Uh huh. It’s a shame you have no one to verify it,” Connor declared.
“For the last time, I didn’t kill Sabrina,” Adam said.
Chapter Nineteen
Meg and Connor weren’t able to get any more information out of Adam. They decided to move on to Vikki Treadwell. Not surprisingly, she was as defiant and entitled as ever. Even the possibility of jail time for murder didn’t faze her.
“This is ridiculous. I’ve already told you everything I know about this case, which is nothing,” Vikki declared.
“No, what you told us were lies. I want the whole truth, and nothing but,” Connor said.
Meg piggybacked on that statement. “There’s no use trying to talk your way out of this. Your husband told us everything. The only thing that can save you now is the truth.”
“Now, where were you really at the time of the murder?” Connor asked.
“Like I said, I was here,” Vikki replied.
“Do you have anyone to verify that?” Connor wondered.
“The mayor, perhaps?” Meg added.
“How dare you keep up with those heinous accusations? You should be ashamed of yourself,” Vikki said.
“No, it’s you who should be ashamed. Do you know how I can tell you’re still lying to us? Sabrina told me you threatened to destroy her yesterday if she released the book. The only reason you’d do that was if what she wrote about you and the mayor was true,” Meg explained.
For once, Vikki didn’t act like she owned the place. She was quiet and deliberate with her answer. “I didn’t kill Sabrina, although I’m glad she’s dead.”
That set Meg off. “You have a lot of nerve.”
Connor held Meg back, seeing her emotions were getting the best of her. The detective pulled Meg aside to try and calm her down.
“What a miserable, horrible--”
“I know,” Connor said. “I’m sorry she said that. I know exactly what you’re feeling. Do you want to wait in the car?”
Meg shook her head. “No.”
“Are you sure? Because I can take it from here? You can just go home and rest,” Connor offered.
“No. I need to do this. I’m not going to let her get the best of me.”
“I know it’s hard, but we’re not here to determine how horrible of person Vikki is. We’re here to find out if she’s a murderer.”
“I know,” Meg said. “Let’s do it.”
Meg and Connor then approached Vikki again and resumed the interview.
Vikki immediately taunted Meg. “What’s the matter, did I touch a nerve?”
Meg had to bite her tongue. It was tough, but she narrowly found a way to do it. She escaped taking the bait and got right back to the point. “Vikki, if you’re not careful, our next stop will be the mayor’s office. You think you hold all the cards here, but the fact is, you have no one to verify your alibi. You have everything to lose.”
Vikki leaned forward and stared Meg down. “Vikki Treadwell never loses.”
Meg didn’t back down.
“Never say never.” She then turned to Connor. “Well, I guess we should head over to the mayor’s office.”
Vikki groaned. “Don’t bother.”
“Why not?” Meg asked.
“Because, he can’t verify my alibi,” Vikki admitted.
“Why not?”
“I wasn’t with him last night. I was here alone until my husband got back from the bar at twelve forty-five,” Vikki revealed.
Connor wasn’t so sure. “You say that, but like you mentioned, you have no one to verify your story. In addition, the Enchanted Bay motor lodge is only a fifteen-minute drive from here. Who is to say you didn’t drive over there, kill Sabrina, and then get back here just before your husband arrived back from the bar?”
“Detective, if you’re going to throw around wild speculation like that, you’d better have proof. Since you don’t have even a shred of evidence, it’s time for you to leave, because this conversation is over,” Vikki said.
Part of Connor wanted to arrest her right then and there, but he knew she’d make bail in no time. The fact was, he didn’t have any hard evidence. Since her company was headquartered in town, no judge would consider her to be a flight risk. So as much as Meg and Connor wanted to keep pressing her, they knew their time would be better spent interviewing the next suspect on the list. Still, they had a feeling this wouldn’t be the last they’d see of Vikki Treadwell.
Chapter Twenty
Meg and Connor feared the interviews would only get more confrontational as the day wore on. What they didn’t anticipate was hitting a snag as they tried to question Steven Treadwell. That’s exactly what happened. Much to their dismay, they stood at his doorway knocking fruitlessly for over ten minutes.
Meg even went around the backside of his house and cast a spell to see if Steven was hiding inside his house. Surprisingly, that yielded no results. Instead, her locator spell turned up a very strange result. According to her spell, Steven appeared to be on his way out of town.
Halloween Witch Cozy Mystery Ten Book Set Page 14
