by Kathi Daley
Colt paused before answering. “Blond-haired, blue-eyed, rich and well-connected Wesley Hamilton was the president of the frat when Brian Coswell pledged.”
Okay, suddenly things were beginning to make sense. “So are we thinking Wesley killed Brian to get him out of the way and then buried him in his own grave?”
“That’s exactly what I’m thinking. Of course, all I have is a theory, and I’ll need more than that to even subpoena his college records, and even if I can prove that Wesley killed Coswell, that doesn’t answer the question of who killed Wesley. I would think Wesley’s death might be related to what happened to Brian but is it?”
Chapter 17
By Tuesday, the inn was virtually empty. Dixie and Holly had checked out with a promise to stay in touch and perhaps return for another visit as soon as they could arrange it, David and Barbara had gone home but had likewise talked about returning, and even Jeremy and Annabelle had cut this trip short in favor of heading back to his sister’s home, getting their affairs sorted out, and making the move to Holiday Bay sooner rather than later. Jeremy wanted to get Annabelle started in school as soon as possible, and now that Annabelle and Hannah were friends, that was what she wanted to do as well. Even Gaylord was off on one of his research trips, so Lonnie took advantage of the empty inn and brought a whole crew over to do what they could to get a foothold on the basement remodel. We had guests checking in on Friday for the weekend, so Lonnie promised to wrap things up for the week by the end of the day on Thursday.
Georgia was busy getting ready for the murder mystery dinner that would be held the following weekend, and Colt was in Rhode Island interviewing the staff at Bronte University. The two of us had spoken extensively the day before and agreed that solving Brian Coswell’s murder might go a long way toward solving Wesley Hamilton’s.
I was going to use the quiet time to make significant strides with my new novel. At least, I hoped that was the way things would work out. My book tour for The Death of Unmet Dreams was only three weeks away, and I hoped to have my work in progress off to my editor before that.
After three hours of starts and stops, I finally decided to take a break. I shut down my computer and wandered into the living area of the cottage, where I found Georgia sitting at the dining table working on her laptop.
“Done already?” she asked.
“Just taking a break. Now that I have nothing but time to work on my manuscript, I find that I’m unable to focus.”
“I hate it when things work out that way.”
I poured myself a fresh cup of coffee. “What are you working on?”
“The guest list for this weekend, as well as the one for the murder mystery dinner. It looks like the inn is going to be completely empty until Gaylord returns on Thursday evening. I asked him if he was going to need a meal when he returned and he said he’d just eat in town, so I won’t have to worry about meals or guests until Friday.”
“And who do we have checking in on Friday?” I sat down at the table across from my inn manager.
“The couple from Ireland we talked about earlier in the month is checking into unit one, a couple of newlyweds are checking into unit two, and Victor is returning and will be checking into unit three.”
Victor Vonda was a geologist who had stayed with us for a few days early on and had booked a room for the murder mystery dinner when he’d been here in August. “It’ll be good to see him again. What about Jeremy’s suite? He had originally planned to be here through the weekend. Is his suite still open?”
“It is.”
“I’m going to offer it to Lonnie and Lacy if they can get a babysitter. I’m sure they would enjoy some couple time, and Lacy mentioned how much she’d like to stay at the inn if she could afford it.”
“Okay, I’ll save it for them. Let me know if they won’t be using it and I’ll contact someone from the waiting list.”
“I will. And the other suites?”
“Gaylord, of course, is still occupying unit six and I need to confirm the reservation for unit four. I have a deposit from a couple who reserved the room last summer, but they still haven’t paid the balance and haven’t responded to my email. I’ll track them down today. If they aren’t going to make it for some reason, I’ll call the next name on my list. October has been a busy month. I could have filled double the number of rooms we have on the weekends.”
“Now if we can garner some interest during the week, we’ll really be in business.”
“I’m going to offer weekday specials after we get through the holidays. Right now, I’m happy to have some downtime between events.”
“I agree.” I stood up and walked to the sink. “We are going to be pretty busy between now and New Year’s. It’s probably best to ease into things to the extent we can.”
“It will be nice to have Jeremy on board. Lonnie showed up this morning with at least a dozen men. As long as the inn is vacant this week, he is going to go all out to get the plumbing, electrical, and framing done. He also mentioned that we should get flooring, granite, cabinets, and paint ordered as soon as possible. With the extra work time this week, he seemed to think he’d be ready for it sooner rather than later.”
“I guess we could drive into Portland to check out the same place we got the granite for the other rooms. There was a paint store not far from there, and I’ll just order more of the same hardwood flooring we used in the rest of the house. I’d love to have Jeremy and Annabelle all moved in before Thanksgiving.”
“I’d like that as well.” Georgia shoved her laptop to the middle of the table. “I’ll change and go with you. We can have lunch while we’re out. We should discuss a color scheme. The natural light down there is going to be limited, so we should go with bright colors. Maybe white granite with light blue cabinets. We could do light blue on the walls with white trim. If we want to add variety, we could make one of the bedrooms a darker, rich blue.”
“I like the concept. Let’s check out the available granite first and take it from there.”
Chapter 18
Georgia and I shopped till we dropped but managed to get everything we needed ordered. Almost everything would be delivered the following week, so if Lonnie was able to get the framing, plumbing, and electrical in this week, he could jump right in with the cabinets and countertops. If not, we’d just store it in the carriage house, which hadn’t been used to store carriages for quite some time but was still a quaint accent to the property. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with the outbuilding in the long run, but for now, it worked well for storage.
“Let’s park in the public lot downtown and then we can walk around and look at the decorations while we decide where to eat,” Georgia suggested.
“That sounds like a good idea. I love what they’ve done with the gazebo in the park. When it is all lit up at night, it looks like a fairyland. Not that the lights on our own gazebo aren’t fantastic, but the one in the park is larger, so it makes more of an impact.”
“The town will be holding their own harvest event next weekend, so I suppose they want to get the place all decked out before then. I thought I might try to check it out on Sunday if I have time. I just love all the decorations the town put out. I feel like I’m living in Halloween Town.”
“I do love how the town goes all out for pretty much everything.”
“Oh, look here,” Georgia said, pulling me into a candy shop.
I inhaled deeply, taking in the scent of nuts and chocolate. The glass display cases were filled with a colorful selection of chocolates and other candies. “I love these little chocolate bats.”
“And the sugarcoated chocolate pumpkins,” Georgia added. “I’m going to have to get a few for Annabelle.”
“Do you think they will go stale before she gets back to Holiday Bay?”
Georgia sighed. “Yes, I guess they might. It is strange how much I miss her. She was only with us for a week, yet the inn feels empty without her.”
“She’ll be back
for good soon. Maybe we should order some of these little Halloween truffles to serve to our guests over the weekend.”
“They are cute,” Georgia agreed. “We can just leave them out for folks to pick up when the mood strikes them. I think I’ll get the milk chocolate bats and ghosts to use as an accent to whatever dessert I decide to serve. They’d even be cute sticking out of the top of a scoop of ice cream.”
“I wonder if they have them in dark chocolate.”
“I’ll ask,” Georgia offered.
I moved around to the toffee and peanut brittle while Georgia headed to the counter to ask about the dark chocolate. Pausing to smile at two little boys who had their faces smooshed up against the display case while their mother placed an order left me with a feeling of longing in my heart. After almost two years, the pain of losing my son had dimmed, but I doubted it would ever go away completely. If Johnathan had lived, he’d be old enough now to take trick-or-treating this year. I was sure I would enjoy the Halloween Ball, but if given the chance, I would trade that for even a few minutes of trick-or-treating with the child I’d never been given the chance to really know. Would he have preferred dressing up as a cowboy? Or a firefighter? Or maybe a superhero? I supposed at two, I’d have as much input into his costume as he would, but I hoped I would have been the kind of mother who encouraged her son to choose what he wanted, not what I preferred.
“Okay, we’re all set,” Georgia said, walking up next to me. “I went ahead and bought the pumpkins for Annabelle. The woman at the counter said you can freeze them for up to three months.”
“I’m sure she’ll love them. Did they have the dark chocolate?”
“They did. I got some of both dark and milk chocolate. I figured I can use them as garnish all the way through Halloween.”
“So, where do you want to eat?” I asked after we left the overly warm store.
“Anywhere is fine. I wanted to stop at the costume shop. I still need a costume for the Halloween Ball, and I don’t want to leave it until the last minute.”
“There is that cute Italian place across the street from the costume shop. We’ll get our costumes, and then cross over and eat. Are you planning to go to the ball with Tanner?”
“Tanner will be there, but I planned to go with you. Colt gets called away a lot, and in the event he can’t make it, I didn’t want you to have to go alone. Having said that, if he can make it, we can all meet up for dinner beforehand and then head over to the ball from there.”
“You know that you don’t have to babysit me.”
Georgia looped her arm through mine, and we started down the street. “I know. I like to hang out with you. Besides, I’m still trying to figure out the whole Tanner thing. It’s easier to keep things in the friend zone. At least for now.”
“I get that. And to tell you the truth, I feel the same way about Colt.” Georgia and I paused at a cross street and waited for the traffic to clear before crossing. “Isn’t that Kendall Jared standing in front of the window at Hannigan’s Homegoods?”
“It is,” Georgia confirmed. “Should we offer our condolences?”
I wanted to decline, but I found myself saying yes instead. I’d been on the receiving end of way too many sorry-for-your-losses to be completely comfortable offering one myself.
“Kendall?” I said as we approached.
“Abby; Georgia. How are you?”
“We’re fine,” I answered. “I’m sorry about Wesley.”
“Thank you. I guess I knew he was dead in the back of my mind. I mean, why else would he just disappear? But I guess there was a part of me that hung on to that last thread of hope that he’d be found alive until the very end.” Kendall’s gaze settled on me. “I understand that you were the one who found him or at least the one to think to look for him where he was found. How on earth did it occur to you to look for him in his own grave?”
“It was really just a fluke. In one of my first novels, one of the bodies is found in the cemetery. The scene popped into my mind while I was working on my work in progress. The idea sort of stuck in my mind, so I shared it with Colt, and he agreed to take a look.”
“Well, your hunch was right on. I don’t suppose you have another hunch about who might have put him there?”
I slowly shook my head. “I’m sorry, I don’t.”
“This not knowing is so aggravating. I’ve gone over things in my head again and again, and you know what I realized?”
“No. What did you realize?”
“The list of people who would have a motive to kill Wesley is long. Really long. What does that say about him? What does that say about me for planning to marry him? Mostly, I’m sad that he’s gone and that our wedding will never happen, but to be honest, the more I think about things, the more it is clear to me that perhaps I dodged a bullet.”
“Perhaps. I don’t suppose you have any theories about which individual from your long list might have been the one to actually kill him?”
Kendall slowly lifted one shoulder. “I don’t know. There are so many good candidates to choose from. If I had to choose one, though, I’d say the person with the most to gain was Oz.”
“Oswald Hamilton, Wesley’s cousin?”
“It makes sense. Not only did Oz inherit the majority of Wesley’s assets, but he also got the girl free and clear.”
“You mean Alisha?”
“I do. Sure, Alisha was dating Oz, but everyone knew she was sleeping with Wes too. Oz and I discussed the situation at length at the last family gathering. My approach was to pretend it wasn’t happening to avoid the conflict I knew making an issue of it would bring, but Oz isn’t a pretending sort of guy. He’s much more of a take-the-bull-by-the-horns-and-wrestle-it-to-the-ground sort of individual.”
“Did you know that Oz would inherit Wesley’s stock in the bank as well as the estate?” I asked.
“No. I thought it would go to Patrice because we weren’t married yet. I guess if I am honest with myself, it was always the money that attracted me to Wes. I don’t think I ever really loved him. Not as a person. What I loved was the lifestyle being married to him would bring. It is hard for me to admit that but I’ve had some time to think, and I realize it is true.”
“What are you going to do now?” Georgia asked.
“I’m not sure. Patrice and I get along. She is staying in the house, and she wants me to stay as well. She gets lonely despite the fact that she has a houseful of servants. I know that one day I’ll want to find another guy and move on, but I think for now I’ll do as she wants and stay right where I am.”
Georgia and I chatted with Kendall for a few more minutes and then continued down the street. “So, what did you make of that?” I asked.
“I’m not usually a fan of gold diggers, but at least she was honest. And it sounds like Wesley was using her as much as she was using him.”
“I had that same thought earlier, but using her for what? Sure, Kendall is beautiful, but there are a lot of beautiful women in the world, including Alisha, who it appears is the one Wesley was actually in love with. Why not just marry her? Why drag Kendall into it?”
“If you could figure out the answer to that, you could figure out the answer to everything else,” Georgia said.
Chapter 19
Lonnie and his crew had made a lot of progress on the basement apartment by the time Thursday rolled around. He had a lot of men working a lot of hours, which happily resulted in a much shorter time estimate. According to Lonnie, now that the noisy part of the work was done, the men should be able to continue to work during the week as long as unit one on the first floor wasn’t occupied. If that worked out, Jeremy and Annabelle would be able to move into their new home within a few weeks. The upcoming weekend was booked, as was the following one, but Georgia reported that only three rooms would be occupied during the week, so she’d just make sure the guests staying with us in addition to Gaylord were booked on the third floor. Lonnie didn’t see a problem with confining most of his
crew to working between when breakfast was over and dinner began. So far, most of our guests, other than Gaylord, tended to go into town or to the national park during the daytime hours anyway.
“Did it rain last night?” I asked Georgia when I emerged into the main living area of the cottage.
“It did. Did you hear it?”
“No, but there were little muddy paw prints all over my bedspread this morning.”
Georgia frowned. “Did you take Molly out after the rain started?”
I shook my head. “Nope. She was here the whole time.” I looked at Rufus. “The prints looked more like cat prints to me. Do you know anything about that?”
“Meow.”
Georgia raised a brow. “Do you think Rufus got out somehow?”
“I don’t see how he could have, but there is no other way to explain the kitty-size mud prints on the bed.” I picked up the cat, and he started to purr. “You know, this might not have been the first time he managed to escape. Remember when I couldn’t find him last week?”
“I do remember that. But if he is getting out, how?”
“I don’t think any of the windows are open, and the last time I checked, even Rufus wasn’t able to open the door. Maybe there’s an open vent somewhere. I’ll take a look later. Right now, I need coffee.”
Georgia poured me a cup and asked about my plans for the day.
“I thought I’d go into town to chat with Colt,” I answered. “He texted me late last night to let me know he was home. I’m hoping he found some useful information in Rhode Island.”
“It does seem like the frat Brian Coswell was trying to pledge and Wesley being its president could be the key to things.”
I took a sip of my coffee. “I wonder if anyone else whose name has come up in connection to the two murder cases was attending the college the year that Brian went missing.”
