Delta nodded. “If you put it like that, it does sound possible. But we should verify if Isabel knew about Rosalyn’s claim before the murder took place. But how? I can hardly ask her and expect an honest answer.”
“If Isabel knows that Finn cheated on her,” Mrs. Cassidy mused, “she might consider the fact that he got arrested as a form of justice. That it was, after all, his fault, as he betrayed her. She won’t feel the need to clear his name.”
“True as well. But why then throw suspicion on her own sister?”
“She and Rosalyn never got along well. Rosalyn is very domineering and always tries to control Isabel’s life. Tells her what jobs to do at the hotel, what people to meet, what contracts to close. To Rosalyn, Isabel is still the little girl she could take by the hand and lead wherever she wanted. No doubt she means well… It’s all rather difficult.”
Mrs. Cassidy sighed. “You see, Delta, when Mrs. Taylor died, the children were practically left to fend for themselves. Mr. Taylor immersed himself in his work, and Rosalyn played the mother role. She was there for the others. I think she did a wonderful job but it also…gave her this idea she’s entitled to determine things for them. That’s understandable, but it doesn’t make it right. And it doesn’t mean they like her any better for it.”
“I see. Rather sad when you think about it. Rosalyn must have wanted the best for everyone, and now everybody hates her for it.”
“Which makes her even more determined to prove that her way of seeing things is the right one,” Mrs. Cassidy added.
“You think she’s happy now that Finn is locked up, because it proves he was never the right man for Isabel?”
“Might be.”
“But how about Isabel’s feelings? What if she doesn’t have anything to do with the murder herself but she’s not sure about Finn? What if she has to face the devastating idea her boyfriend really is a killer?” Delta shook her head. “Rosalyn should be there for her instead of telling her ‘I told you he was no good.’”
Mrs. Cassidy laughed softly. “Rosalyn has come so far in life because she’s a hard worker with a clear, analytic mind. She doesn’t allow herself to be distracted by feelings.”
“Not even where her own family is concerned?”
“Especially not where her family is concerned. Leading a family business is no easy thing. You might be persuaded to give someone a job he’s not suited for or entrust someone with money he can’t take care of. Rosalyn had to take on all of those decisions. She tried to keep the family together.” Mrs. Cassidy stared at the floor with a frown. “I wonder if anyone ever gives her credit for that.”
Delta pulled the sketchbook and pencils she always carried out of her bag and turned to the last sheet in the back. “I’m going to make an overview of information. I can then add to it as I go along. I’m taking this book everywhere I go, so it should come in handy for additions as they become available.”
In the center of the page, she drew a body outline as she had seen it in crime series and wrote inside: Vera White, from Miami, hotel guest at the Lodge. Above, she wrote: Body lay in hotel bar. What was Vera doing there?
To the left, she drew an envelope and wrote inside it: Picked up at the local post office, Vera so excited she almost got hit by a truck. To the right, she drew a big box with a lock on it, noting inside it: Kept in safe, valuables?, taken along by police morning after the murder.
Then around the body, she sketched the people involved in their party clothes from last night: Rosalyn with her elbow-length gloves, Isabel with the expensive bracelet on her arm, Ray in his tuxedo, the White brothers, looking alike, but Ralph in a dancing posture.
Mrs. Cassidy followed everything she was doing with interest. “I know what you need,” she enthused and disappeared into the shop. She came back carrying some washi tape in pale pink. “You can use strips of this to connect the various persons and write their connection on it.”
“Great idea. Let’s do it.” Delta set to work, connecting Herb and Vera with the note married, Ralph and Vera dance partners, Ray and Vera Ralph said they are exes and Vera lent Ray money, Ray denies. She connected Vera to Finn with a note affair according to Rosalyn, conversation at party proven by photo, her throat tight again when she thought of Finn’s expression in that photo of him and Vera.
Mrs. Cassidy also brought her a stack of small, sticky notes in neon colors. “You can write questions on those and paste them beside the person who might have the answers. Then when you have talked to them or have otherwise found the answer, you can remove the sticky note and write the answer down permanently.”
“Great idea!”
For the body, Delta wrote on an orange note: Murder method? Weapon found on spot? Fingerprints on it?
A lime-green note with the box kept in the safe got a question: Who put it in the safe? Has anyone touched it between the murder and the police taking it along the next morning?
Both Rosalyn and Ray got a yellow sticky note reading: What happened between Rosalyn and Ray?
The White brothers got pink sticky notes, asking: In town for business, what business?
For Ralph, Delta also asked: Did he really believe Vera needed money to repay Ray?
Delta’s phone beeped. She pulled it up and studied the screen. Unknown number. With a wriggle of nerves that it might be the press, she answered. “Hello?”
“Delta? Jonas here. I wondered if you’d be free to go boating tomorrow morning. I’d love to show you the lake. I might also have something to discuss.”
“To discuss?” Delta repeated.
“Yes. Case-wise.”
“Oh, I see. That sounds good.” If Jonas had answers to a few of the questions she had just written down, she could make real progress. “Yes, tomorrow would be perfect. The shop is closed then. What time?”
“Eleven? You can meet me at Deer Point. Everyone knows where that is. I have a boat there.”
“OK. Looking forward to it.” Delta disconnected and said to Mrs. Cassidy, “That was Jonas Nord. He says he has something to tell me about the case.”
Mrs. Cassidy seemed lost in her thoughts, and Delta had to repeat herself before her companion responded. “What? Oh, Jonas Nord. Yes. He should have something. He’s a former policeman, after all. No way he’d have gotten it from the sheriff, though. They don’t see eye to eye.”
“Did they work together before?”
“No, not at all. But Sheriff West feels that a former big-city policeman might, uh…think he knows better, and Jonas interferes with the way he handles cases. I remember a while back there were some issues with teens making trouble in town. Jonas had a wonderful idea how to defuse the situation, but the sheriff wouldn’t hear of it. It only got worse. Windows broken, mailboxes demolished. That sort of thing. Even a car stolen for joyriding.”
Mrs. Cassidy shook her head. “It could have ended terribly for those kids. They could have crashed the car, hurting themselves or someone else. But Sheriff West has his own ways, I guess.”
Delta put her phone away. “Well, I’m going boating with Jonas tomorrow, and then he can tell me whatever he has found out. I’m looking forward to it already. But right now, I want another slice of that delicious carrot cake, and then I’ll better snap some shots of the shop for my gran. Your fall display is just the thing she’d love to see.”
As she said it, a spark of joy replaced the sad feeling that had haunted her all morning as she had considered her position. She did have a shop, she was making new friends, and she’d get Hazel released somehow.
Who knows, the sheriff might see the lack of evidence and release her of his own accord at any moment.
Yes, things would get better. She just had to believe it.
Chapter Eight
“And then you press this button and the cash register adds all sales for the day and spits out a receipt with the total amount earned. Y
ou need that for your bookkeeping.” Mrs. Cassidy smiled at Delta. “It’s so easy now. My parents had a grocery store, and they had to write everything down in a ledger. Not just sales, but also people buying on credit. I still have some of those old ledgers at home. Every now and then I leaf through them and smile at my mother’s diligence in keeping everything organized to the last cent.”
“I must admit that when I pictured myself having a store, I never saw myself bookkeeping,” Delta said with a grimace.
Mrs. Cassidy laughed, tilting her head back. “At least the cash register does most of the work for you. And you’ll get used to it, I’m sure. Well, I’d better be off. I have to cook dinner, and my country-line-dancing group is giving a demonstration at eight.”
Delta checked her watch. “I hope I didn’t keep you too long.”
“Nonsense, it was my pleasure. But now I have to run.” Mrs. Cassidy pulled Nugget along, who also seemed eager to dive into Saturday night. “See you later. And have fun boating tomorrow.”
“Thanks.” Delta sighed as the door fell to a close. Helping customers had distracted her for the rest of the afternoon, but now that it was time to go home, the idea of an empty cottage pressed upon her. She ambled about, taking some wrapping paper with tree silhouettes down off the rack and giving it a more prominent place. A new package of collectible erasers had come in, but Delta didn’t feel like opening it without Hazel and put it under the counter.
With a heavy heart, she closed the store and dragged her feet to her car. It was one of the last ones left in the lot. Everyone seemed in a hurry to get home and do something with family or friends. Maybe she should have asked Mrs. Cassidy where this country-line-dancing demonstration was so she could go there instead of sitting around an empty house—worrying.
Delta slid into the car and turned on the radio, but not even singing out loud to the country classics on the local station could cheer her up. She wished she had Spud with her to rub his head across her knee, or Nugget to jump from the car and dart up the path ahead of her.
She felt like she had to tell Gran about the murder to prevent her from finding out some other way. Gran was active online and would keep an eye out for news from Tundish now that Delta made her home there. But how to best share the news so Gran didn’t think it was disastrous to the shop and Delta’s prospects in town?
Gran was smart enough to deduce at once that the suspicions against Finn and Hazel could have serious repercussions for Delta’s own future.
Having parked the car in the driveway, Delta took a deep breath and took the phone from her purse. Gran’s cheerful voice came on after the third ring. “Delta! How are you? Saturday night, are you going to do something fun? You have to get to know your new hometown, not just hide out in the store.”
“I know. I got invited to go boating tomorrow. Jonas is a wildlife guide, and he has a great dog.”
After some chatter about the dog and his owner—Delta definitely sensed some interest from Gran, which was unsurprising, since it wasn’t a secret that Gran wanted to see Delta find someone nice to date—Delta took a deep breath to come to the point. “Gran, something happened at the hotel on Friday night. A party guest was murdered.”
“Darling! Are you all right? And how about Hazel?”
“It happened in the hotel bar, so we were nowhere near the murder. But unfortunately, Hazel’s brother discovered the body and…the police don’t fully trust his story. Because Hazel believes him, they’re also suspicious of her and…it’s a bit of a mess right now.”
“But it will be sorted out, won’t it? The police can discover so many things these days. With DNA and all. They must be able to find the killer.”
“There were hundreds of people at the party.”
“Not all of them can have had a motive to kill the victim.”
“That’s true enough. Unfortunately, someone claimed that Hazel’s brother was close to the woman who died and—”
“Oh.” Gran fell silent a moment. “And is that true? I suppose Hazel would know about that.”
“Actually, I haven’t been able to talk to her about anything since it happened, because she’s been held at the police station, along with her brother.”
“Your new business partner is in jail?”
“The police station is not a real prison,” Delta said to make Gran and herself feel better. “She’s just being held there because”—she took a deep breath—“I don’t know why exactly. But you really needn’t worry about that. I wanted you to know because the murder might be on local news sites, and I bet you’ve been looking online to see more about Tundish.”
“Oh, yes. I’ve seen lovely shots of the fall colors. And I found the site of this gold-mining museum. They have the cutest little gift shop.”
“I made friends with someone who works there. I should go have a look soon.”
“You do that, darling. Don’t worry too much about that murder business. It’ll be sorted out by the proper authorities, I’m sure.”
Delta agreed and promised to call again soon. “Love you, have a wonderful evening at the bridge club.” For as long as she could remember, Gran’s Saturday nights had been all about bridge. Delta had never managed to understand the rules, but even as a child it had fascinated her to watch people play it. The concentration, the drive to outwit each other, the elation of the winning duo when they had beaten the others. It was a game of tactics and a bit of bluff, perfectly suited to Gran’s character.
With a grin, Delta lowered the phone and got out of the car. She had to think about dinner. Maybe a pizza? She didn’t feel like cooking an elaborate meal just for herself.
Rounding the cottage, Delta had to duck underneath the long trails of wisteria that grew against the side of the house.
She stopped abruptly when she thought she heard a scraping sound coming from up ahead. From Hazel’s back veranda.
Was someone there?
In a flash, Delta had a vision of someone trying to break into the house through the back door or the kitchen window. But why on earth? There was nothing worthwhile in there. Hazel didn’t have expensive things like a brand-new TV set or a jewelry box.
Delta picked up a shovel sticking out of a heap of earth and carried it ahead of her as she approached the veranda. The scraping sound had stopped, and she wondered if she had even heard it correctly. Maybe her tight nerves were playing tricks on her?
But then, as she turned the corner and could catch a glimpse of the veranda, she did see someone moving. Her breath caught, and she clutched the shovel’s handle harder. What to do? Confront the intruder? Call the police?
But what could she tell the police? That she had seen someone prowling around the house? She didn’t even know if it was an actual stranger.
She sneaked closer, on her toes, determined to get a better look. The figure squatted down, disappearing from her line of vision.
Delta exhaled without a sound. That meant the figure also couldn’t see her as she came closer. Perfect.
She closed the last few feet, poked her head around the veranda’s supporting pillar to look. Then she dropped the shovel in a clatter and raced up the steps. “Hazel!”
Hazel turned to her. Her eyes were red rimmed. Her fingers clutched some dead flowers she had plucked off a plant on the veranda. She released them, and they drifted to the floorboards. “Delta! I assumed you were at Wanted, but I didn’t want to come there and risk being seen by half the town.
“I wanted to call you, but my phone is still at the station.” Hazel’s voice was brittle. “They didn’t return it to me, and I was so glad I could leave, I forgot to ask for it. I was almost afraid West would change his mind again and keep me anyway.”
Delta grabbed her friend’s shoulders and squeezed. “Are you all right? I don’t understand why Sheriff West thought he could keep you after you made a statement.”
Hazel sniffled. “It was my own fault because I lied about having heard noises in the bar. I should have told him Finn asked us to go look, but it seemed so…incriminating. Finn isn’t cooperating at all, one of the deputies told me. He refuses to make any kind of statement, not even after a lawyer talked to him, explaining the seriousness of the charge he could be facing. I don’t know what has gotten into him.”
Her face contorted, and new tears welled in her eyes. “I’m just so afraid for Finn.”
Delta wrapped her arms around Hazel and held her tightly. “It’s OK now. You’re free again, and we’ll find the real killer together. Trust me.”
She patted Hazel’s back awkwardly, then said, “I’ve been doing some work already. Jonas is helping me and Mrs. Cassidy. The entire Paper Posse. You can trust them to see and hear everything.”
Hazel pulled back a little to look Delta in the eye. “It’s not just Finn. It’s also…” She swallowed hard. “I was so happy to be out. I came here and went to the back door. Then I saw that.”
She nodded at the door. Delta, in her excitement over Hazel’s return, hadn’t noticed anything peculiar. But now she saw it.
An envelope was pinned to the doorframe with a pen knife, like a butterfly in a collection. A shiver went down Delta’s spine just looking at it. Nobody delivered an innocent note or invitation that way.
“Have you looked inside?” she asked in a trembling voice.
Hazel shook her head.
“Maybe we shouldn’t touch it and let the police remove it. They can see if there are fingerprints on it. Determine who did this.”
“I’m not calling them. I just got out of there, and I don’t want them coming here or me having to go back to make a statement.” Hazel rubbed her eyes. “I just can’t do it, Delta.”
Last Pen Standing Page 11
