by Mae Fox
Julie shivered. “She’s got a couple of kids. Adult kids.”
“Husband?”
She shook her head. “Divorced.”
“Well, he’ll have to be notified too,” Frost said.
“What about my guests?”
“Everyone will need to come down to the station to be fingerprinted.”
“What’s this? We’re going to be fingerprinted?” Sadie called from her nearby chair.
“Well, I never!” Joyce exclaimed. “Treating us like a bunch of common criminals.”
A chorus of grumbles joined in from around the room.
Frost did not appear pleased. “Folks, this is standard procedure and completely necessary. It’s as much to eliminate you as suspects as anything else. We will transport you to the police station and bring you all back to the inn when we’re done.”
“Then what?” Gregory asked. Of all the guests, he appeared to be the angriest. Julie couldn’t tell if it was because an inconvenient murder had ruined his weekend plans or if he just had something against cops.
“Then we investigate,” said the detective. “No one leaves town for the next seventy-two hours.”
“You have got to be kidding me!” Gregory’s face turned redder with each word he spoke. “You can’t keep us all here for seventy-two hours.”
The detective cocked a brow in the man’s direction. “Actually, I can.”
“But that’s not right,” Gregory protested. “Making us stay here with a murderer on the loose. There’s no telling which one of us might be next.”
Susan let out a gasp at his cryptic words. The poor woman was clearly distraught.
Julie wished there was something she could do to make her feel less anxious—to make everyone feel less anxious. Except for the killer, of course. That monster didn’t deserve to be treated so kindly. If only she knew who the monster was.
“I need to lie down,” Susan choked.
Kenneth patted her on the back reassuringly. He whispered something in her ear, and she nodded. Whatever he said appeared to calm her, if only a bit.
Joyce and Sadie also seemed to calm down.
“Will we still be able to quilt, dear?” Sadie asked.
“I don’t see why not.” Julie looked to the detective
He remained expressionless and then shrugged.
“Well, I say, this sure puts a new spin on things.” Kenneth seemed more than a little excited by the gruesome turn of events. Given his previous disinterest in everything, Julie found his heightened enthusiasm odd at best.
The only remaining guests who hadn’t sounded off at the detective were Liam and Carrie. Julie looked to the young blonde. “Do you have any questions?” she asked.
“If we have to stay, we have to stay,” Carrie said.
Despite her shaky voice, Julie thought she caught a look of relief in the girl’s eyes. But there was no time to dwell on it. “Dr. Preston?”
Liam Preston continued to stare at the table in front of him. Julie could almost hear the wheels turning in his head.
“Dr. Preston?” she repeated.
“What?” Liam seemed to snap out of his stupor. “Oh, yes, if the law requires it …”
“I still say this bites.” Gregory crossed his arms over his ample chest and glared at the detective.
It seemed Frost was accustomed to such looks. He simply turned away and addressed the group as a whole. “I expect everyone to remain here until Monday night. You are free to move about the town, but you’re not free to leave. Anyone caught trying to skip town before I release you will be arrested for obstructing justice. Are we understood?”
A murmur of reluctant agreement went up all around.
“Does that mean we’re arrested?” Kenneth asked. He actually seemed excited by the idea.
“I’ve never been arrested before,” Sadie said in amazement.
“Me neither,” Joyce chimed in.
“No one is arrested,” Frost explained. “But you are all on the short list of suspects.”
“But isn’t it possible that someone else entered the building at some point and committed the crime?” Liam asked.
“Absolutely,” Frost said. “We’ll be looking at all possibilities.”
Julie was not looking forward to calling the inn’s owner and trying to explain to her that another murder had happened in their sleepy little town, and this one in her very own inn! Millie would be beside herself. Julie decided then and there to handle it herself. That was why she was in charge. Millie could find out when she returned home. Plus, there wasn’t anything she could do from Baja anyway.
“What do we do now?” Susan asked. The poor woman looked like she needed a tranquilizer and a two-day nap.
“Remain right where you are until I come back,” Frost said. “I need to talk with Miss Ellis in private. Then we’ll all drive down to the station together. Any questions?”
The guests shook their heads.
Detective Frost led Julie to the front sitting area. He sat awkwardly on the small sofa and motioned for her to join him.
Julie perched on the edge of the couch, unwilling to get too comfortable or to let her guard down where Everett Frost was concerned.
“Tell me what you know about each of your guests,” he started without preamble.
“Not a lot. We don’t require them to fill out background checks before they stay here.” Though Julie thought it might not be a bad idea going forward.
“Surely you learned something about them in the time that they’ve been here.”
“Well, Sadie and Joyce are best friends. Sadie is a retired librarian, and Joyce is a widowed housewife. They’ve been saving for this trip for years.”
“Did either one of them act as if they knew our victim?”
Julie thought for a moment. “No.”
“What about the married couple?”
“I think I overheard him say that he’s a podiatrist.”
Frost nodded grimly. “No wonder this seemed like a good time to him.”
“You noticed that too?”
“It’s my job to pay attention to details, Miss Ellis.”
“Right. Well, they have grown children in college. This is the first vacation they’ve taken in years. To be honest, when they first arrived, Kenneth seemed like he’d rather poke himself in the eye with a fork than be here.”
“What about the professor, Liam Preston?”
“Dr. Preston didn’t say very much during tea.”
“I see. And where does he teach?”
“One of the state universities … I think. I can look at his registration if you’d like.”
Frost waved away her offer and continued. “What about Gregory?”
“All I remember him saying was that one day he was going to move down to Belize and live like a king.”
“Did any of the other guests seem to know the victim?”
Julie thought back. “Alice sat at the table with Carrie Windsor—”
“The little one?”
“Yes. But they didn’t talk much. Carrie’s quiet and Alice …,” she faltered, “Alice seemed bitter.”
“Did you overhear anyone say anything about her?”
“Not much. Just that her kids bought her this weekend to cheer her up after her divorce.”
“Was it a bad marriage?”
“I don’t know.” Julie frowned. “Good ones don’t end in divorce though, do they?”
Frost quirked a brow.
“Alice acted like she didn’t want to be here. I thought that was strange. A weekend here isn’t exactly cheap, and then with the murder mystery on top of that …”
“Did she have a job that you know of?”
“I’m not sure.”
“And Carrie,” Frost said, “what about her?”
“She arrived last. That’s all I know. She’s very quiet. I think she’s a student.”
“She told you this?” he asked.
“No.”
“You hear
d her tell someone else?”
“No, but—”
“So, you don’t really know if she’s a student or not?”
Julie shook her head, wondering when this had turned into an interrogation. “Should I call my attorney?” She should have said an attorney. It wasn’t like she had a lawyer on retainer ready to bail her out of such situations.
“It might not be a bad idea, given the complicated situation, murder on your premises and all that. I’m sure Millie has someone she uses for other things.”
“Is that all?” Julie asked hopefully.
Detective Frost flipped his little notebook closed. “For now,” he said. “You will all be transported to the station for prints and brought back in as timely a manner as possible. We’ll finish up here as quickly as we can, but no one will be allowed in the dining room until we’re done in there.”
Great. Power failure, murder, and no one could eat in the dining room. It was going to be a red-letter weekend for sure.
As promised, the guests were taken by van to the police station and fingerprinted individually. Then they all returned to the van and were driven back to the inn.
They received several strange looks while at the station. It was one thing to be dressed in costumes in the privacy of the inn, but to have to go out into public—even worse, to the police station—well, that was more than any of them were prepared for.
The atmosphere on both trips was strained. Julie could almost feel the accusations running through everyone’s minds.
Only Kenneth seemed blissfully immune to the tense atmosphere around them. “Don’t get me wrong,” he told Julie after they were back at the inn, “but this is far more interesting than a murder play.”
Julie wondered if he really felt that way or if he was trying to bait the others with his weird comments.
“Someone died,” Susan scolded. “This isn’t cause for celebration.”
“You’re right about that,” Liam agreed. “But it is also rather interesting. Like CSI, but for real.”
“I, for one, think it’s terrible,” Joyce said with a sniff. “And I’m more than a little nervous being cooped up with the likes of all of you. Someone killed the woman.”
“I still say it’s possible that the killer sneaked in, did the deed, and then sneaked back out,” Kenneth said.
“It’s all so very sad,” Sadie said, shaking her head.
“It isn’t like we knew her or anything,” Kenneth said.
Susan swatted his am. “It doesn’t matter if we knew her or not, she was still a person. It’s a terrible thing.”
“What’s terrible is them keeping us here like a bunch of caged animals,” Gregory said.
“Oh please. Did any of you even know the woman’s last name?” Kenneth asked, looking around at each of them, almost daring someone to answer.
“Peyton,” Julie supplied in a cold voice. “Her last name was Peyton.” Kenneth’s enthusiasm rubbed her the wrong way. She could only hope this was how he relieved stress.
“Who cares what her last name was?” Gregory asked. “We shouldn’t be made to stay here while the Keystone Cops run around and try to blame all of us for her death.”
Susan’s eyes widened. She turned to her husband and whispered something in his ear.
Kenneth merely shrugged.
Susan sat back in her seat, looking a bit stunned.
“I mean, let’s be honest. One of us probably killed the woman,” Gregory said. “No one snuck in and back out undetected. That’s just wishful thinking. And now we have to stay locked up together for seventy-two hours, knowing that one of us is a murderer. I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to call my attorney.” Gregory scanned all their faces as if looking for an ally in the group.
“Should we?” Joyce asked, looking at Julie.
“But I don’t have an attorney,” Sadie murmured. “I’ve never needed one.” Her hands fidgeted in her lap, making Julie wonder if she quilted when she was upset. If that was the case, the quilt project would be finished with time to spare.
“Let’s not be hasty,” Daniel broke in. “All of this speculation and talk of attorneys isn’t solving anything. Let’s wait to see what the police find.” His deep voice was reassuring to Julie, whose nerves had grown more frayed with each passing minute.
“I agree,” Liam said. “Until we know more, we should assume that everyone here is innocent and let the police handle it. For all we know, her ex-husband broke into the inn and killed her so he didn’t have to pay alimony. Or maybe she managed to fall and hit her own head on that candlestick.”
Gregory scoffed. “Sure, you go ahead and believe that fairy tale if it makes you feel better.”
Anxious murmurs rippled through the room.
Julie noticed that Carrie remained quiet through the entire conversation. The young girl kept her bespectacled eyes down and studied her chewed-up nails as if her life depended on it.
As Julie glanced around at the other faces, from the worried frowns of Sadie and Joyce to the shocked smile plastered across Susan’s anxious features, an unsettling thought occurred to her: If one of the guests hadn’t killed Alice Peyton, then one of her staff most likely had.
FOUR
Julie stood and clinked her spoon against her juice glass. “If I could have everyone’s attention please.” Breakfast was a tense affair. Most of the guests had been in various states of shock since the prior evening, but in the light of the morning, fresh suspicions and conspiracy theories reared their ugly heads.
“I know the events of last night still have everyone a bit shaken,” Julie said. She was thinking about Shirley, who was still so unnerved. “But since everyone is here and has to remain in town,” Julie continued, “I see no reason not to move ahead with our original quilting plan. It might help to ease some stress.”
“About that,” Gregory started. “I don’t see why I should have to pay for my room since I’m required to stay here now, and your security seems less than adequate.”
There’s always one.
“Mr. Wilson,” Julie began, “I do apologize for the inconvenience, but given our present circumstances and the fact that we are a business, I feel it’s more appropriate to focus on the positives and continue with our weekend plans as best we can. You most certainly will not be charged for the murder mystery portion of the weekend.”
He snorted. “So, no full refunds is what you’re saying.”
Julie took a deep breath to keep from losing her cool.
“We’re still going to quilt,” Sadie said, which brought a stern look from Gregory. “I do find it relaxing.”
“I think that sounds like a lovely idea,” Joyce agreed.
Susan sniffed as if she might start crying again at any moment.
“I agree it might be a good stress reliever. Despite everything,” Julie said, “I’d still like to present one of you with the quilt come Monday when you’re able to leave town. Are we all in agreement?”
Most of the guests agreed.
“And no more murders, right?” Susan asked. “Not even pretend ones?”
“No more murders.” Julie uttered the words she hoped would prove true.
Shortly after breakfast, everyone headed out for historic home tours, wine tasting at the vineyards, and walking tours of the quaint town. The guests seemed more than anxious to get away from the inn for a while, and Julie couldn’t blame them.
Since she didn’t have to man the front desk, she shut herself in her office and called Detective Frost. He was definitely a bulldog, but this time his tenacity might benefit her if he could shed some light on the events of the previous evening.
“Julie Ellis, what a surprise,” he drawled. He didn’t sound at all surprised. More like he had been waiting all morning for her call.
“I have a couple of questions about last night.” She drummed her fingers against her desk and waited impatiently for his answer.
“You know I can’t discuss an open case with you.”
“Of course not,” Julie said as sweetly as possible, “and I wouldn’t ask you to. It’s just,” she exhaled audibly, hoping to elicit sympathy from Frost, “I have seven people here who are very worried about the situation. Can you tell me anything that would help me reassure them?”
He let out a long sigh. “I’ll tell you what I can. But if I can’t answer, I can’t answer.”
“Fair enough,” she said. “Has the coroner determined the cause of death?”
“You need the coroner’s report to tell you that?”
Julie supposed she deserved that. Alice had been found facedown next to a heavy blunt object, with a knot the size of St. Louis on the back of her head. “The candlestick,” she muttered.
“Does it belong to the inn?”
“Yes. Well, we’ve owned it for a week. It was a prop for the murder mystery.”
There was silence on the other end of the line.
“You know, ‘with the candlestick in the dining room,’ like in the board game Clue,” Julie added.
“Are you saying it was your fake murder weapon?”
“Yes and no.” She closed her eyes, fighting the headache that was starting to form.
“Why don’t you tell me more about this weekend you had planned.”
Julie sighed. How many times would he ask her the same question? Was he trying to trip her up or catch her in some lie? Why she’d thought he would be any help to her was the real mystery. “It was simple, really. All the guests were supposed to determine who killed Inga.”
“And she was supposed to be hit on the head with a giant candlestick?” Frost asked.
“No, she was supposed to drink poisoned wine.”
“The wine was poisoned too?”
“Not really poisoned,” she said. “The wine was fine. We added almond extract to it to make it smell like it had been tainted with arsenic. Inga was supposed to drink it even though it was meant for Shirley. No one was supposed to get hit in the head.” Especially not Alice.
“If Inga was your victim, who was supposed to have killed her?”
“Daniel.”
“Ah, Franklin. I should have known he’d have some part in this.”
“Daniel didn’t do anything,” Julie said.
