by Emily Selby
'I completely missed that,' Katie said, pushing aside the growing sense of dread. She understood that making money was important, particularly if the club members wanted to have access to new materials and craft tools but turning her beloved hobby into a money-making business would have killed the joy!
'That sounds very... business-like,' Katie said. 'Have we completed the voting?'
'No. It ended up as a bit of a disaster. But speaking of Ally's presentation, I've talked to a couple of people, and their impression of her vision was more positive, actually quite energetic. Anyhow, do you think Chloe’s murder was related to Benjamin's death?'
'Yes.' Katie ignored the question that popped into her mind. It was clearly not the right time to ask how her own presentation had been received.
'Why?'
Katie chewed on her lower lip. The "yes" came from her gut, the intuitive thinking system. Although fast at making connections, it was also prone to biases. This was, at least, what the books on thinking processes explained. But what was the evidence behind her guess?
'She was his girlfriend, and they got engaged recently. She was at the café around the time Benjamin and his wife, Ava, met. She probably saw something.'
'You mean she might have seen Benjamin's wife or whoever else doing something with his pills?'
'That would be the most obvious explanation, but...' Katie paused and thought back to her most recent visit to the café. 'Except that she couldn't have. Where Benjamin and his estranged wife sat, they couldn't have been seen from outside. The table is too far from any windows.'
Dorothy drew her eyebrows together. She reached for the plate and helped herself to the other slice of sponge.
'That's a bugger,' Dorothy said, tucking into the cake. She ate in silence for a while.
'What if it was actually the other way around? What if the killer saw Chloe spying on her fiancé and used the opportunity to frame her. Just as he or she framed poor Julian.'
'I see! The wife's meeting with Benjamin might have been just used as an opportunity to frame the wife?' Katie held her breath, going over the connections once more in her head. 'Someone who had access to Benjamin's pillbox and knew about his meeting with his wife, fiddled with his medication. Then they dumped the body where they suspected Julian might find it. And after that, realising Chloe was also there at the time, used her. The message "I saw you" might have been nothing more than a red herring for the police.'
'Yep,' Dorothy said cocking her head. 'It’s possible.'
Katie froze. Only one person could have known it all.
'Are you all right, Katie?' Dorothy asked, touching her hand. Katie flinched.
'I'm fine, I've just... just...'
'Just realised that the only person who could have known it all is our dear friend, Miriam?'
Katie nodded, clamping her mouth shut. A wave of nausea rose up to her throat. Katie took a large gulp of her tea, and then another, until the sensation subsided.
'You don't she's capable of murder, do you?' Katie asked once she was back in control of the contents of her stomach.
'Miriam is a good person. Friendly, generous and good-natured. She also loves her husband dearly and would do anything for him. Look at how much she has given up to take care of him recently. She had great plans for her café, for the club. She wanted to travel the world as well."
Katie nodded slowly. However chilling and nausea-provoking the thought was, she couldn't argue with the logic of it. Because Chloe should have been the one who would try to blackmail the killer. And if Chloe cared about money, it fit even more.
Katie took another sip from her mug. The sugar from the cake was buzzing in her system, clearing her thoughts.
'Here's an even crazier idea,' Katie said eyeing the remaining slice of Black Forest cake. She didn't like creamy desserts, but she needed her best thinking capabilities now. 'What if Chloe wrote the blackmailing message, but somehow it ended up back with her. The receptionist said she saw a message in Chloe's cubby hole and a few hours later, it was gone. The natural thing is to assume that Chloe picked it up. But it might have been the murderer.'
'Or the message in Chloe's cubby hole wasn't one the police found in her hand.'
Katie slapped herself on the forehead. 'I never thought of that! Of course!'
She glanced at the smudged cream. Nope, it wasn't appealing enough. She'd have to make do with whatever sugar remained in her system.
Katie stood up. 'More tea?'
'No thanks, I've got some left,' Dorothy tapped her spoon on the mug.
Katie shuffled to flick the kettle.
'You know what bothers me?' she asked, fighting the reluctance to even allow these thoughts to emerge again.
'What?'
'Miriam and Julian benefit greatly from Benjamin's death. And, given his illness, they will likely need a lot of money in the coming years.'
'Because if Julian has dementia, as the local grapevine goes, she'd want to get him the best care possible?' Dorothy asked.
'That's right,' Katie said grimly. 'And she was angry that Benjamin kept bothering Julian.'
'Ah,' Dorothy's eyebrows shot up. 'I remember a comment she made just before the meeting. Linda McKay asked her why she'd arrived so early. Miriam said her brother-in-law was getting under her skin, she couldn't stand him in the house, and she wished he was gone.'
'Not a very happy family, despite the way Miriam tries to make it appear.'
Katie blew out her cheeks to stop herself from saying out loud that Miriam had lied to the police. But she had a thought.
'Dorothy, did you hear Miriam say it?'
'Yes, I’m positive.'
'Can you tell me exactly what you remember?'
'Let me think.' Dorothy looked away. 'She said Benjamin was annoying Julian with his stupid, detailed instructions what to do with his estate after his death. She said something like, "He thinks he's so smart with his money, but he's being duped by a classic gold-digger."'
'That's quite strongly worded.'
'Yes, I was surprised, too. It didn’t sound like our typical sweet-talking Miriam,' Dorothy added, her face deathly serious.
'Whom did she say it to?'
'Linda. But Ally might have heard it, too. And then Linda said something that sounded like a warning. That they, and I gather she meant Miriam and Julian, needed to be careful, stop arguing with Benjamin, and be nice to him, so they didn't end up with nothing in his will.'
'They wouldn't end up with nothing, but-' Katie paused. But there might have been more than just the money in the trust, and Miriam might have been worried about her finances with Julian's health deteriorating.
Katie chewed on her upper lip. 'It appears that there were arguments with Benjamin,' she said.
'It does.'
'Would you tell the police about it?'
Dorothy's eyes flung open wide. 'Are you asking me to tell tales on Miriam?'
'That a harsh way of saying it, but actually - yes.'
'Why?'
'Because in her interviews she insisted everything was okay between the brothers.'
Dorothy looked away, plucking at her spiky, recently dyed, purple hair.
'You know what,' she said, facing Katie again. 'I don't like telling on my friends. But if this is about justice for the two people who died and to prevent any more murders, I'll do it,' Dorothy said solemnly. 'Having said that, I'm sure I wasn't the only one to hear what Miriam said. Maybe the police haven't been asking the right people?'
'Who should they ask?'
Dorothy looked away again. 'As I said, Linda McKay and Ally Baker were there at the time. It happened during a short break between the board meeting and the club vote. By the way, Ally left the main meeting just after her presentation. I thought it was odd, if not rude. She didn't hear you speak.'
Katie tensed her shoulders. How much could she reveal? 'Ally had to leave because she had a call from Chloe. She drove to Une Tasse... to get Chloe out of a... wardrobe malfunctio
n.'
Dorothy gave her a curious look.
'Don't ask,' Katie said before Dorothy opened her mouth.
Dorothy made a zip-the-lip gesture and took another sip of tea.
'And Ally Baker was there at the time as well... ' she said slowly.
'It happened after Benjamin and his wife left the café,' Katie added, running through the information she'd collected all over again.
'Except, it didn't really matter. The pills could have been tampered with any time before that and by anyone who had access to the box. For example, Ally when she went to Miriam’s house to talk about her program for the club before the board meeting.
'Dorothy!' Katie gasped. 'You're pulling them like rabbits from the hat.'
'Uhm,' Dorothy agreed. 'And Ally, for sure, saw Chloe near the café.'
'The motive,' Katie croaked. 'Why would Ally kill her friend? And what about Benjamin? She didn't even know the man.'
Dorothy stared at her from above the brim of her mug. Her brown eyes shone with a chilling intensity.
'Are you absolutely sure?' Dorothy asked.
Katie gulped. She remembered Ally had called the victim 'Ben' on a number of occasions. Not Benj, like Chloe, or Benjamin like everyone else, but simply, Ben.
A cold shiver rippled down Katie's spine. What was happening to her world? She was sitting, sipping tea and suspecting her long-term friends of multiple murders.
21
When Dorothy left, Katie called Jack, but it went to the answerphone, and she disconnected without leaving a message.
Actually, she simply wanted to say she hoped he was okay and wish him good night. She wasn't ready yet to talk to him about what she'd learned from Dorothy.
It was all so confusing.
No, it was clear but difficult to accept.
Katie fished her notebook from her handbag and made herself a fresh cup of tea. She grabbed a pen from the counter and opened the notebook to the timeline she'd previously jotted down.
She crossed off the word "suicide" at the top. There was no doubt in her mind Benjamin Fischer's death was a murder.
She started writing Ally's timings underneath the earlier timeline, but she paused. Timings didn't really matter. Dorothy was right - the pills could have been swapped at any time before the meeting in the café.
She should rather look at who had the motive, opportunity, and means to tamper with the victim's tablets.
Did the killer need medical knowledge, an understanding of the interactions between the drugs, or was an ability to think and search the Net enough?
Was the killer a health professional, or simply someone who had taken the drugs in the past and had been warned about the side effects and interactions?
Or a smart, ruthless, cold-blooded murderer who didn't hesitate to use whatever means were available to achieve their goal?
Who might have had access to the beta blockers? Probably the victim himself, and, by the same token, Chloe as well. Miriam and Julian were also on the list.
Miriam... Miriam again.
But what about Ally? What did Dorothy mean by her comment about Ally?
Katie drew a thick line underneath her notes. She didn't need a timeline. She needed a list of suspects. She chewed on her pen. Since suspect Number One just been killed, maybe she should abandon numbering them at all?
'Right,' Katie mumbled, drew a simple table and wrote: Name - Motive - Opportunity - Means in the top cells.
She ran through the information she'd collected, with money becoming the top motive for all her suspects: from Ava Fischer, to Miriam and Julian, and Chloe, even though she'd been strangled. Katie couldn't see any other motives.
They all had an opportunity and means. They could have checked the interactions, just the way Jack had described it. Chloe could have used Benjamin's old pills. Miriam and Julian, probably Miriam rather than her confused husband, they could have taken propranolol from their bathroom cabinet. Ava? Katie shrugged. Ava was a bit of a mystery, but there was no reason to believe she didn't have access to this popular beta-blocker.
Ally Baker was a different story though. Yes, she could have had the means to swap Benjamin's medication when she was at Fischers' house, but what would be her motive? Did she know the victim?
Katie looked at the list. Three people she had known for years, one dead person, and one stranger.
Katie twirled the rogue strand of hair. Ava... The apparent lack of motive was the only thing that jarred here. What else, beside the money, could it be? She'd signed the divorce papers. Was there an old animosity, some sort of hurt she could have wanted to avenge after eight years?
Katie swirled the tea in her mug. They hadn't collected much information on Ava. Didn't Miriam or Julian really know much about her sister-in-law? What about meeting her while in Sunnyvale? Interestingly, no one had mentioned Ava meeting with Miriam...
Even if they did, Julian might not have been in the headspace to talk about it, and Miriam might not want to share it.
Although, why wouldn't she? If Miriam had anything to do with Benjamin's death, she might jump at the opportunity to cast doubt on anyone else.
That wasn't a bad idea. Katie reached for her mobile. It was a quarter to ten, quite late for Sunnyvale, but what the heck! She'd try her luck.
She punched in Miriam's number.
22
The fates must have smiled on Katie, because Miriam answered the phone. Moreover, she sounded delighted to hear Katie's voice.
'But please, Katie, don't ask me anything about my poor brother-in-law or my husband. I'm too stressed. I've been talking about lots of sad things lately and, quite frankly, I can't take any more. I need a distraction,' Miriam pleaded.
Katie moistened her lips. Well, she could definitely distract her friend.
'No problem. I wanted to ask how you are. Unless that is also something you'd rather not talk about?'
Miriam hesitated. 'I'm managing,' she said. 'But just don't want to dwell on it.'
'Okay, I understand, but if you needed to have a rant, just let me know,' Katie said, trying to sound as reassuring as she could. 'I wanted to ask about the voting. What's happened?'
There was a heavy sigh on the other end of the phone. 'I've not dealt with it properly. When the police- when it all happened, I left the cards on the table. I've no idea who took care of it. Normally, it would be Ally, but she wasn't in the room.'
'No, she wasn't,' Katie picked the topic up smoothly.
Let's talk about Ally!
'I suspect, it might have been Linda. Well, I hope it was Linda. Otherwise, we might need to vote all over again.'
We might need to do it again, because of the outcome of this investigation, Katie thought and immediately chastised herself for it.
'What is your opinion on Ally's presentation, Katie?' Miriam asked with a note of anxiety in her voice. 'I shouldn't be discussing it with you, but I'm not sure what to think.'
Katie cleared her throat. She didn't want to spread rumours, but she should be okay sharing her own opinion about her opponent’s plans for the club.
'I didn't hear her presentation, but I've always thought Ally would be an excellent president for our club,’ Katie probed.
'She's been an excellent treasurer and secretary,' Miriam said. 'Ally has always been ambitious, and her parents had great hopes for her. So, it was a bit of a surprise when she returned from London. It was fortunate she fell pregnant shortly afterwards. It's helped. She has poured all her energy into her daughter, but now, Ella is nearly two, and Ally needs to find something else to focus on.'
'I'm sure she'll focus on the club,' Katie said.
"I hope so. On the other hand, I've heard from another member that Ally's presentation was too focused on business and making sure the club has enough resources. That doesn't bother me at all. I'd known about her ideas – she came to talk to me the day before the meeting. She wanted to check what I thought of her direction before presenting it to the club. We didn't talk for
too long, because Julian got upset with Benjamin and stormed out. Both Benjamin and I had to rush out of the house to get Julian back in.
'Anyhow, going back to Ally’s plans for the club, it would be great to afford new materials and new tools. I also like the idea of members selling their work because there is no better appreciation for an artist or a craftsman to have someone else wanting to pay to have their artwork. But what worries me is that Ally would quickly become bored. She is a city girl. I think she’s likely to abandon us in a year or two when her daughter is ready to go to school.'
Murder investigation or not, this was an interesting comment. 'So why did she even come back to Sunnyvale?'
'I vaguely recall some sort of disagreement with her employer. Something she discovered, and she didn't like. A dishonest activity, maybe. She challenged her boss or a senior partner, and it didn't go down very well.'
Miriam paused to catch a breath. Katie could hear her panting.
'Are you alright, Miriam?' Katie asked, alarmed.
' I– I... I'm,' Miriam croaked.
'What's happened?'
'I just remembered what it was. And how come I know about it,' Miriam said, her voice sounding wooden.
'What do you mean?'
'That person, the senior colleague or her boss she had an argument with. The person who insisted she entered false data, it was Benjamin.'
Katie's jaw dropped. 'Your brother-in-law?'
'Yes. She was working with him at the time. He'd taken her under his wing once he'd learned she was from Sunnyvale. Oh, my goodness. This is awful...'
'What's awful?'
'I shouldn't have told you.'
'Why not?'
'Because one shouldn't speak ill of the dead.'
'I've noticed,' Katie ventured, 'you speak very well of your brother-in-law. However, I've heard through the grapevine that the relations between the two of you weren't all that good.'
