“It’s not,” Nora said, blushing. “Sean’s just a friend.”
“A friend who gave you flowers,” Harvey pointed out. “A friend who wants to be more.”
“Well, it’s not your business. You’re the one who walked out, six months ago, back when I needed you so much.”
“I walked out because you didn’t need me at all,” Harvey said, his voice growing hoarse and thick. “Or have you twisted events around in your mind to blame me for it?”
“I haven’t--”
A roar of approval rose from the crowd, and Nora turned around to watch as eight men emerged from a covered shed, carrying the “Viking” boat on their shoulders. The crowd parted as they walked toward the lake, each member of the crowd cheering wildly. Flashes of light went off as people photographed the procession, and Nora couldn’t help but feel proud of Milburn.
It was beautifully done, each element just right. The men who carried it were all tall, with thick necks and forearms that were muscled and veined with years of hard work. It was entirely possible that they had some Viking blood in them. Dressed as they were, they certainly looked like the ancients. Nora found herself wondering if, in a distant past, in a distant land, a procession like this had laid some tribal chieftain to his final watery grave in a Viking burial.
Of course, there was to be no burial here, instead, the boat was filled with mementos of remembrance for those who had passed, or of items of memory that the audience wished to let go of.
Nora herself had contributed with two yellow high heels of Raquel’s. It felt bittersweet to her, but it also felt right.
Perhaps, she would have found closure too, if the proceedings had gone as expected. Instead, the events of the night shattered each person who witnessed it.
*****
Chapter 7
It happened so quickly. One moment, the crowd was alive and chanting hoorays. The boat was set on the water, and one of the bearers climbed up and set the fuse, before pushing the boat in the water.
That was when there was a piercing scream from the crowd, a scream that quickly became infectious. A woman pointed to the ground. A trail of dark blood had splattered the grass between the shed and the boat.
Horrific confusion followed.
Harvey, who had been entirely focused on Nora, now turned around and saw that the crowd was panicking. He squeezed her hand and commanded her to stay put. Then he ran right into the fracas.
Nora, stunned, remained rooted where she was for a moment, before running after Harvey.
“Where’s Sean?” Harvey was saying. “Sean or Wallis? We need them to control the crowd before someone gets hurt.”
“I don’t know.” The man Harvey spoke to was a new deputy, a nervous boy in his early twenties named Dean Elbert.
“Never mind,” Harvey said, taking charge. “Dean, you run to the entrance and throw the gates open.” He turned around, saw Nora, and said, “I should have known you wouldn’t stay put. All right, Nora, you can direct the crowd. I’ll be doing the same.”
In minutes, some semblance of order was restored, as Harvey grabbed a megaphone from one of the announcers, and spoke into it.
“Ladies and gentlemen, there is no cause for panic. Repeat. No cause for panic. The situation is planned and controlled. Please stay calm and walk, not run, to the exit. Repeat, walk, not run to the exit.”
“Is it planned,” Nora heard the crowd whisper to each other. “Is it just a prank?”
It wasn’t, of course. Nora knew Harvey. Knew he’d make up lies if necessary, to make sure that the situation didn’t get out of hand. It had worked too. The instant his powerful, calm voice had floated out of the megaphone, the crowd, which had been reacting like a spooked animal, had calmed down. It was still jittery, though.
“Is it really planned?” a woman asked Nora.
“I don’t know, Ma’am,” Nora said. “I was just ordered to direct you this way.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw others who Harvey had roped in to help. May Almand, to give her credit, was doing a wonderful job of calming people, as was the town doctor Kurt Neil.
In less than ten minutes, the crowd had calmed down. But Nora saw Harvey talk to some off-duty firemen, his hands making exaggerated motions as they pointed toward the still burning boat.
Sean appeared then, clutching his forehead, his eyes narrowed with pain. “Nora,” he said.
Nora gasped. “What happened?”
“Never mind that. What’s going on?”
“Someone spotted a trail of blood from the shed to the boat,” Nora said. She interspersed her words with a gentle push that had Sean sitting on the grass and began examining his wound. “The crowd panicked and we calmed them down. Harvey’s telling the firemen to put out the burning boat now. You and Wallis were nowhere to be found, Sean. Something’s gone wrong. I have a horrible feeling about this.”
Sean still looked confused, and Nora forced him to lie on the ground while she examined his forehead, which was leaking tears of blood that made his blonde hair sticky and brown. His entire shirt seemed to be stained with it.
“I need to go talk to Harvey and the rest,” Sean said, trying to get up. His knees buckled a little.
“You need to sit right here while I scour around for the doctor,” Nora said. “Keep putting pressure on it. What happened, Sean?”
“I have no idea,” Sean said. “I was … Well, I’d had a bit too much coke to drink, I guess. I was at the outhouses. Then, I was passing by the shed, and heard a noise, so I went in, and pow.” He grimaced. “God, I hope I don’t have a concussion.”
“Me too.” Nora felt her stomach twist at his words. “So someone assaulted you while you were in the shed. Was this before or after the boat was removed from it?”
“The boat was still in there,” Sean said. “But when I woke up again, it was gone. I had a tarp covering me, which is why the boat carriers probably didn’t notice me in the shed.”
Nora shook her head. “Do you think the trail of blood we noticed was yours?”
“Can’t be,” Sean said. “A body’d have to be dead to produce that much.” Seeing her face pale, he amended himself quickly. “We can’t be sure its blood, anyhow. It might just be… some prankster’s idea of a good time.”
“That’s likely,” Nora nodded, relieved. “I guess… after what happened to Raquel, my mind leapt to the most horrible conclusions.”
“It’s natural enough.” Sean put a hand on her cheek and stroked it. “It’s been a rough year for you.”
“I’m not the one who got socked on the head, Sean. I think you’re the one in need of sympathy right now.” Nora smiled. “Now hang on here while I find the doctor.”
“Well, Sheriff, if you’re done lying around, maybe you could come help us by doing your job?” Harvey said.
Nora whirled around and saw Dr. Neil and Harvey approaching, both grim-faced.
*****
Chapter 8
Nora felt like the entire town had spontaneously gathered at Anne’s pancake house the next morning. They were all there for one reason of course. No matter how instant the internet made things, here in town, the fastest way to find out facts was to get out of your house and meet people.
Nora smiled at Anna, the large Swedish proprietor who always wore a fluorescent blue eyeshadow to complement her blonde hair. Somehow, it made Nora think of David Bowie.
“What’s good today, Anna?”
“Everything,” Anna said impatiently. Okay, message received, she’s swamped with no time for chit chat.
“Um, I’ll try the cinnamon French toast,” Nora said. “Also a cup of elaichi tea please.”
“Very well.” Anna turned around and yelled an order to the kitchen, then rung up the order. Blinking, as Nora paid, she added, “I tasted your crepes yesterday, Nora.”
“Oh.” Nora felt a little embarrassed and a little proud. The truth was, Anna had made a competing pancake stall, which had received considerably less patronage than Nora’
s.
“If you need a job in this kitchen, I’d consider you,” Anna said. “Just until you fund yourself better.” She smiled, tore off the receipt, and then made a dismissive gesture as Nora stuttered her thanks and excuses.
No, tempting as it was to be a chef in someone else’s kitchen, Nora had made up her mind to be an entrepreneur, and she was going to do it.
“Over here, Nora,” Tina looked downcast as she waved Nora over.
“Hey Tina.” Nora smiled. She handed Tina an envelope. “Your share from yesterday.”
“Yesterday,” Tina shuddered. She took the envelope, peeked into it, and exclaimed, “Nora! Did we really make that much? Or are you giving me extra?”
“Never mind that now. You deserve every cent. Did you hear anything? I mean, about what happened? I wanted to stay back yesterday, but with few exceptions, Sean shooed the rest of us out of the field last night.”
“It took them until 3am to finish putting out the fire and bringing the boat back to the mainland,” Tina said. “The boat-carriers were all part of the volunteer fire-brigade, so that was a big help. Poor things, they were in total shock, though.”
“It must be traumatic,” Nora said.
“Ladies, may I join in? The place is packed today. Though heaven knows we’re all here for more than the pancakes.” Dr. Neil approached with a mug of coffee in one hand and a pancake stack topped with whipped cream in the other. It wobbled slightly as he lowered himself down next to Tina. He set it very carefully on the table and looked admiringly at it for a moment. “A sight for sore eyes, with a cherry on top,” he said. “This is my regular Saturday morning indulgence.”
“How’s Sean, doctor?” Nora asked. “He was hit on the head.”
“Yes.” The doctor nodded gravely and adjusted his spectacles. “Sean. No concussion, luckily. The blow could have done some real damage. If it had been done with a little bit more force or a little to the right, we would have been dealing with two bodies, not one.”
Tina leaned forwards. “You were there when they found him?”
“I stayed until we found the body, yes,” Dr. Neil said. He dug into his pancakes with no hint of feeling, chomping them with glee. “These are amazing,” he said, pouring more syrup on.
Nora pushed her own plate away, feeling a little sick. “Has the body been identified yet then?”
“We have a good idea who it is.” Dr. Neil said. “It’s a man, aged 27, healthy.” He shook his head. “But of course, it won’t be official until the lab checks and confirms with his dental records.”
“It’s Wallis, isn’t it?” Tina asked. “He’s the only one no one’s seen since yesterday.”
Dr. Neil pursed his lips. “Well, it wouldn’t be very ethical to tell. But let’s just say that hypothetically, it’s possible that Wallis fits the profile.”
“That’s terrible,” Tina said. “I mean, I didn’t know him all that well, but he was a good man.”
“Clearly not so good. Else no one would have wanted him dead.” The doctor finished up the last bites of his pancakes, then looked at Nora. “My dear, you look positively unwell. You haven’t touched your meal.”
“She doesn’t like too much talk about bodies,” Tina said. “But do tell Dr. Neil. How did he die?”
“That’s yet to be ascertained,” Dr. Neil said. “He was in bad shape by the time we stamped out the fire, unfortunately. However my preliminary guess is that it was a blow to the head.” He lowered his voice. “This is between us, of course. Quite confidential.”
Nora had to resist a smile. She’d seen ears perk up as Dr. Neil spoke, and was pretty sure that the entire town had heard him, or would.
The bell over the door jangled, and Sean stepped in, a bandage tied over his head, cowboy hat almost covering it. He took off the hat, gave his order, then curtly dismissed questions from the curious townies as he made his way towards Nora.
“Are you all right?” Nora whispered as he slid in beside her. “Does it still hurt?”
“Perfectly fine,” Sean said. “The only thing that hurts is the thought that we could have caught the murderer last night, if I’d only been more alert. We might even have stopped the murder.”
“It wasn’t your fault, Sean. You had no way of knowing.”
“I take some comfort in that,” Sean said. “But still, it hurts. Wallis was a good man, and a good deputy. We didn’t see eye to eye about a lot of things, but I wouldn’t wish this on anyone.”
“So what happens now?” Tina asked. “He had no relatives after his parents died, unless you count his Aunt Maude, who’s up in state prison for life.”
*****
Chapter 9
“His aunt was in prison?” Nora asked, shocked.
“Is,” Tina said. “It was a tragic thing that happened.”
“Every family has a black sheep,” the doctor said.
“How… why…” Nora struggled to formulate the question.
“What did she do, you mean? Oh, she was married to a man, and couldn’t stand her step daughter. She began slowly poisoning the girl. I believe it was Dr. Neil who solved that one, wasn’t it?”
“Oh no.” Dr. Neil shrugged it off. “I was young then. Just in my thirties. I did a few tests and identified the problem. She never confessed, but the evidence was piled against her.”
“She kept saying she was innocent, but of course, what else could she say?” Tina said, shaking her head.
“No use raking that up now,” Dr. Neil said.
“Doc’s right, Tina. Wallis wasn’t anything like that. His family was decent, and so was he.”
“Was it, though?” Tina asked. “Decent, I mean. His father was a singer, just like him. I heard tales that--”
Sean slammed his hand on the coffee table, and the entire café fell silent. “Enough,” he said, his voice bubbling with rage. “Not one word more.”
Tina’s eyes widened, and pricked with tears. “I’m sorry. I just--”
Sean shoved himself off the seat, and said coldly, “I’ve got no interest in sitting around listening to this nonsense. Good day to you all.”
“Sean, wait!” Nora gave a pitying glance to Tina, and ran after Sean, who had slammed the door behind him. Almost as soon as he did, a buzz ran up as every person in the café began murmuring silently.
Nora caught up to him as he was opening his car, and touched his shoulder gently. “Sean.”
He didn’t say anything, but he froze in place, his key still on the door lock.
“She didn’t mean anything by it. Please don’t be mad. I’ve never seen you like this.”
“She didn’t mean anything by it? That…” Sean took a deep breath. “Is that supposed to make me feel better? I knew Wallis, Nora. I worked with him for five years now. All right, so we weren’t the best of friends,but I can’t stand to see his life dissected on one hand and his body on the other. It’s terrible. And it’s all the more terrible because maybe, just maybe if I had been just a little bit more alert, I could have saved him.”
“Sean, if this was his destiny, nothing you did could have saved him.”
Sean gave a bitter laugh. “I guess I’m supposed to feel better thinking that way. That nothing I did could have helped.”
“No, you couldn’t have saved him, Sean, but you can bring his killer to justice.”
Sean’s jaw hardened. “Yes. By god, I will. I’ve got him in custody already.”
“You what?” Nora blinked. “Sean, that’s excellent work.”
Sean shrugged. “I do nothing more than mop up. There’s no satisfaction in it.”
“You should be proud of yourself.” Nora patted him on the shoulder gently. “That’s fast work.”
“Murders usually are,” Sean said. “Especially cases like this, where there was no premeditation.”
“What makes you think there wasn’t?”
“It was clearly a crime of passion, Nora. Someone who had bitter words with Wallis, and decided that violence was bett
er than words.”
“But… Wallis and his group had just performed. They were probably all celebrating. How could they even have… why would Wallis even have gone to the shed?”
“That’s what I need a confession for,” Sean said. “The kid’s probably under eighteen, so he’s going to go to juvie instead of proper prison, though god knows how much hope he has of being rehabilitated there.”
Nora’s stomach dropped. “Wait, who is this suspect you arrested?”
“The kid. The roadie Wallis fought with last night. The stage manager told me he’d fired the kid because he dropped the speaker on Wallis’s guitar. That gives us some motive, and with his kind of personality, the impulsive, hot-blooded kind, I’m sure the kid saw it all as Wallis’s fault and decided to …” Sean raised his hand, made a swinging motion, and a little cluck of his tongue.
“That doesn’t really sound right to me,” Nora said. “Sean, I saw what happened yesterday, and that kid was terrified when Wallis was threatening him. He was trembling all over like a puppy caught in the rain. I’d be surprised if he could hurt anybody.”
“You’d be surprised at what people are capable of,” Sean said. “What you’re saying still fits my psychological profile of him. He probably hated Wallis and felt afraid, and humiliated by him. In his mind, Ricky must have thought of himself as a victim, and Wallis was just the latest in a line of men who were bigger and badder than him. So he stood up, proved himself a man, in this twisted way. That’s how I picture it right now.”
“You sound like you’ve made your mind up already.” There was a tiny note of disdain in Nora’s voice.
“I promise you, I haven’t,” Sean said. “As a detective, as a sheriff, my number one duty is to serve the truth. If Ricky hasn’t done it, truly hasn’t, well then I’ll bust my gut trying to find who has. It’s just that right now, I can’t see any other motives or anyone else who had the opportunity.”
“It still makes no sense to me,” Nora said. “Why would Wallis remove himself from the party, then travel to the shed, which was shrouded in darkness, only to meet the roadie, Ricky, who he’d threatened to beat and kill? If the roadie was smart enough to lure him there, then it is a premeditated murder. Which means it doesn’t fit neatly with your theory.”
Death Of A Deputy: A Culinary Cozy Mystery (A Murder In Milburn Book 2) Page 3
