Margot smiled, knowing that Adam was used to a faster pace of life. Even if North Bank was a sleepy little retirement town, they were close enough to Washington, D.C. to feel the sense of urgency in things.
“How did it go?”
He looked around, unsure if he wanted to have the conversation there in the hotel. “I’ve got an idea, but it requires a little adventure for us all.” He looked to Bentley, who merely shrugged. “I think we should stay overnight.” Margot’s eyes bugged out and Adam laughed. “Not here. There’s a little bed and breakfast down the road and I already checked, they have three rooms available. So what do you say, Bentley? Are you game?”
“I haven’t been on an adventure in a little while. I say let’s stay. Margot?”
She laughed and shook her head. “How could I say no to that? I just need to call Julia and Dexter.”
“Already took care of it,” Adam said with a wide smile. “You’re good to go.”
“Well then,” she said, laughing again. “Sounds like we’ve got a plan.” Her gaze traveled to the front desk. “But, before we go, I need to have a quick conversation with a desk clerk.”
Adam looked as if he was going to ask what she wanted to talk with them about, but instead, he turned to Bentley. “Let’s go get the car back. We’ll meet you out front,” he said, pausing to kiss her lightly on the cheek.
She watched them walk outside through the elegant sliding glass doors and then made her way toward the counter.
“Hello, ma’am,” a young man said. “How many I help you?”
She took in his appearance. His hair was slightly ruffled and his suit coat, while clean, looked in good need of pressing. She also saw the slightly frayed edges of his white shirt that peeked out past the sleeve of his jacket. She took all of this in, in addition to his slight accent.
“Hello.” She flashed her warmest smile back at the young man. “I was here speaking with Mister Dean.”
“Is there something wrong that I can help with?” he was quick to ask.
“Oh no, this was in conjunction with certain…events from a few weeks ago.”
The young man’s eyes rounded and he nodded once. “I see. If you need any questions asked, I’m happy to cooperate fully.”
She wasn’t sure what he thought of her. Possibly he thought she might be with an insurance company or maybe even the police. Either way, she wasn't going to set him straight.
“Thank you—” She looked at his nametag. “—Ned. I really appreciate that.”
“Anything I can do, ma’am,” he said with resolve.
“There is just one thing that I’m curious about.” She paused for a moment. “I understand that a girl was let go over a certain matter.”
“Oh yes. Poor Thea.” The young man’s features softened. “I hated to see her go.”
“Were you friends with her?”
He nodded. “We both grew up ‘round here.” His accent thickened at just the thought of his home. “It was a big day for us both when we started working here at The Garber. You’re lucky if you can get a job, but even luckier if you can make it inside.”
“You mean, to work with guests?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He nodded emphatically and glanced around before looking back at her. “It’s on account of our accents.” He made a face.
“You can’t be serious,” Margot said, playing the part but also feeling bad for this poor young man and others in the area that could be discriminated against for where they grew up.
“But, we both made it. At least, we had…until this happened.”
“Can you tell me about it? What you know, at least?”
“Sure.” He looked around again, but they were blessedly left alone. “She told me all about it after she got fired when I saw her at a bar in town. She’d had a bit too much to drink and she admitted that the man had charmed her. It was a real shame, giving up a long career here of good pay for one customer’s large tip.”
“So it was the money that lured her away then?” Margot asked.
“She’s been having trouble keeping afloat.” Ned looked uneasy.
“But don’t they pay you well here?”
“They do, but Thea’s mom’s been in and out of the hospital. She’s the primary caretaker and it was just too much to bear.”
“That’s a shame.”
“I know. Thea even said this guy acted like he understood her situation.”
That brought up red flags in Margot’s mind, but she heard the elevator door ping open and knew her time was limited. “I’d like to talk to Thea myself. Don’t worry,” Margot rushed to explain, “she’s not in any trouble.”
“Here.” Ned scribbled something on a piece of paper. “You can find her here.”
“Thank you, Ned,” she said, boosting her voice when an official-looking man walked their way. “You’ve been very helpful.”
Then she turned and slipped out of the elegant hotel, thinking that staying an extra day might be just the thing they needed to do.
7
The dim light of the Chinese restaurant added to the atmosphere of the hole in the wall. They had been greeted by a smiling woman who led them to a corner booth and offered them tea and sticky menus. After they’d placed their orders for sweet and sour pork and broccoli beef to share, the silence descended for a moment.
“Are you going to fill us in?” Margot finally prompted. She’d noticed how quiet Adam had been while they checked into their rooms at the bed and breakfast, and on the drive to find a restaurant for dinner. She could tell that something was on his mind and had waited as long as she could before asking.
“Spit it out, son,” Bentley said before taking a careful sip of the hot tea.
“I found out some interesting things at the police station today.”
Margot wondered if he was hesitating because it was likely classified information. But he continued before she could ask.
“First off, Frank Harper isn’t who we thought he was.” He shrugged. “Or, at least who he appeared to be. It turns out he’s wanted up and down the East Coast for ponzi schemes racking up hundreds of thousands of dollars. He’s a bit of a household name in some police departments.”
“But he was staying at The Garber?” Bentley asked.
“For another scheme?” Margot wondered out loud.
“The running theory is that he was into something—possibly involving Ben. Then Ben gets fed up and…well, there you have it.”
“The police think that my s-son…” Bentley looked uncomfortable calling Ben his son, but Margot thought it had to be better than calling him Ben Anderson. “They really think he’s a cold-blooded killer then?”
Adam glanced to Margot as if unsure how to answer that but she saved him from having to. “I don't buy it.” Adam’s brows rose. “It was the look on Ben’s face when he left the room where Frank’s body was found. He looked…shocked.”
“But that doesn’t mean—” Adam’s reply was interrupted by the smiling woman delivering their steaming plates to the table. They thanked her and assured her they didn't need anything else before they dug in.
“I know it’s a thin line—one that no one will believe because there is no evidence—but I plan to prove that Ben was too calculated to have murdered someone.” She almost added like that, but stopped herself. She didn’t think that Ben was a killer, though her evidence to that theory was almost non-existent, but even if he was, she didn’t think he’d leave a body with evidence behind. His approach was slowly becoming clear to her and she knew better than to assume he was guilty just because he walked out of the room where the body was found.
“Please, tell me about this hunch you have,” Adam said, spearing a piece of broccoli with his fork.
She used her chopsticks to pick up a piece of sweet and sour pork, dipping it in rice. “I think, though I still need evidence to prove this, that Ben is an extremely calculated person. The way he walked out into the hall, the way he looked up at the camera as if he knew that he was caug
ht, and the way he looked…well, almost queasy speaks to the fact that I don’t think he knew he was going to walk into that room and find Frank dead.”
“That’s a great theory, but there is no proof.” Bentley said it matter-of-factly, but she knew it was his years as a lawyer speaking.
“And I plan to prove that he was the victim of framing. At least for the murder.” She wasn’t so sure he was also the victim when it came to the thefts.
“There’s something else you need to know.”
Margot and Bentley looked up at Adam.
“I heard from Martin today.”
Margot swallowed her bite, wondering what North Bank’s Medical Examiner had told Adam.
“He was finally able to identify the body in the car.” Adam’s gaze traveled to Margot then came back to land on Bentley. “It’s not Ben.”
“Then who is it?” Bentley asked. The paleness in his cheeks was slowly being replaced by color.
“It’s a man named Terry Guzman. He’s got a rap sheet as long as my arm from petty theft to grand larceny. He’s also been known to work with Frank Harper.”
Margot leaned back in her seat with this new information. So Ben wasn’t dead. That was good news, but also created a lot of questions. Why were two men dead, both with ties to Ben? Was it possible Ben was the common factor? The one thing that tied them together and possibly the reason for their deaths?
Or was there another explanation? Something that Margot was missing?
“What’s going on in that beautiful, complex mind of yours, Margie?” Adam asked, grinning at her.
“I’m not sure,” she said honestly. There were still too many pieces she couldn’t see yet. “But I do know that I’ve got to talk to Thea.”
“Tomorrow,” Adam said, taking another bite of broccoli beef. “For tonight, we’re going to gorge ourselves on this amazing Chinese food and maybe even stop for dessert at that ice cream place next door. Then we’ll get back to the real world.”
Margot wanted to object, to say that they needed to talk things through, but one look at Bentley told her that Adam’s plan was by far the better option. It was a lot find out you had a son, but even more to find out that son may actually be a murderer or, at the very least, a thief.
“Then Chinese and ice cream it is!” she said with a smile that she almost felt.
Margot dropped Adam off at the police station and headed to the address that Ned had scribbled on the piece of The Garber stationary for her. Bentley had opted to stay behind at the bed and breakfast with a borrowed legal thriller and a cup of coffee, sitting in the library with a cozy fire. Margot hoped that he would be able to think things through—or perhaps not think of anything at all. Sometimes it was better to let your mind rest for a time.
When she arrived at the location, she was surprised to see it was actually a tiny roadside diner that she’d been directed to. The sign reading Sal’s looked as old as the building, if not older, and in desperate need of repainting. The whole atmosphere of the place spoke to hometown meals and local color.
Margot felt out of place the moment she stepped into the cramped entryway, the scent of greasy food and freshly brewed coffee washing over her in a warm gust. Many of the patrons looked up at her, and she couldn’t help but feel the label they gave her: newcomer.
Raising her head high and trying to ignore the day-old feeling of her clothes, she stepped up to the counter and claimed a barstool with a cracked vinyl cushion.
“Hiya,” an older woman said. She carried a pot of coffee in one hand like it was a permanent attachment and a notepad in the other. “What’ll it be, hon?”
Margot licked her lips. She’d already eaten at the bed and breakfast, but she knew most information wouldn’t come free. “Coffee and—” She looked at the back counter. “—a blueberry muffin.”
“Sure thing,” the woman said, flipping over a mug and pouring hot liquid into it like she’d done it a thousand times. She probably had.
Before she could get away, Margot leaned forward. “I’m looking for Thea.” Margot bit the inside of her cheek, feeling foolish for not having gotten the woman’s last name.
“Thea? Oh, she’s on a break in the back. It’ll be a few minutes. I’ll tell her you’re here to see her.”
“Sure,” Margot said. The woman walked off and Margot’s knee began to bounce. Should she go out back to speak to the woman? Was she on a smoke break? Or perhaps she was in the backroom. There was no way to tell. Either way, she hoped that her waitress wouldn’t recommend Thea leave.
Then again, there was no reason for Thea not to speak with her. Unless…Margot fought the unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach. Thea wasn’t somehow mixed up in all of this, was she?
Margot had thought of most angles, but that one hadn’t crossed her mind. It seemed so implausible. How could a woman most concerned with taking care of her mother in rural West Virginia be wrapped up in a thieving ring? Then again, stranger things had been known to happen.
Margot was about to abandon her post when the swinging door pushed open and a young woman stepped out. It took less than a second for her eyes to trail the length of the counter and rest on Margot. As if making up her mind about Margot, the woman walked directly toward her, taking the seat next to her.
“Sue said you were looking for me?”
“Um, yes. Are you Thea?”
“Yep. Thea Simon. What’s this about?”
Margot took in the woman’s appearance. There were dark circles under her eyes, and her hair was messy and looked a few days unwashed. Her apron was clean though and her eyes shone with hope, as if Margot somehow offered something she needed.
“I talked with Ned. He told me where to find you.”
“He called me last night,” she said, her soft accent highlighting her words. “Didn’t tell me why you wanted to talk, though.”
“I need a little bit more information about what happened. About the man that talked to you at The Garber.”
“You mean the man who swindled me,” she said, grinding out the words.
“I'm sorry that happened to you. Ned mentioned your mother—I’m sure this has been a time of drastic change for you.”
“Yeah. You could say that. Then again, I’ve got my own foolishness to blame.” Her cheeks turned rosy pink. “I can’t believe it.”
“What happened?” Margot asked gently.
Thea sighed and leaned her chin on her hand, elbow on the counter. “I was working the front desk, though I was supposed to be at guest services, not check-in that day. Someone had to call out ‘cause their tires were flat.”
“Tires?” Margot asked.
“Yeah. Strangest thing. Two tires were flat. Anyway, I had to cover for them. It’s what I’m in—or was in—training for. They bumped me up to the check-in desk to cover the hole and that's when I see him walking in.” She sighed, the sound coming out resigned. “‘Couse he was handsome. Most men who come to The Garber are. Or maybe it’s their money that makes them attractive.” She snorted derisively. “He leaned in real close and began to explain his situation.”
Margot caught herself leaning forward in anticipation.
“He said that he’d become a new man when he cut up his credit cards a few years back. Said it was the most freeing thing. Said he knew what debt could do to a person.” At this point, Thea’s nose scrunched up in a telltale sign of holding back tears. “He said that he knew it was against our policy, but could he please leave a cash deposit instead of a credit card in case of incidentals. I mean, the man handed over two thousand dollars and was so sincere, how could I say no to that?”
Margot’s own eyebrows rose. That was a lot of cash.
“Anyway. I told him it was against policy and I’d have to ask my superiors, but he pleaded with me and…must have been something in those eyes, but I said yes. Then he gave me the most generous tip. A thousand dollars,” she said, her throat constricting.
“That’s quite a tip,” Margot observed.
“I know they think he bribed me, but honest, I didn’t know he was going to give me money. He just slipped it to me when he left.”
Margot tucked this information away. “What about the other thing you helped him with?”
“Oh, the guest list.” She flushed again. “If I’d known…”
“What did he say?” Margot prompted gently.
“Well, he said that he was really nervous. He was supposed to meet someone who was coming, but he was afraid his ex-girlfriend was attending. I knew the list would be published the next day—it always is in the newspapers and such because of the high-profile guests—so I saw no harm in giving it to him a day early.”
Margot could see the woman’s logic, though she caught a look that caused her to press. “What else did he say?”
“I…” Thea hesitated.
“It’s all right. You aren’t hurting anyone by telling me this.” It was the truth. If anything, she was helping.
“I guess I just felt sorry for the guy. He seemed to be able to…you know, identify with me.”
“In what way?”
“He said he’d taken care of his mother for a long time. Said he knew it was hard, but that I’d make it.”
Margot suddenly realized something. “Did you tell him about your mother?”
Thea opened her mouth to reply, but then closed it, thinking for a moment. “Not…really. Huh…” She shook her head. “I hadn’t thought about it, what with being fired and all, but no. I didn’t tell him about my mom. It was almost like he knew.”
Margot’s heart beat faster and she stood up, pulling a five-dollar bill from her purse. “I need to get going, but thank you so much for sharing with me.”
“Uh, you’re welcome. Do you want to take the muffin to go?”
Margot looked down at the muffin, then shook her head. “Why don’t you enjoy it for me.”
Thea shrugged and picked it up as Margot rushed out the door. She had to find Adam.
8
“Margot, you can’t prove—”
“But can’t you see?” Margot paced the short length of the small room the Granby Station Police Chief had allowed Adam to use for the day. “He knew.”
A Deadly Engagement (Margot Durand Cozy Mystery Book 9) Page 5
