Henderson House

by Kathi Daley

  After Salinger took us to the house, Zak and I greeted everyone, then sequestered ourselves in the computer room to dig around in Becka Watson’s life. It seemed she might be the key to everything.

  Chapter 13

  An hour into his search, Zak said, “Rebecca Watson was born to Mavis and Oliver Watson in a small town in Kansas twenty-five years ago. She was an only child and her mother died of pneumonia when she was twelve. Four months later, her father died of a heart attack. The Watsons didn’t have family who were willing or able to take Rebecca on a full-time basis, so she went into foster care, where she began to be called Becka. Becka was a bright girl who did well in school. After high school she was awarded a college scholarship that allowed her to obtain a degree in history. She took a couple of years off after obtaining her bachelor’s degree before deciding to return to school to engage in graduate work. It was while she was attending graduate school that she met Edgar Irvine, who paid her generously to help him with his research.”

  “Interesting, but hardly anything relevant to this case,” I said.

  “Perhaps. But according to Carl Poland, Becka had a brother who was part of the same role-playing group Irvine belonged to. He thought his name was Matt or Mitch or something.”

  “That’s right,” I acknowledged. “But it doesn’t sound as if she had a brother after all.”

  “Unless he was a foster brother.”

  “You said one of Irvine’s ex-assistants thought the brother’s name was Mason. Were you able to find a Mason Watson?”

  “I didn’t have a chance to look into that yet, but if the man people have been referring to is a foster brother, his last name won’t be Watson anyway.”

  “It’s going to be hard to track him down without a last name, and we still aren’t even sure about the first name.”

  Zak let out a long, slow sigh. “I’ll dig around for anyone in Becka’s contacts with a first name beginning with M. Once I have a list I’ll try to narrow it down to one individual. The film we found today makes it seem as if the person who killed Orson Spalding was some sort of a competitor, not the enraged brother of a woman who died due to the carelessness of the first victim, so I’m not sure our theory that Becka’s brother might be the killer is holding up anyway, unless there are two killers, which there might be. Still, it can’t hurt to identify Becka’s brother if she had one. If he isn’t the killer maybe he knows who might have wanted Irvine dead.”

  “So you think the two deaths might be unrelated?” I asked.

  Zak shrugged. “I wouldn’t say unrelated, but I am entertaining the possibility of two killers. Irvine seemed to have been lured here. That speaks to me of a specific intention and motivation. From the video, it almost sounded like Spalding was killed because he was in the way. Of course, there are a lot of similarities between the two men as well. The first victim was a screenwriter focusing on paranormal activity who was also in to role-playing games. The second was linked to both television and the paranormal, and he may have been in to the role-playing games he filmed. The vampires overrunning Ashton Falls were lured here by an article in a tabloid that appears to have been written before the victim discussed in the article was even dead. It seems the killer or someone associated with him had to have written it. From the limited percentage of the population I assume is in to the vampire role-playing thing, I might conclude the two deaths were linked. However, I’m not sure if and how Becka’s death fits into the overall scenario, except for the fact that the venom used to kill the first victim was very specific.”

  I got up and began to pace. “We must be missing a piece to the puzzle. An important piece that allows everything to fit. At this point I agree with you: the two deaths seem to be related in some aspects but not in others.”

  “I suppose all we can do right now is keep working on it. Eventually, things will come together.”

  “Maybe. I hope so. I’d like to get my life back.” I glanced at the clock. “I’m going to check with everyone, figure out what we’ll do for dinner. You keep at it.”

  Mom, Ellie, and Alex were sitting at the dining table sipping tea while they discussed how the rain that had started up within the past thirty minutes was going to affect Haunted Hamlet. If the rain persisted the outdoor activities would most likely be a total bust. Scooter was in the family room with Tucker, whose aunt had dropped him off for the weekend after school. When I’d suggested Tucker spend the night on Saturday I hadn’t meant he should spend the entire weekend with us, but Scooter was bored being cooped up in the house, so having a friend with him would help.

  I made a cup of tea and sat down at the table with the others. “Are Catherine and Eli still napping?” I asked.

  “They are, although I was planning to get them up in the next twenty minutes,” Ellie answered. “How goes the investigation?”

  “We’re making progress, but it’s slow going. I needed a break, and we need to talk about dinner. Are you both planning to stay?” I asked Mom and Ellie.

  “Ava and her family are coming to our place for dinner tonight, so your dad is picking up me and Harper when he closes the store,” Mom said.

  “But you’re coming back tomorrow to help me with my makeup for the dance, right?” Alex asked.

  Mom smiled. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

  I glanced at Ellie. “How about you guys?”

  “I need to check with Levi, but I’m sure he’ll be up for hanging out,” Ellie said. “We don’t have any plans. The rain doesn’t look like it’s going to let up, so eating outdoors is off. Maybe I’ll make some soup. I don’t have time for bean or pea, but maybe broccoli cheese or hearty man stew.”

  “Soup sounds perfect,” I agreed. “I’m not sure if we have everything you’ll need, though.”

  Ellie stood up. “I’ll take a look. I can have Levi run by the store on his way over. I’m sure football practice will be cut short with the rain.”

  “I’ll go upstairs and rouse the babies,” I offered. “I’ll change them and bring them down. I feel like I’ve barely even seen Catherine these past few days.”

  I decided to get Eli up first. He was a bit more agreeable about being woken before he was ready. When I arrived in the room in which Eli had a crib I found him sitting up, playing with a truck he’d managed to maneuver off the nearby dresser.

  “Hey, big guy. Look at you, playing all nice and quiet.”

  Eli stood up and reached out his arms, and I picked him up and snuggled him close. I used my free hand to swipe his longish brown hair from his eyes.

  “Doggy,” Eli said, pointing.

  I turned around to see Charlie had followed me into the room. “Yes. Let’s get you changed and you can play with him while I rouse Catherine.”

  “Ball,” Eli said after I laid him on the changing table.

  I picked up the small rubber football he often played with. “Are you going to be a football player like your daddy?”

  “Dada,” Eli said before putting the end of the ball in his mouth.

  When Eli was dry and refreshed I picked him up and headed to the nursery. I set Eli and his football on the blanket I had put on the floor, then nodded at Charlie that it was okay to play with Eli before heading over to the crib, where my little princess was still sleeping.

  “Time to wake up, sunshine,” I said as I gently rubbed Catherine’s back.

  She opened one eye, which must have been enough for her to see Eli playing with Charlie because she sat right up and reached her arms to me. As I’d done with Eli, I gave her something to hold while I changed her, then I picked up both babies, one in each arm, and went down the stairs with Charlie following behind us.

  “There’s my guy,” Ellie said as Eli reached for her.

  Catherine saw Harper and reached for her, so I set her on the floor with her auntie.

  “Harper is having so much fun with the babies,” Mom said. “It makes me feel bad she doesn’t have a sibling.”

  “Uh, what about me?” I
waved my hand.

  Mom laughed. “Of course, dear. I would never forget you. But while you’re Harper’s sister, you’re more of an aunt in terms of age and relationship. What I was trying to say in an extremely clumsy way was that I was sorry it didn’t work out for Harper to have a sibling close to her own age.”

  “I knew what you meant,” I said. “I was just giving you a hard time. And I agree, a sibling would have been nice. I always wanted one, but I had Ellie and Levi, and it was almost like having a sister and brother. Harper has Eli and Catherine, and her BFF, Morgan,” I added, referring to Jeremy’s daughter, who was born within days of her.

  “That’s true. Harper’s lucky to have so many awesome friends in her life.”

  I looked at Ellie. “Can I help?”

  “Zak came in looking for coffee a few minutes ago,” Ellie answered as she stirred a pot of something that smelled wonderful. “He told me to send you into the computer room when you came down. It seems he might have news.”

  I glanced at Catherine. She seemed happy playing with Eli, Harper, and Charlie, but I felt bad about leaving her again. The best thing I could do for everyone’s piece of mind, I thought, was to get this mystery solved, so I gave her a kiss, then headed to the office.

  “Good, you’re here,” Zak said.

  “What’s up? Did you find something?”

  “Becka had a foster brother named Mason Kellerman. The two of them lived in the same house for over a year when they were teens. They both had a problem fitting in with the other kids but seemed to get along with each other. They became close and stayed in touch after they both moved on. After he turned eighteen, Mason moved around a lot. In fact, I can’t find evidence of him settling down much at all. There are several gaps in his history, the most recent covering an eight-year period. It appears he might have lived under an alias at times, though he might have been out of the country during those gaps. Currently, he’s in LA. As far as I can tell, he’s had the same address for about three years. Like the monster hunter, he works in film. Low-budget paranormal stuff.”

  My eyes got big. “So, you found the connection. Mason Kellerman was linked to the first victim, who was responsible for his foster sister’s death, and the second victim via his field, which seems to have made them competitors.”

  Zak nodded. “And we’ve also been told he belonged to the same role-playing group Irvine did. He might even be in Ashton Falls right now. I talked to Salinger. He’s trying to track him down through lodging records. There’s still one huge unanswered question, though. We have no idea what any of this has to do with you, yet you seem to be involved.”

  “Yeah.” I sighed. There was still that small, pesky fact.

  Chapter 14

  Saturday, October 27

  Zak and I decided to take the family to the Haunted Hamlet for a few hours on Saturday morning. It was still cool and drizzly, but the rain was far from steady, and if we dressed warm and pulled rain slickers on top, we’d be fine. Levi and Ellie came with us, as did Nona, so it was a large group that piled into vans and headed to the center of town.

  “It’s nice the rain has stopped for the time being,” Nona said as we drove toward the park where the food court and kiddie carnival had been set up.

  “Me and Tucker want to go to the haunted house,” Scooter said.

  “We will after we eat. I’ll wait with the babies while the rest of you go in,” I offered.

  “I’ll wait with you,” Ellie offered, rubbing her large stomach. “I don’t think the stress of having people jump out at me would be the best thing for baby Denton. In fact,” Ellie looked at me, “if you want to go in I can sit with Eli and Catherine.”

  “Are we going to eat at the food court?” Alex asked. “If we are we might want to do that first. There are only a limited number of tables under the tent and if we don’t grab one, we’ll be eating outside where the tables are wet from the rain.”

  “I could eat,” I said. “Ellie and I will grab a table large enough for all of us. You all can go and get the food.”

  “What do you want?” Zak asked me.

  “A BBQ pork sandwich with potato salad.”

  The others went to the food counter while Ellie and I settled at a covered table large enough for ten. Eli and Catherine were snuggled into a double-wide stroller and seemed content for the time being, so we’d left them there at least until the food arrived.

  “It seems there’s a pretty good turnout despite the rain,” Ellie said as we scanned the crowd.

  “I figured the line for the haunted house would be crazy because it’s an indoor event, but I’m surprised to see so many people in the park. Of course, Haunted Hamlet is a tradition for a lot of people. It makes sense we wouldn’t be the only ones who braved the elements to come. I wonder how the zombie run went this morning. It was raining pretty steadily then.”

  “I bet there was a good turnout. The zombie runners get pretty muddy even when there’s no rain.”

  I waved to Tawny Upton, who was on her way to the food line with her children. Tawny had started a daycare center so she could have her children at work with her when they were young. By this point they were all in public school, but her place was doing as well as it ever had.

  “I heard Tawny and that guy she’s been seeing are getting really serious,” Ellie commented. “There’s even talk of an engagement.”

  I thought about the man. He was good-looking for sure, and he seemed to have an easygoing way about him, but I found something off about him. “Did he ever get a job?”

  “Tawny said he hoped to open a personal security business, or maybe it was surveillance; I’m not sure. It might even have been something like private investigation. I think I remember hearing he was taking some class.”

  “Seems intentionally vague. Almost like he has no intention of becoming gainfully employed but talks a lot about a new venture to make it seem as if he’s working on it.”

  “Yeah. He’s been mooching off Tawny for at least six months. If I were her, I’d put a brake on things until he started bringing in some income. Although she’s really in to him, and from what I hear, he’s great with her kids.”

  I glanced at Tawny again as she made her way through the long line. The concept of a PI or a PI wannabe was giving me an idea about my stalker. Zak and I had concluded that the odds that the person who’d taken all the photos of me and one who’d killed the two men being the same person were fifty-fifty at best. “I need to ask Tawny a question about the class her boyfriend is taking. Can you keep an eye on Catherine for a minute? Zak and the others are almost to the front of the line, so they should be here in just a few minutes.”

  “No problem. But hurry. You won’t want your food to get cold.”

  I jogged across the lawn to Tawny and her kids, halfway to the food.

  “Hey, Zoe. Are you having fun so far?”

  “I am.” I glanced at Zak, who was paying for the food. “I need to get back, but I had a question about the class I heard your boyfriend is taking. Is it true he wants to get into surveillance?”

  “Jason wants to open a business that combines it and investigation with private security. What he’s taking isn’t so much a class as a competition. He’s hoping to win and use the prize money to open his company.”

  “Tell me about this competition.”

  Tawny motioned for her kids to move up in the line. “I don’t know all the details, but apparently, some big security firm is sponsoring it. Each contestant is assigned a subject they follow for a month. They’re supposed to take photos of a subject, then write up a report on the person they’ve been surveilling. There are specific questions to answer about the person’s routine, that sort of thing.”

  “So, Jason is stalking someone to compete for a cash prize.”

  Tawny shrugged. “I guess it could be considered invasive to the person being observed, but PIs do it all the time. I think it’s pretty harmless.”

  Harmless wasn’t the word I’d u
se, given the fact that someone had been stalking me and I knew how violated it made me feel. “Any idea who your boyfriend’s subject is?”

  Tawny shook her head. “He didn’t tell me. He hasn’t told anyone. I don’t think he’s supposed to. The whole thing is very hush-hush, just the way it would be for a real private investigator.”

  I had a feeling I knew exactly who he’d been assigned to watch. I’d need to confirm it, but Tawny’s boyfriend was physically similar to the man whose reflection we’d picked out in the semi, so I was sure my suspicion would bear out.

  I returned to the table, where Zak and the others were chowing down on their lunch. I sat down next to him and leaned in close. “I think I know who my stalker is.”

  Zak paused with his burger halfway to his mouth. “Who?”

  “Tawny’s boyfriend. His name is Jason, and he’s supposedly in some contest to win a cash prize by surveilling someone for a month.”

  Zak frowned. “That doesn’t sound kosher to me.”

  “It sounds wrong to me too. I’m going to call Salinger after we finish eating and run the idea past him.”

  ******

  When I’d called Salinger he’d been tied up, so we set up a meeting for two o’clock. That worked out fine for me because it gave Zak and Levi time to take Nona and the kids through the haunted house while Ellie and I took the babies to see the rubber duck race that ran from the river near the park to the lake where it emptied out. Prior to having a baby, the race had never interested me, but now I found it to be a lot more fun than I’d anticipated. Not that either Eli or Catherine’s ducky came even close to winning, but it was fun to cheer the ducks along as they made their short journey.

  After the haunted house crowd had returned we all headed home. Levi and Ellie took both babies to their place for their naps, while Nona and the older kids were dropped off at our house. My mom was due to come by at four to help Alex with her makeup, but I figured we’d be back well before then.