Murder Beach

by Rena Leith

  I shook my head but smiled. “Okay, but you’re going to have to give me a clue occasionally. Anyway, George didn’t find anything when he was out there. The message was obviously disguised as illiterate. It creeps me out and pisses me off at the same time. I don’t know if I can get any sleep tonight.”

  “I’ll stand guard. I don’t need sleep. You’ve got plenty of moxie.” Doris quirked an eyebrow. “Solving a certain murder would give you loads of confidence.”

  “Being attacked does provide an element of motivation.”

  “You’re frail, but you ain’t no weak sister!” Doris did a shimmy, and ghostly fringe swung every which way.

  “Thanks, Doris. I don’t get why someone is threatening me.”

  She shrugged her ghostly shoulders. “Beats me. It’s not like you’ve solved the crime.”

  “Thanks,” I said wryly.

  “Y’know what I mean. Maybe someone doesn’t want you here. You know. In this house. It’s been empty a long time.”

  “I’ve been wondering who paid the taxes and did the basic upkeep myself. I would have thought it would have been sold for taxes long ago.”

  “Check the tax records.”

  I nearly slapped my forehead. “Doris, you’re genius.”

  “Naw.” But I could tell she was pleased.

  Chapter 19

  I did an Internet search and figured out where I needed to go to find the records I required. By the time I had what I wanted, a couple of officers arrived to gather evidence, fingerprints, and whatever else they needed. I showed them around the back and let them get on with it.

  As they were leaving, Jack and Gillian returned and I realized that I was okay. I had a plan, and I wasn’t going to put up with being harassed. Surviving Phil’s infidelity had changed me, and I wasn’t going to sit around and let anyone else set the agenda for my life. I belonged here, and I wasn’t leaving.

  “Cool. If the cops are through, we can get to work.”

  I frowned. “Do we need permits or anything?”

  Jack laughed. “No structural changes. Just repairs. No problem. All of your screens are different shapes, so it’s a good thing that no frames were splintered.”

  “That’s good.”

  “Want to help,” Gillian asked. “Or do you need to rest?”

  “I’m fine. Really I am. I have something else I need to do, though. I want to know who has an interest in this place, who’s been paying the taxes, who might want to scare me away.”

  “Come straight back here,” Jack said. “Don’t go off half-cocked. Someone clearly doesn’t mind a little violence.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll come back and share.” I grabbed my keys and headed for my car.

  ****

  Jack was cleaning up and putting tools and paint away when I returned. “We painted over the graffiti. The new paint stands out, though. Good thing it’s along the back, but you were planning to paint the whole place, right?”

  “Thanks. Just what I need: another expense.”

  Gillian called out from the living room. “What did you find out?”

  “The taxes were paid by Dave.”

  “Seriously? He couldn’t have told us and saved us some angst?” Gillian said.

  “I called him after I checked the records. It never occurred to him to say anything. He was quite happy to have a vacant, haunted house next door on the beach. Keeping it vacant gave him privacy. He did some work around the place so that no one would complain and have it condemned. He thwarted several attempts by builders who wanted to buy it as a teardown. He was very concerned at first when he heard that a divorcée from Pleasanton had bought the place. He was prepared to scare me away if I proved to be trouble, but he decided he liked me and was happy to have me next door. He found out from the realtor that I had no intention of replacing the house with a monster home.”

  “Too bad he won’t keep paying the taxes.” Jack had washed up and joined us in the living room.

  “The reason the garage is in such bad shape is that he never ventured back there, assuming it was empty.”

  Jack looked thoughtful. “You know, I’d better do a little repair work before we leave. I want to make sure my car is safe.”

  The air next to him coughed.

  Jack swiveled to face Doris, who half-materialized behind him. “Look, I know it’s your car, but it’s not like you can drive it.”

  “But you could drive Thoris around in it,” Gillian said.

  Doris silently clapped her hands.

  “Guess you’ll just have to come back to visit,” I added. “Okay, so there was nothing sinister in the tax question. I’ll have to try to figure out other possibilities.”

  “If Jack is going to spend a little more time fixing up the garage, we should go back to visit Samantha before we leave,” Gillian said.

  “Speaking of which, I promised George I’d ask you to stay. I told him you probably couldn’t…” I let my voice trail off.

  They looked at each other.

  Jack sighed. “I totally get it. I was thinking you should come back with us or take a vacation or stay at a hotel.”

  I shook my head. “Can’t afford it.”

  “I’ll make some phone calls to work,” he said. “I hope they catch this jerk fast.” He pulled out his cell and headed out the back door.

  “I should check with Ricardo to find out what’s going on with Samantha before we just go over to the hospital.” I took out my cell and phoned. “Ricardo, it’s Cass. I was wondering how Samantha is doing. We were thinking about visiting her.”

  “She’d love that. She’s a bit put out with the cops right now. They should be releasing her soon, so you might want to call first. The police have been to the shop and to her house. They took her computers.”

  “Can they do that?” I asked.

  “That’s her argument. She’s getting a lawyer lined up. They may suspect her of something. They may be trying to protect her. Who knows? But it’s motivating her to get out of the hospital.”

  “She’ll give the police what for, but I want her to get better. This is a lot of stress. She has no advocate, though.”

  “She has us,” Ricardo said. “I agree that someone needs to stand up for her while she’s incapacitated, but I’m trying to do that. I shut Crystalline down for now, so the best way to reach me is by phone. I’ll be putting some hours in at Bobbo’s, but the rest of the time Mia and I will be finishing Brendan’s site.”

  “I’m afraid I’ve been slacking. There was some vandalism at my cottage. Jack’s making repairs.”

  “Are you all right?” His voice was heavy with concern.

  “I’m fine. I wanted to ask you about the situation at Brendan’s. When the cops left there, it was because they found a missing gamer. What’s happening with that?”

  “The buzz among the gamers is they picked him up. Out-of-towner. I never liked him, and I do think he’s capable of murder. He tried hitting on Mia. At first, she was open with him, telling him some of the stuff about her family. She told the whole group part of her story, but he really focused in on Alan, declaring him to be evil. He told Mia he could kill Alan and make it look like a vampire got him. There was a similar case in Louisiana that he’d heard about.”

  “Looks like we have our murderer.”

  “Not really. Mia begged him to stay away from Alan. After Alan died, she confronted him. He told her he plotted it out but never did anything.”

  “But the cops don’t believe him?”

  “No idea. It’s not like they tell me what they’re doing. This is all hearsay, what Mia told me, and what I found online.”

  I paused to think.

  “Cass?”

  “Sorry. They took him in for questioning at the very least, so I’m guessing they do suspect him. But you aren’t convinced?”

  “He had motive, means, and opportunity, but it’s pretty weak.”

  “Have you heard anything about what made the wounds?”

 
“Wounds didn’t kill him. He drowned. That was on the news. Look, I’ve got to go. Let me know if you find out anything.”

  “Will do.” I hung up. “I just remembered what I saw at Dave’s a few days ago. Gillian, what did we see hanging off the grills in the picnic area?”

  She picked up on it right away. “Hot dog forks. But weren’t they chained to the grills?”

  “Two evenly spaced holes,” I said. “Dave had the same type of long, two-pronged fork hanging from his grill, and it wasn’t chained.”

  “But they’re so ubiquitous in a picnic area, who’d notice?”

  “The killer,” I said.

  Gillian asked, “Good point. Did Ricardo have anything new?”

  “Just some information on the gamer the police wanted for questioning.”

  “I have a question for you. If Alan is Mia’s father, is his wife her mother?”

  “Good question. I have a feeling the only person who can answer that without a test is Sara and maybe not even then.”

  “Has anyone said anything about it?”

  I shook my head. “Not that I remember. I would think that, if she were, Alan would have said something to Mia, but she talked about Alan as her father but not Sara as her mother.”

  “Do you feel that it’s something you can discuss with her?”

  I thought about it. She’d been pretty open about the autopsy, but it wasn’t as though we were bosom buddies. “I can ask. Now that you mention it, it seems odd that Mia wasn’t mentioned in his will.”

  “Unless there’s a later will.”

  “Now that hadn’t occurred to me. For that to be true, I’m guessing that either Sara or her lawyer would have had to know about it.”

  “Unless there’s another relative or friend that Alan was closer to. That someone might have had a reason not to come forward. Protecting Alan’s memory?”

  “Or the person doesn’t like Mia. I’m remembering the conversations we had while helping Sara with her inventory. Sara didn’t know about Alan’s relationship to Mia. When we talked about the reading of the will, Mia wasn’t mentioned, and I had the distinct impression that Marcy thought Mia and Alan were having an affair. Now I’m not saying this is fact, but it doesn’t seem to me that anyone except us, Ricardo, and Mia has a clue that Mia is Alan’s daughter.”

  “That makes me wonder if the person who killed him had any idea. Didn’t Ricardo mention that Alan had taken a DNA test for paternity?”

  “I think he did.” I sighed. “I’m going to have to pursue this.”

  “You need to tell George.”

  “True. And then I need to talk to Mia and Ricardo.” I hesitated. “I also have to tell Sara if no one else will.”

  “You do realize you’re not responsible. I think Mia and Ricardo will understand, but Sara may think you’re poking your nose where it doesn’t belong.”

  “I know, but it’s the right thing to do.”

  Gillian raised an eyebrow. “Then start with George.”

  “You’re right.” It wasn’t how I’d pictured our next conversation. “What constitutes obstruction of justice? It’s a small town and they’re cops. They probably already know, don’t you think?”

  “Take three deep breaths and make that first call.” She got up. “I’m getting a drink.”

  I phoned George. “Hey, George.”

  His voice sounded cautious. “Did anything else happen? Do I need to pay you another visit?”

  “You’re always welcome here.”

  “Even with a search warrant?” At my silence, he continued, “Just a little cop humor.”

  Gillian set an iced tea in front of me and took a sip of her own.

  I looked up at her, mouthing thank you, and continued. “How’s the case going? Anyone confess yet?”

  She gave me a thumbs up.

  “It should be that easy.”

  “Listen, George. I remembered something I probably should have mentioned before.”

  “Oh?” His voice tensed up.

  “Mia told me that she’s Alan Howland’s daughter.”

  “Go on.”

  “You should talk to her. I’m just repeating what I’ve been told, but I gather that Alan had a paternity test that confirmed it.”

  “Would you happen to know if Sara Howland is her mother?”

  “I don’t know, but if she is, she doesn’t know as far as I can tell. I know that Mia wasn’t mentioned in the will. Sara mentioned some of his relatives that she didn’t know about; surely, she would have mentioned a daughter.”

  “Is there anything else you haven’t told me?”

  “Not that I can think of.” I looked over at Gillian.

  “Thanks, Cass. I have to go now. Talk to you later.” And he hung up.

  I set my phone down and took a big swig of tea. “That was weird. All of a sudden in the middle I forgot why I was telling him that.”

  “Don’t worry about it. It’s up to him what he does with the info. As you said, they may already know.”

  “Good point. He was pretty noncommittal.”

  There was a knock at the door. I started.

  Gillian got up and answered. Ricardo and Mia followed her back into the room.

  “We just dropped Samantha off at her house and wanted to come by to tell you so that you didn’t make an unnecessary trip to the hospital.”

  “Thanks, Ricardo. Have a seat.” I gestured toward the couch. “How is she?”

  Gillian said, “Want some iced tea? Or anything else to drink?”

  “Yes, please,” Mia said and followed Gillian into the kitchen.

  Ricardo sat down on the couch. “Where’s Jack?”

  “He’s making some repairs to the outbuilding. It’s pretty run down. He’ll probably be back soon.”

  “I have some interesting info about Samantha’s injuries. She was telling me about it as I drove her home. Remember Alan’s neck?”

  “No!” I said.

  He nodded. “Yes.”

  “Two holes?”

  Ricardo nodded again.

  “No way!”

  “And there was a note pinned to her body. It said that she’d been spying on the gamers, had turned them in to the cops, so she had to pay. The police questioned her in the hospital about it.” He leaned forward and cracked his knuckles.

  “That doesn’t make much sense. You’re a gamer. She knows you. All the gaming groups are playing in public places when she videos them. They have nothing to hide. It’s not like she’s creeping around and peering in windows.”

  “That’s what I told her. Her feelings were hurt at the thought, but I told her we were being framed. The police seem to think that Alan’s murder and the attack on Samantha are related.”

  “So now the police are focusing in on the gamers.”

  He nodded.

  “I’ll bet capturing the two gamers they were looking for has helped them zero in. The thought had occurred to me that Samantha’s pointing the finger at the gamers over Alan’s murder might have repercussions.”

  “I don’t think we should guilt her out over that,” Ricardo said. “Samantha was unconscious when the note was pinned to her, and it was removed by the police before she regained consciousness. In all the pain she was suffering, she was also unaware that someone had stabbed her in the neck. The wound was superficial, unlike Alan’s, which may point to two different attackers. I think we have a copycat.”

  “Gillian and I were discussing a theory about the holes in Alan’s neck. We realized that a hotdog fork would make those lovely, evenly spaced holes in his neck. My neighbor, Dave, has a pair hanging on his grill, and there are some on the grills up at the campsite on the crest by the cliff with implements chained to the sides.”

  Thor, sleeping on the throw rug under the coffee table, yawned, exposing his two long white fangs.

  Mia and Gillian joined us, bearing a pitcher of iced tea and glasses. Mia sat as Gillian poured.

  “Did you two get any more done on Brendan�
��s site?”

  Mia took a glass. “Thanks. We did. We made a bunch of changes, and I think we’re ready to go. I’d like to send Brendan a password and walk him through viewing it.”

  “I think we should offer to walk him through in person, particularly the first time. I want him to be comfortable checking our updates without having one of us present all the time,” Ricardo said.

  “That’s a good point,” I said. “But he is a cornerstone client, and we should work to keep him happy.”

  When Ricardo looked a bit mulish, I added, “For now. We’ll train him to be more computer savvy.”

  “Okay,” he conceded. “I can do it.”

  Mia put a hand on his and smiled. “I think you’d better let me do it.”

  “I agree,” I said. “Brendan might be stressed over the police focus on him because of Samantha’s videos, so having a live human who cares about him help him out is a good thing.”

  Mia set her glass down. “I’ll get on it right away. We need to go live.”

  My cell rang.

  Ricardo got up. “We have to go, anyway.”

  “I’ll get the door,” Gillian said.

  I answered the phone. “Hello?” It was a local number, but one I didn’t recognize.

  “Cass? It’s Sara. I’m down at the police station again. Can you pick me up? Marcy was supposed to, but she had an emergency.”

  “Sorry to hear that. Of course I can come get you. Are you all right?”

  “No. I-I don’t want to talk about it here. I’ll tell you when you pick me up.”

  “Okay. I’ll be right down.” I hung up. “Gillian, I’m going to pick Sara up. She’s at the police station, and I’m wondering if it’s because of the call I made to George.” I pulled on my jacket and grabbed my gloves and car keys. “See you in a few.”

  “I’ll go see how Jack is doing.” Gillian walked me out.

  I parked and dodged a light rain as I entered the police station. Despite the double doors, the room was chilly from all the people going in and out.

  “May I help you?” the officer on duty inquired politely.