Rock Around the Corpse

by Lizbeth Lipperman

  “Did you call her on that?” Maddy asked, reaching for Deena’s water bottle and taking a big gulp before handing it back to her.

  “Yes,” Kate replied. “She said it was a slip of the tongue—that she was actually twelve when she and her parents left Paris.”

  “Hmm.” Vince scribbled something on his notepad. “Although it is a little strange for her to forget how old she was when she left her home and crossed the Atlantic, I don’t see a connection to Kershaw’s death.”

  “By itself, there is none, but then Yolanda let it slip that Kershaw was a slimy human being—her words, not mine,” Kate added.

  This time Vince smiled. “Now that could be important. Did she say why she thought that?”

  Both Deena and Kate shook their heads. “No, but Tessa definitely thinks…”

  Kate stopped talking as a horrified look crossed Deena’s face. Between the two of them, they’d just mentioned Tessa for the second time. It wouldn’t take long for a smart man like Vince to figure out that something was going on.

  “Who’s Tessa?” he asked, nailing her with narrowed eyes.

  Oh, boy! Tessa said after squeezing in between Deena and Kate on the bed. How are you going to get out of this one?

  Deena nearly choked on the sip of water she’d just taken. “Kate sometimes calls me that,” she lied. “It’s my middle name.” She held her breath waiting for his reaction and was relieved when he nodded.

  “Do you prefer that name?”

  Deena took a deep breath. She’d never been good at lying and was sure he’d see right through the fib. She focused on his face so that she wouldn’t cave under his stare and for the first time, noticed the streaks of gray on both temples. She couldn’t help wondering if it was premature graying or if the stress of his job had brought it on.

  “No, everyone else calls me Deena.” She smiled up at him and was rewarded when he returned hers with one of his own.

  I am so damn impressed right now. Deena can lie like the best of us. Tessa grinned like a mother who had just seen her daughter crowned homecoming queen.

  “Okay, then. We’ll definitely spend some time with Yolanda and see if we can crack her shell,” Maddy said. “Is there anything else you need to tell us?”

  “Only that Tessa—I mean Deena—agrees that the Elliotts are faking Annie’s ankle injury in preparation for suing the spa,” Kate said. “Maybe there’s a story there as well.”

  “Another thing we’ll definitely check out,” Vince said. “And I have to agree one hundred percent with your sister about the Elliotts.” He gave Deena another one of his killer smiles, making her almost forget what she wanted to say.

  “I just remembered Yolanda mentioning that Sam and Olivia Mason are checking out the spa for future corporate retreats for their clients,” Kate said, coming to Deena’s rescue and giving her time to recover.

  “That must be what Haley’s waiting on,” Maddy said.

  “What do you mean?” Deena questioned.

  “When I asked her why there were no security cameras anywhere, she got really defensive and said that she wasn’t breaking any laws—that it wasn’t a requirement in Oklahoma. Then she mellowed a bit and confessed that she was waiting on what she hoped would be a big chunk of change since she already had six cameras on order,” Maddy explained.

  “Makes sense, but Kate and I both wondered how a young couple like the Masons could afford shelling out that much money for clients. A weekend retreat at a place like this can’t be cheap,” Deena said, glad to have found her voice again.

  “Looks like we have our work cut out for us,” Vince said, reaching for the notes from Lainey. “Come on, ladies. Dinner’s less than four hours away, and we haven’t spoken to all the kitchen staff yet.”

  “So, did you three find out a lot of good stuff like we did?” Kate asked, obviously proud of herself.

  Maddy laughed. “No, little sis, you and Deena did way better than us. All we discovered was that the kitchen staff partied late into the night on Friday, and were all sporting pretty good hangovers on Saturday. As for India, she admitted that she’s been hiding tips from Arlene, her fellow waitress, and that she’d had a fling with Kershaw after he got her jail sentence commuted.” She tsked. “Apparently, the good judge collected his fee in sexual favors.”

  “Holy crap! The man did get around,” Kate said, before turning to Deena. “No offense.”

  “None taken,” Deena said, wondering how in the world she could have been so attracted to a man who was obviously a womanizer, and according to Yolanda Templeton, a big slimy human. She chalked it up to all the booze she’d consumed and her history of making bad choices when it came to the opposite sex.

  Right about now you must be thinking about sending a letter off, eh, Deena? Dear alcohol, we had a deal where you would make me funnier, smarter, and a better dancer…I saw the video…We have to talk. Tessa slapped her leg. I crack myself up sometimes.

  Deena caught herself before laughing with Tessa. Instead, she focused on taking the heat off herself. “Why was India in jail?”

  “Drugs.” Maddy leaned closer to her two sisters. “And get this—Kershaw was the one who got India the job here so she could spy for him. Seems he was especially interested in the layout of the place. She has no idea what he was looking for, though.”

  Before they could react, Maddy continued, “And the other thing we learned was that India took the liquor to Kershaw’s room, and when he didn’t respond to her knock, she figured he was in the bathroom, and she left it beside the door. Then she went back to the kitchen to finish cleaning up. About ten minutes later, she returned, and this time, Kershaw answered the door.”

  “So does that mean India is our killer?” Deena asked.

  “Possibly,” Maddy said. “But my gut tells me no. Here’s the thing, though. On the way back to his room, she passed Gary Wharton in the hallway.”

  “Wow! Seems like all roads lead to him,” Deena said. “Have you had a chance to talk to him yet?”

  Vince shook his head. “He’s at the top of our list of people we want to question this afternoon.” He rubbed his chin as if in deep thought. “What about that journalist? Naomi what’s her name? Has anyone found out anything interesting about her?”

  Deena shot upright. “Nothing exciting. Yolanda did say that the Masons saw her out by the gazebo earlier. She was taking a walk into the woods.”

  “By herself?” Lainey asked.

  “I know. She must be crazy,” Deena said. “Anyway, apparently she mentioned to the young couple that she might join them later in the spa pool, so you might catch her there.”

  Vince nodded. “Like I said, we’ve got a full afternoon of interrogations ahead of us, so I suggest we get right on it.”

  “What about Haley?” Deena asked. “I got the impression that she may have been one of Brent’s conquests as well.” She tried not to think about how close she’d come to being on that list right along with her friend. “Is she one of your suspects?”

  “Everyone is,” Vince said, sending another heart-stopping smile her way. He stood and walked to the door with Maddy and Lainey following behind. “Even you and me,” he said over his shoulder as he walked out.

  *****

  Deena and Kate stood in front of Gary Wharton’s room for several minutes, neither one saying a word before Kate finally spoke up. “Do we really want to do this? At best, it’s breaking and entering. At worst—” She shook her head. “I can’t even think about that right now, or I’ll chicken out.”

  Deena took a deep breath before inserting her master key into the lock. “It’s now or never, Kate. I figure we have about twenty minutes before he gets back from the spa—longer if Yolanda pushes the champagne on him like she did with us.”

  She knocked gently on the door before pushing with all her might until they were looking directly into Wharton’s room. She had no idea what she expected to find, but getting a look inside the room of the man who in all probability had k
illed Brent Kershaw in cold blood was too good an opportunity to pass up. Cautiously, she stepped inside the doorway. “Gary, are you here?”

  Kate laughed nervously. “We just saw him get into the pool, silly. Of course, he’s not here.” She moved closer to her older sister and pressed into her back.

  “Geez, Kate, give me a little room,” Deena said, trying to sound braver than she felt. She reached back and took her younger sister’s hand before walking further into the room.

  Holy crap! This man is a complete slob, Tessa said, appearing and pushing past Deena. Good luck finding anything you can use in this pig sty.

  Deena had to agree with the ghost. The king-sized bed looked like there’d been a wrestling match on it, and half the covers were strewn across the floor. His clothes were in a pile in the middle of the room, probably dropped there when he’d changed into swimming trunks.

  “Apparently this dude lives exactly like he installs wooden floors,” Kate deadpanned, finally letting go of Deena’s hand. “This is a housekeeper’s worst nightmare. Maybe Haley should’ve checked out his personal habits before she trusted him with the renovations.”

  “He’s definitely not a neatnik,” Deena agreed, glancing toward the dresser where there were two bottles of liquor. “And he could probably use an AA meeting from the looks of all that booze.”

  She walked over, being careful not to touch the bottles. The one closest to her was a malt liquor and only had a few ounces left. The second bottle was two thirds full. Her eyes widened when she realized that it was Scotch.

  “What?” Kate asked when she came up behind her. “Holy Mother of God! Could this be the bottle that went missing from Kershaw’s room?”

  Deena shrugged. “It would be a huge coincidence if it was. Gary couldn’t have been stupid enough to kill Brent and then bring the liquor laced with a sedative back to his room, could he have?”

  “You wouldn’t think so, but my first impression of the man is that he probably didn’t graduate in the top two-thirds of his class, if you get my drift.” Kate pointed to the whiskey bottle. “Plus, he had to be pretty drunk after consuming almost that entire bottle.”

  “You’ve got a point.” Deena opened up the first dresser drawer only to find it empty. A quick check showed the others were also unused. She spotted his suitcase on the floor on the other side of the bed and walked over to it. “I can’t believe anyone would live out of a suitcase and just throw clothes around like this.” She picked up an article of his clothing before she realized what it was and quickly threw it back into the suitcase with the other wrinkled items. “Eew!”

  “What?” Kate looked over to see what Deena was looking at and wrinkled her nose. “Dirty underwear…gross.”

  Reminds me of the woman who went with her husband to the doctor’s office. When the doc asked hubby for a urine and stool sample, along with a sperm sample, the woman calmly told her husband to give them his underwear. Tessa walked past her and sauntered into the bathroom.

  “Now that’s a great visual,” Deena said, making a face like she’d just tasted something sour.

  Oh my God! You two had better get in here now, Tessa shouted.

  Jumping up from the floor, Deena rushed into the bathroom with Kate right behind her.

  “What’s the matter? Did you—” She gasped when she saw why Tessa was so excited.

  Rolled in a ball in the middle of the sink was a white shirt with one side completely covered in a red stain. “Is that what I think it is?”

  “It sure doesn’t look like wine.” Kate bent down and sniffed. “Definitely blood.”

  “Don’t touch it.” Deena grabbed Kate’s arm. “We gotta get Maddy in here before Wharton gets back. Come on.”

  They were halfway to the door when it opened.

  Oh crap!

  “What the hell?” The surprised look on Gary Wharton’s face turned to anger.

  “Hey, Gary,” Deena said, racking her brain to come up with a logical reason why she and Kate were in his room. “We came by to make sure you were okay because we didn’t see you at lunch.”

  Mentally, she slapped herself for the lame excuse. Since Paulina had sent sandwiches to their room, they hadn’t even been to the dining room. If Wharton had, he would know immediately that she was lying through her teeth.

  “How’d you get in here?” He took a step toward them, his eyebrows cocked menacingly, and both sisters moved backwards.

  “I know karate,” Kate said, quickly assuming the stance of a ninja warrior.

  If their situation hadn’t been so serious, Deena would have laughed out loud as her younger sister tried to intimidate the six foot plus Wharton. Instead, she bit her lower lip to keep from grinning and pulled out her master key. “Still have this from the renovations.”

  He stared first at the key then back at her. “So why’d you break into my room?” he asked, blocking their exit when they tried to get past him. “We all know it wasn’t to check up on me.”

  Deena took a moment to think about what her answer should be. As he glared at her, she noticed that his forehead was wrinkled as if in pain and decided he was probably still suffering from the same post-alcoholic headache that she was.

  I’ll try to distract him, and you and Katie run like hell, Tessa said, moving toward Wharton.

  “Neither one of you are going anywhere until you tell me why you’re here in my room,” he said, almost as if he had heard Tessa. His eyes followed Kate’s to the bathroom and then widened as the realization of what they had probably seen hit him.

  “Sit down,” he commanded. “We need to talk.”

  Chapter Twelve

  “Take it easy, Wharton,” Deena said, trying to make her voice as calm as she could. With her heart racing and her breath coming in quick succession, calm would not even come close to describing how she was feeling right now.

  She and her sisters had just uncovered a crucial piece of evidence in Wharton’s bathroom, and although it wasn’t the smoking gun—or more correctly, proof that he’d stolen her designing scissors—it would go a long way in proving that she wasn’t the killer. But even as that positive thought rolled around in her head, another frightening one sabotaged it. Standing in front of her—blocking the door so they couldn’t leave— was in all likelihood, the man who had murdered Brent Kershaw. And neither she nor Kate could take him, despite her sister’s pathetic attempt to convince him that she knew martial arts.

  “I’m not going to hurt you,” the contractor said, motioning for them to sit down on the end of the crumpled bed. “I just want to talk.”

  “My sister Maddy and Vince Hogan—who’s an FBI agent, by the way—know that Kate and I came to your room. By now, they should be getting worried because we haven’t returned.” She hoped he’d buy the story.

  The reality was that she and Kate had known that both Maddy and Vince would veto their bright idea to search the room. When they’d seen Wharton heading to the spa in his swimming trunks, they hadn’t wasted time looking for the others to get their approval. They’d agreed that a quick check of the man’s room would go a long way into understanding him. Now, staring into the eyes of the leading suspect in Brent’s murder, what had sounded so exciting only a short time before seemed incredibly stupid in hindsight. Deena chastised herself for getting her younger sister involved in something that could not only turn out to be a mistake, but a deadly one at that.

  They had to act nonchalant. Letting him know they were terrified would be like giving him the advantage. He might even see it as an opportunity to hurt them—or worse. She willed her heart to slow down and gave him a phony smile.

  Wharton grumbled something, his face showing his agitation. He motioned again for them to sit, and this time they did, sliding so close to each other, you couldn’t get a hand between their bodies. Pushing the chair over from the desk, he sat down in front of them. “I know you’ve seen the shirt.”

  “What shirt?” Katie said, way too quickly.

  A half s
mile crossed his face. “I’d love to sit across from you in a high stakes poker game,” he said, staring at her intently before turning back to Deena. “I know you won’t believe me, but I have no idea how all that blood got on my shirt.”

  “Maybe you were so mad at Kershaw for busting your balls about the floor you screwed up that you confronted him,” Kate said, defiantly. “Maybe things turned ugly, and the scissors that you stole from my sister last week somehow ended up in his chest.”

  “And maybe you should stick to medicine and leave the detective work to your more capable sister.” His eyes flashed anger before he blew out a frustrated breath. “Yes, I was angry at—”

  “More like furious,” Kate blurted before Deena kicked her in the ankle.

  Don’t argue with an idiot, Tessa said from behind Deena. People watching might not be able to tell the difference.

  Tessa was right. Nothing good would come out of making this guy angrier than he already was.

  “Okay, furious,” he agreed, much to Deena’s surprise. “I decided I needed a lot more liquor if I was going to get any sleep at all last night. So I went down to the kitchen and got a bottle of whiskey.” He held up his master key. “I also have one.”

  “Is that how you got into Brent’s room?” Deena asked, deciding she and Kate needed to attack simultaneously.

  He stood, and for a few seconds Deena thought she’d crossed the line. She braced herself, ready to kick him in the crotch where she knew it would bring him down—at least momentarily.

  He merely shrugged. “That’s just it. I don’t know if I did or not. I came back to my room and tried to drown my sorrows. I must’ve fallen asleep because the next thing I knew I woke up with a killer hangover and blood all over my shirt.” His voice cracked. “I would never deliberately hurt anyone like that, not even a scumbag like Kershaw.”

  Tessa laughed out loud. Yeah, and if we believe that, I’ll bet you have some ocean property in Arizona you’ll let us have for a steal.

  Despite Tessa’s remark, something about his demeanor and the way he’d choked up on those last words had a calming effect on Deena’s nerves, and she leaned forward. But remembering that there was still a very real possibility he’d brought the sedative-laced Scotch back to his room after killing Brent kept her on the defensive. “I believe you, Gary, but I have to tell you, people do a lot of crazy things they’d never do otherwise when they’re in an alcoholic blackout.” She pointed to the dresser.