Kilt at the Highland Games

by Kaitlyn Dunnett

  “He probably took the same shortcut you used to get here,” Dan said.

  “That would be my guess,” Sherri agreed. “In that case, he’s long gone.”

  “There was a couple in the square just a little bit ago,” Liss offered. “On the swings. If they’re still there, maybe they got a look at him.”

  “Do you know who they were?”

  Liss shook her head. “I wasn’t close enough to see faces, but they looked like they were really into each other.”

  “Like most couples who sit on those swings after dark,” Dan said.

  “If that’s so, chances are slim that they noticed anyone else, but I’d better see if they’re still there. The only problem is that I can’t leave this place unsecured.”

  Liss grabbed her friend’s arm, struck by a sudden thought. “What if the killer saw that couple? He wouldn’t want any witnesses.”

  Sherri swore softly.

  “We’re stuck here anyway,” Dan said. “Liss and I can guard your crime scene while you go check on them.”

  Sherri didn’t argue. She was running again even before Dan finished making the offer.

  * * *

  By the time Sherri reached the playground in the town square, she was out of breath.

  There was no one on the swings.

  There was no one anywhere in sight.

  The powerful beam of her Maglite confirmed that there were no new bodies, either. The courting couple had watched the fireworks, swinging gently side by side, and then gone on their way. She breathed a sigh of relief. Tomorrow would be soon enough to track them down and interview them.

  At an only slightly slower pace, she headed back to Jason Graye’s house. She wanted to be there before officers from the sheriff’s department and the state police arrived and wondered where she was. She popped out onto Lowe Street just as a half dozen vehicles, blue lights flashing, converged on the scene of the crime.

  Sherri made her report to Gordon Tandy, the state police detective who had been assigned to Carrabassett County for the last six years. Since he was nearly a foot taller than she was, she had to crane her neck to meet his eyes.

  Gordon spared a glance for Liss and Dan, still standing off to one side, but did not try to speak to them. Not just yet. Sherri knew from past experience that he liked to take a look at the scene before he heard what witnesses had to say.

  “It might be a good idea to have Dan move his car,” Sherri said.

  Gordon nodded, but there wasn’t sufficient light to read the expression in his dark eyes. He had a history with both Liss and Dan. “Ruskin may as well drive it over to their place.”

  “Do you want to interview them here or at the house?”

  “Tell him to walk back. I’d like them to stick around for a bit.” He hesitated, then asked, “How’s she doing?”

  “Shaky.” While Sherri had gone to look for the couple on the swings, Dan had stood guard over the side door, leaving Liss alone at the front. She’d looked a little green around the gills by the time Sherri returned.

  “Stay with her,” Gordon ordered as he started up the steps to the porch.

  Sherri resisted the urge to salute.

  She relayed his instructions to Dan and Liss and stuck close to her friend after Dan drove away. Liss heaved a deep sigh as she watched the taillights disappear.

  “How did Gordon take it when you said I was the one who found the body?”

  “I couldn’t tell. He had his cop face on.”

  “He doesn’t like it when I meddle in murder, but it isn’t as if I’ve ever had any choice. I never mean to get involved.”

  “Not your fault,” Sherri agreed.

  It was just plain bad luck that Liss had encountered more than her fair share of murder victims. Gordon Tandy knew that perfectly well. Besides, he and Liss were friends, after a fashion. They’d even dated for a short while, back before she married Dan. Now that he had also taken a wife—the sheriff of Carrabassett County, no less—there was no reason for any animosity between them.

  Liss’s face was dimly illuminated by the pool of light from a nearby street lamp. That was more than enough to show Sherri how exhausted she was. Standing around doing nothing after the adrenaline-producing trauma of finding a murder victim was hard on the nerves. Sherri felt the strain herself, although to a lesser degree.

  “This time I’m determined to stay out of it,” Liss said. “I’ll give my statement, and that will be that.”

  “Good idea,” Sherri said.

  As for herself, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of regret. She would not be part of the investigation. As the local chief of police, she would be kept in the loop as a courtesy, but her role would probably be limited to crowd control. Even that small contribution would not last long. Once the body had been taken to Augusta for autopsy and the crime scene unit was finished with the house, there would be nothing for gawkers to see and thus no need for an officer to stand guard.

  Neither Sherri nor Liss felt much like talking as they waited for Dan to return and Gordon to reappear. Sherri watched neighbors begin to drift home from The Spruces, where they’d gone to watch the fireworks display. They weren’t happy about being questioned before they were allowed to enter their own houses. Anyone else who showed up was kept at a distance.

  When Dan rejoined them, he didn’t have anything to say, either. Hands in his pockets, his expression wary, he stared at the yellow crime scene tape that had been strung around Graye’s house.

  After a television news van from one of the Portland stations showed up, Sherri herded her friends into deeper shadow. The last thing any of them wanted was to see their faces splashed across every wide-screen TV in the state.

  A cute and perky-looking reporter, a regular on the evening news, hopped out of the van. She had a reputation as a real barracuda when it came to getting information out of a source. More often than not, people she interviewed came off sounding like babbling idiots.

  In less time than Sherri expected, Gordon and a uniformed state trooper emerged from Jason Graye’s house. Gordon took one look at the reporter and her cameraman and dispatched the trooper to escort Sherri, Liss, and Dan to a secure spot that was not only behind the crime scene tape but also shielded by a large spruce.

  He addressed Sherri first. “Can your department keep an eye on the house for the rest of the night?”

  “No problem.”

  Sherri intended to take on the job herself. The other Moosetookalook officers—two full-timers and three part-timers—were either at The Spruces already or off duty, getting a good night’s sleep in preparation for working at the Highland Games in the morning.

  Gordon delegated the other officer to question Dan, although the two of them didn’t go very far. Then he tugged a small, spiral-bound notebook and a pencil out of his inside jacket pocket. His pointed look at Sherri told her more clearly than any words that he did not intend to conduct his interview with Liss until she’d moved on.

  Reluctantly, she stepped away.

  She felt much better after she’d sent the news crew packing.

  * * *

  “We have to stop meeting like this,” Liss said in a futile attempt to lighten the mood.

  “You want to tell me what you and Dan were doing here?”

  “We weren’t here, exactly. We were driving past on our way to the hotel. The car windows were open. We heard what sounded like a gunshot.”

  A look of surprise flickered across Gordon’s face so quickly that she wondered if she’d imagined it.

  “What time was that?” he asked.

  Chagrined, Liss had to admit that she hadn’t thought to look at the dashboard clock. “The fireworks had only just started.” She tried to remember how many explosions there had been, but she hadn’t been paying close attention. “If you want, I’ll clock myself running downstairs from Margaret’s apartment and driving from the Emporium to here.”

  “Why were you at your aunt’s place?”

  “T
o check on the dogs. You remember Dandy and Dondi?”

  “Oh, yeah.” For just a second, he was Gordon instead of Detective Tandy. There might even have been a twinkle in his eyes, although it was too dark to tell. Then he was all business again. “How long were you there?”

  “Only long enough to make sure sudden loud noises weren’t going to bother them. Then I met Dan, who was waiting in the car in front of the Emporium, and we headed for the hotel.”

  “Along Pine Street to Lowe? Why didn’t you take Ash to get to Main?”

  “Have you seen what’s left of Angie’s store?”

  Clearly he had not and therefore couldn’t possibly understand how much the sight of that burned-out shell upset her. It was bad enough that she could see it from both her shop and her house. She tried to avoid confronting the ruins head on, as they would have if Dan had turned right at the post office and driven along Ash Street. Considerate, as always, he’d chosen an alternate route.

  Gordon returned to the sound Liss had heard. “You were sure it was a gunshot?”

  “I knew it wasn’t part of the fireworks display.”

  “So you stopped?”

  Liss nodded. “Dan heard it, too.”

  “You didn’t think that might be dangerous?”

  “I . . . I don’t know what we thought. And then I saw someone moving away from the side of Graye’s house.”

  “Moving? Not running?”

  Liss frowned. “I only saw it for a second. A shape.” She didn’t think she’d imagined it.

  “And then?”

  “We found the front door open and went in and found Jason Graye’s body.” All of a sudden, Liss started to shake. The delayed reaction took her by surprise and left Gordon at a momentary loss for words.

  He flipped his notebook closed and pocketed it and the pencil, then seized her by the elbow to propel her toward his cruiser. He was just stuffing her into the passenger seat when Dan rushed over, closely followed by the uniformed trooper.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing, Tandy? You can’t arrest my wife.”

  “I’m not arresting her. I’m taking her home and pouring her a stiff drink. You can meet us there as soon as you’ve finished giving your statement.”

  Liss squeezed her eyes tightly shut when they passed Angie’s Books. The burned-out building was on Gordon’s side of the cruiser. She assumed that he got a good look at it.

  Moments later, he stopped in front of her house.

  Nothing was very far away from anything else in Moosetookalook.

  By the time Gordon had her settled on the living room sofa with both cats in her lap, Dan caught up with them. There was no sign of the uniformed state trooper.

  “I’m okay,” Liss insisted when he started to fuss over her. “I just got the shakes for a minute there. I do not want a glass of medicinal brandy.”

  “Hot chocolate, then?”

  When she nodded, Dan headed for the kitchen to make a cup of her preferred restorative. He was back in less than five minutes with her drink. Glowering at Gordon, he handed it over and plunked himself down next to her on the sofa. He had to take Glenora onto his lap to make room.

  Gordon ignored him and resumed his interrogation. “Can you describe the person you saw leaving the scene?”

  “Not really. All I saw was a dark shape.”

  Liss took a sip of her drink, burned her tongue, and grimaced. At least chocolate tasted better than brandy. She’d never been able to understand why so many people tried to push alcohol on someone who’d had a shock. Something sweet, with a hint of caffeine, worked much better as a pick-me-up.

  “A man?” Gordon asked.

  “It could have been either a man or a woman.”

  “Size?” Gordon asked.

  “Not obese, but beyond that I can’t really say.” She stroked Lumpkin’s soft, thick coat with her free hand. The deep rumble of his purr was wonderfully soothing. “I wouldn’t want to make a guess as to age, either.”

  “Is there anything you can remember about the way the figure moved?”

  Liss shook her head.

  “As I recall,” Gordon said slowly, “you never much liked Jason Graye.”

  “Very few people did, but if you’re asking if I shot him, the answer is no.”

  This time she couldn’t mistake the oddness of the expression that crossed his face. With exaggerated care, she set her mug on the end table and leaned toward him.

  “What? He was shot, wasn’t he?”

  “It wasn’t a bullet that killed him.” Cop face firmly in place, he didn’t say anything more.

  Frustrated, Liss glared at him.

  “Don’t stop there, Tandy,” Dan said. “It’s not like we’re going to blab to the press.”

  “And if you don’t explain, we’re liable to let slip what we thought happened.” Liss sent Gordon her sweetest and most insincere smile. “I know you don’t want us to do that.”

  “The medical examiner is the one who rules on cause of death.”

  Liss waited.

  “It looked to me as if he was stabbed through the heart with a blade of some kind.”

  Startled, Liss sat up straighter. Her hand clenched in Lumpkin’s fur, causing him to dig his claws into her leg. “Stabbed? Not shot?”

  “Stabbed. Not shot. I take it neither of you saw a knife?”

  “No knife,” Liss confirmed.

  “No gun, either,” Dan said, “but the more I think about it, the more certain I am that what we heard was a gunshot.”

  Gordon’s cell phone buzzed before he could either explain or ask more questions. He answered, listened, and ended the call abruptly. “Looks like we’re both right. They’ve just found a bullet in the wall opposite where Graye fell.”

  “Graye shot at someone and missed, and then whoever it was stabbed him?” Just imagining that scenario made Liss queasy.

  “Looks that way.” Gordon sent her a stern look. “That information goes no farther than this room. Understood?”

  Liss nodded. Beside her, she felt Dan do the same.

  “The autopsy results will be made public when we have them. Until then, you don’t answer questions from anyone but me or another detective working on the case.”

  “Fine,” Dan said. “Are we done here?”

  “Not quite. You said the front door was open when you got there?”

  Liss nodded. “That must mean it was someone he knew,” she whispered. “Why else would he let them in?”

  “Maybe. Maybe not.” Gordon shrugged. “I never had any dealings with Graye myself, but I’ve heard plenty about him over the years. He made enemies. Is there anyone just lately with whom he had a run in?”

  Liss’s expression gave her away before she said a word.

  Gordon leaned toward her. “Liss? Do you know someone who had a bone to pick with Jason Graye?”

  Liss felt her tension ratchet up a notch.

  Dan left off stroking Glenora to catch her hand in his and give it a squeeze. “He’s going to find out anyway, Liss. You may as well be the one to tell him.”

  He was right. Liss cleared her throat. “There has been a bit of controversy this past week,” she said, “concerning the Moosetookalook Public Library.”

  Chapter Ten

  Gordon Tandy left soon after Liss filled him in on the conflict between Jason Graye and Dolores Mayfield and gave him her account of the events that had taken place at the meeting at the Mayfield house. Standing by her front window, she watched him drive away. She was relieved to see him go, but she was far from happy that she’d had to rat out Dolores and Moose.

  A little sigh escaped her, loud enough for Dan to hear. He came up beside her and took her hands in his. “I know what you’re thinking, Liss, but you didn’t have any choice. Besides, there are plenty of other people who would have told the police about Moose Mayfield shooting off his mouth, and his gun, if you hadn’t.”

  “I still feel guilty. Because of what I just told him, Gordon mus
t think he’s found a likely pair of suspects. Not just Moose, but Dolores, too.”

  “If Graye had been shot, then maybe. But—”

  She freed one hand and smacked him on the upper arm. “Did you not see the collection of weapons Dolores had on display in her living room? Swords. Knives. Heck, she probably has a pair of fencing foils tucked away somewhere. And I know Stu was just trying to get her goat when he was ribbing her about giving a talk and charging admission, but it sounded to me as if she’s been interested in bladed weapons for a long, long time.”

  “You couldn’t prove it by me. That was the first time I was ever inside the Mayfield house.”

  “Same here. Dolores’s wall decorations came as a bit of a shock.” She managed a weak smile. “I always thought there were no secrets in a small town, but I’d never have guessed that one.”

  “And I’d never have pegged Moose as a henpecked husband. Let’s look on the bright side. At least you and I aren’t on Tandy’s short list.”

  “Don’t kid yourself. The person who discovers the body is always a suspect.”

  Rather than try to cheer her up with words, Dan simply took her in his arms and held her. That might have led to further cuddling, had someone not chosen that moment to rap on their front door.

  Liss peeked through the curtains just as Margaret Boyd called her name.

  “I know you’re in there,” she added. “I want to know what’s going on!”

  Dan muttered something indistinct and probably profane.

  “She’s only here because she cares,” Liss whispered. In a louder voice, she called, “Coming, Margaret!”

  Once the door was open, Margaret paused on the threshold long enough to take a good long look at her niece. Seeing no bruises, blood, or bandages, she bustled through to the living room and plunked herself down on the sofa. She patted the cushion beside her.

  “Sit down here and explain yourself. Why couldn’t you tell me what was happening when we spoke on phone? Why didn’t you come back to The Spruces for the fireworks? And what on earth is going on over on Lowe Street?”

  Liss took the seat Margaret indicated. Dan had already disappeared. She could hear him rattling around in the kitchen and hoped he was making another batch of hot chocolate.