by Jessica Beck
It was signed Chester A. Martin.
As Kevin took it back, he said, “Chester told me the day he died that he was going to start fresh, and getting rid of his debt to me was just one of the things he was going to do before he started his new life.”
“What else was he planning on doing?” I asked.
“I have no idea. I’m just glad I got this,” Kevin said as he tucked the bill back into his wallet. It might just be the only ten-dollar bill he’d ever held in his hands that would never get spent.
“How about you, Nathan?” I asked the remaining suspect there. “How long did you know Chester?”
“As a matter of fact, I didn’t know the man at all.”
His answer surprised me. “Really? April Springs is a pretty small place. How could your paths not have crossed in all of the years that you’ve lived here?”
Nathan hastily explained, “I don’t mean that I didn’t know who he was, I was just saying that we never had a personal relationship other than nodding to each other on the street. Suzanne, there are a great many folks in town that I don’t interact with on a daily basis.”
“Didn’t you ever go to the library?” Kevin asked him.
“I’ve never been much for reading,” Nathan said. “Sports are my things.” It figured. He was a washed-up football player, so I didn’t have any problem believing that was what he was interested in.
“You know, there are a great many excellent books written about sports,” Kevin said.
“I like to watch them on television, not read about them,” Nathan replied. Evidently he was a man of limited attention span. That wasn’t a requirement to watch sports, though. Jake loved to read, but he also enjoyed watching football, so I knew that the two weren’t mutually exclusive, but evidently they were in Nathan Hoff’s mind. I watched the men as they spoke. Kevin had a small silver rectangle in his hands, and he was flipping it back and forth as he talked. It slipped for a moment and tumbled out of his hands, and before he could scoop it up again, I realized that it was a cigarette lighter, something I hadn’t seen in a while. I was about to look away when I noticed what was engraved on the side of it. BURN BABY BURN was etched there, along with a silhouette of flames. He grabbed it up and shoved it into his pockets, but I wasn’t going to let it go at that.
“That’s an unusual object you’ve got there,” I said to him.
“What’s that?”
“Your lighter.”
He shrugged. “It was a gift. I don’t even smoke anymore, but I still like to carry it around with me.”
“May I ask where you got it?”
Instead of answering me, he stood and started to pace. “How long is this going to take, anyway?”
“Why, do you have something better to do?” Nathan asked him wryly. “Is there a book you’re just dying to read?”
“Nathan, I don’t know why you’re not more worried than you appear to be,” Kevin replied.
“Why should I be concerned about anything?”
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe because your wife is in there talking to a cop about the possibility that she’s a murderer?” Kevin asked.
“Believe me when I tell you that my wife is more than capable of taking care of herself,” Nathan said.
“Whatever,” Kevin replied.
I was about to say something when the dining room door opened and Maggie came storming out. She was tucking something back into her purse as she raced out. What was it, a parking ticket or something? I wanted to ask her about it, but this wasn’t the time or the place.
“We’re not finished, Maggie,” Jake said as he followed her out of the dining room.
“You may not be, but I am,” she said. “Nathan, we’re going to our room.”
To my surprise, her husband didn’t budge. “Sorry, but I can’t do that. The inspector hasn’t spoken with me yet.”
“Actually, right now it’s Chief,” Jake said. “Come on in, Nathan. You’re next.”
When the man stood, it was clear that he wasn’t even torn about the decision. I watched Maggie closely as her husband left the room. She was clearly unhappy about the situation, but there wasn’t much that she could do about it. Maggie stood there a moment longer, and then she hurried down the hallway toward the room she was sharing with her husband.
Kevin watched her go, and I heard him mumble something under his breath.
“Sorry, I didn’t quite catch that,” I said.
He looked surprised when he realized that I’d been listening. “It was nothing.”
“Really? Because it sure didn’t sound like nothing from where I was sitting.”
Kevin shrugged, and then he explained, “I just said that I was glad that she wasn’t my wife. She might be a pretty woman, but I’m willing to bet that she’s an absolute pain to live with.”
“I’m sure that we all have our moments,” I said.
“Maybe, but that’s baggage that I wouldn’t be willing to carry, no matter how pretty the suitcase was.”
Shelly and Grace came out of the kitchen. As the lodge owner looked around the room, she asked, “Where did everybody go?”
“Jake is in the dining room talking to Nathan, Maggie’s in their room, Vince left half an hour ago to find a restroom, and Kevin and I are just sitting here, waiting for Jake. How’s it coming in the kitchen?”
“We’re still getting things ready,” Grace said. “I told Shelly that I wanted to pop in here, and she decided to join me.” My friend didn’t look all that pleased by the idea, but clearly she hadn’t had any say in the matter.
“There will be time to finish prepping the meal later,” Shelly said as she took a seat. “Besides, I just wanted to enjoy the fire a little.”
I glanced at the fireplace as she added another log to it. “It’s quite lovely, isn’t it?”
Shelly nodded. “The man who laid it is in his eighties, and he’s still working on fireplaces to this day. I met him once in town, and let me tell you, he’s quite the character.”
Nathan walked out just then, and I realized that his interview had been shorter than the one his wife had gone through. Why was the man’s wallet in his hand? What had Jake asked for, his identification, or had Nathan just volunteered something that I’d missed? I couldn’t wait to find out what Jake had learned in his interview sessions.
“Finished so soon?” I asked.
“Not exactly. It’s more likely just to be continued,” Jake said.
Nathan ignored us all. His face was ashen, and his lips were two thin lines. I wasn’t sure what Jake had said to him, but it had obviously upset him.
“Let’s go, Kevin. Come on in,” Jake said, and then he looked around the room. “Where did Vince wander off to?”
“He said that he was going off in search of a restroom,” I said.
“Find him for me, would you? He’s next.”
“Will do,” I said as Kevin walked past Jake into the dining room.
“Would you like some company?” Grace asked me as I headed for the guest rooms.
“Always,” I said.
The second we were out of earshot of the others, Grace whispered, “That was weird.”
“What part of it? If you ask me, everything that’s been happening has been odd.”
“I’m talking about my time in the kitchen with Shelly.”
“What happened?” I asked.
“Well, first off, she wanted to know everything we’d found out about Chester’s murder so far,” Grace said.
“That’s only natural, isn’t it? After all, they were very close.”
“That’s the thing,” Grace explained. “She didn’t seem to give a hoot about the other suspects. All she wanted to know was what clues we’d uncovered so far, and what they meant.”
“I suppose that makes sense,” I said a little uncertainly. “What made it so odd?”
“It was almost as though she expected us to know something that we didn’t. I don’t know. It felt as though she was trying to h
ide something from us.”
“She wouldn’t be the first suspect who did it, and that doesn’t even include the killers we’ve tracked in the past. Sometimes it feels as though everyone we talk to is ashamed of something. It makes it hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys.”
“I have a feeling that we’re all a little bit of each one,” Grace said.
“Me, too,” I agreed.
“Anyway, after that, she disappeared for at least ten minutes looking for some utensil or something in the other room.”
“You were supposed to stay together,” I reminded her.
“I know that, but I couldn’t exactly drop what I was doing and follow her around.” Another bolt of lightning hit outside, followed quickly by the roar of thunder. That had been too close for comfort.
“It’s not letting up, is it?” she asked me.
“Well, at least it’s not snow,” I said.
“I’d take that over this,” Grace said with a tremor in her voice. “Cold and rain don’t mix well in my book. I’d rather be somewhere warm and tropical.”
“After this is all over, maybe I’ll join you,” I said with a smile.
We were at Vince’s room now. The door was closed, and I started to knock when Grace reached over and tried the doorknob.
“What are you doing?” I asked her in a soft hiss.
“I just wanted to see if he’d locked it,” she said. “He did.”
I finished the motion of my knock, but there was no answer from inside.
I repeated it, this time louder and more insistent, but there was still no response.
Was Vince ignoring us, gone, or had something bad happened to him?
No matter what the reason it might be, Grace and I needed to find out which one applied to this situation.
Chapter 17
“What should we do?” Grace asked me. “Should we break the door down?”
“No, we don’t need to do anything that drastic just yet. Shelly’s bound to have a master key that fits every room in the lodge.”
“Good thinking,” Grace replied as she started back to the main room.
Shelly was stoking the fire when we walked in. “Do you happen to have a master key to the lodge?” I asked her.
“Of course I do. Why, what’s going on?”
“Vince Dade won’t answer our knocks,” I said.
Shelly frowned for a moment. “Perhaps he’s just taking a nap.”
“Or maybe it’s something more dire than that,” Grace suggested. “That’s what we’re trying to find out.”
“Either way, he’s not answering our knocks. Could you grab the key and come with us?”
Shelly still wasn’t happy about the situation. “Shouldn’t we get Jake first and ask him what we should do?”
“Not until we find out what’s going on for ourselves,” I said firmly. Part of it was that I didn’t want to disturb Jake while he was interviewing a suspect, but another part of me realized that it was because Grace and I had started this search together, and we wanted to see it through, no matter what.
“Fine. Let me get my key,” she said as she headed off for the kitchen.
“Do you really keep it in there?” I asked her.
“Not in the kitchen itself, but I have a little office off the pantry I like to use sometimes.”
“What about the one in the lobby?” I asked her. I’d seen it coming in, a small cubicle-sized room just off the registration area.
“I use that sometimes as well, but most of the real work gets done back here.” Shelly made her way through the kitchen, but before she opened the small door near the pantry, she paused, and I saw that it was already partially opened. “That’s odd.”
“What is?” I asked her.
“This door always stays closed, and I mean always,” she said. Shelly seemed almost frightened to open it, so I stepped up and pushed the door all the way open. I was half expecting to see Vince Dade’s lifeless body lying on the floor, but there was no sign of a corpse anywhere and no room in the small space to hide one, for that matter.
Shelly stared at an empty nail. “Now I’m really worried.” She pointed to the nail as she added, “That’s where I keep the master key, and it’s gone. Whoever has it can go anywhere they want to in the lodge. No door in the entire place is truly locked now.”
Chapter 18
“This is not good,” Grace said worriedly.
“You can say that again,” I replied, and then I turned back to the lodge owner. “Shelly, are sure that it was there earlier?”
“I never keep it on me,” Shelly said. “As a matter of fact, I can’t remember the last time I had to use the master key, but I know that it was there this morning, because I saw it hanging from its nail where it always is. What are we going to do now?”
“I think it’s time to get Jake,” I said.
“Are you sure?” Grace asked me. Clearly she wanted to continue our investigation a little further without my boyfriend, but I knew when it was time to call in reinforcements.
“I’m positive,” I said. “Let’s go get him.”
The three of us walked out of the kitchen and through the main space together, and I knocked firmly on the dining room door.
Jake opened it a minute later, clearly unhappy about me interrupting him. “What is it, Suzanne? Can’t it wait?”
“Sorry, but this is important. Vince Dade isn’t answering our knocks.”
He frowned a little. “Is that all? Maybe he’s taking a nap.”
“Not after the way we were just knocking,” Grace added. “That’s not all, though.”
“What else happened?” Jake asked.
“The master key is gone,” Shelly said. “Someone must have stolen it in the past couple of hours.”
That got Jake’s attention. “Are you sure that you didn’t just misplace it?”
“I’m positive. I saw it right where it belonged earlier today, and now it’s gone.”
Jake nodded. “Okay. Don’t worry. I’m sure that it will turn up.” He turned back to Kevin. “We’ll finish this later.”
“Fine by me,” he said. “If you need me, I’ll be in my room, with the door locked.” Almost as an afterthought, he added, “Not that it’s probably going to do me much good.”
We all followed him into the hallway, and Jake knocked on Vince’s door himself. After there was no answer, he jiggled the door handle, but it was still locked.
“We already tried that,” Grace said.
“And it didn’t hurt anything to try it again,” Jake said as he turned to Shelly. “Is there any other way into that room without breaking the door down?”
“Not that I know of,” she said. “Go on; do what you have to. I can always replace the lock if I have to. Vince might be in trouble in there, and that’s all that matters.”
“Okay. Everybody stand over there.”
Jake braced himself against the wall opposite the door, but instead of using his shoulder as I’d expected, he kicked it solidly right where the latch mechanism met the door.
It opened with a jolt as the door swung open violently on its hinges, and we all looked inside to see what was really going on in Vince Dade’s room.
“No one’s here,” Jake said after he looked carefully around the room and the accompanying bathroom.
“Where could he be, then?” I asked. “It’s still storming outside, so I doubt that he just decided to go out for a walk.”
“I don’t know what to tell you,” Jake said as he checked the door that he’d just kicked in. “Sorry about that.”
Shelly shrugged. “I’ve got a man who can fix it. Right now I’m more worried about my guest.”
“Where should we look?” I asked her.
“The place isn’t all that big,” Shelly said. “Let me grab the rest of the room keys. I’d like to search the empty rooms we haven’t used, too.”
“You do that, and we’ll check around ourselves,” Grace said.
Jake
nodded. “Good enough. I’m going to grab my jacket and head outside.”
I could hear the rain pounding down from where I stood. “Are you honestly going out in that?”
“I don’t have much choice, Suzanne. If he’s not in here, then he’s got to be somewhere outside.”
“Then I’m going with you,” I said firmly.
Jake shook his head, though I could see him trying to hide the hint of a smile. “Thanks, but there’s no sense in both of us getting soaked to the bone. Besides, you and Grace need to stay together.”
“If I’m watching her back, who’s going to be watching yours?” I asked.
“I don’t mind being alone, Jake. Suzanne should go with you,” Grace answered.
There was a firmer edge to his voice when he spoke again. “As much as I appreciate the concern for my well-being you both are showing, this isn’t open for debate.”
I knew better than to go against his wishes on this. “Let me at least grab your jacket for you.”
“I have boots,” Shelly volunteered. “Surely there’s a pair that will fit you. They’re by the back door. As a matter of fact, that might be a good place to start looking.”
Jake didn’t need her to fill in the blanks for him. “You’re thinking that a pair might already missing.”
“It’s worth a look,” Shelly said, and all four of us hurried to the back door, our flashlights bobbing in an odd pattern.
It surprised me that the other guests hadn’t come out when they’d heard Vince’s door being broken down. Maybe Nathan and Maggie were too involved in their own drama to pay us any attention, or maybe they just didn’t care. It was easy enough to believe that they each had a motive for killing Chester. Infidelity was about as personal an affront as possible in most folks’ minds. As for Kevin, who knew what was going on in that man’s head? I mean, seriously, who holds a grudge so long over a measly ten bucks, principle or not? He was a bit of a wild card in my mind, and predicting what might or might not drive him to commit murder was beyond me. At least Vince Dade had a solid motive for killing Chester Martin if he’d been lying to me earlier about welcoming a scapegoat for his land-fraud scheme. The entire town believed that he’d been burned, both financially and emotionally, and he might have been out for revenge, no matter how long ago the offense had occurred. But that didn’t explain where he was right now, and with this many suspects nearby, I hated the thought of one of them being out of our sight for any appreciable time at all.
