“Thank you,” said a sheepish DeeDee.
Jake and Clark were talking to the two Royal Canadian Mounted Police Officers who had arrived on the scene riding their trademark shiny black horses. There was a low, muted conversation among the men prior to Jake and the oldest police officer approaching the sisters.
“Inspector Dudley Stewart, ma’am,” said the police officer in a stiff voice, tipping his tan hat to DeeDee. He wore the Royal Canadian Mounted Police uniform, which was a tailored red military gold-buttoned coat with a black belt and epaulettes, black leather gloves, black jodhpurs riding pants with a yellow stripe down the side, and tan riding boots. The holster on his belt contained a pistol. Inspector Stewart looked sternly at DeeDee, who practically jumped to attention.
“I was explaining to Mr. Rodgers that I will be the person in charge of the investigation into the unfortunate death of Mr. Roberts,” Inspector Stewart said to DeeDee in a monotone. “There are no signs of foul play, but nothing can be ruled out until the coroner conducts an autopsy.”
DeeDee inwardly groaned. This was all starting to feel like familiar territory as she thought back to a murder that had occurred during the first ever dinner she’d catered on Bainbridge Island. No wonder I had a bad feeling about this weekend, she thought.
“Mr. Rodgers tells me you are good friends with the decedent’s wife and that you will notify her personally?”
“Yes, officer, er…sir,” DeeDee mumbled.
“Fine,” Inspector Stewart said. He turned to Jake. “Please get in touch with me if Mrs. Roberts thinks of anything that may be relevant to our investigation.”
“Of course,” Jake said, shaking the Inspector’s hand.
DeeDee watched the two police officers ride way with a loud clip clop of hooves, steeling herself for the toughest phone call she was ever going to have to make.
CHAPTER 10
Roz poured some steaming hot coffee into a cup and pushed it across the table in the lounge of DeeDee’s suite at the Fairmont hotel. A pale-faced DeeDee had just emerged from the bedroom. Easing herself into the comfortable chair opposite Roz, she heaved a sigh of relief as she sat down and looked down at the coffee.
“Well?” Roz asked. “How did Cassie take it?”
DeeDee was silent, as she gazed up at her sister. She added two sugar cubes to her coffee, and stirred and stirred. Finally, she found her voice.
“Very upset, as you would expect of anyone who just got the news that their husband had dropped dead. At least she was at her job at the Seattle Art Museum, so other people were there who could provide her with some support. She said she’ll call her children and ask them to meet her at her office, so she can tell them in person. The plan is for all three of them to drive here to Whistler. They should all be here in a few hours to claim the body and make arrangements to have it sent back to Mercer Island.”
“I don’t envy them the trip,” Roz said. “The weekend traffic on Interstate 5 will be horrible, but I’m sure they’ll want to get here as quickly as possible.”
DeeDee nodded, sipping her coffee. The bitter taste of the coffee was at odds with the sickly-sweet aftertaste of the sugar overload, but sugar was a comfort that DeeDee reserved for stressful situations such as this one. “Cassie said her son, Liam, will drive them up here. She said she wouldn’t be able to do it, because she’s so distraught.”
“That seems perfectly understandable,” Roz said. “How old are her children?”
DeeDee thought for a moment. “They’re close in age to Mitch and Tink. They all played together when they were young children. Liam must be about twenty-four now. He’s in medical school. I’m pretty sure Briana is twenty-one. There was a big party for her at Cassie’s home on Mercer Island last year. It was one of the last parties Lyle and I went to together before he moved out. Of course, it was a total sham, since by then Lyle was already sleeping with his new lover, but for some reason we both cared what the neighbors thought. When I think about it now, it seems ridiculous, but there you go.” She managed a hollow laugh. “I called Mitch and Tink to let them know about Johnny’s death. They’re both upset, because they thought the world of Johnny. They probably knew him better than I did.”
“What was he like?” Roz asked her sister.
DeeDee looked up at Roz. “Johnny was larger than life. He was loud and funny, but if you didn’t know him he could come across as obnoxious. Lyle played golf with him quite a bit, and I remember him commenting that Johnny rubbed a few people the wrong way when he was on the golf course. I don’t think there was any malice in it, it was just Johnny’s idea of fun. He believed in living life to the fullest, that’s for sure.”
“That sounds like a good approach to life,” Roz said thoughtfully. “You never know what’s around the corner. I remember meeting Cassie at your home, years ago. As I remember, she’s kind of a small, quiet woman, isn’t she?”
DeeDee smiled. “Yes, she might come across like that, but Cassie’s quietness is her strength. She’s very easy-going, compared to Johnny. I think she had to be, to keep the peace in that house.”
“That sounds interesting, what do you mean. Did they fight a lot?”
DeeDee shook her head. “No, not at all. At least, not that I knew about. I never heard shouting coming from their house, if that’s what you mean. They had very different parenting styles. Johnny was very strict with the kids when they were growing up, and I think Cassie acted as the mediator to make sure everyone got treated fairly. She seemed to be a lot more lenient than Johnny.”
Roz leaned in. “In what way?”
“Well, a good example is their daughter Briana. She’s not the academic type at all. Liam aced his way through school and as I said, is studying to be a doctor. It’s all he ever wanted to be since he and Mitch used to cut up worms and dissect the dead birds they found in the yard when they were small boys. It turned out that Briana had more of an entrepreneurial bent. She decided she was going to skip college like her father had, but Johnny wouldn’t hear of it. He threatened to disinherit her if she didn’t go to college and graduate.”
“What happened?” Roz asked. “You’d think a self-made man like Johnny would want to support her entrepreneurial spirit.”
“Exactly,” DeeDee said, patting Balto, who had padded across the suite from his bed to stand beside her chair. “It’s kind of surprising, but Johnny was dead set against it. In the end, Cassie had to intervene. They came up with a compromise that gave Briana two years to make it in her chosen career. She could live at home, but she received no financial support from Johnny and Cassie. If, when the two-year time period was up, she wasn’t financially independent, she agreed that she’d enroll in the local community college.”
Roz’s mouth fell open. “Please tell me there was a happy ending.”
DeeDee grinned. “There sure was. Briana apprenticed with Danielle Laruen, the well-known Seattle interior designer, for a year before starting to take on her own clients. She did small jobs that weren’t prestigious enough for Danielle. When the two years were up, she moved out of the Roberts’ home when she was only twenty, and rented a small studio with an apartment upstairs. Last I heard, she’d just won the contract to provide the interior design for the furnishings in a new five-star hotel on the Seattle waterfront which is being built by an international hotel chain. Johnny told everyone who would listen that he was the proudest father on the planet. He took all the credit of course, while Cassie said nothing, which was typical of her.”
Roz shook her head sadly. “Right now, Cassie’s going to need all the strength she can muster to get through this ordeal. The fact this happened so far from home is going to make everything even more complicated.”
DeeDee’s hand flew up to her mouth. “Oh dear, I almost forgot. She asked me if the police will allow the body to be taken out of the country, since the cause of death hasn’t been established. I’m not really sure, but Jake might know, or he could find out from Inspector Stewart. There’s something e
lse that Cassie said, that’s worrying me…” DeeDee stopped talking, then shook her head. “Never mind, I shouldn’t have said anything.”
Roz’s eyes narrowed. “Are you sure? If there’s any way we can help her, it might be important.”
“No,” DeeDee said, “it wasn’t anything like that. It’s just…she kept repeating over and over that it was all her fault, something about what she’d done to Johnny. I have no idea what she meant, but she said she’d explain everything when she got here. I tried to tell her not to blame herself, and that there was nothing she could have done to prevent his death, but she was adamant.”
Roz scratched her head. “Cassie was miles away when Johnny died. Apparently, the police don’t think there is anything suspicious about Johnny’s death. You don’t think…”
“Absolutely not,” DeeDee said, her eyes widening. She gave Roz a horrified glance. “I can’t imagine Cassie was involved in any way. She said she spoke to Johnny last night, and that they’d had words. She was hoping to clear it up this morning but he hadn’t called before he…he… well, you know.” DeeDee sniffed.
“Croaked,” Roz said with a nod. “She probably just feels guilty that they argued about something the night before he died. What a sad thing to have happen. It winds up being your last memory of someone you loved,” Roz said shuddering.
DeeDee was pensive. “It sounded like it was more than just a petty argument, but I hope I’m wrong. I guess we need to wait until she gets here to find out.” She glanced at her wrist watch. “What time did the men say they’d be back? It’s way past lunchtime, and I’d better take Balto for a walk before he jumps off the balcony and makes a run for the nearest tree by himself.”
The women watched Balto, who had moved to the door and was impatiently waiting with his leash in his mouth.
“They didn’t,” Roz replied, “but I’ll call Clark and find out. Why don’t you go out with Balto, and we can eat here in the room when you get back? I’ll order room service while you’re gone.”
“Thanks, Roz. I would prefer to eat here rather than go downstairs to the restaurant,” DeeDee said, standing up, and patting the side of her thigh to call Balto over. She gave Roz a grateful smile, as she hooked Balto’s leash to his collar. “I’m sorry this has ruined our plans for today, but I think I should stay close to the hotel and wait for Cassie to get here. She asked me to make reservations for her and the two children. I hope you understand.”
“Of course,” Roz said. “I’ll stay and have lunch with you. If there’s anything at all that Clark and I can do, just let us know.”
“Okay,” DeeDee said, opening the door. She was halfway out, with Balto pulling on the leash in front of her, when she turned back to Roz. “Oh, and by the way…what was that thing you were going to tell me earlier, just before Clark called with the news about Johnny?”
“Oh, it was nothing,” Roz said, waving her sister on. “I can’t remember anymore. Go on with Balto. What? Why are you giving me that funny look?”
DeeDee’s gaze lingered on a blushing Roz for a few more seconds before she finally followed her sister’s directive.
“Hmm, Balto,” DeeDee said on their way down the hallway. “Roz is a terrible liar, don’t you think?”
CHAPTER 11
The topic of conversation among the men at the golf club was all about Johnny, and what could have possibly happened to him at the first tee box to cause his untimely death. Jake and Clark stood at the edge of the group, waiting for an announcement about the golf tournament.
“I’d be very surprised if it goes ahead as scheduled,” Jake said in a low tone.
“I agree,” Clark said, looking around the reception area, “but I’m just wondering who’s in charge of the Island View group now that Johnny’s not around. Looks like Ron, one of the caddies, is talking to the Fairmont pro. I think he was helping Johnny organize things. Maybe he knows something.” He nodded toward a gray-haired man wearing a yellow sweater and navy pants who was huddled in conversation with a couple of the Fairmont Golf Club officials, recognizable by their club blazers.
One of the men standing beside Jake and Clark turned around. “We were just saying that Johnny would be in his element if he was here. He loved nothing better than taking charge in a crisis.” The man chuckled. “He’s still the center of attention even when he’s dead. He’s probably looking down right now, thinking how no one will ever forget the Whistler golf tournament. Well, at least he died happy, doing one of the things he loved best. Maybe if the golf hadn’t gotten him, the marathon would have.”
“He was training for a marathon?” Jake asked. “That’s pretty impressive at his age.”
A couple of the other men standing nearby joined in the conversation. “He’d already reached his target of raising twenty grand for charity for the New York marathon he was going to run this November,” said one. “I’ll bet he just overdid it. A man his age training like a twenty-year old? His ticker probably got him in the end.”
“No,” said another, shaking his head. “I disagree. Johnny told me his doctor had given him a clean bill of health before he started training for the marathon. He took his fitness training very seriously. Johnny told me one time that he knew his limits, but he felt the marathon was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and he wanted to experience it.”
“He was fifty something, wasn’t he?” Clark asked. “Did he smoke or drink?”
“He was fifty-two,” said the second man. “He had an occasional drink, but he wasn’t a smoker. Johnny took all the right precautions with his health. You can say what you like about Johnny, but he wasn’t stupid. He ate very healthily, and he worked out daily. That guy popped nutritional supplements like candy. For the past six months, he’d been running several times a week with a marathon trainer. He said he trusted the experts to make sure he peaked at the right time, then he was planning on easing off. It’s a shame he didn’t make it to the marathon. I liked Johnny, and I’m really going to miss him.” The man lowered his head, and there was a murmur of assent from the others present.
Jake, who’d been listening to the conversation about Johnny with interest, spoke up. “So, you don’t think it’s likely that Johnny died from natural causes?”
The men looked at each other, and several of them shook their heads, indicating no.
“My girlfriend is good friends with Johnny’s wife, Cassie,” Jake explained. “I’m a private investigator, so if anyone can think of anything that might help put her mind at ease about what happened to Johnny, please let me know. I’ve explained to the local police officers that I’ll pass on any information that might be relevant.”
Their conversation was interrupted by an announcement from the Fairmont golf pro saying that Saturday’s golf tournament was canceled out of respect for Johnny.
The official went on to say, “Snacks and lunch will be provided for everyone, and I’ve been asked to advise you that there will be an open bar, courtesy of the Fairmont Hotel.”
“Johnny would have wanted that,” Ron piped up, his voice cracking.
“Hear, hear,” said a voice from the back of the crowd, and a few people laughed. The men dispersed, either making their way to the locker room or to the restaurant and bar areas.
Jake was waiting for Clark, who had gone to speak to Ron, when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to face a sandy-haired man with pale skin and freckles.
“I’m Ray Wentworth,” the man said to Jake, shaking his hand. “I couldn’t help overhearing what you said just now, about you being a private investigator. Do you have a minute for me to run something past you?”
“Yes, sure thing,” Jake said, waiting for Ray to continue. Jake noticed Ray looking over his shoulder to see if anyone else was listening. “How can I help you, Ray?”
“It might be nothing, or it might be important. The thing is, if you’re wondering about whether foul play could be involved in Johnny’s death, and I think you are,” he said, looking pointedly at Jake, “
then there’s something you should know. There was a recent incident at the Island View Golf Club between Johnny and the golf pro there, a man by the name of Derek Adams.”
Ray spoke so quietly that Jake had to lean in to hear what he was saying. He could smell coffee on the man’s breath.
“Go on,” Jake said, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “What happened?”
“It was Johnny being, well, Johnny, I suppose. He wasn’t the most modest of men,” Ray said, by way of explanation. “Johnny had beaten Derek in a golf competition. Derek, being the pro, can beat everyone else at the club, but Johnny’s been the exception these last few months. Johnny’s been on a bit of a roll, and he was rubbing Derek’s nose in it. Derek wasn’t too happy about it, to put it mildly.”
Jake’s eyes narrowed. “How did Derek react?”
Ray’s eyes widened. “He was angry, and he lost his temper. Said some things he shouldn’t have.”
“Like what?”
“Well, for starters he suggested that if Johnny was playing so well recently, wasn’t it strange his handicap hadn’t been lowered. He asked him who had been marking his score card.” Ray looked at Jake. “Johnny wasn’t a cheater, everyone knows that.”
“From what I’ve been hearing, Johnny was quite a character,” Jake said. “It sounds like he knew how to press people’s hot buttons.”
“Yes, that’s precisely what he did,” Ray said. “Derek was already mad, and Johnny bet him a hundred bucks he could beat him here at Whistler. He said if Derek was such a hot shot pro, how did he explain that an old man like Johnny could beat him so easily? Then Derek said that Johnny was trying to get him fired from the club. Johnny responded by saying Derek was doing a good enough job of that all by himself, so he obviously didn’t need Johnny’s help. Derek started shouting that Johnny would be sorry he’d ever said that. Ron, the caddy you see over there, had to intervene to split them up. I thought Derek was going to punch Johnny, and then he really would have gotten himself fired.”
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