by Liz Turner
“No, why do you ask?”
“I just needed to be sure I was right about my hunch, that’s all.”
After they’d hung up, Dana retrieved the metal object from her purse and slipped it into her pocket. She headed downstairs to see how the wedding festivities were progressing. She found Melissa with Danielle and Oscar, beaming at the happy couple as they posed in front of the large fireplace in the lobby. A small crowd had gathered to watch the beautiful young woman with raven hair, her large eyes glistening with excitement.
Dana watched as Danielle folded her tiny chin neatly into Oscar’s chest and looked to the camera underneath her thick, dark lashes. Her white dress was slim and slinky, the silk fabric running like water down her body. The pale color nearly matched her skin, and the effect was eerily stunning, as though the woman and the dress had been formed from the same pure materials, carved like a marble statue. Oscar, too, looked handsome, but it was Danielle whom everyone was watching. She changed pose, now standing in front of Oscar, her delicate hand touching his neck softly behind her.
Dana closed her eyes and drew a deep breath. From the beginning, even she had been taken in by Danielle’s charm—she recalled those watery hazel eyes, her fervent indignation in the library—and she regrets not having seen the danger there. Perhaps she would have solved the mystery far earlier. Studying the young woman, Dana was struck by her ease and genuine joy. What a perfectly lovely actress, she mused wryly, impressed in spite of herself. Though, as she continued to watch—the couple now shared a tearful kiss—Dana wondered if the girl’s emotions were real to Danielle. Could it be she was not pretending at all?
Danielle beckoned Melissa to her, and she came over obediently. Danielle whispered something in her ear, and then sat back, her hand on her mouth, smiling expectantly. Melissa nodded and turned the small crowd that had gathered in the little lobby.
“The future Mr. and Mrs. Wood would like to ask that the guests of the Wesley join them in the ballroom in thirty minutes for their wedding!”
Oscar then spoke, “We’d be honored, truly. The snow has unfortunately, caused nearly all of our own guests to be stranded in their homes and unable to attend. So, please, if you’re not too busy this evening….” He spread his arms open in a welcoming stance.
Dana’s eyebrows raised. For one, this made her plan a little easier to carry out, but it also meant she’d have a large audience, provided the guests of the Wesley did decide to show up. But as the applause erupted around the room, faces trained on Danielle’s, Dana doubted that anyone would refuse the couple’s offer.
As the couple kissed each other one last time and then scurried off for final preparations, Melissa strode over to Dana.
“Can you believe it? My goodness, I thought my wedding was romantic, with all my friends and family there, but having a whole hotel full of strangers agree to attend your wedding on the spot… just because they believe in your love….” She shook her head, her eyes misty. “What a story to tell your kids.”
Dana nodded kindly. She didn’t have the heart to tell her, that if she had anything to do with it, they would certainly not be having children.
“You’re going to go, aren’t you?” Melissa asked.
“Oh yes, I’ll go.”
“Good. Why don’t you go get changed? I’ve got to finish with those roses—only a few left to do.”
As Melissa hurried away, Dana looked down, amused at her outfit. She wore a pair of dark jeans and a long wool cardigan that reached her knees. On her feet were her comfortable moccasins. A perfect outfit for a night in her cozy lodgings, but not a great one for a wedding. And, Dana thought, I should probably look sharper for the denouement of this little story.
Upstairs, she selected a pair of wide-leg black trousers, a tight black cashmere turtleneck, a wide black leather belt, and a pair of bright red leather booties, which would just peek out from under her trouser hem. She peered at herself in the mirror, fluffing the sides of her short white hair and dabbing on a smidge of mauve lipstick. Deep into her pockets, she felt for the slim metal object. Finally, she slung her winter coat over her arm. Satisfied that she looked both dressy enough for a wedding and serious enough for a murder accusation, she headed downstairs, her heeled boots clicking lightly on the floors.
The hotel lobby was eerily quiet, with all the guests and even most of the staff having gone into the ballroom to watch the nuptials. The large windows were dark. A couple about Dana’s age came creaking down the stairs, and she peered through the door to the ballroom as it swung open as they went in. The bride and groom were nowhere to be seen, and the minister stood casually chatting with the organist at the front of the aisle. This meant it hadn’t started yet. Dana had time.
She put on her coat, gently opened the door to the outside, and glanced behind her to make sure no one had seen her. To her surprise, she came face to face with Inspector Bob Kelly and Christian Foley.
“Oh!” she said. “Good. You’re just in time.” She beckoned that they come with her, putting her finger to her lips. Though they appeared a little disappointed at not escaping the cold just yet, they followed her.
Bob pulled out a flashlight and held it to the ground so that they could see where they were going. Dana led them around the corner to the big vertical windows of the ballroom. She poked just her eyes above the sill to see the organist begin to play. Oscar, smiling slightly, took his place by the altar. Then, Dana motioned to Christian Foley, the taller of the two men, to loosen the fastening of the window. Eyebrows raised, he glanced at Bob, who nodded. Once the window had been unlocked, Dana carefully slipped a finger under the edge of the glass and pulled. She cringed as the window made an audible creak. But a look inside told her that no one had noticed the noise. They were all too busy awaiting Danielle’s appearance.
Dana led the group back into the lobby. They all stomped the snow off their boots and shivered with the change of temperature.
“Is anyone going to tell me what that was all about?” Christian asked.
Bob and Dana exchanged a look. “You’ll—” Dana said.
“—Find out soon enough,” Bob finished.
“But we’ve got to get out of here,” Dana said. “Danielle will be arriving to make her grand entrance anytime now.”
“I thought we were going in?”
Dana smiled. “We are, but not through here. Too conspicuous.” Instead, she led them around the corner where an unmarked door stood on the interior wall of the ballroom. “This is for the caterers,” she said. She remembered Eileen’s numerous events thrown in that ballroom, and how she’d often volunteered to help organize the caterers and other wait staff, directing them at timed intervals through this little side door.
The three slipped inside without being noticed, just as Danielle was revealed at the end of the aisle, the double doors to the lobby wide open. She stepped elegantly into the room as the organ began playing the wedding march. Her expression was half-joy, half self-conscious embarrassment at all the attention. She was the very picture of a blushing bride. Dana watched Oscar’s face light up at the sight of her.
She wondered at the pain he must have been in when he discovered his fiancé’s feelings for Wallace Black. As she watched his warm expression closely, she, for the first time, considered that he might have put Danielle up to it. Her gaze flitted between the two. Young, in love, desperate. Older, wise, should-have-known-better. Hmmm, she thought. We’ll find out the truth tonight.
Chapter 9
Nocturnal Creatures
As Danielle made it to the end of the aisle and clasped hands with her fiancé, the minister smiled and began to speak in low tones about the nature of love.
“We have gathered here today to celebrate the enduring love of Oscar Wood and Danielle Howard. Though I’ve been told many of you do not know the couple well, I am certain that their love and admiration for each other is clear to you already. They’re grateful for your support on this most special of days,” he said.
Danielle’s eyes watered; Dana gripped the object her pocket.
“Marriage is a grand adventure, perhaps the most challenging one we shall ever face in our short lives. But the sharing of one’s life with another is the greatest decision someone can make, and I am so honored to be here today to celebrate Oscar and Danielle’s decision to do just that. Undoubtedly, this day comes after a period of triumphs and trials and has been much awaited. However, let it be known that the ceremony itself is not what makes a marriage, but the love, patience, support, tenderness, and laughter that come after.”
Danielle threw her head back and used a slender finger to whisk away a rogue tear. Dana put the metal object to her lips.
“Will you, Oscar Wood, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?”
“I do,” Oscar said in a calm, clear voice. Dana gathered her breath and blew into the object. Though to humans, nothing was heard, an extraordinarily high-pitched sound had gone out into the room, escaped through the slightly ajar window, and was now hurtling toward the woods. Dana herself heard only her own breath rushing through the object—a slim metal whistle with a very special purpose.
“And you do, Danielle Howard, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?”
Danielle opened her mouth to speak when a strange sound rang through the ballroom. Heads swiveled toward the window that faced the lawn. Cries of confusion and surprise began to crawl through the audience.
A small black animal dove through the open space of the window, and, clearly disoriented, began to flap its wings erratically as it sailed through the air. What followed looked spooky and terrifying as dozens and dozens of the creatures entered through the window and began to act in the same strange way. They flew abnormally, like they were drunk, diving low and fast to the floor and then shooting up to ceiling again, or zigzagging at eye-level through the audience. Within moments, one couldn’t look in any direction without seeing a crazed bat. Chaos erupted. A woman screamed, mothers and fathers shielded their children. Christian Foley swallowed nervously next to Dana as he made his body flat against the wall.
But through it all, Dana watched Danielle. Her face had, at first, like everyone else’s been surprised. As more bats poured through, however, she had been decidedly—happy. Finally, her expression had changed to anger and fear, and she began searching the crowd for the answer she was looking for. She gripped Oscar’s forearm tightly, her eyes flashing with panic.
Finally, apparently not finding what she was looking for, she hurried to a table in the corner where her bag lay. She rummaged through it and pulled out another slim metal object—identical, save for a slight difference in where the holes were positioned—to Dana’s. She put it to her lips and blew. In an instant, the bats made a beeline for the crevice they had entered through, almost attacking each other to get out. A few helpful guests understood that the poor creatures were trying to leave and swung open more windows. In a few minutes, they were gone, just as quickly as they had arrived.
In a flash, Bob had bounded to the small table where Danielle stood in relief. He displayed his badge to both Danielle and the crowd.
“Danielle Howard, you are under arrest for the murder of Wallace Black. You have the right to remain silent…”
Danielle paled. She allowed herself to be handcuffed. The whole time she stared pleadingly at Oscar, who looked baffled. The crowd, more confused than ever, was silent.
Oscar, after his moment of shock, seemed to compose himself. He stood up in an apparent outrage. “What is the meaning of this? Who in the world even is Wallace Black? My wife didn’t hurt anybody! Look at her! She’s not big enough to kill a man!”
Dana calmly stepped out of the shadows. “Oh, come on now, Mr. Wood. You know full well who Wallace Black is.”
“W-well, yes, I am aware—the whole hotel is aware—that he was the one who was found dead in his room a few nights ago. What I meant was, I don’t know him.”
Dana paused for a moment. “That may be true. You don’t know him. What you did know was that your future wife, your beautiful young bride, was still very much in love with him. Danielle and Wallace had been in a relationship for some time when they broke up. I believe she was the young woman that his son so vehemently was against his father dating because of her age. I can’t say for certain, but this might have had something to do with why they broke up. Perhaps Wallace wasn’t willing—at first—to give up his family forever to be with Danielle. The break up crushed them both. But, in her grief, she met another older gentleman who reminded her enough of Wallace that she believed herself to fall in love all over again. She was happy. She was even going to be married quite soon. When Wallace discovered this, he began to have a change of heart. He couldn’t stand the thought of his love marrying another man. So, he disappointed his family once again by choosing to go after Danielle, here at the Wesley, where her wedding would be held. His plan was to try to catch her alone and convince her to leave you, Oscar, and run away with him.
“Only, you realized what was happening. And knowing your wife’s very real love for the other man, you persuaded her that the only way to protect their love was to make sure that Wallace Black got the message loud and clear: he wasn’t wanted here.” Dana turned to Danielle. “That was when you came in, wasn’t it?” Danielle said nothing, but tears were welling up in her eyes. “You didn’t want to threaten him, and I believe, I really do, that you didn’t want to harm him. You simply wanted to scare him off in a way that he would know came directly from you. The night he died, you brought the bats from the lab where you conduct your experiments and snuck them into Wallace’s room while he was sleeping. Then, you closed the door, and used this,” Dana held up the bat whistle she had found outside. “to excite them into a frightening frenzy, hoping it would scare Wallace enough to get him to leave the very next day. Then, you would use the other whistle, the one you used just now, to compel the bats to leave the room. I imagine you would arrange the cages so that when you cracked the door open and whistled, the bats would have no choice to but fly back in them.
“At first, the plan worked perfectly. Wallace was terrified, running around the room trying desperately to keep the bats off him by waving a plastic broom above his head. But you didn’t account for two things. One, that Wallace would open the windows, so that when you blew into the second whistle, the bats would take the easiest exit into the night instead of retreating to your cages. Two, that Wallace had a bad heart. The shock was too much for him, and he died when he suffered a heart attack. I’m assuming when the bats didn’t fly into the cages as you’d expected, you opened the door to realize what had happened, then, in a panic, you closed the window. This was what you had been crying about that day in the library. Wallace Black’s untimely death at your hands. And this was why you were so desperate for the wedding to go on. What you had done couldn’t be for nothing.”
“How did you…” Danielle said sadly, dreamily almost. Her eyes had been drained of their spark.
“I had a strong hunch,” Dana said. “It started when we realized that some form of a flying mammal had left that blood outside Wallace’s window. And I suspected it had also caused the damage in the room. Then, we learned that Wallace had recently broken up with a girl much younger than him. I guessed then that his reason for being at the Wesley was to win her back, based on what he had said the night before his death. It stood to reason then that the girl was at the Wesley, and that she must have recognized him. So why, then, had she not come forward when she realized he was gone? And even more curiously when she realized that he was dead?”
Dana turned to Melissa. “I am sorry Melissa, for spilling the beans like I did. I had to make sure that the former lover knew Wallace Black had been murdered. If she knew and still didn’t identify herself to the police, then it was certain that she had something to do with the murder.”
Melissa gaped. “You wrote that suggestion in the suggestion box?”
“I’m afraid so. I needed the word to get
out, you see. Another key clue was the whistle I found dropped in the snow three stories below Danielle’s window. I have to admit, this little whistle puzzled me for some time. But when I came across Danielle’s research on bats and their behaviors upon being exposed to high frequencies, I began to understand. Danielle must have been trying to summon the bats she had lost when I interrupted her that morning, and she, in surprise, dropped the whistle to the snow. Finally, I arranged with Inspector Bob Kelly to be here when I summoned the bats, demonstrating how such a display could be silent and frightening—causing Wallace’s heart to give out—and revealing Danielle to be the murderer. I knew that she wouldn’t want her wedding to be destroyed, so she’d have to use the other whistle to compel them to leave.”
“But… how did you even know about the other whistle?” Danielle said dumbly.
Dana smiled. “Once I realized that bats had been the cause of death, so to speak, and the bit about the whistle causing their frenzy, I knew that you wouldn’t simply have hoped they’d have all gone out the open window by the time the morning rolled around. No, you’d have to have a fool proof plan to get them out. Your research mentioned two different frequencies, the second of which compelled bats to leave. Thus, the second whistle.”
“I never meant to hurt anybody! I swear,” Danielle said, though her characteristic fire in her voice had evaporated. She sounded instead like a petulant child. She was led out of the room by Bob, with Oscar following close behind, his phone to his ear.
“Don’t say anything more, baby! I’m calling my lawyer,” he yelled after her.
Chapter 10
Christmas at the Wesley
The fire in the lobby was roaring on Christmas morning. Dana entered the room to see children excitedly tearing at brightly wrapped gifts, their parents chatting among themselves and taking photographs. Everyone sipped from a mug of coffee or cider, and a large Christmas buffet was steaming behind the bar. A light chatter filled the room.
