Seventh Chapter

by Kathi Daley

  “I think Jessica Carson might have known the secret,” I said. “I spoke to her at the kiddie carnival. Initially, she was very open about the founding families and their traditions, but when our conversation segued to Billy’s death, and I mentioned that he and Bosley might have been killed because of a secret they both knew, she got this look.”

  “A look?” Vikki asked.

  “An awareness crossed her face, as if something had occurred to her. She changed the subject immediately. I’m certain she must have realized who might have killed Billy, or at least why he might have died.”

  “I’ll have a chat with her,” Rick said.

  “And Viv Marsh, who’s Sam Castle’s sister, is the one who first mentioned a scientist who brought people to the island to experiment on them,” I added.

  “I guess it makes sense that a family secret would be known by all the members of the families,” George said.

  “Jessica told me all the founding fathers had a lot of children who had a lot of children down through the years. Even though the only ones to have any real power were the eldest sons, there must be dozens of people still living on Gull Island descended from the original four. I wonder how many of them know the secret, how many might have reason to want the secret to stay buried.”

  “Jill makes a good point,” Brit said. “We’ve been focusing on the founding grandsons who currently hold seats on the council, but what about their siblings or children? Any of them might have motives to protect their family name.”

  Rick shrugged. “That would open up the suspect pool to half the people on the island.”

  Rick was right. Widening our suspect list would make it useless.

  “What about the Morse Code?” Jack asked. “Do the marks on the lighthouse wall help up at all?”

  “I’m still working on it,” Garrett said. “A lot of the photos are blurry, but I imagine the lighthouse keeper was keeping a record of his last days. He may even have been using the light to send out messages in the hope of getting help. So far, what I’ve been able to determine from the code is that demons had been brought to the island, and while initially they were locked up, they mutated and got free.”

  “Mutated?” I asked.

  “Mutated wasn’t the word the lighthouse keeper used, but he keeps saying the sickness is getting worse, the demons becoming more violent. I don’t think the marks on the walls will tell us who killed either Bosley or Billy, but they seem to verify that experiments went on and at some point things began to go wrong.”

  “Maybe whatever was done to the people made them violent,” Brit hypothesized.

  “That would be my guess,” Garrett said.

  I took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “Where does this leave us? We’ve uncovered the same horrific secret Bosley did, something so unbearable I’m having a hard time even making sense of it, but we still don’t know who killed him or Billy.”

  “There are a lot of people on Gull Island who’d probably like to keep this a secret,” George said. “The secret as motive isn’t going to help us a whole lot.”

  “So who would have the most to lose if it got out?” Jack asked.

  Again, no one had anything to say.

  Finally, I broke the silence. “Brooke made it sound as if Viv Marsh freely shared her knowledge of what happened all those years ago. It didn’t seem she felt threatened by it in any way. She’s Sam’s sister, and Sam was with Bosley the night he died, the only survivor of the three men who met that night. That should make him a prime suspect, but if Viv isn’t concerned about the secret getting out, would Sam be?”

  “I suppose if my great-grandfather was part of a mass killing that became the source of my family’s fortune, I might not want it getting out, but I don’t think I’d kill anyone over it,” Brit commented. “Sure, there’d be embarrassment and maybe even some backlash in the short term, but I can’t see how it would make a long-term difference in my life.”

  “Unless it affected your seat on the island council and that seat was important to you,” Jack said. He looked at Garrett. “In your opinion, who’s the most invested in his seat?”

  Garrett thought about it for a moment before he answered. “I guess Zane Carson. Ron is more about his family money than he is about the power that comes with being a Remand. In fact, he’s missed more meetings than he’s showed up for. Billy used his vote to try to help the island as a whole, but I never got the impression he cared about being on the council that much. Sam used to play the part of founding descendant pretty well, but ever since he divorced his wife, he’s seemed more interested in having fun.”

  “One of the candidates for the elected seats, Glen Pierson, is being endorsed by the Castle Foundation,” I said.

  “Maybe, but Sam doesn’t run the foundation,” Garrett informed me. “Bianca, his ex-wife, does. I think the only reason Sam got involved in politics was because she had big plans for him. It may look as if Sam is the prime suspect, but I don’t see him caring enough about what it would do to his social standing if the secret got out to commit murder.”

  “That fits in a way. If the secret was a huge deal to the Castle heirs, why would Viv have brought it up to anyone?”

  “So it sounds as if, of the four, Zane Carson is the one who’d care most about what the revelation of the secret might do to his reputation, power, and prestige,” Jack said.

  “Of the four, I’d say that’s true,” Garrett replied.

  Rick stood up. “I’m going to dig into his alibi a little more. I’ll pull phone records and check his financials. If he’s the one behind this, I’ll prove it.”

  Chapter 10

  Tuesday, October 30

  It took a couple of days for Rick to weed through things and recheck motives and alibis, but when he came back to the group, he again told us it wasn’t likely Sam Castle, Ron Remand, or Zane Carson killed Bosley. Billy could still have been responsible for Bosley’s death, Rick admitted, but his gut told him that he wasn’t. And, with the added complication that someone had killed Billy shortly after, we all felt, when we met around the fire on Monday night, we were no closer to figuring out who’d killed Bosley than we were at the very beginning.

  “We need some additional photos of the decorations the merchants have put up for our Halloween on Gull Island spread tomorrow,” I said to Jack as we worked to format the newspaper’s weekly edition.

  “It would be nice to have a photo of Meg’s village, and Bernie over at the dry cleaner went all-out with lights this year.” Jack paused and looked down at Kizzy, who was staring intently at him. “I guess we can take a break and maybe take Kizzy for a walk through town to get some additional images. We can grab some lunch while we’re out.”

  “I am hungry. And I still need to get some small pumpkins and other accents for the centerpiece for the table for Wednesday’s dinner. Maybe we can park near the Halloween store so we can pick up what we need. That deli with the homemade soups is just down the block from there, and they have a dog-friendly patio.”

  “It does seem to be unseasonably warm today.”

  “Indian summer,” I said. “I think the mild temps are supposed to last all week.”

  “Just let me save what I have here and we can go,” Jack said.

  I went into the bathroom to wash up while he finished what he was doing. I was curious whether Rick had dug up anything new on either death since we’d met the previous evening. It seemed unlikely—it had only been half a day—but he’d said he had an idea he was going to follow up on before he was ready to talk about it. Being the inquisitive person I am, his comment had planted itself in my imagination immediately, and I’d been wondering about it ever since.

  “Are you ready?” Jack asked when I returned to the reception area, where we’d been working.

  “Yes. Do you have Kizzy’s leash?”

  Jack held it up.

  “Remind me to look for cornstalks for the front porch while we’re shopping. I think they had some at the feeds
tore. Of course, it’s two days before Halloween, so they may have sold out.”

  We went to the park first to let Kizzy take care of her needs, then headed to the seasonal store, which still had some Halloween items, and parked near the front door. Kizzy was a well-behaved dog who was welcome at most of the shops in town, so we hooked up her leash and went inside. Jack and Kizzy took a basket and went in search of small pumpkins to use as accents while I strolled up and down the mostly bare aisles, looking for inspiration.

  I hadn’t actually planned to combine holiday shopping with sleuthing until I saw Jessica Carson, contemplating a bin filled with rubber spiders.

  “The one with the flashing red eyes is pretty terrifying,” I said as I stopped next to her.

  She turned and looked in my direction. “I had my eye on it, but the one with the crooked grin looks a little more approachable for my nephew’s party.”

  “I’m assume you’re decorating for a Halloween party?” I asked conversationally.

  “Actually, it’s my nephew’s birthday party. He’ll be ten and he wanted to do a spooky house because his birthday happens to be on Halloween.”

  “Oh,” I said. “I know you said you were Zane’s sister, but I wasn’t aware he had young children.”

  Jessica tossed both spiders in her basket. “He doesn’t. His children are all adults with children of their own. This nephew is my sister Patricia’s son. If you remember, I told you Zane and I share a father but not a mother; Patricia and I share a mother but not a father.” She laughed. “I’m afraid my family tree is about as confusing as it gets, but it works for us.” Jessica glanced at my basket. “It looks like you’re doing some decorating as well.”

  “I’m giving a dinner party on Halloween for the writers who live at the retreat. I decided a special centerpiece is a must, but things are pretty picked over by now. I should have shopped earlier, but between the Harvest Festival and our investigation…” I intentionally let that dangle. I couldn’t help but notice Jessica averted her eyes. I was sure she knew something, I just needed to find a way to get her to tell me about it. “Is Zane back in town?” I asked.

  Jessica shrugged. “Who knows with him? He’s popped in and out on a frequent but random basis since his divorce. If you want to talk to him, you should text or call, although I think he might be out of town at the moment. The last time I spoke to him was on the Saturday before last. He’d just returned from one trip and was already talking about another.” Jessica sighed. “Sometimes I envy him his freedom, but other times I worry about him. I think he’s been lonely since his wife took off.”

  Jessica glanced at me, then blushed. “Sorry. I don’t suppose I should be talking to you about Zane’s personal life. You don’t even know him, do you? I’ve just been worried about him lately, and you’re a good listener.” Jessica looked at the clock that hung on a nearby wall. “I should get going. Enjoy your dinner party.”

  I watched her walk to the front of the store where the checkout counters were located.

  If Zane had just come home from a trip a week ago Saturday, that meant he very likely was in town when Bosley was killed. I took out my phone and texted Rick, letting him know what I’d just discovered. He texted back that he was out on a call but would get back to me when he was in his office. We’d agreed that of the four men on the island council, Zane was the most likely to care about a family secret getting out. Maybe he’d come home from his trip to take care of the potential leak, then left again before anyone even knew he’d been here.

  “Find what you need?” Jack asked when he and Kizzy joined me near the spiders.

  “I got sidetracked.” I took a moment to explain.

  “It’s interesting that Zane might have been here the day Bosley’s body was most likely dumped in the ocean, but we still wouldn’t know who killed Billy.”

  I bit my lower lip. “I’m not sure yet, but I sure would like to figure that out.”

  ******

  After we made our way around town taking photos and gathering the supplies I needed, we went to the deli for lunch. I ordered a thick meatball soup with half a turkey sandwich, while Jack chose a meatball sub with chicken noodle soup. Kizzy crawled under the table as she’d been trained to do, waiting for us to eat and hoping one or both of us saved her a bite.

  Rick texted me again just after we sat down. I told him where we were, and he asked us to sit tight and he’d join us in a minute. He indicated he had news to share, which I hoped meant he’d cracked things wide open.

  “Sorry, just the opposite,” Rick said after he took a seat and ordered his own lunch. “I spoke to Zane, who said he’d been in Florida until Friday, then drove home. He arrived late, after midnight, and went straight to bed. He spoke to Jessica on Saturday morning, when she’d called to check on him as she often did, and he told her he was flying out the next day for a reunion with some old friends. Zane was able to produce gas receipts from his drive from Key West to Gull Island, as well as an airline ticket to Minnesota, where he met his friends for a fishing expedition. Unless he killed Bosley in the middle of the night when he got home, which I suppose is possible but not likely, I don’t think he’s our guy.”

  “Drat. I really thought it might be him. Any new leads?”

  “Maybe.”

  I sat up straighter. “Tell!”

  “I spoke to Kaitlin Longtree, who lives next door to Meg’s friend Lily, who told us that she saw Bosley and Sam at Billy’s house on the evening Bosley died. She confirmed she saw Bosley’s vehicle in Billy’s drive as well. She’d never met Bosley, so she didn’t know it was his, but when I described the car, she confirmed that was the vehicle in Billy’s drive from around sunset until after she went to bed. She also said it was gone the following morning.”

  “Okay, we definitely know Bosley was at Billy’s. Did she see Sam’s car as well?”

  “She did. And, like Lily, she confirmed that while Sam was at the house for a while, she didn’t think it was more than an hour or two. Nothing bad had happened yet, so she didn’t have reason to pay a lot of attention to the timeline, just as Lily didn’t, but she had something to add that Lily either hadn’t noticed or didn’t think was worth mentioning.”

  “And what was that?” I asked.

  “Shortly after Sam left, another vehicle drove up. She didn’t see who was behind the wheel—it was completely dark by then—but she noticed it was a dark-colored sports car. Maybe a Corvette, although she admitted to not being much of an expert on cars. She thought it was black, dark blue, or dark gray.”

  “Do we know whose car it was?”

  “Not yet, but I’m working on it.”

  “Was the car there long?” Jack asked.

  “Ms. Longtree saw the car pull in to the drive, then drive around to the back. She had no idea when the car left.”

  I sat back in my chair and crossed my arms over my chest. “So maybe it was the person in the sports car who killed Bosley.”

  “And maybe Billy was a witness. He might have promised not to tell, then developed a conscience, and he was killed to silence him,” Jack added.

  “That’s my favorite theory,” Rick said. “Now we just need to figure out who drives a dark-colored sports car that may or may not be a Corvette.”

  We finished lunch and Rick went back to work, while Jack, Kizzy, and I returned to the newspaper. Rick would be pulling DMV records pertaining to individuals who owned dark-colored Corvettes, and Jack and I had a newspaper to get ready for printing. If the Corvette search didn’t turn up any leads, he planned to do a search for other vehicles of similar size and body style.

  I took Kizzy into the back room to give her a fresh bowl of water while Jack checked the messages on the answering machine and in the paper’s e-mail account. When I joined him he was staring at the phone with a frown on his face.

  “Is there a problem?” I asked.

  “There was a message from Bianca Castle. She wants to take out a full-page ad in tomorrow’s paper for
her candidate, Glen Pierson.”

  I narrowed my gaze. “A full-page ad? That seems like overkill. Besides, we already have the paper formatted. Where would we add a full-page ad?”

  “She wanted page one or two. There’s no way I’m going to run an ad on the front page, and page two and three have already been set aside for the Halloween piece. I suppose we could give her page four and move everything back a page, but I’m not sure how I feel about running a political ad.”

  “Are you afraid it will look as if we’re endorsing Pierson?”

  Jack nodded. “Kind of. Especially because all we’ve had in the paper so far have been impartial articles about the campaign. So far, all the candidates have had equal time.”

  “So tell her no. It isn’t as if you need the money the ad would bring in.”

  Jack leaned a hip against the desk. “I’ll call her. Maybe I can help her to see our position without making her mad. It wouldn’t benefit us to make an enemy who wields as much power as she does.”

  “Why does she wield so much power?” I asked. “She isn’t married to Sam anymore. Why is she even running the family foundation?”

  Jack shrugged. “I’m not sure. Maybe Garrett or someone who’s been around longer than we have would know.”

  I was curious enough to wonder at the dynamics involved. Somehow, ex-wives and family politics seemed like a Brooke thing, so I texted her to ask if I could come by to chat with her after school let out.

  ******

  “Sam Castle wasn’t in to politics until Bianca came into his life,” Brooke explained almost an hour after I texted her. “In fact, there was talk that he wasn’t going to accept the seat on the council despite tradition when his father decided to retire.”