Framed For Murder (An Anna Nolan Mystery)

by Spencer, Cathy

  Connie glared at Steve as the young constable put a hand on his shoulder. “Come on, Connie, let’s not have any trouble here. Who’s the lady?”

  Grimacing, Connie muttered, “That’s my wife, Karen. I wasn’t looking for any trouble, Steve. I was just trying to get her to come home with me.”

  Karen took a step toward the table. “What’s the matter, Con, you scared of this guy?” Steve was out of uniform in a white shirt and jeans, so she had no idea that he was a cop.

  “This is Constable Steve Walker, Karen. He’s with the RCMP,” I said.

  “You mean Constable McDreamy, don’t you?” she replied, leering at Steve. Connie frowned.

  “Nice meeting you, Karen,” Steve said. “It might be a good idea if you and Connie went home to discuss your differences in private, don’t you think? A lady like you doesn’t want to air her disagreements in public.” He gave her a winning smile.

  Karen sniffed and looked around the room, noticing the other customers staring at us for the first time. Some of them must have been fellow cast and crew members.

  “You’re quite right, Constable,” she said like the grand lady. “I don’t know what’s got into my husband. Let’s go, Con.”

  “That’s what I’ve been telling you,” he grumbled, trying to take her arm. She wouldn’t have anything to do with him, however, and brushed him aside as she retrieved her purse from the floor. Straightening unsteadily, she smiled at Amy and me.

  “Ladies, thank you for a wonderful evening. I hope to see you again soon,” she said before following her husband to the cashier with as much dignity as she could muster. Steve winked at me and I flashed him a quick smile. I didn’t have time to worry about him now, however.

  “Come on, Amy, this is our chance,” I said, jumping up from my chair.

  “Our chance for what, Anna?” she asked in confusion.

  I whispered in her ear, “Our chance to follow them home and find out where they live. Come on, I don’t want to lose them.”

  Amy looked worried as I pulled her to her feet. Connie had settled his tab and he and Karen were headed out the door by the time we waded through the tables to the cashier. I paid our bill and rushed Amy out onto the street after them. Karen and Connie were still bickering as they crossed the road and unlocked the doors to their late-model Jeep.

  “Come on, Amy, run,” I said, dragging her to my car.

  I unlocked the passenger door, shoved her in, and had the car started and u-turned by the time Connie pulled away from the curb. I idled for a few seconds before pulling in behind them, not wanting to follow too closely. We drove down the main street and picked up speed as it became the highway, then slowed to turn right down a secondary road. We were the only two cars on the road, and I worried that Connie might notice my headlights. Hopefully, he and Karen were too busy arguing to pay any attention to us. We continued for about five minutes until they turned right down a gravel road. Connie was driving too fast and fishtailed, spewing gravel behind him. He corrected the car and proceeded a little more cautiously while Amy and I slowed to follow them. They came level to a private driveway barely visible through the trees and turned in. I slowed and waited a few moments before turning in behind them. They had already disappeared around a bend in the lane when I pulled over and parked at the bottom of the driveway.

  “Now what?” Amy whispered. The driveway was bordered by deep bush on both sides, blocking our view of the house. I cut the lights and turned off the engine.

  “We’ve come this far – I want to see what they’re doing, Amy. Let’s leave the car here and hike up to the house.”

  “Do you think that’s a good idea, Anna?” she asked, frowning at me. “What if they see us? How’re we going to explain our being here?”

  “Don’t worry, Amy. It’s dark and they’ll have the lights on inside the house. They won’t see us. I want to know what happens when they argue in private.”

  “You mean, does Connie hit her?”

  “Right,” I said, peering out the windshield.

  “That’s not very nice,” she said.

  I shrugged. “He’ll hit her or not hit her whether or not we’re here. Look at it this way, Amy – if he does start hitting her, we can call 911 and take off before the police arrive.”

  “Well, I guess that would be alright. But it’s so dark, Anna. We could trip over something and really hurt ourselves. Besides, I’m not feeling very well. I’m awfully tired. I think I had a bit too much to drink.” She leaned her head against the head rest and shut her eyes.

  I looked at Amy and decided that she might be more hindrance than help. “Don’t worry about it, Amy, I’ll go by myself. Why don’t you stay in the car and have a little nap?”

  “Huh?” she said, opening her eyes.

  “Hold on, I’ve got a blanket in the trunk. I’ll get it so you won’t get cold.” I reached for the door handle.

  Amy looked around through the car windows. “I don’t know, Anna. I might get scared out here all by myself.”

  I opened the car door and got out. “There’s nothing to be afraid of, Amy. Just lock the doors and you’ll be perfectly safe. Who would be walking around at this time of night, anyway?”

  I popped open the trunk, grabbed the blanket I kept for emergencies, and eased the trunk shut again. Climbing back into my seat, I spread the blanket over Amy, who watched me with worried eyes. I opened the glove box and retrieved my flashlight.

  “Go to sleep, Amy. I’ll be back before you know it.” She sighed and closed her eyes, snuggling down into the blanket like a good little girl. I locked the car doors behind me and pocketed the remote control. Turning on the flashlight, I followed the beam along the twisting driveway, the trees blocking out most of the moonlight. I crept along as quietly as I could, but it was a gravel driveway and I could hear the stone crunching beneath my feet. Something scurried in the damp leaves beside me, and I jumped. I paused to shine my flashlight into the trees, but didn’t see anything.

  “Must be mice or some other night life,” I told myself. “Certainly nothing big enough to worry about. Whatever it is, it’s probably afraid of me.”

  I continued up the drive, wishing that the house wasn’t stuck so far back in the bush. How much further was it? Last year’s brittle leaves still clung to the trees and rustled in the wind. The ground smelled damp and mouldy, and the evening chill was beginning to penetrate my clothes. Just as I was beginning to doubt the sanity of my plan, the driveway widened out into a parking area in front of the house. The Jeep was there beside some sort of muscle car, sleek and low to the ground.

  “Looks like Connie and Karen like their toys,” I thought.

  Lights were spilling out of the downstairs windows. Bending over and creeping between the parked cars, I could see Connie and Karen standing in the middle of the living room, Connie gesturing wildly while Karen held her hands over her ears. He shouted something and grabbed her by the arms. Karen shoved him in the chest, and Connie tripped backward over a coffee table. He got up from the floor and rushed her. Karen darted behind the sofa and ran around the end closest to the fireplace. She grabbed the fireplace shovel and stalked back toward him, the shovel raised menacingly over her head. Connie backed away, shouting at her. He must have said something really ugly because she started chasing him around the room, swinging the shovel and trying to clobber him with it.

  “Gee,” I mumbled to myself, “I hope she doesn’t kill him, but I sure wish that I could hear what they’re saying.”

  “Yes, that would be convenient,” a voice said right behind my left ear.

  I nearly jumped out of my skin, grabbing at my chest and swinging around with the flashlight. I ended up face-to-face with Tremaine.

  “You idiot, you nearly gave me a heart attack,” I gasped, my chest heaving. Remembering the couple in the house, I whirled back around and crouched down between the cars again. I peered towards the windows, but couldn’t see Connie or Karen.

  “Where’d they g
o?” I muttered.

  Tremaine, who wasn’t bothering to hide himself, pointed over my head. “Right there on the rug in front of the fireplace.”

  “What?”

  I looked in that direction and saw Connie lying on top of Karen. She wasn’t struggling; on the contrary, her arms and legs were clamped around him. As I watched, Connie rose up on one elbow and began fumbling with his pants, yanking them down around his knees and exposing his bare backside.

  “Ew, I think my eyes are burnt!” I shrieked, before clamping my hand over my mouth. I didn’t want them to hear me.

  “That’s what you get for spying on people,” Tremaine said from behind me. “You can get up now. I don’t think there’s much chance of them looking out the window at the moment.”

  I straightened and turned to face Tremaine. His expression was severe, his arms folded over his chest. He uncrossed them and took a step toward me. Suddenly, I was more afraid of him than I was of Karen and Connie.

  “I have to get back to Amy,” I murmured, ducking my head and trying to push past him. He grabbed me by the shoulder and spun me around.

  “You don’t have to worry about Amy. She was sound asleep when I walked past your car a few minutes ago.”

  “So, what are you doing here?” I asked.

  “Shouldn’t I be asking you that question?” he snapped. “Come along – show’s over – let’s get you back to your car.” He turned on his own flashlight and gestured for me to precede him. Once we were past the cars, he paced down the driveway beside me, looking grim.

  “How did you know I was here?” I risked asking him.

  “Steve Walker called after you followed Karen and Connie out of the Silver Spur ‘as if your pants were on fire,’ as he so colourfully put it. He was afraid that you and Amy might be up to something, so he asked me to check on the Primos. I’d interviewed them at home, so I knew where they lived. What did you expect to gain by following them here, Anna?”

  I glanced at him, thinking fast. “If you must know, I was afraid that Connie might hurt Karen once he got her home. He was acting very aggressively at the bar, and they were both drunk. I followed them to check up on her.”

  “I see. And what were you going to do if he started beating her?”

  “Call 911.”

  I tripped over a stone and Tremaine grabbed my elbow to steady me. I was too busy keeping up with him and trying to gauge his reaction to my lies to watch where I was going.

  “And what were you and Amy doing talking to the Primos in the first place?”

  “Oh, the Spur is an old haunt of mine. Amy and I hit it off the other night, so she invited me out for a drink. We bumped into Karen at the bar, and Amy introduced us. The tables were really crowded, so we joined her.”

  “That’s odd – Constable Walker is a regular at the Spur and he said he’s never seen you there before.”

  “Uh, that must be because he’s always in the back playing pool.” Suddenly, Tremaine swung me around and started pulling me back toward the house. “What are you doing?” I sputtered.

  “I’m taking you back to the Primos to see if they want to press trespassing charges against you.”

  “Hey, wait a minute,” I protested, ineffectively digging my heels into the gravel. “Let’s not be rash.”

  Tremaine dragged me along beside him. “Anna, you just told me a pack of lies. If you won’t tell me the truth, I can at least keep you out of harm’s way by putting you in jail for a day or two. Maybe that’s what you need to realize how serious this situation is.”

  I stopped and wrenched my elbow from his grip. “Alright, alright, here’s the truth,” I said. “Amy heard that Karen Quill and Jack were sleeping together, and I wanted to find out if Connie was the type to kill Jack if he found out that his wife was cheating on him.” I glanced at Tremaine for his reaction. There was a steely look to his eyes that made me look away again.

  “Anna, don’t you think I know about Jack and Karen’s affair?”

  My mouth gaped open. “How did you hear about it? Not from Karen, I bet.”

  “Anna, I am the police. I question people and they tell me things. If I don’t believe them, I keep digging until I discover the truth. That’s what I’m paid to do. Why do you continue to involve yourself in this investigation when I’ve warned you away?”

  I was afraid of Tremaine at that moment, and when I’m afraid, I have a tendency to mask my feelings with aggression. I guess it’s the old “fight or flight” instinct, and I’m not as fast as I used to be.

  “Okay, hot shot, just because you’re the police doesn’t mean that I can’t talk to people and look around myself, especially when it’s my head that’s in the noose.”

  “Hot shot?” he said, his lips twitching.

  Okay, now he was laughing at me, which really made me mad. “Look, you told me that I’m the prime suspect in this case. Has that changed?”

  He paused for a moment, his eyes becoming cautious. “No.”

  “Alright, then just leave me alone. I promise if I find out anything important, I’ll let you know right away. Come on, Tremaine, I could be useful to you.”

  Tremaine took a step closer until we stood toe-to-toe. “Anna, I want you to listen to me very carefully because I’m not going to say this again. You cannot be of any use to me in this investigation. As a matter of fact, you’re a liability. I’ve questioned the Primos, who have been cooperative up until now, and I’m corroborating their alibi. What I don’t need is your ham-fisted interference spooking them and ruining their cooperation. Now, I do not want to see or hear of you trying to interview suspects, spy on people, or anything else that you can come up with, do you hear? I swear that if I find you doing anything illegal, I’ll haul you away to prison before you know what happened. Do you hear me? Have I made myself perfectly clear?” He grabbed me by the shoulders and gave me a shake to emphasize his point.

  I’m not proud of my reaction that night – okay, secretly I am. I swung back my foot and kicked him in the shin as hard as I could. As he hopped around on one leg, cursing, I shouted, “Don’t you ever touch me again! How dare you threaten me! What kind of a cop are you, anyway? Haven’t you ever heard of police brutality? I swear I’ll make a complaint to the top RCMP guy if you ever touch me again. Just leave me alone!”

  My voice cracked on the last bit and I ran back to the car. Tremaine had parked in front of me to block the driveway leading up to the house. I aimed the remote at my car, flung the door open, and jumped in, slamming it shut behind me. Amy woke with a start. I turned the engine over, jammed the stick shift into reverse, and spun the car around. Tears I couldn’t stop began to trickle down my face as I turned onto the side road and headed, much too fast, back to town.

  “Anna, what’s wrong?” Amy asked, huddling on her side of the car. “Are you alright? Did you get caught?”

  “Nothing’s wrong and I didn’t get caught – by the Primos, anyway. I just bumped into Tremaine. The nerve of the man. He makes me so mad! Just give me a minute to calm down, okay?” I reached the main road and began taking deep, relaxing breaths. Amy stopped watching me to stare out of her window. By the time we were a few miles outside of Crane, I had stopped shaking and started thinking. Something Karen had said at the bar had caught my attention.

  Amy looked at me. “Do you feel better now?”

  “Yes, I’m alright. Sorry if I scared you,” I muttered.

  “Was Sergeant Tremaine mad at you for spying on the Primos?”

  “Yes, but never mind him. I’ve been thinking of a plan, and I’m not going to let that bully stop me. We made a good start tonight, Amy, but we didn’t get enough information out of Karen. I want to know what she and Connie were doing on the night Jack was killed. Now, Connie said he’s working tomorrow, so he won’t be home. Karen said she isn’t called until tomorrow night – right? So why not try a two-pronged attack? Why not drive back to their house in the morning, too early for Karen to have gone anywhere, but late enough for
Connie to be at work. You can ask her to go shopping with you – how about the Saturday market? While she’s getting ready to go, you slip me into the house. Then you can pump Karen for information while you’re out shopping.” I glanced at her. “What do you think?”

  Amy frowned and bit her lip. “I guess I could try, Anna, but what will you be doing in the house while Karen and I are gone?”

  “I’ll be looking for the gun that killed Jack.” Amy gasped. “Come on, Amy, how can it fail? No one will be home. I’ll have lots of time to look around. Believe me, I’m a pro when it comes to searching a house, thanks to Jack and his cheating. If I find a gun, the police can check it out to see if it’s the murder weapon. And we know that whoever shot Jack took the ring, so if I find either the ring or the gun, we’ll have conclusive evidence.”

  Amy shook her head. “I think we ought to leave this to the police, Anna.”

  “Come on, Amy, please help me,” I pleaded. “I can’t do it on my own. I’ll be frank with you – I don’t think that Tremaine suspects you of murdering Jack, but he sure suspects me. He just told me so. Please?”

  Amy sighed. “Alright, Anna, I’ll try,” she said in a resigned voice.

  “Thanks, Amy, you’re the best,” I gushed. Under my breath, I muttered, “Charles Tremaine, I am so going to prove you wrong!”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Amy picked me up on Saturday morning, and we were at the Primo’s house by 10AM. “Okay, park where we parked last night – right there in front of that bend in the driveway,” I instructed after we turned into their lane. “I’ll get out and sneak up to the house through the bush. Give me ten minutes, and then pull up and park. I’ll be hiding in the trees just to the left of the house. I’ll wave when I’m ready, and you get out of the car and ring the doorbell. If everything seems okay once you’re inside, open the door for me and I’ll hide until you and Karen leave. How’s that – am I forgetting anything?”