The Precipice

by Penny Goetjen

  “Thank you very much.” She took his hand. He gently pressed his left hand on hers in a sweet sign of compassion.

  “Elizabeth, you should know that Chief Austin was instrumental in identifying the Hutchins as the Rizzos. He made a huge discovery when he did a search of the Hutchins’ room and uncovered a magazine that had their correct name on it. It was the break we needed in the case. After that, it was relatively easy to put the pieces together.”

  Elizabeth looked at Mitchell for a moment and then realized what he was trying to do for the chief. She decided to play along.

  “Chief, nice work.”

  “Just doing my job, ma’am.”

  “Well, we certainly appreciate it. Nice job.”

  “You are so welcome, Elizabeth. I’m just sorry that it all turned out the way it did. You and your grandmother didn’t deserve any of it.”

  “Thank you.” Her face was sad and drawn. She turned her face away and looked at the ground.

  “Oh and there is some good news in all of this.” Elizabeth looked up and searched his face. “The lobsterman, Slater, and his passengers were rescued not far off the coast well before the hurricane hit. We may never know if there was a connection with that mishap and the mess at the inn. But at least that part had a happy ending.”

  Elizabeth forced a smile at this news. “That is wonderful news. Thank you.”

  “Well, I will leave you to carry on. I must get back to the station to see if the state boys need any more assistance.” He gave a quick tug at the waist of his pants with both hands, as if to ensure it was secure, and then tipped his hat as he turned to take his leave.

  “Thanks again, Chief.” There were nods and waving hands all around as they watched him stride toward his squad car, a little more spring in his step than he’d had lately. Elizabeth was impressed that Kurt had returned the chief’s self-esteem to him. What a thoughtful and sweet thing to do. She turned back to him.

  Kurt looked into her eyes. “There is something else I need to talk to you about, Liz.” He hesitated as if trying to decide how to proceed, pointed toward a garden bench for them to sit on and then continue. “The medical examiner released your grandmother’s autopsy report.” Their eyes met as they sat down and he looked to her for approval to continue. Her eyes told him she was quite weary but expected him to go on. “Elizabeth, Amelia’s autopsy showed she had a high level of a drug called Zoloft in her blood stream when she passed away that suggests ingestion over an extended period of time. Zoloft is an anti-anxiety drug that causes drowsiness. Her doctor told us that he had never prescribed that or any other similar drug for her. Do you have any idea where she might have gotten something like that? He waited to see if Elizabeth had a response.

  She wrinkled her forehead and shook her head. Her grandmother never liked to take any kind of drugs, over-the-counter or prescription. This certainly didn’t sound like something she would have done on her own.

  “The fatigue she was experiencing from the drug put an additional burden on her body that was hard for her to handle. With everything going on, she didn’t have time to slow down and rest. The medical examiner concluded that the Zoloft contributed to her passing.” Kurt paused as he knew she would need to process that information.

  Tears welled up in her eyes and she turned away slightly. The evening in the lighthouse came rushing back to her. Her poor grandmother had been through so much before she arrived on the scene to help. Elizabeth feared that having to shoulder the burden of running the inn on her own also contributed to her grandmother’s passing. A wave of guilt crashed over her. She wondered what kind of granddaughter lets that happen. She should have checked in with her more often. All she could do was to shake her head. A tear rolled down her cheek and dropped silently in her lap. She wiped the tear trail from her face.

  Kurt looked up to see Rashelle making her way over to the two of them. She quietly approached Elizabeth’s side of the bench and put her arm around her friend’s shoulders. Her face was drawn with concern. Elizabeth reached up with one hand and squeezed the hand resting on her shoulder. Her gaze rested far off the shore on the distant horizon. No one spoke. Time just passed in silence.

  Finally Elizabeth found her voice. “What does all this mean? Was my grandmother…murdered?” Her eyes were wide and her facial expression showed she expected an answer. Rashelle looked from Elizabeth to Kurt and back again.

  Mitchell paused and tilted his head slightly, “It’s possible. We can’t be sure. Hopefully we will have more answers soon.”

  Kurt’s response didn’t help her. She needed answers. Silence took over the conversation as they thought about what had been revealed and the questions still unanswered.

  Elizabeth finally came to life and threw out a random thought. “I wonder what happened to my portfolio of drawings.”

  “Well, I do remember seeing a portfolio in the Hutchins’ room. I don’t know what shape it might be in after the storm. But we can certainly look.” He looked at her closely, surprised that she was at all concerned about something that seemed so trivial, at least to him.

  “It’s not that big of a deal. I just thought that perhaps I could get it back.” Artists can be quite possessive of their work.

  “We will certainly try,” he reassured her, pressing onto the next topic. “The room that the Hutchins requested just happened to be the same approximate location that the missing student from the school had disappeared from. This was either a tremendous coincidence or somehow someone knew.”

  Elizabeth’s face looked doubtful. “I don’t see how.”

  “Well, anyway, Renard’s confession does fit if we put it into the right time frame. Looks like we solved that age old mystery of the student’s disappearance. But now he is looking at prison time. Apparently, the situation of the missing guest brought back too many memories, ones that he had pushed to the back of his mind. With them came a flood of emotions, including tremendous guilt. Unfortunately, he was afraid his brother would snitch on him and he felt compelled to silence him. He agreed to show us where he had buried both bodies so we could exhume them. There won’t be much left to the girl, but if we can contact the parents, I’m sure they would want some closure.”

  Elizabeth had a good idea of where at least one of the bodies was. Things were not right in the section of the woods where Mitchell had caught up to her when she escaped from Lieutenant Perkins’ squad car. It was just too quiet there. Hopefully Renard will remember where they are and show the officers. Elizabeth’s head was spinning. Questions kept popping up. So much of it didn’t make sense.

  He paused to let everything sink in. “And that’s about the long and short of it at this point. That’s certainly enough for now.” Kurt looked at Elizabeth, who was staring straight ahead as if in a trance. He wondered if she had heard him during the last few minutes. Finally she spoke.

  “So, what happened down in the tunnel…to me? I know there was a cave-in, but was it caused by human hands?”

  “It would take an engineer to determine if it happened naturally or if someone’s deliberate actions caused it. Looked like you got grazed on the back of the head by a support beam. Fortunately, you did not receive the brunt of the force. A couple seconds difference and you might not have been sitting here right now.

  Elizabeth rubbed the back of her head, which was healing nicely, and took a deep breath. She remembered the voice. Someone had saved her life. “I guess I have lived to design another day.” She allowed herself a little humor.

  Rashelle chimed in at last. She suddenly looked rather awkward standing in front of her friend. “Lizzi.” She took a deep breath. “I need to apologize…I haven’t been completely honest with you and I’m very sorry.”

  Elizabeth turned and looked into Rashelle’s eyes. Her dear friend. Whatever had she done?

  “Well before everything els
e that started going on around here, I started a little affair of my own.” Elizabeth raised her eyebrows. “I am so sorry, Liz. I guess I wasn’t prepared for the abrupt change in lifestyle coming here from the city. It is so quiet, especially at night. After a while I couldn’t stand it anymore. There was nothing to do. I needed a little excitement in my life and I certainly wasn’t going to find it at the inn. So I started to head into town on my nights off to do the bar circuit, meet new people, maybe find a new guy. Well, I did meet a guy who I was absolutely crazy about. Once he knew where I worked, he was perfectly honest with me and told me he had been fired as the tennis pro not too long ago.” Elizabeth gasped but Rashelle seemed to take no notice and continued. “At first, I was shocked and taken back. I didn’t know what to do. I felt like I was cheating. Unfortunately, that made our relationship that much more exciting. It was like we were having an extra-marital affair without hurting our spouses. It was so exciting. I hadn’t felt that exhilarated in a very long time. I know that probably sounds a bit silly…immature. Because of the excitement, I let it keep going even though I knew we shouldn’t, and I am so sorry, Lizzi. I had no right to do that. I know Aaron wasn’t supposed to be anywhere near this place after his dramatic removal from the grounds last spring. After I wrecked my car, though, he had to pick me up. I think it was fun for him, too…I’m sorry, Liz.”

  She just gazed into her friend’s eyes. Even though what Rashelle did seemed trivial in comparison to the big picture and Elizabeth had already put the pieces together, she still felt betrayed by her good friend. She was at a loss for words. All she could do was look out at the horizon and shake her head slightly.

  Rashelle backed away from the bench where Elizabeth was seated. “We’ll talk later when everything else is all sorted out. I am sorry to have added to your burden. Not a very nice thing for a friend to do, I know…I am truly sorry.” Her face was very somber, quite uncharacteristic of her. She walked away towards the circular driveway where a rental car was parked; a black, four-door Nissan of some sort. Elizabeth couldn’t bear to watch as her friend drove away, down the access road away from the inn. A single tear rolled down her cheek. She felt so hurt.

  Mitchell couldn’t stand seeing her so sad. He needed to wrap up the conversation and get her out of there, “The state police have Aaron Gabeau in custody and are interviewing him to see if he has any connection to all of this. They will also be speaking with Rashelle.” The silence that hung in the air was palpable. “Liz, why don’t we head out of here? I imagine you could use a change of scenery about now.”

  She looked around and saw that there were no more mourners lingering. A few of the loyal staff were cleaning up from the service, stacking chairs to be picked up by the rental company. “Well, I’m at your mercy until I can get another car. I guess I’ll have to pick up a rental somewhere. I’ve got to head back to the city and see if I can pick up the pieces of my career.”

  The sound of a truck engine and its wheels crunching on the gravel driveway made their heads turn toward the unexpected arrival to the inn. Kurt turned back to look at the expression on Elizabeth’s face. It was a flatbed truck with a delivery. Lizzi’s face lit up when she saw it was none other than her beautiful silver Z4. “What the—?”

  Kurt smiled. “Your car had suffered some body damage, but it looked fixable. The wind had pushed it up against the bushes along the woods, which may have served as a cushion for it. It was out of sight from you when you returned to the inn after the storm. There were much more pressing priorities at that point so you overlooked it, and rightfully so. We scooted it out to a local auto body shop and asked if they could put a rush on it.”

  Elizabeth allowed herself to smile slightly. She looked up to see that the truck driver had parked on the circle and was walking up to Kurt. His arm was extended toward him with a key dangling from it. He took the key and immediately turned around and handed it to Elizabeth.

  A tear rolled down her cheek. This time, a happy tear. She was all choked up so it took a great deal of effort to speak. “Thanks, Kurt. This means so much to me. Thanks so much for doing this. I just can’t thank you enough.” She put her arms out and hugged him tightly. He hugged her back. She could feel her heart starting to mend. With time, everything would be all right again. She had to believe it.

  Mitchell glanced over at the circular driveway. The delivery guy was quickly unloading the car. “Why don’t you take a closer look?” She looked up into his eyes. He smiled and nodded.

  Elizabeth turned and admired her prized sports car. A grin spread across her face. She turned back to Kurt with a twinkle in her eye. “Would you like to take a ride with me?”

  He was tickled she had asked. “Of course! Let’s go!” He put his arm around her and they started across the lawn towards the driveway. His arm felt so right around her. She felt as if she was melting. It had been a while since she had felt this good. It was going to be fun to take her car for a little spin before she had to hit the highway back to the city.

  They climbed into the car, Elizabeth in the driver’s seat. She looked around. It was incredibly clean and there was a new lavender air freshener dangling from the rear view mirror. “Cute.” She inserted the key and the engine sprang to life as soon as she turned it. The car’s engine sounded like a cat purring in her ears. She pushed the gear shift forward into first, eased off of the clutch while pressing the accelerator, and started down the driveway. Elizabeth slowed down long enough to take one more look back before leaving. It looked like her great aunt was standing in the window of one of the front rooms, her room, watching her niece go. She was sure that Cecelia would always be watching over the inn.

  Chapter 32

  Elizabeth was moving a little more slowly than usual this morning. She had driven straight though without stopping the night before and had arrived at her apartment rather late. It had been difficult to leave her childhood home in the condition it was in after the hurricane’s powerful wrath, but she really needed to get back to work. She also had such unsettled feelings about the human tragedy she had left behind. She didn’t think she would ever recover from the heartbreak of losing her grandmother and it really bothered her that she didn’t know if the young girl had been found. It was so frustrating that Mitchell couldn’t divulge anything about the investigation. All she could do was to remain optimistic and believe that they were doing everything they could to resolve the situation.

  She hadn’t realized how much she missed the inn until she arrived the previous weekend. Now that she was back in the city, she already missed the comfortable familiarity of it, the salty sea air, and the warmth of her grandmother’s smile. The corners of her mouth turned upward when she realized she was going to miss seeing Mitchell as well. She hoped he would get back to her soon and fill her in on what exactly went on at the inn before the storm and, more importantly, why.

  Elizabeth had been away from her office for several days, far longer than she had planned. Mentally and physically drained, she dragged herself out of bed and headed toward Loran Design. She had no idea what was in store for her or what mood Vera was going to be in. A second cup of coffee seemed like a good idea so she stopped into her favorite coffee shop on the walk from the parking garage. She took a deep breath as she entered to take in the pleasing aroma. The familiar surroundings were somewhat comforting to her. It was a local, family owned shop, not a high-priced national chain. Elizabeth felt good about giving them her business. She thought the husband and wife made a cute couple who looked a bit Italian, maybe Greek. They were always behind the counter, side-by-side, working long hours day in and day out, starting very early in the morning by preparing their fresh-from-the-oven, home-made pastries and muffins. She couldn’t really place their accents because her conversations with them were brief. Business was usually brisk so they stuck to the task at hand, trying to please their customers by getting them in and out as quickly as possible. She had been
stopping in so often over the last few years that they always acknowledged her when she approached the counter. The wife smiled warmly and said “good morning” and the husband winked and said “hello.”

  With a warm, aromatic coffee in hand, she continued her walk in the morning sunshine, happy to be walking next to and through groups of people she had never met before. It looked to her like every other person was on a cell phone. It became more apparent at each corner as a group of people would form, waiting for the light to change so they could cross the street. She always found it interesting that so many people walking toward each other could navigate so that no one ran into each other, at least not directly. It was like a well-choreographed ballet. New York’s hustle and bustle never got old to her. She slowed her pace to take in the sights and sounds of the city, which she never wanted to take for granted, and to postpone the inevitable. Seeing Vera face to face.

  She kept rewinding the video in her head to the part where she hung up on her boss. Elizabeth feared Vera would just fire her on the spot for insubordination, but was trying to be more optimistic than that. Eventually she reached the revolving doors into the lobby of her building and she pushed the nearest glass panel that was slowing from the last person who had entered. Starting through the motion of a half circle, it crossed her mind to just keep going all the way around and exit again out onto the street. She rolled her eyes and sighed. Just do it, Elizabeth. She exited the revolving doors and headed across the lobby.

  Surprisingly no one else entered the elevator with her so she ascended to the twenty-second floor alone with her thoughts. The doors opened into the lobby of Loran Design. It was uncharacteristically empty. She took in a deep breath and exhaled. No one was at the front desk and no one was in the waiting area that was furnished in ultra-modern, off white leather seating. Elizabeth took it all in and then turned right to head directly to her office. Fortunately she did not have to pass Vera’s office on the way. A few minutes to herself would be ideal to gather her thoughts and finish her coffee. Vera could wait.