by Nancy CoCo
“Oh, right.” She got up and went around the corner to the coffee station there.
“Ask away.”
“When was the last time you saw Victoria?”
“Two days ago,” I said. “She came into the McMurphy but I told her to get out.”
“Why?”
“I saw her kissing Trent in the stable,” I said and felt my chest tighten in anger over the memory. “I haven’t seen her since. Why do you suspect she’s missing?”
“Her mother called me to say she missed her daily phone call and Irene said she missed an appointment. I sent Brent over to check on the house and the door was wide open. Did she mention leaving the island?”
“No,” I said. “Like I said, we really didn’t talk. Did you find her suitcase? She said something about the power to the cabin being out and she spent the night at our place the night you wrongly arrested her for assault.”
“So she’s at the McMurphy?”
“No.” I shook my head. “She blamed me for getting her arrested twice and stormed out. The next time I saw her she was kissing Trent. The last time I saw her she tried to talk to me about the kiss and I kicked her out.”
“She said something about staying with a friend,” Jenn said.
Rex looked at Jenn. “When?”
“When she took her suitcase and left the McMurphy she said she was going to stay with friends. Maybe she’s still with one of them.”
“I’ve talked to all of her friends,” Rex said. “No one’s seen her.”
“Maybe she left the island because you keep arresting her,” I said.
“I told her she wasn’t to leave until I figured out who killed Barbara.”
“You mean until you had enough evidence to really arrest her,” I said.
“Until I had enough evidence to exclude her,” Rex said. His hands played with the brim of his hat. “I don’t think she did it, but I can’t have people talking about my letting her go back to California without proving she was innocent.”
“I thought you were innocent until proven guilty.”
“Not in the court of public opinion,” Rex said. “I asked her to stick around. Besides, she was working on putting together that fund-raiser for the Butterfly House.”
I chewed on my bottom lip. “You think something bad has happened to her?”
“At this point I’m just looking for her. But things aren’t looking good.”
“Trent told me that Tori was investigating Barbara’s murder,” I said. “Do you know if that was true? Is that why you suspect she is missing and hasn’t just left?”
“She told me she was,” Rex confirmed. “She’s a lot like you, Allie.”
“Except it seems she has better connections in the community,” I groused. Then a thought came to mind and I glanced at Rex with horror. I swallowed hard. “Trent said that Tori was thanking him for having his locksmith go over and change the locks on the cottage.”
“Why would she need to have the locks changed?” Frances asked.
“Because Tori had a death threat,” I said, looking from Frances to Rex. “This is bad. This is very bad.”
“I have one more question for you, Allie,” Rex said.
“What?”
“Where were you yesterday afternoon?”
“I was making fudge.”
“Do you have witnesses to prove it?”
“What is this, Rex? Do you think I would threaten and hurt my own cousin?”
“Everyone knew you were hopping mad, Allie. I have to rule you out.”
“You can rule her out,” Frances said and raised her chin. “She was with me.”
“What do you know about that death threat?” Jenn asked. “If Victoria is like Allie, she kept investigating, threat or no threat. Do you have any idea who threatened her?”
“No,” Rex said. “I had no idea she was threatened.”
“Talk to Trent,” I said. “He can tell you what Tori told him. He’s on the island now.”
“I’ll do that,” Rex said. He paused and looked at Frances. “I’m sorry, Frances, but I can’t make the wedding. With Victoria missing, every minute counts. Ladies, don’t go anywhere until this is worked out.”
“I fully understand,” Frances said. “I’ll talk to Douglas.” She picked up her cell phone and looked at me and Jenn. “We can postpone this thing until Victoria is found safe.”
Maggs patted Frances’s hand. We all knew what a sacrifice this was for her and Mr. Devaney.
“Thank you, Frances,” Rex said. “Stay safe, ladies. Don’t go anywhere alone until we figure this thing out. Okay?”
“We won’t,” Jenn said.
Rex put on his hat and walked out.
“I’m so glad you said that,” I said as Sally walked back in with coffees on a tray. “Sally, we’re postponing the wedding.”
“I understand,” Sally said. “We can finish your nails and do your hair after you find Victoria.”
I sent her a smile and paid her for the work she had done, along with a big tip. “If you hear anything about Victoria, don’t hesitate to give me a call.”
“I won’t, dear,” Sally said. “Go find her.”
We gathered up our stuff as Frances got off the phone with Mr. Devaney. “Douglas agrees that we must find Victoria.”
“I’m glad,” I said. “I know he didn’t want to wait this long.”
“He’s a good man,” Frances said. “He’ll wait as long as it takes.” The two older women walked ahead of Jenn and me.
“What’s the plan?” Jenn asked. “I can call and postpone all the vendors, but we really need to find Victoria.”
“Let’s go to the cottage and see if we can figure out what happened,” I said. “We need to trace Victoria’s steps, talk to whomever she talked to, and see what leads she dug up.”
“Find the leads, catch the killer,” Jenn said.
“Find Victoria,” I said. “Before it’s too late.”
Chapter 20
The cottage looked much different with police inside than it did when I picked up Tori’s clothes that first day. The sheets were off all the furniture, which was worn with love and reminded me of family gatherings. In the summer I used to come to the cottage to play with Victoria when I stayed with Grammy Alice and Papa Liam. We would play dolls in her bedroom.
“You can’t be in here,” Officer Lasko said when we entered the house. The cottage kitchen was clean. There were dishes in the drying rack. It was obvious that Tori had made herself at home over the last week.
“This is my uncle’s house,” I said. “He asked me to look inside.” I had called my aunt and uncle on the way over. They were on their way to the island and asked that I do my best to find Victoria.
“This is an active crime scene.”
Shane stepped out of the bedroom with his evidence collection kit in his hand. “Allie, Jenn, what are you doing here?”
“Tori’s parents asked us to come here and keep on top of the investigation,” I said. “Have you found anything?”
“Her suitcase is here,” Shane said. “I don’t think she went missing on purpose.”
“So she wasn’t staying with friends,” Jenn said.
“Why would she stay with friends?” Shane asked.
“She told us the power was out,” I said.
“I noticed that,” Shane said and flipped the kitchen light switch on and off. “I thought she didn’t have it turned on. There are candles in the bedroom and candles in the kitchen.”
I noticed that he was right. Tori had been using candles to see when it was dark. That would make it easier for someone to surprise her. I frowned. “She had power when I came that day to get her clothes.” I went outside.
“What are you doing?” Officer Lasko followed me out.
“Checking something,” I said and went to the side of the cottage where the power entered the home. Sure enough, the wires were cut. I showed the officer without touching the dangling hot wire. “Looks like someone deliberately cut he
r power.”
“Why didn’t Victoria notice this?” Officer Lasko asked me.
“I don’t know,” I said. “Maybe because she didn’t think that anyone on the island would do such a thing.”
Officer Lasko scowled at me. “It’s because she’s local.”
“And I’m not,” I said. “I get it. Is that why you don’t like me?”
“No,” she said and crossed her arms. “I don’t like you because you are a nosy busybody who doesn’t leave things to the professionals. You didn’t spend eight weeks at police boot camp. What makes you think you are better at solving things than we are?”
“I don’t,” I said. “I’m only trying to help.”
“The best way for you to help is to stay out of things.”
“If I had, you wouldn’t have checked to see if anyone cut the wires to the cottage,” I pointed out. “Was the door broken into?”
“No,” Officer Lasko said as I went around to the door to check. The new lock was shiny and solid. No one had broken it or crashed the door in. I frowned. How had they gotten in?
“Shane says they think she let her kidnappers in,” Jenn said as she stepped out of the house. “That means she knew and trusted whoever took her.”
“So it was someone she knew.”
“That’s the theory,” Jenn said.
“Someone cut the wires to the power,” I said. “Let’s walk the perimeter and see if maybe they went in through the windows.”
I started around the opposite side of the cottage from where Officer Lasko watched over the cut wires. The windows all seemed locked up tight.
“Shane says there’s no evidence that anyone forcibly opened a window.”
“Yes, but without power, my guess is that Tori slept with the window open to let the lake breeze in to cool off at night.”
We walked past the first bedroom to the bathroom where a transom window was half cracked but up at the six foot mark it would have been difficult to squeeze through. Next was her bedroom in the back. It had windows on two sides. I tried the first and it pulled right up. “She had them both open,” I said and went over to the other wall and opened the window. “It made a nice cross breeze over the bed.”
“I bet she thought she was safe with the screens.” Jenn pointed to the screens, which were popped out and set beside the house.
“Why didn’t the police see this?” I asked.
“We haven’t gotten that far is all,” Brent said as he came toward us. “Allie, you have to give us time. We couldn’t come out and check until we confirmed that Tori was missing.”
“So this is a missing persons case.”
“Yes,” he said. “Rex told us that you said Tori had a death threat.”
“That’s what Trent told me,” I said. “She had the locks changed.”
Jenn frowned. “Why would she have the locks changed and then sleep with the windows open? It doesn’t make sense.”
“You’re right,” I said. “I know I would sleep with the windows closed and locked—heat or no heat, if I was worried enough to change the locks.”
“This might be a decoy,” Brent said. “Someone may want us to think that Jenn was kidnapped through the window.”
“Why?” I asked.
“To cover up that she let them in through the front,” Rex said. “Allie, I told you to stay out of this.”
“I’m sorry, but you brought me into it when you came to see me. I called Tori’s parents. They are on their way.”
“I know,” Rex said. “Allie, I’m going to ask you to leave. This is police business and I don’t want to have to arrest you for impeding an investigation.”
“Fine.”
“Good.”
“Come on, Jenn,” I said and threaded my arm through hers. “Let’s go home.”
Jenn let me pull her away out of reach of the police. “You’re going to give up just like that?”
“Please,” I said. “You know me better than that.”
Jenn grinned. “So where to now?”
“Well,” I said, “Let’s backtrack. Rex said Tori was supposed to meet Irene Hammerstein and didn’t.”
“Okay.”
“I happen to know that Blake Gilmore has a mahjong group that meets on Monday nights. I happen to know they were meeting tonight instead of Monday to give Barbara a bit of a wake. We were invited but weren’t going because of the wedding. Maybe we should go now—someone in the group might know something.”
Jenn looked at her watch. It was seven PM. “I say we call Blake and see if we can’t meet with the group.”
I thought about the time. Frances and Douglas were supposed to be getting married right now. But the flowers were in cool storage in the basement of the McMurphy and everything was put on hold. My heart squeezed. If Tori went missing on purpose I just might have to hurt her myself.
“I’ll call.”
The phone call was well received. Irene had told the group that Tori was missing and they were eager to help in any way they could. Jenn and I showed up to find the ladies gathered around Blake’s kitchen table sipping margaritas. Their mood was somber. They were remembering things about Barbara. Mourning the loss of a friend was difficult. Right now, I didn’t want to think about mourning my cousin.
“Welcome, girls,” Blake said. “Can I get you a drink?”
“I’ll take a margarita,” Jenn said.
“Water is good for me,” I said. I wanted to keep a clear mind when it came to finding Victoria.
“Water and a margarita coming up,” Blake said.
We took our seats around the table. “I’m sorry your cousin is missing,” Irene said. “Do they suspect foul play?”
“I’m afraid so,” I said. “The power to her cabin was purposefully cut and her suitcase is still in the bedroom.”
“No one leaves without their suitcase,” Wanda Sikes said. “Still it seems strange that it would be connected to Barbara’s murder.”
“I know,” I said. “I think it may be connected but Rex is still on the fence.”
“Why do you think it’s connected?” Blake came out of the kitchen with my ice water and Jenn’s drink in her hands. She put them down in front of us.
“Because Trent told me that Tori received a death threat. He sent a locksmith out to change the locks on the cabin.”
“Oh, probably because everyone knew where the spare key was,” Blake said. “We all know now how easy it is to copy a key, but in her case they didn’t even need to copy it to get in.”
“I know Tori was investigating Barbara’s murder. Did she share her death threat with any of you?”
“She told me that someone tacked a note to her door,” Irene said. “The door was left open with the spare key in the lock and the note was scrawled on the door.”
“Creepy,” Jenn said.
“What exactly did the note say? Do you know?”
“Tori told me it said to stop investigating or she would be the next person to end up dead.”
“Yikes,” I said. “No wonder Trent had her locks changed.”
“Was she kidnapped?” Blake asked. “Because that would mean a change in the way the killer operated.”
“Her bedroom windows were left open and the screens on the ground,” I said. “Someone wanted it to look like a kidnapping, but no ransom demands have been made yet.”
“She had to have gotten too close to the killer,” Blake said. “Maybe she’s in hiding.”
“I certainly hope not,” I said. “Her parents and I have put our lives on hold for her.”
“What can you ladies tell us about what Victoria asked and perhaps what she found out?”
“Victoria was asking about Barbara’s affairs,” Irene said.
“What kind of affairs?” I asked.
“Her lovers,” Wanda said. “Barbara had several lovers.” She said the word with disgust in her tone.
“You didn’t like her having lovers?”
“Barbara slept with men for many
reasons,” Irene said. “One was to blackmail them. We knew what she was doing, but couldn’t prove she ever got anything more than presents from the men.”
“It was one of those secrets that everyone knew but no one could prove,” Blake said. “Barbara liked the attention.”
“If everyone knew that she had the propensity to blackmail her lovers, why would any of the men sleep with her?”
“Barbara had a magnetic personality,” Irene said. “Men couldn’t help themselves.”
“Are you implying that she could make them do things they didn’t want to do?”
“The men certainly believed it,” Wanda said. “It was not one of Barbara’s best traits.”
“Did she brag about her conquests?”
“Yes,” Wanda said. “She thought it was hilarious how easy it was to seduce anyone’s husband or lover.”
“No one was safe but the mahjong group,” Irene said. “Since we knew her secrets, she swore never to go after our husbands.”
“What would you do if she did?” I had to ask.
“She never did,” Wanda said. “She knew we would kick her out of the group and she would lose the only friends she had left on the island.”
“Barbara was a pathological liar,” Blake said. “But my husband is dead. Irene’s is deaf, and Wanda’s is too busy to fall for Barbara’s tricks.”
“Mine is too smart to fall for anything Barbara said,” Paula Abbot said.
“Can I ask why you remained friends if she was so bad?”
“Entertainment,” Irene said. “Our lives are rather boring. We behave in all the proper ways. But not Barbara. She was always ready to rebel. Breaking the social rules was her way of staying young, I guess.”
“So you kept her in the group for entertainment?”
“And to keep an eye on her,” Wanda said. “Trust me, the last thing you wanted was to make an enemy out of Barbara. If you think it was bad that she took lovers and then blackmailed them, you should see what she did when someone crossed her.”
I looked at Jenn and she looked at me. “She had dirt on each of you ladies, didn’t she?” It was a statement not a question.
There was a moment of silence as everyone avoided looking at each other.
“She had dirt on a lot of people,” Paula piped up. “It was a shock when she was killed, but not too much of a surprise.”
