Laurel looked at Dennis as though she couldn’t believe what he was saying, but Ken hadn’t reacted at all.
“You knew about this. Didn’t you, Ken?” Rick looked squarely at him, and Ken broke eye contact almost immediately.
“Dennis told me at the party.”
“Right about the time I walked in on your conversation if I’m correct. So Dennis, why did you lie to Deputy Cunningham and tell him you were working on inventory Friday night?”
Dennis started to protest, but Deputy Cunningham shook his head and held up a hand. “Before you say anything, you should know I’m aware you were supposed to be at a meeting in San Ladron. But you didn’t arrive at that meeting until it had ended.” The deputy paused and added, “Is it because you were at Thorne’s office having a final argument with him?”
“No!” Dennis shot back. “All right. I did go to Thorne’s house. But I was there before her.” He shot an angry glance at Laurel. “I sat in my car out on the street for almost an hour waiting for him to come home. She showed up at quarter-to-eight. That’s when I realized I was way late for my meeting.” He shuddered and pressed his fingertips to his temples. “I was driving too fast for the road conditions and slid off the road at the hairpin just this side of the summit. Scared the crap out of me, so I got the car back on the road and finished my trip. By the time I got there, everyone was gone.”
Marquetta entered the room carrying an empty tray. She stopped looked around, then started to back out the door. Deputy Cunningham motioned for her to come in, then focused on Dennis. “You don’t have to say anymore.”
“No, Adam, I want to get this out in the open. I’ve lived with the lies long enough. I’m an alcoholic. It’s the reason Marianne and I are having so many problems. We’re trying to work through it, but maybe what I need is to stop making excuses and look to my friends for support.”
“You have mine,” Ken said. “Whatever you need, buddy.”
“We’re all with you, Dennis,” Laurel added.
All the others were nodding, including Marquetta. “Looks like you can count on any of us.”
Dennis looked at Marquetta. “Would you mind talking to Marianne? She might take my ‘coming out’ better if it comes from a friend rather than me. She’s heard my excuses one too many times.”
“No problem,” Marquetta said.
“Ken, I think Thorne’s dinner with Giselle was what, at least indirectly, got him killed. When I talked to you earlier, you told me Reese Potok had dinner there Friday night.”
“She comes in most nights.”
“Did she eat alone?” Rick asked.
“As she usually does. The only time she has company is when she’s conducting business. And she was not conducting business that night. In fact, she was quite fascinated by Thorne’s little dinner meeting.”
“Did anyone know who his date was at the time?”
Ken shook his head. “No. She was just this mystery woman from New York. It wasn’t until later that we learned she was your wife.”
“Wait a minute.” Rick closed his eyes, raised his hand, then held Ken’s gaze. “Everyone knew the woman with Thorne was from New York?”
“Absolutely. One of the girls said something to her about her dress and that’s when she—your wife—said she was from there. It went through the place like wildfire.” Ken huffed and glared at Deputy Cunningham. “Enough of this crap about dresses and mystery women. Whatever happened to the list I gave you?”
“Don’t get so high-and-mighty, Ken. I’ve been through the list, and as a courtesy I’ll tell you it didn’t turn up any new suspects. But a few of those people told me you had quite the argument with Thorne on Friday night.”
Ken grimaced and averted his gaze. “Look, it didn’t seem relevant. It was just a little disagreement. That’s all.”
“This won’t work if you’re going to lie to me,” Deputy Cunningham stared squarely at Ken until the other man turned away. “Ken, you knew what he was trying to do at that point, didn’t you?”
“Okay, okay,” Ken huffed. “Thorne came in for dinner. After they were seated, he came into my kitchen. Strode right in like he owned the place. He started making threats. Said he was going to ruin me. I told him he was an idiot and chased him out of the kitchen. I’d say at least a dozen people saw that part of it. Anyway, after I threw him out of the kitchen he went back to his table and started acting like nothing had happened. I hated the man. He knew how to push your buttons in so many ways.”
“Even now, I can see how worked up you are,” Deputy Cunningham said. “One last question, Ken. Did Reese see this argument?”
“Did she see it?” Ken burst into laughter. “She had a front row seat for when I tossed him out of the kitchen. She couldn’t have missed it.”
CHAPTER 57
RICK
Deputy Cunningham made a shooing motion with his hand. “You three can go back to the party. Rick and I need to talk for a minute.”
While Ken, Laurel, and Dennis filed out of the kitchen, Marquetta filled her tray with hors d’oeuvres. “Is there anything I can do?”
“Yes,” Deputy Cunningham said. “Take a quick look around and see if Miss Potok is out there.”
“Will do.” Marquetta backed out the butler door, the tray of food in her hands. The sounds of laughter and loud voices rushed into the room like a roar of surf, but faded into a low rumble as the door closed.
Rick and Deputy Cunningham waited in silence until Marquetta returned. “I don’t see her.”
“We’ll check her room,” Rick said. “Keep an eye on Alex for me, would you?”
“Of course.”
When Rick and Deputy Cunningham walked through the room filled with guests, it was as though a blanket of silence followed them. At the top of the stairs, Rick turned and led the way to the Fore Sail room. He knocked, and Reese opened the door a moment later. The jeans and dark T-shirt she wore added to her somber expression.
“You’re not down at the open house,” Rick said.
“I wasn’t feeling very festive.”
Deputy Cunningham stepped forward. “Miss Potok, we have a few questions for you about Friday night.”
Reese’s face remained impassive as she looked back at the deputy. “Such as?”
“Did you visit the home of Thorne Waldorf on Friday evening?”
“No.”
“We have a witness who saw you there,” Rick said.
She gazed at Rick with pursed lips. “Are you making an accusation, Detective Innkeeper?”
Rick pulled out the photo showing Reese wearing the sixth sweater and showed it to her. “Perhaps we should be calling your code name. You were 1816, right?”
Reese took a long breath and gestured for the two men to come in. They stood to one side as she sat on the edge of the bed. “Just because I had a sweater doesn’t make me a killer.”
“So you admit the sweater was yours, Miss Potok?” Deputy Cunningham said.
She shrugged. “You’ll find DNA evidence on it. There’s no point in denying I wore it once. So, yes, it was mine.”
“Why did you put your sweater in Giselle’s rental car?” Rick asked.
Reese bit her lower lip and closed her eyes. “At the time I had no idea she was your wife—your ex, whatever you want to call her.”
Rick crossed his arms over his chest and widened his stance. “When you found out Thorne’s date was from New York, you thought he’d cut you out. Didn’t you?”
“It appears you have all the answers, Detective Innkeeper. Yes, Thorne and I were supposed to be a team, but he got greedy. He decided it would be more lucrative for him to work alone.”
“And you couldn’t let him do that after everything you’d done,” Rick said.
“I put my life on hold for this project. And I hired him to handle the legal side of things, not to go behind my back and make his own deal. He told Exploration International he could deliver the property they wanted. The next thing I knew, I’d be
en given an ultimatum to deliver or move on.”
“Seems pretty cold,” Rick said.
“It’s the way they work. They need Seaside Cove as a west coast hub. Thorne said he was on the verge of toppling the first domino. Once that one fell, it was only a matter of time before all the others went.”
“Were the sweaters your idea?”
“No. They were Thorne’s. He convinced me it would sow a great deal of mistrust.”
“So your plan was to isolate Dennis, Jordan, Ken, and Laurel? I get the other three, but why Jordan? His little law firm is nowhere near where you were trying to buy up land.”
“He was the voice of reason. The one everyone would turn to for guidance. Make it look like he’s on our side and…” She smiled and shrugged. “It almost worked.”
“So you thought Thorne double-crossed you and you killed him.”
Reese seemed to dismiss the accusation with a quick raising and lowering of her eyebrows. “Detective Innkeeper, you and your daughter do have very vivid imaginations.”
“I don’t think it will be difficult to prove you lashed out when you discovered Thorne was keeping secrets from you.”
Reese brushed away the comment with an exaggerated sigh. “Thorne had become increasingly secretive since we ordered those sweaters. He wasn’t telling me anything.”
“And you hated being left out. Didn’t you?”
“He sold out his hometown. How could I ever trust a man like that?”
“You’re the one who paid for his services,” Rick shot back.
“How observant,” she said cooly. “Is there anything else?”
“We know you had dinner at the Crooked Mast on Friday night,” Rick said. “We also know you overheard Thorne arguing with Ken Grayson. My guess is you suspected the mystery woman was from Exploration International’s office in New York and they were going to make a deal to cut you out. You followed them back to his house. Didn’t you?”
“I might have been by there once or twice.”
“Did you follow Giselle when she left?”
Reese dropped her gaze to the hardwood floor, and her forehead creased ever so slightly. When she answered, her words came out measured and cold. “She came here and started walking around the B&B.”
“Was that when you became convinced she was spying on you? What did you do, go back to Thorne’s and confront him?”
“I never said I actually spoke to him.” She gritted her teeth and glared at Rick.
“Really? You’re going to play that game? What did he do? Tell you what you saw was none of your business?”
“He wanted control! He was on this giant power trip and…” Reese stopped in mid-sentence, closed her eyes, then took a deep breath and smiled. “He thought everybody wanted to see him fail.”
“So the argument got out of hand and you hit him.”
“It was self-defense.”
“He was struck from behind.”
“That doesn’t mean I wasn’t in danger.”
“Why did you open the window and throw everything from the bookcase on the floor?”
She snickered. “The room needed a good airing out.”
“You wanted to contaminate the scene,” Rick countered.
Reese let out a heavy sigh. “Are we done?”
“And the bookcase?”
“I don’t recall.”
“My guess is that you threw everything on the floor to cover your tracks.”
“My, my, Detective Innkeeper, you do have your theories.” She turned her attention to Deputy Cunningham and asked, “So am I under arrest?”
“I’d like you to accompany me to the police station to make a statement. Would you like your attorney to be present?”
“My attorney is dead.”
“Now might be a good time to find a new one,” Rick said.
Reese stood, bent down, and whispered into Rick’s ear. “I knew you couldn’t let this go until you figured it out.”
CHAPTER 58
ALEX
Deputy Cunningham just left with Miss Potok and he had her in handcuffs! Daddy came downstairs a couple minutes later. He had that funny look he gets on his face when he doesn’t want to talk about something. But everybody in the room totally wants to know what happened.
Because me and Marquetta helped with the investigation, we ought to find out first, so I grab her hand and lead her across the room to where my dad is standing. I look up at him and ask, “So did Miss Potok confess?”
The room gets all quiet and everybody is standing around watching us. Daddy looks over his shoulder toward the front of the B&B, then at me and all the people standing behind me.
“I’m pretty sure Reese Potok will be going to trial for the murder of Thorne Waldorf. Whether there will be enough evidence to prove she’s guilty—I honestly don’t know. Now, let’s enjoy the open house.”
Everybody kinda mingles and is having a good time, but they’re all talking about Miss Potok. Now that my dad and Marquetta are both here, I have to get Mr. Van Horn to help me. Nobody’s noticed the mistletoe yet ‘cause it’s up so high. This is totally gonna work if we can just get them there.
Daddy and Marquetta are making this super hard ‘cause they’re on opposite sides of the room. How am I gonna get them to meet outside the butler door by accident? Of course. The food!
I cross the room to where Mr. Van Horn is and grab his hand to pull him away from Mr. Gray. He makes an excuse to Mr. Gray, but he follows me.
“We’re running out of time, Mr. Van Horn.”
“I know. How are we going to get them over there?”
“I’m gonna get Marquetta into the kitchen. After I do that, you get my dad over by the butler door.
His face lights up. “Good idea. I’m on it.”
Marquetta’s talking to Mrs. O’Donnell and Miss Harris. They’re laughing, so I hope I can pull this off. When I stand next to Marquetta and bump her with my shoulder, she puts her arm around me.
“What’s up, Sweetie?”
“Can we talk in the kitchen for a minute?”
“Sure. We were just going there anyway.”
“Aye. I’ve got a few more of those muffins I can put out,” Mrs. O’Donnell says.
“I’ll bring the tray for you,” Miss Harris says.
I’m totally freaking out. What am I gonna say in the kitchen? How long should I keep Marquetta there? I should’ve planned this better with Mr. Van Horn.
When we get in the kitchen, Mrs. O’Donnell goes to the big box of muffins she brought and pulls off the plastic wrap. Miss Harris comes in with the empty tray and puts it next to the box. While they’re getting the last of the muffins moved from the box onto the tray, Marquetta looks at me.
“You said you wanted to talk, Sweetie.”
“I…um…”
“I am so glad this whole thing with Thorne is over,” Miss Harris says.
Mrs. O’Donnell stops what she’s doing and looks at her. “We all are, dear. This has been a stressful week for us all.”
I step closer to Marquetta and wrap my arms around her. “I just wanted to say thanks for helping me with the investigation.”
She hugs me back and when she steps away, she’s looking at me like she’s suspicious.
Miss Harris says, “You two are so adorable together.”
Mrs. O’Donnell clucks her tongue a couple times and smiles at us. “I agree. And Marquetta, you are positively glowing.”
When I look up at Marquetta her face is all red. Then the voices from the other room get kinda loud. The butler door just opened a crack. That must be Mr. Van Horn’s signal.
I grab Marquetta’s hand and drag her toward the door. “Come with me!”
December 24
Hey Journal,
My plan worked! Marquetta followed me and when we got to the door I made her go first. She was so busy looking at me that she bumped right into Daddy. Mr. Van Horn tapped them both on the shoulder and pointed up to the ceiling.
They both got all red in the face, and it looked like they weren’t gonna do it, but then everyone started chanting, “Kiss, kiss.”
Daddy put his arms around Marquetta and when their lips met, she just kinda melted into him. I know that sounds sappy, but I’m never gonna forget that moment. It was awesome! My eyes got all watery and everybody clapped.
Mrs. O’Donnell hugged them both and said she was beginning to wonder if it was ever going to happen. This is like the best Christmas present ever! Marquetta will be here tomorrow for Christmas and we’re gonna have an awesome day!
xoxo
Alex
CHAPTER 59
ALEX
December 28
Hey Journal,
Today was the day we cleaned out Miss Potok’s room and made it available for rent. Daddy decided to do that after Deputy Cunningham charged her with the murder of Mr. Waldorf. I also heard Miss Potok said she never confessed to killing Mr. Waldorf. She got some fancy lawyer from San Ladron and is gonna plead “not guilty.” There’s gonna be a big trial. But the good news is all the publicity made Exploration International drop their plans to take over Seaside Cove. That’s awesome because I got a bicycle for Christmas and Daddy says pretty soon he’ll let me ride all on my own! Without that company trying to tear out our downtown, I’ll have lots of places to go!
You know what’s weird, Journal? Now that my mom’s gone, I kinda wish I’d gotten to know her better. When I told Daddy, he said I’d be able to talk to her anytime I wanted.
I guess he’s right. I have her phone number. But Daddy’s not always the best when it comes to girl problems, so I asked Marquetta if she thought I should text my mom. She said whatever decision I made was gonna be the right one. Maybe I’ll talk to both Daddy and Marquetta at the same time. I mean, if we’re gonna be a family, that’s what we should do. Right?
Daddy just knocked, so it’s time for lights out. And you know what, Journal? Next Saturday is New Years Eve and I’ve already made sure Marquetta will be here. I can’t wait for midnight!
xoxo
Alex
The Killer Christmas Sweater Club Page 23
