by Cindy Bell
“Fine, I'll call him myself,” Mitchell said.
“I'll do it,” Vaughn spat back.
While Mitchell was arguing with Vaughn, Vicky had walked over to Sarah.
“This is getting out of hand,” she said.
“Yes, it is,” Sarah replied. “I think we need to cancel the contest for now. It's clear that the contestants are either being targeted, or something else sinister is going on here. I can't in good conscience allow this to go on.”
“You're right,” Vicky said in an attempt to be supportive. “I know that Lauren and Baron will be disappointed, but it's our only choice.”
“I'll let Ray know,” Sarah sighed. “I guess when I said that I hoped that nothing went wrong this weekend, I should have been more specific.”
They both watched as Sheriff McDonnell arrived and walked over to Mitchell, Vaughn, and Lauren. Whatever he said must have annoyed Mitchell, because Vicky watched his shoulders tense up beneath his button down shirt. Mitchell shook his head and didn't even attempt to be respectful as he turned and stalked over towards Vicky.
“I'm out of here,” Sarah said quickly when she saw Mitchell's angry walk. “I have no interest in getting between a sheriff and his detective.”
Vicky gave her a look as if to say, don't leave me here, but Sarah was already gone. Mitchell paused in front of Vicky and shoved his hands deep into his pockets. His cheeks were red with irritation. Vicky cringed at the sharpness of his narrowed eyes.
“Want to walk with me, I am going to talk to the restaurant staff?” Mitchell offered as he looked over at Vicky.
“Sure,” Vicky nodded. She wanted to spend time with him, but she was very worried about Margaret.
“Apparently, Lauren claims she was in the restaurant after she saw Margaret by the pool,” he said sternly. “So, I am going to verify that that is the case and see if anyone else saw Margaret by pool. Can you get the restaurant staff together for me please?”
Vicky organized it so that Mitchell could interview each of them separately.
Mitchell's expression was grim as he walked back out of the restaurant.
“Well,” he sighed. “The waitress confirmed Lauren's presence in the restaurant, but no one else saw Margaret by the pool.”
“Maybe she was there but they just didn’t see her,” Vicky said.
“Maybe,” Mitchell frowned. “But it would help verify her story. We need to get to the bottom of this. We have at least one but possibly two victims.”
Mitchell's words hit Vicky hard. She knew that he was right. There was no solid suspect.
“Mitchell, the murder weapon. What did it look like?” she asked.
“What do you mean?” he frowned. “You saw it. It was a pitchfork.”
“But did it look like it had been used for a while, or did it look brand new?” she looked at him intently.
“It was pretty beat up,” Mitchell said and his frown deepened. “But why does that matter?”
“It matters because Aunt Ida and Rex saw Lauren Thomson buying a brand new pitchfork this morning at the hardware store in town. So, if it isn't the murder weapon, did she buy it to replace the murder weapon, but she didn't get a chance to?”
“That's a stretch,” Mitchell winced. “But it's worth looking into.”
They walked through the door that led out by the pool. The garden shed was still roped off as a crime scene. Mitchell lifted the yellow tape so that Vicky could duck under. When she opened the door to the shed she was shocked. It looked as if a bomb had gone off in it. There were pots and gardening tools strewn everywhere.
“What's all this?” she asked with disbelief.
“Oh, the officers did a search in here,” Mitchell said guiltily. “I guess they were a little messy.”
“A little?” Vicky asked as she looked at him with a mixture of annoyance and shock.
“Here, I'll help you straighten up a little,” Mitchell offered and began collecting pots off the floor. Vicky sorted through some of the mess as well, but she was looking for pitchforks. She found three of the old beat up pitchforks that they used to tend the gardens but no new ones.
“Looks like I was wrong,” Vicky sighed.
“We can’t be right all the time,” Mitchell said with a sigh. “Even though you usually are.”
“I still think that Vaughn is hiding something,” Vicky said.
“I wouldn’t put it past him,” Mitchell nodded. “Maybe he is trying to cover up for Lauren.”
“Maybe,” Vicky replied. “Or maybe Lauren tried to help him clean up his own mess and that’s why she bought a new pitchfork.”
“Any of that is possible,” Mitchell agreed. “I still don't understand how Margaret is involved in all of this.”
“I'm not sure,” Vicky admitted. “But we need to keep a close eye on the Thomsons.”
“That won't be a problem,” Mitchell assured her. “In fact, I'm going to go take a deeper look into Vaughn and Lauren's background.”
“Hopefully it turns up something,” Vicky said with a sigh as she looked over the rest of the destroyed shed.
“Don't worry, I'll be back to help you with this,” Mitchell said. He stole a light kiss before leaving the shed. Vicky stood there a moment longer, then she heard someone's phone ringing outside of the shed. She froze at the sound of it. She heard Vaughn's voice as he answered it.
“I know, I know, but I'm swamped here right now,” he said. His voice was slightly muffled because Vicky was in the shed. Just as it had been when he was talking on the phone in his room earlier. “Don't worry, I'll be back in the office by tomorrow. Everything is fine.”
After he stopped talking, Vicky's heart began pounding. She knew he was still standing right outside. Did he know that she was in there listening? She waited until she heard his footsteps walking away from the shed. Nervously she poked her head out of the shed. She couldn't see anyone on the path in front of the shed. She stepped outside slowly. As soon as she was sure she was alone, she took a deep breath to clear her mind. She remembered hearing Vaughn speak on the phone to someone. She remembered him asking that person to meet him by the pool. The last place that Margaret had been seen was by the pool.
Vicky's eyes widened. She ran across the courtyard to the side entrance of the lobby. She burst through the door and ran to the front desk where Sarah was standing.
“Vicky, are you okay?” she asked as she looked up with surprise.
“Can you pull up the call log?” Vicky asked breathlessly. “I need any calls going out from the Thomsons’ room.”
“Okay,” Sarah nodded. She could tell that Vicky was in no mood to explain.
“I have one from a few hours ago,” Sarah said.
“Can you tell who it went to?” Vicky asked.
“It wasn't one of the rooms in the inn,” Sarah said. “But I can give you the phone number.”
Vicky pulled out her cell phone. She dialed the number that Sarah read off to her. At first all it did was ring. Then suddenly she heard a voice.
“Hi, you've reached Margaret, I must be in my garden, so please leave a message,” the recording said cheerfully.
Vicky felt sick to her stomach as it confirmed that it was Margaret who Vaughn had called. Margaret had been waiting for Vaughn by the pool. She hung up her phone and dialed Mitchell's number. He had not left that long ago and she hoped that he would be able to get back quickly. Mitchell didn't answer, so Vicky left him a message.
“Mitchell, I know for a fact that Margaret was waiting by the pool for Vaughn,” she spoke quickly into the phone as she slipped out of the lobby and back into the gardens. “I think he might have done something to her or maybe Lauren saw them together and lost her temper and did something. Meet me at the inn as soon as you can,” she hung up the phone. Her hands were slippery with sweat from the anxiety she felt. She tucked her phone into her pocket, and then turned quickly when she heard a noise behind the garden shed. A moment later a squirrel darted across the grass. Vicky
sighed with relief.
Vicky scrutinized the garden area, searching for anything that might be more evidence to use against Vaughn. She knew that the police were doing a good job, but she knew the Heavenly Highland Inn better than they did. She wondered if they had missed something, a clue, or a sign of where Margaret might have been taken. The gardens were quiet, and empty. Everyone else had returned to their rooms to pack or had gone to the restaurant for a final meal.
Vicky was sure that there had to be something to find. She needed something to connect the murder to a suspect. If they had the suspect they might be able to find Margaret. She wanted all of this to be over. She paused at the garden in front of the garden shed, where she knew the first murder had taken place. She could only assume that the murderer had spent some time here, waiting for his opportunity. She bent over in front of the blossoms that were low to the ground. She was determined to find something that could make a solid unquestionable connection.
As she started to stand back up Vicky felt something strange. It was almost as if tiny nails were digging into her back. She started to turn to see what it was, but when she felt the prongs poking through her shirt and into her skin she suddenly knew exactly what it was. Her breath caught in her throat as she froze where she stood.
Chapter Eight
“Walk back towards the shed,” a voice from behind Vicky commanded. Vicky recognized it right away. The prongs of the pitchfork poked harder into her back. She reluctantly took a step forward. Her heart was racing. She was suddenly certain that if she went behind that shed she would never come out again.
“No,” she said shakily. “I'm not going back there.”
“Fine, then I'll make you,” the person behind her said. Her arms were grabbed hard behind her. Vicky twisted in an attempt to get away. Instead she was dragged back behind the shed. Roxanne had been killed behind that shed. Would that be her fate, too? She tried to think of a way to escape, but her mind kept flashing back to Roxanne's body laying there with a pitchfork sticking out of it. She didn't want to die that way. When the person finally released her again, she reached for her cell phone which should have been tucked into her pocket. But there was nothing there.
“You're not going to get away with this,” she said softly, even though she knew differently.
“I will get away with anything I please,” the voice replied. Vicky rounded the corner behind the shed, and felt her muscles tense.
“Just let me go, this doesn't have to happen,” she pleaded softly.
“You're right, it didn't have to happen. If you had just stayed out of it, it probably wouldn't have happened. But you had to be nosy, so here we are,” the growl of the voice was menacing. Vicky had no doubt that she was in grave danger.
“How can you do this?” she asked incredulously. “You're supposed to protect people.”
“I do,” the person replied sharply. “I protect the people who deserve protecting.”
“Vaughn,” she exhaled his name with disgust. Vaughn Thomson had murdered Roxanne. “Where's Margaret?” she asked shakily.
“She's right there,” Vaughn replied coldly and tilted his head towards the bushes behind the shed. She had to clamp her hand over her mouth to keep from screaming. The woman's body was well hidden by the brush, but now that she knew where it was, she couldn't look away.
“Shh,” Vaughn warned her. “If you scream, I will make sure that your sister Sarah, and your Aunt Ida are next.”
Vicky looked up at him with fear in her eyes. There was no question in her mind that he would follow through with his threat. With all of his influence he might never get caught. She was sick to her stomach as she realized there was no way out of this.
“It's nothing personal,” he explained when her eyes became moist with tears. “It's just that my career is very important. I'm going to help a lot of people, and I'm going to make a difference in the community.”
Vicky was stunned as she realized he really meant what he was saying. He still considered himself a good person, despite the two, soon to be three, people that he had murdered.
“Just let me go, Vaughn,” Vicky said swiftly. “You know that no one will believe anything I say. You are who you are, and no one is going to consider you a suspect.”
“You're right about that,” Vaughn nodded. “But I can't take the risk. I couldn't take the risk when Roxanne caught Margaret and me together in a compromising position. Lauren is already suspicious, and she would be livid if she found out about the affair I was having with Margaret. A scandal like that could have ended my career before it had the chance to begin.”
“Roxanne caught you with Margaret?” Vicky whispered, knowing the woman's body was not far away. That must have been who he shared the glass of wine with. It confirmed that he was on the phone to Margaret when Vicky hid under the bed. So, Vaughn had killed Roxanne to keep her quiet about what she had seen, but that didn't explain Margaret. If Vaughn was having an affair with her, why had he killed her?
“Sure, she's a fine woman. She doesn't complain all the time like Lauren does. She didn't mind being discreet. I'm really going to miss her,” he sighed and then shook his head. “Too bad, if Roxanne hadn't broken into our room, none of this would have had to happen.”
“I don't understand,” Vicky gulped out. “Why didn't you just threaten Roxanne?”
“Roxanne isn't the type to keep her mouth shut,” Vaughn explained with annoyance. “I would always have to be blackmailing her or threatening her to keep her quiet. It was really just too much work. So, I grabbed a pitchfork and ended it there and then. I hid the body behind the shed. Once she was dead I was going to replace the pitchfork I had used. But Margaret interrupted me with incessant phone calls. Then she found me walking out from behind the shed. She must have spotted some blood on my clothes,” he cringed. “I tried to get her to forget about it, tried to convince her that it was all in her head. But she wouldn't listen, especially after the body was found,” he shook his head slowly. “Then she kept saying how it was wrong for me to have killed Roxanne, that she was an innocent woman, blah blah blah,” he closed his eyes for just a moment.
“So, you killed her?” Vicky asked in disbelief.
“She was certain that I had killed Roxanne, she was going to go to the police,” he frowned. “I couldn't let that happen, now could I?” he asked. “Not after how hard I've worked, how much I've sacrificed.”
“Was Lauren involved?” Vicky questioned. “Why did she buy a new pitchfork?”
“I used hers for the murder but she thought she had lost it. She didn’t even suspect I had used it,” he explained smugly. “She hates sharing so she went to buy a new one. The same one that I am going to use to kill you.”
“You are a cruel man,” Vicky declared. If she was going to die, she was going to give him a piece of her mind first. “You're terrible to your wife, you murdered two people for no good reason, and you act like taking someone's life is nowhere near as important as your career. You're the criminal that should be locked away, not the one who should be prosecuting criminals.”
“Watch your mouth,” Vaughn warned and pushed the pitchfork harder against her. “I can make this quick or slow.”
There were footsteps and voices in the distance. Vicky took a deep breath as Vaughn glared at her. She knew that if she cried out, the prongs of the pitchfork would be pushed into her. Vaughn had nothing to lose. He already had two murders to answer for. One more wouldn't change his future.
As Vicky held her breath, she realized that these weren't just any voices, they were familiar voices. It sounded like they were on the path just beyond the gardens.
“Ida, all I'm saying is that we don't have to be marathon runners in order for us to be healthy,” Rex said stubbornly.
“But we could be,” Ida pointed out. “So, why shouldn't we be?”
“Why?” Rex shot back. “Maybe because I miss my knees not feeling like they're going to crumble. Maybe because my poor motorbike is going to get r
usty from the amount of time it's spending in the garage. I don't want to spend all of my time straining my body and sweating in the hot sun.”
“You don't complain about that when…” Ida began to say.
“Ida,” Rex said sharply. “You know that's not the same thing. Look Ida, I think you're amazing. You're stunning. You're perfect, just the way you are. I know you think that you have something to prove, but I don't. I can admit my body doesn't twist and bend like it used to, but it is still just as strong, and that's all that matters to me.”
“Now you sound like Vicky,” Ida sighed. “Sometimes I think that girl is wise beyond her years.”
Vicky felt tears building in her eyes as she heard her aunt speak of her for what she assumed would be the last time.
“She loves you,” Rex said firmly. “Like I do. No one is going to judge you if you can't do a triple back flip.”
“But I can!” Ida said quickly. “Want to see?”
“Ida, don't, there's something on the ground…” Rex said. Vicky heard a soft thump. She imagined it was Ida landing on her rear end in the garden. The two were silent for a long moment.
“Are you okay?” Rex asked with concern. “You're not bruised are you?”
“Only my ego,” she replied with a short laugh.
“Ida, I don't mind going for a bike ride, or a run, now and then. I'd just like to have time to go for a motorcycle ride, and the energy to enjoy a good stroll through the park. Can you understand that?” he asked.
“I suppose so,” Ida sighed. “These are the things you have to deal with, when you're dating an old man.”
“Hey, watch it,” Rex replied with a playful growl. “I can still chase you, you know.”
“I'd like to see you try,” Ida teased in return.
Vicky stared into Vaughn's eyes. She could see that he was growing impatient with Ida and Rex lingering in the garden. She hoped that they would stay longer. Suddenly she heard the footsteps stop.
