by Jessica Beck
“Certainly. It was regarding her ex-husband, a flea of a man who wouldn’t go away. I understand that you already know that my brother paid him off. I wanted to make sure that he didn’t come back later for more, and I needed Sarah’s cooperation to do that.” Charlotte reached for a nearby telephone, dialed a number, and then after barely three seconds of waiting, she said, “Mr. Barlow, I’d appreciate it if you’d tell the woman I’m about to turn you over to exactly when and where we were when my brother was murdered.” There was a slight pause, and then I saw Charlotte’s lips tighten. “I’m sorry. Were you under the impression that was a request? Very good.” She handed me the phone with a slight smile. “I had to remind him who keeps his law firm afloat.”
After getting confirmation from the attorney, I handed the telephone back to her.
“Is that satisfactory?” she asked.
“More than you can imagine,” I said. “You don’t happen to know for sure where Tristan or Crane were, do you?”
“I haven’t any idea,” she said. “Is it important?”
“It might be,” Moose said just as his cellphone rang. “Excuse me,” he added as he stepped away from us. “I really need to take this.”
As he moved away to have a whispered conversation with whoever was calling him, I said, “We appreciate your cooperation.”
“I only hope that it helps.”
“It already has,” I said.
Moose came back, clearly agitated. “Victoria, could I speak with you for a second outside, please?”
“Of course,” I said as I turned back to Charlotte. “We won’t be long.”
She didn’t reply, so I followed Moose down the hallway and out the front door. “What’s so important all of a sudden?” I asked him.
“That was Sheriff Croft on the line,” he said.
“What did he want? Did he find Crane?”
“No, I asked him about it, but this doesn’t concern Curtis.”
“Then what was it about?”
“He found out what happened to the mayor,” Moose said.
“Was it really some kind of assassination attempt?” I asked.
“It turned out to be nothing as sinister as all of that. Jack Higgins was mowing his lawn across the street and his riding mower kicked up a piece of gravel and flung it through the mayor’s picture window. By the time that rock finally got to him, it wasn’t traveling fast enough to do much more than nick his arm a little. The sheriff said that a Band-Aid and some antiseptic fixed him right up.”
“It’s nice when it doesn’t turn out to be attempted murder, isn’t it?” I asked.
“You’ve got that right,” Moose said.
“Should we go back inside and get back to work?” I asked my grandfather. “Is there anything else that Charlotte can do to help us?”
“I don’t think so. To be honest with you, that place is starting to feel like a gilded cage to me,” my grandfather said, the irritation obvious in his voice. “Victoria, do you feel like taking a walk? There’s supposed to be a great path around the property that runs through the woods. It might clear our heads and allow us to clarify our thoughts.”
“That sounds great to me,” I said. “I’m getting a little cabin fever myself.”
“Then let’s do it. It starts right over there.”
As I started on the path, I told my grandfather, “Whoever snuck into my room to retrieve what we found had to be someone who might be implicated by the contents.”
“I think you’re right, but what did we have that was so valuable? Sarah already explained the check, and besides, she has an alibi. Tristan didn’t get any money from his uncle even though he asked, so that could be a motive. Then there was the check written to Crane, but we don’t even know where he is right now.”
“We can’t forget that Jeffrey had a reason to want to see what was in that box, too.”
“And he even tried to get us to turn it over to him at least twice last night,” I reminded him.
“Okay then, we’ve got it narrowed down to three suspects with different clues for each of them and no solid alibis that we can prove or disprove for any of them. We’re a pair of bang-up detectives, Victoria.”
“It doesn’t help that we’re running out of time, too,” I said. “We’ve got until the memorial service in the morning before all of our suspects scatter in the wind. If we think it’s hard now, imagine how difficult it’s going to be once they’re all gone.”
“Let’s face it,” Moose said. “We’re in a real bind here.”
“Then maybe it’s time to push them all even harder,” I said. “What’s the worst that can happen?”
“The murderer gets tired of messing with us and decides to eliminate us both,” Moose said.
“Sure, that’s one possibility,” I said. “Then again, more pressure might just lead to the truth about what happened finally coming out.” I tripped on something, and saw that it was a metal rod drove into the ground identifying a nearby plant. As I picked it up, I asked my grandfather, “What does this look like to you?”
“It’s just a botanical stake,” he said without hesitation.
“Think about it in more recent terms,” I said.
“It could be a duplicate of the murder weapon, couldn’t it?” he asked as he took it from me. “Right here on the grounds.”
“We need to show this to the sheriff,” I said.
“I’m guessing that every last one of our suspects had access to one just like it,” Moose said.
“This is getting darker and darker,” I said. “Moose, if you want to, we can pack up and go home right now, or we can do our best to finish what Curtis asked us to do. I for one vote that we stick it out, no matter what, but if you want to throw in the towel, I’m with you.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” my grandfather said. “We’ll see this out to the very end, no matter what.”
I was about to hug him when I noticed some movement on the path behind us.
Someone was watching us!
I pulled close to my grandfather and whispered in his ear, “Moose, somebody’s behind us.”
“Turn around very slowly when I release you,” Moose said. “I’m going to see if I can catch whoever’s back there.”
I wasn’t about to let my grandfather charge off into the woods without me. “We both go at the same time. Ready, set, go!” I said as I let him go and started running.
We never even got close.
By the time we broke free of the tree-lined path, whoever had been eavesdropping on us was long gone.
But how much had they heard or seen?
Chapter 23
It would have helped us a great deal with our case if we could have found one of our suspects panting and out of breath once we were back in the house, but we weren’t about to be so lucky. By the time we saw them all gathered again, everyone was seated around the dining room table for the last meal of the day. Whether by design or accident, we were again following the house rules of eating together.
“Won’t Renee be joining us?” Moose asked Jeffrey as the first course was about to be served.
“She had a date,” Jeffrey said, more than a little glum because of the news. “She explained that she had planned it weeks ago, and she hated to stand the man up. She’ll be back first thing in the morning, though.”
“Surely you’re not going to work on the day of Curtis’s memorial,” Charlotte said, the disapproval thick in her voice.
“I don’t have much choice,” Jeffrey said. “The official reading of the will has to occur tomorrow at noon. It was my boss’s last request, and I plan on following it to the letter.” There was nothing said about who the new beneficiary was, and I couldn’t blame Jeffrey for trying to get one more night of peace before the Trane clan found out that they’d all been snubbed by Curtis.
“I can’t imagine why Uncle Curtis insisted on that,” Sarah said. “Tristan, do we really have to do it that way?”
The artist just laug
hed at his sister’s question, and I could see his fingernails were still spattered with paint as he clutched his glass. I had a strong feeling that there was something a great deal more potent in there than the water the rest of us were drinking. “What makes you think my opinion counts for anything around here?”
“That’s no way to behave, young man,” Charlotte said.
“Maybe not, but I for one am truly sorry that he’s gone. Can any of the rest of you say that?”
Of course there was a chorus of protests, no one louder than Jeffrey.
“You’re out of line, Tristan,” he said.
“No doubt you’re right,” he said, though he didn’t seem all that regretful to me. Tristan stood, and I could swear that he had to balance himself a little as he did to keep from falling down. “I’ve lost my appetite all of a sudden. Give Cassidy my apologies. I’m going to bed.”
“Tris, that’s no way to act,” Sarah said as he tried to grab her brother’s arm.
“Let him go, Sarah,” Charlotte said.
He nodded, and then paused at the door as he saluted us. “Good night, all.”
No one but Sarah wished him good night back.
“He’s hurting inside; can’t you all see that?” Sarah asked as she stood.
“It looked to me as though he was trying to kill the pain with alcohol,” Jeffrey said.
“I will not tolerate that at my table,” Charlotte snapped out. “I did as you asked today and told Moose and Victoria everything I could, but there are limits.”
“Charlotte, you and the other Tranes, including Curtis, it pains me to say, have coddled those two for far too long.”
She shot him a look that would have withered someone with less reason to be immune than Jeffrey was, stood, and went after her last living relatives.
Jeffrey frowned, and then he threw his napkin down on the table. “She’s right. I’ve got to get this chip off my shoulder. After all, there’s no reason for me to have one now. I’m sorry, you two, but I’ve suddenly lost my appetite as well. I’m going to have Humphries bring me a tray to my room.” As he stood, a flash of lightning lit up the room, followed too closely by a crack of thunder. “It looks as though we’re in for another stormy night. Make sure you know where your candles and matches are.”
After he was gone, it was just Moose and me.
That’s when Margo wheeled out a cart laden with food. She looked surprised to see only the two of us.
“Don’t be shy,” Moose said. “Nobody else might be hungry, but I’m starving.”
I didn’t even try to hide my smile.
“And you?” she asked me.
“I’m eating as well. There’s no sense in this lovely meal going to waste.”
Moose and I had the loveliest poached salmon, steamed broccoli, squash, and peas, and finished up with small lemon tarts. “They don’t know what they missed,” Moose said with a satisfied smile.
“I’m sure they’re all eating in their rooms. I saw Margo make several trips upstairs with trays.”
“Then they missed some good company,” Moose said.
“No doubt,” I said.
“Right now, I feel like a—” He was interrupted by his cellphone. I couldn’t wait to get my own back.
“Hey, Sheriff,” Moose said. “What’s up?”
His grin died suddenly. “Really? You’re sure? Okay, thanks for calling.”
After he hung up, my grandfather looked at me and frowned. “That was odd.”
“What did he have to say?”
“The authorities just stopped Crane at the airport in Nashville a few minutes ago. The man had cleaned out all of his bank accounts, and he had a one-way ticket to Belize in his bag. The sheriff says that it’s just a matter of time before he cracks and confesses to the murder. They’re going to start the extradition process tonight.”
“Crane? Really?” I asked.
“That’s what the man just said.”
“It doesn’t make sense,” I said as I pushed my dessert plate away. “How did he get to Nashville?”
“The sheriff said that he drove,” Moose said.
“I don’t believe it,” I said. “Logistically, it just doesn’t make sense. Moose, Nashville is a good six hours from here. Whoever was spying on us was around here three hours ago.”
“That’s true, but are we certain that whoever followed us is really the killer? Could it have just been something more random than that?”
“Why else would anyone follow us, Moose? Crane might have done some bad things, but I don’t think that he killed his boss. Curtis just paid him off, remember? Why would he kill him?”
Moose looked around. “It’s a little too public here for a discussion, don’t you think?” he asked as Margo walked in and started clearing dishes away. “What say we adjourn to your room?”
“I’m not staying there, not in a thunderstorm,” I said. I’d walk home before I’d go through that again.
“You don’t have to,” he said soothingly. “I promised Greg that I’d take care of you, and I meant it.”
“I promised Martha the same thing,” I said with a grin of my own as we climbed the steps.
“Why don’t the people we love trust us not to get into trouble?” my grandfather asked.
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe because of past experience?” I asked with a smile.
My grandfather laughed, and then he held my door open for me. “Why don’t we talk about it while you pack?” he asked. “Working on the assumption that the business manager didn’t do it, what do we have to lose by pursuing the case on this end in the meantime? If we’re wrong about Crane, all that it means is that we ruffle a few more feathers while we’re here.”
“I’m not worried about that,” I said. “Are you game?”
“You know I am,” Moose said. “So, who does that leave on our list of suspects?”
“Just Tristan and Jeffrey now, as far as I’m concerned,” I said.
“Can you really see either one of them doing it, Victoria? Jeffrey doesn’t seem like a killer to me, and I’m not sure that Tristan had the guts to kill Curtis, let alone do it in front of everybody at the diner.”
“I don’t like either suspect myself,” I said, “but we really don’t have any choice.”
“You might be right, but I don’t have to like it. I hate to say it because I like the man, but Jeffrey is by far the strongest suspect, in my opinion.”
There was another crash of lightning, and the afterimage was burned into my retinas. The explosion of thunder afterward was deafening. I waited for the lights to go out, but they flickered for a few moments, and then they came back on.
I quickly threw my things together as I said, “I like Tristan for it myself. There’s something that I’m missing, but it’s just barely out of reach. I’ll get it. Just give me a little time.”
“I know you will,” Moose said. “Is your bag ready?”
“It is,” I said, and we left my room and headed for his bedroom next door. I knew that technically I wasn’t any safer there than I had been in my room, but I certainly felt better.
“Now, why don’t you get settled in, and we’ll figure out how to trap the real killer,” Moose said. “While you’re doing that, I’m going to brush my teeth.”
I nodded as I unzipped my bag. That’s when I realized that I’d left my cellphone and charger back in my room. “I’ll be back in a flash. I forgot my phone.”
“Want me to go with you?” he asked as he held his toothbrush six inches from his mouth.
“Don’t be silly. I’ll be fine.”
“Okay, but when you get back, be prepared to be brilliant.”
“I will if you will,” I said with a grin.
I left my grandfather in his room and hurried next door. The cellphone was just where I’d left it, and I had a full charge, though I didn’t have any signal. The storm must have been doing it. As I grabbed everything, another bolt of lightning flashed, and the rumbling was even deeper. T
he lights held again.
But the real killer had taken advantage of me being distracted, and was now standing between me and the doorway.
It appeared that I had just used up my last bit of luck.
Chapter 24
“What gave me away, Victoria?” Tristan asked as he pointed a gun at me. From the way he spoke, I realized that he’d never been drunk at all. He’d had to get away from that dinner table in order to ambush me back in my room. The oddly amusing part of that was that at that point, I hadn’t even realized that he was the one who’d done it.
“The turpentine,” I said. “I smelled it in the passageway, and then again in your studio.” I knew that if I stalled long enough, Moose would barge in. Which way would he come, though? I might be able to turn Tristan toward the door or the secret entrance, but I couldn’t make him face away from both of them at the same time. I had to be ready based on the slightest clue, or my grandfather would be walking straight into a trap.
“You realized that?” he asked. “How very clever of you. I don’t understand, though. Surely there couldn’t have been that much turpentine on my hands. How did you smell it? I’ve used it so long myself that I’ve grown inured to the odor.”
“Did you use it to clean the hinges on the passageway door?” I asked. It had taken me until the moment before Tristan broke in to realize that the smell from the passageway was also the smell from his studio.
He shook his head and smiled. “I didn’t even think about that connection. Very good. Surely that wasn’t the only thing that gave me away though, was it? That nearly made it the perfect crime.”
“What will the police find if they search your room?” I asked. “Will they discover the outfit you wore when you killed your uncle in my diner?”
He looked at me smugly. “That’s all been taken care of.”
“How about your shoes?” I asked, and I saw that I’d scored a direct hit again.
“I never thought about that, either,” he admitted glumly.
