by CeeCee James
There he was. Scott Daniels. She zoomed in on the picture. It might just be a crappy black-and-white photo, but that was him. The coal-black hair. She knew it.
She took a sip of cocoa. There had to be other pictures. She tried Google, but the name only brought up the news article. It was a dead end.
“Who is this kid, Max?” She stroked the cat’s head, and he contentedly purred. There was something about the article. Something that was really bugging her. She almost had it….
“What are you doing up?” Lucy yawned almost in her ear.
Elise screamed, causing Max to leap from her lap, fur flying.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I heard some rattling around in here.” Lucy looked horrified until the hilarity of Elise’s reaction struck her. She started laughing so hard she had to grab the counter for balance.
Max looked haughtily out from under the kitchen table. He turned his back to them and began licking his fur.
“Whatever, Chuckles. Did you have fun tonight?”
“Yeah,” Lucy poured a glass of water and turned to bring it back to her room. “Well, I’m going to be going now. It was nice scaring you.”
“Whatever. Goodnight, you little turkey.”
Elise listened for Lucy’s door to close and then started her search again. Just go back to the beginning. She brought up the article and read it, this time out loud, hoping the clue would jump out at her. “Second-generation Thunderbolt champion hockey player, Scott Daniels shot the winning goal as the team’s forward.”
Wait, was that it? Could it be? After typing a few minutes, she ended up at the school’s archives. She searched year by year through the hockey pictures. Nothing came up. She rubbed her eyes.
Hang on a second, didn’t it say ‘champions?’
She went back to Google and searched for the Thunderbolt Championships. It brought up the first link that she had clicked on. This time she scrolled further down the list.
The school had won the state championship three more times. The first, five years earlier. The second twelve years earlier, and the third, sixteen years earlier.
She was surprised there weren’t any older ones. But, with her heart pounding, she clicked on the last one.
Quickly, she scanned through the names. She was in near shock at the end of the list. Disappointment hit her like an avalanche of mud. She’d been so sure!
There was no one on the team with the last name of Daniels. That put that theory to dust.
She was just about to close the computer and call it a night when another thought hit. Slowly, she scanned through the old champion players again, this time studying the pictures. She was hardly breathing as she found the position of Goalie.
Next to it was a name that made her blood run cold.
Chapter 20
Elise could hardly sleep that night. But she remembered what Brad had said, and struggled hard not to jump to conclusions. She had a few more things to search before she was ready to bring this all up to Brad again.
She’d been thinking a lot lately on how Brad mentioned that the power outage had helped the murderer. At the very least, it had blown the ancient cameras at the ice rink.
But it did open up the possibility for something else. Was there any way the power outage helped them? Carefully, she’d been raking over her memories of the last week, trying to think of anything she could have missed. And, an idea had occurred to her.
Elise pulled into the grocery store and parked. This was it. This could make it or break it for her. She tapped nervously on the steering wheel before grabbing her purse and climbing out.
The store was empty this Sunday morning, with most people sleeping in or at church. Christmas music was being piped through the store speakers, and there were new displays of wrapping paper and tape on the aisle end caps. Green garland looped around a pyramid stack of half-racks of soda to imitate a Christmas tree.
Annie was working again, to Elise’s relief. Today, the older woman’s blonde hair was pinned back in two lopsided pigtails. She still wore the Christmas ornament name tag, but it was looking a little worse for wear. One of the ornaments had fallen off.
Elise stood in her lane.
“You don’t have anything to buy?” The cashier asked. She snapped her gum, one hand on her hip like she didn’t have time for any funny business.
“I just have a quick question.” Elise gave her most disarming grin. “It will just take a second of your time.”
“And what’s that, chickee?”
“Is there any way I could see the receipts from a couple of days ago?”
“Why?” Her eyes narrowed. “You’ve got something juicy?”
“I’m looking for someone specific. The power was out, remember? Everyone had to sign their name. You mentioned a funny looking signature. Can you look for this one?” Elise wrote the name out on a piece of paper. “Here. Take my phone with you. If you find it, can you take a picture of it?”
The cashier studied the name, her tongue slowly tracking along her bottom lip. Finally, she crumpled the paper in her fist. “What’s it worth to you?”
“Twe….fifff… How about a hundred dollars?” Elise changed her price at Annie’s finger waggling upwards.
“You got it.” Annie plunked a closed sign at the end of her conveyer belt. She shooed the other customers over. “Next line, please. Move to the next line. Hey, Nancy!” she called to the cashier on her left. “I’m going on my break.”
Elise’s eyebrows rose. She couldn’t believe how bold Annie was. And, apparently neither could the two people behind her who huffed as they moved their baskets over to Nancy’s line.
But she was thankful.
It took Annie much longer than Elise thought it would, about forty minutes. During that time, Elise browsed through all the magazines in the racks, checked out the flower bouquets, and eyed the deli where the delicious smells of fried chicken made her stomach growl as they stocked up for the Sunday lunch crowd.
Finally, Annie appeared. She shuffled from the back room like her feet hurt. One of her pigtails was even more crooked if that were possible.
“Here you go,” she said, trying to catch her breath. She handed Elise her phone. “I hope that’s what you wanted. He came in a few times during those two days, so I snapped all of them.”
“Thank you so much!” Elise exclaimed.
“Now,” Annie held out her hand. “Where’s my money?”
“Right.” Elise looked around and snagged a bouquet of flowers. “I just need some change back.”
Once the exchange was done, Elise ran to her car. She could hardly wait to look at the photos. She opened the first one.
Annie had done a good job. The signature was focused crisp and clean. And in a very clear left handed slant.
She remembered the last time she’d seen this handwriting. It gave her chills to know that she’d been that close to a cold-blooded murderer.
Her hands were shaking as she dialed Brad. Come on. Pick up. Pick up. Pick up.
“I’ve got thirty seconds, so make it quick,” he said as he answered.
“Do you guys still have the note that Mrs. Hamilton said she gave her husband?”
“Of course. We don’t lose clues.”
“Well, I have a signature I want you to compare against it.”
“Really?” he said. He chuckled softly. “I should have known.”
“I’m serious, Brad. This time I really know who did it.”
“Meet you at the deli in an hour. Bring your evidence. If you’re right, I’ll buy you lunch.”
“Pish,” Elise said. “If I’m right, I want a honeymoon. You have to pick a hotel because I need to get out of here.”
“Mmhmm. I like this bet and I’m praying you’re right.”
An hour later, Elise parked her car down the street from Sweet Sandwiches Deli, Lavina’s own personal business. Every parking spot in front of the cute deli had already been taken, and the tables outside were filled.
Her p
hone dinged with a message, and she fished it out to read it before going in.
It was from Sue. —So I have something to say and you’re not going to be happy with me. It was me who sent you that note. You said you were meeting Brad, so I got one of my friends (we were together in the Peace Corps). Anyway, she brought it to you. Something seemed weird about Parker. But I feel like a heel, and I don’t want to get anyone into trouble. He just looked familiar to me. And I remember this specific hockey game (our school was the one who played his.) I was hoping if I sent it anonymously, maybe you’d poke around. See if I was crazy or not. Anyway, this guilt is the pits, and I had to confess. I hope you forgive me. Sue
Elise felt her jaw drop as she read it. She’d forgotten that Sue and Parker were about the same age. That made sense she would have seen him as a teenager when her school played his.
Wow. I never would have guessed. She wanted to keep her response back simple. Since she hadn’t even talked to Brad yet about what she was learning, she definitely didn’t want to talk with Sue about it. After all, this was Sue’s family that was involved. It could put Sue in a difficult spot, and Elise didn’t want to accidentally give anyone a heads up while the police were still investigating.
Elise answered—Of course I’m not mad, but I’m glad you let me know it was you. That was a little freaky. We’ll talk later.
After pressing send, Elise walked inside the deli. Dan, one of Lavina's employees, was behind the counter. He was taking someone’s order, but his eyes lit up as he saw her enter.
“Hey, Elise! Lavina’s waiting for you in the back room.”
Well, Elise had to admit, she felt like royalty skipping past the long line and sidling behind the counter. She felt the eyes on her, wondering who she was, and why she got the special privilege.
Lavina was indeed waiting for her in the small break room. She had two glasses of sweet tea and a plate of macaroons waiting for her.
“Hey! This is fun!” Elise said as she sat down. “Your favorite cookies!”
“Brad called to let me know y’all were swinging by. He said you had some news about the case. Well, you can smack me with a fish before I let you spread some juicy gossip around with me not there.”
Elise laughed.
Brad showed up just then, poking his head around the corner. He wore his police uniform, and his hair was sticking up in several places. Elise leaned over to smooth it back as he sat down.
“Hard day?” she asked.
“Better now,” he smiled back.
“All right, you two. Save your love dove stuff for when people with sensitive stomachs aren’t around. Spill your guts, Elise.”
Elise opened her phone and found the first picture. She passed it to Brad. “Scroll to the right.”
He studied the first picture and zoomed in. A low whistle came from his mouth. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Lavina bobbed up to look over his shoulder. Her brow wrinkled. “Henry Bingham. So what?”
The final shot was one she’d taken the night before showing the High School roster of hockey players. She’d zoomed into one name and snapped the picture. Thunderbolts Goalie— Henry Bingham. And on his wrist that held a hockey stick was a black tattoo.
Brad gave an incredulous laugh. “All right, Columbo. I’ve got to hear this. How’d you figure it out?”
Just then, Dan showed up with a plate of sandwiches. “You said to bring them after the officer showed up?” he said with a little uncertainty to Lavina.
“That’s great, just set them here.” Lavina directed to the center of the table.
Brad picked one up and took a bite. “Go on. I’m listening.”
Elise took a deep breath. “You told me not to look at the circumstantial evidence, but I sort of had to. There were a lot of tiny clues. At first everyone seemed like a suspect, especially Michael. But when I pulled away, and looked at the clues one by one, I came up with a different picture.”
“Keep going.”
“So, one thing that kept coming back to me was how much Henry Bingham had his finger in everything. In fact, Claudia mentioned that the lawyer was the one who’d introduced her to her husband. It was based on Mr. Bingham’s word that he received a letter from some solicitor in East Sussex. He was the one that brought Parker into the picture and dealt with the blood test and its results. And he did it in a way that would make Parker seem innocent as well, by making all contact be between two lawyers, and even being the one to let Parker know that his father had died.”
“So, is Parker actually Roger Hamilton’s son or not?” Lavina asked.
Elise took a sip of sweet tea and waited to drop the news. “He’s not. He’s actually Henry Bingham’s son.”
“What in the world?” Lavina exclaimed.
“Crazy, right? Scott is the illegitimate child Henry had when he was a teenager. With his family running the big Bingham law firm, they managed to keep it hush hush for a long time. But someone knew. Because when the son went on to follow his dad’s hockey footsteps years later, someone mentioned that he was a 2nd generation winner in the article. I searched, and that was the farthest back that the Thunderbolts had won.”
“Who’s the mom?”
“Someone with the maiden name of Daniels. And I have my suspicions, but no hard proof yet.” She winked at Brad.
“Claudia,” he said.
“Why, detective! Are you making snap conclusions without the proper evidence?”
“Ha, ha,” he said dryly, forwarding all the photos from her phone to his. “She was probably the only one to be able to get the private photo of the girl with Hamilton.”
“And Bingham wrote on it to use as evidence with his amazing left-handed handwriting,” Elise added.
“So that’s where the goalie skate came from. It was his,” Brad said thoughtfully.
“But why?” Lavina asked. “What on earth was his motive?”
“With the change in the will, the majority of Hamilton’s estate is now funneled back into the banking company. Bingham is the executer and overseer. He can draw a salary, create financial folders and investments, and open off shore accounts. And with his real son as the inheritor, they controlled the entire company.”
“And with Claudia’s share, they manage to bilk almost the entire of Roger Hamilton’s estate. That’s why he provided an alibi for her by putting that note in Hamilton’s pocket after he killed him.” Brad continued to type. “I’m sending all of this to the lead detective in the case. He’ll get this sorted out. I’m confident there’s enough here to get an arrest warrant. I told you we always get the bad guy.”
“But not without some help from our Elise,” Lavina raised a penciled in eyebrow. “She’s one smart cookie. Speaking of cookies,” she picked up a macaroon. “Aren’t these delish?”
Chapter 21
The next week or so passed like they always do when there is never enough time to get everything done. There were wedding preparations to make, invites to get out, and the last few details of the murder to solve.
Mr. Bingham was indicted on charges of first degree murder. His son, Scott Daniels, was indicted on charges of committing fraud. The plan began a few years back when Mr. Bingham’s father passed the Hamilton contract to his son, Henry. Henry had read Hamilton’s will and slowly began to scheme.
It turned out that Claudia had been Henry’s high school sweetheart all those years ago. He’d negotiated an intro between her and Roger Hamilton, telling her that if she played her cards right, she’d be set for life.
Claudia insisted that she didn’t understand what “play your cards right” meant, other than to be a good, dutiful wife. Elise heard that she’d emphasized the last words a few times during the police interview.
Slowly, Bingham had begun the introduction of Scott, or Parker Hamilton, the name on his false ID. By the time the falsified records of the blood test came through, Roger Hamilton was sold. It took very little persuasion on Bingham’s part to convince Hamilton to c
hange his will.
Then the die was cast for when Bingham was ready to strike. But when the FDIC contemplated an investigation into the loan practices of the Hamilton bank, Bingham had panicked. He’d drawn up more than a few of the shady contracts.
Bingham had lured Hamilton to the ice rink under the guise of meeting his son. Bingham had chosen that place because it was well known that Michael had screamed, “Someone’s going to ice you, ice man!”
When it became public knowledge that Bingham was arrested, Michael came forward, citing himself as a witness to the crime. He’d seen it happen when he went down for an interview. When asked why he didn’t come forward when the body was found, he stated that been too terrified to accuse Bingham.
Bingham contested that statement, saying Michael had tried to extort him for money in exchange for his silence. Michael denied it.
Elise wasn’t sure Bingham was lying. She remembered the conversation between Grandma Babe and Michael at the high school dance.
Well, she may never know all the answers, but things seemed to have been wrapped up pretty well. Elise glanced at herself in the mirror, before picking up her earrings. A set of diamond studs, just for today’s occasion. Slowly, she put them in her ears.
It was time to clear her mind. Think of something else.
Today was her wedding day.
“You ready? We don’t want to be late.” Elise’s mom placed her hands gently on Elise’s shoulders and smiled in the mirror at her.
“I can’t believe I’m doing this again,” Elise whispered. Butterflies crashed like jousting combatants in her stomach.
“You sure you want to do it? I never asked the first time, but I’m asking now.”
Elise looked at her ring—a delicate rose diamond with two emerald slivers for leaves. Brad’s sweet face came into her mind. The way he’d put it on her finger and then entwined his fingers through hers. The way he’d kissed her, how connected she’d felt.
She’d never felt that way before.
“Definitely,” she said, giving the ring a spin with her thumb. She stood up and studied herself in the mirror. Lavina had won out and Elise wasn’t wearing her summer dress after all. Instead, she had on the silk sheath that had turned up the nose of the boutique owner. But she loved it, and ran her palms down it now. It wasn’t white, but a deep bronze. She’d worn white once and wanted something fresh for this time. The color contrasted in the most heavenly way against her skin, bringing out the sun-burnished peach of her cheeks, and highlighting the gold flecks in her eyes.
