ROOTED IN DECEIT

by Wendy Tyson

“The truth.”

  “About?”

  “Thana’s death.”

  Ray frowned. “And you think you’ll find it here?”

  “It was the last place Thana was seen. She had multiple arguments here. Seems like a good place to start.”

  Ray stood. He walked over to the windows and looked outside, arms crossed over his chest, feet shoulder width apart. “When we first put in these windows, they were mirrored for extra privacy. But the birds kept flying into them. Some were merely stunned; others died.”

  “That’s awful.”

  He nodded. “And upsetting to our guests. We replaced them with regular windows after that and planted the shrubbery for privacy. Cost us, though. Damn birds and their suicidal tendencies.”

  “I imagine you have a point with that story.”

  Ray spun around. “Thana Moore never changed. She was as capricious and unpredictable in adulthood as she was when we were kids. She made reckless choices. She acted against her own self-interest.”

  “As in?”

  “As in dating that loser, Elliot. As in mismanaging her career.” He shook his head. “She had a death wish. Courted the wrath of others. Sought attention when she shouldn’t have, hid away when it was ill-advised.” He pointed to the chaise lounge. “These rooms were her ideas. She suggested artist retreats. A place for an artist to paint or sketch that was removed from the demands of their daily life.” He shrugged. “She had a point. In today’s world it’s hard to be creative. Structure and demands and nonstop streaming may be our collective reality but they are not good for the creative process.”

  “But real artists can’t afford your prices.”

  “No, they can’t. So voila. Her idea, reimagined.”

  Megan thought about this. “So that means you had contact with Thana over the years.”

  “We remained friends.”

  “Not lovers?”

  The question came out on impulse and Megan immediately regretted it. Ray’s eyes narrowed. He looked angry at first, and then he broke out into a boyish grin. “Are you still angry about what happened, Megan? Me and Thana? That was years ago.”

  “Hardly.”

  Ray sat back down. “Thana and I were friends. That was all.” His gaze strayed once more toward the picture window. “I always regretted what happened. She played me, convinced me you were using both of us. I was dumb and young and horny. I made a poor choice. But I can’t say I regret where life has taken me since.”

  “I know what you mean.”

  They remained like that for a few minutes. Megan appreciated the silence and the warmth of the late afternoon sun. The room was charming and comfortable. She could see working here. Escaping to use the pool and sauna. Stopping for an hour of meditation. This, more than the spa, held appeal. Solitude. Silence. Ray was right. It was hard to be creative in a world that always demanded you be “on.”

  “What do you think happened to Thana?” Megan asked.

  “She made someone angry enough to kill her.”

  “Who? Certainly not Maria.”

  “No. Not Maria. Maria Hernandez was treated unfairly. By us. By the police.”

  Megan’s eyes widened. “If you know that, why don’t you speak up?”

  “I’m a more of a silent partner. I handle finances, deal with our investors. Carly makes the design and personnel decisions. That’s our deal.” His smile was apologetic. “I shared my opinion with the police. I’m afraid that’s all I can do.”

  “So you let Maria be scapegoated.”

  Ray shook his head. “Don’t fool yourself into thinking Maria was completely innocent. Maria has a temper. Cross her and you’ll see. She became belligerent with a guest. She was in the wrong and it was Carly’s prerogative to fire her.”

  “But she didn’t kill Thana. And she’s being blamed for her death.”

  Ray hung his head and nodded. When he looked up at her, Megan saw real remorse in his eyes. “That’s why I need your help.”

  “My help?” Megan was surprised. “What can I do?”

  “I may be the sole person at the Center to say this, but I think Elliot killed Thana, not Maria. Not Sylvia. Elliot Craddock isn’t a nice man. He controlled Thana’s career, her finances. He’s the real reason Thana and Maria argued. It was Elliot who insisted on more floor space. It was Elliot who became enraged when Maria said no. He pushed Thana into reporting Maria.”

  “I thought they had broken up?”

  “On a personal level, perhaps. But he remained her manager. Or so he thought.”

  This time it was Megan who stood and walked to the window. She watched a Robin tug on a worm in the dry courtyard dirt. “Why kill her? If she was his meal ticket, wouldn’t he want her alive?”

  Ray was silent for what felt like an eternity. Finally he said, “Jealousy. I lied when I said we were just friends.”

  Megan spun around. “So you were in a relationship with Thana?”

  “We slept together. Just once. But it was enough to set Elliot off.” Ray crossed his arms over his chest again. “I’m afraid we were careless. He found us here, at the Center.”

  Megan crossed the room until she was standing near her old friend. Jealousy would indeed be a motive for murder. “Was Elliot here the day Thana died?”

  “Yes. He brought more paintings for the extra floor space she was hoping to receive.”

  “So he had opportunity.”

  When Ray didn’t respond, Megan said, “Did you share this with the police?”

  “Of course.”

  “And?”

  Ray shrugged. “They took notes, did their thing. But in the end I guess they blamed Maria.”

  Megan found Clover standing next to the truck, on the phone. She was doing a lot of nodding. When she saw Megan walking toward her, she nodded a few more times, said “Okey doke. Love you.” and hung up.

  “Hey,” Clover said. “Sorry I couldn’t answer when you called. I was riding a horse.”

  “Well, that wasn’t what I expected to hear.” Megan unlocked the truck doors. “Hop in. You can tell me about it on the way.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “To find Elliot Craddock.”

  Clover climbed into the passenger seat of the truck, and Megan pulled out of the parking area. She made a right at the bottom of the long, windy drive that led to the Center. At the bottom of the hill, she made another right onto an unnamed stretch of country road. The trees hugged the sides of the narrow roadway, and heavy foliage made a canopy overhead, blocking the sun.

  It only took Megan a moment to pick out the spot where Thana had been killed. Deep ruts marked the side of the road, eating into the vegetation and spilling small piles of dirt on dry pavement. Megan pulled over.

  “Creepy,” Clover said. “This is where it happened?”

  “From what I can tell.” Megan slipped out of the truck. Feeling like she was walking in a cemetery, she made her way the fifty yards or so to the spot where the tire ruts ate into the earth. “Look at this.”

  Clover joined her. Megan pointed past the trees, past the small stream, where the land began to climb. She could just make out a blue horizon in the distance. And the outline of a roof.

  “That’s the Center,” Megan said. “I took the walking path earlier. There’s a meadow at the top that has a view of the whole valley. Someone could have done the deed here, then easily made their way through the woods and back to the Center.”

  Clover’s gaze followed the imaginary trail. “Someone fairly fit.”

  “Unfortunately—or fortunately, depending on your perspective—both of our middle-aged ladies are pretty fit.”

  “Maria spent many hours in the woods on the commune,” Clover said. “She used to forage for berries and mushrooms and medicinal plants. She would definitely be up for the hike.” Clover put
her hands on her hips. She grinned. “Except the police let her go.”

  Megan turned sharply toward her friend. “And you waited this long to tell me?”

  “You were all intent on finding Elliot and seeing this spot. Besides, I just found out. Bobby told me.” Her face darkened. “But he’s not happy. He feels like they knew they didn’t have enough evidence. They were trying to scare Maria.”

  “He told you that?”

  “Confidentially, of course. But he knew I was with you.” Her smile was sheepish. “Everyone knows I can’t keep a secret.”

  “Hmmm. They let Maria go.” Megan wondered what they were up to—and whether they had more on Sylvia. Her thoughts flashed back to the paved trail and Sylvia’s dirty shoes. “Did Bobby say anything else?”

  “He wants you to call him later.”

  Megan nodded. She took another look at the spot where Thana must have died. Hard to believe such an innocuous area could be the site of a hideous murder. How awful to die here, in this isolated place.

  Echoing Megan’s thoughts, Clover said, “Seen enough? I hate that Thana died here. Let’s please go.”

  Megan called the number Elliot had left for her the night before. There was no answer, and the voicemail was a generic “leave a message.” Disappointed, Megan provided her name and number and hung up.

  She continued on toward the café thinking perhaps they could regroup there. After the morning’s interaction with Bibi, and the knowledge that Sylvia could be back on the hot seat, she didn’t relish going home. She wished Denver were around. Suddenly the wish turned into an ache.

  “Did Bobby say how Alvaro was faring?” Megan asked.

  “No. He said he told them to ask you for the name of a good lawyer, but Alvaro said he’s using someone from Maria’s family.” Clover shrugged. “You know Alvaro. Cheap as he is ornery.”

  Megan didn’t think he’d be cheap about something like this, so hopefully whomever he’d chosen was good. “Tell me about the horses. The great investigator had enough and decided to play princess?” Megan smiled. “Some sleuth.”

  Clover laughed. “Actually, I was on the clock. I was hiking around the property after lunch and I found myself up by the main barn. Did you see it?” When Megan shook her head no, Clover said, “It’s pretty impressive. State of the art, even. And the horses.” She rolled her eyes in mock ecstasy. “They’re all rescues, but absolutely gorgeous.”

  “And they told you who killed Thana?”

  Clover laughed again. “No. They let me pet them, and one particularly sassy lady named Storm let me ride her around the paddocks. Or should I say her handler, Marcy, let me ride her.”

  Megan waited. She knew besides not being able to keep a secret, Clover wasn’t great at telling a story in a linear fashion. She’d get to the point…eventually.

  “Anyway,” Clover continued, “Marcy introduced me to her partner, Mark. Mark and Marcy. They’re this hipster couple who live at the Center. She takes care of the horses and runs the stable and he is the head groundskeeper.”

  “Mark and Marcy, nice. And what did they have to say, aside from letting you ride Storm?”

  “I kind of introduced the topic of Thana. They both knew her. They said she was fond of the horses and used to come up and brush them when she was feeling depressed.”

  Megan pulled out onto the turning lane and made a quick left onto Brindle Lane. “Did they have any idea who might have wanted to harm Thana?”

  Clover shook her head. “But they did say a few things that seemed interesting. For one, Thana rarely came to the Center alone. Her boyfriend Elliot was almost always with her. But when she visited the horses, he’d stay down at the Center.”

  “Not a surprise given what we’ve heard about Elliot. Controlling. Possessive. But horses probably posed no threat.”

  “Actually, they said he was a super nice guy but the horses spooked him.”

  Megan turned onto Meadowland Farm Road and pulled over in an empty parking lot. She wanted to try Elliot again. “Hmm. That’s not what I’ve heard. Most of the people I’ve spoken with have said he has a temper.” She told him about her conversation with Ray Cruise. “Did Mark and Marcy have anything else to add?”

  Clover had pulled her phone from her small backpack that doubled as a purse. She was skimming through pictures on Instagram. “Here, these are Mark and Marcy.” She showed Megan a photo of a grinning couple in their early thirties. Both blond, both with long hair and deep tans, they were standing outside on a pair of hay bales holding hands across the gap. They could have passed for siblings. “Pretty upbeat people, so maybe they just didn’t see that side of Elliot, if you know what I mean.

  “Anyway, they mentioned that with all the comings and goings at the Center in the days before it opened, they lost track of who was there when. But once it opened, they noticed a guy who seemed to be following Thana around.”

  “A guy?”

  Clover nodded. “I asked if it could have been Elliot and they said they didn’t really know. The guy always wore a baseball cap.” Clover held up a hand. “And before you ask me, not something distinctive. Just a blue or black cap. Jeans. Nondescript t-shirt. Based on his gait, they thought he was young—under fifty.”

  “So it could have been Elliot?”

  “Yes, I guess so.”

  Megan thought about the man she’d seen at the pizza farm opening. Tattoos. Broad shoulders. Pretty identifiable fellow. “No tattoos?”

  “Not that they mentioned, but I didn’t think to ask. They just said Thana would come up and see the horses and when she left they sometimes caught a glimpse of this guy from afar. He seemed to be watching her.”

  “But not before the Center opened?”

  “They couldn’t say. The place was also crowded with people coming and going.”

  Which made sense, Megan thought. Contractors. New staff. Inspectors. The place would be swamped the days and weeks before it opened. “Did they tell the detectives?”

  “They said no one talked with them or they would have. But Marcy—she was my favorite—didn’t think it really mattered since they couldn’t describe much about this guy.”

  “Perhaps. But it means someone may have been stalking her. That seems pretty relevant to me.” And the fact that the stalker sounded like someone very much not female—like Sylvia or Maria—seems especially relevant, Megan thought.

  Megan grabbed her phone from the front console and was about to dial Elliot’s number again when the mobile started to buzz. The display said the number was restricted.

  “Hello?”

  “You were looking for me?” Male voice. Gruff. “This is Elliot.”

  “Yes,” Megan said. She motioned at the phone and Clover, understanding, grabbed a pen and pad from the glove compartment. Megan put the phone on speaker. “Thanks for returning my call. I was hoping we could meet. About Thana.”

  Silence. Then, “I have twenty minutes now, but I need to catch a plane down in the city, so you’ll have to hurry.”

  “Where should I meet you?”

  “You know where the old ice cream bar was? The Dairy Cow? On the corner of Broad and Wilson?”

  Megan repeated the address and Clover jotted it down. “Okay, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

  He hung up.

  Clover placed the address on the console. “You can’t go alone.”

  “I can and I will. He knows you from the apartment complex. I’ll call you and leave my phone on, if you want. Then you can hear if something’s going down.”

  Clover didn’t look happy but she nodded. “I don’t know what you’ll gain from this.”

  “I’m not sure, either.” Megan started the truck. She knew the deserted ice cream stand he was talking about and the café was on the way. She’d drop Clover off on Canal Street beforehand. “But right now we have nothing, so
at least I can ask him some questions.” Like why Thana was talking with Sylvia, Megan thought. And why she had Maria fired.

  Twenty-Two

  By the time Megan reached the old ice cream stand, clouds had begun to move in and the blue sky was now an angry pewter. Rain, Megan thought as she parked the truck in the empty lot. Hallelujah. She locked the doors, picked up her phone, and dialed Clover’s number.

  “Is he there?” Clover whispered.

  “You don’t need to whisper,” Megan said. “He wouldn’t be able to hear you even if he were here, which he’s not.”

  Megan scanned the area, looking for signs of a car. She remembered coming to this ice cream spot when she was younger. The parking lot would be full, teenagers would be sitting on the picnic tables—gone now—and the woods surrounding the parking lot would provide cover for illicit teen trysts. Now the shop was a burned-down shell and the parking lot pitted and gray.

  She heard engine noise, then saw a silver sedan snaking its way down the road. It pulled into the lot.

  “Okay, I’m going to put you in my pocket. I’ll keep the sound on.”

  Megan watched as the driver of the silver sedan parked about ten feet away from her truck. He climbed out of his car and walked over. He was tall and muscular. His hair was black and slightly spiky, with just a few streaks of premature gray that made him look older than he was. He wore a black tank, faded jeans, and checked Vans. Sunglasses hid his eyes.

  Megan rolled down the window.

  “I’m sorry for the odd location,” Elliot said. He glanced around the abandoned lot. “Last time Thana and I were here it was still intact. I guess someone burned it down.”

  “Looks that way.”

  “You don’t need to get out of your truck. I’m actually heading to Philadelphia, then on to LA. I have some business there, and with Thana gone, well, the distraction will be good.”

  “I was sorry to hear about Thana.”

  Elliot nodded. “Look, my friends said you stopped by?”

  “I was hoping to get more information.” Megan debated how much to say. She decided on, “My father’s wife was one of the people who’d argued with Thana the day she died. I don’t understand what transpired between them—or why. I thought maybe you could shed some light on what happened.”