The Tainted Course

by Diane Weiner

  Emily tucked the afghan around her. “She looks so young lying here. Do you ever wonder what it would have been like had we been able to conceive back then? What it would have been like to raise a child from day one?”

  “I used to think about it every time we saw anyone with a baby. As time went on, I accepted I was never going to be a father. Then along came Maddy. I couldn’t love her more if she was our own flesh and blood.”

  “I feel the same way, only…”

  “Only what?”

  “I’ve wondered how it feels having a baby move inside you. What’s it like, being there the moment your kid takes his first breath?”

  Maddy stirred. “Emily? Dad? What time is it?”

  “Late,” said Henry. “Why don’t you go on to bed?”

  Maddy slowly worked her way to sitting. “I will. I’m going to text Ava, first. She’s worried her father is going to move them back to Georgia.”

  “Poor thing. How’s her little sister doing?” said Emily.

  “Ava hasn’t said anything so I guess she’s okay.”

  “Goodnight, honey. I’ll make waffles in the morning so be up in time to eat them before school.”

  “I’ll try.” She scooped up Chester and went to her room.

  “Em, I’m tired myself. Are you coming to bed?” He headed to the ladder.

  “I’ll be up in a minute.” She went into the kitchen and made a cup of herbal tea. She hoped they’d have answers about Arturo after tomorrow night. Meanwhile, The Rona Smyth story nagged at her like a whiny puppy. How could she have orchestrated killing her parents? She’d have to have known how to tamper with a car. Even if Rona was innocent of killing Faith, the mystery surrounding her parents’ deaths was one juicy story in itself.

  Chapter 15

  Emily grabbed the morning paper and sat down at the table with her coffee. The aroma of fresh waffles reminded her of Mary Burke’s bakery.

  “Do you want berries on these?” asked Henry. “They’re not nearly as tasty as the ones we get in the summer, but they’ll do for now.”

  “Sure. Should I get Maddy up?”

  “I heard the shower when I came downstairs. She’ll be in soon.”

  Emily picked up the newspaper. “Isn’t that the mayor?” She held up the front page for Henry to see. “See the smiling guy in a hardhat breaking ground? Looks like that charter school Kurt was talking about is moving forward after all.”

  “Kurt said Faith Maguire was the only thing standing in the way.”

  “I don’t know why we need another school in town. The public schools aren’t over-crowded like in some areas of the country.”

  “When there’s money to be made, that’s reason enough. Maddy, want some waffles?”

  Maddy had come into the kitchen. She put down Chester and filled his water bowl. “That’s why I’m up. I smelled them from my room.” She handed Emily a folded paper.

  “What’s this?”

  “An invitation to the Science Fair. My project made the finals.”

  “I’m so proud of you, Maddy.”

  “The project I helped you with? Hope you gave me credit,” said Henry.

  “Yes, I could never have planted those beans without your help.”

  “Now you’re being sarcastic,” said Henry.

  “Ava’s project made it also. She built model houses out of different materials to see which would hold up better during a blizzard. She even made tiny windows out of glass. You should see it.”

  “I suppose we will.” Henry took the paper from Emily and pulled on his glasses. “Friday night, in fact.”

  “Is Ava back at school?” asked Emily.

  “She’s coming back today. Jessica said Mila came back yesterday and she seemed all right.”

  “Getting back into her routine might be good for her. I can imagine sitting at home all day just gives them more time to think about their mother. Not that they should forget her, certainly. I mean, even though she’s gone I’m sure she’ll always be alive in their memories.”

  “Whatever. I have memories of my mom but I’ve forgotten a lot as time passes. Like how she used to make smiley faces on my pancakes. I thought of it when Henry was pouring the syrup just now.”

  Emily held back tears. She couldn’t remember little details about her sister after all these years. If she died, Maddy would move on. They’d barely had time to make memories together.

  “Em, you okay?”

  “Yeah, why?”

  “I don’t know. Your expression. You looked so sad all of a sudden.”

  “I’m fine. Maddy, you should get going The bus will be here in a few minutes.”

  Maddy gobbled down the last of her breakfast and put the plate in the sink. “See you later.”

  Emily called after her, “By the way, we’re having dinner at the inn tonight.”

  Henry put the leftover waffles in the fridge. “I’d better get going, too.” He kissed Emily. “Have a good day.”

  Emily’s class wouldn’t start until mid-morning. With the house empty and a little time on her hands, she took out her laptop and searched for information about the crash that killed Rona’s parents.

  Rona was an only child. No wonder Megan said no one pushed for further investigation. It didn’t add up. Her parents were found with their seatbelts on, the roads were clear, no skid marks. The airbags didn’t inflate. Why not?

  To top it off, Rona’s restaurant had burned to the ground and she’d just moved home recently. Perfect timing. The parents die, the family home becomes hers, and the insurance money from the fire shows up in the nick of time to renovate the family home and turn it into Smyth Haven. Chester walked over the keyboard. She scooped him up and put him on the sofa next to her.

  Pat had performed the autopsy, he mentioned it at dinner the other night and she asked if she could see the report. She grabbed her phone.

  “Emily? Yes, I have some time this afternoon if you want to come by.”

  “I teach a class this morning but I can be at the hospital early afternoon.”

  “Great. I’ll be here. I’ll dig up the report and look it over again.”

  Emily smelled a story here. She wished her editor would call and say the final version of her recent manuscript was ready to go to publication so she could plunge into this next project. Could she get the police report for the accident? She’d check with Megan later. Now she needed to get out of her pajamas and ready to teach.

  When she got to her office, she organized the ever expanding piles of assignments she had to grade and picked up her red pen. She was shoveling as fast as she could, but the snow kept falling.

  “Knock, knock. You busy?”

  “Nancy? No, come in. Is that a new blouse?”

  “Yes. Brooke and I hit the outlet mall last weekend. It’s not too young looking, is it?”

  “Of course not. The color matches your eyes.”

  “I hear Maddy’s project made the finals of the science fair. Are you going Friday night? Brooke’s made it, too.”

  “Of course, we’ll be there. I hear Ava’s going back to school today.”

  “Brooke said between the housekeeper and her father, Ava feels smothered. They’re hovering over the girls.”

  “That’s understandable. I’m glad their father got here so soon. Do you think he actually abused Mila, like Faith told the court?”

  “Brooke said Ava told her Faith made it all up to get custody away from him. He was protesting her moving out of Georgia with the girls. According to Brooke, Ava adores her father.”

  “I’m glad he didn’t really hurt Ava. What a shame, Faith discrediting him like that. And didn’t she say Mila hardly knew him because she was always sick when she was supposed to go with him?”

  “I don’t know. Hey, did you go to your appointment?”

  “I did.”

  “And?”

  “And I have to wait until they call with the results. You know how bad I am about waiting for anything let alone somethin
g this important.”

  “It’s going to be fine, you’ll see.” Nancy checked her watch. “I have class in a few minutes. We’ll talk later.”

  “Bye.”

  Emily grabbed her things and made her way to her class as well. The topic for the day was writing true crime without getting sued. She’d learned all about it during her reporter days and was eager to share practical advice with the class. Afterwards, several students surrounded her and continued asking questions. When she finally broke away, it was later than she’d planned. She hoped Pat was still available.

  When she got to the hospital basement, the door to the morgue was partially open. The smell brought back unpleasant recollections of dissecting frogs during high school biology lab. “Knock, knock.”

  “Come on in, Emily.” He looked at her and must have noticed the smell bothered her. “We’ll go in my office.”

  “Sorry I’m late.”

  “Not a problem. My patients don’t complain about waiting. One of the reasons I love my job.”

  “I know we talked some about the accident that killed Rona Smyth’s parents at dinner the other night. I’m pursing the story for my next book. You said they drowned, right?”

  “Yes, there was water in both sets of lungs. No scratches or wounds like they tried to escape once the car went into the water. Seatbelts were still on. No burns or bruises from air bags. You know those things don’t inflate without leaving a mark.”

  “Was it an older car? Perhaps it was before cars came with them.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Wait, I read the article in the paper. The car was nearly brand new. No drugs in their systems? No medical history?”

  “None. I’ve worked on plenty of accident victims and their deaths didn’t add up.”

  “Why did you sign off, then?”

  “No one challenged the idea that it was an accident and the police seemed anxious to wrap it up.”

  “Rona didn’t question their deaths? Did she have this information?”

  “She did. In fact, I called her to ask a few questions. I wondered if there was a recent change in medical history. She said there wasn’t and accepted my report at face value. If those were my parents in that situation, I wouldn’t have been satisfied, but she was. In fact, I think it was her pressing the police to close the case.”

  “Did anyone check the car for what went wrong?”

  “I don’t know. I assumed the water damage made it difficult to examine.”

  “Thanks, Pat.”

  “Don’t mention it.”

  “By the way, I hope you don’t mind that Henry shared your plan to propose to Megan. I’m so happy for you.”

  “Thanks. I’m trying to plan a memorable proposal but I’m coming up short of ideas.”

  “Henry and I took a walk on the trail that starts outside the golf course. It’s beautiful by the lake. Maybe a picnic. At sundown.”

  “Maybe. I’ll check it out. Thanks.”

  In the car, Emily tried calling Megan to see if the Smyth’s car had been examined after the accident, but she was unavailable. As she passed by an auto parts store, she had an idea. Her mechanic’s shop was just down the road. He might have a few answers.

  Nothing like the sight of grease stained jumpsuits on manly men, and the smell of new rubber tires. Even so, the auto shop was ‘woman friendly’, as Emily liked to say. Not that it took much, but it had lavender air freshener in the bathroom and a few issues of Family Circle in the waiting area. She’d once suggested a cappuccino machine, but Mac, her mechanic, just laughed.

  “Emily? Do you have a problem with the Audi?”

  “No, it’s a dream to drive. Everything’s good. I had a few questions to help with research for a book I’m writing.”

  “Ask away. Hope you don’t mind, but I’ve got to continue working on the Chevy over there. The owner’s coming at the end of the day and expects the repairs to be finished. Come on.”

  Emily followed him to the old Chevy with the propped-open hood. Even with the feminine touches, she truly hated auto shops. She got a whiff of burned oil as they walked.

  “What do you want to know?”

  “If someone wanted to rig a car so it looked like an accident, how would they do it?”

  “You writing a thriller?”

  “Something like that. Suppose a car goes off the road without leaving skid marks and heads straight into a lake. The victims have no marks indicating an effort to escape, and the airbags don’t deploy.”

  “That could be a few things. Maybe someone cuts the brake lines, or messes with the steering mechanism. No skid marks indicate faulty brakes.”

  “Is that easy to do?”

  “If someone knows about cars, then yes.”

  “And the airbags? Can they be switched off?”

  “Yeah. They can also be removed, though who’d do that. Unless, of course, they wanted to kill someone.” He chuckled at his own joke.

  “Do you need specialized tools? Would it take long to do?”

  “Nothing fancy. If someone knew what they were doing, it’d take no time at all.”

  “You’re a big help, Mac.”

  “Can I be in your book?”

  “You’ll certainly be in the acknowledgments.”

  Chapter 16

  Emily and Henry hadn’t eaten at the inn since the night of Faith’s murder. They were seated at the table next to the one they’d shared with Faith and her girls, making Emily feel a little out of sorts. She considered asking Coralee if they could move to another table, but Maddy didn’t seem bothered and she preferred not to call attention to that night.

  Henry said, “I’m getting the pot roast. You girls going to go carnivore? Just one night…”

  “Dad, that’s not even funny.”

  “You don’t know what you’re missing.”

  Emily said, “I saw a vegetable frittata on the menu. I’m going to have that with a salad.”

  “And I’m in the mood for a veggie burger. Settled,” said Maddy.

  Coralee came to the table. “Glad to see you back here. Business has started to pick up.”

  “I’m glad. Isn’t that Summer I saw going into the kitchen?”

  “Yes. She and Arturo are both working today. I’ve got him cutting veggies in the back. Are you sure the frittata is enough for you for dinner?”

  “I’m not super hungry.”

  Henry said, “Maddy is a finalist in the school science fair.”

  “That’s great, honey. Starting the Cat Café, winning the science fair…you’ll be snapped up by any college you want to attend.”

  “I still have another quarter and then two more years before I’m there. After dinner I want to see the new kittens that were dropped off.”

  “They’re adorable. It’ll be hard for you to resist bringing one home with you.”

  Emily said, “I don’t think Chester would welcome the competition.”

  “Your food will be here shortly. Enjoy.”

  Emily hadn’t thought about Maddy leaving them for college.

  “Maddy, do you want to go out of state for college?”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t thought about it yet.”

  Henry said, “Depending on what you want to major in, you’ll go to the best place you can get into. I’m thinking Ivy League. Harvard isn’t too far away.”

  “If I don’t get high enough SAT scores, will you bribe the head of the admissions committee for me?”

  “You won’t need it. Besides, I doubt I have a big enough bank account to cover what it would take to influence their decision.”

  The food came quickly, as promised. After dinner, Maddy headed upstairs to the cat café, and Henry motioned for Emily to follow him.

  “Let’s go around back and peek in the window.” Henry led the way. “He’s chopping vegetables. Wait, now he’s taking off his apron. I think he’s going down to the cellar.”

  “We can access the root cellar through those big doors
in the ground. I hope they’re not locked.” She pulled the handle. “It’s open.” She led the way down the concrete steps. She coughed from breathing in the heavy, damp air. With each step it was darker and more difficult to see. She felt a spider web graze her arm.

  “I hear something. Shh. Arturo.” Henry’s eyes had adjusted to the dimness. “He’s got an armful of food and he’s shoving it into a garbage bag.”

  “He’s stealing food from Coralee?” Emily accidentally bumped into a metal shelf, causing cans to fall off. She froze, knowing the sound would give them away.

  “Who’s here?” said Arturo. “What do you want?”

  Henry whispered, “Let’s run up the steps and get out of here.”

  She grabbed Henry’s hand and her heart pounded. Did he know they were there?

  When they got outside, she soon heard footsteps pounding behind them. Arturo was chasing them. She tried to drag Henry along, but he wasn’t used to running the way she was. Arturo was gaining on them. Should they hide, or try to outrun him?

  Pretty soon, it was obvious they’d have to hide or get caught. They ducked behind a tree. Emily frantically pulled pine needles over them.

  “I know you’re out here. I have a gun.”

  “A gun? Henry, what if he finds us?” She heard footsteps coming closer and closer. Her heart pounded like a jackhammer in her chest and she squeezed Henry’s hand. She smelled Arturo’s smoky breath as he came upon them.

  “Found you!” Arturo’s eyes went from one to the other.

  Emily felt the blood drain from her face. “Don’t hurt us. We have a daughter.”

  “Henry and Emily? What are you doing out here?”

  Henry said, “Put the gun down, please Arturo. We won’t harm you.”

  “Gun? What gun?”

  “The one you said you had. The one you use to keep safe during your drug deals.”

  Arturo laughed. “Drug deals?”

  Emily said, “We followed you down by the river. We saw you hand off money and a cardboard box.”

  “You think I’m dealing drugs? All Mexicans are drug dealers, right?”

  “Then what were you doing there?” asked Henry.

  “Come with me. Back to the cellar. I’ll show you what’s in the garbage bag I was about to bring down to the river.”