The Tainted Course

by Diane Weiner

  “Then have another cinnamon roll. This will take a few minutes.”

  Abby said, “I’ll bet Maddy’s enjoying having her sister here.”

  “She sure is. She’s with her now buying cat supplies. Maddy showed her the cat café and Jessica is adopting two kittens and their mother.”

  “How wonderful.”

  “I’m hoping having her sister here will satisfy her curiosity.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I found out she’s been receiving mail from her biological father.”

  “The doctor who was arrested?”

  “Yep.”

  Rebecca said, “Got it!”

  “What did you find out?”

  “Your Sam Benson was fired from his banking job after he rolled his clients’ money into an iffy proposition. The project went bust and they all lost money. The company fired him for not checking things out before he made the investment.”

  “If he lost his job, where did he get the funds to invest in Fielding Construction?”

  “That was a good paying job. Single guy with that salary must have had a hefty savings.” She clicked keys on her laptop. “Yep, I’ll say. I got his bank records here. But he invested almost all of it into this construction company/charter school duo.”

  “If it didn’t succeed, he’d have been broke?”

  “Looks that way. He stands to make a fortune off the charter school expansion.”

  “Motive. Faith would have put an end to that dream.”

  “Not saying an investment banker turned technology teacher has the stomach for murder, but the incentive certainly existed.”

  “Thanks, Rebecca.”

  “Anytime.”

  Emily zipped her coat and walked around the bend. When she got to her driveway, something didn’t look right. She picked up the pace. The front door was open. She ran inside.

  “Henry? Henry, where are you?” She looked around the living room. “Henry?” Butterflies churned inside her. She heard cheering. The basketball game was on TV. Henry never would leave the house with the front door open and TV on. She called up the loft.

  “Henry?”

  Two rungs at a time, she flew up to the master bedroom. Maybe he decided to take a nap. The bed was made as she left it. She checked the master bathroom. Empty. Chester flew out from under the bed and ran down the ladder.

  She went back downstairs and into the kitchen. “Henry!” Henry was lying on the floor, blood seeping from a wound on the back of his head. She knelt down. “Henry!” Her voice reached a volume she hadn’t known existed.

  Thank God he was still breathing. She gently shook him, but he didn’t wake up. She grabbed her phone, hands shaking, and called 911.

  “Henry, wake up!” He began to stir. His eyes slowly opened. “Where am I?”

  “Henry, it’s me. You’re home. In the kitchen.” Her knees felt sticky and she noticed shards of amber glass on the floor. “Do you remember what happened?”

  He tried to sit up, then clutched his head and curled back down into a fetal position. “Aww, this hurts like a…”

  She grabbed a dishtowel and held it to his wound. “Stay still. The ambulance is on the way.”

  “Emily, Dad? Where are you?” Maddy ran into the kitchen, followed by Jessica and Sam.

  She knelt beside Henry. “Dad! Are you okay? What happened?”

  “I’ll call 911,” said Sam.

  “They’re already on the way.”

  Jessica said, “What happened? Did he slip and fall?”

  “I don’t know. I was at Rebecca and Abby’s. When I pulled in, the front door was open and I called his name but he didn’t answer. I found him like this.”

  Henry grunted. “Help me up.”

  “Dad, stay still. Help’s on the way.”

  Emily was relieved to hear sirens approaching. The EMTs rushed through the door, followed by Detectives Megan and Ron. “He’s in the kitchen.”

  “Emily, what happened?”

  “Megan, I came home and found the TV on and the front door open. He was unconscious in front of the fridge, right where he is now. The floor is sticky. Looks like he went to the fridge for a beer and someone hit him over the head. Be careful of the glass. He’s bleeding. I put pressure to stop the bleeding—Maddy’s holding the towel against it.”

  “Is anything missing?” asked Detective Ron.

  “I…I don’t know.” She noticed Henry’s wallet on the coffee table and checked through it. “His credit cards are still here, and two twenty dollar bills. And his phone is here, too.” She scanned the living room. “Wait! My laptop! It was on the chair by the fireplace. It’s gone.”

  “Are you sure that’s where you left it?”

  “Positive. It was cold when I woke up. I started a fire and sat there in the chair to work.”

  “Anything else?”

  “I have jewelry upstairs.”

  “Can you check and see if it’s missing?”

  “First, let me see Henry.” She ran into the kitchen. By now Henry was sitting up with an icepack on his head. “Is he okay?”

  The paramedic said, “I’d like to get him checked out at the hospital, but he’s refusing. He may have a concussion.”

  Henry said, “I’ll be fine.”

  “Henry, you might need stitches. And what if there’s internal damage?”

  “Em, I’m a doctor. The bleeding has already stopped. There’s nothing they can do at the hospital except monitor me and I can do that here. Besides, no way am I leaving you and Maddy alone in this house.”

  Ron said, “Emily, can you check and see if anything’s missing from the bedroom? And Maddy, check your room.”

  Emily ran up the ladder. Her gold necklace was sprawled across the dresser where she’d left it and her diamond bracelet was on top of her jewelry box. Satisfied nothing had been taken, she went back downstairs.

  “Nothing’s missing.”

  Maddy came out of her room. “My laptop is on my bed where I left it.”

  Sam said, “The lock is broken. I’ll replace it for you. You shouldn’t be in an unsecured home ever and particularly not after this.”

  Megan came inside. “I checked the perimeter. I found motorcycle tracks leading from the road to your driveway. I’ll get an impression made.”

  The paramedic led Henry to the sofa. “He’s all yours. He won’t let us take him to the hospital. Watch out for dizziness, worsening headache, nausea…I wouldn’t be surprised if he has a concussion.”

  Megan said, “Do you remember anything? Did you get a look at the attacker?”

  “No. It was halftime so I went into the kitchen for a beer and next thing I know I feel this excruciating pain and feel myself hit the floor. Must have blacked out until Emily found me.”

  Ron said, “Halftime? Means this happened less than an hour ago. Emily, you’re lucky he wasn’t here waiting when you got home. I’m going to have a look around outside.”

  “He took my laptop. If he was in and out that quickly, he had to have known that’s what he wanted to take. Henry, how didn’t you hear him break the lock?”

  “The volume was up, and I was in the kitchen. He had to have been quick and quiet.”

  “The intruder came specifically for my laptop. Henry, could it have been a woman?”

  “I suppose. Like I said, I never saw him—or her.”

  “I told Rona Smyth I wanted to interview her for my book. I’ll bet she had a change of heart and stole my computer so I would lose my notes.”

  Megan said, “I’ll go question her when we’re done here.”

  Ron came back in. “I found a shoe print. Looks like an athletic shoe.”

  Emily said, “Could it be from a woman’s shoe?”

  “Looked rather large—more like a man’s shoe.”

  Megan said, “We’ll get right on this. Did you lose all your notes?”

  “Everything is backed up on the Cloud, thank God. Worst comes to worst I’ll have to buy another lapt
op.”

  “Sam is almost done fixing your front door lock. Are you going to be okay here?”

  “Yes. The intruder got what he—or she—was after. There’s no need to come back here.”

  “Then Ron and I will get moving. I’ll call you with any updates. Keep the doors locked.”

  “Thanks.”

  Emily helped Henry into the recliner. “Can I get you anything? Aspirin?”

  “That would be good. Don’t look at me like that. I’m fine.”

  Maddy sat on the sofa. “Want me to find a movie?”

  “Sure. Nothing violent.”

  When Emily saw them watching a movie, she made a batch of microwave popcorn and settled in next to them. When dinner time rolled around, Maddy suggested pizza. Emily didn’t feel like cooking and quickly agreed.

  “That’s my phone.” Emily picked up her vibrating phone. “Megan, any news? Really? You’re sure? Okay then.”

  “What did she say?” said Henry.

  “She went over to Smyth Haven. Rona hadn’t left the inn at all. A dozen guests confirmed her alibi.”

  Chapter 22

  Emily filled Chester’s bowl. As she got up, Henry came in for breakfast. “Henry, how are you feeling?” She looked at his head, parting the hair around the wound. “You have quite a bump, but no more bleeding.”

  Henry swallowed a couple of Excedrin. “I’m good. Just a bit of lingering headache. Did Maddy get off to school?”

  “Yes. You’re not going to the hospital today, are you?”

  “I told them to call if they’re short-handed. Otherwise, no. Want me to start price shopping for laptops?”

  “I’m hoping it will be found quickly, but truth is, I can’t do any work without it. I suppose if I get a new one and the police recover mine, I can bring it into school. I hate the desktop in my office.”

  “Aren’t you running late?”

  “My TA is covering for me this morning. I need to get over to Smyth Haven and interview Rona.” She looked at her phone. It was early, but she hoped to get her test results today. “I’m going to get over there. The breakfast rush will be about over.”

  When she got to Smyth Haven, Rona brought her into her office. A musty oak desk sat smack in the middle of the room.

  “Is that an antique?”

  “I don’t think so. This was my father’s office when he was alive. When we renovated, I had them leave this office just as it was when Dad was alive. Makes me feel connected to him.”

  Emily fished a legal pad from her oversized purse. “Tell me about the accident.”

  “Well, I had just moved home for a while. My restaurant, The Silver Spoon, had burned to the ground and I needed to figure out what to do next.”

  “You received insurance money, correct?”

  “Not immediately, but yes. I was starting to look for another location when the accident happened.”

  “Were you at home when you heard the news?”

  “Yes. I’d fallen asleep watching a movie when I heard knocking on the door. It was really late. I wasn’t about to open it, but when they said it was the police, well, I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.”

  “They came in and said your parents had an accident? Swerved into the lake? What words did they use?”

  “They told me to sit down, that they had bad news. I barely remember the words. It was such a blur. All I know is they said my parents were dead.”

  “How awful. Where had they been that evening?”

  “They’d gone to dinner, and to see a play. The police said Dad didn’t even try to stop. There were no skid marks. I figure he must have had a stroke or something.”

  “Did they find that in the autopsy?”

  “No, they didn’t. He was a good driver. I thought he’d fallen asleep at the wheel since they found no medical cause.”

  “Why did they suspect foul play?”

  “They said the car had been tampered with. I’d had a huge fight with them earlier that day, right in the middle of the street down town. Who else had a motive? Everyone loved them both.”

  “Did they have any evidence it was you?”

  “All circumstantial. Tools. A few key tools were missing from the garage wall. Dad had them hung in specific, labeled spots. He was a little OCD.”

  “Tools that could have been used to tamper with the car.”

  “Yes.”

  “Did they locate those tools?”

  “Nope.”

  “Do you think someone deliberately caused the accident?”

  “I can’t imagine it. They’d had brake problems in that car before. As a matter of fact, they’d just had them repaired shortly before the accident.”

  “And the missing tools?”

  “I don’t want this made public, but my father was suffering from dementia. I think he misplaced the tools, maybe even fiddled with the car himself thinking he was repairing it. It also explains him zoning out while driving.”

  “But your mother was in the car, too.”

  “One drink and she’d have been out like a light. At least that’s what I tell myself. I don’t think either of them realized what was happening. I hope they didn’t.”

  “I heard that you were suspected of starting the fire at The Silver Spoon to collect the insurance money.”

  Rona’s raised her voice. The veins in her neck showed. “I absolutely did not burn down my own restaurant. The police investigated. No foul play.”

  “But the original report from the fire department states there was evidence of an accelerant found at the scene.”

  “That’s not true. Read the insurance report. Had that been true, why would the insurance company have paid out the claim? I thought you were on my side. That’s why I agreed to this interview.”

  Emily considered challenging her—admitting to having seen the bank records. She opted against it. Why show all her cards at once? Besides, if Rona got angry at her, that’d been the end of her cooperation and the book would be that much harder to write. Rona might even try to stop it from being written altogether.

  “I’m not saying I believed what I heard. Rumors fly in situations like that.”

  Rona lowered her voice. “Yes, they do. I loved my parents. Now, I have to get back to work.”

  “Thanks for your time. May I contact you if I have questions down the road?”

  “If I’m not too busy.”

  “And if you think of anything else that may be relevant, here’s my card. It’d be wonderful if we could clear your name once and for all—find out what really happened that night.”

  It was a start. Emily was surprised. She got a vibe that Rona did love her parents and that she was telling the truth. Then again, she obviously bribed the insurance investigator—based on the bank record evidence uncovered by Rebecca. And she was on the brink of bankruptcy.

  Rona went back to the dining area. On her way out, Emily noticed a ski jacket hanging on the coat rack by the galoshes. She zeroed in on the zipper. The bottom piece, the part you pulled to zip and unzip, was missing! It had to be Rona’s jacket. The guests kept theirs in their rooms surely. Rona had spied on Coralee after all. She hustled out to the car.

  Her phone buzzed. When she looked at the caller ID, her heart stopped. It was the breast center. She took a moment to calm herself, then answered.

  “Is this Mrs. Emily Fox?”

  “It is.” The words stuck in her throat.

  “I have your test results.”

  “Go on.”

  “Good news. There’s no evidence of a tumor at this time. We’d like you to follow up in six months with another ultrasound and compression just to be certain.”

  “So I don’t have cancer?”

  “No. Keep up with your screenings, though.”

  “I will. Thank you, Doctor.”

  She let out a scream, right there in the car. She was okay. No cancer. Then again, she’d have to follow up in six months, not the usual year between screenings. Why? Never mind. It
was good news. She shouldn’t have worked herself into a tizzy the way she had. As a matter of fact, the news was so good, she decided to take herself out to lunch.

  She drove downtown and pulled in front of the Wildflower Bistro, which connected to a used book store. She sat in a booth and studied the lunch menu. A mushroom and sprouts sandwich on wheat bread…or a cranberry and goat cheese salad? She opted for the sandwich. She rarely ate lunch downtown and was looking forward to her own private celebration. Maybe even a glass of wine.

  Through the front window, she saw Sam walking with Summer Martin. Was he cheating on Jessica already? They were stopping at the door of the bistro. They were coming inside! She slumped down and hid behind the menu.

  The waitress seated them in the booth right behind hers. She didn’t want to be seen—sure Sam wouldn’t be comfortable knowing she’d run back and tell Jessica. Of course that was exactly what she had in mind.

  Without too much straining, she overheard their conversation.

  “Everything’s moving ahead. Won’t be long before we’re both rich.”

  “What if they find out, you know?”

  “They won’t.”

  “If that witch Faith Maguire was still alive, our whole plan would be up in smoke.”

  “But she’s not. She got what was coming to her.”

  “I visited my parents at the prison. I actually saw Mom smile when I told her the news.”

  “We’re all better off now that Faith Maguire is dead. What are you ordering for lunch?”

  “The quiche and salad looks good. Tired of eating the same old same old at the inn. Coralee prides herself in her cooking, but if that food wasn’t free for us employees…Let’s say I don’t see how she stays in business.”

  Jessica was right to be wary of this guy. When she finished her lunch, she slipped out while Sam and Summer were still plotting. What was Sam’s alibi the night Faith was murdered? She headed to the police station. Megan waved her into her office.

  “Megan, I overheard Sam Benson and Summer Martin talking. They both have money invested in the new charter school and I think they plotted to kill Faith Maguire. She was the single roadblock to the school moving forward. Summer was right at the inn that night. Can you check and see if Sam has an alibi?”

  “Emily, calm down. We interviewed Summer Martin and she was in her room the whole evening—after Coralee took her off waitress duty. We interviewed everyone who was there that night and no one saw her go back into the kitchen.”