by Kathi Daley
“Okay,” I said. “That just leaves Alvin, Lisa, Jordan, Stephanie, and Naomi downstairs.”
“Lisa said she went up before Alvin, I’m assuming after they argued,” Fiona said. “I guess we’ll need to compare everyone’s stories to figure out who was still up and about when Alvin left.”
“Colt will ask the questions needed to get a timeline,” I assured everyone.
When Naomi came down, she told the group that when she went to bed, only Lisa, Alvin, Jordan, and Stephanie were downstairs. She said Lisa had woken by then, and the four were having a conversation about some upcoming benefit.
“Lisa said she went up before Alvin, so I have to assume that she went up before Jordan and Stephanie as well,” I pointed out. “It seems unlikely that Alvin would stay downstairs alone.”
“What’s going on?” Jennifer asked after joining the group.
Fiona explained what had occurred and that everyone would need to submit to an interview.
“Lisa told me that she and Alvin argued on Thursday night, which is why she went up early,” Jennifer shared. “I asked what they’d argued about, and Lisa said that Alvin had been on the phone half the night, and she was tired of being ignored. I’m not sure who was still downstairs at that point, but I guess you can ask Lisa when she comes down.”
Carson rejoined the group shortly after Jennifer had joined the group. Colt asked Fiona to come with him next, which she did, although she didn’t look happy about it.
“Was it brutal?” Naomi asked Carson.
“Not at all,” he replied. “The police chief asked a lot of questions, but he was patient and helpful. He seems to be after the truth, which I suppose is what we’re all after.”
“Definitely,” Mike said. “It sounds as if someone here at this party killed the guy, which I am having a hard time believing, but if that’s true, then we need to do whatever we can to help the authorities find the killer.”
“I just can’t believe anyone here is a killer,” Jennifer said.
“I agree,” Naomi seconded. “There has to be another explanation.”
“Like what?” Ambrosia asked.
“Maybe a member of the staff,” Naomi said.
I shook my head. “It’s just Jeremy, Georgia, and me here at night. I can assure you that none of us killed the man.”
“What about a neighbor?” Jennifer asked.
“What neighbor?” Naomi asked. “We are literally in the middle of nowhere.”
“Then what about a vagrant living out in the forest somewhere?” she insisted.
“I don’t think there are any homeless people in the area,” I responded.
Everyone froze as Lisa came down from upstairs.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“It’s Alvin honey,” Naomi said. “I’m afraid the reason he’s missing is because he’s dead.”
I watched Lisa’s facial expressions as Naomi got up and hugged her. Her tears seemed real enough, and her disbelief was enough to convince me that she wasn’t the one who killed the man. The question was, if not her, then who?
Chapter 9
Colt spoke to Lisa after he finished his conversation with Fiona. Lisa told him that things with Alvin had been tense lately and that she thought he was up to something behind her back. She didn’t know what. At first, she suspected he was cheating on her, but as time went by, she began to suspect it was something else. Lisa told Colt that when she went up, Jordan, Stephanie, and Alvin were all downstairs, but Stephanie had been making noise about turning in, and she suspected that once she headed up, the other two retired as well.
Colt spoke to Jordan and Stephanie individually, and both stated that they turned in about twenty minutes after Lisa went up, which they estimated to be close to two a.m. At this point, Alvin was sitting alone in front of the fire, sipping on a whiskey. Neither knew what happened after that.
“So Alvin was the last one up,” I said after Colt had filled me in. “That’s going to make it hard to know what he did next. Did he go out, or did someone come to the inn? And if someone came to the inn, was Alvin expecting him or her?”
Colt frowned. “I’m not sure at this point, but I do plan to figure this out.”
“So, are the guests free to go about their day?” I asked.
Colt nodded. “Based on proximity, logic would dictate that one of your guests is the killer, but after speaking to everyone individually, I just don’t think that is the case. Fiona told me that the group had planned to head to a resort south of here for a day of spa treatments for the ladies and golf for the men. I told her it was fine to keep her reservations. I don’t think any of the ten will flee, and Fiona has promised me that they will all return to the inn this evening if I have additional questions.”
“So, what now?”
“I’m going to head back to my office and go over my notes. I’m also going to pull Alvin’s phone records since it sounds like he was on the phone much of the evening. After that, I’m going to head over to the morgue and have another chat with the coroner. He should have his toxicology screen and other tests back by then. I’m hoping we can nail down the cause of death.”
“Will you be back later?” I asked.
He nodded. “Probably. I’ll call you. Fiona mentioned that the group should be back here at the inn by seven. I may have additional questions by that point.”
“The group is due to check out on Monday,” I informed him. “If you haven’t solved the case by then, is it going to be okay for everyone to leave?”
“Probably. Every guest staying with you is a high profile individual. I know where to find them if I need them. Of course, if I find something that causes one of the guests to stand out as having a real motive, I may change my position on letting everyone go.”
“Okay, I guess we’ll just play things by ear. Fiona hasn’t asked for a cocktail hour this evening. Dinner will be served at eight. You said she mentioned everyone would be back by seven, I assume to clean up and dress for the meal. If you do need everyone to stay, we can arrange for that. We don’t have guests checking in until Wednesday of next week.”
“Okay, I’ll let you know after I check a few things out today. The reality is that I can’t require anyone to stay unless I have significant grounds to do so, which at this point, I don’t.”
After Colt left, I helped Georgia, Nikki, and Jeremy clean the rooms as well as the common areas. We were just finishing when Lacy called to ask Georgia and me if we wanted to go to the house Lonnie was refurbishing with her. Baron Chadwick had added some items to his furniture order, and Lacy needed to go to the house to take photos and measurements. Lonnie was home today, so he had the kids, but she needed to be home by four, so it would be a quick trip. I told her that I would love to go and that I’d ask Georgia. I was sure she would want to come along as well, assuming she didn’t have complicated dinner preparations to attend to.
Lacy came by just after noon to pick Georgia and me up. It was a forty-minute drive to and from the house, but that left us over two hours to poke around and still be home by four. Plenty of time to satisfy our curiosity. During the drive, we chatted about the upcoming Clam Bake Colt had mentioned. The town of Holiday Bay was big on tourism, mostly because tourism was its only industry. The town seemed to hold a festival of one sort or another most weekends. Summers were the busiest, of course, followed by the fall foliage season and Christmas. Last year, Georgia and I had helped out with both the Lobster Festival and the Wine Festival, which I assumed we’d do this year as well.
“So what sort of items did Baron Chadwick add to your list?” Georgia asked as we neared the house.
“He added items to refurbish and to purchase. I want to look at the items he wants refurbished before agreeing to take on the work, and many of the items he added to purchase are part of a set, so I need photos. The items he wants me to find seem reasonable. One of the bedroom sets is missing the tall armoire, although Baron did indicate that the vanity dresser and the n
ightstands are intact. I need to take another look, but I remember the set, and I think given enough time, I can find what he needs. He also wants to add an end table to match the one that’s currently in the parlor, and he wants me to find a Louis the XV buffet for the dining area. In addition to the items I’m already refurbishing, he wants me to look at the desk in the library, which he initially thought we’d need to replace but can’t seem to find, as well as an eighteenth-century French hutch, which is simply gorgeous.”
“Will you move the items to the workshop you have set up in your home?” Georgia asked.
“That would be the easiest thing to do, but if I remember correctly, the desk in the library is much too large to fit through the one and only doorway. I guess they must have built the room around it. Initially, I thought it might have been assembled in the room, but the bulk of the unit seems seamless, so unless they took out a wall and then replaced it, I have no idea how they got it in there. If the desk is as solid as I suspect, I guess I’ll just work on it there. That’s if I even decide to take it on. If I remember correctly, it’s going to need a lot of work. It’s missing two drawers, but I think between Lonnie and me, we can build something that will work.”
“So if the room the desk occupies is a library, are there books on the shelves?” I wondered.
She nodded. “Hundreds. Maybe thousands, and all at least several decades old. Many are much older than that. If I know you, and I do, you’re going to have a field day looking around in that room alone.”
I did love old books. I loved the yellowed pages, the musty smell, the leather covers, and the imagery of generations of readers passing each volume down. I loved to poke around in old bookstores, although I hadn’t had time to do much of that lately.
“There it is; up on the bluff,” Lacy said.
“It’s gorgeous,” I said as I viewed the single-story structure that spidered out over the landscape.
“It certainly has a large footprint,” Georgia said.
Lacy nodded. “There are tons of hallways that veer off to other hallways. It’s easy to get lost once you’re inside.”
“This is some house for a summer home,” I said. “How large is it?”
“Lonnie said that if you take into account the entire structure, it’s around twenty thousand square feet.”
“Wow. I can’t wait to get a look inside,” I said. “Are there tons and tons of bedrooms, or are we looking at large living areas?”
“Both. The home includes an indoor pool, which Lonnie said was added on in the nineteen forties. It’s empty now and needs repair, but it’s still very impressive. And the library I told you about is huge, oh, and the kitchen, which I suspect has been redone several times, is amazing. I’m willing to bet it’s large enough to service a good size restaurant. Of course, the appliances are dated, and the space needs a major facelift, but in terms of size, it’s really something.”
“So, the house has been added onto since Ozzie Chadwick built it?” Georgia asked.
“The wing that houses the pool and gymnasium was added after the house was built, as well as the three garages, but Lonnie said the footprint for the remainder of the structure is basically the same, although there have been other renovations over the years of one space or another, mainly the kitchen and bathrooms.” Lacy pulled onto a private drive that led out to the bluff. “I’ll try to point out which areas are original and which have been added on as we walk through.”
The house in a word was amazing. It was somewhat dark for my taste, with dark paneling, dark furnishings, and a dark hardwood floor, but the windows facing the bay let in quite a bit of light, and I supposed if Baron wanted a more modern and open feel, he could afford to make any changes needed to brighten the place up a bit.
As Lacy predicted, it didn’t take long to get totally turned around. When you walked in through the front door, there were hallways to both the left and the right as well as a shorter hallway immediately in front of you. The hallway directly in front of you when you entered the home, led to a huge living area, from which additional hallways spidered off toward the kitchen and formal dining area. The hallways to the left and right led to bedrooms and bathrooms, the library, both an east and west parlor, an atrium, the pool room, gym, and other rooms I didn’t have time to explore. Since the house was spread out over a single story, there were hallways veering off to connect the various rooms to others, which resulted in a web of hallways it would take someone with a keen sense of space to navigate.
“So, do you know your way around?” Georgia asked.
Lacy held up a piece of paper. “I’ve been here several times, so I have a general idea of the layout, but Lonnie drew me a map with all the hallways just in case I get turned around. The bedroom with the missing armoire is down this hallway, so let’s start there.”
Georgia and I followed Lacy through the maze as she pointed out the various rooms. Most were at least partially furnished, but all the rooms were dusty and musty and seriously in need of a facelift. When we got to the bedroom with the missing piece, Lacy stopped to take photos and measurements. She was very precise in her measurements, not wanting to waste her time on a piece that wouldn’t fit in the space allotted. Once she finished in this room, we headed toward a hallway that seemed to run along the back of the house, which eventually led to the kitchen. From there, she headed into the dining area to take measurements for the buffet and hutch.
I could see that Georgia was more than just a little bit in love with everything Lacy showed us. I was as well, but Georgia had more of a connection to old furniture than I did. Of course, when we arrived in the library, I felt like I’d died and gone to heaven. Now, here was a room I could get lost in.
“Wow, that is a large desk,” Georgia said as she and Lacy approached it while I ran my finger along a wall of hardbound books. “I agree that you’ll never get it out of here. Not only is it much too large to fit through the doorway, but it must weigh a ton.” She ran her hand over the surface of the desktop and then down along the front. “And it does seem as if the thing is seamless. I don’t see how it can be, but I don’t see any screws.”
“It needs a lot of work,” Lacy said, biting her lip. “But it really is something special. I’d need to get a sitter for Maddie if I refurbished it here, but Baron seems to be willing to pay for all my expenses, including a babysitter, so maybe. It would be fun to come to work with Lonnie a few days a week, and I could work on the drawers at home, so that would help.”
“It sounds like you want to do it,” I said.
She grinned. “I really do.” She opened one drawer and then another. She took her time measuring and photographing every inch of the piece. She took detailed notes, which I assumed described the damage that would need to be repaired. It looked as if we were going to spend much longer in this room than we had in the others, which was fine with me. I turned away from the desk and back toward the shelves that lined each wall from floor to ceiling. Oh, those books. Those wonderful, glorious books.
I carefully pulled out random volumes. I was afraid of damaging the oldest of the collection, so I moved slowly and with care. It was a shame that the books had not been treated with the respect they deserved, but the library was windowless and the house cool, so I supposed the environment could have been worse.
As I made my way to the section with the oldest books, I lovingly brushed a finger across each of them, stopping every now and then to pull out a volume and open the cover. Most of the books were printed in English, but there were quite a few in this particular section that had been printed in Latin. I found a few printed in Italian and several in French. Had the residents of this majestic old home had the ability to read all these languages? I supposed if they were educated or had traveled widely, they might have. Of course, traveling widely back then would have required long and tedious ocean voyages.
“I think I am going to take all the drawers that still exist with me,” Lacy said. “There are two missing completely, but
I think I can make something to match since I have the originals to use as a pattern.” She opened another drawer. “We’ll need to find a box for the contents. Even empty, these drawers are going to be heavy.”
“I saw some empty boxes in the parlor,” Georgia said. “I’ll run and get one.”
“Don’t get lost,” I called after her.
“If I do, I’ll call you, and you can come and rescue me.”
Lacy continued to make notes, and I continued to look at the books after Georgia left. Many of the volumes contained beautiful artwork and several featured inscriptions. Maybe Lacy could talk to Baron about a glass case with climate control for some of the oldest volumes.
“Look at this,” I said aloud, after pulling a random book off the shelf.
Lacy looked toward me. “What is it?”
“It looks like a journal of some sort. The interior pages are penned in ink.”
“Can you tell whose journal it is?” she asked.
I shook my head. “It’s in French. I can read a few words here and there, but not enough to make sense of it. I’d love to know what it says. Do we know anyone who can read French?”
“Tanner can speak French, so maybe he can read it as well,” Georgia said, returning to the room in time to catch my last comment.
“Tanner can speak French?” I asked. “Why?”
Georgia shrugged. “I’m not sure. I just know he can. I guess he might have taken it in school, or perhaps he traveled there at some point in the past. I never asked. We were on a date, and when we overheard a couple in a restaurant speaking Italian, I made a comment about what a beautiful language it was, and that’s when Tanner shared that while he didn’t know Italian, he was fluent in French.”
I looked at Lacy. “Do you think we could get permission to either remove the journal from the house or have Tanner come here and take a look at it?”
