by Kathi Daley
“It never hurts to ask. I was going to call Baron after I finished my assessment anyway. I’ll bring up the journal and see what he has to say. I found some old blueprints in one of these desk drawers I’d like to take a closer look at as well. It looks as if there might be a room on the set of blueprints in the desk that isn’t on the map Lonnie drew for me.”
“A secret room?” I asked, suddenly intrigued.
She shrugged. “I’m not sure.” She laid the old document across the surface of the desk. “I think we’re here.” She pointed to a room on the blueprint.
I took a moment to consider the other rooms around the room she was pointing to. “Yeah, I think you’re correct. Here’s the parlor.”
“And here’s the bedroom where we looked at the antique rocking horse,” Georgia added. “I remember it looked out over the little cove.”
“Okay, so we’re here,” Lacy said. “The question is, what’s here?” She pointed toward what looked to be a room behind the library.
I picked up the map Lonnie had drawn. According to his map, the far wall of the library was an exterior wall, and there was nothing behind it, but the old blueprints clearly showed a room between the library and the patio area, which overlooked the sea.
“I think that might be a secret room,” I said. “This room is windowless, and the extra room looks to be windowless, so from the outside, you’d never be able to tell the difference.” I looked up from the blueprint. “Maybe it’s some sort of panic room.”
“Or maybe it was used for storage,” Lacy said. “I’m not sure people built panic rooms into homes when this house was built.”
“So, how do we access it?” Georgia asked.
We looked around. The entire room was covered in bookshelves. Every wall from top to bottom. The room featured a single doorway leading out to the hallway, but other than the opening for the doorway, every single inch of wall space held books.
“There must be a wall that opens,” I said.
“Or maybe you access the extra room from somewhere other than this room,” Georgia offered. “It might be accessible from the exterior of the home or maybe from the hallway here.” She pointed to a spot where a doorway could conceivably be located.
“I guess I’ll ask Baron when I call him,” Lacy said. “He might know about the room. He seems to know a lot about the house.” She looked at her watch. “We should go. Go ahead and start taking the drawers out to the car, and I’ll call and ask about the journal and the secret room.”
As it turned out, Baron was fine with us taking the journal from the house as long as we were careful with it, and we provided him a translation. He didn’t know anything about a secret room, but as we were, he was intrigued. Lacy promised to have Lonnie look at the old blueprints she found. As a contractor, he had a good eye for how things fit together spatially. Baron gave Lacy permission to poke around a bit after she assured him that if she found a way to access the room, she wouldn’t touch a thing until he could make the trip out to take a look himself.
Chapter 10
When we returned to the inn, Georgia needed to jump in the shower and then head over to the inn to start the prep work for dinner. Jeremy had spent the day working in the garden. Now that the snow had melted on the sunny side of the house and the days were warmer, he had cleanup to do. I think Jeremy much preferred working outside than inside, but he did whatever was required of him and never voiced a single complaint.
I made myself a glass of iced tea and then took the dogs out onto the deck behind the cottage. They ran around a bit and then settled in for a nap in the sun. The temperature was mild today, but certainly not hot, so with jeans and a sweatshirt, it was actually quite pleasant. I actually enjoyed these first days of spring even more than I enjoyed the summer. Not that the summers weren’t gorgeous in Holiday Bay, but they could be hot, and since I wasn’t the sort to want to spend a lot of time at the beach or in the water, I preferred milder temperatures.
I did enjoy the garden in the summer, however. By the time June rolled around, I knew the perennials would be in full bloom, the deciduous shrubbery would be lush and green, and the annuals Jeremy planted to provide a burst of color would be in full bloom.
Last year, we’d still been building the hardscape and planting the beds, but once the cleanup was done this year, Jeremy and I both planned to spend some time working on the artistry that could only be achieved by blending the perfect shrubs with the perfect flowers.
I picked up my phone and stared at it. I hated to interrupt Colt if he was busy, but I was curious and anxious to find out what, if anything, he’d learned about Alvin Connor’s murder. I settled on a text asking him to call me with an update once he had some free time. I didn’t have to wait long before my cell rang, alerting me that I had a call.
“So how was your trip to Lonnie’s new project?” he asked.
“It was so awesome. I mean, really fantastic. How did you know that I went out to the house today? Lacy called after you left.”
“I talked to Lonnie earlier, and he told me what you were all up to. Based on Lonnie’s description, it sounds like it’s quite the mansion.”
“It really is fantastic,” I agreed. “There are all these old books I could spend a year or two looking through if I had the chance. I can’t believe they’ve been left in an empty house for decades. What a waste. I know that Baron just recently inherited it, but surely he could have visited if he’d wanted to. I wonder why he didn’t.”
“I don’t know. I guess if you meet him, you’ll need to ask him that.”
“I guess I will. So how are things going on the murder case? Any news or leads?”
“Actually, I do have news. It turns out that Alvin died due to the insertion of a large dose of a paralyzing drug via a needle to the neck. According to the coroner, his heart would have stopped, and death would have come almost immediately after the drug was administered.”
“So Alvin must have gone out to meet with someone who then injected him with a lethal dose of a drug and then stashed him in the shed.”
“That’s exactly how it looks.”
“Why stash him in the shed? The killer must have known he’d be found in a relatively short amount of time. Why not dump him in the ocean or bury him in the forest?”
“The only explanation I can come up with is that the killer didn’t have the strength to move the guy once he’d passed out or a vehicle to move him elsewhere.”
“It is true that no one in the pre-wedding party has access to a vehicle. Do you have any idea which of the ten it might be?”
“I pulled Alvin’s phone records, and according to those records, Alvin was on the phone for much of the evening, as Lisa indicated. There were seven calls to an unregistered number. I’m trying to find out who owns the number, but so far, I’ve run into nothing but dead ends. There was also a call from Naomi Arlington, who called him at two-fifteen.”
“Why would Naomi call Alvin? They were both here at the inn.”
“Were they? According to what everyone told me today, Alvin was alone once Jordan and Stephanie turned in at two. Maybe Alvin went out at that point.”
“Maybe, but Naomi said she went up to bed before Jordan and Stephanie, who said they turned in at two,” I reminded Colt. “I suppose she might not have gone to sleep, but she is sharing a suite with Willa, who, according to Mike, was already asleep. It seems unlikely she’d be making phone calls from the room. I suppose Naomi might have come back down from her room to find Alvin, and when he wasn’t there, she might have called him. But why? The whole thing makes no sense.”
“I don’t disagree. Has the group returned from their day at the resort?”
“No. They aren’t expected to be back until seven.”
“Okay, I’m on my way over. This is the perfect time to take a look around for the syringe that was used since no one is around to ask questions or get in the way.”
“You don’t think Naomi actually killed Alvin, do you?” I
asked.
“I don’t know. When I spoke to her this morning, she didn’t do or say anything that would lead me to believe she was guilty, but I’ve just met the woman, so I have no idea how good an actress she might be. In addition to the fact that Naomi appears to have called Alvin after going up to bed, which, of course, she didn’t mention when I spoke to her this morning, it seems a bit of a coincidence that both her roommate, Willa, and Alvin’s roommate, Lisa, were the two who were totally passed out.”
“Do you think they were drugged?”
“I think they might have been.”
I hated to admit it, but some sort of drug mixed into the drinks would explain a lot. Yes, everyone had been drinking heavily, but Lisa and Willa passed out fairly early, and I hadn’t noticed Willa even drinking wine at dinner on that first night, and she certainly hadn’t been drunk at that point. I felt my stomach knot. Poor Fiona was going to be devastated if her sister was the killer. I’d only just met the bride and groom-to-be, but based on what I knew about both, I had a feeling the future husband and wife were good people with good hearts and pure intentions.
Deciding to head over to the inn to give Georgia and Jeremy a heads up about the cause of death, I returned the dogs to the cottage, gave them fresh water, and headed next door. When I arrived, I found Georgia staring at the food she had piled on the counter. “Is there a problem?” I asked.
“Fiona just called. The group has decided to have dinner at the resort where they went for golf and spa treatments. She said they’d be back at the inn around ten.”
“I see. It would have been nice if they’d called before you started the dinner prep.”
“That’s what I said. Well, no, I guess that isn’t what I said. What I actually said was for her to have a good time and to remember the after-hours policy should they not return by ten. It’s not a catastrophe. Fiona assured me that she’s more than willing to pay for the dinner she ordered with us, but now I have ten Cornish game hens and a partially prepped meal, and no one to eat it.”
I picked up a piece of carrot and popped it into my mouth. “Colt is on his way over. I’m sure he’ll want to stay for dinner. I love game hen, and I’m sure Jeremy will eat one. We can call Tanner and Nikki, and ask them to come over for dinner, with you that would be six. Maybe I’ll call Lacy and see if she and Lonnie want to have dinner with us. If they can get a sitter that would be eight. Maybe Velma?”
Georgia smiled. “That sounds like a wonderful idea. If I wasn’t halfway into the prep, I’d just freeze the hens and try to recycle the rest, but at this point, the hens are seasoned and ready to go into the oven.”
“Okay, you keep working, and I’ll make the calls. By the way, I have news on the murder case. I spoke to Colt, and it seems that Alvin was injected with a drug that stopped his heart. He’s on the way over to look for the syringe.”
Georgia frowned. “Wow, that’s awful. Does he have a suspect?”
“Naomi actually,” I explained about the call.
“That is just too strange. Naomi seems a bit immature if you ask me, but I wouldn’t have pegged her as a killer. And she seems too small to have lugged a body very far once it was deceased.”
“Which is why Colt thinks the body was left in the shed and not moved. I’m going to run and call Lacy and Velma. I’ll call Nikki and Tanner as well, and then we can regroup.”
As it turned out, everyone on our guest list was thrilled to eat the food left unspoken for by Fiona’s group. Lacy and Lonnie preferred to eat earlier than the planned time of eight o’clock if possible since they had to get back and take over for the babysitter, so Georgia moved the timetable up and planned to serve the meal at six-thirty. Colt showed up just as Georgia and I were discussing what needed to be done to get the meal on the table an hour and a half earlier than scheduled. After I explained the change in this evening’s plans, Colt began his search in the shed, and when nothing was found, he headed upstairs and began looking through rooms, beginning with Naomi’s. I offered to help, but he indicated that he had a system, so I went downstairs to help Georgia. By the time I returned to the kitchen, Jeremy had come back from wherever he’d been and had headed down to his apartment to shower.
“I’m not sure if I’m hoping that he finds the syringe, or he doesn’t,” Georgia said. “I do want Alvin’s killer brought to justice, but I don’t want the remainder of the weekend to be ruined.”
“I hear you,” I agreed.
Colt came into the kitchen a short time later.
“So, did you find anything?”
He held up a plastic bag with a syringe inside. “It was just there in Naomi’s trashcan. It was wrapped up in a tissue, but otherwise, it was sitting there for anyone to find.”
“So what are you going to do? Arrest Naomi?” I asked.
He shook his head. “This was a little too easy for my taste. I’m going to take this back into town and test it for prints and contents.”
“Dinner is going to be at six-thirty. Lonnie and Lacy are coming, and wanted to eat earlier,” Georgia informed him.
“I should be back by then. If not, go ahead and start. I’ll eat when I get here.”
Jeremy returned to the kitchen shortly after Colt left.
“Did I hear Colt?” he asked.
“He just left, but he’ll be back,” I said.
“Did he find the syringe?”
“He did,” I answered Jeremy. “It was in the trashcan in Naomi’s room.”
“Seems sloppy,” he replied.
“I agree,” Georgia said. “Naomi doesn’t seem to have Fiona’s drive and ambition, but she appears to be intelligent. If she is the killer, I don’t see her just leaving evidence in her room. It sounds to me as if someone might be setting her up.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I had the same thought. Colt as well. But if not Naomi, who?”
No one spoke.
“Colt said that Naomi called Alvin at two-fifteen, which would have been after everyone other than Alvin said they’d already gone to their suites.”
“Maybe someone used Naomi’s phone,” Jeremy pointed out. “She could have left it downstairs, or perhaps someone took it when she wasn’t looking. It wouldn’t have been hard for one of the other members of the group to get ahold of it and then return it. If Naomi had left the phone downstairs or if she was sleeping when her phone was borrowed, she would never have known.”
“Who else, other than Willa, could have gotten into the suite?” Georgia asked.
“The killer is sophisticated enough to know which drug to use to stop a heart and how to administer it for maximum effect. I’d say someone with that sort of smarts might be able to jimmy a lock,” Jeremy pointed out.
“I guess all we can do at this point is to wait until Colt gets back and see what he has to say,” I responded.
Tanner and Nikki showed up at five-thirty. Nikki pitched in to help Georgia, who took a break to have a glass of wine with Tanner, who was sitting at the little table in the kitchen. I figured this was as good a time as any to show him the journal I’d brought from the Chadwick house. I was so sure it was a tell-all journal of some sort, but as it turned out, it wasn’t.
“It’s a log describing tasks, events, dates, those types of things,” Tanner informed us.
“Tasks, events, and dates?” I asked.
“I’d say the log was kept by whoever acted as house manager at the time the log was kept. I can see why you thought it was a journal since there are dates at the top of each page, but the text includes things such as notes about the dates the homeowner and his family will be in the area, the date they are to expect certain shipments, guests who are due to arrive other than family members, items in need of repair or maintenance. That sort of thing.”
“Why would a book like that end up on the shelf in the library?” I asked.
Tanner shrugged. “I have no idea. Maybe someone saw it lying around and assumed it was a book and placed it on the shelf.”
“Well, that
’s disappointing,” I said. “Can you tell when the log was kept?”
Tanner glanced at the first couple of pages. “Not right offhand, but there might be something in the text that will mention a name or a year. The dates at the top of the pages only include the month and day.”
“I suppose even if the book isn’t a juicy journal as I’d hoped, there might be something useful contained within,” I said.
“Useful for what?” Tanner asked.
“Useful to solve the mystery,” I said.
“What mystery?” Tanner asked.
I shrugged. “I haven’t quite decided yet, but with houses as old as the Chadwick house, there is always a mystery to solve.”
Lonnie and Lacy arrived at six o’clock. Jeremy and Georgia were busy getting the meal ready to serve, but the rest of us had moved into the main living area. I showed Lonnie the blueprints Lacy found, but I’d taken to study, hoping they would tell a much more interesting story than the book I’d thought was a journal had. He unrolled the prints and frowned.
“I see what you are talking about,” he said. He pointed to the room behind the wall of the library. “The blueprints I have show this wall,” he ran a finger along the library wall, “as being an exterior wall, but it does look as if there is an enclosed space here. I’ve walked around the exterior of the home many times, and I went through all the rooms fairly well when I was calculating my bid for the renovation. If there is an enclosed space here, it’s well concealed.”
“But, could there be a room?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Sure. I guess. Every wall in the library is lined from floor to ceiling with bookshelves, but I suppose there could be a false wall that is actually a door. I’ll be removing all the books at some point to refinish the shelving, so I guess I can take a better look then.”
That sounded a lot like waiting to me, which I wasn’t a fan of.
“Maybe you could get permission for Abby, Georgia, and me to poke around a bit,” Lacy suggested.
