by Kathi Daley
“And me,” Nikki chimed in.
“And Nikki,” Lacy added.
“It would be helpful if I had someone to box up all those books ahead of the renovation in that room,” Lonnie said.
That sounded like work, but I decided if I had to combine boxing up books with sleuthing, I was in. I’m not sure why I have this need to know the details relating to every little thing, but the existence of a secret room was just too much of a mystery for me to ignore.
Chapter 11
Velma showed up just about the time Colt returned. Georgia set the food up buffet style, so we filled our plates and then gathered around the dining table. It seemed everyone was hungry since all conversation was stalled for at least five minutes. Eventually, Georgia asked the question on everyone’s mind.
“So were Naomi’s prints on the syringe?”
“No,” Colt answered. “The unit was wiped clean, but I was able to confirm that the drug residue inside the syringe matched the drug injected into Alvin’s neck.”
“Are you going to arrest Naomi when the others return?” Velma asked.
“No. I really don’t have enough to make an arrest, but I am going to talk to the group. I’m going to ask for two or three volunteers to help me with my interrogation.”
“I would, but I need to be at the diner by six tomorrow morning, so I shouldn’t stay late,” Velma said.
“I’m in,” I replied.
“Me too,” Jeremy said.
“And me,” Georgia joined in.
“I have to go home and take care of the puppies,” Tanner provided.
“And, of course, Lacy and I need to get back to relieve the sitter,” Lonnie reminded everyone.
“I can help,” Nikki said. “What do you want us to do?”
“I’m going to talk to the group, and I want those of you who stay behind to really watch everyone’s expression as I share my findings with the pre-wedding party. I’m going to say that the syringe was found in the trashcan and that a clear print was found. The person who put the syringe in the trashcan in Naomi’s room, whether it’s Naomi or someone else, should be concerned about this bit of news. I’m hoping the killer will panic at the thought of my having a print, and I hope this panic will cause him or her to react in some manner.”
“Like some sort of facial expression or body language indicating they might try to sneak away in the middle of the night,” Tanner offered.
“Exactly.”
Once Colt shared his plan, the group as a whole began to offer opinions as to what might actually be going on. Had Naomi killed Alvin? Was she being framed? If so, by whom? Based on what had been said about Alvin by the others, he was a bit of an outsider, who wasn’t particularly close to either Fiona or Carson. Even Lisa, who’d introduced him to the group, seemed to be wavering in her affections. Of course, not being close to or even liking the guy wasn’t a motive for murder. If one of the guests currently staying at the inn had killed the man, which is what Colt suspected, there must be something going on that none of us were aware of.
After dinner, Lacy and Lonnie left right away, and Tanner and Georgia took the dogs for a walk. Once they returned from the walk, Tanner headed home, and Georgia headed into the kitchen to help Jeremy with the dishes. Since Nikki planned to stay, she pitched in as well. Once Velma left, Colt and I bundled up and headed out to the back deck to sit next to the fire pit.
“Did you notice anything else while you were upstairs going through the rooms?” I asked. “Anything that might explain why someone wanted Alvin dead?”
“Not a thing.”
My eyes grew wide as something occurred to me. “You said you found the syringe in the trashcan in Naomi’s room.”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Was there anything else in the trashcan?”
“No. Just the syringe, which was wrapped in some tissue.”
“I helped Georgia, Jeremy, and Nikki clean those rooms before Georgia and I went to the Chadwick house with Lacy. All the trashcans would have been emptied. Actually, they would have been emptied twice. Alvin disappeared Thursday night, the murder occurred early Friday morning, and you found the syringe Saturday after the rooms were cleaned.”
Colt raised a brow. “So the syringe was put in the trashcan at some point after the rooms were cleaned Saturday.”
“It must have been. There is no way we would have missed emptying the same trashcan two days in a row.”
“And the guests? Were any of them here at that point?”
I shook my head. “They all left for the resort before we even began cleaning. Unless someone came back, which I suppose is possible, it couldn’t have been one of the members of the pre-wedding group who disposed of the syringe.”
“Who was here after you and Georgia left with Lacy?” Colt asked.
“Just Jeremy, but he was outside. He’s trying to get the garden cleaned up and ready for planting once the temperatures level out. We can ask him, but I’m fairly certain he was outside all day.”
“And the inn? Would it have been left open?”
“No. Normally, we keep the front door open from seven a.m. to ten p.m., but if Jeremy was going to be out in the back and he knew no one was going to be around, he would have locked up. I guess we can ask him to verify that he did. As you know, the suite keys open the kitchen door, and the guests know that if the front door is locked, they can get in that way, so I suspect Jeremy would have secured the front door unless he was working in the front and had his eyes on the place. I guess we should ask him.”
Colt nodded. “Yes, lets.”
As it turned out, Jeremy had been working in the back and had locked the front door as I suspected. The back door hadn’t been locked, however, since he’d been going in and out, but he was certain that he would have noticed if someone had accessed the inn through the back door. I asked if he had eyes on the door the entire time, and he admitted that he hadn’t.
Colt felt it was likely that if someone had snuck in and planted the syringe, they would have snuck in from the front of the house since Jeremy had eyes on the back. A thorough search revealed that the window in the parlor at the front of the house was unlocked. Could someone who was staying here have unlocked it before he or she left for the day? If so, had they unlocked it so they could get back in, which was unlikely since they all had keys, or had they unlocked it so someone else could get in? Of course, there was also the possibility that someone simply wanted to let in some fresh air and forgot to relock it. The weather had been gorgeous lately.
“Do you think there’s more than one person in on whatever is going on?” I asked.
“Perhaps. I’m going to dust the window for prints. I’ll need to take yours, Georgia’s, Jeremy’s, and Nikki’s since the four of you are frequently in the room, but if there are prints that don’t match any of yours, maybe we’ll have something.”
Colt called the central dispatch office and asked for someone to come out and dust for prints. Jeremy, Georgia, Nikki, and I provided prints to use as a comparison. Once that was done, Colt sent the officer and the prints back to town for analysis. Normally, he would have taken care of the prints himself, but he wanted to be sure to be here when the others returned, so none of the ten had time to sneak off to bed.
“It’s almost ten,” I said once the officer left. “Fiona said they’d be back at ten, so they should be here shortly.”
“It will be important that all of you watch the faces of the others but that none of you react,” Colt said. “I wouldn’t want to give away what is really going on by having someone read your expressions.”
The four of us agreed to try our best to maintain a neutral expression. When the limo pulled up, and the ten remaining guests piled out, I greeted them and then let them know that Colt had news and needed to speak to everyone. We had everyone sit at the dining table while Colt shared his news. Jeremy and I sat on one side of the table while Georgia and Nikki sat on the other side. We’d all agreed to watch the expressions of tho
se across from us.
When Colt revealed the cause of death, everyone looked surprised, but the four of us agreed that no one looked more shocked than the others did. When Colt revealed that a syringe had been found in the trashcan, everyone looked around at everyone else, but again, no one looked more suspicious than any of the others. When Colt informed the group that a print had been recovered from the murder weapon, the general consensus was that the group was happy the killer would be brought to justice.
Once Colt had finished his little talk, the group headed toward the bar while Colt, Jeremy, Georgia, Nikki, and I headed toward the cottage to deconstruct the impressions we’d gotten from everyone who’d been present.
“So, what do you think?” Colt asked.
“Everyone I was watching seemed to have an appropriate expression to everything you said,” I provided.
“Agreed,” the other three said.
“Based on what I observed, I would have no reason to think anyone I was watching was guilty,” Georgia added.
“Yeah, no one really stood out,” Nikki provided. “It would be good to know if anyone left the group today, however.”
Colt nodded. “I was thinking the same thing. I’m going to head back to the inn and speak to Fiona and Carson. I really don’t see that either of them would have a motive for wanting Alvin dead, so they are low on my suspect list. If no one left the group, then I guess we’ll need to figure out who else could have planted the syringe.”
“You should talk to Naomi as well. Find out if she called Alvin, and if she didn’t, find out where her phone was at the time of the call.”
“I’ve already done that,” Colt said. “According to Naomi, she left her phone downstairs on Thursday night but hadn’t realized it until she woke up on Friday morning. She found it shoved down in the cushion of one of the chairs near the fire. She said it must have slipped out of her pocket.”
“I guess that does happen,” Georgia said. “My phone is always slipping out of my pocket. Of course, if the phone really did slip out of her pocket, how would the person who made the call know where to find it?”
Colt answered. “I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that someone intentionally lifted the phone from Naomi and then shoved it down in the cushion of the chair Naomi had been sitting in after everyone else went up. Keep in mind the call was made after everyone had gone to bed.”
“So we’re back to one of the partygoers as the killer,” I said. “Who else would have been around to lift the phone? No one else was here.”
“Good point,” Colt admitted.
Georgia, Jeremy, Nikki, and I waited in the cottage for Colt to have his conversation with Fiona and Carson. When he came back to the cabin, he filled us in.
Carson, Mike, and Jordan had spent the afternoon playing golf. Roderick, the man Patience had brought to Holiday Bay, had joined them. Carson confirmed that the men had been together the entire afternoon. He also confirmed that while Frederick and Bronwyn, and Savannah and her date, had left that morning, Patience, Roderick, and Caspar planned to stay in Holiday Bay until Monday.
Fiona told Colt that she, along with Patience, Ambrosia, Jennifer, Lisa, Naomi, Willa, and Stephanie, had all gone to the spa. After they arrived, the women broke up since each had signed up for different services, and while she’d run into Jennifer in the sauna, she hadn’t seen the others until they’d gathered for drinks at the end of the day.
That meant that if someone had snuck back and planted the syringe, it was one of the women. We all doubted Naomi would be trying to frame herself, and Colt seemed to trust Fiona, which left Ambrosia, Jennifer, Lisa, and Stephanie since Patience didn’t have a key to the inn. Of the four, my money was on Lisa. She’d been romantically entangled with Alvin, and romantic entanglements often served as a motive in murder cases.
“So, what now?” I asked Colt.
“I guess we keep working on it. We have until Monday morning to figure out who the killer is. Once everyone leaves, it’s going to be much harder. I’m going to talk to the coroner again. I’ll call you in the morning.”
“Okay,” I said. “Is there anything you want us to do in the meantime?”
“Just act as normal as possible. If Lisa is the killer, I don’t want her to catch on that we’re onto her before I can make my case. If she isn’t the killer, I don’t want anyone to do or say anything that might cause them to decide they need to leave a day early.”
“Okay,” I nodded. “We’ll provide breakfast and then go about our day as planned. If anything changes, let us know.”
Chapter 12
Georgia set out the continental breakfast that Fiona had arranged for, but not a single person came down to eat it. Even Fiona and Carson seemed to be sleeping in this morning. Not that I blamed them. The number of empty alcohol bottles left for disposal was astounding. I wondered if this particular group of people always partied like this or if their time here was some sort of an exception. Most of the members of the group had jobs, so it seemed unlikely that they partied hard every night.
According to Fiona’s agenda, the group planned to go sailing today. At least the sea was calm. Not the best for sailing I supposed but most likely preferable to a rough sea if the majority of those aboard had hangovers. Georgia, Jeremy, and I decided to scramble some eggs to go with our bagels and coffee. We also decided to eat in the kitchen so we could chat freely. I suspected that Colt would call before too much time passed. I had to admit I was curious to find out whose prints had been left on the windowsill. The person who’d snuck in had to be the killer. Right?
“What time is Annabelle coming home today?” Georgia asked Jeremy.
“Actually, given the situation and the potential for a showdown at some point, I asked Hannah’s parents if she could stay one more night. They’re going to take her to school tomorrow, and then I’ll pick her up after school.”
“That’s probably a good idea. I guess we need to screen potential guests better. This particular group has been acting in a manner that wouldn’t be the best influence on a child, even without the murder,” Georgia said.
“There was no way you could know that a pre-wedding party attended by wealthy sophisticates would turn into a frat party,” I said. “Still, I agree we might want to really look closely at those groups who want to book all the rooms.”
Jeremy got up to refill his coffee. “There is something about this whole thing that is really bugging me. We’ve talked before about how odd it is that a member of the group is murdered, and the rest of the group simply goes about their day as if nothing happened. I realize that Alvin wasn’t close to anyone in the group other than Lisa, but everyone in attendance did know the guy. Even if he wasn’t their best friend, he’d been dating Lisa for a while, so I have to assume that most everyone in the group has spent time with him on occasions other than this trip.”
“So why aren’t the others more freaked out?” Georgia jumped in. “I’ve been wondering that as well. We called the group together yesterday morning, and their response was to head out to a resort for golf and spa sessions. That isn’t normal.”
“Exactly,” Jeremy said. “And that’s not all. It seems that if I was with a group for a long weekend away and one of the members of the group was murdered, that might worry me even if it didn’t sadden me.”
“Jeremy has a point,” I said. “I haven’t picked up fear from anyone. How can these people be so certain that the killer won’t strike again? It has to have occurred to them that a member of the party most likely killed Alvin. At the very least, they should be somewhat concerned that the killer might be looking for victim number two.”
“Unless they know who killed Alvin and why,” Georgia said.
I raised a brow. “So you think they all know who did it?”
She shrugged. “It would explain their reaction to the news. If the group as a whole knew who did it and why they did it, and if that reason was justified, the surviving members of the group might not feel threa
tened or saddened.”
Jeremy sat back down at the table. “It really is the only thing that makes sense when you take into account that not one single person has demonstrated any amount of concern for their own safety.”
I stood up. “I should call Colt. This idea might have occurred to him, but if not, it’s an angle he should explore.”
“I’m going to call Nikki and tell her she doesn’t need to come over to clean as early as she planned,” Georgia said. “It seems apparent the group is sleeping in today, and we can’t really start until they head out for their sailing trip.”
Jeremy stood as well. “I’m going to head outside and continue with the cleanup. The garden is going to be extraordinary this year, but unless I get the weeds pulled and debris from the winter raked up, it won’t come in the way I hope.”
I decided to head back to the cottage before calling Colt. I didn’t think anyone was up, but in the event someone was awake, I’d hate for anyone to overhear my conversation.
“Good morning,” he said. “I didn’t expect to hear from you so early. Is everything okay?”
“It is,” I assured him. “The guests are all still in their suites, I assume sleeping it off based on the number of empty alcohol bottles. The reason I’m calling is because Georgia, Jeremy, and I were chatting over coffee about the reaction of the guests to the murder of one of their party.”
I then shared the discussion the three of us had shared with each other.
“I’ve thought it odd from the beginning that the group seems to have accepted what happened as easily as they have. And I agree that the only reason I can come up with as to why not a single person has voiced concern for their own safety is because they already know who did it and don’t feel threatened by this individual. In the beginning, it seemed as if Fiona and Carson were telling the truth, but now I’m not so sure that anyone is telling the truth. In fact, if I had to guess, I’d say they are all lying.”
“So, what are you going to do?”
