by Kathi Daley
“Yeah. She was in a tough spot. But to steal Fiona’s designs. I’m not sure she’s coming back from that.”
I blew out a breath. “Maybe not, but Fiona might realize once she cools down that Naomi wasn’t just protecting herself but the married man, his wife, and her father as well. I’m not really sure what I would have done in that situation. I’m sure Alvin used his gift of persuasion to convince her that if the photos got out, the marriage of this friend of the family would be destroyed.”
“I feel so bad for everyone involved,” Lacy said as she exited the highway. “If Colt doesn’t think Naomi killed Alvin, who does he suspect?”
“Caspar, actually. Caspar came to see Alvin on Thursday night, but no one other than Alvin and Naomi seemed to know he was there. Naomi told me that Caspar is the one who let her know that he was done being pushed around by Alvin and had decided not to play his game any longer. During her interview, Fiona told Colt that Caspar and Alvin appeared to have been friends for a while and that Caspar had even introduced him around much as Lisa had, but based on her observation and the tension between the two men, it appeared the honeymoon was over. The one problem with the theory of Caspar as the killer is that he is very slight in build, and Colt doesn’t think he could have killed and moved Alvin, who was much taller and heavier.”
“So, he had help. Who?”
“When I spoke to Colt last night, he wasn’t sure, but he did say he was going to dig into Stephanie’s background. When Colt questioned Jordan yesterday, he informed Colt that he’d only met Stephanie at a club a few weeks ago and that she’d been the one to ask him to score her an invite as his plus one to the party this past weekend. He wasn’t going out with anyone else at the time, Stephanie was fun to be around, and he didn’t really want to come alone, so he agreed to bring her along.”
“So, I assume Colt suspects that she may have approached Jordan intending to score an invite all along.”
“That’s what he’s beginning to suspect. Caspar left before Colt could talk to him, and Stephanie left early this morning, but Colt plans to continue digging into both their backgrounds. If he finds anything, I’m sure he’ll call his FBI buddy to assist or possibly the local PD. Caspar lives in Manhattan, and Stephanie lives in Boston, but has clients in New York and is often in the city.”
“Did Colt mention why he thinks Caspar and Stephanie might be involved?”
“I don’t think he knows. I just think he has reason to suspect both and is determined to keep digging. I realize the others in attendance knew Alvin better, but Colt spoke to all of them on multiple occasions. He came away from the interviews with the idea that Fiona, Carson, Mike, Ambrosia, Jennifer, Willa, and Jordan were innocent of wrongdoing and Lisa and Naomi were probably innocent of killing the guy, although they both had a motive, so if neither Caspar or Stephanie pan out, he may take another look at Lisa and Naomi.”
Lacy pulled into the drive and parked. Lonnie’s truck was out front as were five other trucks. It looked like the renovation crew was here today.
“How long does Lonnie think this project is going to take?” I asked Lacy as we climbed out of her car.
“He isn’t sure. At least a year. It really depends on what they find once they begin opening walls and how available the subcontractors are. Baron also has some custom carpentry he wants to be done, so tracking down the right people to do the work will take some time as well. It’s a big house. It’s going to be a big project.”
“Yeah. I can see that. I guess it’s nice to have job security for a while.”
“So nice.” Lacy smiled. “I’m hoping we can pay off all our debts and get some money in the bank with the money Baron is paying Lonnie and me for this project.”
“And once you have that accomplished, you can start opening college funds for your six children.”
Lacy groaned. “Don’t even say that. It’s going to take a big winning lottery ticket to send six kids to college. At least they’re still young, so we have time to figure it out.”
Lonnie just happened to be in the front of the house, talking to one of his men when we arrived. Lacy kissed her husband hello, and they took a minute to catch up before he went his way, and Lacy and I headed toward the library. I could see that while Lacy was determined to tackle the desk, due to its size and state of disrepair, it was going to be a complicated job that would require all her talent to complete.
While Lacy measured and re-measured the desk, I headed toward the bookshelves and started thumbing through the thousands and thousands of volumes. In a way, I felt like a kid in a candy store. There was so much to explore and so little time. I knew I’d have other opportunities to return and look around, so today, I focused my energy on one shelf that seemed to house other handwritten volumes. It would be just my luck that I’d stumbled onto someone’s grocery list, but at least one book was written in English and seemed to be more of a diary.
“‘Sebastian came by today. What an arrogant cuss. As if I’d ever be interested in someone so self-involved.’” I read aloud.
“I take it the author was not a fan of Sebastian,” Lacy said. “Any idea who wrote the diary or when it was written?”
I thumbed through it. “There isn’t a date anywhere or a name I can find. I suppose there might be something in the text that will provide a clue as to who might have penned it. Maybe we can take it with us.”
Lacy hesitated.
“Baron did give us permission to take the other journal, which ended up being a to-do list. I’m sure as long as we stick to the same rules, he won’t mind if we take this volume as well.”
Lacy looked like she was going to deny my request so I jumped into my spiel about how understanding the residents of the house would give her a feel for the furniture she planned to lovingly restore, and she agreed to take the diary as long as we were careful with it and brought it back within the week. That seemed agreeable to me since I planned to read the darn thing as soon as I got home.
“So, is there anything interesting in there?” Lacy asked as we drove back toward Holiday Bay.
“Well, that depends. What I’ve read is interesting because I know that someone who lived decades before me wrote it. But so far, the entries are about everyday life: the rabbits in the garden, the Crocus that won’t bloom as expected, an upcoming party being held for someone named Amberlee.” I looked up from the book. “Again, it is interesting to read about the life of the person who wrote the diary, but so far, not a single scandalous event or thought has been included.”
“So you’re hoping to find a journal detailing an illicit affair, brutal murder, secret child, or underground smuggling ring.”
I smiled. “I see you get me. I know the diary was written by a real person living what probably amounted to a mundane life, but a little spice in the story would be nice. At least I haven’t come across any entries dealing with household repairs.” I looked back down at the book in my hand. “I stand corrected. The page I am currently reading includes the following passage: ‘Robert came by to mend the fence around the garden. I’m not convinced it will keep the rabbits out since the little rodents are both smart and determined, but he does try, and I do appreciate the view from my window as he works.’” I glanced at Lacy. “View out her window. Might I perhaps make the assumption that Robert was a babe?”
Lacy laughed. “It sounds that way. What else does it say?”
“‘Mama says I shouldn’t stare the way I do, but if you ask me, Mama has done her share of staring when she thinks no one is watching.’”
“Well, there you go. Lust and longing all wrapped up in a story about pesky rabbits.” Lacy chuckled as she pulled onto the drive leading out to the inn.
“I guess I’ll have to keep reading. Maybe one of the females living in the house acts on their feelings for Robert before the end.”
“Maybe, but you’ll need to finish the journal tonight if you want to know. I’m taking it back tomorrow.”
“Will you be at the
house long?” I asked.
“A couple hours. Once I have a chance to look over the notes I made today, I need to call and speak to Baron. If he is agreeable to my plan and pricing, I’ll want to take another look before I begin ordering the supplies I need. It’s going to be a big job to restore the desk to its original brilliance, but I’ve decided I’m up to the challenge.”
“If you don’t mind, maybe I’ll come along tomorrow. I figure if I poke around long enough, I’ll stumble across something I can sink my teeth into.”
“That sounds fine with me. I’ll be by to pick you up as soon as I drop the kids at school and daycare.”
“I’ll be ready,” I promised.
Chapter 16
Jeremy and Georgia were sitting on the back porch, sharing a pitcher of iced tea when I arrived home. I grabbed a glass and joined them.
“So, how was your search for your next big adventure?” Georgia asked.
I set the diary on the table. “I’m not sure this volume holds a big adventure, but it is interesting, and there’s a hint of romance. Or at least lust. I’m really not sure yet. How’d the cleaning go? Did you find any damage after our rowdy group left?”
“No damage,” Georgia said. “But we did find the photos. Fiona left so quickly that I don’t think she even thought to take them, and apparently, no one else did either. I guess I can package them up and send them to her, although I’m not sure she’ll want them after everything that happened.”
“Before you box them up, we should take a second look,” I suggested. “Now that we know more about what was going on, maybe we’ll notice something we didn’t before.”
She shrugged. “I’m game. We can spread them out on the dining table.”
“I have to pick Annabelle up from school, but I’ll help when I get back,” Jeremy offered.
“I think I’ll call Colt,” I said. “He planned to do research into both Caspar and Stephanie. I have to admit I’m interested to see what he found.” I looked around. “Did Nikki already leave?”
“She never came. She called me earlier and told me she was feeling sick and wouldn’t make it in.”
“I hope she’s okay,” I said.
“It sounded like a twenty-four-hour bug. Might have been something she ate. I’m sure she’ll be fine,” Georgia assured me.
“I did find one thing when I was cleaning the main living area,” Jeremy said as he held up a key.
“Does that go to one of the rooms?” I asked.
“It’s a master key. I found it behind the check-in counter. I assumed it was one of ours, but I have mine, Georgia has hers, we called Nikki, who has hers, so unless you lost yours or Lonnie lost his, this is an extra key that shouldn’t exist.”
I frowned. “I’ll call Lonnie and ask him about the key, but he hasn’t mentioned losing it, and he hasn’t been by to do repairs for weeks. I wonder if whoever broke into Naomi’s room to plant the syringe found a way to duplicate the master.”
“It would explain how someone got into the inn and Naomi’s room without coming around to the back.”
“In order to make a duplicate, one of the guests would have had to have stolen one of our keys, taken it into town, had it duplicated, and then returned it,” Jeremy said. “I use my key all the time. I would have noticed if it was missing.”
“Yeah, me too,” Georgia said.
“I really don’t use mine much,” I offered. “I have it hanging on a peg in the cottage. I suppose someone could have taken it while I was out walking the dogs. I usually don’t lock the door if I’m only going to be out for a few minutes.”
“Any idea who?” Georgia asked.
I slowly shook my head. “Not offhand. I’ll need to think about it. I know that Caspar was here while we were all next-door that first night, but Ramos was in the cottage and would have scared anyone away who tried to break in. It has to have been taken while I had the dogs out for a walk.”
“Did you walk them that night?” Georgia asked.
I nodded. “Actually, I did. After I left the inn, I took them for a quick walk before Colt showed up. I was gone maybe fifteen to twenty minutes. I didn’t lock the door in the event Colt showed up while I was out. Alvin wasn’t dead or missing yet, so I wasn’t on high alert. I suppose someone could have let themselves in and taken a look around.”
“Do you remember missing your key?” Jeremy asked.
“No. But I haven’t needed it all week, so even if it was missing, I might not have noticed. If someone did take my key, they wouldn’t have had a chance to duplicate it until the following day, but like I said, I haven’t needed my key, so I suppose that scenario is possible.”
“It seems odd to me that if someone duplicated the master key with the intent of sneaking in at a later time, they would leave the key behind when they were done with it,” Jeremy pointed out.
“That is odd,” I agreed. “Why not just take it with them and dispose of it somewhere far away from here.”
“Maybe whoever duplicated the key thought we had a bunch of keys and wouldn’t notice one more,” Georgia offered.
“I suppose that might be the case,” I concurred. “I guess we might want to give the key to Colt when he arrives. I doubt he’ll find fingerprints on it, but it wouldn’t hurt to take a look. If nothing else, he might be able to use it as evidence once he does identify the killer.”
Colt arrived not long after Jeremy left to pick up Annabelle. He informed me that he had tracked down Caspar, who confirmed that Naomi had introduced Alvin to him. Initially, he found the man charming and had struck up a friendship, but as time went by, Alvin started asking more and more of him. When he refused to cooperate, Alvin threatened to reveal a secret he’d been holding onto about Naomi. When Caspar confronted Naomi about her secret, she told him the truth. He’d always had a special friendship with Naomi, so initially, he went along with Alvin’s demands, but when Alvin asked him to help him set up his own brother for one of his stings, he decided he was out. He told both Alvin and Naomi as much, and the next thing he knew, Alvin was dead. He swore to Colt that he hadn’t killed him, but at this point, Colt was reserving judgment.
“I found out something else that makes this whole thing a bit more understandable,” Colt added after I’d handed him a beer, and we’d settled onto the patio. “Alvin Connor was broke.”
“Broke?” I asked. “So far, everyone I’ve spoken to has indicated that he’d made millions in the stock market.”
“He did. And then he had a streak of bad investments, and he lost it. Not only did he lose his own money, but he lost other people’s money as well. I guess he figured he needed cash to stay in the game and try to earn his money back, so he’s been aggressively seeking out rich individuals to invest with him.”
“I guess that explains the reason he wanted the introductions to all those rich men and women, but where does stealing Fiona’s designs come in?”
Colt took a sip of his beer before he answered. “According to Caspar, Fiona’s competitor paid Alvin handsomely for the drawings and photos. It was enough for him to keep his head above water while he put everything else in play. In fact, according to Caspar, who seems to know quite a lot about what has been going on, it was the offer from Fiona’s competitor that caused him to target Naomi in the first place.”
“Wow,” I said, shaking my head. “What a dirtbag. I can’t believe how many lives he ruined as he tried to dig himself out of a grave, he seems to have dug in the first place.”
Colt nodded. “The more I learn about the guy, the more I find myself rooting for the killer, which, of course, is wrong in every way.”
“So if not Naomi and not Caspar, who?”
“At this point, I’m taking a hard look at Stephanie. She was new to the group, and it sounded like she’s the one who sought out an invite to the party. If she wanted to get close to Alvin for some reason, being invited for the weekend would be a way to do it.”
“Yeah, but what sort of motive might she
have?” I asked.
Colt frowned. “I’m not sure. Stephanie lives in Boston, where she owns a marketing firm. She seems to do fairly well but is far from rich, and I doubt she would normally run in the same social circle as Fiona and the others. She does have clients in New York City and visits often, so she might have at least a few acquaintances in common with Fiona. At this point, I’m looking at both her clients and her friends. If there is a link between Stephanie and Fiona or Stephanie and Alvin, I’ll find it.”
“Did you ever find out who Alvin was talking to on the phone that night? I remember you said there were a lot of calls to a blocked number.”
“I haven’t been able to trace them. At this point, I don’t think I can. I tried calling the number, but the phone must be off since it goes directly to a voicemail that hasn’t been set up. There is no way to leave a message, and so far, no one has noticed the missed calls and called me back, so I think I’m at a dead end with that.”
I glanced toward the inn where Georgia was working in the kitchen. “Fiona left the photos that were taken by the group behind. We thought we’d look at them again before she sends them to Fiona. Do you want to take a look?”
“I do.”
Colt and I headed toward the inn. Georgia joined us at the table, as did Jeremy and Annabelle, once they arrived. There were hundreds of photos, and it was hard to know if anything of importance had been captured, but we all felt that it was worth our time to study each image before setting it aside.
“It seems like Stephanie is missing from a lot of these shots,” I pointed out. “She isn’t really one of the group and had, in fact, only just met most of those in attendance that weekend, so it isn’t surprising she wouldn’t be the focus of the majority of the photos. But I also seem to recall that her name came up several times as being unaccounted for when the various observers tried to recall where everyone was at any given point in time.”
