Unbelievable

by Cindy Blackburn

  “It gets better,” I said. “My other witness is Fanny Baumgarten.”

  “Is she a cow?”

  “No. Fanny’s a lovely old lady.”

  “That’s good.”

  “She’s blind.”

  He cringed. “That’s bad.”

  “No kidding.”

  He returned to his notes and asked how to spell Baumgarten.

  “Fanny’s old and blind, but she’s actually an excellent witness,” I said. “She’s very alert.”

  “Blind people have to be,” he agreed and asked if there was anyone he should talk to. “Humans, preferably.”

  I mentioned the Fox Cove Inn. “They were close enough to see something, but supposedly no one did.”

  “You’re not convinced of that?”

  “You should talk to the owners,” I said. “Arlene Pearson, in particular.”

  Sterling squinted. “Pearson, as in the ghosts? Please don’t tell me a ghost saw something.”

  “All the ghost-guys are male. Arlene’s female. And you should definitely talk to Travis La Barge. I’m almost positive he’s the guy responsible.”

  Sterling broke a pencil in half. “Cleghorn warned me you’ve been harassing La Barge.”

  “Somebody had to,” I said. “Since Cleghorn, as you call him, refused to take me seriously. The Cassandra Syndrome strikes again.”

  “Excuse me.”

  “No one believed Cassandra, and look at what happened to Troy.”

  “Troy?” Sterling asked. “Does he live in Mallard Cove, too?”

  I rolled my eyes and suggested we concentrate on Travis. “If he’s half as arrogant with you as he was with Fanny and me, you’ll arrest him on the spot.”

  “You and the blind old lady talked to him?” Sterling broke another pencil. “When?”

  “Yesterday. And I’ve done some more investigating today.”

  “You confronted him again?”

  “Nooo. I was completely stealth. Travis didn’t even see me at his parents’ house.”

  The cop blinked. “Excuse me?”

  “His parents live here in Montpelier,” I said. “Although his mother might have recognized me at Cars! Cars! Cars! But Bambi and I decided that’s highly unlikely and headed on over to Mandy’s.”

  “Mandy? Bambi?”

  “Mandy’s Bar and Grill and Dr. Bambi Lovely-Vixen.” I waved a hand before he could even comment. “I know, I know. Bambi doesn’t sound so smart, but she is. And she’s terrific at this sleuthing stuff. She came up with aliases for us and everything.”

  Sterling broke two more pencils. “I know I’m going to regret asking this,” he said. “But why did you need aliases?”

  “At Cars! Cars! Cars! of course. You do know Travis La Barge is Ross the Boss’s son?”

  Captain Sterling started groaning in an odd way.

  “We didn’t use aliases at Mandy’s,” I continued. “It wouldn’t have worked, since the bartender knew me.”

  Several pencil pieces went flying.

  I glanced up and caught what was raining down in my direction. “Actually, I’ve saved you a lot of trouble,” I said. “I’ve disproved both of Travis’s alibis. He simply was not in Montpelier earlier this week. But the ironic thing is, he’s here now. Which is quite convenient for you. The La Barge house can’t be more than a five minute drive.”

  Sterling stared, aghast.

  “I can go with you, if you want.”

  ***

  Let’s just say Captain Sterling wasn’t thrilled with that idea.

  “Okay, then.” I stared at the pile of pencil rubble. “Maybe we should move on to the details I don’t know.”

  “Are there any?”

  “Very funny.” I smirked. “What about the dead woman? Who is she, how did she die, who found her?”

  He shoved the pencils in the trash and told me two hikers had found her. “I can’t believe they were out there with all the rain we’ve been having. The trail is a muddy mess.”

  “Who are they?” I asked. “I’d like to thank them.”

  Sterling wouldn’t give me their names, but he did tell me they were two women from Hilleville. “And they knew all about you,” he said. “Something about your local paper?”

  I groaned.

  “Well anyway,” Sterling said. “They saw the body and thought of you. They called 911 as soon as they had cell coverage.”

  “She was just lying there?” I asked. “On the trail?”

  Worse, if possible. Sterling told me the body was discovered only a few yards from the trailhead. “She was in pretty bad shape.” He toyed with another pencil. “Some animals found her before we did.”

  “She’d been there since Tuesday,” I said quietly.

  Sterling waited until I looked up. “Thank you for your help.”

  I sighed. “Maybe Travis planned on hiding her better.”

  “Maybe whoever.” He emphasized the whoever. “Couldn’t make it further into the woods due to the conditions.”

  I asked if “whoever” had left any tracks, but any evidence had been washed away in the rain. I asked what killed her, but the autopsy report wasn’t finished.

  “Natural causes seems unlikely,” Sterling said. “And we’ve ruled out gunshot wound, but we haven’t rule out other violence.”

  “She wasn’t stabbed, and she wasn’t beaten up,” I said firmly. “There was no blood.”

  Sterling made a note and thanked me again.

  “Maybe it was a drug overdose,” I said. “Travis uses drugs.”

  “You have details on that?”

  I shook my head, and Sterling assured me the medical examiner would look for drugs. “We’re also working on ID,” he said. “She doesn’t fit any missing persons reports.”

  “Well, why not?” I asked. “Doesn’t anyone care about her? Other than me?”

  “If she has a criminal record, we’ll be able to ID her through DNA.”

  “And if she wasn’t a criminal?”

  Sterling insisted someone probably did care and would come forward as soon as they saw the police sketch. He pulled a sheet from the file on his desk and slid it toward me. “All the news outlets are going to run this,” he said. “Does it look accurate?”

  I stared at the black and white drawing for a long time. “She had green eyes,” I said quietly.

  Chapter 23

  “A big truck for a little lady!” Larry the car guy left the first of the hundred or so phone messages waiting for me when I arrived home. “Your beau is going to love this truck!”

  “Beau?” I asked Charlie. “Little lady? What century is this guy from?” I thought some more. “And how did he get this number?”

  Larry had other concerns. He knocked three hundred dollars off the price and threw in a complimentary ice scraper if I called him before the end of the business day.

  I hit delete.

  Maxine had left a message before she found my cell phone number, and Oliver called to tell me how happy he was that the redhead had been found. I could hear Chester and Hollis in the background insisting they believed me all along.

  “It’s what kept me going,” I told the machine, and Charlie and I listened to Gabe’s message.

  He told me the news and assured me he was working with the state troopers to identify the mystery woman.

  “About time,” I said and moved on to Captain Sterling’s message. He had called about twenty minutes before I showed up at his office, asking me to contact him ASAP.

  “Done,” I said and hit delete again.

  The last two messages were also interesting. Fanny Baumgarten was elated with the news, and Pru Pearson sounded—I glanced at Charlie. “She sounds scared,” I said.

  Whatever their moods, both women invited me to stop by that afternoon. And to make the idea of me visiting the Fox Cove Inn even remotely plausible, Pru promised Arlene wouldn’t be home.

  “Let’s go,” I said and walked to the door. But Charlie sat still, and I remembered
I had a call of my own to make.

  ***

  I tried to keep my voice from cracking. “They found her, Dad.”

  “What!? Where? When?” He thought a second. “How?”

  I explained all I knew.

  “It’s a good day, girl.”

  I smiled. “Yes it is, old man.”

  “I’ve had a good day, too,” he said. “Lucille Saxby likes Chance Dooley! She asked me out to dinner to discuss his propulsion pistons.”

  I rolled my eyes at Charlie. FYI, Lucille Saxby is a very attractive, sixtyish woman. “You actually have a date with Lucille Saxby?”

  “Nooo. This is business.” Dad reminded me it’s a four hour drive from Albany and told me not to wait up. I suggested he stay the night, but he insisted he’d come home. “If I didn’t, who knows what you’d imagine.”

  ***

  “You are such a dear to come by,” Fanny said.

  I jumped and looked up, and she standing was at the railing of her upstairs porch. “How did you know I was down here, Fanny?”

  “I heard you.”

  “But I’m walking.”

  “Do you have someone with you?” she asked.

  I shook my head. Leave it to Fanny Baumgarten to hear Charlie, the quietest dog on Planet Earth. I made sure he was welcome upstairs, and by the time we got there, Fanny was digging into the Doggie Treats jar.

  “I’m sure Miss Rusty won’t mind sharing.” She held out her hand, and Charlie seemed to agree. After she finished with Charlie, she invited me to sit down. “I wish I could give Maxy Tibbitts a treat,” she said. “I used to scold her for her gossiping, but her story worked, didn’t it?”

  “I guess it did,” I said. “The hikers knew what they had found this morning. And it was nice of Maxine to call me as soon as she heard the news.” I looked around and asked Fanny how she had heard. “Did Lindsey tell you? Where is she?”

  “Love’s at home today.” Fanny clapped her hands. “Preparing for tomorrow.”

  “What’s tomorrow?”

  Evidently, Lindsey Luke had an important art show in Woodstock the next day. A well-connected art dealer was interested in her work.

  “Ms. Ingleby has connections in Boston!” Fanny said. “Isn’t that exciting? I can’t wait to meet her.”

  “You’re going also?”

  “Love says she needs my moral support.”

  I thought about Paige Wylie’s yearbooks. “Lindsey must be very talented,” I said. “Where did she go to art school?”

  “She’s self taught.” Fanny smiled and shook her head. “Lindsey’s such a love. She’s so busy today, but she’s still making time to call me regularly. To keep me posted on the news.”

  Fanny told me she’d also had the TV on most of the afternoon. “And I’m sure I’ll learn even more from Captain Sterling. You’ve spoken to him, Cassie?”

  “I have.”

  “He’s promised to stop by this evening to talk to Evert and me. Hopefully Travis will be back by then, too.”

  I told Fanny I liked Sterling, and that I was thrilled he wanted to talk to her. “This guy means business.”

  “And of course Gabe’s been awfully busy, too.”

  I blinked. “He has?”

  “Oh, yes. He’s stopped by several times looking for Travis.” She shook her head. “I still can’t bring myself to accept that Travis harmed that girl, but no one’s seen hide nor hair of him all day.”

  “Because he’s in Montpel—”

  “There he is,” Fanny interrupted. And about then, I heard a car also.

  “Travis?”

  “No, that’s Gabe.” She stood up and walked to the porch railing, and Charlie and I followed. “He’s still not home, Sheriff,” she called down.

  Gabe had the same question as I. “How do you know it’s me?”

  “I know the sound of that car of yours, don’t I? You’ve got a belt lose somewhere.”

  “I guess it’s better than having a screw lo—” What a shocker, the sheriff stopped smiling when he noticed me.

  I waved, and he frowned some more. “I thought we agreed you’d stop harassing the neighbors, Cassie.”

  “Cassie’s not bothering me,” Fanny said. “I invited her. And she knows where Travis is. Isn’t that helpful?”

  The look Gabe shot upwards gave me the strong impression he didn’t think I was helpful, but I told him anyway. “Travis is in Montpelier.”

  “Correction. He was in Montpelier.”

  “So you’ve talked to Captain Sterling again?” I asked.

  Gabe told us every cop in the state of Vermont was talking to Sterling that day. “But no one has talked to Travis La Barge. We can’t find him.”

  “Did you search his parents’ house?” I asked.

  Gabe put his hands on his hips and glared upward.

  “You should,” I mumbled.

  Gabe spoke to Fanny. “You’ll call me, Fanny?” he asked. “If you hear Travis come home?”

  “The minute,” she promised.

  He looked at me. “And you’ll go home and stay out of trouble?”

  “I’m on my way,” I said. Luckily, no one but Charlie could see my fingers crossed behind my back.

  Chapter 24

  I poked my head inside and looked both ways. No Arlene. I double-checked the front desk. No Arlene.

  “The coast is clear,” I whispered to Charlie, and we stepped inside the Fox Cove Inn.

  We tiptoed into what was probably called the drawing room and checked behind the three largest pieces of overstuffed Victorian furniture. No Arlene. But no Pru, either. In fact, the place seemed deserted.

  “Over here,” someone said, and I turned to see Pru standing in the doorway behind the front desk. Like her sister, Pru Pearson is tall. But Arlene has short hair and always wears black leggings, and Pru has long hair and always wears paisley-print dresses.

  She waved me forward, but I hesitated and asked if Charlie was allowed. “He can protect me if your sister catches me here.”

  Pru looked down. “He doesn’t look like much protection.”

  “He’s all I’ve got.”

  She slapped her thigh, and Charlie led me into the office—a far different place than the cop offices I’d been getting used to. No beige vinyl for the B and B. Pru pointed me to an elaborately carved chair in front of an elaborately carved desk, and I took a seat as she shut the door behind us.

  She ignored the desk and sat in the chair facing me, and all three of us stared at the closed door to our right. Charlie got bored first, and decided to take a nap while Pru continued looking at the door.

  “She’s not suddenly going to turn up, is she?” I asked.

  “She already has!”

  “Arlene’s here?” I jumped up. “Then I can’t stay here! Your sister hates me, and I’ve already had a long day.” I headed for the door, and Charlie followed.

  “Sit!” Pru said.

  We sat.

  “I wasn’t talking about Arlene,” she said. “I’m talking about the dead woman. Why did she have to turn up?”

  “It’s good she turned up,” I said, and Pru let out a word I didn’t expect from her. I scowled. “What’s going on?”

  “Umm. Well.” Her eyes kept darting to the closed door.

  “What?”

  She grimaced. “That artist’s drawing they keep showing on TV? Have you seen it?”

  “You recognized her, didn’t you? She was one of your guests, wasn’t she?”

  “Nooo!”

  I rolled my eyes. “Well then, what?”

  “Umm. Well. Was the police picture missing any, you know, details?”

  “What details?”

  “From when you saw her the other day.” Pru pointed toward the lake. “What did she look like when you saw her?”

  “Like the police drawing, except in color. Why?”

  “Umm,” she said. “Was there any red?”

  “Her hair.”

  “No. I mean was there any
, you know, blood?”

  “Nooo.” I waved a hand. “There was no blood.”

  She again said that word I didn’t expect. Actually, she said it a few times.

  “No blood is good, isn’t it?” I asked.

  Pru started shaking. “She was poisoned, wasn’t she?”

  ***

  “Both culprits are AWOL,” I told Bambi the second she answered her phone. “Travis and Arlene.”

  “Who? What? I thought Travis was at his parents’ house.”

  “Yes, but apparently Gabe, Sterling, and all the cops in Vermont can’t accomplish what I managed on my own this morning. No one can find him. And why do I know Arlene won’t be around when Sterling finally gets over there?”

  “Over where?” Bambi asked. “Who’s Arlene? Who’s Sterling?”

  I stopped pacing. Clearly a lot had happened since I ran out of Mandy’s. I plopped down in the purple rocking chair and started with the news from Golden Rock and my conversation with Captain Sterling.

  “The guy we saw on TV?” she asked. “What a hunky-boo. Did you notice?”

  I reminded her Sterling and I had discussed a decomposing corpse. “It wasn’t exactly romantic.”

  “Is he married?”

  “No ring.”

  “So you checked.”

  “Spare me. He’s about six-four.”

  “So you checked.”

  “Would you spare me? I’d need a step ladder to kiss the guy.”

  “Handy that you’re painting your house. You have step ladders all over the place.”

  I rolled my eyes and moved on to my conversations with Fanny and Gabe. “If you suggest Gabe Cleghorn’s a hunky-boo, I’ll hang up.”

  “Promise?”

  “Unbelievable, but he didn’t annoy me nearly as much as Pru Pearson did. She’s the queen of pussy-footing around.”

  I realized Bambi knew zero about the Fox Cove Inn, the Pearson sisters, or the ghost-guys. I summarized.

  “So now you think Arlene’s the culprit?” Bambi asked.

  “Not necessarily, but Pru sure does. Supposedly Arlene had a fling with Travis.”

  “Didn’t you just say Arlene’s about your age?”

  I had. But according to Pru, Arlene and Travis had both been bored over the past winter. “You know how cabin fever drives some people nuts come January,” I said. “And evidently, they saw a lot of each other since he was working over there.”