Finding Christmas

by Kathi Daley

“Zoe Donovan Zimmerman,” I answered in a strong voice, as Agent Stanwell turned on the small tape recorder, he’d set on the table between us.

  “Do you know why I asked you to meet me here Ms. Zimmerman?”

  I looked around the room which featured a large sitting area decorated for the holiday. It was a cozy room with a sofa, two chairs, and a nice fireplace, but it still didn’t seem right for this interview. “I guess it must have to do with what happened at Zarek Woodson’s party last night.”

  “Please state for the record why you were in attendance at the party.”

  I glanced out the window at the falling snow and then back at the man sitting on a chair across from my position on the sofa. “Zarek held a cocktail party to introduce Senator Goodman to the men and women in the community whose support he hoped to garner. As you probably know, Goodman intends to run for governor as a step I believe toward eventually making a run for the presidency. According to Zarek, Goodman wanted the chance to schmooze the men and women with the financial means to help him with his effort.”

  “And do you and your husband support Senator Goodman in his campaign to run for governor?”

  I narrowed my gaze. “Actually no. Zak and I don’t support the senator or his politics. Is this relevant?”

  The man lifted a brow. “So you attended a meet and greet for a man whose politics you do not support?”

  “Zarek is a friend of sorts and he asked us to attend the party, so we did, although we planned to simply make an appearance and then leave early.”

  “I see.” The man’s tone indicated that he didn’t see at all.

  I couldn’t quite quell the need to defend our actions, even though I wasn’t the one on trial here. Was I? “Looking back maybe attending a party to introduce a politician we do not support may seem odd, but Zarek lives in Ashton Falls, and since he hired Zak’s company to totally revamp the computer system for the ski resort he had worked for until recently, the two men knew each other. I guess you could even say they were friends of sorts. Zarek convinced Zak that just stopping by the party would really help him out so eventually Zak agreed.”

  “Would you say that Mr. Woodson supported Senator Goodman’s political agenda?”

  “Honestly I have no idea if Zarek supported the senator or even what Zarek’s political orientation might have been. What I do know is that Zarek needed the senator. You see Zarek wanted to build a luxury ski resort near Ashton Falls. An elite resort which would cater to the very rich. He’d hit some snags getting the local support he needed, so he has teamed up with Senator Goodman to have the permits for the project pushed through in spite of local resistance. I know that business and politics probably shouldn’t mix but the reality is that they do. More often than I ever realized prior to marrying one of the richest men in the country.”

  “So to clarify, you attended the cocktail party to support your friend even though you do not necessarily support Senator Goodman in his run for governor?”

  I let out a long groan. “Haven’t I already said that? These questions seem to me to be totally irrelevant. Have you found out what happened Zarek?”

  Agent Stanwell paused. It felt like he was watching for my reaction although I couldn’t imagine why. “Mr. Woodson died as the result of ingesting a lethal toxin which had been added to his drink.”

  I cringed as I remembered Zarek’s last minutes and the frenzied attempts to save him. Given the painful way the man died I’d expected that poison might have been involved. “Do you know who did this? Do you know who killed Zarek?”

  The man leaned forward slightly, his dark eyes boring into mine. “Actually, I was hoping you could answer that question.”

  “Me?” I asked in a high squeaky voice. “How would I know who killed Zarek?”

  “Security cameras show an individual retrieving a vial, which we believe to have been the vial containing the toxin, from your purse.”

  I gasped. “My purse? There must be a mistake. I can assure you that I did not have a thing to do with Zarek’s murder and I did not bring a vial of toxin to the party. As I stated before, Zarek was a friend of sorts. Why would I kill him?”

  “I don’t know. Why would you?”

  I blew out a breath. “I wouldn’t.” I looked the man in the eye. “Are you accusing me of something?”

  “Should I be?”

  “No,” I spat. “This is ridiculous. I would never kill Zarek or anyone for that matter.”

  “We do have the video,” the man reminded me.

  “If you have a video of someone taking a vial of toxin into my purse then you must know that the person to retrieve the vial wasn’t me.”

  “Actually the room was dark and the individual stayed in the shadows. All we really have is an image of someone retrieving the vial. It really could have been anyone.”

  Well that didn’t sound right. “Was this person tall or short? Thin or stocky? If you could make out the images enough to know that the purse in question was my purse, you must have some idea what this person looked like.”

  “Based on the image on the tape the person in question could very well have been you.”

  Well wasn’t that fantastic! “There were a lot of women at the party.” I paused to consider this idea. “And there was a lot of security last night. A ridiculous amount. Perhaps the real killer didn’t want to risk getting caught with the toxin so he or she slipped it into my purse and then later retrieved it.”

  Agent Stanwell paused, in an attempt I was sure, to intimidate me. He narrowed his gaze and steepled his fingers as he continued to stare at me. I wanted to squirm but I sat perfectly still as I waited for him to continue the conversation. The longer he paused the more tense I became. I tightened my hands on the arm of the chair I was sitting on as I struggled to push down the urge to freak out just a tiny bit. What had happened to Zarek was horrific and the thought that I might have played even an unwilling role in his death left me devastated.

  After several minutes of total silence which had me longing to crawl out of my skin the man glanced at the purse sitting on the floor next to my feet. “I assume that is the purse you carried last evening?”

  “It is.” I nodded.

  Agent Stillwell reached for it. “May I?”

  I hesitated just for a moment and passed the man the purse. The last thing I wanted to do was to appear defensive which would make it seem as if I actually did have something to hide. Agent Stanwell took the purse from my outstretched hand, and began to look through it. “If someone other than you or your husband did use your purse to transport the toxin through security we will need to narrow down the timeline a bit. Can you remember the last time you completely emptied your purse either to change bags or to find a lost item?”

  “Thursday late afternoon,” I said with conviction.

  Agent Stanwell picked my wallet out of the purse and set it on the table between us. He then looked at me. “I’m going to need you to be specific. Include as many details as come to mind.”

  Okay that seemed an odd request but this whole thing was odd so what the heck. I let my mind wander to the day in question. If the man wanted details, I’d give him details. “My mom likes to spend time with my daughter Catherine, so I try to drop her by for an hour or two a couple of times a week. On Thursday I had errands to take care of, so I dropped Catherine off at parent’s place while I was in town. When I returned to pick her up, Catherine was fussier than normal. I figured it was because she’s been teething, so I decided to rub some of the gel I got from my pediatrician onto her gums. I was sure that I had put the tube of gel into my purse but for the life of me I couldn’t find it. I emptied out my entire bag looking for it. In the end my mother saved the day with a popsicle.”

  Agent Stillwell paused from his examination of my bag and looked up at me. “And after you left your parent’s house?”

  “I went home. I was home all evening with my husband Zak, Zak’s honorary grandmother Nona, Catherine, and the two teens who live with Za
k and me, Alex Bremmerton and Scooter Sherwood.”

  “Am I to assume that your husband and yourself, you baby, your grandmother, and your two wards are the total sum of the people who reside in your home on a full time basis?”

  Weird question but okay. “Yes. The individuals mentioned make up the residents of the house.”

  “Okay, go on,” the man said as he returned his attention to my bag. “Was there anyone else in the house on Thursday evening? A guest? Perhaps a neighbor?”

  “No. Just the family.”

  “What about Friday?”

  “Friday was a busy day,” I answered as Stillwell set Catherine’s bottle on the table next to my wallet. “A very busy day. It started early, around six a.m. I got up and made breakfast for Scooter, who was picked up by his father on Friday morning. Scooter lives with us but he is trying to establish a relationship of some sort with his father so he tries to visit during school holidays. Friday was the first day of Winter Break so Scooter went on a short trip with his father. He’ll be home in time for Christmas.”

  “And Mr. Sherwood? Was he at any time alone in your home or alone with your purse?”

  I shook my head. “My purse was in the closet in my bedroom. Scooter’s dad never even came inside the house. Scooter was watching for him, and once he pulled into the drive, Scooter ran out to meet him.”

  “Is that normally the manner in which Mr. Sherwood picks up his son?”

  I nodded. “Yes. When he picks him up. A lot of the time Zak will have his pilot fly Scooter to Los Angeles where his father lives.” I hesitated. “Mr. Sherwood was not in attendance at the party thrown by Zarek. He couldn’t have killed the man. I really don’t see why you need this much information about a man who is not considered to be a suspect.”

  Agent Stanwell paused from rummaging through my purse and looked up. “At this point I am just trying to establish a timeline for your day on Friday. If you emptied your purse on Thursday evening and the vial was taken from your purse at the party on Friday evening, then the twenty four hour period between Thursday evening and Friday evening has to be the window in which the vial was placed in your purse. If we can figure out when it was placed in your purse, maybe we can figure out who killed Mr. Woodson.”

  I was pretty sure that the vial hadn’t been slipped into my purse during the course of the day, and I still didn’t understand the need for so much detail, but rambling on as the man seemed to want me to do was a lot better than sitting in silence while he stared at me so I continued. “So after Scooter left, I woke Catherine. I changed her diaper then took her downstairs for breakfast. I had a busy day planned, so Zak arranged to be home to finish putting up our Christmas decorations and to keep an eye on Catherine. Before I left for the day he wanted to run to his office at Zimmerman Academy, the private school we own and operate, to pick up some files he wanted to work on over break, so I agreed to get Catherine up and fed.”

  “Who else was in the house at this point?” Agent Stanwell asked.

  “Just Nona and Alex. Both were still asleep.”

  Agent Stanwell sat back in his chair with my purse still in his lap. “Okay, go on.”

  “So anyway, Catherine was just finishing her breakfast when Alex came down. I was supposed to meet my mother, Madison Montgomery Donovan, and the chairperson of the local event committee, Hillary Spain, at Rosie’s for a breakfast meeting regarding the annual Hometown Christmas. My mother is the chairperson this year and it seems like everything that can go wrong has gone wrong so I have been trying to help out where I can. Anyway, Alex knew I needed to shower and dress so she volunteered to get Catherine dressed. She is so good with her. I really don’t know how I’d manage without her.”

  “So you went up to shower, Alex saw to Catherine’s needs, and Nona was still sleeping at this point.”

  “Yes. That is correct.”

  “And your purse was still in the closet?”

  “It was.”

  The man set several additional items from my purse onto the table. “Please continue.”

  “By the time I had showered and dressed Zak was back and Nona was awake. Zak and Nona were sitting at the kitchen counter chatting and Alex had gone upstairs to get ready for a friend who was coming over to help out with Santa’s Sleigh.”

  “Santa’s Sleigh?”

  “It is a community service that Alex founded a few years ago. Basically Alex and some of her friends solicit donations so that they can provide Christmas gifts and food baskets for the communities less fortunate residents. It is a big commitment. Not only does Alex have to identify the families in need, she needs to ascertain their specific desires, seek donations to meet those desires, wrap the gifts, and then distribute them on the twenty-third.” I stopped talking when I noticed that Agent Stanwell had stopped what he was doing and was just staring at me. “Sorry. I guess that is more detail than you want. I’m just do darn proud of her.”

  “It sounds as if you should be. The project seems to be a wonderful idea.”

  I smiled, and finally began to relax.

  “So after you found your husband and his grandmother chatting in the kitchen?”

  “I kissed Zak, Nona, and Catherine goodbye then headed out for my breakfast meeting.”

  “Which was held at Rosie’s?” Agent Stanwell verified.

  “Yes. Rosie’s is a café in town which is very popular with the local crowd.”

  “And you had your purse with you at this point?”

  I nodded. “Are you looking for something specific?” I glanced at the purse he still held.

  “No. I’m just checking for evidence that might help us figure out who put the vial in your purse if in fact you had not. Please continue. You had just arrived at Rosie’s.”

  I nodded, and Stillwell returned his attention to my purse. He seemed to be looking for something in the lining. I really doubted he’d find anything but whatever. I decided to continue with the story. “I hung the purse along with my heavy jacket on the rack behind the hostess station which has been provided for that purpose. My mom and Hillary were already at the table when I arrived, so I slipped into the booth next to my mom and ordered a coffee and a breakfast muffin. We discussed the problems we were having with some of the vendors, went over some possible options, made a few decisions, and then Hillary left. I chatted with my mother for a bit longer about the families plans for the upcoming holiday and then we both left as well.”

  “Did you have your eyes on your purse the entire time you were in the restaurant?”

  “No,” I admitted. “I hang my coat and purse on that rack all the time. Everyone does. I’ve never had a problem. This is a small town. Generally speaking, neighbors trust neighbors to respect their possessions. Besides, the hostess knows the locals and helps to keep an eye on things.”

  “And the name of the hostess?”

  “Jennifer Sandoval. She works the weekday breakfast shift. I’m sure she can verify that I dined at the restaurant on Friday morning if you need proof of what I’m telling you.”

  Stanwell pulled one of Catherine’s bibs from my bag and seemed to study it before he set it with the other items on the table. “After you left Rosie’s when did you next access the contents of your purse?”

  “After we ate. I had to locate my keys and my sunglasses. I can’t claim I looked at every item in my purse. When you have a baby, you end up carrying around a lot of stuff, which is I guess you have figured out by this point. I can say that I didn’t notice a vial of any sort when I searched around for my keys and glasses.”

  Agent Stanwell picked a pen from my bag and clicked it open and closed. “Okay, so what did you do next?”

  “I headed over to the Christmas tree lot sponsored by the high school athletic program. My friend Levi Denton is in charge of the fundraiser and I wanted to see if he was able to work out the problem he was having with his second tree delivery. He got the first load okay but the second load had been held up for almost five days. When I arrived I
found him on the phone. I guess he had received confirmation that the trees were on the way. He said he really wanted to be there when they arrived so that he could confirm the trees he ordered were the correct trees in the correct number. He was supposed to take his wife Ellie to the doctor so he was torn as to what to do.”

  “Ellie is sick?”

  “Pregnant. Very pregnant. Anyway, I offered to take Ellie to the doctor, so I left and headed to the boathouse where they live.”

  “And the purse? Where was it while you were speaking to Mr. Denton?”

  “On the floor of the car on the passenger side.”

  “Was the car locked?”

  “It was not but I was only at the lot for a couple of minutes.”

  The agent removed my phone from the bottom of my bag. He held it up. “Do you mind if I take a look?”

  “Knock yourself out,” I said, even though I found the whole thing very odd.

  “What did you do after you left the tree lot.” Stanwell returned my attention to the story I was telling.

  “As I already mentioned, I headed to the boathouse to get Ellie. She has a son, Eli, so I loaded him into the car while she grabbed what she needed. When we arrived at the doctor’s office I volunteered to sit in the waiting room with Eli while she had her checkup. She’s having a girl. She and Levi still haven’t settled on a name but I think they are both pretty excited for the little darling to arrive.”

  “I imagine they are,” the agent seemed to be looking through my photos. I wanted to ask what photos of my family had to do with this particular murder investigation, but he spoke before I could ask. “Please go on. Did you bring your purse inside with you?”

  “No.” I answered. “Ellie had brought a diaper bag with toys and snacks in it for Eli so between Eli and the diaper bag my hands were full.”

  “And the purse was left unattended in an unlocked car?”

  “It was,” I confirmed. “But I did tuck it under a baby blanket that was laying on the back seat.”

  Agent Stanwell left my photo app and began looking through my texts. If I’d had something to hide, I’d be pretty freaked out right now, but my texts were about as boring as anyone’s texts could be.