by Cindy Bell
“Why not?” Mary asked with confusion.
“Jason said there was no damage to the railing, no sign of it being broken. Instead it looks like it just came loose,” she shook her head. “But you and I both know that there is no way the balcony came loose.”
“Okay,” Mary murmured thoughtfully.
“Besides, even if the murderer was up here with Warren, where did he go?” Suzie asked. “Not to be morbid, but how long do you think it could have taken for Warren to fall from the balcony to the ground?”
“Not long,” Mary grimaced.
“About as long as the scream we heard,” Suzie pointed out. “You went upstairs, I went outside. How could the killer have had time to escape if we were covering both ways to exit?”
“Good point,” Mary nodded as she glanced around the balcony. “Even if he had a rope attached to the balcony, we would have found the rope.”
“It's too far to jump,” Suzie pointed out.
“Unbelievable,” Mary sighed. “It's no wonder Jason thought this was an accident. It's nearly impossible to prove otherwise.”
“But it wasn't an accident,” Suzie reminded her sternly. She just hoped that she was right. “So, there must be something here that we're overlooking. So, what is it?” Suzie mused as she stood in the middle of the balcony. It seemed very sturdy despite the railing being broken. It was still anchored to the side of the house. It was designed not to collapse even in the highest winds. Suzie felt secure standing on it. “If the killer was not on the balcony, what did Warren see when he stepped out here?” she frowned.
“From the way he landed I think it’s very likely that he was leaning on the railing,” Mary pointed out as she stepped out onto the balcony as well.
“So, he was too frightened to turn the light on,” Suzie said as she looked back into the dark room. “But something prompted him to step all the way out onto the balcony, and lean on the railing.”
Suzie walked towards the edge of the balcony where the railing and wooden slats swung free from the base of the balcony.
“Suzie, be careful!” Mary said gravely. “That is a long way down.”
“I know it is,” Suzie agreed and stopped about a foot away from the edge of the balcony. “So, Warren walked over to the railing after seeing that no one was on the balcony. Maybe he continued to hear something. Maybe he could tell that now it was coming from below him.”
“That would make him lean against the railing in order to look over the side,” Mary said with a slight nod. “So, whoever did this, was still trying to coax him out to the edge of the balcony even if they weren't on the balcony waiting for him.”
“And because they weren't on the balcony, there is no evidence left behind,” Suzie said with a deep sigh. “There's not going to be any physical evidence of the killer up here, because he might not have ever been up here.”
“He let the balcony do his work for him,” Mary said. She cringed. “Which also gives the killer a clear cover for the murder, because it sure does look like the only possibility is an accident due to a weak railing.”
“Who in the world would go to this much trouble?” Suzie asked with disbelief. “We still don't know how the killer lured Warren out here, or why.”
“No, we don't,” Mary agreed. “But we do suspect that he was lured. So, someone likely waited until he thought we would all be asleep. He wanted this done at a time that no one could possibly stop it, or catch him.”
“If I wasn't awake, it might have taken me even longer to get out there,” Suzie said grimly.
“What about our other guest?” Mary asked. “Do you think we should check on him?”
“I think if he slept through the sirens and the commotion then he deserves a good night’s sleep,” Suzie said with a sigh. “I'll explain everything to him in the morning.”
“It is the morning,” Mary pointed out as she looked out over the water. The colors of the sunrise were spilling out across the calm slate of the water. It seemed as if the waves had hushed in reverence to the transition from night into day.
“It's beautiful,” Suzie said solemnly as Mary came to stand beside her. Even though something horrible had happened just a little while before, the view from Dune House was still too stunning for words.
“Maybe we should try to get a little rest,” Mary suggested.
“Not yet,” Suzie said. “I want to make sure that I've scoured every inch of this balcony first.”
“Okay,” Mary nodded and swept her gaze over the balcony. “There isn't much to see though.”
“We must be missing something,” Suzie said under her breath.
Suzie crouched down and studied the floorboards of the balcony. She could see where there was some scuffing from shoes, but there was no actual damage to the wood. She knew that the balcony was in very good shape. She wasn't sure what she was looking for. She was hoping that there might be some hint of what happened carved into the wood. As she neared the edge of the balcony the only thing she noticed were some pistachio shells. She narrowed her eyes at the sight of them.
“Well, that's a little odd,” Suzie said to herself.
“What is?” Mary asked when she overheard her comment.
“There are pistachio shells over here,” Suzie explained and picked one up. It looked fresh enough to have been tossed in the last few days, but Warren was the only one she had rented that room to, and that was only because of the antiques that she had decorated the room with.
“So, he was snacking?” Mary asked with a frown. “Maybe he had them earlier, but if he had them just before he fell off the balcony I guess that throws a wrench in our theory about him being frightened.”
“It doesn't make sense,” Suzie agreed and dropped the pistachio shell. “I don't know, Mary, maybe we're thinking about this all wrong. What if he knew that there would be someone outside?”
“Like a meeting he had planned with someone?” Mary suggested.
“Sure. Maybe he had set an alarm to wake up at a certain time. He didn't turn the light on, because he didn't want to alert any of us that he was awake. Then he went out on the balcony to wait, with his pistachios,” she shrugged.
“I don't know, if he had a meeting, why would he be on the balcony?” Mary pointed out. “Why wouldn't he have met them downstairs where he could have spoken to them more directly?”
“Who knows,” Suzie sighed. “I don't think this investigation is getting us anywhere.”
“Let's take another look inside,” Mary suggested. “There still might be something we're not thinking about.”
“Okay,” Suzie nodded, but her shoulders had slumped with defeat. She didn't want to admit it out loud but she could see why Jason had found it hard to believe that this death wasn't an accident. Everything about the scene pointed to an accident. Maybe it was just an accident after all and she just didn’t want to admit that they had a faulty railing. Suzie tried to push that thought from her mind, probably because she simply didn’t want to believe it.
Suzie stepped back into the room with Mary just behind her. When she slid the door shut, she noticed a strange spattering of marks on the glass. The morning sunlight filtering through the glass made it very easy to see. They didn't look like fingerprints.
“I wonder what caused this,” Suzie said as she studied the marks. “I know they weren't here before Warren checked in. I did a thorough cleaning.”
“Sometimes you can't get all of the smudges,” Mary pointed out. “Sunlight can be very unforgiving.”
“I guess that you're right,” Suzie nodded. She ducked down to look under the bed again. Then she picked up a few of the pillows to see if there was anything hidden underneath. She found nothing unusual. She picked up the trashcan which only had a few papers in it. One was a receipt from a restaurant on the way to Dune House. Suzie remembered that he had said he ate on the road. Another paper was a scribble of what looked like one of the antique vases that lined the shelving. The last piece of paper was crumpled up. S
uzie thought it might be very important. If he had taken the time to wad it up into a ball he probably didn't want anyone easily seeing what was written on it.
“I think we've got something, Mary,” Suzie said. She carefully unfolded the paper.
“Oh yes, you have something all right,” Mary gulped out and cringed at the sight of the used chewing gum that Suzie had unveiled.
“Gross,” Suzie cringed and wadded the paper back up. “That's it then,” she said with a huff. “There's nothing. There's not even a bag of leftover pistachios around here.”
“We should have a look around down below the balcony, too,” Mary suggested.
“Good idea,” Suzie nodded. She walked back across the room to lock the doors that led to the balcony. She didn't want there to be any chance of anyone else getting hurt. When she turned back to leave the room, she saw the mirror positioned on the bed across from the sliding glass doors. In the mirror she could see the sun rising, the water glistening, and the balcony railing swinging. Her heart skipped a beat as she wondered just for a second if somehow Warren's death really was her fault. As she stared through the mirror she noticed the smudges on the glass door again. She was certain they hadn't been there when Warren checked in. With a shake of her head she left the room. She locked the door behind her.
“Are you okay?” Mary asked when Suzie joined her in the hallway.
“I don't think I will be until we find out what happened,” Suzie admitted. She felt a heavy weight on her shoulders. She knew that she still had a birthday party to plan. Benjamin and Catherine would still be flying in, and they would expect to be able to celebrate with their mother. Suzie had to find a way to juggle everything, and she still wanted it to be a surprise for Mary. As they walked down the stairs to the lobby, Suzie noticed John standing by the front desk. He looked a little uncomfortable. Suzie assumed he had seen some of what happened.
“Sorry for all of the commotion,” Suzie said sadly as she walked over to the desk.
“I'll make some coffee,” Mary offered and headed for the kitchen. Suzie was sure that she was going to need some to get through the rest of the day.
“What happened?” John asked. “I woke up and saw a bunch of police cars driving off. Was there a break-in?”
“Not exactly,” Suzie stared at him for a moment. She had no idea what to tell him. A man had died. She considered it murder, the police considered it an accident, but John was looking at her expectantly as he waited for an explanation. “To be honest we're not exactly sure what happened yet,” Suzie said finally. She expected that John would question her further, but he only nodded.
“Well, I need to head off today, so I just wanted to check-out,” he explained. Suzie pulled up the billing program on the computer.
“Of course. There is nothing outstanding as you paid already for the room and didn’t have any meals.”
“Great,” he nodded and handed her the key.
“Thank you for staying with us, John. I hope that you will consider Dune House as an option for future travel.”
“I will,” he nodded a little. Then he turned and hurried out the door. Suzie watched him leave. She thought he was a little odd, but then she was used to many of her guests being unique.
Chapter 6
“Coffee,” Mary said as she walked into the lobby with two cups.
“Excellent,” Suzie said and took the coffee mug from her. “Thank you.”
“Did the other guest leave?” she asked as she leaned against the desk and took a sip of her coffee.
“Yes,” Suzie said with a frown. “I don't think he heard anything that happened, he just saw the police cars as they were leaving.”
“Suzie, I know you don't want to think about it, but news of this death is going to get around Garber really fast,” Mary said hesitantly. “I hate to say it, but we might have to think about how we are going to counter the rumors. It's not going to look too good for Dune House if people are talking about a fatal accident.”
“I know,” Suzie admitted grimly. “I was hoping to prove that it wasn't an accident, but it looks like that will be much harder than I initially thought. All we can do at this point is hope our good reputation will stand up against the gossip.”
“Too bad we haven't even been open a year,” Mary pointed out. “We don't even know everyone in town all that well. Don't you think they will be quick to blame this on us?”
“I'm sure they will be,” Suzie set down her coffee mug. “But we can't control what people say. All we can do is try our best to find out the truth. I can't worry about business when there's a man who has lost his life, with no one looking for his murderer.”
“No one but us,” Mary pointed out. “Maybe I'll try giving Wes a call. I could see if he would check out that car you mentioned. If Jason won't do it, or can't, then maybe Wes will.”
“You wouldn't mind calling him?” Suzie asked. “After the way that he treated you last night?”
“I had a little time to cool down,” Mary admitted. “I really think that maybe I was being a little too sensitive about things.”
“Birthdays can do that to people,” Suzie reminded her. “But I don't think that you were out of line for how you felt. He left you in the middle of dinner, and didn't even bother to drive you home himself. I was so mad that I…” she stopped suddenly.
“That you what?” Mary demanded as she met Suzie's eyes. “Suzie, what did you do?”
“Nothing too serious,” Suzie said with a grimace. “It's not like I egged his car or anything. I just called him to give him a piece of my mind.”
“Suzie, you didn't!” Mary gasped, horrified by the idea.
“Well, no I didn't,” Suzie frowned. “I was sent to voicemail.”
Mary sighed with relief. “Suzie, I know that you're only trying to help me, but I really don't want you getting in the middle of this. What is between Wes and me is between Wes and me. Okay?”
Suzie frowned. “I don't know if I can promise that Mary. I just don’t want him to hurt you.”
“I can take care of myself, Suzie,” Mary stated.
“Of course you can,” Suzie blushed. “I just get so angry when someone does something to hurt you, Mary. You mean the world to me, and you're always doing things for others. I just want to see your kindness rewarded, not taken advantage of.”
“I understand, Suzie,” Mary smiled warmly. “But you have to remember, I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself. I would like to be able to handle this on my own. So promise me that you will stay out of it, please?”
Suzie grumbled a little. She stalled by taking a sip of her coffee. The last thing that she wanted to do was agree to what Mary was asking. Suzie wanted to protect Mary if she felt the need to. But Mary continued to stare straight at her, offering her no option to get out of the promise.
“Fine,” Suzie finally agreed reluctantly. “I will stay out of it, unless you say otherwise.”
“Thank you, Suzie,” Mary said. She leaned across the desk and hugged her friend. “I'll go call Wes,” she said as she headed off to her room. Suzie was still in her robe. She knew she needed to get dressed. Her mind was spinning as she walked towards her room. She had no idea how to explain Warren's death, she simply knew that it wasn't an accident. She set her coffee mug down on her bedside table and walked over to her closet to pull out some clothes. While she was dressing she remembered that she was supposed to meet Paul for dinner that night. Once dressed she sat down on the edge of her bed and picked up her phone. If he didn't know about the death yet, he would know soon enough. She wanted him to hear it from her first. She could only hope that he wouldn't share Jason's opinion. He answered on the third ring.
“Hello?” he asked with a bit of heaviness in his voice. Suzie realized it was still quite early and he had likely been sleeping.
“Sorry to wake you,” Suzie said softly.
“Don't be sorry, your voice is the best sound I could wake up to,” Paul said warmly. Suzie smiled a little de
spite her worry.
“A guest died here early this morning,” Suzie said quickly. There was no easy way to break the news.
“Huh? Wow,” he said. “How did that happen? A medical issue?”
“No,” Suzie frowned. “He was killed.”
“Killed?” Paul nearly roared. “Where are you? Did they catch the killer?”
“I'm at home, at Dune House,” Suzie explained. “No one is even looking for the killer. Jason believes that it was an accident.”
“Maybe you could start from the beginning and explain all of this to me?” Paul asked. “I know you must be upset.”
“I am,” Suzie admitted and began to tear up. “I talked with the man last night, he was very nice. I had no idea that something like this would have happened.”
“How could you know?” Paul asked grimly.
“Early this morning, before the sun came up, I heard a scream. The guest, Warren, had fallen from the balcony on the third floor. I found him on the sand below, he was already gone,” she explained.
“So, it was an accident?” he asked with confusion.
“No,” Suzie said firmly. “There's no way it could have been an accident. The railing was secure, it wouldn't have just given way.”
Paul was silent on the other end of the phone for a moment. “Well, it's not likely,” he agreed. “Did the police find anything to indicate foul play?”
“No,” Suzie sighed. “Mary and I searched the balcony as well. The only thing suspicious was that car I told you about yesterday, remember?”
“I remember,” Paul said gravely. “I wouldn't read too much into that though, Suzie. You know that it could have just been someone having a look.”
“I know that,” Suzie said impatiently. “I also know that there is no way this was an accident.”
“Hey, slow down, Suzie,” Paul said firmly. “You don't have to convince me. I'm on your side, love, if you say it wasn't an accident, it wasn't an accident.”
Suzie smiled with relief at his words. “Thanks Paul, I needed to hear that.”