by Kathi Daley
I verified that Dashwood showing up, poking his head in, and then disappearing was what I remembered as well.
“So someone there at the theater killed him,” Georgia said.
“It looks that way,” Colt confirmed.
Georgia looked at me. “How many people were just hanging around?”
“Quite a few,” I said. “Lacy was working with a group of kids who were playing the children of either the Pilgrims or the Native Americans. A few of the adults were in the scene in the beginning, but then a group of kids wandered off, and the scene she was working on when she asked me to find the turkey only included children playing specific roles. There were a bunch of adults mingling around. Most were watching from the seats normally reserved for the audience until a scene they were to participate in was called.”
“Did you see anyone in the hallway or rooms when you went to look for the bird?” Colt asked.
“Ariella had been sick earlier in the evening, so she was lying down in the cast room. I went in to check on her, and then I found Ricky, Robby, Timmy, and Joshua playing in the prop room. I escorted them back to the front of the building. Other than the five children, no, I didn’t see anyone in the hallway or any of the rooms while I was searching for the bird. Although…”
“Although?” Colt asked.
“The assistant director, a woman named Noreen Grant, left the stage area to get the bird. She wasn’t gone long, but I don’t suppose it would take much time to hit someone over the head with a heavy object.”
“Do you have reason to believe Noreen might have wanted to kill Hollander?” Colt asked.
“No. As far as I know, she barely knows the guy. She has three children in the play and seems to be the sort who is fairly dependable, so when Lacy was promoted to director, she asked Noreen to be her assistant director. I really have no reason to think she’s the killer, but she did leave the group to fetch the bird, so I suppose that means she had the opportunity.”
Colt pulled a small notepad out of his pocket. “I’ll have a talk with her. Anyone else?”
“Other than the five children, no.”
Colt slipped his notebook back into his pocket.
“It’s so weird that the bird was in the trap-room,” Georgia said. “I can understand that the killer might have thought the sub-ground level room was a good place to hide a body, but why put the bird in the room with the body?”
“I don’t think the killer intentionally put the bird in the trap-room,” Colt said. “I suspect that the killer opened the hatch to slip the body inside, and while the hatch was open, the bird slipped in. Either the killer didn’t realize the bird was in the trap-room, or the bird got into the room but couldn’t get out and wasn’t going to be easily caught, so the killer decided to leave him there.”
I supposed either scenario made sense.
“I’m going to need a list of everyone who was at the theater tonight,” Colt said. “Lacy is going to make me a list, but I would really appreciate it if you would make one as well. She was pretty rattled when I spoke to her, and I figure that having two lists to compare will help ensure we don’t miss anyone.”
“I wonder what we’re going to do about the play. It seems kind of late to recast the part, and even if we can, I’m not sure we’ll be able to get everything ready if the theater is going to be closed for a few days.” I looked at Colt. “I assume the theater will be closed.”
“Yes, I’m afraid we’ll need a couple days to gather evidence. After that, I guess it depends on what we find. Lacy was nearly hysterical when I tried to tell her that the property might not be available until next week. In my opinion, you might want to just cancel the whole thing.”
“I suppose that might be what we need to do,” I agreed. Personally, I thought canceling made a lot of sense, but I was a fairly new resident of Holiday Bay compared to lifers like Lacy, and I had a feeling the tradition of the whole thing was going to be too strong a lure for her to give up easily.
“So, what now?” Georgia asked.
“I guess the next thing to do is to figure out who killed Dashwood Hollander,” Colt answered. “I should get a preliminary report from the coroner tomorrow, and the crime scene guys should have had a chance to go through the place by the end of the day. I plan to spend a good part of tomorrow talking to folks and digging around in Hollander’s professional and personal life. I’m hoping once I start to dig, a few suspects will surface.”
Georgia gave Colt a hug. “Good luck with all that. I’m heading to bed.” She turned to me. “We can chat in the morning.”
“Goodnight, Georgia,” I said as she called to her dog, Ramos, and they headed into her room.
I looked at Colt. “Do you want a sandwich? Coffee?”
“Both would be great, actually.”
I opened the refrigerator, and once again began pulling out sandwich supplies. “Georgia didn’t mention this, but it seems important to let you know that we have three guests checking in tomorrow who are coming to town to meet with Hollander.”
Colt picked my cat, Rufus, up and scratched him under the chin. “Really, who?”
I explained about the three half-sisters, their absentee father, and the grandmother who seemed to want not only to provide for them financially but to make sure they had the chance to know each other as well. Colt ate his sandwich and drank his coffee, pausing to ask a few questions along the way. I didn’t know a lot about the background relating to the sisters or the project the grandmother wanted them to work on, but it was an interesting story, and it did seem at least possible that whatever was going on there could relate to Hollander’s death. Colt agreed that it might be possible the will was related to the death of the attorney, but based on what he knew at this point, he sort of doubted it. It wasn’t like killing the attorney would stop whatever had been set up to happen from happening. Someone in Hollander’s office would simply replace him.
Chapter 3
I woke early the next morning, so I decided to take Ramos and my dog, Molly, for a walk along the bluff. It had been busy at the inn this past month with leaf viewing and Halloween, and I knew it would continue to be busy through the new year. Making the most of the isolated moments when the world was quiet was my secret to staying sane and focused.
As I walked along the bluff with the dogs running in front of me, I took a moment to relax and think back over the past few days. I’d had a long telephone conversation with my sister, Annie, on Saturday. Annie still lived in San Francisco, where I’d lived until moving to Maine, and although she’d visited once since I’d moved to the East Coast, she wasn’t a fan of the climate, so hadn’t been back. I supposed I could make the trip west to visit her, and intended to do so one day, but I’d left a lot of baggage behind when I left California, so I wasn’t all that anxious to return for a long visit.
Still, I was grateful that Annie made the time to connect via the phone line. There had been a time right after I’d made the decision to move to Holiday Bay when she hadn’t been speaking to me at all. I still didn’t fully understand why she’d been so angry, but I knew my decision to take my inheritance and make the move east had caused friction between us.
We’d since made up. Sort of. While we were speaking to each other now, I still didn’t feel that we’d regained the closeness we’d once shared. Maybe we never would. I supposed the fact that we’d drifted apart could be expected. While her life had remained fixed and somewhat stagnant, my life had changed in every way imaginable. I’d lost a husband and son, moved across the country, met new people, and was well on the way to creating a new life.
Part of that new life, I smiled to myself, was Colt Wilder. Since I’d decided to take a huge leap of faith and move our relationship out of the friend zone and into the couple zone, things had been so good. We’d decided to keep things casual so as not to complicate what I felt was an already complicated situation, so we’d put all talk of the next step after this step on the back burner. Still, things were diff
erent. Colt had been spending a lot more time out at the inn than he ever had before, although we both were busy, and I still didn’t see him as often as I’d like. But when we were together, it was nice. Really nice.
When the dogs and I returned, Georgia was serving breakfast at the inn. I washed up, gave Ramos and Molly food and water, and then went next door to join her. The guests currently staying with us must be early birds as well, since not only was everyone gone by the time I arrived, but Georgia already had the breakfast dishes cleaned up and was half done with the daily baking as well.
“Is Jeremy around?” I asked after pouring myself a cup of coffee and grabbing a blueberry muffin.
“He had some errands to do after he dropped Annabelle off at school. I think he plans to work in the garden when he returns. He wants to make sure all the beds are cleaned and covered before the first snow.”
“First snow,” I said. “I find it simply amazing that we are already preparing for the first snow. It seems like it was just summer.”
“It’s been busy, and there’s been a lot going on. I guess time flies when you’re busy.”
“I guess so. Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away. And then we’ll be busy with tree cutting and decorating the inn. I’m looking forward to both, but there are times when I wish time would slow just a bit so I can catch my breath.”
“I totally agree,” Georgia turned the bread dough onto the flour-covered counter for kneading.
I took a sip of my coffee, which was both warm and delicious. “Today is Tuesday. Don’t you have a taping to get to?”
“We have an off week this week, but just so you know, I have the taping for my Thanksgiving special for Cooking with Georgia next week. It’s a big deal, and I’ll be away all day on Tuesday. I’ve already spoken to Jeremy, who plans to cover breakfast, and Nikki plans to come in as well.”
“Do we have many guests checking in or out on that day?”
“None. We only have three rooms booked for that night, the three sisters, assuming the three sisters show up and decide to stay. We have two couples checking in on Thursday, but between Monday afternoon and Thursday afternoon, it will just be the three guests.”
“Sounds manageable.”
“It will be. And those few days with a half-empty inn is the only break we have until after New Year’s, so we should enjoy the quiet. Once the guests check in on that Thursday, the inn is booked solid.”
“It does seem the inn is popular for the holidays. I guess we’re ready.”
“We are,” Georgia confirmed as she shaped the bread dough and slipped it into a pan to rise.
I refilled my coffee and slipped the plate I’d been using for my muffin into the dishwasher. “By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask if you ever confirmed the size and quantity of the birds we need to order from the butcher.”
“I did. I know it’s important to have extra, so my plan is to bake a couple birds on the Wednesday of Thanksgiving week, carve them, and put them in the refrigerator. I’ll also cook a couple on Thanksgiving Day so the guests can enjoy the scent of turkey in the oven. I’ll stuff the Thanksgiving Day birds and serve those for dinner. The birds I make on Wednesday will be perfect for leftovers and sandwiches.”
“Are you going to make your leftover turkey soup again this year?”
She paused and used the back of her wrist to wipe a stray lock of hair from her cheek. “I thought I would. The guests seemed to enjoy it for lunch with sandwiches last year. I’ll make it with the carcass and part of the meat from the Wednesday birds so I can take most of Friday off. I assume we’re going tree cutting again on the Friday after the holiday.”
“I’d like to. I suppose I should discuss it with Colt. Have you talked to Tanner about it?”
“I have, and he’s in whatever day we decide on, but I told him it would most likely be Friday. The inn will be full for the entire weekend, which will make it a little tricky, but we don’t have anyone checking in or out on Friday, and, in the past, almost everyone goes into town to shop the day after Thanksgiving. I figured I’d leave sandwich fixings in the cooler for anyone who might be around, but I doubt we’ll have any takers.”
I snagged a cookie from the jar and took a bite. It seemed that as soon as the holidays approached, my sweet tooth went into overdrive.
“I do think the Friday after Thanksgiving will work out the best,” I said. “It’s a good idea to go early in the season before a big storm blows in and the access to the best trees is cut off. I’ll let Colt know what we’re doing, and I’m sure Jeremy, Mylie, and Annabelle will want to come along as well. I’ll mention it to Lacy too.”
“When I was talking with Jeremy about it, he mentioned that Christy, Noah, and Haley would want to come as well, so I guess we’ll have a large group this year.”
I smiled and shrugged. “The more, the merrier.” Suddenly, the thought of snow in the immediate future didn’t sound as bad as it had when the conversation began. Christmas in Holiday Bay was truly magical, with or without snow, and I, for one, planned to enjoy every moment of it, but a white Christmas in Holiday Bay couldn’t be beat.
“Sounds like someone is at the desk,” Georgia said after I’d gotten up to refill my coffee.
“Your hands are covered in flour, I’ll go,” I offered, setting my cup aside.
“Thanks, that would be helpful. If you need me, just holler. If it’s one of the sisters checking in, the room assignments are on the register on the desk.”
I nodded and then headed out to the reception area where a petite woman with long hair in a dark red color stood at the counter. She was thin and athletic-looking and wore a short leather skirt with a dark green cashmere sweater.
“I love your boots,” I said, taking note of the knee-high brown leather.
“Thank you. They’re new. I was going to get black, but then I saw this sable and had to have them.”
“They really are gorgeous. Are you checking in?”
She nodded. “I’m Shelby Morris. Are you Georgia?”
“Actually, I’m Abby, the owner of the inn. Georgia is baking bread, so I volunteered to help her out. I understand you’re here to meet with Dashwood Hollander.”
She nodded. “Is he here yet?”
“No.” I really wasn’t sure what to say about the fact that the man was dead, and I had no idea what would happen at this point. I supposed I should look into things and try to find out exactly how his office planned to handle the situation. “I believe the meeting with Hollander’s office is scheduled for this afternoon.”
She nodded. “Three o’clock. I know I’m early, but I was eager to find out exactly why I’d been summoned to Holiday Bay, and I figured as long as I was here, I’d ask if perhaps the attorney was early as well.” She blew out a breath. “I’m really not good at waiting. I get anxious and antsy, and pretty much drive myself crazy with thoughts I can never seem to control.”
“I understand. Waiting is hard in any circumstance, but I guess finding out you have an inheritance from someone you never met is a little odd.”
“It is. But what is even odder is that Mr. Hollander told me that I should plan to stay for ten days. Why on earth would I need to be here for ten days? I mean, really, how long can it take to read a will?”
“I suppose there might be things to see to. Assets to settle.”
She shrugged. “I suppose. Hollander did say there were two other beneficiaries, so I suppose there might be things to discuss.” She nibbled on her lower lip. “I really hope this whole thing is legit, and I’m not being played. Mr. Hollander was very nice when we spoke on the phone, but he was also very vague. The whole thing is just so odd.”
“I guess it is an unusual situation.”
She tapped a perfectly manicured nail on the counter. “At first, I wasn’t going to come. I was sure the call was a hoax of some sort, but then the attorney told me that if I didn’t show, I’d be forfeiting millions of dollars.” She raised a brow. “Millions! Can you ima
gine? He told me that I’d be staying here at the inn, so I called the inn and spoke to Georgia, and she confirmed that I did indeed have a reservation for ten days, which was paid in full. There’s still a part of me that thinks this is a hoax, but I figured that no one was going to pay for me to stay in this beautiful place if they were only trying to trick me, so here I am checking in and hoping I’m not crazy.”
“I don’t know a lot about what’s going on, but I do know a little, and I think the inheritance is legit. And even if the inheritance turns out not to be as awesome as what was represented, the free vacation makes it worth the trip.”
She smiled. “Exactly.”
I looked at the sheet in front of me. “You will be staying in suite six. It’s at the very top of the inn. I hope Georgia explained about the stairs.”
“She did.” Her blue eyes sparkled. “I’m fine with stairs. In fact, after all the driving to get here, I’m dying for some exercise. I don’t suppose you have a gym.”
“No. We don’t have a gym, but there is a trail that runs along the bluff if you feel like a walk.”
“A walk would be great. Actually, I think I’ll take a run while I wait for Mr. Hollander. I work as a waitress four days a week, and I’m a bartender in a very busy nightclub three nights a week. I’m used to being on my feet for hours and hours at a time. Sitting for fifteen hours was really hard. I should have flown, but I hate to fly, so I traded my dinner shift for a lunch shift yesterday and left when I got off at five. It took me forever to get through rush hour traffic, but once I did, the road opened up, and I made fairly good time.”