by Sarah Fox
“Great!” Olivia fumed. “She’ll be long gone. How will the police find her?”
“I know where they can look,” I said.
All eyes turned to me.
“You’ve seen her before?” Grayson asked.
“A couple of times,” I said. “She’s staying at the Shady Creek Manor.”
Chapter 15
Sirens wailed in the distance as I left the building. Olivia and her colleagues stayed inside to wait for the police, but Grayson followed me out the door. The sirens cut off and I figured the emergency vehicles were on their way up the driveway. A second later, the sound of rumbling engines confirmed that.
“Sadie,” Grayson called as I hurried away, “Tiffany’s dangerous. Leave it to the police to confront her.”
“I will,” I said over my shoulder.
A glance in that same direction gave me a glimpse of the suspicion in Grayson’s eyes. I sent him a quick wave and darted across the driveway just before a police cruiser crested the hill. An ambulance wasn’t far behind. I glanced back again. Grayson was still watching me, but he’d stopped to meet the two police officers who were now climbing out of the cruiser. I picked up my pace and continued down the drive.
I half walked and half jogged all the way over to my car in the Inkwell’s parking lot. When I turned my car out onto the road, I had second thoughts. Grayson was right—Tiffany was dangerous. She’d proven that by attacking Olivia. I didn’t have any intention of confronting her, though, so I figured I wasn’t being too foolhardy. All I wanted to do was make sure that Tiffany was still at the manor. If she was, maybe the Honeywells and I could keep an eye out so we’d know if she tried to leave town. Hopefully the police would arrive before she’d get a chance to flee.
The truth was that I was glad to have an excuse to go back to the manor. Brad Honeywell still held the dubious honor of sitting at the top of my suspect list, and I wanted to see what I could find out about him. I also wondered if Tiffany belonged on the list. I didn’t know why she would have wanted to kill Marcie, but she clearly had anger issues. Maybe she’d lashed out at Marcie on the spur of the moment. Her attack on Olivia proved that she was capable of violence. I figured it was at least worth looking into her as a suspect.
When I turned into the manor’s long driveway, I wasn’t able to enjoy the beautiful surroundings as much as I had on previous trips. I was too preoccupied to appreciate Judson’s work in the gardens and I didn’t bother to roll down the window to catch the scent of flowers in the air. The closer I got to the manor, the more nervous I became.
Maybe I should have waited for the police to approach the hotel first.
As I pulled my car into a free space in the parking lot, I saw that my concerns about Tiffany making a run for it were valid. Through my rearview mirror, I watched as she rolled a suitcase across the lot until she reached a silver sedan. She opened the trunk and hoisted the suitcase into it. She wore the oversized sunglasses I’d seen her in before and she’d ditched her all-black outfit for skinny jeans, a flowy blue top, and a white cardigan.
I gripped the steering wheel, wondering what I should do. I had no desire to confront Tiffany and put myself in danger of being on the receiving end of her violent temper. Maybe I could follow her car at a discreet distance so I could contact the police and let them know where she was heading. I’d almost decided on that course of action when I realized I wouldn’t have to do anything.
A police cruiser turned into the manor’s driveway, its lights flashing but its siren shut off. A second cruiser followed right behind it. I relaxed my grip on the steering wheel, relief washing over me. I almost got out of the car, but then I told myself it would be smarter to stay put. Who knew how Tiffany would react when she realized the police had come for her.
I continued to watch Tiffany in the rearview mirror. She slammed the trunk shut and only then did she notice the police cruisers heading her way. She froze for a split second before making a dash for the driver’s-side door. She yanked it open, but then the lead cruiser switched on its siren for a few seconds. The sound made her freeze again.
The first of the two police vehicles pulled into the lot and stopped, blocking the exit. Tiffany took two steps back from her car, looking this way and that, as if searching for an escape route. By then, three officers were converging on her.
I shifted in my seat so I could look out the back windshield. Tiffany didn’t resist when Officer Eldon Howes placed her in handcuffs, but she clearly wasn’t happy about it. I opened the car door and climbed out, figuring it was safe to do so now that the police had Tiffany under their control.
“She stole my job!” Tiffany shrieked as Officer Howes led her over to the nearest cruiser. “She deserved everything she got! They all did!”
Officer Howes spoke calmly to her as he placed a hand on her head and guided her into the back seat of the cruiser. Tiffany was still screaming when he shut the door, muffling her tirade. An unmarked car turned into the driveway and headed our way. The driver pulled the vehicle off to the side before stopping, leaving room for the cruisers to get past if needed. Detective Marquez climbed out of the car and joined the other police officers as they conferred next to the vehicle holding Tiffany.
I’d first met Detective Marquez when she’d led the investigation into the death of my ex-boyfriend back in the fall. Even though I knew she wouldn’t want me meddling in her investigation, I was tempted to ask her if she thought Tiffany could be responsible for Marcie’s death. I’d almost given in to that temptation when someone spoke from nearby, startling me.
“What’s going on?”
I spun around to see Judson leaning on a spade as he watched the police.
“Is that one of the guests they’ve got in the cruiser?” he asked.
“Yes,” I replied. “Tiffany Clearwater. Do you know her?”
“I don’t mix much with the guests,” he said. “She’s the killer?”
“I’m not sure. You know the Craft Nation film crew?”
“Sure. I heard they were in town.”
“Tiffany assaulted the director,” I explained. “Apparently she was the director before she got fired.”
“This place is going crazy,” Judson said with a shake of his head.
He left the spade sticking into the edge of a flower bed and tucked his work gloves into the back pocket of his jeans, coming over to join me by my car. We watched as Detective Marquez strode around to the front of the manor while the other officers got into their cruisers, turning the vehicles around so they could head off down the driveway.
“If she’s violent, maybe she is the killer,” he said as the cruisers turned out onto the road, disappearing from sight.
“Could be,” I said.
Judson rubbed his wrist across his forehead before resting his hands on his hips. “Guess there’s nothing more to see here. Might as well get back to work. See you later, Sadie.”
“Later,” I returned, already heading for the manor.
Maybe if I slipped quietly into the lobby I could overhear what Detective Marquez was saying. If she was saying anything.
It turned out I was too late. As I pulled open the front door, I came face-to-face with the detective, who was on her way out.
“Ms. Coleman,” she said, a hint of suspicion evident in her voice. “What are you doing here?”
She probably thought I was there to snoop. Not that she was wrong.
I smiled, hoping I could allay her suspicions. “I came by to check on Linnea Bliss. Her book signing was at my pub the other day.”
Her gaze remained sharp as she watched me pass, but she didn’t object to me going into the lobby. I forced myself not to check over my shoulder until I heard the door shut. With the detective gone, I relaxed with relief, but then I quickly refocused. Although I was too late to overhear what Detective Marquez might have said to Gemma Honeywell, there was still a chance that I could do some investigating.
Gemma stood behind the reception desk,
nervously fiddling with the earring in her right ear. When she saw me, she dropped her hand and smiled, but the expression didn’t erase the stress that tightened her features.
“What can I help you with, Sadie?” she asked.
“I was wondering how Linnea’s doing today,” I said.
Gemma’s forced smile faded away. “The poor woman. She went for a walk in the gardens earlier and she’s resting now. It’s probably best not to disturb her.”
“That’s fine,” I assured her. “I don’t want to bother her. I just wanted to see how she was holding up. Has she made any plans to head home?”
“From what I understand, her brother is coming up from Virginia the day after tomorrow. He’ll stay overnight and then drive her home the next day.”
“I’m glad she’s got family coming.” I leaned against the reception desk and lowered my voice, even though we were alone in the lobby. “I saw the police arresting Tiffany Clearwater out in the lot. Is she the one who killed Marcie?”
A pained expression crossed Gemma’s face. “I can’t believe all of this drama is happening here at the manor. It’s terrible for business!” She closed her eyes briefly and seemed to gather herself together. “I’m sorry. That was an insensitive thing to say. Of course Ms. Kent has suffered far worse than what Brad and I are going through.”
“It’s understandable that you’re worried about the manor,” I said. “You worked hard to build it into what it is today.”
She seemed relieved that I understood. “We really have.”
“If the police have the killer now, things should settle down.”
“But they don’t have the killer,” Gemma said. “They arrested Ms. Clearwater for some unrelated crime. The detective that was just here was asking if I knew Ms. Clearwater’s whereabouts when Ms. Kent was killed. I thought I recalled that she’d scheduled a massage that day so I checked with our masseuse, and she confirmed that Ms. Clearwater was with her when all the commotion happened.”
So there was no point in adding Tiffany to my suspect list. That avenue of investigation was a dead end, so I decided to head in a different direction.
“Did you and Mr. Honeywell know Marcie before she and Linnea came to stay at the manor?”
“No. Not at all.” Her attention suddenly focused more sharply on me. “Why do you ask?”
I wasn’t about to tell her that I suspected her husband of killing Marcie, so I quickly came up with a sort-of-fib. “I was curious about what Eleanor Grimes said.”
Gemma sighed and rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. “That woman! She’s been nothing but a pain lately. What did she say?”
“She insinuated that she knew something about Marcie’s past, something not so good.”
“I wouldn’t put too much stock in anything Eleanor says, personally,” Gemma said. “She’s an unpleasant, spiteful woman, and I wouldn’t put it past her to make things up.”
The sound of high heels clicking against the marble floors drew our attention to the wide hallway leading toward the ballroom and dining room. A woman in a gray pencil skirt and cream silk blouse walked our way with brisk, purposeful steps, a tablet in one hand.
“Mrs. Honeywell?” she said, as she approached. “Could you join me in the ballroom? I have a few final details I’d like to go over with you.”
“Of course,” Gemma said. To me, she explained, “The decorator for the masquerade.”
Without another word, Gemma hurried out from behind the reception desk and fell into step with the decorator, disappearing down the hallway.
I drummed my fingers on the reception desk, thinking over what Gemma had told me. I didn’t know Eleanor well enough to judge if it was a real possibility that she’d lie about knowing something about Marcie’s past, so I wasn’t ready to give up on trying to ferret out that information. As for Brad Honeywell, he was still my number one suspect. I thought Gemma had told me the truth when she said that she and her husband hadn’t known Marcie before she arrived at the hotel, but it was possible that Brad did know Marcie, and Gemma simply hadn’t been aware of that. Even if he hadn’t known Marcie before she arrived in Shady Creek, something had happened between them to cause the argument I’d witnessed. If only I’d heard more of what they’d said to each other that day.
Instead of leaving the manor and getting back into my car, I wandered deeper into the hotel. I’d eliminated Tiffany as a suspect in Marcie’s murder, but other than that I hadn’t accomplished much of anything since my arrival. I didn’t want to go home without more information if it was at all possible to find some.
I walked quietly along the marble-floored hallway, not wanting to draw attention to myself. As I passed the ballroom, I took a quick peek inside. Gemma was deep in conversation with the decorator. Neither of them noticed me as I continued along the hallway.
When I reached a set of double doors at the end of the corridor, I ignored the sign that said STAFF ONLY, and quietly slipped through them. As soon as I was on the other side, I could hear voices, pots clanging, and sizzling. Delicious cooking smells wafted toward me, and I let my nose and ears guide me to the kitchen.
The double swinging doors separating the kitchen from the corridor had a round window on each side, so I was able to get a look inside without opening the doors. I hadn’t planned on interrupting the kitchen staff, but someone caught sight of me peering through the window. For a split second I wondered if I was about to get in trouble for sneaking around this part of the hotel, but my worries faded in a flash when I realized it was Gina who had spotted me.
She smiled at me and then spoke to someone I couldn’t see. A moment later, she hurried toward the doors. I stepped back as she emerged from the kitchen.
“Hey, Sadie.” Gina was dressed in a white chef’s jacket with a black collar and cuffs. A matching hat covered her head. “What are you doing here?”
She asked the question with a smile and without a hint of accusation in her voice, so I knew she wasn’t about to turn me in.
“Snooping,” I admitted.
Gina’s smile brightened. “I’ve heard that you’re an amateur sleuth.”
“That sounds better than nosy parker,” I said. A certain blue-eyed craft brewer had called me that in the past.
Gina laughed. “Hey, if it gets results . . .”
“I don’t think I’m getting any results at the moment,” I confessed. “I’m not even sure what I was hoping to find back here.”
“Well, if you want to find out what really goes on in a hotel, who better to talk to than the staff?” She lowered her voice. “The Honeywells might own the place, but we employees tend to know the gossip.”
“And what’s the gossip lately?” I asked, intrigued.
She kept her voice low. “Lillian, one of the waitresses, has a thing for the gardener, Judson. She flirts shamelessly with him. She’s ticked off because she thinks Connie from housekeeping has a thing for him too. But Connie’s married, and I personally think she’s just friends with Judson.” Gina’s smile reappeared. “But something tells me that’s not the gossip you’re after.”
“Not exactly,” I said. “Have you heard anything about Marcie Kent, the woman who died? Or maybe Mr. Honeywell?”
“Funny you should ask. I did hear something a few days ago about both of them.”
That caught my attention.
“Tamara works in the kitchen with me, but she’s not here today,” Gina continued. “Anyway, she told me she overheard the two of them arguing.”
“Do you know what the argument was about?” I was trying not to get too excited, but I was failing miserably.
“Tamara said it sounded like they’d known each other in the past, but Mr. Honeywell had forgotten. When Marcie reminded him, he was asking her not to tell anyone.”
“Did Tamara get any sense of how they’d known each other in the past?” I asked.
“I don’t think so, and once they saw her, they took the conversation outside.”
That must h
ave been when I’d arrived in the parking lot on the day I’d come to meet Linnea. Assuming Brad and Marcie hadn’t had multiple arguments.
Gina lowered her voice further, whispering now. “I wondered if maybe they’d had an affair. Marcie was almost half his age, but that doesn’t make it impossible.”
“No, it doesn’t,” I agreed. I was wondering the same thing.
“Tamara didn’t think that was it, though,” Gina said. “She said she didn’t get that vibe and plus, Mr. Honeywell didn’t remember her at first. If they’d had an affair, you’d think he would have recognized her.”
“Gina!” a man’s voice called from the kitchen.
Her eyes widened. “Sorry. I’d better get back to work. Good luck with your snooping!”
She pushed through the kitchen doors and disappeared.
I heard footsteps approaching from the other side of the doors marked STAFF ONLY. I didn’t want to get caught where I wasn’t supposed to be, in case the Honeywells banned me from coming back.
Fortunately, an exit sign glowed red at the other end of the hallway. I made a dash for the door and slipped outside, making a clean getaway.
Chapter 16
I drew in a deep breath of fresh air as I stood outside the door at the back of the manor. Finally, I had a useful tidbit of information. Marcie and Brad had known each other in the past, in some capacity. Of course, I still didn’t know the exact nature of their relationship, or whether it could have led to Brad pushing Marcie out the window. Maybe I hadn’t made as much progress as I’d momentarily thought.
I was about to head for my car when I caught a whiff of cigarette smoke. A driveway curved around the manor and led to a service entrance where goods were likely delivered. Connie stood out on the driveway, dressed in her housekeeping uniform, smoking a cigarette. Instead of setting off for the parking lot, I walked over her way.
“Hey, Connie,” I greeted. “On your break?”
“Yep.” She shot a dark look at the cigarette between her fingers. “I’ve tried to give these things up, but I can’t seem to kick the habit.”