by Kathi Daley
The rain stopped by ten o’clock, and the road became passable by noon. I decided to drop Alastair and my bag of clothing off at the house on the way out to the Hanson place. I’d need to show up early at the movie shoot tomorrow, so it made sense that I’d spend the night at Gracie’s, which was twenty minutes closer to the highway. I invited Cass to stay with me, so he packed a bag and his dog, and we headed in that direction.
After we dropped the animals off at the house, we headed out of town. Luckily, Mr. Hanson was home today and answered the door when we knocked. We asked if he’d seen or heard anything on either of the Thursday nights in question. He reported that he hadn’t, but he did tell us that he’d noticed Bill’s car in the area a time or two during the week preceding his accident. Cass asked Jamison if he knew whether or not Bill had been visiting one of the other homeowners in the area, and Jamison replied that he wasn’t certain why he’d been out this way, but he did remember him driving south toward town on at least two occasions when he’d been driving north toward his ranch. Jamison said they hadn’t stopped to talk, but they had waved at each other as they passed.
“So Bill had been visiting someone out here during the week before his accident,” I said to Cass after we returned to the truck. “I wonder who.”
“No one we’ve spoken to has admitted to having spent time with the guy,” Cass pointed out. “There are a few folks who weren’t home when we tried yesterday, and then there are the farms on the north side of the old highway. I suppose Bill could have been heading back to town from one of the northernmost farms, but that seems a long way for Robert to have run through the woods before being shot, assuming he was killed by the same person who killed Bill if, in fact, Bill was murdered.”
“I agree,” I said. “It seems more likely that the men visited one of the farms on the south side of the highway. Of course, we’re assuming that both men not only visited the same person but were killed by the same person and that the person they visited is the person who killed them.”
“It would be odd if that wasn’t the case, but I suppose it is possible.” He furrowed his brow. “Bill had an auto accident. In the beginning, I assumed the accident was caused by driver error, but then after Robert’s body was discovered, I started to believe he’d been run off the road. Based on the location of both Bill’s vehicle after the crash and the location of Robert’s remains, it appears as if the men had been visiting one of the nearby farms before their deaths. If it does turn out that Bill’s accident wasn’t an accident and someone did run him off the road, I assume it’s most likely that the men were killed by the same person.” Cass paused and took a breath. It seemed as if he was working things out as he spoke. I recognized the repetition of facts as a common thread when Cass had an idea he hadn’t quite settled on yet. “If both men had been at a nearby farm before their deaths,” he continued, “it stands to reason that it was the landowner they were visiting who killed them. But what if it wasn’t?” He paused and looked me in the eye. “What if someone followed them from town, and then this person who’d followed them killed them after they left the property of whomever they’d been visiting?”
“Jennifer,” I said. “She had dinner with both men on the first Thursday. She was seen arguing with Bill over what may have been divorce paperwork after they left the restaurant. All three people who met for dinner had their own vehicle. I can see how Bill might have driven out here to the country for some reason, only to be followed by Jennifer, who was so angry with him that she run him off the road.”
“And Robert?”
“They were seen arguing earlier this week. If Jennifer killed Bill in order to legally end their marriage, maybe Robert figured out what she’d done, and she killed him as well.” I paused. “This scenario occurred to me before, but for some reason, the idea filtered to the bottom of the list. Still, I think we should take a closer look at Jennifer.”
“I agree. Let’s head up to the resort and see if she’s available for a conversation.”
As it turned out, Jennifer had taken advantage of having two down days to head to Denver to visit a friend, although she was scheduled to be at the shoot early Monday morning. Cass and I talked about it, and he decided to follow me up to the resort the following day. In the meantime, we decided to grab some takeout and head back to the house, where we planned to snuggle and watch the clouds fade from the sky.
Chapter 14
Monday
Cass received a call from the coroner early Monday morning confirming his assumption that Robert had died due to a gunshot to the back. He also confirmed that Robert had most likely died on Thursday evening and that he’d most likely bled out slowly, so would have been able to continue to flee for several minutes after being shot. Basically, the coroner confirmed what we’d already assumed, but confirmation was important at this point in the game.
Robert’s car still hadn’t been found. We figured it was either in one of the barns in the area or stashed in the woods somewhere. There were several property owners on the south side of the highway who Cass still needed to talk to, but he hoped to track them down today while I was at the movie site. When Cass and I arrived at the shoot, we found Jennifer waiting for her call time.
“I don’t know who killed Robert any more than I know who killed Bill,” she said right off the bat after Cass introduced himself and told her why he was there. “Yes, the three of us had dinner together on the Thursday evening before the filming was to begin, but it was just a dinner. A few of us arrived in Colorado early, so we went ahead and checked into the hotel before the rest of the gang who would arrive Monday. Robert had made plans to have dinner with Bill, and I’d been looking for an opportunity to talk to Bill about signing our divorce papers, so I invited myself along.”
“So, how did the dinner go?” Cass asked, even though he already had the answer based on comments from spectators.
“It was fine. At first. After a while, Bill started to get on my nerves, which admittedly created tension. I’d been trying to get him to sign those darn divorce papers for years, but he kept coming up with one excuse or another. It wasn’t like either of us was looking to remarry, and there weren’t any kids involved, so making things legal wasn’t urgent, but I was ready to move on, and my being in town seemed like the opportunity I’d been looking for. After we left the restaurant, I cornered him in the parking area and tried to make him sign them. It was pathetic that he’d been hanging onto the memory of what we’d once had for so long, and he even tried to talk me out of it once again, but I was insistent, so he finally gave in. After he signed them, I returned to my hotel room. I have no idea where Bill went after that. And while I will admit that things became tense between Harrison and me after Bill died, I didn’t kill him.”
“Do you have any idea who might have killed Harrison?” Cass asked.
“No clue,” she answered.
“Had Harrison mentioned having a problem with someone in the area, or had you noticed any tension between Harrison and someone here for the shoot?”
Jennifer paused. “Harrison was a popular guy amongst his peers, and he seemed to get along with everyone involved in this movie, but I will admit that there was something going on.” She rolled her lips as she appeared to be tugging at a memory. “I was chatting with Harrison last week. I guess it might have been Thursday. Anyway, he got a call while we were chatting. He looked at the caller ID, frowned, and then declined the call. A short time later, he got another call. This time, he said he needed to take it, and he walked away. The two of us were on standby to find out if we were going to need to redo a scene we’d done earlier in the day, so he wasn’t able to go far. I couldn’t hear what he was saying, but I did notice him pacing back and forth while he talked. He looked agitated.”
“And he never said who the call was from?” Cass asked.
“No. But if you pull his phone records, look for an incoming call around three o’clock on Thursday of last week. If I had to guess, both the call he took a
nd the call he declined might end up being important.”
Cass nodded. “Thank you. I’ll do that.” He handed her a card. “If you think of anything else, let me know.”
“I will,” she said. “And I hope you find out who did this.”
Cass wanted to talk with both the producer and director about Harrison Roberts but needed to leave after that since he also needed to follow up on a few other leads. He suggested that since I was going to be at the shoot all day anyway, I should talk to other film crew and cast members in the hope that someone knew something about Robert’s movements and intentions on the day he was shot. He asked me to call him right away if I found anything relevant. Otherwise, he promised that we’d get together that evening. Paisley and Aunt Gracie would both be back after spending the weekend away, so I suggested that Cass have dinner with us. I needed to be home this evening, but I really wanted to have a chance to debrief with Cass as well.
The filming was delayed while Cass spoke to both Sloan Kingston and Dirk Coven, but he kept it short, and once he was done, the film crew and cast were called together, so the official announcement of Harrison Robert’s murder could be made. Everyone on site was asked to share any insight they might have about the murder with Deputy Wylander, and Cass’s office number was distributed amongst the crowd. A break was called until after lunch so the scriptwriters could meet with the producer and director to come up with a plan for Harrison’s character. In the end, they decided to kill him off early in the movie rather than recasting the part. I heard chatter about using scenes they’d already shot, combined with scenes using a double until his death could be slipped into the storyline.
The overall mood at the movie site was subdued once the announcement had been made, but as they say, the show must go on, which it did once filming resumed. Harrison’s death had put them behind schedule, and it seemed that most of the actors and actresses were more upset about the delay than they were about the death of a cast mate.
I was afraid they’d make the decision to work late since they’d gotten a late start, but when four o’clock rolled around, they called a wrap for the day. I headed out to my car, where a woman who I’d met on one other occasion stopped me.
“Jeri?” I asked, hoping I remembered the name of the woman who worked in food services correctly.
“Yes, that’s right. Jeri Landry. I wanted to say that I was sorry to hear about Harrison. I remember you saying at one point that the two of you had known each other before the shoot.”
“Yes. We both grew up in the area.”
She fidgeted a bit and then spoke. “I’m not sure if I should mention this to you, or if I should call Deputy Wylander directly, but I might know something about Harrison. It’s probably nothing, but I overheard a phone conversation he was having last week, and the more I think about it, the more certain I am that it could be important.”
“Okay. What do you remember hearing?”
“I was cleaning up after a large group had come in for lunch. Harrison got a call and walked away from the group. I wasn’t trying to snoop, but I was busy clearing dishes and wiping tables nearby.”
“Okay. Go on.”
“I don’t know who Harrison was talking to, but I do remember him saying the name Bill on multiple occasions. It didn’t mean anything to me at the time, but one of the cast members mentioned today that not only had Harrison been murdered, but a man named Bill had died just a week before.”
“Bill and Harrison were friends,” I said. “Do you remember what Harrison was saying about Bill?”
“Not everything, but he said something about Bill feeling bad about the way they’d treated someone. Harrison indicated to whomever he was talking to that he wondered if Bill had been stupid enough to open old wounds after all these years.” She took a breath and blew it out. “As I said, I wasn’t trying to listen, but I did hear the name Bill a few times during the conversation, including the comment about his having opened old wounds. Harrison indicated at one point in the discussion that perhaps this person Bill felt bad about hurting might have been the one who ran him off the road.”
“Okay, that might be important.” It sounded like Harrison thought that someone from Bill’s past might have run him off the road, which is the theory Cass and I were operating under as well at this point. “Anything else?”
She slowly shook her head. “I’m sorry. I really wasn’t listening all that closely. I didn’t think it was important at the time. Harrison wasn’t murdered yet, and I hadn’t heard about anyone named Bill dying.” She turned and looked behind her. “You might want to talk to Jennifer Ashford. She seems to have been tight with Harrison. And there’s a script girl named Connie who seems to know everything that’s going on with everyone on the set. I did notice Harrison chatting her up on more than one occasion.”
“Okay, thanks for the information. I’ll pass the information along to Deputy Wylander.”
“I hope Deputy Wylander can figure out who did this. Harrison was a good guy. I can’t believe someone shot him. Sure, he had a wild side at times, and he was a bit of a Casanova, which didn’t really appeal to me, but he certainly didn’t deserve to die.”
I thanked Jeri again and then headed toward my car. The drive home was uneventful. I was happy to see Paisley waiting on the front porch for me. When I pulled up, she ran out to the car and gave me a hug.
“I missed you this weekend,” she said.
I hugged her back. “I missed you too. Did you have fun with Anna?”
“So much fun. Her mom helped us make Halloween decorations. I made some for the house, and some for your bedroom too.” She grabbed my hand. “Come on. I’ll show you.”
“Okay,” I said, letting her drag me inside. Based on the sheer number and variety of homemade decorations Paisley had made, it appeared that Anna’s mother was a regular Martha Stewart. “Wow,” I said, picking up a witch that you could hang from a hook. “Everything is so great. You must have been busy.”
“So busy.” She grinned. “We had a lot of fun. Aunt Gracie said that we’re all going to go to the pumpkin farm and get pumpkins to carve as a family Friday, and I’m looking forward to that so much.”
She hugged me again. A hard, long hug that seemed to hint at an underlying desperation. I hugged her back with equal fervor. I knew that it was important for Paisley to regain her sense of security. I think it helped a lot that Gracie and I had promised to pursue guardianship should something happen to her grandmother, but I suspected that beneath the wide smile was a tiny trickle of fear that maybe things wouldn’t work out as she hoped, and she’d end up alone and without a family. I remember feeling that way when my parents died, and Gracie had been a blood relation. I supposed that given the fact that neither Gracie nor I were related to Paisley, the potential existed for complications to arise at some point in the future. But I wasn’t going to think about that. Instead, I was going to focus on the family that we’d created, and the upcoming holiday we all planned to share.
Gracie was in the kitchen, making dinner. I greeted her when I was finally able to make it that far. She informed me that Tom was at his cabin cleaning up and that she planned to serve the meal at six or whenever Cass arrived. I’d called her earlier and told her I’d invited Cass to dinner and that he’d thought six would work out just fine.
“So, how was your weekend?” I asked.
She smiled. “It was lovely. How was yours?”
“Lovely as well,” I replied. I might have elaborated, but Paisley was sitting at the counter, hanging on our every word. “Although I guess things didn’t really end up on a positive note. Did you hear about Harrison?”
“I did. Such a shame. I really don’t remember the man from when he lived here, but I spoke to Maude, who knew him when he was a teenager attending our high school. She had a high opinion of the boy, although she seemed to think he left town to become a scientist and not an actor.”
“He just sort of fell into acting,” I said. “I actually wrote
about it in the column that published today.”
“I’m afraid I haven’t had a chance to take a look at the newspaper today. I will after we eat, and I get the kitchen put back to rights, though.”
“Whatever you’re making smells wonderful,” I said.
“I was going to make a pot roast, but we got home too late, so I decided on pork chops with mashed potatoes. I stuffed the pork chops with my cranberry stuffing and put them in the oven rather than frying them. I love the way the cranberries and the walnuts complement each other.”
“It smells fantastic. I’m going to run upstairs and change. I’ll call Cass and confirm he’s still going to make it by six. He loves your stuffed pork chops, so I know he won’t want to miss them.”
By the time I took a quick shower and put on clean clothes, Cass had arrived. I could hear him downstairs talking to Tom, which probably meant that everyone was waiting for me. I brushed out my wet hair but didn’t bother to dry it. I jogged down the stairs and joined the others just as Gracie was calling everyone to the table.
After dinner, Paisley went upstairs to do her homework, and Tom helped Gracie with the dishes. I offered to help, but they shooed Cass and me away and insisted that we’d been working all day and should take it easy. It was too cold to sit outside, so I suggested we retire to the living room where we could enjoy the fire Tom had built.
“So, how was your day?” I asked.
“Frustrating,” Cass said. “I talked to a lot of people and followed up on a lot of leads, but none of them really panned out.”
“You still can’t figure out where Robert was before he was shot?”
He shook his head. “There are only a limited number of possibilities, so this shouldn’t be so hard, but I’ve talked to everyone who lives on the south side of the old highway, and no one will admit to knowing a thing about Robert’s death. It doesn’t make sense that anyone other than the killer would lie about having seen him in the area. Most folks didn’t even realize he was in town, and most had no idea that Harrison Roberts, the actor, was actually Robert Harrison, the science geek, who lived in the area more than a decade ago.”