Sconed to Death

by Lynn Cahoon

  Seth studied the layout. “Actually, that’s almost what I was planning to do with Shauna’s herb garden I’m making her on the left side of the barn door. I’m making a small water pond on the other side of the door and I’m using an old water faucet I found at an antique shop. That way the cats will have a place to go wash up before dinner.”

  “I don’t think they actually use water to wash. . . .” Cat saw the way Seth wasn’t looking at her and realized he was teasing. She slapped his arm. “You are in so much trouble.”

  A tall woman wearing heels that made her look even taller approached and paused in front of them. She appeared to be of Asian descent. Seth set the magazine down and they stood.

  “Chi Chi Newby; if you would both follow me, I’ll take you back to Ms. Collins. She’s set up in the meeting room. I guess your call must have tweaked her interest because she already has some ideas sketched out for you to see.”

  They wove through hallways and finally stopped at a glassed-in meeting room. Inside was the woman Cat had seen at the funeral. When they entered the room, Sandra stood and glided toward them, holding out her hand to welcome them.

  “Catherine Latimer, I’m so glad to meet you. Dante told me you were at the funeral but we had to rush off to Denver for the second event. Such a sad day.” She shook Cat’s hand, then turned to Seth. “I’m sorry. I don’t know your name.”

  “Seth Howard. I’m the local handyman in Aspen Hills. Cat has hired me as the main contractor for any work done on the retreat.” Seth took her hand in his and gently shook it. “I have to say even though I wasn’t able to be at the funeral, I’m so sorry for your loss.”

  “You are too kind. Would you both have a seat. Your drinks have already arrived.” Sandra stepped back to her spot in front of a large coffee cup and a silver carafe. “Catherine, if you change your mind about coffee, I had them bring an extra cup.”

  “It’s Cat, please. And I’m fine with water.” Cat sat in the chair where the water had been set, which was across the table from Sandra. She wondered why Dante had felt a need to mention her attendance at the funeral but thought it best to get off that subject sooner than later. “So you and Greyson were a couple? I don’t think I knew that.”

  “We were keeping it on the down-low. Greyson was a very private man.” She turned and studied Seth. “I know where I’ve heard your name.”

  Seth nodded, a wide smile settling on his face. “Great. I sent you a letter when I opened my business hoping we could work together.”

  Sandra waved the idea away. “No, it wasn’t that. You played cards with Greyson. The man did love to play poker.”

  Seth smiled, but Cat could see the flash of hurt in his eyes. All the work he’d done to reach out had been treated like junk mail. “Guilty as charged.”

  Cat wanted to reach out but she thought better of the action. The less this woman knew about them, the better. “It was horrible, what happened to Greyson. Were you in town with him? I can’t even imagine how you felt.”

  “No, I was coming back from a weekend in Cabo with a few friends. You can imagine my shock when I got to the house and found a message from the police. I mean, I’m not sure I even said good-bye to him when I left Friday morning. He was still asleep. He and I had such different sleep schedules, I didn’t want to bother him.” She smiled but the sadness showed through the memory. “He always called me a lark because I’d be up at six and he had just gotten into bed a few hours before.”

  “I am so sorry. That must have been horrible.” Cat didn’t even dare to breathe. The woman was telling her everything she wanted to know, without her even throwing out a question. Alibi, check—but did she have motive to hire out the deed? “It sounds like you had a perfect life together.”

  Now Sandra did laugh, but the sound was harsh. “Perfect? Not by a long shot. Let’s just say Greyson hadn’t gotten used to the whole monogamy thing. Anyway, I’m sure you don’t want to hear my sad story about my boyfriend’s trysts. You’re here to talk about the retreat.”

  Cat nodded, but this time she did look at Seth as Sandra pulled out a sketchbook and turned it toward Cat and Seth. There, on the first page, was a pencil drawing of Cat’s house.

  “I got so excited when I got your call. I’ve seen your home. Greyson and I drove through Aspen Hills on our way to his brother’s a few months ago. I made him stop and let me snap some pictures. I was planning to reach out to you about doing some work. It’s really a lovely building and you’ve kept it historically accurate, at least on the outside.” She pointed to the gingerbread at the top of the gables.

  “That’s been mostly recreated by Seth.” Cat beamed at him, glad to have a chance to brag on his work. “He spent a lot of time at the Aspen Hills Historical Society section in the library looking for old pictures so he could recreate the look as the building was originally. When I bought it, someone had torn the original front eaves down and put up gutters.”

  “Oh, no.” The look of shock on Sandra’s face was real. She cared about her buildings, that was for sure. “Anyway, you’ve done a lovely job with the outside. I had some ideas to make it more welcoming for guests and even drew up a small commercial sign. Does the house have a name?”

  When both Cat and Seth shrugged, Sandra went on. “I’m sure it does, especially with its history of being part of the college for so many years. I’ll keep digging for that.”

  As she made a note, Cat leaned back. “I’m friends with Tyler and Jessica. Or I was before my divorce. You know how those things go; you tend to lose track of the other couples who were your marriage friends. How are they doing? I attended the funeral but didn’t want to intrude on their grief.”

  “Grief? Maybe for the ongoing income Greyson brought in. I think Tyler was just happy that the thing between Greyson and Jessica was finally over. Even though one of them had to die to get there.”

  “You think Greyson and Jessica were having an affair?” Cat leaned forward, watching her.

  “I know they were. At least they were before me. I can’t be sure he stopped it when he said he did, but you have to trust the person you’re with, right? Although he did go to Aspen Hills for those stupid poker games once a month.” Sandra shook her head. “Sorry, I’m running my mouth without thinking. Let’s get back to my plans for your house.”

  Sandra walked them through the changes she thought she could make and then, at the end of the presentation, handed Cat copies of the drawings in a folder. “It’s all in there. What we discussed, very general estimates of costs and time frames. I know you host a monthly retreat, but I think we could get it done in between sessions. Especially if you have some pieces now we could use in the new design. Think it over and call me when you want me to tour the house. Then I could give you a more complete bid, including a final budget and time frames.”

  “Thank you so much for your time.” Cat stood and held out a hand. “And again, I’m so sorry for your loss.”

  “Thank you.” Sandra turned toward Seth. “Do you have a card I could have? I have another project coming up in the Aspen Hills area and would love to have you bid some work for me.”

  “Of course.” Seth smoothly took a business card out of the top pocket of his shirt. Cat realized he must have come prepared, hoping the fact-finding meeting might give him a chance to leave his contact information.

  They didn’t talk until they were back out in the car. Seth started the car and pulled out onto the still empty street. “Well, what did you think? She has an alibi for Greyson’s death.”

  “Yeah, but she really hated Jessica. Flames almost shot out of her eyes when I mentioned her name. And she doesn’t like Tyler much either.”

  “Sometimes the girlfriend is more of an outsider to the family and can see the family drama clearer than those involved.” Seth glanced at the clock. “Do you want something for breakfast besides the cookies you ate earlier? We have time to hit a drive-thru on our way back.”

  “Sure.” Cat opened the folder and stared
at the drawings of her house. Sandra had even put up a small yard sign with a blank spot for the name. Did the house have a name? She’d never even considered looking for that when she did the research. It would be nice if it was called something like Covington House or maybe Alexander House, that sounded really cool. Who had been the first dean who’d lived there? She’d have to do some research. Even if she didn’t have the money to hire Sandra for the redesign, she thought she might just do the sign thing.

  “Earth to Cat. What do you want to eat?”

  Cat turned to Seth and realized they were already in line at the drive-thru. She glanced over the menu board and ordered. When they’d gotten their food, Seth pulled into a parking spot and shut off the engine. She sipped her orange juice and watched him. “I figured you’d just keep driving.”

  “We have some time.” He unwrapped a breakfast burrito. “Besides, we haven’t had a date for a while. I thought I’d take advantage of the opportunity for us to spend some time alone. So just to be clear, date night this week has been checked off.”

  “I’ll give you this one. We don’t get much alone time, especially when the retreat’s in house.” Cat watched him eat as she picked at her finger-sized hash browns. “We’re okay, right? I mean, if you were having an affair with my sister, I’d know, right?”

  “Do you have a sister?” He sipped on his coffee and turned her way. “How hot is she?”

  “She’s not hot at all. Besides, I don’t have a sister.” She slapped his arm. “Why can’t you be serious for a minute?”

  “You’re the one tempting me with some unknown sister.” He set his coffee down and turned the music down on the stereo. “But yeah, I think you’d know. You’re talking about Sandra, right? She said she thought Greyson had ended it when they started dating.”

  Cat picked up her sandwich and arranged the English muffin so it was straight. Before taking a bite, she looked at Seth and shook her head. “I’m talking about Tyler.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Shauna was in the kitchen working on her laptop when Cat and Seth got back to the house. “I was beginning to wonder if you two took the day off for a little impromptu Denver date.” She studied their faces. “Uh oh, what’s wrong?”

  Cat started to pour herself another coffee, then thought better of it. She went to the fridge and instead, poured a glass of the fruit-infused water Shauna had begun to keep on hand. Today, apple slices and mint floated in the pitcher. “We were just talking about the case.”

  “You think the girlfriend did it? You know that’s an easy assumption and not always true.” Shauna had been the victim of a similar assumption just a few months ago.

  Seth grabbed a soda and shut the refrigerator door after Cat put the water pitcher back. “Actually, no. We went to talk to her. She might not be surprised that Greyson’s dead, but she is visibly upset about it. She said that he had been having an affair with Jessica before they got together.”

  “Which Jessica denies, right?” Shauna closed the laptop. “I’m sure glad I’m not Pete. This investigation is a lot about he said, she said, and not a lot of facts.”

  “Well, I was thinking, maybe Tyler knew about the affair too.” Cat watched Shauna’s face. “Do you think he could have killed his brother over this?”

  “I think it’s a theory. Brothers have been known to kill each other. It’s even a biblical story.” Shauna glanced at her watch. “Pete’s coming over for dinner. He called earlier to talk to you but I didn’t mention where you two had gotten off to.”

  Seth grinned. “Just taking my girl to see the big city. And she even said it counted as date night. Besides, I might have gotten a job out of the trip.”

  Cat pushed the folder over to Shauna. “Check out her ideas. If you think we need to upgrade the decor, she might be the one we should look into hiring. She seemed to get the idea of the house-slash-retreat nature of the place.”

  Shauna patted the folder. “I’ll look at this later. Tammy should be here any minute. Do you want me to help her get set up?”

  “No, I’ll do that. You probably still have to refresh the dining room after breakfast. This group likes their treats.” Cat started toward the kitchen door to make sure the living room was ready.

  “Hey, I almost forgot. Nate stopped by this morning. He was upset but he didn’t say why.” Shauna watched as Seth and Cat made eye contact. “Okay, you two, tell me what’s going on?”

  “It’s my fault. When I took my receipts to Pete showing him I didn’t owe Greyson a dime, there was one payment I made to Nate for Greyson.” Seth cracked open his soda and took a gulp. “Now, it looks like Nate had motive and not me.”

  “Way to pass the buck, dude.” Shauna shook her head. “I guess that could have been what had him troubled. He didn’t say.”

  “I probably better call him and see what he wanted.” Seth followed Cat out of the kitchen. “I’m going to use the study if that’s okay. Then I want to get working on those flower beds we talked about.”

  “Let me know what he says.” Cat put her hand on Seth’s arm, stopping his movement. Then she kissed him. “Thank you for the lovely date.”

  “I do know how to woo a lady. Business meeting and a drive-in breakfast.” He ran a finger down her cheek. “I’m serious about us getting out of here for a week. Have you thought about timing?”

  “It can’t be next week. Shauna’s heading to New York to meet up with her brother. What about when she gets back? I’m still not committed to any new books, so it’s a good time for the writing, and we’d still be two weeks away from the next retreat.” Cat thought about her upcoming calendar as she talked. “Do you want me to make reservations? And where?”

  “Let me handle it. I’ve got some money put aside for these types of situations.” He grinned. “I’m thinking warm and sandy though. So don’t forget to pack that yellow bikini.”

  “Sounds great.” Cat left him and walked into the living room where she set up the table that Tammy liked to display and sell books from, as well as the podium and a flip chart, just in case. By the time she heard someone call out from the foyer, the room was clean and ready for the session.

  “Cat, are you around?” Tammy was standing in the middle of the foyer, a book cart by her side filled with boxes. When she saw Cat come into the foyer, she dropped her shoulders and a sigh of relief escaped from her lips. “Oh, good. I was afraid I’d written down the wrong date.”

  “Nope, we’re expecting you. I have you set up in the living room, as usual. Do you want some coffee or some water? Maybe a cookie or brownie? I’m not sure what decadent treats Shauna put out for today. Since the retreat’s ending soon, she tends to go all out the last few days.” Cat approached the woman slowly. For some reason, the bookseller seemed as timid as a field mouse. At times, in her store, she seemed normal, but whenever Cat saw her out and about, she tended to withdraw into the brown dresses she liked to wear that seemed to match her long loose hair and even her eye color. The woman would disappear in front of a brown wall. “Let me help you with your boxes.”

  “Oh, you don’t have to do that.” Tammy grabbed the handle of the cart possessively. “It’s really heavy, you know, with books.”

  “Well, if you won’t let me help you, I’ll get you some coffee and some treats.” Cat smiled. “Any favorites you want me to nab before the writers get down here?”

  “I do love Shauna’s brownies. They are so much better than the ones at the bakery.” Tammy’s eyes widened. “But don’t tell Dee Dee I said that. She’s a little touchy about Shauna’s mad baking skills. I think she’s afraid Shauna’s going to open a competing bakery. I told her that was silly. Shauna has her hands full with the retreat. But you can’t tell some people anything they don’t already know.”

  “You and Dee Dee are friends?” Cat guessed she shouldn’t have been surprised. The women had shops on the same block. But the two were like night and day in personality.

  Tammy smiled. “I’d like to think so. I mean
, she talks to me about her boyfriend and I listen. I guess I listen a lot. She really has issues with that guy.”

  “Oh, who is she seeing?” Cat tried to keep the question conversational, but this was the first time she’d ever heard of Dee Dee being nice to anyone, let alone being in a relationship.

  “I probably shouldn’t say, but you know him. It’s Nate from the health department?” Tammy adjusted her tote on her shoulder, her face staining red. “I told Dee Dee that it was a total conflict of interest, but she said they never talked about work when they were together. You know what she means, right?”

  “I get it.” Cat tried to put Tammy at ease. She guessed that talking about sex wasn’t something the woman did all the time. “I work with my boyfriend so I know sometimes the lines can be a little wavy. I don’t know how Dee Dee kept the professional out of their lives.”

  “They were always breaking up. He’d say something that made her mad and next thing I knew, he was a ‘turd.’ But then the next time we’d talk, they’d be back together again.” Tammy shook her head. “I’m waiting for someone who really loves me. Someone who will see me for the treasure I am.”

  “That’s good.”

  Tammy glanced at the clock. “I need to get set up.”

  Cat watched as Tammy hauled the heavy cart into the living room. She was going to have to have Seth watch for the woman and offer to bring the boxes inside. No one would turn down help from good-looking Seth.

  After getting Tammy settled, Cat went into the study. Seth must have already called Nate and left, because it was empty. She pulled out her notebook and, looking at the mess she’d made over the last few days, went to a clean sheet and wrote Greyson’s name in the middle. Then she wrote all the names that she’d known about that had been in his universe. When she got to the poker game, she wrote down Seth and Nate and a question mark. Maybe there was someone else that owed the man money. She wrote down her question, then went to Jessica. Here she wrote a ton of questions. Why was she calling Greyson daily? Why would Sandra think she was having an affair? And if she was, did Tyler know?