by Sarah Fox
“It’s going well, thanks,” I said. I spooned some artichoke dip onto my plate and added a few crackers.
Teeves was in the real estate business, and I wondered if he knew anything about Wilson. I figured there was a good chance that he did.
“Do you know Wilson Gerrard?” I asked casually as I selected a red macaron from a plate.
“Sure,” he said. “How do you know him?”
“Brett and I met him last week when we were on vacation up in the mountains.”
Teeves nodded as he chewed on a sausage roll. “I know he’s done some work up there, tearing down ratty old cabins and putting up chalets for vacationers. That’s what he’s into, mostly—building vacation rentals.”
I sampled a mini cheese ball on a pretzel stick. It was loaded with delicious flavor. “I think he was hoping to buy the lodge where we were staying, but the owners weren’t interested in selling.”
Teeves spooned a generous dollop of dip onto his plate. “I bet Wilson was a thorn in their side then.”
“Why do you say that?” I asked with interest.
“Wilson doesn’t like not getting what he wants. It’s good to be tenacious in our line of business, but he takes it a bit farther than most.”
I thought the same could have been said of Teeves, although I didn’t voice that opinion. As soon as he’d found out that I’d inherited my cousin Jimmy’s Victorian, he’d hounded me to sell it, even though my grief was still fresh and raw at that point. It hadn’t endeared me to him.
Teeves moved down the table and added an assortment of gingerbread, shortbread, and thumbprint cookies to his plate. “You don’t by any chance mean that lodge where the owner was killed, do you?”
“Holly Lodge,” I said with a nod. “It’s very sad.”
“I know the place.” He seemed to have heard only the first part of what I’d said. “Nice parcel of land right on the lake. Underutilized. I can see why Wilson wants it.”
I didn’t exactly agree that it was underutilized. For those who wanted peace and quiet without crowds, Holly Lodge was perfect in its current state. It didn’t surprise me that Teeves didn’t view it that way, though.
“I think he’s going to continue to be disappointed,” I said. “Rita, the surviving owner, has no intention of selling, as I understand it.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure.” Teeves bit into a cookie. “Wilson has a habit of doing whatever it takes to get his way.”
Chapter Eighteen
Teeves headed out of the dining room, his plate full. It took me a moment to shake off the conversation. It had upset me when Teeves had bugged me about selling my house right after Jimmy’s death. If Wilson intended to hound Rita so soon after Kevin’s murder, I couldn’t help but feel that was disrespectful. Although, he hadn’t seemed to be hounding her the morning Brett and I left the lodge. In fact, Rita had appeared to be equally involved in their conversation.
I still wanted to know what they’d been discussing. Maybe Zahra would know. Chloe had texted me earlier to let me know that Zahra had agreed to accompany her to the open house. After I’d filled my plate with more crackers and some gingerbread, I wandered down the hall to the library. When I poked my head in the room, I waved at a couple of familiar faces, but Chloe and Zahra weren’t among them. Hopefully they’d arrive before too long.
I retraced my steps to the foyer, where I met up with Brett.
“I need a refill,” he said, holding up his empty plate.
I followed him into the dining room. I had enough food on my plate, but I was getting thirsty. While Brett selected several items from the buffet, I filled two glasses with cranberry punch. I handed one to Brett when he reached my side, and we headed back to the parlor together.
Four young girls, ranging in age from about eight to eleven, stood by the big Christmas tree, admiring it with wide eyes. I recognized two of the girls from the first day I’d worked on my tree at the seniors’ center. They’d also been at the Christmas tree farm the other night. One was Emily, but I didn’t know the name of her dark-haired friend.
Brett and I spent several minutes chatting with Leigh and Greg before they got involved in a conversation with one of their neighbors. The front door opened and I heard a familiar voice out in the foyer.
I wandered over that way in time to see Hope taking Chloe’s and Zahra’s coats. I hung back, not wanting to pounce on them as soon as they’d come in the door. As Hope disappeared with their coats, Chloe and Zahra moved into the dining room. A few minutes later, they arrived in the parlor. Chloe had a plate of food, but Zahra had only a glass of cranberry punch.
“Oh my gosh. This food is amazing!” Chloe gushed as they met up with us by the green-tiled Victorian fireplace. She had several items on her plate, including a macaron with a bite out of it, a cheese ball, and some crackers and artichoke dip. “You should try some, Zahra.”
“I will later,” Zahra said. “I made the mistake of eating a late lunch, so I’m not hungry at the moment.”
I smiled at her. “Definitely a mistake. How are you doing?”
“Not too bad, considering. It’s been a difficult week, but I’m glad I’ve been able to stay at the lodge with my mom. I took a couple of weeks off work, so I don’t need to head back to Seattle for a while yet.”
“How’s Rita holding up?” Brett asked.
Zahra swirled the punch in her half-filled glass. “She’s devastated, but she’s also very strong. I know she’ll pull through okay.”
“Do you have guests at the lodge right now?” I thought it would be extra stressful for Rita if she had to deal with that. Ambrose and Lily had left shortly after we had, and Wilson had planned to check out soon, but I didn’t know if new guests had arrived since our departure.
“Not now,” Zahra replied, “but we did up until yesterday because we couldn’t give them enough notice to cancel. We had to offer refunds to the ones we canceled on for this coming week. Starting next Monday we’ll be back to normal operations, but we wanted some time to ourselves.”
“That’s good that you did that,” Chloe said. “You both need time.”
Zahra looked down at her glass for a second. She’d yet to take a sip of her punch. “We’re having a memorial next weekend. You’re all welcome to attend, but I totally understand if you can’t. It’s not the most convenient location for everyone.”
“Is it at Holly Lodge?” Chloe asked.
Zahra nodded. “It seemed right to do that. We’ll have a short service and a reception inside, but we thought the best way to honor Kevin was to do something he loved—play hockey out on the lake.”
“He was a hockey player?” Brett asked with interest.
“He started when he was five and played all the way through college,” Zahra said, a faint smile appearing on her face. “Every winter he’d get friends together and have games on the lake. It’ll be weather permitting this time, of course, but the forecast looks promising.”
Brett sent an unspoken question my way. Understanding just by meeting his gaze, I nodded.
“Marley and I will come,” Brett said. “And I’d love to join the hockey game.”
Zahra’s face brightened. “Thank you. My mom and I would love for you guys to be there.”
“I’d like to come too,” Chloe said. “When will it be?”
“Next Saturday, starting at eleven in the morning.”
Chloe nudged Brett’s arm. “Can I get a ride up with you guys?”
“For a price,” Brett said.
This time Chloe jabbed him with her elbow. All that did was make Brett grin.
“Of course you can,” I told her.
“I’m not much of a hockey player,” Chloe said to Zahra. “But I can skate. I took figure skating lessons for a few years when I was growing up.”
“Really?” I said with surprise. “I didn’t know
that.” I knew Brett had played hockey while in elementary and middle school, but I’d never heard about Chloe’s figure skating.
Chloe shrugged. “I wasn’t very good, and I stopped taking lessons once I got to high school.”
“She was better than she’s letting on,” Brett said.
“Well, I definitely won’t be any use in the hockey game,” I said. “I can stay on my feet on skates—most of the time—but that’s about the best I can do.”
“Don’t worry,” Zahra assured me. “Playing in the hockey game isn’t required. With the other friends and neighbors who will be there, I think we’ll be able to get two teams together.”
Zahra finally took a drink of her punch, draining most of it in one go. When she spoke again, she’d lowered her voice. “Marley, Chloe tells me you’ve solved murders in the past.”
“I might have had a hand in solving a couple,” I said.
Chloe shook her head. “Don’t listen to her. She’s downplaying her accomplishments. She’s been instrumental in closing several cases.”
Brett put a hand to my lower back. “It’s true.”
“I think you’re both biased,” I said to Chloe and Brett before addressing Zahra. “But I’ll do my best to figure out who killed Kevin, if you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind at all,” Zahra assured me. “All I know is that my mom didn’t kill him. The cops grilled her, and I get that they had to, but it’s made a tough situation even more difficult for her.”
“Is Rita getting out and about at all?” I asked, thinking about the threatening note and wondering if Rita had an opportunity to deliver it to Lily here in Wildwood Cove.
“No,” Zahra replied. “I invited her to come here, but she wanted to stay home. Aside from a trip to the sheriff’s office, she hasn’t left the lodge.” She paused to drink the last of her punch. “I hope the sheriff won’t question her again. Mom and Kevin had their problems, but she never would have hurt him. She’s really torn up about his death. She doesn’t let on in front of others, but when it’s just the two of us, she breaks down.”
Zahra’s eyes had become misty. She blinked away the threatening tears.
Chloe put a hand on her arm. “I’m so sorry, Zahra.”
Zahra nodded and cleared her throat as she leveled her gaze at me. “Chloe said you might have some questions.”
I was glad she’d been the one to take the conversation in that direction.
I considered where to start. “Do you know of anyone who might have wanted to hurt Kevin? Anyone he had trouble with?”
“Sheriff Walczyk asked me that too,” Zahra said. “I’ve been thinking and thinking about it. I know Kevin didn’t like the real estate developer, Wilson Gerrard, hounding him about selling Holly Lodge, and he had problems with a neighbor when he lived here in Wildwood Cove.”
“Dwight Zalecki,” I supplied.
“That’s right. But I don’t know that either man would have wanted to kill Kevin. It’s just so…extreme. But who else could it have been if not one of those two?”
“One of the guests?” I suggested. “Or someone who works at the lodge?”
“I don’t see why any of the guests would have had a motive to kill him. Same with Cindy, the lodge’s chef. And Harvey…I’ve known him for years. I really hope it wasn’t him.” Zahra stared into her empty punch glass.
“But you don’t know for sure?” Chloe asked, picking up on the same hint of uncertainty as I had.
Zahra bit down on her lower lip. “Up until recently I would have said no way, because Harvey and Kevin were friends. But lately…things were a bit strained between them.”
I recalled what Harvey had told us. “Because Harvey said he’d leave if Kevin went ahead with expanding the lodge?”
“Yes,” Zahra confirmed. “But Harvey loves Holly Lodge as much as we do. I don’t think he’d really leave.”
If that was true, maybe it strengthened Harvey’s motive. If he loved Holly Lodge that much, he really could have been willing to kill Kevin to stop the expansion.
“Who does your mom think killed Kevin?” I asked.
“Someone not connected to the lodge. Like Dwight, or some transient. I hope she’s right. It’s bad enough that Kevin was murdered. If the killer is someone we know, that’ll be another blow.”
I wondered how Zahra would react to my next question. “I saw you when you arrived at Holly Lodge last weekend. I got the sense you were trying to get inside unseen. Is that true?”
Zahra seemed surprised at first, but to my relief, she smiled a second later. “You’re right. I didn’t want my mom to see me because I had her birthday present still in the bag from her favorite store in Seattle.”
It was an innocent explanation, and I thought she was telling the truth.
“She’s a great amateur detective, but that means she has a suspicious nature,” Chloe said with a smile.
“Sorry,” I apologized to Zahra.
“Don’t worry about it.” She didn’t seem bothered.
My thoughts circled back to Harvey.
“I don’t suppose I’ll have a chance to talk with Harvey anytime soon,” I said, more to myself than the others.
“He comes down to Port Angeles once a week,” Zahra said. “He picks up supplies and he always has lunch at the same fish and chips place. Do you know The Codfather?”
It was impossible to forget that name. “I’ve been there a couple of times.”
“They have some of the best fish and chips on the peninsula,” Brett added.
“And the coleslaw!” Chloe sighed happily. “So good!”
“The coleslaw’s my favorite,” Zahra agreed. “Anyway, Harvey goes there every Tuesday at one o’clock. That’s his day off, and he’s a predictable man.”
Maybe not entirely predictable, if he’d snapped in anger and had killed Kevin.
More guests had arrived while we talked, and it was getting harder to keep our conversation private.
I decided to get in another question while I still could. “On our last morning at the lodge, your mom was talking with Wilson Gerrard. It sounded like a business discussion, but I thought your mom wasn’t interested in selling Holly Lodge.”
“She’s not.” Zahra sounded completely certain. “My mom owns another piece of property farther up the mountain. It’s lakefront property too. She’s been thinking about selling it, possibly to Wilson.”
A woman with gray hair came over and put an arm around Zahra’s shoulders. “Zahra, honey, I was so sorry to hear about Kevin.”
Chloe, Brett, and I shifted away to give them some privacy. I side-stepped to make way for Emily and her dark-haired friend as they darted past us, giggling and heading for the dining room.
“What do you think?” Chloe whispered to me once the two young girls were gone.
“She’ll be having fish and chips on Tuesday,” Brett said with a grin.
“That’s the plan,” I agreed.
Brett put an arm around my waist. “I’ll come with you. I don’t like the idea of you meeting up with a potential killer on your own.”
I kissed him on the cheek. “I’m not about to turn down your company.”
Brett took my empty glass from me. “More punch?”
“Please.”
He disappeared into the growing crowd.
I hooked my arm through Chloe’s. “No Kyle today?”
“He’s working, but we’re having dinner together sometime this week.”
“How did your parents react when you told them about the two of you?”
Chloe’s smile lit up her whole face. “My dad was good about it, and my mom was really excited. She thinks Kyle’s great.”
“And so do you.”
Her smile grew even brighter. “I can’t deny it.”
Brett returned with our re
filled glasses and Chloe slipped away to get some more food. Brett and I chatted with a few of the other guests and time passed quickly. Eventually, we made another trip to the dining room. Brett took a butter tart while I made a beeline for the crackers and artichoke dip. This time, I also took some brie cheese to eat with my crackers.
It was completely dark outside now, and the Christmas lights glowed cheerily around the windows and along the porch railing. As I wandered back into the parlor again, a miniature Christmas village caught my eye. It was set out on the top of an antique barrister’s bookcase, near the Christmas tree. I made my way around a group of guests chatting in the middle of the room, hoping to get a closer look at the village.
Before I got there, something else stole my attention.
Emily stood by the Christmas tree, on her own now. As I drew closer, she unhooked a small nutcracker ornament from a branch and tucked it into the pocket of her dress.
Chapter Nineteen
Emily slipped out of the room and disappeared from sight. I hesitated, not knowing what to do. Brett was chatting with one of the clients of his lawn and garden business, so I didn’t interrupt him to ask for his input. I decided I needed to do something, but I hoped I could tread carefully.
I stopped by the dining room to set my empty glass on a tray that had been set out for that purpose. I left my empty plate behind as well, after munching on my remaining crackers and brie cheese. Not seeing Emily in the parlor or dining room, I set off down the hall to the library.
On my way, I tried to remember Emily’s last name. Jensen? No, that wasn’t quite right. A second later it came to me—Jessen. And her mother’s name was Johanna.
The library wasn’t as crowded as the parlor and dining room. Lonny was there, chatting with a young couple I’d seen around town but didn’t know. The other occupants of the room were all children, seated around two small tables playing board games. Emily sat at one of the tables, watching three other girls playing Snakes and Ladders. All four girls appeared to be about eight years old.
“Emily?” I said as I approached the table. “My name’s Marley. Can I talk to you for a moment?”