by J A Whiting
When the chief left, Angie told her employees they could leave early. She felt like having some time to herself and didn’t mind cleaning up and preparing for the next day’s business on her own so she locked the door and started in on the tasks, all the while thinking about the murders.
Angie wanted to inspect Mr. Finch’s farmhouse painting, but the man asked her to wait until his revisions were complete. He felt a finished work would provide more clues than something partially done. She didn’t want to wait, but knew Finch was probably right.
If Rebecca’s phone had been off unintentionally, it would be an unfortunate coincidence since it cast suspicion on the woman. And there was something about the boyfriend that Angie didn’t like. Something seemed missing in his responses to her questions, but it may only have been because the young man wasn’t invested in his relationship with Rachel.
She finished cleaning and checking that everything was ready for the morning rush, and then she went to the cooler and took out the boxes of pastries and desserts ordered by the Pirate’s Den Restaurant in the middle of town. Angie had been supplying the popular restaurant with baked goods for two years and the owners had become good friends.
She checked the invoice against the boxes, and satisfied the order was complete, she started carrying the goods out to Ellie’s van for transport to the restaurant. Angie often borrowed her sister’s van to make deliveries around town and she was sure to fill it with gas when she was done.
In less than ten minutes, Angie pulled the van to the curb right in front of the restaurant. She loaded up the boxes and headed for the entrance.
“I saw you coming.” Bessie Lindquist held the door open for the young woman, and took a few boxes from the top of the stack. “Did we order all of this?” she laughed. Bessie and her husband had owned the restaurant for over twenty years. The woman had silver-blond hair cut short in layers around her friendly face. She always was upbeat and positive and she loved running the place.
“The customers love your pies and cakes and everything else. We could never replace you. You’re the best baker we’ve ever contracted with.”
Some of the waitstaff came over to get the boxes and they carried them into the kitchen as Angie placed the invoice on the counter.
“Want a cup of coffee?”
“Sure. A quick one. I need to get home to see my little one.”
“How’s she doing? Must be getting big.” Bessie carried a mug of coffee over along with a pot of cream.
Angie smiled. “She sure is. She’s saying words and crawling. She stands up and holds on to the coffee table and looks like she’s going to walk across the room. She hasn’t done it yet, but she’s on her way. Libby is doing all the same things. I think they urge each other on. When one does something, the other starts doing it, too.”
“My twins were like that when they were growing up. In some ways it seems like yesterday, and in other ways, it feels like a hundred years ago.” Bessie leaned against the counter with a faraway look in her eyes.
“The past months have flown by. If that’s any indication, I know the years will fly by, too. I need to hang on to my little girl. I don’t want her to grow up so fast.” Angie sipped her coffee while Bessie signed the invoice.
“Isn’t it so awful about Rachel Princeton?” Bessie asked. “I knew her a little. She used to come in for dinner at least once a week. I enjoyed talking with her. She was quite the well-known architect.”
“I just learned that about her. Who did she come in with?”
“Rachel came by herself a lot. She told me she didn’t mind eating alone. It gave her mind a chance to relax. Sometimes, she came in with her boyfriend, Jason. Once in a while, with a friend. A few times with her sister. I don’t remember her name.”
“Rebecca,” Angie told her.
“That’s right. They hadn’t been in together for months, and then I saw the sister just the other day. She came in to grab a bite.”
“Rebecca was staying at the B and B for two nights right after Rachel went missing,” Angie explained.
“It wasn’t after Rachel disappeared when Rebecca was in here,” Bessie said. “Rebecca was here on the day Rachel was attacked.”
Angie’s heart rate sped up. “She was? What time was that? Do you remember?”
“It was around 2:30pm. It’s always slow around that time. It’s after the lunch crowd and too early for the dinner business. She told me she left school early because she had the last block of the day free. She was going to visit Rachel after she had something to eat.”
“How long did she stay?”
“Not long. She didn’t have a meal, only a slice of pie and a cup of coffee. She told me she hadn’t seen her sister for quite a while. She was looking forward to catching up.”
Rebecca was on her way to see Rachel? That was right around the time Rachel was attacked.
Angie’s head was spinning.
19
“I was in Sweet Cove that afternoon,” Rebecca Princeton Wallace told Angie and Chief Martin. “I wanted to talk to Rachel. I thought it would be better to speak face to face. I told you I was at home because I was afraid you’d try to tie me to the murder.”
It was late afternoon and Angie, Chief Martin, and Violet sat in Rebecca’s dining room in Hollis, New Hampshire. The chief would be asking most of the questions while Angie watched and listened … and sensed whatever she could. Rebecca couldn’t see the ghost dog and had no idea she was there.
“Don’t you teach at the high school until 2:30pm?” the chief questioned the woman.
“I had a preparation block during the last period of the school day,” Rebecca explained. “We’re allowed to leave the school campus during our preparation time.”
“You don’t have to handle the homeroom right before the close of school?”
“The students leave for the buses from their last block class.” Rebecca’s face looked tense and anxious. “So I took the opportunity to leave early.”
What route did you take to Sweet Cove?” Chief Martin wanted to know.
“I took the route that runs along the coast. I didn’t feel like taking the highway. I wasn’t in a hurry. In fact, I was dreading the visit. The longer drive gave me time to think about what I was going to say to my sister.”
“Did Rachel know you were coming?”
Rebecca shook her head. “No, I thought she’d refuse to see me. I thought if I showed up on her doorstep then maybe she’d talk to me.”
“What if she wasn’t at home?” the chief asked.
“Rachel always worked until at least 6pm. I was pretty sure she’d be at home. There was the chance she went into the city to work at the office, but at the end of the week, she usually stayed in Sweet Cove and didn’t make the trip into Boston.”
“What did you want to talk to her about?”
Violet pinned her gaze on the woman.
Rebecca looked down at the tabletop. “I wanted us to make up. I didn’t want to be estranged from her anymore. Look, I’ve been jealous of Rachel since she was born. She was the smartest, the prettiest, the hardest worker. My parents preferred Rachel to me. It made me resentful. I was average, Rachel was a superstar. I’ve been thinking about it all for a few months. I shouldn’t have taken my resentment out on my sister. Rachel was always good to me.”
“When you got to Sweet Cove, what did you do?” the chief asked.
“I drove around for a while. I was nervous about seeing Rachel.” Rebecca let out a long breath. “I decided to go to the restaurant not far from Rachel’s house. It’s called the Pirate’s Den. Rachel and I went there a few times. I got coffee and some dessert and I just sat there for a while thinking about my sister. What would I do if she didn’t want to see me? How would I feel? Would the hurt of rejection send me into a downward spiral? When it came to Rachel, my self-esteem always took a nosedive. Her accomplishments made me feel like I was a loser.”
“So what did you decide to do?” Angie asked while watchi
ng the woman’s expression and body language.
“I decided to come home to Hollis. I couldn’t face it.” Rebecca’s eyes filled up. “I needed more time to think about trying to rekindle a relationship. But we know how that worked out. Rachel’s gone. She didn’t know I wanted to make amends. She’ll never know that I cared about her and that I wanted to put the past in the past and start over.”
“Did you drive by your sister’s house?” Angie spoke kindly.
“I didn’t.” Rebecca swallowed hard. “I should have. If I was there, the attacker might have gone away. Rachel might still be alive. But I didn’t go to see her. I’m a coward.”
Angie leaned forward. “You can’t blame yourself. If you were there and scared off the killer, he would have returned another time.”
Violet turned to Angie, and then back to Rebecca.
“Maybe.” Rebecca passed her hand over her eyes. “I don’t know.”
“If we access your phone records, will they tell us that you took the slower route to Sweet Cove?” the chief asked. “Will the records show you didn’t ride by Rachel’s house?” The chief had already pulled the phone records and discovered that the phone was off during the afternoon. He wanted to see what Rebecca would say under duress.
“I told you before.” Rebecca stiffened. “I always turn my phone off while I’m teaching and sometimes I forget to turn it back on. That’s why my phone was off that day. I didn’t remember to turn it on. I wasn’t trying to hide my whereabouts.”
Chief Martin nodded. “I need to ask the next question … are you having financial difficulties?”
Rebecca’s eyes widened and her mouth opened as if she was about to say something, but then she shut it and stared at the chief. “Why are you asking me that?”
“Because it’s possible that you were going to see Rachel about a loan.”
Angie looked at Rebecca and then turned to the chief.
“I … I wanted to repair our relationship,” Rebecca stammered.
“In addition to needing money.” The chief made it a statement, not a question.
The woman began to get huffy. “My sister was important to me.”
“Are you having a problem with gambling?”
One of Angie’s eyebrows raised.
“What? What kind of a question is that?” Rebecca blinked fast and looked across the room.
“I believe you are heavily in debt due to gambling. For many, many thousands.” The chief let the comment sink in.
“That’s not why I went to see Rachel.” Rebecca folded her arms over her chest.
The chief shot off questions in quick succession. “After you left the Pirate’s Den, did you go to your sister’s house? Did Rachel refuse to give you a loan? Did you become enraged? Did you grab a weapon from the kitchen counter?”
“No, no. I did not.” Rebecca was practically screeching. “That’s not what happened. I didn’t see Rachel that day. I swear it.”
“Were you going to ask her for money?”
“Yes.” Rebecca’s shoulders trembled. “I admit it. But I didn’t go to her house.”
“Why not?”
“Because I chickened out.”
Outside standing by the cars, Angie and the chief discussed the interview.
“I don’t know if I believe her,” the chief admitted.
“I don’t know either. There’s something simmering under the surface,” Angie said. “It’s most likely a deep resentment toward her sister. That flows off Rebecca in waves. But did her resentment lead to murder? I’m not sure.”
Violet rubbed her head against Angie’s leg.
“It’s possible. I don’t know if I buy her forgetting to turn on her phone when she left school.” Chief Martin took a quick glance to Rebecca’s house. “She stays on the suspect list, for now anyway.”
“I agree.”
“Are you still going to see Jessica’s friend?”
“I thought I may as well since I’m in New Hampshire already,” Angie said. “I want to talk to her.”
“Well, good luck with it. She wasn’t that forthcoming with me when I met with her.”
“I’ll see what I can weasel out of her.” Angie smiled.
“Hopefully, more than I could. I’ll see you back in Sweet Cove.” The chief went to his car to head back home for a meeting.
Angie and Violet drove to Amy Windfall’s house which turned out to be only two blocks away from her deceased friend’s home.
Inside the house, Angie sat with the young woman at the kitchen table while Violet sat in a corner of the room.
Amy was thirty years old, petite and slim with white blond hair cut in a boyish bob. She was an assistant manager of one of the banks in Hollis and had known Jessica Hanson for years.
“It almost knocked me to the ground when Jessica’s sister called me to tell me what happened. For a few seconds, I couldn’t even breathe.” Amy lifted her eyes to Angie. “I loved Jess. She was so inspiring. She had so much drive and ambition. She always gave me good advice when I asked her questions about business and management.”
“Did you know Rachel Princeton?” Angie asked.
“Sure, I’d known her since high school. I liked her. We didn’t take many of the same classes so I wasn’t as close to her as I was to Jess. Rachel was super smart. I always knew she’d make something of herself.” Amy shifted around uncomfortably. “Why would someone kill both of them? It freaks me out.”
“Did Jessica say anything to you about being worried about someone?”
Violet watched the woman’s face.
“No, she didn’t. She didn’t tell me about anything unusual.”
“Is there anyone you feel suspicious about?”
Amy brushed a strand of hair back from her face. “Nobody will know what I say to you, right? You’re not recording this?”
“I have to write a report for Chief Martin summarizing what we talked about. He’s the investigator on the case. I can’t keep things from him,” Angie explained.
“I don’t mean him. I mean regular people. Citizens of the town won’t see your report, will they?”
“Definitely not. Is there someone in particular you’re worried about?” A flutter of unease ran down Angie’s arms.
“Well, I don’t like Jess’s old boyfriend. His name is Andrew Nystrom. He’s bossy and never treated Jess very well. He thinks he’s great. He thinks everyone should fall in love with him. I can’t stand him,” Amy said.
“Do you think he had something to do with Jessica’s death?”
“I don’t know. They hadn’t been getting along. He accused Jess of cheating on him. She didn’t. Jess would never do that. He went on and on about it and Jess got sick of his distrust so she ended the relationship. He didn’t like that.”
“Did he threaten her?”
“Not in so many words. He called her one night when he was drunk. He said a lot of terrible things to her.” Amy shook her head. “I told her to report him to the police, but she wouldn’t do it.”
“When did she break up with him?”
“The week before Rachel came to visit.”
“Do you know what kind of a car he drives?”
“Yeah. One of those trucks everyone drives. An F-150.”
Violet gave Angie a look of concern.
20
Angie continued the interview with Amy Windfall. “I’ll have Chief Martin look into it. When the chief spoke with you, did you tell him about Jessica’s boyfriend and their breakup?”
“I didn’t tell him. I didn’t think it was relevant to Jessica’s murder. I thought the killer had to be someone who had a connection to both Jessica and Rachel.”
“I understand. I’ll let the chief know. If he decides it could be important, then he’ll look into it. Do you know what Rachel and Jessica did during the weekend Rachel came up?”
“I know they rode bikes on the rail trail,” Amy recalled. “Went out for dinner, took a hike. I met them in a pub one night. We had
a fun time.”
“Did they meet up with other friends?” Angie questioned.
“I’m not sure. There were a few of us at the pub together. I don’t know if they met up with other people while Rachel was here.” Amy’s face looked worried. “Do you think the killer is choosing his victims from the people who went to school here in town? Rachel and Jess were in the same class. Do you think the rest of us are in danger?”
Angie hadn’t considered the idea. “I’m not sure if Chief Martin is looking into that, but I haven’t heard the suggestion floating around. I think that’s a long shot.”
“Okay.” Amy appeared relieved to hear law enforcement wasn’t actively considering that members of a certain high school class were being targeted. “Oh, I remember Jess and Rachel took a drive to the state line one evening. Rachel had a client there and the person wanted her to come that weekend to talk to her about a renovation. Rachel was annoyed about it, but they went anyway.”
“Do you know what town they went to?”
“I think it was Eastford,” Amy said.
“Did you see the women after you went to the pub together?”
“I didn’t.” Amy sighed. “That was the last time I ever saw them.”
Angie and Violet got into the car, but before they left, Angie texted the chief to ask if he knew of any clients Rachel had near the Massachusetts or New Hampshire line, possibly in Eastford. After pulling onto the highway to head home, Angie asked Violet what she thought of the interviews with Rachel’s sister and the friend, Amy.
Violet, sitting in the front passenger seat … which Angie okayed because if there was an accident, the ghost dog couldn’t sustain any injuries … looked at the young woman and then faced front to watch out the window.
“That’s what I thought, too.” Angie moved the vehicle into the right lane. “Not much to go on. Rebecca told us a plausible story, but did she make the whole thing up? She left school early, left her cell phone off, went to Sweet Cove supposedly to convince her sister to salvage their relationship, but really to ask for a loan. But she got cold feet and decided to go home instead. The chief told me Rebecca has a lot of debt from gambling. Did Rachel refuse to talk to her sister or did she refuse to give Rebecca a loan? Did Rebecca become infuriated and kill Rachel?” Angie shook her head. “It’s possible Rebecca is the killer, but why would she kill Jessica? I can’t come up with motivation for that.”