Murder Befalls Us

by Patti Benning

  He scoffed. “It’s a bit paranoid to think that someone murdered him, isn’t it? I mean, come on, Angie, this is a small town. That sort of thing doesn’t happen here.”

  “Didn’t you read my email about what happened the first week I got here?” she asked.

  “Well, yeah…” He looked away from her gaze. “Okay, so maybe it does happen. But that doesn’t mean that murder is the answer to everything. Some things are just accidents.”

  “I wish I could believe that what happened to Percy was an accident,” she said.

  “You’d rather believe one of his friends killed him?”

  “It’s not about what I’d rather believe. It’s about what I do believe,” she bit back. “Obviously I have no idea what happened, but you’ve got to admit that it’s at least a little bit suspicious. If Detective O’Brien is acting like it might not be an accident, then I’m going to go with that. If someone did kill him, they could be dangerous to other people too. I know you don’t live here, but I do. It scares me to know that one of the people in this town, someone I might serve a burger to tomorrow, could be responsible for Percy’s death.”

  He sighed. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I just hate feeling like this. I keep wondering if there was something I could have done differently. If I had done the right thing, he might still be alive right now.”

  “Don’t think like that,” she said softly. “You couldn’t have known what was going to happen.”

  “This whole thing is my fault. If I hadn’t come back, there wouldn’t have been a party, and he’d be fine right now.”

  “Jason. Stop it. It’s not your fault. He’s the one who wanted to have a party in the first place, remember? He wanted everyone to get together again. You were just planning on staying for a couple of weeks and visiting with us. The party wasn’t your idea, and even if it was, that still wouldn’t make what happened to him your fault. Come on, sitting here staring at an empty coffee cup isn’t going to help matters. Help me clean up.”

  She watched with concern as her brother got up mutely, deposited his mug in the sink, then turned to her as if waiting for directions. This wasn’t the Jason she knew. She could understand what he was going through, but it couldn’t be healthy. Maybe I can get Lydia to help him see that he’s not responsible for what happened, she thought as she put her own mug in the sink. Otherwise he’ll just go on blaming himself forever.

  “Do you want to pick up the trash while I do the dishes?” she asked. None of them had felt like cleaning up after the police left, so the house was still a mess.

  He nodded and walked toward the door, pausing at the threshold and looking back at her. “Thanks, Ange. I know you’re trying to help.”

  “Of course. That’s what siblings do.”

  9

  After a long day of cleaning, Angie collapsed into bed and fell asleep almost instantly. When she woke up to the beeping of her alarm the next morning, it took her a moment to remember why there was a heavy feeling of grief making her stomach twist.

  Waking up early for the morning shift at the diner left no time for her to ruminate on what had happened over the weekend, but flashes of memory invaded her mind anyway. She was distracted enough that she barely made it to the restaurant in time to open, and could already tell that it wasn’t going to be a good day. Distractions never bode well when she was in the kitchen.

  The easy routine of opening helped her to organize her thoughts a bit, and she began to mentally go through the list of people who had attended the party while she worked. She had still been too shell shocked to really think clearly about it the day before, but now, with some distance from the incident, she felt her curiosity beginning to stir.

  As she considered each and every person as a potential murderer, she felt her suspicions that Percy’s death had been anything but an accident beginning to fade. She didn’t know everyone who had attended, but she did know most of the same people Percy did, and for the life of her, she just couldn’t fathom a motive. He didn’t even live in Lost Bay anymore, for goodness sakes. It wasn’t as if he was having an affair with someone’s wife. Maybe she had been getting ahead of herself when she had talked to Jason on Sunday morning.

  Still, try as she might, she couldn’t figure out how he could accidentally fall from a balcony. It seemed like he would have had to be trying to do it to even come close, and a man who had just offered a childhood friend a job and who had brought his wife all the way from Anchorage to a welcome home party didn’t seem like the sort of person who was considering ending it all.

  “I know, I know. I should just let the police figure it out,” she told the coffee machine as it gurgled at her. “But I can’t help that I’m thinking about it. It’s weird.”

  The door to the kitchen opened and she jumped, looking up to see Theo walk in. He was in the process of peeling off his down coat, and was giving her an odd look.

  “What?” she asked, looking down at her apron. She hadn’t even started making food yet. Surely she hadn’t managed to spill something on herself.

  “I just thought I heard you talking to someone, that’s all.”

  “I was just talking to myself, don’t mind me,” she said. “You’re here early.”

  “Your dad asked me to stop in and do inventory,” he said. “He usually does it, but he said something about it being a busy weekend and that he wouldn’t have time this week.”

  “Oh, okay. Let me know if you need any help.”

  She considered asking if she could watch and maybe take notes, but decided against it. If her father wanted her to learn how to do inventory and make orders, he’d tell her. She wasn’t sure exactly what her position really entailed here. He had told her that he needed her to act as manager when he couldn’t be there, but in reality, she was more of a glorified fry cook. She didn’t mind, not exactly, but she knew there was more to running the diner than learning how to cook food. Betty was getting close to retiring, and once she left, Angie had a feeling her father was going to be the only person who actually knew how to do everything that the diner needed to have done in order to run smoothly. She just wished he would let her do more.

  She let Theo choose the radio station and they spent the morning working in companionable silence. There was a bit of a rush when the diner first opened, and she spent the first few hours running around in an effort to keep everyone’s coffee mugs full and get their orders out on time. Relief came shortly before noon when Grace arrived. Angie smiled at the younger woman on her way through the dining area with a plate stacked high with pancakes. Grace smiled back, then raised her eyebrows in a silent question that Angie couldn’t understand.

  She got her answer when she returned to the kitchen. “I was wondering how you’re doing,” Grace said. “I heard what happened at your house. I’m so sorry, that must have been terrible.”

  “How did you hear?” Angie asked, surprised that the news had gotten out already.

  “Oh, it was in the paper on Sunday morning.” Grace walked over to the nook where the employees kept their personal items and came back with a newspaper in her hand. “Betty brings this in every Sunday.”

  Angie looked at the paper and sighed. The headline read, Town Local Found Dead After Party. Lost Bay was a small town with an even smaller paper. She shouldn’t have been surprised to find that they had jumped at the chance to print such an exciting story, even if it meant making last minute changes to the paper the night before it went out.

  “Someone at the party must have contacted them,” she said, skimming through the article. “This is horrible.”

  “Did they get something wrong?” Grace asked, taking the paper back and reading through it again.

  “No, not really, though Percy wasn’t really local anymore, he was just back for a visit. I’m just imagining what his parents must have felt when they saw this on Sunday morning. It would be terrible to see. They would have only learned about his death a few hours before.”

  Grace blanched. “Oh, my
goodness, I didn’t even think about that. You’re right, that is horrible.” She folded the paper and put it back. “Do you know if they have any idea who killed him?”

  “As far as I know, the police haven’t yet determined whether it was homicide or an accidental death,” Angie said. “I really don’t know anything more than anyone else.”

  “Right. And you probably don’t want to talk about it either. Sorry.”

  “It’s okay.” Angie gave her a tired smile. “I’ve been here all morning. Do you mind if I take a break from the kitchen for a while and bus tables? We can switch out again before my shift ends.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Grace said cheerfully.

  Angie liked busing tables and waiting. The dining area had large windows and always felt more cheerful than the kitchen. The gentle hum of conversation, punctuated by the occasional laugh or shriek of an upset child, made her feel like a part of something alive. It was nice to see people enjoying their food, to know that her family’s restaurant was playing a part, no matter how small, in making people’s days happier.

  She spent some time walking around the room, stopping to refill coffee cups and sodas, and occasionally pausing to chat with someone she knew. It was a busy time of the year for them. They were near the path of the Iditarod dog race, which would be starting soon, and people from all over the country were coming to the state. Out-of-towners were always easy to identify, and she was always happy to stop and answer their questions. She knew that life in a small town in Alaska wasn’t what most people were used to, and she enjoyed sharing some of her experiences with them.

  It took her a while to make the rounds to all of the tables, and she didn’t even notice who sat at the last one until she approached him.

  “Oliver?”

  He looked up and smiled when he saw her. “Hey, Angie. I thought I might see you here.”

  “I’m here pretty much every morning during the week,” she said. “I thought you taught at the local school. Don’t you have classes now?”

  “I called in sick,” he said. “Percy’s death really shook me, and I know the students will all be talking about it today. This sort of stuff doesn’t happen often in Lost Bay.”

  “Yeah. My brother’s pretty upset about it too. I am as well, of course, but you guys knew him better.”

  “I think I stayed in touch with him more than your brother did,” he said. “I had actually been emailing back and forth with him for about a month about a job opening at the research center he worked at. It just feels weird to know he’s gone now, you know?”

  “I do,” she said. She hesitated. “What do you think happened? On the balcony, I mean.”

  “You mean, do I think it was an accident?”

  She nodded.

  “I think someone pushed him off,” he said with a frankness that startled her. “I mean, come on. People don’t just spontaneously fall over a railing. Even if he had slipped or something, he would have had time to grab at the edge and get his feet under him. To fall head first like that… someone had to have taken him by surprise.”

  “Do you… have any idea who might have done it?”

  He shrugged. “I know he and his wife were having problems. I told the police as much. I guess there’s nothing else I can do, so I’ve been trying not to dwell on it so much.”

  “Right.” She frowned. “Thanks, Oliver. Sorry for asking you all that. You probably just want to eat in peace. Let me know if you need any refills, okay?”

  “I will. Thanks, Angie.”

  10

  “Coffee is the best part of life,” Maggie moaned, sipping at the foam that was threatening to overflow from the paper cup.

  Angie slid into the seat opposite her friend, her own cup of coffee in hand. The latte at Snow Grounds was a hundred times better than the black coffee they served at the diner, and she wasn’t ashamed to admit it.

  “I’m not going to argue against that,” she said as she took a sip of her own foamy concoction. “I don’t know how people made it through the day before coffee.”

  “Thanks for picking me up. Sorry for calling you while you were at work.”

  “I don’t mind at all. My shift was just about over, and Theo had already finished inventory and was ready to start his usual shift. Grace was there as well, and three of us working during lunch is overkill. Plus, you saved me from having to bring Oliver his fifth soda refill. He’s been hiding out there for a couple of hours, and it was starting to get awkward.”

  She had been planning on going home after her shift at the diner and spending some time with her family, but when Maggie called her begging for help after getting a flat tire, she hadn’t hesitated before agreeing to pick her up from the auto shop. Their rekindled friendship meant a lot to her, and if being a good friend meant getting a latte while they waited for the shop to get around to changing her tire, well, she wasn’t complaining.

  “I don’t really remember him that well,” Maggie admitted. “I know he was part of your brother’s group of friends at school, but that’s it. Why is he hiding in your diner?”

  Angie explained about him calling in sick to work. “I don’t know why he doesn’t just go home, but I wasn’t about to kick him out either. I know Percy’s death was hard on my brother. I can’t imagine it’s much easier for him.”

  “I’m upset enough about it, and I didn’t even know Percy that well,” her friend said with a sigh. “Joshua asked me why I was so sad when I picked him up Saturday night, and I didn’t know what to say. Telling him that I found a dead body just seems like it would be too much for him, you know?”

  “What did you end up telling him?”

  “That a friend of mine passed away and even though I didn’t know him very well, it was sad.”

  “That makes sense. You’ve got to think fast when you have kids, I guess. I don’t think I have the knack for it. Malcolm’s kids run circles around me.”

  Maggie gave her a small smile. “So you’ve been spending a lot of time with them? He must really like you.”

  “Nothing like that,” Angie said. “He just brings them into the diner every weekend. They like the waffles there. We aren’t anywhere near serious enough for him to actually introduce me to them as anyone other than ‘Dad’s friend who makes breakfast at the diner.’”

  “Still, that’s really sweet of him. I wish — hey, isn't that your brother?”

  Angie followed her friend’s gaze. Sure enough, her brother and Lydia were walking up to the cafe. She half got out of her seat to wave at them. They waved back, and a moment later, they joined the two women at their table.

  “Fancy seeing you here,” Angie said, grinning. Despite everything that had happened, she was still so happy to have her family reunited.

  “We were going to surprise you at the diner, but you had already left,” Jason said. “I guess deciding to get coffee before heading back home was a stroke of good fortune.”

  “Sorry you missed me there,” Angie said. “I left a bit early.”

  “Oh, it’s fine,” Lydia said. “We were in town shopping anyway. I wanted to get some souvenirs to bring home to my friends. Your town is so quaint. I love it.”

  “It probably isn’t like anything you would see down in Florida,” Angie said. “Lydia, this is Maggie, by the way. She was at the party, but I don’t know if the two of you got a chance to talk much. Mags, this is Lydia, my brother’s fiancée.”

  “It’s nice to meet you,” Maggie said. “I know I saw you at Angie’s house, but I don’t think I ever introduced myself.”

  “Nice to meet you too,” Lydia said, shaking her hand. “Have you lived here your whole life?”

  “Most of it,” Maggie said. “I moved away for a few years, then came back.”

  “What’s it like, spending your life in a tiny town like this? How do you keep from going crazy? How on earth do you stand the cold? I can’t even imagine choosing to live here. If I had been born here, I would have moved away as soon as possible.” She
gave an exaggerated shiver.

  Maggie blinked. “Well… it really isn’t that bad. I kind of like living in a small town. Everyone knows each other. If I need help with something, I know who to go to. I trust these people. And yeah, it’s cold here, but if you dress properly you get used to it pretty quickly. I think it’s beautiful here, and I can’t see myself ever moving out of Alaska.”

  “Well, there’s all different sorts of people, I suppose,” Lydia said doubtfully. Angie raised an eyebrow and looked at her brother. She thought Lydia was being a bit rude, but then she didn’t know what Jason had told her about his time in Lost Bay.

  “You said yourself how gorgeous the scenery is, Lyd,” he said, nudging his fiancée with his shoulder. “Not everyone wants to live in a bustling city that never sees snow. Anyway, Angie, I ran into Oliver when we stopped at the diner. We’re talking about maybe putting together some flowers and a donation to give to Percy’s parents and wife to help cover funeral expenses and whatnot. Are you in?”

  “I’ll help a bit,” she said. “Oliver was still there? He’s been there all morning.” She told her brother about her short conversation with the other man, and he frowned.

  “I’m kind of surprised that he’s so upset about Percy’s death, to be honest. When Percy was offering me the job, he told me to keep quiet about it because Oliver has been hounding him about it for months. He said Oliver was getting pretty annoyed when he kept getting turned down, and eventually he just stopped talking to Percy altogether. He’s not qualified for the position though, so I don’t see why he made such a big deal about it.”

  Angie bit her lip. “That’s not quite what he told me. Oliver said that they had been talking a lot recently, and seemed to think that he and Percy were on good terms.”