“Yes. How well did you know her?” she pressed.
“Not at all. Apart from her staying here at the hotel, of course. We exchanged a few words about trivial things. What to see around here, what to do.” He shrugged. “The kind of tips you give tourists eager for a slice of western life.”
“Had the Whites stayed here before?”
“Not that I know, but then I haven’t been here in years.” Ray got to his feet. “I’d better go tell the others and prepare them for the arrival of the police. You stay with Hazel. She looks like she’s in shock.”
Delta watched his broad back and athletic stride as he made his way to the room where the double bass was thrumming.
Hazel whispered, “Yes, that’s it. I can pretend I’m in shock and can’t remember anything. Do you think they will buy that?”
She pinched Delta’s arm. “I won’t say anything to incriminate Finn. You understand? They can’t make me, either. He’s my own brother!”
“Do you know the sheriff? Could you explain that Finn asked you for help, but it doesn’t mean he has anything to do with what happened?”
As she said it, Delta realized she wasn’t even sure Finn had nothing to do with the woman lying dead in the bar. But of course, Hazel wanted to believe that.
Hazel shrugged. “I’ve hardly ever seen Sheriff West. His deputies are on Mattock Street every now and then handing out parking tickets, but I never thought the law had much to do around here. Game wardens have more of a job, making sure tourists aren’t doing dangerous things or disturbing the wildlife.”
Delta nodded. She was still clutching the quote she had made during the workshop tonight. She glanced down at it. Living the dream…
Right now, it felt more like a nightmare.
* * *
Upon arriving at the hotel, Sheriff West turned the boardroom into his headquarters. He was a tall, trim man in his fifties with a commanding air about him. Not in an unpleasant way, he simply took charge and people listened. Rosalyn went up to him first thing, telling him something that he seemed to take seriously as he pulled out a notebook and took it all down.
Hazel went in for questioning first, as she was supposed to be the one who had first noted something was wrong in the bar. The hotel clerk followed her in to give his statement, and shortly after, a deputy came out to ask for Finn. He stood with the Taylors, and only reluctantly left their side, looking back at Isabel as he went along with the deputy.
Shortly after Finn had gone in, Hazel came out of the boardroom and had to wait in the hotel manager’s office. A deputy stayed with her.
What’s happening? What does it mean?
Delta rubbed her sweaty palms, still seated on the sofa with Spud by her side. The sheriff’s arrival had cut short the party, and without the big band music, it was suddenly eerily quiet, as if something menacing hung in the air. Behind the now-closed doors of the ballroom, the guests were waiting for their turn to give their contact information and make a brief statement about anything they might have heard or seen during the night.
Rosalyn Taylor gave whispered instructions to the others, but no one seemed to be listening to her. Their eyes were fixed on the boardroom door as if they wanted to see right through it and find out what was happening inside.
Without warning, the door opened in a jerk, and the sheriff appeared, holding Finn by the arm.
In the gleam of the lights from above, Delta caught the glitter of handcuffs on Finn’s wrists. Her throat constricted. Her best friend’s brother was being arrested!
With a cry, Isabel ran up to West. “What are you doing? Are you arresting Finn? What for?”
“Don’t worry about it, Belle,” Finn said in a strangled voice. “It’s all a misunderstanding.”
Isabel turned to Ray, who had come up behind her. He took her arm as if to pull her away from Finn and lead her back to the family.
Isabel squeaked, “Finn needs a lawyer.”
Ray waved her off. “Rosalyn will take care of it.”
But Rosalyn stayed in her place, giving Finn an angry, indignant stare.
The sheriff handed Finn over to a deputy, who led him outside to pack him into the police Jeep. West himself went to the hotel manager’s office and said something to the people inside. Delta couldn’t imagine how Hazel would feel once she heard the news that Finn had been arrested. This had to be the worst-case scenario for her.
Spud whined and leaned his head on Delta’s knee. She brushed his fur absentmindedly, keeping her eyes on the half-open door that was blocked by the sheriff’s broad back. It seemed to take forever until West stepped away and Hazel appeared on the threshold. She was still clutching the cardboard box with the surplus crafting materials, as if it were her hold on reality. A reality in which no dead body had been found and her brother wasn’t involved in something as life-threatening as a murder investigation.
“You’re coming as well,” West ordered Hazel, gesturing to the deputy who had stayed with her to usher her outside where the police cars were waiting.
Delta’s heart skipped a beat. Hazel wasn’t in handcuffs, but why did she have to go to the station as well? And why had West kept her in a separate room? So she couldn’t talk to anyone?
Learn things that had happened?
Or rehearse her own story?
Had West already concluded that Hazel was somehow covering for Finn?
“Is this really necessary?” Ray asked West with a worried frown. “It’s close to midnight, and Hazel looks ready to collapse.”
“I’ll determine what’s necessary,” West barked. “I’m leaving a few men here to make sure nothing is touched or changed. All the party guests will be questioned before they can go. No matter how long it takes. Their testimonies could prove to be vital later on. Everyone follows orders, you understand?”
“Sure. Whatever you say.” Ray sounded distracted as his worried gaze remained on Hazel, who walked out with her head down, ahead of the sheriff.
Delta wanted to follow and argue with West, but someone caught her arm and stopped her.
Jonas stood by her side. He had taken off the tie that came with his tuxedo and unbuttoned the top of his shirt. “Don’t interfere,” he said in a low voice. “West isn’t in the mood for discussions. This is a huge job with so many people present near the scene when the murder was committed. He’ll soon be swimming in statements that might not say much. At a party everybody is having a good time, so people were probably not looking at their watches. Everybody was walking here, there, and everywhere. The music in the ballroom would have drowned out any sounds from outside.”
Delta studied him. “You sound like a professional. You have a retired K-9 dog, so…does that mean you’re a former handler?”
Jonas shrugged as if it hardly mattered. “I handed in my badge when I left the force. I’m just a wildlife guide now.”
“But you know how investigations work, what to expect in the next few hours and beyond.” Relief flooded her as a solution unfolded right in front of her. “You can help Hazel and Finn.”
Her mind raced. “Hazel told me you work with Finn, on the wildlife excursions. Does that mean you know the hotel guests? Did you meet up with the two dolphin-spotting brothers from Miami and their wives? The Whites?”
Jonas nodded. “I took them birding one time.”
There was something in that curt sentence that struck Delta. She watched him with a frown. “And?”
“And nothing, that was it. During birding trips you’re supposed to be quiet so as not to disturb the wildlife around you. We didn’t talk much.”
A high-pitched voice drew their attention to their right. Isabel was arguing with Rosalyn, saying she had to call a lawyer for Finn right away. “The lawyer has to go to the station so he can support Finn during questioning.”
Rosalyn shook her head. “Why would I call an
yone? Finn is not a member of the family yet. Luckily, I should say.”
“You have to help him. He didn’t do anything wrong.”
“He didn’t do anything wrong? When will you open your eyes, Belle? Finn had an affair with the dead woman, I knew that. Earlier tonight, when I was in the restrooms, she was there, restoring her makeup. She tried not to show anything to me, but I’m not a fool. There was a red print on her face, a spot where someone had hit her.”
“You think Finn hit her?” Isabel asked incredulously.
“Yes, and I even told him I thought he had. He panicked and ran away from me. Clear sign of a guilty conscience. I told the sheriff as soon as he arrived. The affair and Finn’s violence toward her prove he’s the killer.”
Delta’s heart skipped a beat. Her mind whirred with images of earlier that night. She had seen the moment when Rosalyn had come from the restrooms and had immediately pounced on Finn. He had responded with indignation, but he had indeed also walked away fast. That had probably convinced Rosalyn she was on the right track. All the more as she wanted to be on the right track and think the worst of her sister’s boyfriend. What better to do when confronted with the shocking news of a murder at her beloved hotel than point the finger at a convenient suspect whose arrest was very welcome to Rosalyn?
However, Delta was pretty sure it hadn’t been Finn who had hit the victim, but another woman. Could her testimony help to clear him of suspicion?
But why was Rosalyn so sure that Finn had been having an affair with the dead woman? What else did she know?
“Finn would never do anything like that,” Isabel insisted. Her fidgeting with her hair had ruined her hairdo and created loose strands that hung to her shoulders, giving her the appearance of a lost little girl.
Rosalyn scoffed. “Think again. We all know he has a terrible temper. He must have gone after her again later in the evening, probably after he had too much to drink, and he killed her.”
“But…” Isabel’s lips trembled. She glanced at Ray, who was standing a few feet away, swiping through screens on his phone.
Rosalyn straightened up, her expression cold and unyielding. “Finn brought all of this on his own head. And on the hotel. What do you think will happen when the newspapers start writing about this? Guests will cancel their bookings.”
“The hotel, bookings, money! That’s all you ever care about.” Isabel burst into tears and ran off, brushing past Ray with a fierce “You’re no help either.”
Ray looked confused and went after her, calling to her to wait up and be reasonable.
Rosalyn looked after the two of them with a pinched mouth, then seemed to notice she had an audience. She barked at Delta and Jonas, “What are you gawking at?” and marched off into her office, slamming the door shut.
Jonas said to Delta, “She seems to think Finn is guilty.”
Delta chewed on her lower lip. “It sounds like she saw a mark on the dead woman’s face and assumed Finn had hit her. But I know for a fact that it wasn’t Finn.”
Jonas gave her a surprised look. “You do? How?”
“I was there when she was hit. That is, I overheard it. She was arguing with and was hit by another woman. I think by her sister-in-law. They were arguing about the sister-in-law’s husband, Ralph. Apparently, the victim danced with him and…”
Jonas nodded. “Yes, the two of them did a demonstration dance. A piece of flashy footwork, I have to say.”
Delta nodded. “That fits. I overheard the two women arguing about it. The wife wanted the victim to stop taking dancing lessons with her husband, and someone got hit. I heard it clearly, even though I didn’t see who hit whom. But with Rosalyn’s observations in the restroom, it must have been Vera White who was struck in the face.”
“So, you think her sister-in-law killed her?” Jonas asked in a doubtful tone. “Amanda White is a very quiet type, lets others take the initiative. I can’t see her lashing out at someone. Especially not her own sister-in-law.”
Delta remembered Mrs. Cassidy’s description of Amanda White as quiet, “someone you barely notice.”
Was it likely that a personality like that would suddenly, in a fit of anger, kill someone?
She pursed her lips. “Well, all I know for sure is that Finn didn’t hit her, so if that’s the reason for the police to have arrested him, they’re going down the wrong track. My statement can clear up things, I hope. Let’s go to the station.”
Chapter Four
In the Jeep, with Jonas driving, Delta stared through the windshield into the night. The dark surroundings that had earlier struck her as tranquil and beautiful now seemed menacing, closing around her like a tight grip. She couldn’t make out where she was headed, and likewise, she had no idea what was suddenly happening to her. All she did understand was that Hazel had been keeping quiet about something having to do with Finn. Something serious.
And although she didn’t blame her best friend for a little reluctance about what was probably a painful topic to her, Delta also realized that Finn’s past would become an issue now and make everything even harder. And she didn’t even know what Finn’s past amounted to!
She glanced at Jonas. He leaned back in the driver’s seat with a relaxed expression, his hands resting loosely on the wheel. In his tux without a tie and with the top buttons of his shirt undone, he presented the perfect image of a man who has escaped an occasion he wasn’t too keen on and is now driving home, satisfied that it’s over and done with. If he felt tension, heading for the police station where a murder case was unfolding, there was no trace of it in his demeanor. His presence eased some of the nerves curling in Delta’s stomach. Jonas would know how to handle this.
And Jonas might also be able to tell her more about Finn.
“You see a lot of Finn, I suppose, through the work you do together?” she asked.
“I wouldn’t call it together,” Jonas said. “With leaf-peeping season, there’s a lot of interest in the guided tours, the excursions to the birding hut and all. Finn and I divide the work between us. It’s not like we work side by side on a daily basis.”
To Delta, it sounded like Jonas was intentionally distancing himself from Finn, but she could be mistaken, reading too much in it, under the current strain.
And she didn’t want to say anything that might sound accusatory. She needed Jonas’s help. “So when you met Finn, for example, to discuss what tours each of you was going to do, did you notice anything strange? I mean, tension or him not feeling at ease with the work he had to do at the hotel?” During the photo session, Delta had observed how Rosalyn was critical of Finn, making him feel inadequate. Even unwanted?
And Hazel had said Isabel and Finn had been like day and night, so maybe Finn had been talked into working at the hotel, not really wanting to do that himself?
Jonas shrugged. “I think Finn loves being out of doors, just hiding in the forest. He doesn’t like the planning part as much. That’s where he and Rosalyn clashed, as he would book a group and then forget about it, or double book. Paperwork doesn’t seem to be his strong suit.”
That was odd, as Hazel had told her Finn worked in insurance. Didn’t employees have to be very precise there?
She almost shook her head in irritation. She didn’t know anything about Finn’s previous job or why he had transferred to the Lodge. She didn’t have facts, so she shouldn’t speculate. She had to keep an open mind and learn more about all the people involved. “Do you know why Rosalyn suggested Finn was having an affair with the victim? She said she knew about that, as if it were common knowledge.”
Jonas pursed his lips. “Who knows. Maybe Rosalyn saw them together some time and drew a wrong conclusion? She seems ready to assume the worst about Finn. After all, she said he might have killed the victim because he has a terrible temper and might have been drinking. Like I said, I didn’t work with Finn on a daily basis, but I
did meet up with him regularly, also for nighttime excursions, and I never found him to be either aggressive or intoxicated.”
Delta felt a rush of relief. “Rosalyn might just not like him, think he’s not right for her sister, and therefore accuse him of being involved in the murder?”
“Could be. Rosalyn usually thinks she knows what is best for everybody, so that could very well include her sister’s relationships.” Jonas glanced at her. “But back to this statement you want to make to the sheriff. You said you didn’t see the women arguing? I mean, you heard a smack and you caught snippets of their conversation?”
“Exactly. But by deduction, it seems pretty clear the other woman was the victim’s sister-in-law.”
“Deduction won’t be enough for West.”
“Then what will? If you were leading this investigation, how could I convince you to look into the argument?”
Jonas frowned. That he took his time to answer the question unsettled Delta a bit. She had expected him to have a ready-made idea, some instinctive hunch about what had really happened in the bar.
Jonas said slowly, “You probably wouldn’t need to convince me to let Finn go, as I wouldn’t have arrested him. Not so quickly after the murder, anyway. People will assume he has something to do with it, and even if West lets him go again, those rumors will linger and make Finn’s life here in Tundish very hard.”
Delta’s heart sank. She clenched her hands together in her lap. “Then why did the sheriff do it?”
“I have no idea. He might have believed Finn was lying. He might have heard a witness statement that put him on Finn’s trail. Or he might have secured evidence at the scene of the crime. An object that belongs to Finn, maybe.”
“Left beside the dead body?” Delta grimaced. “That sounds like a poor clue. Anybody could have left it there.”
Jonas nodded. “He’d have to base his accusation on something stronger, like fingerprints on the murder weapon. But I assume that he can’t have established anything like that in so short a time. When the crime has just happened, you bag all you can find on the scene and take it along for analysis. And I doubt West can even have done much bagging before he made his arrest. His men must still be busy on the scene, securing all traces.”
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