“Sheriff, good afternoon. I have a question. Do you still have that box that you took out of the hotel safe? The one with Vera White’s personal belongings? Yes, could you maybe get it out and have a look at some notebooks in it? I am assuming there are notebooks in it.”
“One with peacocks on the cover,” Delta whispered.
“One with peacocks on it, for instance. But check all of them. What? You already checked them when you went through the box. And? Nothing special about them? I see. And did you pay attention to the covers? The inside of the front and the back page. Could something be hidden in the covers? Extra paper pasted… Yes, I’ll hold.”
Jonas looked at Delta. “He’s curious enough now to go and have a look.” He listened to the sounds on the other end of the line.
“Put it on speaker phone,” Delta urged.
Jonas held out the phone between them. There were footfalls and muffled talking. Rustling. More talking. A thud.
Delta waited with bated breath.
Then she clearly heard a cry. “Look at this!”
Jonas clenched his fist and waved it at her. “Success,” he mouthed.
West’s gruff voice came over the line. “The covers all have an extra sheet pasted onto them, and underneath, something is hidden. Two hundred-dollar bills. In each cover. Each notebook is worth four hundred dollars. And how many are there in that box?”
Another voice said, “Ten. No, twelve.”
“A real collector then.” West sounded cynical. “How did you know, Nord?”
“I didn’t know anything, Sheriff. I merely guessed. You see, Mrs. White was getting divorced, and her husband doesn’t know a thing about that. She had to make sure she had some money to live off once he found out, don’t you think? Because he doesn’t seem like a man who would have given her another dime once he had known she was walking out on him. It would have taken time before a settlement was reached about her rights to his fortune.”
“And why did you ask about the one with the peacocks?”
“I’m in the middle of nowhere, Sheriff. I think I’m losing you. Hello? Hello?” Jonas pushed the Disconnect button. He grimaced at Delta. “I don’t want to tell him more right now. You should talk to Ray Taylor first, see if he’ll confirm that Vera blackmailed him as well.”
“We can’t be 100 percent sure that Ray was involved. She might have bought a peacock notebook herself. She did buy notebooks from us during the workshop. She probably needed more room to stash her cash. Or another victim bought a peacock notebook for her. They are pretty popular.”
“It’s not conclusive evidence, no,” Jonas agreed. “But the sheriff will run all notebooks and bills inside them for fingerprints. He might get a partial from Ray on the peacocks one, and then…” Jonas grimaced. “I almost wanted to say we got him. But considering I assured the sheriff I’m not muscling in on his investigation, I will just say he’ll have to answer some questions from the police.”
He lifted his binoculars and swept the lake. “Finn looks pretty calm now, rowing at a nice, steady pace. Spud is sitting in the front of the boat like he’s on the lookout.” His smile deepened.
Delta patted King, who was sitting beside her. “You did a good job too. You found the little bit of paper. You’re a real tracker. Huh?”
King looked up at her and barked.
Delta’s phone dinged. She pulled it out of her pocket and swiped to the new message.
Lethal Liz wrote: “My sis works at the dry cleaners, and she told me that on the morning after the murder, a woman came in to have a party dress cleaned. She gave her name as Rivers. My sis thought nothing of it until she saw a picture in the newspaper this morning of the victim and her family, who had been staying here. Then she recognized Mrs. Rivers in that photo. It’s the victim’s sister-in-law.”
“Amanda White!” Delta exclaimed.
Jonas looked at her. “What’s that?”
“Amanda White turned up at the dry cleaners on the morning after the murder to have her party dress cleaned. She gave a false name.” Delta felt a wriggle of excitement in her stomach. “Why would she be in a rush to have her dress cleaned? And why not say who she was?”
“But the sheriff talked to her the night of, I assume?” Jonas frowned. “If there was something wrong with her dress, it being stained or something, he would have noticed and taken the dress to the station for analysis. He wouldn’t have let her keep it so she could get it dry-cleaned to erase evidence.”
“I guess not. Can you call him again and ask about questioning Amanda White on the night of the murder?”
Jonas rolled his eyes, but he did retrieve his phone and place the call. “Nord here… No, I don’t need the sheriff if you can tell me. Was Mrs. Amanda White questioned on the night of the murder?… I know you don’t have to tell me, but I just heard some news that could indicate she has been meddling with evidence. All I want to know is if she was questioned and if her clothes were looked at. Her party clothes… Oh. I see.”
Jonas’s tone had increased. Delta sensed they were on the brink of something vital. She clenched her free hand into a fist.
“It seems she delivered said party dress to the dry cleaners on Saturday morning, giving a false name. I don’t know if the dress got cleaned or not. It probably was, as the lady working there didn’t realize it was Mrs. White bringing it in until this morning. She recognized her because of some photo in the Tundish Trader… You will? Great. Thanks.”
Jonas lowered the phone. “They never saw her party dress. She had already retired to her hotel room when the murder was discovered, and they questioned her there. She was wearing her dressing gown by then. They’ll call the dry cleaners right away and ask for the dress. Even if it got cleaned, there might still be something on it. Blood is notoriously hard to clean off completely. In any case, it’s better if they have it and then confront Amanda White so she will feel pressure to admit to something.”
Chapter Fifteen
They came back to the Lodge together, Jonas with one dog, Finn with the other, and Delta tagging behind. As they crossed the parking lot, she pointed out the dark-blue station wagon with the moose on the back to Finn. “Do you know whose car that is?”
“Sure. It’s Ray’s.”
“Ray’s?” Delta and Jonas echoed in unison.
“Yes.” Finn stared from the one to the other. “Why is that so odd?” He pointed at the moose. “That’s the emblem of some club Ray used to play for. The Moose Musketeers or something like that.”
Jonas looked at Delta. “Ray picking up Ralph White, away from the hotel. Seems strange.”
Delta nodded. What had the two been up to together? What might they have been talking about? Ralph had earlier accused Ray of having had an affair with Vera. He had also mentioned money Vera had lent Ray and Ray hadn’t wanted to pay back. Had Ralph maybe asked for that money?
Finn said goodbye to them and the dogs, then rounded the hotel to see if Isabel was in the garden or at the stables.
Delta and Jonas stood eyeing each other as if they weren’t quite sure what to do next. Delta said, “I could go see if the police are done at Wanted, and we can open up again. It would be a nice distraction.”
“Yes, I wanted to talk to you about that. Since the damage was done overnight…”
Jonas’s next words were drowned out by a sports car screeching into the parking lot. The driver stopped it and then let the engine growl. His passenger squealed with delight. She wore a thin scarf over her hair, which made her look like a fifties movie star. Her face was years younger in carefree laughter.
Jonas stepped up to the car to open the door for her. “Mrs. White.” He nodded at the driver. “Fred.”
Fred Halliday, sporting flashy reflecting sunglasses, raised a hand to Jonas and Delta. “Hello there. Nice day for a ride.”
He smiled at Amanda White, who
had stepped out of the car and was smoothing her dress. “I’ll text you.”
Then he pushed the accelerator, and the car jumped forward with an eager growl. Halliday took a spin around the parking lot before turning into the road again.
Amanda stared after him with the doe eyes of a besotted teen. Delta couldn’t help asking, “Is your husband not around? He didn’t seem to like your friendship with Mr. Halliday much.”
Amanda looked at her. “Ralph is up in our hotel room on the phone for business. Herb is in no state of mind to decide about anything and, well, things have to continue somehow. The world didn’t stop just because Vera died.”
“I’m so sorry about your dress,” Delta said. “I remember seeing it Friday night, and it was quite special.” In truth, she had no idea what Amanda had worn, but she had to confront her about having handed in the gown at the dry cleaners. “But it got stained, right?”
She kept her eyes on the woman’s face, hoping to see a flash of guilt there.
“Yes, I bumped into someone, and their wine spilled on me.” Amanda seemed surprised by the turn the conversation was taking, but not suspicious or anxious. “I tried to wash it off in my room, but it just didn’t work. I took it to the dry cleaners with the hope they could get it out.”
“I see. Well, it would be a shame if such a great dress were ruined.” Delta smiled at her. She could hardly mention she knew Amanda had given a false name at the dry cleaners. It might look like she was stalking her or something.
On to the next important topic then.
Delta held her gaze on Amanda, determined to read any emotion she might unconsciously betray in her features. “By the way, did you know Vera was getting a divorce from Herb?”
Amanda’s eyes widened. “Why on earth would she? She had a great life with Herb. I can’t see…”
She corrected herself with an effort. “I couldn’t have seen her fending for herself. Having to go find herself a job or something.” The undertone was mocking, almost spiteful.
“I don’t think the late Mrs. White would have had to work if she had divorced her husband,” Jonas said. “I heard that her lawyer had already confirmed to her that she would be entitled to half of her husband’s fortune. With the successful dolphin-spotting business…”
Amanda stared at them as if this revelation took her completely by surprise. “Herb would have had to pay her a lot of money? Taking it from the business? But he couldn’t have. The business would have…”
She fell silent. Her eyes strayed away and got a vacant look, as if she were suddenly seeing a whole new picture.
“Did you know anything about this, Mrs. White?” Jonas pressed.
“No. I knew nothing about it.” Amanda seemed to force herself to pay attention to the conversation. Delta would have gladly paid to be privy to her thoughts right now.
“And your husband, Ralph?” Jonas continued. “Did he know? Did he suspect, maybe, that his brother’s marriage was shaky and the business might suffer if it came to a divorce?”
“You mean…” Amanda turned very pale. “No, Ralph knew nothing about it. He would have mentioned it to me if he had. I’m sure.”
But the way she wrung her hands betrayed that she wasn’t quite so sure. It seemed to have occurred to her now that Ralph might have known and not been happy about it. That he might have…removed Vera from the scene to save the business?
Delta said, nodding at the ring with the diamonds and emeralds on Amanda’s finger, “What a beautiful ring. I think I saw it before. Wasn’t Vera wearing it earlier?”
“It’s mine.” Amanda wiped a strand of hair from her face. “I’d better get in,” she said in a low, hurried tone. “Good day to you.”
Jonas waited until she was out of earshot before speaking. “The idea that her husband could have known something about the impending divorce shook her to the core.”
“Yes. She must know he would be upset if he had discovered such a thing. He seems like a man who likes to have things his way and who gets aggressive when it turns out differently. I can see him pick up an ice pick and stab the sister-in-law who threatened his business empire.”
“Yes, but he didn’t deliver his suit to the dry cleaners because there was a stain on it. She did.” Jonas frowned. “Can they have been in on it together? You did hear the ladies fighting in the garden.”
“Yes, and Amanda struck the blow. That proves she has a temper too. I bet if someone really spilled wine on her dress, it happened when she rushed inside after Vera to apologize. She was, of course, worried Vera would make good on her threat to betray some secret about her. To reveal a truth that would hurt her as well.”
Delta tapped her fingers against each other, considering the other odd thing. “She claims the diamond ring she’s wearing is hers. If so, then why was Vera wearing it earlier?”
“Don’t women borrow each other’s clothes and jewelry?”
“Not when they don’t like each other.”
Jonas waved a hand. “The police will talk to her about the dress. They might get further with her than we did. Now I want to talk to you about Wanted. I’m not sure the brick through the window was a one-time occurrence. I’d like to keep an eye out tonight. How about me, Spud, and King staying at the shop?”
“You’d want to do that?”
“Sure. I can put an inflatable mattress and a sleeping bag somewhere where they can’t see me from the outside.”
“The old cells!” Delta enthused.
Jonas grimaced. “A night in a cell?”
“It’s a fabulous plan. Maybe you can catch the culprit red-handed. If he returns so quickly, of course.” Delta frowned. “But do you think it’s too soon after the previous incident? Would someone return the next night?” She could already envision Jonas wrecking his back on an air mattress while nothing happened.
“I don’t care. I want to do something. I’m spending the night in the shop.”
“Good. I’ll stay with you during the evening. We can talk about the case and see if we can come to some sort of a solution. We gathered a lot of evidence already; we just need to make sense of all we know. Fit the pieces into a meaningful whole.”
Jonas seemed reluctant to accept her offer, but Delta said, “I insist on it. I’ll bring something to eat and drink.”
She grinned. “It will be just like an old-fashioned sleepover.”
Chapter Sixteen
Delta ruefully recalled that sense of excitement when she entered the empty stationery shop from the back. The darkness with nothing but the streetlight coming in from the outside through the glass pane in the door made it kind of eerie. It was so quiet too. The boarded-up window gave the shop an abandoned, “ready for demolition” sort of feel. Not the setting for a cozy sleepover.
“Jonas?” she whispered.
A shadow slipped toward her, and she suppressed a cry when something pressed itself against her. Then she sank to her knees and hugged Spud. “Hello there.” His warm fur and comforting presence made her heartbeat quiet a bit. King stood a few feet away, waiting for his greeting. She rubbed his head and scratched him behind his ears. It was comforting to have two large dogs there.
Jonas’s solid shape appeared in the entrance into the cell. “Got anything to eat? I could do with a break.”
“A break? What have you been doing?”
Delta came over to the cell. Inside, the only light was the blue shine from Jonas’s tablet screen. He gestured at it. “I’ve been emailing a PI friend of mine, giving him some information he can use to look into the persons involved here. I want to know a bit more about Amanda White. What she did before she married, etc.”
“That must be decades ago.”
“He’s thorough.” Jonas sat cross-legged on his mattress.
Delta came to sit beside him and opened the bag she was carrying. “Hazel insisted on prepar
ing a complete picnic for us. She felt rather guilty for diving into her warm bed while we would be out here waiting for a culprit to turn up.” She pulled out a thermos. “Coffee.” A packet wrapped in aluminum foil. “Turkey sandwiches.” Then a bowl. “Salad to go with them. Hazel insisted we needed something healthy.” She grinned as she added, “I put in the chips and double chocolate cookies. Healthy, fine, but a sleepover needs snacks, right?”
“Right,” Jonas said as he took a cookie and bit into it, crumbs flying everywhere.
Delta leaned back against the wall. The quiet tickled across her tight nerve ends. “I don’t even hear traffic in the street.”
“This is a small town. People sit in front of the TV or are already in bed. The only cars that do pass through town at night are tourists coming back from dinner or the casino.”
“Can you gamble around here?” Delta asked, remembering Finn’s addiction. Had he started again? Had Vera been blackmailing him with that knowledge, and had he lied to them to keep it from Hazel?
“The casino is twenty miles up the road.” Jonas gestured with his hand. “I’ve never been inside, so I can’t tell you much about it.”
“Do you think Finn is still gambling? You work with him.”
“He didn’t strike me as having some hidden addiction. But I don’t see him for hours on end, you know. We meet up every now and then, do a tour together. He could be hiding it.”
Delta sighed. “Hazel took an extra mortgage on the shop to help Finn. I don’t want her to get into trouble because she wanted to support her brother.”
“Most of all, you don’t want her to be disappointed in her brother.” Jonas leaned his head against the wall. “Are you close with your brothers?”
“I told you Greg is traveling the world as a motivational speaker. I hardly ever see him. He doesn’t even do Christmas at home. It’s too bad, because I want to see Olaf grow up. With little kids, it goes so fast. They change from one week to another.”
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