Murder Most Likely (an Emma Cassidy Mystery Book 3)

by Karen Chester

  “Sure.” Emma took one of the coffees, unsure how to proceed.

  Zoe gestured at the bench, and they both sat down. For a few moments they sipped their coffee, not talking, just watching the water lap against the sandy beach.

  Eventually, Zoe spoke. “I did have a great job. The pay was good, and the career prospects were unlimited. But the environment was also hugely competitive. If you didn’t deliver and move up the ladder fast enough, you were out on your ear. Every day it was like going to work in a shark tank. Not only did I have to meet or exceed my targets, but I also had to worry about how I was performing compared to the others. I worked insane hours and had to watch my back all the time.” She paused and ran her finger around the rim of her cup.

  “Then, we got a new boss, and he didn’t like me for some reason. He nitpicked over the smallest of things, and it got so bad I started to suffer anxiety attacks. I had a major deadline to meet, and I assured my boss I could make it, even though I knew I didn’t have a chance. So to buy myself some time I cheated a bit. I falsified some test results, figuring I’d have a chance later on to go back and fix my code before anyone found out. But the schedule got shifted about, and my software was tested first, and of course it failed big time. My boss called me in, fired me on the spot, and had a security guard escort me off the premises.”

  Zoe’s face had paled, and Emma, moved by her distress, went to say something, but her friend held up a hand to stop her.

  “I haven’t told my family yet,” Zoe continued, her voice jerky. “I know I should tell them soon before they find out from someone else, but I just—I just don’t have the nerve.” She blinked rapidly, her face crumpling with stress. “My mom and dad, they’ve always had such high hopes for me. They were so disappointed when I chose not to go to medical school, but they seemed satisfied enough when I got that big salary. If they found out I’ve been fired, and why I was fired…I don’t know how they’d take it, and I’m afraid to find out.”

  Emma stretched out a hand and squeezed her friend’s arm. She knew how much pressure Zoe’s parents had put on her to do well academically. Zoe had always been very bright and naturally competitive, so it hadn’t bothered her much in high school. But clearly the stress of her work culture coupled with an unpleasant boss had made her do something way out of character.

  “I’m so sorry,” Emma said. But though she was sympathetic toward Zoe’s plight, there was still more to the story, according to Mervyn. “It must have been horrible losing your job in those circumstances. Is that how you came to work for Ralph Bautista in secret?”

  Turning her head away, Zoe stared off into the distance. “Bautista approached me about a month ago. He knew I’d been fired and that there was a black mark against my name. He also knew I’d gone to high school with Mervyn. He offered me a huge sum of money if I could get my hands on this new software Mervyn’s been working on in secret. Mervyn’s dropped a few hints but no one knows for sure what his new brainwave is. Bautista’s already tried to get hold of some of the code, but without success. He thought I’d have a better chance, especially with Mervyn buying a house here on Shamrock Lake and the high school anniversary happening.”

  Emma shook her head in disappointment. “So you agreed to do something illegal just for the money?”

  “Hey, don’t judge me until you’ve walked a mile in my shoes,” Zoe retorted, flushing. “I have a huge mortgage and car payments, not to mention my student loans. Plus, my parents aren’t doing too well financially, and they’re looking to me to help put my brothers through college. That’s three sets of college fees. Do you know how much debt I’m staring at? Without a good reference, I can’t find another job paying even close to what I was making. The amount Bautista’s offering would wipe out all my debt and set up a comfortable college fund for my brothers. I figured it was worth a shot.”

  Emma opened her mouth to protest at Zoe’s excuses, but then she shut her mouth. Did she have a right to sit in judgment? Driven by enormous pressures from all sides, Zoe had been faced with only unpalatable choices, and decided on the riskiest. Emma couldn’t find it in her to castigate her; all she could do was uncover as much of the truth as possible.

  “So what did you do?” Emma asked. “Did you arrive here earlier than you told me? You snuck into Mervyn’s house during the party and went upstairs to his study?”

  “Yes.” Zoe met Emma’s eyes, her lips compressed into a thin line. “The door to his study has an electronic lock on it. I had a device for hacking into it, but before I could set it up, I heard footsteps, so I raced down the other set of stairs. Mervyn called out and started to follow me. I dashed out a side door and hid in some bushes. Then, I heard shooting and people screaming and yelling, and I thought someone was bound to call the cops, so I got out of there as fast as I could.” She paused and rubbed her eyes, looking tired and vulnerable.

  Steeling herself, Emma asked the question that weighed so heavily on her mind. “Is that the whole truth? You didn’t hang around, hoping for another opportunity? You didn’t bump into Todd, who might have been drunk but still sufficiently sober to know your presence was suspicious?” She paused. The next question would be harsh, but she needed to ask it. “You didn’t drown him to stop him from calling out?”

  The last vestiges of color drained from Zoe’s face. “No! How can you even think that?”

  Emma swallowed. “I’m sorry, but you’ve just confessed to doing things I thought you’d never do. It’s not unreasonable to suspect you might have killed Todd out of sheer desperation.”

  “But—but—” Horror lines bracketed Zoe’s mouth. “I didn’t! I wouldn’t kill an innocent man like Todd.”

  “Not on purpose, no. But you could have lashed out in a panic, and then, once he was in the water, you might have held him down until he stopped struggling.” Even as Emma spoke, her mind shied away from the horrifying image. Surely Zoe couldn’t be that ruthless, even if she were driven into a corner?

  “No! I lost my nerve and ran off. I don’t want Bautista’s money, but I don’t have much choice. Why do you think I’ve been hanging around Brendon so much? Last night at the football game, I asked him if there were any openings at his company, and he blew me off. It was humiliating!” Zoe paused, swallowing convulsively, and then she bowed her head and covered her face with her hands. “Oh God,” she moaned. “What am I going to do? Mom and Dad…the boys…they’ll be devastated…” She rocked back and forth faster as her distress increased.

  Alarmed, Emma tried to get her to stop. “Please, Zoe. I didn’t mean to—” She broke off to haul in a breath. “Look, I believe you. You didn’t kill Todd.”

  “But you’ll tell the police about me,” Zoe wailed, banging her clenched fists against her head. “And they’ll come to the house and arrest me in front of my parents and my brothers.”

  “They wouldn’t arrest you without proof.” Gripping Zoe’s hands, Emma eased them down onto her lap. “Look at me,” she ordered, waiting until her friend obeyed. “I’m not going to report you to the police, but you have to go in and tell them everything. Yes, everything,” she insisted as Zoe began to shake her head. “That’s your best option. And you need to tell Bautista you won’t be doing his dirty work anymore.”

  “But I need the money.”

  “The money? That’s the least of your worries. Go to the police, cut all ties with Bautista, and find a way to tell your parents.”

  Zoe freed her hands and wiped her tear-stained face. “I don’t know. You make it sound so straightforward, but it’s not.”

  “I know it won’t be easy,” Emma said, trying to be gentle. “But I don’t see what else you can do. Anything else, well, you’d just be digging a bigger hole for yourself.”

  Zoe grabbed her coffee and sipped at it, clutching the cup between shaking hands. “I need to think first before I make any decisions.”

  Emma sighed inwardly. “Fine, but don’t take too long. Remember, I got this information from Mervyn. He m
ight decide to tell the police himself, and he might want to press charges of industrial espionage against you and Bautista.”

  Groaning, Zoe downed the last of her coffee. “Oh, jeez. Would Mervyn be that ruthless? I always thought he was an easy-going kind of guy.”

  “I think when it comes to his business, he can be pretty ruthless,” Emma said. “He had no qualms in threatening a room full of his guests with an air rifle when he almost caught you in his office. It would be wrong to underestimate Mervyn.”

  “I definitely won’t be doing that.”

  A couple of new moms with prams paused nearby and began cooing at their babies. Zoe glanced at Emma and tilted her head. “Let’s walk.”

  They gathered their used coffee cups, threw them in the trash can, and then proceeded to stroll along the path that circled the park. Pushing her hands into the pockets of her coat, Emma lifted her face to the cool breeze, hoping the fresh air would clear her mind.

  “He’s changed a lot,” Zoe said. “I barely recognized him when we ran into him at the restaurant.”

  “Who, Mervyn?”

  “Yep. Even the way he walks seems different.”

  “Yes, well, I guess Todd’s transformation was thorough,” Emma said.

  They walked on without speaking, and then Zoe said, “You know, I think I saw him around here about a year and a half ago. I didn’t recognize him at the time, but now I’m sure it was him. How strange...” Zoe paced on, lost in thought, a slight frown on her brow.

  “What’s strange about that? Mervyn often comes to visit his mom.”

  “Yes, but I wasn’t expecting to see him there.”

  “Where?” Emma asked with growing puzzlement.

  “Well, I’d come to visit my folks for the weekend, and I was driving back to San Francisco on a Sunday evening. I was passing through that hilly bit of woodland about twenty minutes out of Greenville when I saw a man in the forest. He had a gray hoodie on, so I couldn’t make out his face, but the way he walked with his shoulders a bit slouched, it’s very similar to how Mervyn moves. He seemed a bit furtive because as I neared him he took off running down the track and disappeared. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, but now I’m sure it was Mervyn.”

  Emma couldn’t make out why Zoe was telling her this. So she had spotted Mervyn in the woods a while back, and he had run away. That didn’t amount to anything. Sure, Mervyn wasn’t exactly a nature lover as far as Emma could tell, but people often went for walks in the woods for no particular reason.

  Zoe, seeming to sense Emma’s mystification, lifted her shoulders. “All I’m saying is that it seemed peculiar for him to be there. There’s not much out there, just the road winding through the valley. No nice views or anything. Hardly anyone goes there, that’s all.”

  They had reached the entrance to the park, and Zoe paused, her expression becoming tentative.

  “So you definitely won’t go to the police before I do?” Zoe asked.

  “I won’t, but I’m not sure how much time you have.” Maybe she could persuade Mervyn to take pity on Zoe, Emma mused.

  “Thanks.” Zoe sighed. “And thanks for listening to me. In a way, I’m glad I’ve gotten it off my chest. I think my mind is clearer. Now, I just have to figure out what to do next and how to do it.”

  “If you need to talk, you know where I am.”

  Zoe nodded. “Think I’ll carry on walking. The fresh air can’t hurt, and it’s better than going home right now.” She waved goodbye and started off along the track that led down to the lake front.

  With a troubled heart, Emma watched her friend trudge away, hoping that something good could be salvaged from the mess that Zoe was in. But time was passing, and Emma had plenty of work to do herself. She turned around and strode toward her car which she had parked a short distance away.

  A female police officer was leaning against Emma’s Toyota. Emma’s heart sank. Nothing good ever came about when she ran into Sherilee.

  “Hi, Sherilee,” she called out, deciding to act as if everything was hunky dory. “Beautiful morning, isn’t it?”

  “I wouldn’t know,” Sherilee answered, her voice dry. “Since I’ve been too busy fielding calls from ticked off drivers about the supposed damage I’ve done to their vehicles, according to the notes left on their windshields.” She flourished a piece of paper in front of Emma’s nose, close enough for Emma to pick up Conrad’s handwriting. “Like this one. Look familiar to you?”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Heart sinking, Emma took the note and pretended to read it. Drats! Seems she hadn’t managed to collect every one of Conrad’s prank notes.

  “Um, this is interesting. So I’m assuming you didn’t damage their cars and you didn’t leave the notes?” she babbled, playing for time.

  “You assume right.” Sherilee snatched back the note. “That’s evidence.”

  “But why are you asking me about these notes? I didn’t write them.” She could say that, at least, with complete honesty.

  “Because I interviewed the bartenders at the Pied Piper, and one of them says he bumped into a woman acting suspiciously in the parking lot last night. A woman he knows as ‘Emma.’” Sherilee’s eyes narrowed to slits.

  Emma gulped. “Really?” She had the worst luck. Why hadn’t Bulldog bumped into Conrad, the real culprit?

  “So when I spotted your car here, I thought I should stop and take a closer look.” Sherilee tipped her pointed chin at the window of Emma’s car. “And guess what I saw inside in plain view?”

  Peeking through the window, Emma felt herself grow hot as she saw the notes she had gathered last night piled up on the passenger seat.

  “Mind opening your car so I can examine them?” Sherilee asked, her calm tone not fooling Emma for one second.

  Cheeks flaming, Emma unlocked the car. Sherilee leaned in and scooped up all the notes.

  “I’d say these are identical to the ones handed in by the drivers,” the police officer said. “Wouldn’t you agree?”

  Emma swallowed, but the knot in her throat wouldn’t budge. “I can explain,” she began.

  Sherilee folded the notes into a neat stack. “This should be good.”

  “If I hadn’t collected those—” she gesticulated at the pile in Sherilee’s grasp “—then you would’ve gotten four times as many calls. I was trying to save you.”

  “From who? Who wrote these notes?”

  Emma hesitated. Even though she owed nothing to Conrad, and he deserved everything he got, it still went against the grain to snitch on the lunkhead. “Uh…”

  “Oh, come on, Emma!” Sherilee burst out, her calm exterior fraying. “The anniversary parade is on in an hour, and I don’t have time for this! Who was it?”

  “Conrad Dupree.”

  “Conrad? He thought up this prank, and you went along with it?” Sherilee’s lip curled with disdain.

  “I didn’t go along with it! He caught me by surprise, and he was drunk and aggressive, and he wouldn’t leave me alone so I pretended to play along. He wanted to pull a prank, something dangerous or malicious, so in desperation I suggested something harmless. None of the vehicles were damaged, at least not as far as I could tell. As soon as his back was turned, I ran away. I came back later and grabbed as many notes as I could, but obviously I didn’t get all of them. That’s what happened!”

  Sherilee studied her with dubious eyes. Without speaking she shoved the bundle of notes into the front pocket of her shirt.

  “I don’t know what you’re playing at.” Her face was stiff with disapproval, almost distaste. “Pulling pranks with Conrad, speeding with Mervyn in his ridiculous car. I thought you were better than that. Owen definitely deserves better than that. But you don’t seem to think he’s worth it. I’m disappointed in you.”

  Sherilee marched off, censure radiating off her, and climbed into her police cruiser. Emma watched her drive off, wondering why Sherilee’s reproach hurt her so much.

  As she got into her car
, she glanced across the park and spotted Archer sitting on the grass behind a clump of bushes, almost hidden from view. He was hunched over his open laptop, his face screwed up with concentration. What was he doing here so early in the morning? And what was he working on that made him look so fierce and dour? She didn’t want to know; she’d had enough confrontations already, and the day was just starting.

  ***

  Clutching a basketful of crepe pompoms, Emma climbed up the stepladder and continued to decorate the wall. Around her the WAC hummed with purpose as helpers worked on setting up the hall for the anniversary dinner, while Janet darted about like a hummingbird, small and colorful, directing efforts with a tired smile plastered to her lips.

  She would be glad when this anniversary was over, Emma decided. In many ways seeing her old high school cohorts had not been as pleasant as she’d anticipated. Perhaps there was a danger in viewing the past through rose-colored lenses. People changed, for better or worse, and she just had to accept that. After all, she liked to think she had changed—for the better—since she’d left this school.

  “My Mervie will be the guest of honor tonight.” Vera Butterick’s loud voice was unmistakable as she chivvied the helpers setting up flowers next to the podium. She pointed at a large stand of hydrangeas. “Move those to the back. Don’t want my son to be hidden. Everyone will want to see him.”

  Emma attached some pompoms to the wall using double sided adhesive. She had intended to view the school parade this morning, but her encounters with Zoe and Sherilee had left her troubled and anxious and in no mood to enjoy the fanfare. So instead she had gone to the WAC, where Janet had welcomed her with relief, as there were so many decorations to put up and not enough helpers.

  Emma knew she ought to seek Mervyn out and ask him to show some mercy toward Zoe, but she was feeling a little exhausted, which was not good on a day when she had so much to accomplish.

  “Knock, knock,” a familiar male voice spoke from below. “Anyone home up there?”

  She glanced down into Owen’s brown eyes and clamped a hand to the stepladder to steady herself. “Hi,” she replied. On any other day she would have enjoyed stopping to chat with Owen, but not today, not after Sherilee’s blunt criticism.