Smoke in Mirrors

by Jayne Ann Krentz

“Kern?” Thomas paused a beat, as if he was quickly reevaluating the situation. “Are you saying you believe that Kern was the killer? How did you put it together?”

  “I didn’t. Not until Elissa called me a few minutes ago to tell me that her father had disappeared. He left a suicide note.” Ed gazed down at the words on the screen. “He wrote it on his computer. Elissa found it when she got home from the concert tonight.”

  “Suicide,” Thomas repeated neutrally.

  “Suicide?” a woman said on the other end of the line, her voice muffled against the noisy backdrop of the pub.

  “What is it? What’s going on?”

  Probably Leonora Hutton, Ed thought. Sitting next to Walker, listening in on the conversation.

  “Kern and his boat are both missing,” Ed said. “Looks like he took it out tonight after he returned from Rhodes’s house.”

  “Any sign of the gun?”

  “Right here in the study next to the computer.” He hesitated, pondering procedure, and then thought, the hell with it. The Walkers had been through a lot this past year. They were entitled. “I won’t give you all the details of the note, but between you and me, it looks like the whole thing went down pretty much as you and your brother figured. Starting way back with Eubanks.”

  “What about Bethany and Meredith?” Thomas asked.

  “It’s all here. Bethany Walker threatened to expose him as a fraud. So he slipped her some drugs and pushed her off that bluff. Six months later Meredith figured out what had happened and tried to blackmail him. He arranged to meet with her in California. Said he wanted to make a deal. A one-time payment and her promise to disappear. They met for dinner in a neutral location. A restaurant.”

  “He slipped the drugs into her food and then set up the accident?”

  “Yes. He hoped that would be the end of it. He assumed that everyone involved would continue to write off the Walker brothers’ wild theories. But things just got more complicated. Leonora Hutton arrived on the scene. And the next thing he knows Alex Rhodes tries to blackmail him.”

  “You’re sure about that?” Thomas said swiftly.

  “He mentions it in his note. Also, Elissa tells me that she went through some of Kern’s financial records recently and found indications of some transactions that she can’t identify. She’s almost positive they’re the blackmail payments.”

  “Why did Kern fall apart after murdering Rhodes?”

  Ed studied the screen. “Tonight he almost got caught in the act of murder. It was too close. He nearly botched it and he knew it. He says he realizes that it’s just a matter of time before it all comes crashing down on him. Says he can’t face the humiliation of having his colleagues and peers discover that he’s been living a lie for the past thirty years.”

  “How about having folks find out that he killed three people in addition to Sebastian Eubanks? That give him any problem?”

  “The way I read this note,” Ed said, conscious of Elissa listening to every word, “I’d say the murders were the least of his concerns. It was his fear of having the truth about the algorithm come out that drove him over the edge tonight.”

  “How’s Elissa doing?”

  He glanced at her with concern. She stood quietly, her arms folded tightly around her midsection. In the glow of the screen he could see tears glistening on her face.

  “It’s been a tough night,” Ed said. “But she’s holding up okay. She’s a strong lady.” Elissa gave him a faint, brave little smile. “I’ve got to go, Walker. In addition to dealing with Rhodes’s murder, I’ve got to get a search organized to find Kern. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

  He ended the call.

  Elissa walked toward him. “Thank you for being so kind tonight, Ed. I don’t think I would have been able to deal with all of this if it hadn’t been for you.”

  He put his arms around her and held her close for as long as he dared. About sixty seconds.

  Reluctantly he released her. He pressed her hand and picked up his hat.

  “Work to do,” he said.

  “I understand. Do what you have to do.” She stepped away from him, her eyes full of admiration. “You have your responsibilities to fulfill, and I know you take your duties seriously. It’s part of what makes you such a fine man, Ed.”

  He realized he was blushing. Grateful for the low light in the study, he turned quickly away and strode toward the door.

  Not every woman understood the demands of his job. Elissa would make a first-rate cop’s wife, he thought. But he couldn’t allow himself to dwell on the possibilities the future held until he had found her father’s body and answered all the outstanding questions.

  First things first. That was how you got the job done.

  Chapter Nineteen

  She went home with Thomas. He acted as if it was the most natural thing in the world to do but that wasn’t what made her uneasy. What worried her was that it did feel natural. Wrench apparently agreed with the consensus of opinion. He was waiting at the door with a rubber ball that squeaked when he squeezed it.

  It was all very comfortable. Maybe too comfortable, she thought. Of course, she could have pointed out to Thomas that, with Alex dead and with Osmond Kern missing and presumed drowned, there was no longer any danger and therefore no logical excuse for spending the night together. But she said nothing.

  The truth was, there was no place she would rather have been. Not tonight. She went into Thomas’s arms with a glorious sense of rightness. He held her close and made love to her with a thoroughness that left her exhausted and satisfied. She had expected to battle a bad case of insomnia, given the excitement of the night. Instead, she sank into a dreamless sleep.

  The next morning the three of them took the footpath into town to get coffee and tea and the latest gossip. The clouds hung low enough to cut off the tops of the trees and the air was cold. The early morning herd of runners and joggers stampeded past as they strolled in the slow lane.

  She and Thomas went over the details of the murders and speculated on how long it would take for the authorities to find Osmond Kern’s body. They discussed some of the loose threads that still dangled and wondered if they would ever get all of the answers. Probably not, Leonora thought.

  “I wonder how much Meredith really knew and what she planned to do with the information,” Thomas said. He had one hand in the pocket of his jacket. He held Wrench’s leash in the other.

  “My guess is, she knew enough to try to blackmail Kern. That’s the only way to explain her death.” Leonora watched Wrench investigate an empty latte cup. “But she obviously wasn’t careful about how she handled the matter.”

  “Blackmail is dangerous work.”

  “Yes, but she would have known that. I wonder why she didn’t do it anonymously.”

  “Maybe she did try to hide her identity. She went down to California, remember? But Kern must have figured out that she was the one behind the extortion.”

  “I still don’t see how Meredith could have figured it all out using just those clippings Bethany left behind.”

  Thomas glanced at her. “Don’t forget she had that affair with Alex Rhodes.”

  “Good point. Meredith, being Meredith, would have learned anything Alex Rhodes knew and he obviously knew about Kern.”

  They stopped at the coffeehouse, left Wrench attached to a bicycle stand and went inside to get some caffeine to ward off the chill. The room was crowded. The atmosphere hummed with conversation. Leonora stood at the counter with Thomas and listened to snippets of gossip.

  “. . . Heard they found Kern’s boat late last night. It washed ashore. The throttle was still set in the open position, but the fuel tank was empty. They think he jumped somewhere . . .”

  “. . . Couldn’t survive more than twenty minutes at most in that water . . . . Hypothermia sets in fast, especially at this time of year . . .”

  “. . . Who’d have figured it? I went to one of his lectures last quarter. Weird to think about him standing
up there talking about his algorithm like everything was perfectly normal. I mean, the guy had killed a couple of people at that point. Two more to go . . .”

  Leonora caught Thomas’s attention. He paid for the coffee and tea and some warm scones to go with the beverages. They went back outside.

  Julie and Travis stood on the sidewalk, a cautious distance from Wrench.

  “Hi, Miss Hutton. Mr. Walker. This is Travis.”

  “Hello, Travis.” Thomas nodded.

  “Good morning,” Leonora replied.

  Julie watched Wrench warily. “We thought this was your dog. We’ve seen you out walking him on the footpath. He looks mean. Does he bite?”

  Wrench paid no attention to the insult. He got to his feet, never taking his eyes off the paper bag in Leonora’s hand. Focused.

  Leonora opened the bag, broke off a corner of a scone and fed it to him.

  “Wrench wouldn’t harm an ant,” Thomas said. “I assume you both heard the news?”

  “About Rhodes getting shot?” Julie shuddered. “You were right. He was dealing drugs. I never knew, honest. I just wanted to tell you that.”

  Thomas nodded again and peeled the lid off his coffee cup.

  “I heard you were there last night, Mr. Walker.” Travis regarded Thomas with unconcealed awe. “They’re saying that you and your brother went to Rhodes’s house just as Professor Kern was leaving. You could have been killed.”

  “News gets around fast here.” Thomas drank some coffee. “Any word on whether or not they’ve found Kern?”

  “No,” Travis said. “Heard they found his boat, though. Everyone says he jumped because he couldn’t stand having folks find out that he was a phony.”

  “They’re also saying that he murdered Professor Walker last year.” Julie bit her lip. “And that lady who worked at Mirror House for a while. Meredith something.”

  “Her name was Meredith Spooner,” Leonora said quietly.

  “Yeah, her, too.” Julie shivered again. “It is so freaky, when you think about it. He keeps his big secret all those years and then it all starts to fall apart, so he starts killing people to keep them quiet.”

  “Freaky, all right,” Leonora said.

  Travis moved closer to Julie and put his arm around her shoulders in a protective way. “What really gets me is that Julie did some odd jobs for Rhodes recently. What if she’d gone there last night to pick up her money? She could have been there when Professor Kern arrived.”

  Leonora gave Julie a pointed look. “Always a good idea to know exactly who you’re working for.”

  Julie flushed and said nothing. Travis patted her shoulder.

  Thomas untied Wrench. They headed across the street to join the crowds on the footpath.

  “I’d better go home,” Leonora said. “I want to call Gloria. Let her know what’s been happening.”

  Halfway back to her cottage they saw the small crowd of joggers and runners gathered on the footbridge. Everyone was looking down into the deep waters of the cove.

  Ed Stovall’s SUV was parked across the path. An ambulance and another police vehicle were stationed nearby. Two medics were unloading a gurney.

  Thomas studied the scene.

  “What do you want to bet that they just found Kern’s body?” he said.

  Deke showed up on Thomas’s doorstep late that afternoon. Thomas gave him a beer and opened one for himself. They sat in the recliners in the living room and talked.

  “Stovall came to see me,” Deke said. “Don’t think the guy’s had any sleep for the past twenty-four hours. He looked exhausted. But he said he felt we had a right to be kept informed.”

  “One thing you can say about Stovall. Man’s got a sense of duty.” Thomas swallowed some beer. “I like that in a public servant. Did he have anything more than what we already know?”

  “Not much. They found some stuff they think might be drugs when they searched Rhodes’s house.”

  “No surprise there.”

  “No.” Deke drank some beer. “Stovall says they sent a sample to a lab for analysis, but he told me off the record that he’s sure it will turn out to be that hallucinogenic crap that’s been floating around since last year. He also said they’re going to do an autopsy, but that it looks like Kern wrote his note, had a few drinks, got into the boat and set the throttle on full. Then he just went overboard. The cold water did the rest.”

  “Wouldn’t be the first person to commit suicide that way.”

  They drank more beer. The silence between them felt good, Thomas thought. Familiar. Comfortable. Things were getting back to normal.

  “I asked Cassie to go to the alumni weekend reception at Mirror House on Saturday night,” Deke said after a while.

  The news, delivered as it was, without any sort of preamble or warning, caught Thomas by surprise. “What did she say?”

  “She said okay.”

  “Okay. Great.” Thomas smiled.

  “What about you?”

  “Me?”

  Deke settled deeper into the recliner and turned the damp bottle between his palms. “I was thinking maybe you could ask Leonora to go with you.”

  That stopped him cold. “I’m not a member of Mirror House. Neither is Leonora.”

  “No, but I am. I can take you both as my guests.”

  “I don’t know how long Leonora plans to stay here now that she’s got her answers. She may be gone by Saturday.”

  Deke’s brows rose behind the rims of his glasses. He looked amused. “Have you tried asking her if she’s thinking of leaving anytime soon?”

  “No.”

  “Is there a problem here? Why can’t you ask her a simple question?”

  “Maybe I don’t want to know the answer,” Thomas said.

  “Huh.”

  They drank more beer.

  “Got an idea for you,” Deke said after a while.

  “Yeah?”

  “Tell her that you’d like her to stay through Saturday and attend the reception with you because it would make Cassie feel more comfortable.”

  “You think that would work?”

  “Sure. Leonora seems to like the idea of matching me with Cassie. I think she’d stay a couple of extra days and go to the reception if you convinced her that it would help push my relationship with Cassie forward.”

  “Devious.”

  “Yeah,” Deke said proudly. “I thought so.”

  Thomas contemplated the possibilities for a while. “All right, I’ll try it.”

  “Excellent.” Deke paused. “By the way, you can tell Leonora that the position we created for her at Mirror House is for real. I’ve decided she’s right. That collection is valuable and should be cataloged and made available online. The Bethany Walker Endowment will continue to fund the job.”

  “I’ll mention that to her.”

  Deke looked at the tips of his running shoes. “You know, it’s been a while since I went out on a date.”

  “Don’t worry. It’s one of those things you don’t forget how to do.”

  “Sort of like boolean algebra, huh?”

  Thomas’s mouth curved. “Sort of. Want a little advice?”

  “What’s that?”

  “Lose the beard.”

  Deke looked startled. Then he grinned ruefully. “You don’t think it’s a fashion statement?”

  “It’s Cassie’s opinion that counts here and I’ve always had the impression she didn’t care for the beard.”

  Deke ran his fingers through his beard, thinking. “Neither did Margaret Lewis.”

  “There you go,” Thomas said. “That settles it. According to you and Leonora and Cassie, department secretaries rule.”

  He waited until Deke left before he picked up the phone and called Leonora. She answered on the first ring.

  “You want to help further the cause of promoting an intimate relationship between Deke and Cassie?” he asked.

  “They seemed to be doing quite well on their own.”

  “
Deke wants to take her to the reception on Saturday. He suggested that maybe she’d feel more comfortable if all four of us went together. But I’ve got a feeling he’s the one who’s a little nervous about getting back into the dating scene.”

  “Let me get this straight, you’re asking me to go to the reception with you because you think your brother needs us to give him some moral support?”

  “You’re not buying this, are you?”

  “Deke and Cassie are both adults and their main problems seem to be out of the way. They can manage a date on their own.”

  He went to stand at the window. Night was closing in fast. He could not see the new assault wave of fog that was rolling in off the water, but it seemed to him that he could sense its weight.

  “Let me rephrase that question,” he said. “Would you care to attend the reception at Mirror House on Saturday evening?”

  “With you?”

  “Yes, ma’am. With me.”

  “Oh, yes,” she said softly. “Yes, I would like that very much.”

  The window reflected his own happy image staring back at him.

  “Something else,” he said. “Deke told me to tell you that he agrees with you about the importance of that library. He says the Bethany Walker Endowment will continue to fund the task of getting the collection online and he’d be pleased if you would agree to continue on in the position of librarian until the job is finished.”

  Leonora was quiet for a moment.

  “I’ll think about it,” she said at last. “It would probably take me a few months.”

  “Yeah.” He could do a lot with a few months.

  Leonora said nothing.

  “Of course,” Thomas said, “I could always move to Melba Creek.”

  “Thomas—”

  “I’m pushing this a little too hard, aren’t I?” Thomas said.

  “We both need to go carefully here.”

  “Right. Carefully. Measure twice, cut once. An old bit of tool wisdom.”

  Leonora surprised him with a laugh. “I wasn’t planning on cutting anything.”

  “I can’t tell you how reassuring it is to hear you say that.”

  “While we’re thinking about things, why don’t you come over here for dinner? Bring Wrench.”