Death by Intermission

by Alexis Morgan

  Okay, they needed to have that discussion about boundaries, and sooner rather than later. “These things can happen anywhere, Mom. Regardless, I love Snowberry Creek, and I plan to stay here. It’s my home now.”

  There was no winning this argument, and both men were smart enough to stay out of it. When Tripp made quick work of clearing the table and washing the dishes, Abby joined him by the sink to dry the few things that didn’t go in the dishwasher. She could feel her mother watching them with interest—or more likely disapproval. Clearly nothing Abby did these days made the woman happy. It came as no surprise when she asked, “Do you always make your guests wash dishes?”

  Abby closed her eyes and prayed for at least a scrap of patience. Before she could respond, Tripp answered for both of them. “Abby knows my mother raised me that if she cooked, I cleaned up and vice versa. I guess I’ve never outgrown the habit.”

  It was hard not to smile. Since he’d played the mom card, there wasn’t much her mother could say to that. After hanging up the dish towel to dry, Abby got another cup and plate out of the cupboard and set a place for Gage at the table. Tripp made a fresh pot of coffee while her mom and Owen watched in grim silence. The only sounds were the drip of the coffeemaker and the slow sweep of Zeke’s tail on the floor as he watched Abby and Tripp for any sign that they had treats for him.

  It was a relief when a knock at the front door gave her an excuse to escape the heavy cloud of tension in the kitchen. After verifying it was indeed Gage, she invited him inside.

  “We’re all in the kitchen. Like I said on the phone, the coffee is fresh and so are the muffins. Owen bought them this morning on his way over.”

  Gage frowned at the mention of Owen’s name. “I didn’t know he would be here. He was going to be my next stop.”

  She shrugged. “He called Mom last night to let her know that you hadn’t thrown him behind bars. Thank goodness for that. I was afraid she’d storm the citadel, and I’d have to bail her out of jail. I didn’t know until early this morning that she’d invited him over for breakfast. Tripp’s here, too.”

  For a brief second, the hard edges in Gage’s expression softened just a little. “No surprise there. We both know he goes into full protective mode anytime there’s trouble.”

  There was no use in disputing that. Tripp had been there not once, but twice when murderers had her in their sights. She suspected he was still beating himself up for not being on hand when it had happened a third time.

  Her mother appeared at the other end of the hall. “Abby, are you going to stand there chatting all day? Some of us have other things we need to be doing.”

  Like what? Granted, Tripp probably had homework. But as far as she knew, her mother had no firm plans to go back to her own home for at least another few days; and Owen never seemed to keep any sort of schedule when it came to his restaurant. Even if it stayed closed for days on end, his customers miraculously reappeared the minute he flipped the cardboard sign in the window to “Open” again.

  Her jaws ached from all the clenching she’d been doing lately. Still, she managed to keep a mostly civil tone in her voice when she finally responded. “We’ll be right there, Mom.”

  Gage, who always saw more than she wanted him to, gave her a quick smile. “Tough night?”

  She nodded. “And morning, with no end in sight. She hasn’t told me when she plans to go home.”

  “Well, maybe she’ll settle down once I’ve taken her statement. Even innocent bystanders get freaked out by having to talk to the police.”

  Again, something she couldn’t argue with. Somehow, she didn’t think her mother’s mood would improve until she knew for sure that Owen Quinn wasn’t in Gage’s crosshairs for the murder. “We can only hope, Gage. If she keeps this up, I’m going to pitch a fit the likes of which she hasn’t seen since the worst of my teenage years.”

  He actually chuckled. “I’d pay to see that.”

  Making him laugh improved her own mood. She doubted he’d found very much to be amused about since she’d called him back to the park the night before. They headed down the hall to the kitchen, where Tripp had already poured her a fresh cup of coffee and one for Gage.

  They quickly settled around the table and got down to business.

  Gage chose a muffin and put it on his plate but made no effort to eat it. “I appreciate all of you being here this morning. I’ve already taken Owen’s statement, although I may have a few more questions for him later today. It will be better if I talk to each of you alone. If you don’t mind, we can do that here at the table while the rest of you wait in the other room. I’ll call you in one at a time.”

  Naturally her mother was already shaking her head. She exchanged glances with Owen and then said, “Actually, I don’t think we should talk to you at all without an attorney present.”

  This time Owen responded before Abby could string the words together to explain to her mother just how ridiculous she sounded. “Phoebe, you’re a witness, not a suspect. Gage is doing you a favor by coming here rather than making you come down to his office. There’s no harm in telling him exactly what happened last night.”

  “But you—”

  “Let me worry about me. Just answer the man’s questions.” He glanced in Gage’s direction before turning his attention back to her mother. “He’ll do right by you. By all of us.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Because that’s the kind of man he is and always has been. I trust him, and you should, too.”

  Now that was interesting. Unless Abby was mistaken, Owen had just admitted he’d known Gage for longer than the time he’d lived here in Snowberry Creek. Had their paths crossed when Gage had been a homicide detective in Seattle, or was it during his time in the army? He and Tripp had known each other back then, but Tripp had never indicated that he’d known Owen before the man opened his restaurant.

  At least her mom was slowly nodding. “Fine, I’ll answer your questions.”

  Rather than give her time to change her mind, Abby picked up her coffee and stood. “I think the rest of us will head down the hall to the dining room.”

  The living room might’ve been more comfortable, but she’d be able to close the pocket doors that led into the dining room. That would afford Gage more privacy while he did his interviews. He must have guessed that was what she was thinking because he nodded and gave her another of his quick smiles.

  A few seconds later, she and her two remaining guests were seated at the dining room table. She’d stopped long enough to grab a container of cookies from the cabinet in the kitchen, not that any of them needed any more sugar this morning. Still, her aunt Sybil, who had left Abby the house and everything in it, had always stressed the importance of offering guests some form of refreshments.

  Owen studied the pile of cookies with a hint of amusement. “I didn’t realize people served dessert with breakfast. I may need to rethink the menu at my restaurant.”

  She didn’t want to laugh, but she did. “Sorry. It’s force of habit. Sometimes it feels like I’m channeling the spirit of my late aunt. I inherited this house from her, and Aunt Sybil had a hard-and-fast rule about offering guests something to go along with their coffee. Feel free to ignore the cookies.”

  Tripp had already grabbed a couple. No surprise there. The man thrived on sugar and caffeine. After a brief hesitation, Owen took one, too. “I can use the extra boost the sugar will give me. It was a long night, and today isn’t likely to be any easier.”

  “Do you have to work after you’re done with Gage?”

  There was a little twinkle in his eyes when he answered. He probably suspected that she’d be relieved when he left. “No, not today. Gage asked me to keep both the restaurant and the food truck closed down, at least for now. He’s called in the county forensics team to go through them.”

  She was about to ask why when the pocket door slid open. She did her best to muster up a smile for her mother. “That didn’t take long.”
<
br />   Phoebe shrugged as she walked over to sit next to Owen. “There wasn’t much to tell. He wants to talk to you next.”

  Abby shot Tripp an apologetic look for abandoning him. “I’ll be back as quickly as I can.”

  He just nodded and reached for another cookie. “I’ll be here.”

  She reluctantly left the trio to their own devices and hurried down the hall to where Gage waited. It was hard not to wince when he looked up from his notes as soon as she entered the kitchen. Granted, none of them were in top form this morning, but he definitely looked a bit worse for wear. “Have you gotten any sleep at all?”

  He shrugged. “Not much, but it goes with the job.”

  “How about some breakfast?”

  He laughed and sat back in his chair. “You just can’t help yourself, can you? Shoving food at people, I mean.”

  Her face flamed hot. It was the second time in the past few minutes that she’d had that particular habit pointed out to her. “No, I guess not.”

  “To answer your question, we sent out for burgers somewhere about four this morning. The muffin and coffee will help, though.”

  Despite his teasing, she gave it one more try. “When you’re done taking my statement, I’ll fix you a sandwich. You can take it to go if you need to get back to the office.”

  “I should tell you not to bother, but I’d actually appreciate it. I have to stop at the crime scene and then check in at . . . well, someplace else.”

  When Zeke joined them in the kitchen, she grabbed two of his pumpkin treats and set them in front of Gage before taking her usual seat at the table. “I’m guessing you’re talking about Owen’s restaurant.”

  Gage dutifully offered one of the organic cookies to Zeke and then patted the big mastiff mix on the head. “You know, that’s exactly why I prefer to keep all of the witnesses separated. No one is supposed to know we’ve connected the murder weapon to Owen at all.” He paused to give her a suspicious look, no doubt wondering if she’d been snooping into his business again.

  “Mom told me about the knife last night, and Owen just now told us you asked him not to open the restaurant or the food truck today. Neither of them said it was supposed to be a secret, but I haven’t told anyone.”

  Honesty had her adding, “Tripp also knows, though. He was with me when Mom told me about the knife and just now when Owen mentioned why he wouldn’t be working today.”

  Gage let out a slow breath and offered another treat to Zeke. “Just keep it to yourselves. You know how rumors fly through this town. I don’t want anyone jumping to conclusions or pointing fingers at an innocent party. My investigation has barely gotten started, and we have a long way to go.”

  He picked up his pen. “And with that in mind, I want you to go through everything that happened last night. Start from when you first got to the park, and then take it all the way up until you got back home.”

  Odd that he cared about events that happened hours before the victim had been murdered, but she’d learned not to question Gage’s methods. Had something happened during that time period that had an impact on his investigation? She didn’t bother to ask. He wouldn’t answer her questions and would likely earn her another lecture on minding her own business.

  She started her story with her and Tripp arriving at the park early to help set up everything for the evening’s festivities since she was the one in charge. Gage looked up from his notes. “I thought you were trying to taper off on running committees here in town.”

  “I am, but you know how it is when Connie Pohler gets you in her sights.”

  He laughed and set his pen back down on the table. “Yeah, that woman is amazing. The mayor definitely hit the jackpot when she hired Connie to be her assistant. She keeps that whole office running like clockwork, and there’s no denying that getting people to step up to do what she wants them to is Connie’s superpower.”

  Abby had learned that the hard way. “True enough. This time I tried a new maneuver, hoping it would work. When she strongly hinted that she wanted me for the lead role on the movie committee, I volunteered to be the secretary instead. I figured that way all I’d have to do was take the minutes and help out with the grunt work as needed.”

  She shook her head sadly. “Mr. and Mrs. Henley eventually agreed to head up the committee and did a great job organizing everything. Unfortunately, they had to leave town suddenly to help out a daughter who’s having a difficult pregnancy. Since this was the last movie night left, it didn’t seem like any big deal to take over for them. Sure didn’t turn out that way.”

  A chill washed over her skin. “I swear, Gage, somehow I’ve become a dead body detector.”

  Gage fed Zeke his last treat. “I can see why you might feel that way.”

  After giving the dog a thorough scratching, he picked up his ballpoint pen and clicked the top a couple of times to signal that it was time they got back down to business. “So everything ran smoothly before the movie began?”

  “Yes, the food trucks arrived right on time, and the other vendors got set up to sell popcorn and soft drinks. No alcohol was allowed at the park. Some folks thought we should allow beer and wine, but the committee voted that idea down. We were aiming to make the movie nights a family event and thought it was better to err on the side of caution. That’s why they had volunteers to check the bags and coolers that people brought into the park. I understand they plan to revisit the idea of allowing alcohol if the town council decides to continue the movie series next summer.”

  And none of that really mattered right now. On second thought, maybe it did. “It looked like Mr. Anders managed to drink most of a twelve pack. How did he get beer past the inspection station with no one noticing?”

  Gage didn’t look particularly concerned. “Maybe he bypassed the parking lot entrance and walked into the park from the trail that leads through the national forest. We’re still trying to trace his movements for that entire day. We’ll see if anyone happened to notice him coming from that direction.”

  It was another reminder that it was early days in the investigation. Abby picked up where she’d left off, letting the events play out in her head like a movie. “Anyway, Tripp and I spread our blanket just down the hillside from where you were sitting.”

  “And your mother and Owen were nearby, too.”

  Images of the pair snuggling on their blanket flashed through her mind. “Yeah, they were.”

  She thought she’d controlled the amount of snark in her voice, but Gage picked up on it anyway. “You don’t approve of your mom dating Owen?”

  How honest should she be? It wasn’t as if she had any concrete reason for her misgivings about the relationship, and Gage seemed to like the man. So did other people in town. She settled for saying, “It’s more that I wish I knew more about him. I’ve tried asking Mom about where he came from and what he did for a living before coming to Snowberry Creek, but she just brushes me off. I swear, it’s like his prior life is some deep, dark secret.”

  “Could it simply be that your mom doesn’t think she needs her daughter to vet her dates for her? She’s a grownup, you know.”

  Did he have to be so logical about everything? “Yeah, she is. But she’s also a woman who hasn’t dated very much in the years since her divorce. I want her to be happy, but I think she should be cautious about trusting a man whose whole life is a big mystery for some reason.”

  “Would you like her poking her nose into your business?”

  Maybe it was time to point out the obvious. “She already does, something the two of us are going to have a long talk about, and soon. But back to my issues with Owen—I’m guessing there’s a reason you asked the forensics team to check out his restaurant and the food truck, not to mention you also kept him at police headquarters for hours last night.”

  Rather than answer her questions, the irritating man went back to asking more of his own. “Over the course of the movie, did you or Tripp leave the area for any length of time?”

>   She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back in her chair. “Tripp went up to the refreshment stand to get popcorn. I asked him to switch sides with me when he got back. When he cracked up because I wanted him to block my view of my mother and Owen, you threw a wadded-up bag at him for making too much noise.”

  Gage didn’t deny it. “And you never left?”

  “Nope.”

  What was the point of this line of questioning? Neither she nor Tripp were persons of interest in the murder. Meanwhile, Gage moved on to his next question.

  “How about your mother? When did she arrive, and did she wander around during the movie?”

  “She rode to the park with Tripp and me, so Owen met her there. From what I understand, he’d been at his restaurant to help set up the food truck. His assistant drove it over to the park. He followed in his own car, because he planned to give my mother a ride back to the house after the movie ended.”

  Gage’s pen scratched across the paper as he took notes. She paused to give him time to catch up and then picked up where she’d left off. “I had work to do, and Tripp trailed along with me. I didn’t see Mom or Owen until after we’d staked out our spot on the hillside. They showed up a few minutes later and sat off to our left. You should’ve been able to see them from where you were sitting.”

  Gage didn’t respond. While he continued writing, she decided to pour herself another cup of coffee and topped off his while she was at it. As she did, she said, “After the movie started, Owen must have gone somewhere for a short time, because he wasn’t on their blanket when I happened to look in their direction.”

  He looked up from his notes. “Any idea what time that was? Or how long he was gone?”

  “Not exactly, no. If I had to guess, I’d say he left when the movie was about half over. I couldn’t swear to that, though. It was definitely before Tripp went to get our popcorn, because Owen was back by then. I can’t be more specific than that.”

  “That’s okay, Abby. You’re doing great.”

  Despite his encouraging words, Gage had a decidedly grim look on his face. Had something she’d said upset him? When she couldn’t think of anything, she wrote it off to the fact he was once again dealing with a murder investigation. “We watched the rest of the movie. After most people were gone, Tripp asked Owen to help him load tables and stuff while Mom and I picked up trash. Other people were working on the lower part of the hillside, so we took the top. That’s when we found the body. I called you and then Tripp.”