Arson at the Art Gallery

by Grace York

  "I'm glad it wasn't," said Layla.

  Addison parked the car in front of the beach house and switched off the ignition. "So that's both Ed and Rick ruled out," she said, as she saw Olivia come out onto the verandah to greet them. "Who does that leave?"

  Layla nodded towards the man who appeared behind Olivia.

  Jason.

  25

  "How did it go?" Olivia asked as Addison and Layla approached the house.

  "As good as I could have hoped," Layla answered. "I don't think he'll be back."

  Layla went inside and headed straight up to her room, leaving Addison with Olivia and Jason. She gave them a brief rundown of what had occurred at the lunch, as well as her meeting with Wilcox.

  "So Ed's in the clear as well then," said Olivia as the three of them settled in the kitchen.

  "It would seem so." Addison turned to Jason. "Did I ask you to come over today? I don't remember."

  "No. But I wasn't sure what the situation was with Rick, and I wasn't doing anything, so…"

  "Thanks," said Addison. He might be on Wilcox's watch list, but Addison felt no threat from Jason. He was an open book. If he'd murdered Jenna and burnt down Layla's home there was no way he could act so normal around them.

  She opened the pantry and started collecting ingredients, and before she knew it a batch of Anzac biscuits was underway. Jason and Olivia watched on – Jason with interest; Olivia, by the look on her face, was just hungry.

  "I've never had Anzac biscuits before," Jason confessed.

  "Really?" Olivia looked at him as if he had two heads. "Mum makes them all the time, not just around Anzac Day. They're awesome."

  Addison smiled at her daughter's compliment. "You'd better stick around, Jason. These won't take long. Olivia, get that coffee machine going. I think I need another one after today."

  They spent the rest of the afternoon chatting over coffee and biscuits, then Jason left and Addison made a start on the chicken casserole she'd planned to cook for dinner. By the time it was in the oven she realised she'd spent a good part of the afternoon in the kitchen, and there was no place she'd rather be.

  Olivia had taken Charlie for a walk and Layla was still up in her room, which gave Addison a chance to sit down with her thoughts and her notebook. If Rick hadn't killed Jenna, and it wasn't Ed either, then who was it? The thought of a murderer remaining in the community was unsettling to say the least.

  Addison realised Detective Wilcox had said he'd be over that afternoon. She fished his card out of her handbag and put the number into her phone. When she'd finished adding the contact, she called him.

  "Detective Sergeant Wilcox," he said in a gruff voice.

  "Detective Wilcox, hello, it's Addison Lake."

  "Oh. Hello. I was meant to come around and see your cousin this afternoon. Time has gotten away from me."

  "Well she's home now. Would you like to join us for dinner?" The invitation was out of Addison's mouth before she realised what she was doing, but she couldn't take it back. She grimaced as she waited for his response.

  "Um, okay. I guess I could do that. Thank you very much. What time shall I be there?"

  Addison checked the clock on the wall. It was already after five. "What about half past six?" she asked.

  "Yes, I can make that. See you then." He ended the call, and Addison was left staring at her phone. She was still staring at it when Olivia and Charlie returned from their walk.

  "What's up?" asked Olivia, grabbing a bottle of juice from the fridge and a glass from the cupboard. Charlie lapped up water from his bowl.

  "I think I just invited Detective Wilcox over for dinner."

  "You think?"

  "No, I did. I invited him. Why did I do that?"

  "That was going to be my question." Olivia slopped juice onto the counter and cleaned it up with the dishcloth. She took a long drink from the glass.

  "I don't know. It just came out. He said he needed to come over and speak to Layla, and it's nearly dinner time, so, I guess it just seemed like the obvious thing to do."

  "I thought you didn't like him?" Olivia finished her juice and put the glass in the dishwasher.

  "I didn't like him because I thought he was incompetent. He's risen in my estimation since then. Still, it's odd that he accepted. I don't even know if he has any family."

  "You don't know if who has any family?" asked Layla as she appeared at the bottom of the kitchen stairs.

  "Detective Wilcox," said Olivia. "Mum's invited him to dinner." Olivia raised her eyebrows and smirked as she spoke.

  "Oh. As far as I know he's single," said Layla. Then she turned on Addison and gripped one of her arms. "Are you interested?" she said in a voice that reminded Addison of when they were teenagers.

  "No! I just… he wants to see you, so… oh, sod off, both of you. Olivia, help me peel some potatoes for dinner."

  "Can I go have a shower first? Charlie and I went for a run along the beach. I'm all sweaty."

  "I'll peel the potatoes," Layla offered.

  "Thanks!" Olivia raced off up the stairs before Addison could protest.

  "So did he say what he wants to talk to me about?" Layla asked as she fished potatoes out of the basket they kept in the bottom of the pantry.

  "No. It was a brief conversation. I called him to ask about Rick's alibi, whether they'd confirmed it or not."

  Layla backed out of the pantry with four good-sized potatoes in her hands. "And had they?"

  "I didn't get the chance to ask. He said he'd been meaning to come and see you, and my dinner invitation just kind of blurted itself out."

  "Oh. Okay. I guess I'll just wait and see then."

  Layla peeled the potatoes and put them in a pot of water on the stove while Addison prepared some green beans and broccoli to go with the casserole and mash. When everything was sorted in the kitchen she took herself off upstairs to change. It had been a long day, and she could do with some freshening up.

  Back downstairs Addison heard shuffling in the great room. She went in and found Detective Wilcox standing in the doorway.

  "I knocked for a few minutes, but you mustn't have heard," he said. "The door was unlocked so I let myself in. Sorry."

  "That's fine, come in," said Addison, adding a doorbell to her mental list of items still to be purchased for the beach house. It wouldn't do for bed and breakfast guests to be left standing outside because she couldn't hear them knock.

  Wilcox thrust a bottle of white wine at Addison. "I didn't know what you were cooking, but if this doesn't go with dinner you can save it for another night."

  "Thank you," said Addison, accepting the bottle of sauvignon blanc. "We're having chicken, so this will go nicely. Please, take a seat. Layla will be down in a minute."

  Addison put the bottle of wine in the fridge, then sent Olivia, who was hovering in the kitchen, up to get Layla. A minute later she heard Layla come down the front staircase, which descended into the great room. Olivia appeared in the kitchen via the back staircase.

  "Are we going to join them?" Olivia asked.

  "No," said Addison, although she was desperate to hear what Wilcox had to say. "Not unless Layla asks us to."

  Addison lit the stove to set the potatoes cooking. Before long Layla and Wilcox entered the kitchen.

  "Are you all right?" Addison asked her cousin.

  Layla nodded. "They've found the murder weapon. It was…" she turned to Wilcox. "Can you tell them, please?"

  Wilcox cleared his throat. "The coroner determined that Jenna was struck in the head with a heavy object. The forensic team found a wrench in the remains of the fire. It matches the wound found on Jenna's skull."

  "He showed me a photograph, but I'd never seen it before. I didn't have anything like that amongst my tools."

  "So whoever killed Jenna brought it with them?" Addison asked.

  Wilcox nodded. "That is the conclusion we've drawn," he said.

  There was an awkward silence as Addison digested this info
rmation. Whoever killed Jenna had brought a big heavy wrench with them. Either they were some sort of tradesman, or they had gone there with the intent to kill.

  Layla began to cry, and Addison pulled her into a hug.

  "They'll find who did it soon," she said, then looked up at Wilcox. "Won't you?"

  "That's my intention," said the detective.

  26

  Over dinner Addison asked Wilcox about Rick's alibi.

  "Yes, we checked that out this afternoon. He reported to a police station in Brisbane at five o'clock on Friday afternoon. There is CCTV footage, as well as three officers who verified his appearance. There's no doubt he was in Brisbane at five pm Friday."

  "Which means he couldn't have been in Getaway Bay when Jenna was murdered around six-thirty," said Addison.

  "No. It's at least a two-and-a-half-hour drive, and from what we know Ramirez doesn't yet have a vehicle. He claims he caught the last bus on Friday night, which would have got him here no earlier than nine pm. Senior Constable Short is confirming that, but either way he didn't kill Jenna."

  "Can we not talk about this anymore?" said Layla. "I'm sure you're doing your best, Detective. I just… I'd really like to stop thinking about it all for now, if that's okay."

  "Of course," said Addison. Wilcox and Olivia both nodded their agreement.

  There was a moment's tense silence while everyone tried to think of something else to say, then Olivia spoke.

  "Detective Wilcox, Mum says you moved here from Sydney like us. Do you have any family in Getaway Bay?"

  Wilcox rested his knife and fork on the edges of his plate. "No. My wife passed away ten years ago. We didn't have any children."

  "I'm sorry to hear that," said Addison. "Ten years ago, you must have still been young."

  "I was forty-six. I know, I was young enough to remarry, but I never wanted to. Beth was the love of my life."

  "I know how you feel," said Addison.

  "I came here because I requested a transfer out of the city. There was nothing available in New South Wales at the time, so I accepted an interstate transfer. This was the first available one."

  "So you've been here ten years?" asked Olivia.

  "Yes. I like the quiet. And the water. I do some fishing from time to time."

  The rest of the meal passed with small talk, and Addison found herself liking the detective more and more. He was certainly becoming more like a real person to her rather than the authority figure she'd seen him as up until now.

  When they'd finished eating Layla excused herself and went up to her room. She'd barely said a word at dinner, and Addison was worried about her. She asked Wilcox if there was anything else he'd spoken to her about earlier, besides the murder weapon.

  "No," he replied.

  "Okay. It's just – I thought she was improving. She'd started eating better, and then this afternoon she got Rick out of her hair for good. Things were looking up. And now… she hardly touched her dinner. And she was very quiet."

  "Grief comes in waves, Addison. You and I both know that. I expect that's all it is. Unless…"

  "Unless what?"

  They stepped out onto the verandah and he closed the front door. "I still haven't completely ruled her out," he said in a low voice.

  "For Jenna's murder? You can't still think—"

  "I have my doubts, definitely. But Short thinks there's a possibility. She's been researching ways to set a fire and have it delay taking hold. It's not out of the question."

  "It is most certainly out of the question," Addison countered. "It wasn't Layla. I was there. She couldn't possibly have run back into the house to get her purse, killed Jenna, set some sort of elaborate fire plan into motion, and then come out to the car all happy and natural. It just isn't possible. Layla is one of the nicest people I know."

  Wilcox walked down the stairs towards his car, and Addison followed.

  "I think you're right," he said.

  "I know I'm right. So who else have you got?" Addison asked.

  "As suspects? You know I can't discuss that with you."

  Addison ignored him. "Are you looking at Jason?"

  "Jason Sadler? He said he told you he went to the gallery that night to talk to Jenna."

  "Yes. I sent him to you as soon as he told me that. It's possible he was outside knocking on the door when the killer was inside with Jenna."

  "Or he is the killer," said Wilcox. "He's a tradesman, isn't he?"

  "Handyman. He's been helping me fix up the beach house."

  "Right. I wonder if he's missing a wrench?"

  With that Wilcox got in his car and wound down the window. "Thank you very much for dinner, it was lovely. Much better than the frozen meal I'd planned to reheat tonight."

  "You're welcome. For what it's worth, I think you're wrong about Jason, too."

  "I have to follow all leads, Addison. Wherever they might take me."

  She nodded, and stood staring after his car long after it had left her driveway. He was right. The police had to follow every lead, investigate every angle. But Addison knew it couldn't have been Layla or Jason. There had to be another explanation for Jenna's death. Someone else had taken a wrench to Layla's gallery with murder on their mind.

  Back inside the beach house, Addison pulled her notebook out of its drawer and started writing. She made notes about the wrench, about Wilcox's suspicions, and Rick's alibi. Then she read back over everything she'd written so far. She was missing something. She had to be.

  What were the possible motives? Rick's motive was revenge, Jason's was love, and for Layla and Ed Mathieson the motive would have been money. Layla stood to inherit all of Jenna's estate, and her father's shortly, too. Ed Mathieson wanted his development approved, which he got, but if Jenna uncovered any wrongdoing he could lose it all.

  But she'd ruled all of these suspects out. So who else had a motive?

  Did Jenna upset anyone else enough for them to want revenge? It was certainly possible. She wasn't terribly well-liked, and she was a very good lawyer. She could have made any number of enemies back in Sydney. But why would someone travel up here to kill her? Why come to a small town where an outsider would be spotted straight away? Why not kill her in Sydney?

  What about love? It was hard enough to understand Jason's love for Jenna, let alone think of anyone else who might have felt the same way. No, Addison didn't think Jenna was killed for love.

  That left money. The only person who stood to gain from Jenna's death financially was Layla. The police had checked her will, everything had been left to Layla. Wilcox said Detective Short had been investigating whether you could set a fire and have it not take hold immediately. Addison couldn't believe Layla would do such a thing. But still, she was curious.

  Layla and Olivia had already retired to their rooms for the night. Addison locked up and turned out all the lights, then went to her own room. She pulled out the laptop Olivia had helped her choose a year ago, and changed into her nightclothes while she waited for it to boot up.

  She had to type a few different search terms in to find what she was looking for, but before long Addison was reading a web page describing a simple way to light a fire and delay its start using nothing more than a candle and some folded pieces of paper. She was shocked at how easy it looked.

  Could Layla really have done this? Why? She and Jenna had never been close, but that was no reason for murder. And Addison couldn't believe Layla could have killed her only sister for the money. Layla was doing all right, wasn't she?

  Addison knew her cousin had struggled at first to get the money together for the gallery. And while they were making the necessary phone calls to the insurance agency it had become clear that there was still a sizeable mortgage on the property. But Layla was selling her art online, and doing quite well as far as Addison knew. Even if she did kill Jenna for the inheritance, why would she then burn down her own gallery?

  No, it couldn't be Layla. Addison turned her thoughts to Ed Mathieson. He
had a solid alibi, but still, Jenna had been investigating him. Could he have paid someone else to get rid of her? That seemed unlikely.

  What if Ed Mathieson hadn't been the only person Jenna was investigating? She'd had quite the talent for upsetting people, Jenna. The first day they'd arrived, Addison remembered Layla talking about how Jenna had managed to upset people in town. People, she'd said. Not just one person.

  It was late. Addison closed the laptop and her notebook, cleaned her teeth, and crawled into bed. Maybe she'd give that guy from Jenna's work a call in the morning. Finn, that was his name. Maybe Finn could tell her if anyone else from Getaway Bay had been in Jenna's sights.

  27

  Layla seemed brighter after breakfast the next day. She said she'd walk to the nursing home, as it was a beautiful day and she could do with the fresh air.

  "Are you sure?" asked Addison. "Olivia and I are going into Riverwood to look at furniture. We could drop you off on the way."

  "No, that's okay. I think the walk will do me good."

  It must have been tough on her last night, hearing how Jenna had died. Addison tried to put herself in her cousin's shoes. Yes, she'd probably want to go for a long walk as well, to try and clear her mind as much as anything.

  Addison remembered she wanted to call Finn from Jenna's work this morning. She asked Layla for the number.

  "Sure," said Layla, pulling her phone out of her handbag. She found the number and read it off to Addison. "Why do you want it?"

  Addison was deliberately vague. "Oh, just something he said yesterday. I'm sure it's nothing. I'll tell you tonight, once I've spoken to him."

  That seemed enough to satisfy Layla. She put her phone back in her bag and headed through the great room to the front door. Addison watched her go, sad that Layla was off to spend another day at her dying father's bedside, but also somewhat relieved that she didn't have to go again herself. Sitting with a terminally ill patient brought back too many memories.

  "We ready to go?" asked Olivia, as she came down the back staircase. Charlie trotted along after her.