by Linnea West
"Me?" Trevor said. "How do we know you aren't the one who killed him so that you could get the medallion and the prize money?"
At this point, they both were yelling at each other and everyone was full-on staring at them. No more Minnesota nice ignoring of the situation here. Mandy looked horrified and I felt terrible for her. I didn't care what the townies thought of me, but her entire life including her business depended on these townspeople. I could tell she was feeling conflicted, torn between standing by the love of her life and making sure to keep her customers.
I reached over and gave Mandy's hand a quick squeeze. She gave me a small, grateful smile. I would always be there for her, no matter what.
My attention turned back towards the two angry men who it seemed would have already been tearing each other to shreds if there hadn't been a bar between them. Charlie looked scary, like the kind of person I was afraid of coming across in the dark. And Trevor's normally laid-back facial expressions had taken a backseat to a snarl that looked like it belonged on the face of a wolf rather than a skater boy.
"Stop right there," came a deep, serious voice.
Charlie's father, Rich, was striding in from the kitchen. He wasn't as tall as Charlie, but he was still an imposing figure and he was not going to let this foolishness happen in his restaurant, even if it was his own son who was the instigator.
"You both need to stop," Rich said as he came behind the bar to stand next to Charlie. "Getting angry at each other will do nothing to bring the medallion hunt back or solve Gerald's murder. And I know that Gerald wasn't exactly a nice man, but he didn't deserve to die and no matter who did it, it was absolutely the wrong thing to do."
The bar was dead silent as everyone took in Rich's speech. I kind of wanted to applaud because those were my exact thoughts and I just hadn't been able to say them. Charlie and Trevor were both nodding at Rich, but they both still seemed to be seething. Once again, I was grateful for the large, wooden bar that was between the two of them.
"Trevor, I'll get you a drink and you and Mandy can go sit down," Rich said. "Charlie, why don't you go to the kitchen and do inventory so you have a chance to cool down?"
Charlie glared at Trevor for a moment more before he gave a nod and slowly walked back into the kitchen and out of sight. Rich was probably the only person who could get Charlie to calm down like that and I was grateful he had been at work today to do that.
After Rich got Trevor a beer, the three of us joined Clark back at the table Mandy and I had eaten our late lunch at. We all settled in and drank our drinks, picking at the few cold mozzarella sticks that were left. The four of us sat quietly, everyone taking in what had just happened.
"I'm going to go order us some fresh mozzarella sticks," Clark said when the old order was gone. He stood up and walked over to Rich behind the bar to order another round of the gooey, cheesy appetizer and another round of drinks to go with it. I wasn't one to drink too much. I usually drank too much coffee instead of too much alcohol, but after that fight, I think I could use another glass of wine.
After a few more sips, I realized that Clark and I still hadn't talked about our plan for our snow sculpture for the competition the next day. I told him the three ideas I had come up with and we settled on making a large snow thermometer that showed a below zero temperature. I wasn't really that excited for the competition, but I knew I would have fun building the sculpture with Clark. At this point, Max was already mad at me and I didn't want to anger Clark too.
The door to the Loony Bin opened again, but this time there were only a smattering of greetings. I turned to see who was coming in. My heart fell into my stomach when I saw that Max had walked through the door, but it wasn't a personal call. He was wearing his full uniform and he looked to be at the Loony Bin for a reason.
Chapter Seventeen
The bar went dead silent. It was even quieter than when Charlie and Trevor were having their run-in. Trevor's face drained of color and I didn't blame him. He had already been taken in for questioning once; it was totally feasible that he may be brought in again. It did seem a bit harsh to come to a restaurant and drag him out in front of all of his friends though.
Max slowly scanned the room as he walked in. Trevor wasn't exactly hidden, so I wasn't sure what Max was waiting for. He was walking slowly and casually as he looked around.
The door to the kitchen opened and Charlie walked out with our baskets of mozzarella sticks. Instead of delivering them to us, he scowled and brought them to Rich behind the bar, obviously hoping Rich would be the one to hand deliver them so that he wouldn't have to come over and see Trevor again.
Max's stare had laser focused on Charlie and Max was headed towards where Charlie was standing behind the bar. I needed to hear what was going down. My wine glass had a little bit more than a drink left in it, so I gulped it down and hopped out of my chair.
"Just going to get another drink," I called over my shoulder as I scurried towards the bar.
Clark looked confused. I know I seemed to be acting a bit more flighty than I normally was. Mandy gave me a little motherly scowl that told me she knew what I was doing and she did not approve. Trevor was just slouched down in his chair, not trying to hide, but also not trying to stand out. He didn't even seem to notice that I was leaving.
I got to the bar just as Max did. I had brought my wineglass with in case I needed some sort of excuse to be standing there, but none of the three men even seemed to notice me.
"Charlie, I need to bring you in to the station," Max said. "You are wanted for questioning in connection with the murder of Gerald Pinkerton. I'm really hoping I can have you come with me quietly otherwise I will have to handcuff you and force you out of here."
Max was not a big man and Charlie loomed over him by quite a bit. I suddenly regretted my decision to put myself in the middle of this situation. Charlie's face was getting red, starting from his neck and spreading upward. He started to clench his fists. He was just about to take a step towards Max when Rich reached out and put a hand on his arm.
"Don't be dumb, son," Rich said. "Just go with him quietly. I will get you a lawyer. Don't say anything until the lawyer comes and don't fight them at all. Not with words and definitely not with fists."
Charlie's eyebrows slowly unfurrowed and he gave his father a quick nod before turning towards Max. He looked at Max for a moment before starting to stride towards the door. Max also gave Rich a nod, completely ignoring me standing right there. It usually wouldn't offend me because I was used to him being distant while he was on duty. But this time it stung a little more because I knew he was still upset with me.
When Charlie got to the door, he stopped and grabbed his jacket from the coat rack. He slipped it on and reached in the pockets. He pulled out a pair of purple and yellow gloves that he pulled onto his hands before he headed out. I filed that detail away for later.
As soon as the door closed, the hum of the bar started back up. I knew that everyone was talking about what just happened. Gossip in a small town spreads fast and I'm sure that everyone here was messaging their friends to tell them what had just happened here.
I realized that I still had my wine glass in my hand, so I turned towards where Rich was standing behind the bar. He was just standing and staring towards the door where Charlie and Max had left. After a beat, he noticed I was standing there.
"Tessa, I can get you a refill if you'd like," Rich said, grabbing my wine glass. He poured me a generous pour and I realized that Mandy would probably have to drive me home if I finished it. "I've also got your mozzarella sticks here. I'm sorry, they may be a bit cold."
I shrugged at him. Apparently this day was destined to be filled with cold mozzarella sticks. They were still tasty, nonetheless. I grabbed the basket of fried food and was about to bring them to my table when I had a thought. I turned back towards the bar.
"Rich, I have a question for you," I said. "Wouldn't Charlie have a pretty good alibi? I mean, he works here at the bar ev
ery night. I'm assuming he was here the night of the murder. Couldn't you all provide an alibi for him pretty easily?"
Rich shuffled his feet a little bit and played with his apron. I could see him biting his lip and trying to decide what to say. He must have decided he could trust me, which would make sense. I had known Rich since I was a child. In fact, it was only very recently that I had started to call him by his first name.
"If I'm honest, Charlie actually hasn't been working here as much as before," Rich said, lowering his voice. "I'm actually not sure where he goes, but he frequently takes time away from the bar. The night of the murder was one of the nights when he wasn't working here."
I had been under the impression that Charlie had a pretty watertight alibi. Apparently I would have to move him into the forefront of my suspect list because now he had a motive and a large chunk of time to do it in.
"I'm sorry Rich," I said. "I didn't mean to pry. I thought it was going to be helpful."
Rich took two steps towards me and wrapped me in a hug. I couldn't really hug him back because of the wine glass I had in one hand and the basket of cold mozzarella sticks in the other. I managed to use the basket to pat his back twice to show that I'd love to hug him back, but couldn't.
"It'll be alright," I said. "You better go call that lawyer."
Rich stepped back and nodded quickly before scooting to the kitchen to make the call. I turned towards the table to see Mandy and Clark watching me. They both had their eyes narrowed, Clark out of curiosity and Mandy out of disapproval. Trevor was still scrunched down in his chair, nursing his beer.
I set the basket of mozzarella sticks down in the middle of the table before taking my seat again.
"Sorry guys, but I think they are cold again," I said.
"That's alright," Clark said.
Nobody made a move to eat any of the mozzarella sticks. We all sat sipping our drinks and silently turning over what just happened in our minds. I really wanted to share what I'd learned about Charlie with Mandy, but Trevor was still another suspect and Clark wasn't involved in the investigation, so I kept it to myself for now.
After another ten minutes or so, the bar ramped back up to the normal volume and the four of us had started to eat the cold mozzarella sticks and talk about other, non-murdery things like the snowman competition.
I finished the third glass of wine along with some other fried appetizers we ordered from Rich once he came back behind the bar. My head was swimming, but in a way I felt young again. Sometimes being thirty, I feel quite old. But hanging out in a bar with my friends, eating whatever I want and drinking as much as I want made me feel young again.
"Come on Tessa, I'm driving you home," Mandy said. "Trevor, I'll be home soon."
I stood up from my chair and immediately lurched. Clark grabbed hold of me and got me back upright. I was suddenly remembering why I didn't drink very much anymore. When you are twenty, this feeling is amazing and you feel like dancing and taking over the world. When you are thirty, you are fully aware of the headache you will have in the morning and you kind of just want to go to bed.
"Whoa there sailor," Clark said with a sly smile. "I'll help you out to the station wagon."
Trevor took another sip of his beer, sitting alone at the table. As we left, no one got up to take our place with Trevor.
"Come on, someone go sit with the poor man," I shouted out as we got to the front door. The wine was making the words just slip right out of my mouth. "You're all his friends. He needs you right now."
Mandy was shushing me and trying to shove me out the door, but I was happy to see a few of the townies get up and move towards Trevor's table. Sometimes not being able to shut my mouth actually worked out to my advantage.
Chapter Eighteen
Clark had managed to stuff me into the station wagon with a quick kiss and a promise to message me in the morning, but not too early. I'd see him tomorrow afternoon for the snow sculpture competition anyways. Mandy didn't drive much, but she did manage to get me and the station wagon back to the B&B.
Mandy helped me up the front steps and in the front door. My father was sitting behind the desk, trying to do something on the ancient desktop with Tank standing next to him. When he saw me, he gave a slight smile but covered it up quickly. I was the one kid out of the family who hadn't really done this before. In high school, Mandy and I were two odd ducks who had spent our time doing nerdy things instead of drinking like the popular kids.
"Thank you Mandy," my father said. "Come on, Tank'll drive you back home. Tessa, you come upstairs and drink some water."
Tank grabbed his jacket and followed Mandy out the door while my father headed upstairs. I stood in the entry watching them pull out of the driveway, thinking about how much love I was surrounded by. My family and Mandy had certainly provided me with a soft place to land in my time of need and they were still helping me out at every turn. I teared up. I had forgotten how sappy alcohol made me.
"Excuse me, can I have a little help please."
I turned to see Lennie standing next to the desk. I walked over, trying very hard not to stumble around. Just what I needed was for a guest to know I was drunk while helping them. The desk chair rolled back a bit as I sat down hard in it.
"Yes, what can I do to help Mr. Mickelson?" I asked, talking slowly and carefully so that I didn't slur my words.
"I was wondering if you could check my room's availability?" Lennie asked. "I am supposed to check out tomorrow, but I'd like to stay through the weekend I think. The Below Zero Festival is turning out to be more fun than I expected."
The room booking computer program we used was still thinking really hard about opening on our ancient computer, so I turned and gave Lennie a curious look.
"Really?" I said before I could stop myself. Liquid courage indeed. "I thought the only thing you would like was the medallion hunt."
"I did enjoy the medallion hunt while it lasted," Lennie said. His face was blank of expression. "But I'd just like to see how everything ends up."
"Ah yes, I'm glad you are finally loosening up a bit Lennie," I said. My brain was telling me to stop talking, but my mouth was still slippery with wine and I couldn't stop the words from falling out. "It is still a bummer that the medallion hunt ended the way it did. What do you feel about that?"
Lennie gave me a curious look. I wanted to read that as suspicious, but I knew that a tipsy girl asking about a murder wasn't something that happened everyday.
"Of course it is a bummer that the medallion hunt ended like that," Lennie said. "But I can't say that Gerald didn't deserve it. I know people don't believe me, but he was a cheat. Somehow, he knew where the medallion was every year. That is how he always found it."
As Lennie talked, he got more and more animated, talking faster and faster. At first, I thought he might be getting angry, but then I couldn't really read his feelings. I wasn't sure if he was actually hard to read or if my liquid wine goggles were impairing me. The computer program still wasn't totally loaded, so I took my chances and figured I would ask Lennie one more question.
"Lennie, where were you on the night of the murder?" I asked.
Lennie stared straight into my eyes with a blank expression. I think if I had been sober, I would have been a little scared, but the wine made me boldly stare right back at him.
"I was here at the B&B," he said. His eyes bored into me and I stared back, not wanting to be the one to break the eye contact. Even if Lennie wasn't the one who did it, he was the type of man who liked to have his way and even though I worked in customer service, I didn't want to be a pushover. I wasn't going to let him get his way.
A silence fell between us until the computer dinged to tell me that the booking program had finally loaded up. I turned back towards the computer and started clicking through the bookings.
"Okay," I said. My mouth was starting to slow down and the words weren't falling out as easily. Hopefully that meant I wouldn't wake up with a headache tomorrow. "It l
ooks like your room is empty. I can extend your stay for another couple of days if you'd like. Through Sunday?"
"Yeah sure," Lennie said. "Do that for me. I'm going out."
He walked to the door and threw on his jacket. As Lennie walked out the front door, I saw him throw a scarf on as a wave of purple and yellow flew over his shoulder. I had been hoping that the purple and yellow fibers would be a great clue, but apparently everyone had purple and yellow. I still filed it away before turning back to the computer.
I clicked around, extending Lennie's stay and wondering why in the world he would want to stay longer. Of course, he said it was because he liked the Below Zero Festival, but I just couldn't believe that. Lennie wasn't really the type to go hang out with the townspeople at a snowman building competition or something. The program saved the room reservation and I stood up, swaying back and forth a bit as I tried to get my bearings.
"Tessa, are you okay?"
I turned and saw Tilly coming down the stairs. She must have been visiting Mom and Dad for some reason. She looked a bit concerned and I realized that she had probably never seen me tipsy before. Most of my family hadn't because I hadn't really ever had any alcohol until I moved away to college.
"I'm okay," I said. "I just came from the Loony Bin."
Tilly's mouth dropped open, making a large O shape. She looked delighted at the thought of her big sister being tipsy. I think I was a bit of a goody goody, always do the right thing kind of big sister so whenever they saw me as human, it was entertaining for them.
"Why don't I help you upstairs," Tilly said, crossing the room to grab my arm. I was grateful for the steady help as we started up the stairs.
"Thanks so much Queen Blizzard," I said teasing her with a gooey, sweet smile. "What a wonderful Queen you are to help us lowly commoners."