by Cindy Bell
“Hmm, good point,” Suzie nodded. “Will you excuse me for a moment?” she asked.
“Of course,” he nodded and narrowed his eyes. “I can't believe that Gerald would do this,” he said to himself.
Suzie was dialing Jason's number as she walked away from Louis. Jason answered on the third ring.
“Suzie, I'm so glad you called,” he said. “I know we didn't exactly have a chance to talk everything out and I think that we need to.”
“We do,” she agreed. “But can we do that later? First, I need you to look into Warren Blasser's past. See if he had any enemies.”
“Suzie,” Jason sighed. “I told you, I can't do any investigation when there is no crime.”
“I'm not asking you to do any kind of investigation, just to take a glance at the man's past,” Suzie pressed impatiently.
“I'll do what I can,” Jason replied before hanging up the phone.
When Suzie turned back to Louis she found that he was at his computer.
“What are you doing?” Suzie asked curiously as she walked up to him. She could tell that he was very focused on what he was doing.
“I'm just looking into Gerald's history a little more,” he explained. “It seems he has a lot of properties, he may be in more debt than I realized.”
“Then his motive would be even stronger,” Suzie agreed.
“Maybe,” Louis nodded with a frown. “But he wouldn’t gain financially because he wouldn’t even be able to sell it.”
“One good thing is that if it was Gerald that stole the book then there is a good chance he will still have it,” Suzie said. “He can't sell it, and it is too valuable to destroy, so he must still be holding onto it.”
“I know where he lives,” Louis said. His eyes were narrowed as he stared into space. “I can't believe he would do something like this.”
“I just hope he's only a thief,” Suzie said with a sigh.
“Do you think Jason would check it out for us?” Louis asked hopefully. Suzie frowned as she recalled the way Jason had spoken to her.
“No, I don't,” she said. “Without some kind of proof that it was Gerald who stole the book, all he can do is ask Gerald questions. That will tip Gerald off that he is a suspect. If he does have the book, he'll find a way to hide it or get rid of it, before we can get it back.”
Louis winced at the very idea. “I can't imagine never seeing that book again,” he said. He was heartbroken, Suzie could see that in his eyes. She felt badly for Louis. He could be a little snippy and arrogant, but he was always willing to help when they needed it. He was so surprised when he had an amazing gift given to him, only to have it taken away from him again. But Louis wasn't the only person that she was thinking about. She was thinking about Warren Blasser as well, whose death she was certain was connected with this theft.
“I think we should go ourselves,” Suzie said, lowering her voice.
“Go where?” Louis asked.
“To get the book back, to see if Gerald has it,” Suzie explained. “You're still friends with the family, right? We could just pop in for a visit, or maybe to tell him about the book being stolen, since it was once his father’s. That will give us a chance to look around.”
“What a clever idea,” Louis said with a smile of approval. “Are you sure that you want to get involved in this though?” he studied her for a moment. “Won't Jason be upset?”
“There’s no harm in asking a few questions,” Suzie countered. She did her best to make her voice sound confident.
“I can get someone to man the library today,” he said. “Should we go this afternoon?”
“Yes, that sounds good,” Suzie nodded. “I have an errand to run, then I'll come back to pick you up.”
“Okay,” he nodded and then looked into her eyes. “Thank you, Suzie, for helping me.”
“Thank me after we get your book back,” Suzie said. She felt a subtle thrill race through her as she left the library. She loved going on investigations like this. There were times when she really missed her role as an investigative reporter. Sure, many of her jobs had been on the boring side involving politics or celebrities, but the criminal cases were the most thrilling for her. She had left her career to become an interior decorator to give herself a change of pace, and suddenly she had become the owner of a bed and breakfast. But, she still had the blood of an investigator pumping through her veins.
Chapter Ten
As Suzie drove down the main road, her mind focused on the task at hand. She was on her way to speak to Bill Daub, the contractor she had hired to work on the balconies at Dune House. She turned off the main street and drove about ten minutes into the next town.
Bill Daub's office was at the end of a small strip mall. She parked her car and walked up to the door of his office. Through the glass door she could see that he was speaking heatedly with another man in the office. She hesitated for a moment as she wondered if she had walked in on a private meeting. But when Bill began pounding his fist on the desk in front of him, she instinctively pushed the door open. As soon as she stepped inside the two men stopped arguing. Suzie was a little surprised when it was Detective Brown that turned around to face her.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, too stunned to think about what she was saying.
“Suzie,” he said grimly. His dark brown eyes were flashing with anger. He looked back at Bill. “I was here speaking to this gentleman about his poor construction work.”
“What?” Suzie asked. She was confused as she looked over at Bill.
“Suzie, I don't understand how this happened,” Bill explained. “If you're planning to sue the company however, we shouldn't be speaking about this.”
“Sue the company?” Suzie repeated with disbelief. “This is complete nonsense.”
“Suzie, watch what you say,” Wes warned her. She glared back at him.
“I am perfectly capable of deciding what I want to say and what I don't want to say,” she said sternly. “What happened to Warren Blasser was a homicide, and if you can't see that, then I'm starting to question your ability to be a detective.”
“Hey,” Wes shot back with aggravation in his voice. “You need to watch how you're talking to me.”
“Do I?” Suzie asked and stepped closer to him. “Are you going to arrest me for having an opinion, Detective Brown?” she demanded.
He stared at her with shock in his eyes. “Suzie, there's no reason for you to be angry at me. I'm here defending Mary, and you. Do you know the consequences you could face if you are found negligent in the death of this man?”
“There is no way she will be found negligent,” Bill interrupted with frustration.
“That's right,” Suzie said grimly. “Because there was nothing wrong with the railing on that balcony.”
“Somehow it broke,” Wes pointed out.
“Someone had to have tampered with it,” Suzie explained. “That's why I'm here, Bill,” she said as she turned to face the man, who was still quite pale. “I want to know your opinion on what might have happened. Don't get me wrong, I am not accusing you. I checked those railings myself, and I had them inspected, they were perfectly sound. But what could someone do to change that?”
Bill looked between her and Wes. It seemed clear that he didn't want to voice an opinion.
“Bill, I'm not going to sue you,” Suzie said with a frown. “I'm just trying to figure out what might have actually happened on that balcony. I need your help to do that.”
“We tried to make the railings match the buildings history as much as possible, but I can tell you for sure that the railing was sound when it was built,” Bill explained. “If you want me to tell you that it could have gotten weak with weather or the elements in such a short period of time, that's not possible. I only use quality wood and it is fully sealed. There is no chance that the wood could have rotted or even been damaged by high winds.”
“Then how did it magically break?” Wes demanded. He shot a brief glance
in Suzie's direction, perhaps to see if she was going to attack him for speaking. Suzie only stared at Bill, waiting for an answer.
“Look, I haven't seen the railing in question, and before you ask, I can't see it,” he said firmly. “If I go out there to inspect it, it will be like admitting fault. Suzie, I know that you have no interest in suing me, but that can change. You have to understand, I could lose my business, I could lose everything over this.”
“And so could I,” Suzie pointed out. “So, I do understand. But hypothetically, let's say there was no visible damage to the wood. There were no wood shavings, no cracks, nothing to indicate it was cut in any way. What else would cause it to give way?”
Bill frowned. He stared down at the top of his desk for a few moments. When he looked back up at Suzie he spoke carefully.
“If I were in a situation where I had a railing fail like that, I would consider counting the screws to ensure that none were missing. Each screw is important to the strength of the railing, even just a few missing can mean the difference between a solid structure and a weak structure.”
“Thank you,” Suzie said with a sigh of relief. She didn't recall seeing any screws missing, but she also didn't look. “I appreciate your help, Bill. I want you to know, that even though you might not be able to trust my assurance, I will not be suing you or your company. I know that you still have to protect yourself from potential lawsuits by the family of the victim, so I won't ask you anything else about this. However, please know that I am trying my hardest to figure out what actually happened.”
“Good,” Bill nodded and offered her his hand for a quick shake. “It is a terrible tragedy,” he said with a slow shake of his head. “If I thought it was possible that my company was responsible for it, I would have shut down operations already.”
“I know that,” Suzie nodded. She passed a quick look over at Wes. “Detective Brown, please stop questioning this man.”
“I was only trying to help,” Wes said fretfully. Suzie turned and walked out of the office. Wes followed after her. “Suzie wait,” he called out and followed her to her car.
“What is it?” she asked testily. She refused to look directly at him. She was still angry with him for upsetting Mary.
“I just want to know what is going on here,” he demanded. “Why are you acting so upset with me?”
“I'm not,” she replied with a bit of a grimace. She didn’t want Mary upset with her for confronting Wes.
“I think you are,” he growled in return. “But if you don’t tell me, then fine. Would you like help looking at the railing? I could come back with you to do that.”
“No, thank you,” Suzie said grimly. “I can handle things on my own. Please leave Bill Daub alone. He is a good man, otherwise I wouldn't have trusted him with the updates on the balconies. This was no accident, and I plan to prove that.”
“If there's anything I can do to help, just let me know,” he offered.
“Thank you,” Suzie said but she had no warmth in her voice as she opened the door. She had no intention of asking him for help, she was still very angry with him. Wes stared after her as she drove off out of the parking lot. She was fuming as she raced back towards Dune House. She wanted to talk to Wes about Mary, but she knew she couldn’t because it wasn’t what Mary wanted.
***
Suzie had just pulled into the driveway of Dune House when her cell phone rang. When she saw who was calling she grimaced. She had forgotten all about Louis.
“Hi Louis,” she said when she answered.
“Suzie, are you coming to pick me up?” Louis asked.
“Oh, Louis I'm so sorry,” Suzie said with a shake of her head. “I got distracted with some things at Dune House. I'll be there shortly.”
“Why don't you pick me up at home?” Louis suggested. “I have a few things I can get done while I'm waiting.”
“Okay, text me your address and I'll be there in thirty minutes,” Suzie said quickly.
“Will do,” Louis replied before hanging up the phone.
Suzie hurried into the house. She wanted to check the balcony once more. As she walked towards the stairs she called out to see if Mary was home.
“Mary?” she asked. She caught a glimpse of her friend outside on the deck, but she decided to investigate the balcony before talking to her. She wanted a little time to herself. When she walked out onto the balcony she cautiously walked to the broken railing. She searched for the points where it should have been attached to the balcony. Just as the police had found, there was no damage, no indication that the wood had been splintered, or that anything had been used to pry it apart. She swung the railing into its proper position. She lined it up with the edge of the balcony where it should have connected. It fitted snugly into place. Then she crouched down to take a closer look at the way it was supposed to connect.
Although, most of the screws were accounted for, there were at least four that were missing. They were the screws at the base of the structure, the ones that should have provided the most support. If the screws had been removed, and the remainder loosened, maybe the railing would have easily given way. If the police had noticed the missing screws they had likely assumed that they had fallen off when the railing came loose. Suzie guessed it was still a possibility that it happened accidently, but she strongly believed it had been tampered with.
“What a good plan,” Suzie muttered to herself. “If he only touched the screws with a screwdriver, never with his fingertips he would have left no trace of his identity, and no evidence of tampering.”
She tore herself away from the balcony and walked back down the stairs to the lobby. Mary was there, with her phone in her hand. She looked up at Suzie.
“What did you do?” she asked as Suzie walked towards her.
“What do you mean?” Suzie asked in return. She was puzzled.
“I mean, I just got off the phone with Wes, he said that he had a very interesting encounter with you today,” she said and locked eyes with Suzie.
“Well, I didn't say how angry I was with him,” Suzie said defensively. “That should count for something.”
“Suzie,” Mary said with a slight frown. “I know that you're just trying to protect me, but you really have to let me handle things with Wes.”
“I'm sorry, I tried not to show him that I was upset with him,” Suzie frowned. “I didn't mean to cause a problem.”
“I don't think you did,” she replied with a smile. “It means a lot to me that you care so much. But I think Wes was a little frightened of you,” she giggled.
“He should be,” Suzie replied and narrowed her eyes. “He should be very frightened.”
“I love you, Suzie,” Mary said and gave her a tight hug.
“I love you, too,” Suzie said. “I hope that you can figure things out with Wes. But he needs to stop treating you badly.”
“I don't know,” Mary sighed. “Maybe I was just overreacting. I can be a little sensitive because of how things were with Kent.”
“I understand,” Suzie nodded. “I'm headed out, do you need anything?”
“Where are you going?” Mary asked. Suzie was about to tell her, but she stopped herself before she could. She didn't want Mary to get in the middle of things. She had enough on her plate with her birthday and Wes’ behavior.
“Just to grab a few things at the store,” Suzie explained.
“Oh okay,” Mary nodded. “No I don't need anything. I'll see you later tonight.”
“Absolutely,” Suzie replied.
Suzie rushed back to her car. Now that she had her suspicions of how the railing had been sabotaged, she also knew that there would never be evidence to show that was what had happened, unless she could get a full confession out of the murderer. Her assumption of what had happened would not be enough to protect Dune House from a lawsuit. She had nothing to show that could prove that the balcony was tampered with. As she started her car and drove off, Suzie felt a little bad for not being honest with Ma
ry, but it was only for her protection. She didn't want Mary even more stressed out with her birthday coming up.
Suzie drove towards Louis' house. She had never been to it before, but the town of Garber was very easy to drive through. It was essentially a peninsula and had two main roads. When she found the street Louis' house was on she turned and slowed down to watch for the house numbers. The street was quiet with similar medium-sized houses. Suzie pulled up to Louis' house and parked behind his small orange beetle. She climbed out of the car and walked up to the front door. He opened it before she even had the chance to knock.
“I've been waiting for you,” he explained. “But I just need to run to the bathroom, come in for a second will you?”
Suzie hesitated for a moment. She liked Louis just fine when he worked in the library, but she had never really gotten to know him very well. She had been in Garber for a short time, so other than Mary and Paul she felt like she really didn’t know anyone in town that well, not even her cousin who she had recently met again after decades of no contact.
“Sure,” she nodded a little and stepped just inside the door. Louis rushed down the hall, presumably to the bathroom. Suzie thought his house looked exactly as she would expect it to be. His furniture was neat, his carpet clean, the shelves on the walls were filled from end to end with books. She didn't see a television anywhere in the living room, but there was a fireplace. On the mantle of the fireplace was a book. Suzie guessed it was the one he was currently reading. Curious, she stepped closer to check the title. It was a civil war documentary, not something she was terribly interested in. However, something did catch her eye. There were a few photographs on the mantle. One in particular held her attention. It had three people in it. Louis, an older man, and someone who looked very familiar.
“Suzie?” Louis asked from just behind her, causing her to jump. “Are you ready to go?”
“Who is this, Louis?” Suzie asked as she pointed to the photograph.
“Oh, that's Richard,” Louis sighed sadly. “The one who gave me the book.”