by Cindy Bell
“But why would he do that?” Sarah met Vicky’s eyes.
“Because Freida wouldn’t leave him alone.” Vicky swallowed thickly as she realized she was going to have to tell Sarah the truth about everything she had witnessed and overheard. “Freida felt threatened by Roman and visa versa. He didn’t want her writing articles about him. Maybe he decided that the best way to control her was to silence her once and for all. There was a lot of bad blood between them.” Vicky shuddered at the thought. “Maybe he even hired someone to poison her.”
“Vicky, that is a huge accusation to make,” Sarah whispered as if she was worried that someone might hear her. “We don’t have any proof. How do you know Freida was threatened by him?”
“I overheard her telling her editor on the phone yesterday. Then she tried to catch Aunt Ida and Roman together. And tonight I spoke with her editor, who warned me not to make an enemy out of Roman.” Vicky lowered her eyes.
“Vicky, you knew all of this and didn’t tell me?” Sarah tightened her lips with impatience. “We’re supposed to be a team.”
“I know that. I was going to tell you, Sarah.” Vicky looked at her sister pleadingly. “I just didn’t want to upset you more than you already were.”
“Look, Vicky, I might be stressed or upset, but that doesn’t mean I can’t handle the truth, or whatever you find out. I need to know that we’re working together, okay?” Sarah looked at her sister sternly. Vicky recalled that look from many years of Sarah being the older and wiser sibling.
“Yes, I’m sorry.” Vicky frowned.
“Good. Now, what are we going to do about this?”
“We need to see if it’s possible that Roman ordered the fruit basket.”
“But if he did wouldn’t he have it delivered to his room not Freida’s so he could put the berries in first?” Sarah asked. Her suggestion made Vicky recall the slip that was on the fruit basket. Her eyes widened at the sudden realization. She was sure it said room 301 not 310. But could she be mistaken? She was so tired that night.
Vicky quickly went to the computer and looked up the name of the guest staying in room 301. When she saw the name her heart stopped for a moment. Was this really possible?
“Vicky, what is it?” Sarah asked. She could tell that her sister had stumbled across something unpleasant.
“I think that the fruit basket was meant to be delivered to a different room.”
“What?”
“I think that the slip indicating the room number said room 301, Roman’s room.”
“So where’s the slip?” Sarah asked.
“It’s been thrown away like we always do.”
Vicky’s mind quickly ran through the possible repercussions of this discovery. Had Monica delivered the fruit basket to the wrong room by mistake? Had someone paid Monica to deliver it to the wrong room? She knew that the numbers could have easily been mixed up, but was her mind just playing tricks on her?
“I think there’s a crucial question we need to ask, Sarah.” Vicky’s eyes widened slightly.
“What’s that?” Sarah asked.
“If the basket really was delivered to the wrong room, is it possible that Freida wasn’t the target at all.” Vicky tightened her lips. When she spoke again, her voice was filled with a sense of desolation. “I think we may be looking at a murder, where we don’t even know who was the real intended victim.”
“You think that someone was trying to kill Roman?” Sarah gasped.
“It sure looks like a possibility.”
“Unbelievable. It’s horrifying to think that someone used our inn to try and kill someone and potentially killed the wrong person.”
“It is, but we have to face it. What happened here happened and there’s no getting around it. We have to pin down who was involved in all of this, even if that means stepping on some toes.”
“You’re right.” Sarah yawned. “We’ll deal with this in the morning with a clear head. Vicky, be careful, and get some rest okay?”
“I will.” Vicky smiled warmly at her sister.
Chapter 14
After Sarah left, Vicky decided to take a walk. She needed to clear her head and calm down after such a tumultuous day. She always did her best thinking in the open air and especially under the stars. She walked away from the inn, towards the plot of land where she and Mitchell were building their house. Of course that would only happen if they didn’t lose everything in a lawsuit over Freida’s death. She paused at the edge of the foundation that had already been laid. She sat down on it and closed her eyes. When she did she could imagine the house she would share with Mitchell. Not too big, not too small. Just enough room for them, some pets, maybe even some kids. Just enough space to fill with their love.
She thought about the way he had looked at her earlier and had promised to always be in her corner. That meant so much to her, and she reminded herself to thank him for it. They didn’t always agree on things, but Mitchell’s love for her never seemed to waver.
As her mind shifted back to the murder, she mulled over the possibility that Roman was the target all along. Could Roman have been the intended victim? Could the aim of the poisoning have been to ruin the reputation of the inn and it was done by the same people that sabotaged the banquet hall? She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard footsteps not far from her. Her eyes flew open with fear. She found Mitchell walking towards her.
“Vicky, what are you doing out here?” Mitchell walked across the moon-dappled grass towards her. “I’ve been trying to reach you.” Vicky frowned and pulled out her phone. She saw that she had left it on silent. She had forgotten to turn it back on after creeping after Benny through the banquet hall. She stood up and turned to look at Mitchell. She knew that her face probably told the story of her day.
“I’m sorry. It was on silent.” She stared at him for a moment. “I just needed to get away for a few minutes.”
Mitchell met her eyes. He stepped closer to her, still holding her gaze with his fierce blue eyes. “Are you all right?” His voice was even as he questioned her, and just a little stern. Vicky knew that he was concerned.
“It’s been a long day.” She raised her hand to her eyes and covered them as she felt tears well up.
“Oh, sweetheart, none of this is your fault, don’t you know that?” Mitchell wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her close against him. “It’s a terrible thing that happened, but there was nothing that you could have done to stop it.”
“Maybe there was,” Vicky mumbled into the curve of his shoulder and neck. “I knew that Freida had been threatened by Roman.”
“What?” Mitchell suddenly drew back from her. “Vicky, what are you saying?”
“I’m saying, I heard her telling someone on the phone that she was not afraid of Roman. But I knew she was lying. She was just trying to sound brave.” Vicky shook her head. “Maybe if I had insisted that one of them leave, maybe if I had just warned Sarah about it. I don’t know, maybe something could have been done.”
“Are you truly thinking that Roman Blade is responsible for the murder?” Mitchell’s voice wavered with disbelief. “Vicky, do you know the consequences of what you’re saying?”
“Not you too.” Vicky untangled herself from his arms and refused to look at him. “I know who he is. I know how powerful he is. That doesn’t change the fact that he had motive, and opportunity. Does it, Detective?” She turned back to look at Mitchell, her gaze powerful.
“Well, no,” Mitchell sputtered as he spoke. “But you can’t just go around making accusations with nothing to back them up, no solid proof.” He shook his head. Then suddenly he froze. “Did you find some proof?”
“Just that it’s possible that the fruit basket was meant for room 301 and it was delivered to room 310 in error.” Vicky sighed. “Which is even more confusing, because that may mean that Roman was the target all along.”
“Have you told him this?” Mitchell deman
ded. Vicky looked at him strangely. She wasn’t sure why he was staring at her with such urgency.
“No, of course not. We were first going to try and get more information tomorrow. Why?”
“Why?” Mitchell’s voice rose. “Vicky, he’s running for governor. If there is any chance that there was a threat on his life then you have to tell him. It could be considered an attempted assassination. How could you not tell me this?”
“Mitchell, I didn’t think of it that way.” Now that she had, Vicky’s heart began racing. If Roman had been the target, and Freida only the accidental victim, then would the murderer try again?
“I have to call this in.” Mitchell pulled out his cell phone.
“Mitchell wait … I could be wrong.” Vicky looked at him grimly. “We don’t know anything for sure yet.”
“Even just a suspicion is reason to call it in, Vicky. You know I don’t want to put you in a difficult position, but you can’t expect me not to follow protocol when it comes to a threat like this.”
She knew that Mitchell was right. She couldn’t imagine how she would feel, or how Mitchell would feel, if something happened to Roman.
“I know you need to call, Mitchell. You do what you have to do. I’m going to do what I have to do.” With that Vicky kissed him quickly and walked off across the grass.
“Vicky, wait!” Mitchell called after her. He already had his phone to his ear. “Where are you going?”
“Don’t worry!” Vicky called back. “I’ll let you know what I find out.”
Vicky was more determined than ever to get to the bottom of things. Within a few minutes she found herself standing outside Ida’s door. If anyone could help her uncover the truth, she knew that it would be her Aunt Ida. She knocked lightly on the door. Ida opened it a moment later.
“Vicky, come in.” She smiled at her niece. Vicky stepped inside Ida’s room. It was the same size as all of the other guest rooms, but it looked a bit smaller because of all the unique souvenirs that Ida had collected from foreign countries over the years. Sometimes the masks could be a little creepy. But the silks, the bright colors draped across the ceiling, were all very soothing to Vicky at that moment.
“Aunt Ida, I want to figure this out tonight. I don’t want to wait until tomorrow.” Vicky sat down on the edge of her aunt’s bed.
“Okay, let’s do it.” Ida began to pace back and forth in front of the bed. “We know that Freida died because of poisoned berries which did not come from the kitchen, and they were not arranged by the inn even though it was made to look that way. We know that Freida and Roman had a hate-hate relationship. We also know that Freida had created many enemies over the years.” She paused and looked over at Vicky. Vicky picked up where she left off.
“We also know that someone went to the trouble of damaging the sprinkler, possibly to damage the reputation of the inn. But, if the two are related that means that someone probably planned this for quite some time.” Vicky frowned. “Either with the intent to kill Freida, or the intent to kill Roman.”
“How can we solve a murder when we don’t even know who the intended victim was?” Ida sighed with exasperation.
“Well, we do know that Freida had some information that was very damaging to Roman’s reputation,” Vicky reminded her aunt as she stood up. “That makes her the more likely intended victim. Someone would be taking a huge risk if they targeted Roman.”
“But if we think that Freida was targeted because of the information she had on Roman, then we have to believe he might have been involved in her murder.”
“Aunt Ida, I know that you are fond of him, but a kind man doesn’t falsify a war wound, or threaten a reporter,” Vicky spoke with determination.
“We don’t know for sure that he did any of that. Even if he did, that doesn’t make him a murderer. I can’t believe that he would do something like this.” Ida shook her head and looked at Vicky with displeasure. “You’re just buying into the rumors that woman was trying to spread.”
“Aunt Ida, that woman was the one who ended up dead.” Vicky scowled. “I know it’s a terrible thing to think of anyone, but really everything points to him. He had motive, and plenty of opportunity. Maybe he just damaged the sprinkler to throw us off the trail, or the sprinkler had nothing to do with the murder.”
“But don’t you see? That is why I don’t think he had anything to do with it.” Ida pursed her lips. “Roman is a very intelligent man, Vicky. He had his mind on an illustrious career, why would he throw all of that away by being so reckless?”
“Are you saying that he is too smart to murder so recklessly?” Vicky asked. She was getting frustrated that her aunt was coming to the defense of a murder suspect.
“I’m saying that if he was trying to protect his political career why would he risk everything by being involved in a scandal like this?” Ida put her hands on her hips. “It just doesn’t add up, Vicky. You can’t force it to just because you want an easy solution.”
Vicky wanted to point out the flaw in her aunt’s logic, but the argument she made was a good one. “I guess you’re right. He could just as easily have hired someone to take care of the problem. Why would he risk the possibility of casting suspicion on himself by murdering her at the place where he was staying? Why would he get his own hands dirty?” Vicky looked perplexed. “It would be a huge risk to do that. Even if he was trying to satisfy a personal vendetta, I don’t think he would choose poison to kill her.”
“Exactly!” Ida sighed. “This was not a crime of rage, or passion, this was a premeditated murder. I’m not going to lie, Roman despised Freida, and was even convinced that she was stalking him, but I don’t think that would lead him to give her poisonous food and kill her.” Ida looked at Vicky. “He isn’t flawless, no one is, but I don’t think he’s that stupid either.”
“But that leaves us nowhere!” Vicky’s frustration was building more and more by the moment. “If it wasn’t Roman that killed Freida, if it was Freida who was the target, then who did it?”
“Maybe another person that Freida wrote a damning article about?” Ida said thoughtfully. “The fruit basket was left at the front desk so anyone could have put the berries in the basket.”
“I know, but if we don’t figure it out and soon, we might be blamed for this.” Vicky could barely keep her mind from spinning. Her thoughts kept returning to the first moment she had laid eyes on Freida’s lifeless body. She felt so guilty that the fruit basket that had been delivered to her room, had been what killed her. “You know what, maybe it’s time we had a conversation with Roman. Let’s see if he knows anything about what happened. It’s the best place to start.”
“Do you really think that’s a good idea?” Ida asked. She looked at Vicky sternly. “He is a powerful man, he won’t take it kindly that you are talking to him about the murder and he might not reveal anything, anyway.”
“But you’ve become friends with him.”
Ida looked at her with a hint of excitement. “You’re right about that. Maybe he would be willing to talk to me.”
“So, let’s go talk to him now.”
“Not us. I will go talk to him. You stay here. I’ll let you know how it turns out.” She smiled at Vicky. Vicky raised an eyebrow.
“Just how do you intend to get the information out of him, Aunt Ida?” She looked at her aunt nervously.
“Don’t you worry about that, Vicky, I will take care of it.” Ida picked up one of the orange silks and wrapped it around her from her shoulders to her waist. The silk transformed the simple dress that Ida was wearing into something much more sensual. Vicky watched her aunt leave the room.
Chapter 15
Ida knocked on Roman’s door with a light smile on her lips. When he opened the door, he looked a little startled to find her there.
“Ida, it’s late. What are you doing out and about?”
“I’m sorry, Roman. Everything that has happened has me quite upset. I thought maybe we could talk.” She met his eye
s and fluttered her eyelashes lightly.
“Of course, please come in.” He stepped back to give her space to enter. Ida moved inside. The room was spotless as she had expected. She walked boldly over to his bed and sat down on the edge of it.
“I’m just so troubled by all of this. The police are saying that Freida died because of the poisonous berries delivered in her fruit basket. The basket was addressed from the inn, but none of us sent it. I’m just so confused.”
Roman sat down beside her on the bed. He slid an arm around her shoulders. Ida had to grit her teeth to keep from grabbing his arm and flipping him over her shoulder. She was playing a role, to get the information that she needed.
“Well, I don’t know how I can help you,” Roman replied with a puzzled expression.
“So, you didn’t organize the fruit basket?” Ida asked, immediately realizing that she could have been a bit more subtle when she asked the question.
“Ida, what are you trying to say?” He narrowed his eyes.
“We know that we didn’t send the fruit basket and…” Ida stared at him with some fear. She wondered if she had divulged too much information. She was hoping that her instincts about him were correct and that he didn’t kill Freida. If he had, he might have good reason to kill her as well.
“What are you saying?” Roman demanded again. He stood up suddenly from the bed and glared at her. “Are you insinuating that I might have given Freida poisonous food?”
“I don’t mean to upset you.” Ida stood up quickly. “I just wanted to know if you had anything to do with the fruit basket.”
“Of course not!” Roman scowled at her. “What you must think of me to even entertain that idea!”
“Please Roman, I’m only trying to find out what happened.” Ida looked at him remorsefully.
“No, you’re only trying to pin a murder on me!” Roman’s voice raised to the point that Ida was startled. “I thought you were far more intelligent than this, Ida. I guess I gave you too much credit!”