by Beth Byers
I shot my questions to Zee through text messages and then drove over to see her. It was a lovely day, and I could see tourists wandering through town with the scavenger hunt clues. The sky was somehow blue even though a slow drizzle of rain was appearing on my windshield. I had to manually move the windshield wipers because it wasn’t raining hard enough for the lowest setting on the car.
The opening ceremony of the Scavenger Weekend had been at the wine night the night before. You could stop by and grab the first clue and map for a nominal fee. But if you wanted an extra clue, they could stay for the wine night. There would be a second round today and a third on Sunday. I wasn’t even sure what the prizes were…gift cards maybe, to places around Silver Falls. That sounded right, but Zee had attended most of the meetings with the planning of it.
I wondered where Jayla and Frank’s bodies were found as I drove through Silver Falls. Perhaps in their proposed apartment at the Tidesman? Somewhere in town?
The rental of the Tidesman must have been done through whoever currently owned it because the sale hadn’t been finalized. Were the apartments furnished? I had a thousand question about that. But mostly, where had the bodies been found? Who had found them? How upset were their friends? When had they realized that the money had been stolen? How did Carver and Simon find out so quickly?
I pulled in front of the Tidesman and walked over to Zee’s muscle car. She was sitting behind the wheel, listening to her music too loud, singing along, and eyeing each and every person who passed by as though they were currently carrying the murder weapon.
“I didn’t know you like Rag’n’Bone Man,” I said. We listened to music a lot at the diner, and once the doors closed we tended to alternate playlists.
“He’s not cleaning music. It’s gardening music or baking music,” Zee said with a mean snort that said I was stupid for asking. I didn’t dispute that Human wasn’t much of a cleaning song.
I got into the car with her and said, “But it is sleuthing music?”
“I just like his voice,” Zee said. “How mad was Carver?”
“I couldn’t tell if he was furious or excited,” I admitted and then added, “Which is gross. I don’t want to be involved in the games you two play.”
“Too bad,” Zee said without even glancing my way.
I sighed because she was pushier than I was. I was going to be dragged in. I wasn’t even going to care because it would give me and Simon something to laugh about while we had dinner. Besides, you either had to take Zee as she was or get out. She wasn’t someone who changed for anyone.
“Do you love him?”
She snorted meanly, but I didn’t let that sidetrack me. I knew her well enough to know that was basically Zee’s thinking noise. For anyone else it would have been, ‘Ummm.’
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I like him more than I’ve liked anyone in a long time. And he’s sexy.”
“Ew,” I said. I loved Zee, but I did not want to know about her love life. Or lack thereof. “He seems like a good man.”
“He is,” Zee said. She looked at me and her characteristic smirk wasn’t on her face. She was almost serious.
“But?”
“I don’t know…falling in love is hard, Rose. I don’t know if I want to do it again.”
“Have you been in love a lot?”
She shrugged.
“I haven’t,” I said. “Simon is the first man I’ve ever loved.”
“That explains your constant look of being pole-axed.”
“Shut up,” I said lightly. We watched as several of yesterday’s chocolate tour left the Tidesman. They were talking to each other but there was something… “Does it look like they’re trying to be sneaky?”
“Yep,” Zee said. “For professors, you’d think they’d be less stupid.”
“It’s not like they’re spies. For all we know they teach economics or…home ec.”
Zee laughed at me at that, and I had to admit, I doubted there were too many home economics professors left at any college let alone Reed College. It was a snooty school for sure. They taught things like ‘The Classics.’
“Would your mom know any of them?” Zee asked, jerking her head towards the group of ivory tower folks.
I shook my head. “My mom teaches at a cheap community college that is more second high school than something like Reed College. I mean…not to talk crap about Mt. Hood Community, it’s just…not Reed College.”
Zee nodded, “I get it. When is your mom coming to visit?”
I’d gone back to Gresham for Christmas. She was coming for Spring Break. I told Zee and took a deep breath as my back clenched for a moment. Just a moment though. A second later and—if anything—it had loosened up even more. As though it through about sliding back out of place and decided again to relax further into where it should be.
“I should really walk more,” I told Zee.
Casual walking not charging around the diner with a tray in my arms.
“And do yoga. You’re no spring flower, Rosie.”
I scowled at her while we pretended to linger looking back and forth on the street while the small group of professors meandered a half a block ahead. One of them was speaking dramatically, two more were looking around for an audience. Whatever they were talking about wasn’t something they wanted just anyone to overhear.
We let them walk a good half block ahead of us and then followed.
“Where did they find the bodies?”
Zee said, “The first stop on the tour is Janie’s B&B. They were found in the alley behind it.”
I considered that for a few minutes before I asked, “So who knew they were going to do the scavenger hunt? And how did they die?”
“I don’t know on the first one, and…they were shot. Any of their crew could have known. The wine night where you got the clues and such was probably attended by at least some of them.”
“Oh…” I didn’t like that one bit. “No one heard anything? No reported gunshots?”
Zee shook her head and then said, “I called Janie. The murder happened in that little alleyway between her B&B and the library. The library had been long closed and Janie didn’t hear anything. She’s a light sleeper too. None of her guests heard anything. I checked this morning.”
“What does that mean?”
“I guess it means that they found a way to make someone not realize a person had just been shot.” I shivered at that. And then added, “I guess that means it was planned.”
Zee humphed a reply and then said, “I hadn’t thought about that yet. But yeah…if they were shot and no one heard anything. Especially Janie who was definitely home and definitely would have heard. She can identify bird calls, so if she’d thought she’d heard a gunshot—she would have checked it out.”
The group ahead of us kept going down the street. It was parallel to where the diner was. Just thinking of the diner made me think of Simon and Carver. Perhaps Simon could sense my thoughts because my phone buzzed. I considered checking it, but if it were Simon, I would feel like I needed to reply. Gah! I needed to know if Carver was still reading over Simon’s shoulder.
“So someone must have known what they were going to do when they came here. Why not kill them in Portland?”
Zee shrugged and then suggested, “More suspects there. But…maybe harder to get a quiet spot?”
I shrugged at that. I wasn’t sure I bought that idea at all. Why here? “Maybe they just got triggered here? But that doesn’t explain however they silenced the gun. If they did…maybe the bodies were dumped between the library and Janie’s?”
Zee shook her head and said, “I dropped by the crime scene. They were definitely killed there.”
“Oh,” I said, realizing Zee had probably seen the blood. Or, I hoped, just a bunch of cops doing their job. I had to wonder what the forensics department was like for Silver Falls. It was probably a traffic cop with specialized training. I wanted to message Simon and ask him, but I guessed that was
probably not the best idea.
The group ahead of us stopped to cross the street and we dared to get a little closer. The crosswalk was one that many people would use, so it wouldn’t be too strange to draw closer and linger behind them. There was a family with little kids that was doing that too.
The group in front of us had lowered their voices until they finally fell silent. I eyed Zee, and she eyed me, and we followed them to the office of the local real estate agent.
“Do you know him?” I asked about the man in the photo. Jim Jameson was a little orange from too much tanning or it was a shoddy print job of the picture I was looking at. His teeth, however, were very, very straight and very, very white. His smile was plastic and his eyes were crinkled with what could have been good humor but didn’t quite make the sale on a jolly personality.
“Yup,” Zee said. “More importantly. I know his wife.”
We watched the professors through the big glass window. The handsome one that Stevie had left with the day before didn’t look quite so pretty today. I wondered how and when they realized that the money wasn’t there. A phone call the day before? Something that happened on the tour?
“Oh,” I said suddenly feeling rather dumb, “We need to find the person who ran the chocolate tour yesterday.”
Zee nodded and said, “I messaged them a while ago. No reply yet.”
“The cops probably got to them pretty quickly.” I said. “But we could drive by their house? Or maybe their workplace?”
“The tour guide was one of the mayor’s office flunkies. Did you see them in the corner of 2nd Chance trying to snuggle into the darkness as if I wouldn’t see them?”
“And torture them?”
Zee grinned evilly and nodded.
“It’s not their fault their boss is a jerk. Or yours that your boss is so awesome.”
Zee snorted her signature evil snort at that.
SEVEN
Roberta hated me. I wasn’t sure why. I hadn’t been there when she’d been dating Simon. I knew that it had to do with the fact that I was now dating Simon, but in my defense, they hadn’t been together for a while when I met Simon. It wasn’t my fault that we met over a pile of puppies. That he seemed to see past my wide hips and frizzy red hair to something he liked.
Maybe it was the fact that Roberta was slim. The sort of slim that came from working hard at her shape. Maybe it was the fact that she was always put together while I tended to find smears of syrup or grease on my jeans even if I’d checked myself over before joining Simon out somewhere. Maybe it was the fact that Simon had asked me to move in with him and he’d never done that with anyone, ever.
It didn’t really matter why. What mattered is that Zee, that evil minx, was using me to distract the mayor from her file clerk.
I knocked on the door of Roberta’s office with no idea of what to say.
“Hi,” I said.
She scowled at me. Her look was so disgusted, I had to glance myself over. Had I miss-buttoned my shirt? Was my fly down? Maybe I’d forgotten pants entirely? But no…everything seemed to be in order. Maybe it was just the fact that I was wearing jeans and t-shirt, and Roberta was wearing the sort of dress I’d wear to an interview.
“What do you want?”
“I…” I scrambled is what I did. Nothing? To run away? “…thought we gotten off on the wrong foot. I mean…”
“Are you referring to the wrong foot where I found you loitering outside of my house late at night? Right after a murder?” Her sneer was so cold and the way she examined me as if I were a bug, or that I were the killer…the killer had confessed. She was in jail. She’d taken the deal the court system had offered her. I hadn’t had anything to do with that and yet Roberta was making it seem as though I had been involved.
I opened my mouth to reply and then said, lamely, “I was just going for a walk? “Why had I ended that like a question! Oh!
“At what? Midnight? 2:00 am? Why wouldn’t I be bothered by that? And since you’ve been here…caught up in murder and madness! This used to be a quiet town. Tell you, you aren’t responsible.
“I am not responsible for any of the things that have happened around here lately. I met you on a pathway that everyone uses, Roberta. I’m sorry I frightened you, but…that’s no reason to make an enemy of me.”
She smirked and steepled her fingers under her chin.
“I just…”
“You stole my boyfriend,” she said calmly.
“You were already separated, long since.” I countered trying for a deep breath. Unfortunately it sounded too much like a gasp.
“You associate with rabble.”
My gaze narrowed on her. How dare she?
“You are a stuck-up, ineffective, rude woman,” I told her, spinning and slamming her office door behind me. It had been enough time for Zee to get the clerk out of the mayor’s office I glanced around and met Roberta’s assistant’s gaze and she jerked her head towards the door.
Zee was gone. I didn’t see the clerk. I nodded once and left.
* * * * *
I hadn’t noticed the tour guide yesterday. It was only in looking at him, seeing his gaze, and then thinking back that I even remembered I was going to point out that he had drunk people on his tour the day before. I’d failed at that. Of course…I could hardly have been said to be drinking responsibly with my cocktail of wine, Vicodin, and muscle relaxers. I wasn’t sure I’d ever drooled quite so much.
I crossed to where Zee had hauled the clerk into the little walkway between the police station and the town offices.
“Hey,” I hissed.
The clerk eyed me with a panicked gaze, and I guessed that he was well aware that his boss hated me.
“Want breakfast?”
“We’re not going to the diner,” Zee snapped. “Carver could still be there.”
“Maxine’s serves breakfast on Saturday and Sunday,” I reminded Zee. It was also on the other side of the walkway.
“I want a burger,” the clerk said. “From Pietro’s.”
Zee glanced at me and smirked. Except I’d left my bag to get away from Carver. “You’re paying friend. I had to leave my bag to escape the boys.”
She was way less happy at that. Pietro’s burgers were at least $20.00. They were good and they were loaded with interesting toppings. Simon loved the place even though he only ever got the classic burger. My eye twitched at the idea of his boring food.
“You better spill everything,” Zee threatened the clerk. As they walked up to the pricey restaurant. They had barely opened, and there was no wait. The host who seated us kissed Zee on the cheek and then brought us all ice water.
“I’m Rose,” I said to him as we walked through the narrow walkway to the street behind the town offices.
“Jake,” he said. He wouldn’t quite meet my gaze, and I was feeling extra sassy from my argument with Roberta.
“Do you think I’m going to stab you in this little walkway, Jake?”
He gasped and stumbled and said, “What? No!”
“He’s afraid of you,” Zee laughed meanly. She smacked the back of Jake’s head and demanded, “Really?”
“Roberta…” Jake started. He was whining and Zee smacked him again. “Simon…is covering for his girlfriend.”
“Then why are you here?” Zee demanded. She went to smack him, but he jerked away.
“Stop that,” he cried. “Geez. I came with you. She was harassing the mayor.”
I shook my head. It was totally unfair that Roberta was turning this kid against me. She didn’t have any reason to do that. I know she was mad about Simon, but we all knew that they had already been broken up. What really got me though was how this kid was believing that Simon was covering for me…for murders? Were they kidding me?
“You have to run for mayor,” I told Zee. “You’ll have to do both jobs because we can’t lose you at the diner. But she’s talking crap about Simon. This fool,” I jerked my thumb at Jake, “believes that Simon would l
et a murderer go because he cares about me.”
The kid choked and then blushed furiously.
“She’s taking advantage of the idiots,” Zee said, getting another good smack in at Jake. He jumped away and tried to escape Zee, but she grabbed his arm and hauled him behind her. “You don’t want to mess with me kid. I babysat your mom, and she still sends me cards. You want her to know that you’re believing terrible things about a good person simply because the person’s ex is talking crap?”
He tried to pull away but Zee had the grip of an anaconda.
“Your mama wouldn’t be ok with that,” she told him. “Especially given how she’s friendly with Simon and has been for a long time.”
Oh, I wondered. What did friendly mean?
Zee dragged him to the booth, pushed him in, and then sat on the outside of it, so he couldn’t just escape. I had to laugh as I sat down across from them. My phone buzzed a few times, and I decided to read my messages. I could always tell him I was at lunch, alleviate Simon’s concerns, and ‘forget’ to say where I was.
Az messaged me that Simon and Carver had left The 2nd Chance Diner separately. Simon asked where I was, and ‘unknown’ asked if I’d found Zee yet. I put ‘unknown’ in my phone as Carver and then replied to Simon that I was having lunch. I asked Az how things were; which was pointless given that we weren’t heading back to the diner any time soon and then I ordered the pizza burger with a hamburger patty topped with marinara, pepperoni, and mozzarella cheese sticks. It was going to slop all over my chin, and I didn’t care a bit.
Roberta, of course, would have never ordered such a meal. In a moment of insanity, I almost ordered a side salad simply because Roberta would have and then I stuck my tongue out her mentally and ordered a side salad because the blue cheese dressing here was amazing.
Zee blasted question after question at Jake, but he didn’t tell us anything worthwhile until he said that they ran into the real estate agent at the wine night which is where the tour ended. Several of the professors were well on their way to drunk, but he’d handed them over to the management of the wine night folks and reported who’d been drinking before they even got to the evening.