“Hmm, well, keep your eyes open for this guy and give me a call if you see him.”
“I will,” she said. “Is this to do with that murder at the inn?”
You couldn’t keep anything quiet in a small town. “Yeah.”
“Nobody knew the guy who got killed. What happened with that Gabriel Strand guy? The rock star?”
“He’s under police protection.”
“Weird. Oh, well. Have a good day, Chief.”
“You, too, Carla.” He walked toward the door, sipping his coffee.
“Too bad you weren’t looking for a girl,” Carla called out after him.
John stopped in mid-sip. “Why do you say that, Carla?”
“Well, yesterday, a girl comes in here and asks where she can buy ammo.”
“Ammunition? For a firearm?”
“Yeah.”
“What else?” John turned to give the cashier his full attention.
She was flattered and elaborated. “Well, this girl comes in, and she was dressed kind of funny. Like she was almost dressed up, I guess you’d say, with high-heeled black boots on and her hair all done.”
“How old would you say she was?”
“Oh, probably in her twenties or maybe early thirties.”
“What did you tell her?”
“I said we didn’t sell ammo, but I thought my boyfriend bought his at the hardware store. Then she left.”
“Carla, I think I can use this information. Thanks. Thanks a lot for mentioning it.”
Carla blushed.
His next stop was the hardware store. He pulled in, leaving Mia in the car with instructions to answer the radio if Becky or one of the officers called in. A father couldn’t grill his daughter for the details of her relationship with a boy, John felt, or even question her about her feelings like a mother could, but he could give her something useful to do.
Ed Sanborn, the owner of the store, was at the cash register when John walked in.
“Hi, John.”
“Hello, Ed.”
“What can I get you?”
“It’s police business, Ed. Can I see you in the back?”
“Sure. Just a minute.” The proprietor’s voice rose as he called out, “Hey, Travis, get up here and man the cash register for a minute, will you?”
A muffled “yeah” came floating back from an undefinable corner of the store.
“Follow me.” Sanborn led the way into the back office, held the door for John, and shut it again behind them. “What’s going on?”
“We’re looking for a person, a female. She could be dangerous. Did an unknown woman come in here yesterday or earlier today wanting some kind of ammunition?”
“Yeah, she made a purchase when we first opened. What’s up, John?”
“I want to question her about the shooting at the inn,” John said. “Can you verify the sale?”
“Of course. Certainly. I can get you the receipt in about two minutes. Want it now?”
“If you will, yes, please. Was it twenty-two caliber?”
“It was. I waited on her myself. She was kind of a nervous thing. Really skinny, too. Laughed too loud. She had a lot of earrings in her ears.”
They were interrupted by a frantic rapping on the office door. “What is it?” Ed called out irritably.
The door opened, and Mia hurried into the room, thrusting her cell phone at her father. “It’s Michael,” she said. “It’s important, Dad.”
John took the cell phone. “What is it, Mike?”
His son’s excited voice came over the phone. “Dad, I started with the most recent e-mails and blogs first. It didn’t take me half an hour to zero in on this. The server is Vermont Telephone for the last three e-mails and the last message board posting. VTel was really cooperative because this is a Vermont thing and Becky verified who we were. Her cousin is the executive assistant.”
“Well?”
“The computer is the one in the lobby of the inn.”
John was silent.
Michael repeated, “Dad, it’s at the inn. Are you there?”
“Yes, yes, I’m here.”
“The account holder is Bill Noyes. Somebody at the inn sent these e-mails and posted this message.”
“You’re sure?”
“Of course.”
“Did you track down any other servers?”
“No. I didn’t think it was necessary.”
“I guess it’s not. Good job, Mike. I’ll head over there right away.” He handed the cell phone back to his daughter.
“Did Michael find her, Dad?”
“He’s hot on the trail. Come on, Mouse, I’ve got to get to the inn and talk to Bill Noyes. Ed, do you think you can get that receipt for me?”
“Sure.”
“I’ll pick it up later.”
“Good luck, John.”
John strode out to his police vehicle so fast that Mia had to skip to keep up. She jumped agilely into the passenger side. “Do you think that person is at the inn?”
“That’s what we’re going to find out.” John stuck the Suburban’s nose out into the street and peered around the giant snow banks. “If we’re lucky, she won’t have gone too far and it’ll be the same person Strand told me about.” John drove down the street and parked in front of the inn. “You stay here and man the radio again, Mouse. I’ll talk to Bill Noyes.”
He ran up the front steps and through the double doors. Surprisingly, Susan and Bill Noyes were standing there.
“Thank God you’re here!” Bill blurted out, but it was Susan’s silence and the look on her face that struck John.
“What’s the matter?” he asked cautiously.
“Aren’t you answering the nine-one-one call?” Bill Noyes persisted.
“No. What’s going on?”
Susan said, “We’ve got a girl who’s locked herself in the room where the murder took place. She’s threatening suicide.”
“This is awful!” The innkeeper rubbed his hand across the back of his neck. “I called nine-one-one. Who’s supposed to respond to that, John?”
“It goes through the fire department. Dispatch probably called Caleb. He should be here soon.”
“Aw, John!” moaned Noyes. “He’s probably three towns away up to his knees in leaky pipes!”
The words had just left his lips when Caleb Cochran came through the door. By trade a master plumber, he was also the volunteer fire chief and an unusually handsome man a few years younger than John. He nodded at the police chief.
“Caleb,” acknowledged John.
He knew he could count on Caleb. The man never broke a sweat, no matter what the crisis. Yet, years back, when his young wife died, John had seen the light go out of Caleb’s eyes, and it had haunted him and the rest of the town as well. Everybody loved Caleb. Then, last fall, Caleb had married again. A beautiful girl, Lauren Smith. A prodigal daughter, if you will, of Clark’s Corner. The whole town watched with satisfaction as the empty man filled with love again. The spontaneous smile, gone for so many years, returned, and there was renewed vigor in his eyes.
Caleb replied, “Do you know what’s going on?”
“I just got here. Actually, I’m investigating that murder. We’ve got another suspect, and I’ve reason to believe that my suspect and the girl who is threatening suicide are one and the same.”
“Hmm,” Caleb mused. “Interesting.”
“Well, can someone do something?” Bill Noyes was exasperated.
Caleb had yet to address Noyes. He was still talking to John. “The first responder call went out. I got Tim Cully coming in with the ambulance crew.”
John sighed. “Couldn’t the state cops respond? I’m not thrilled at having one of my guys pulled today.”
Caleb smiled a little. “Well, Cully responded. He’s on his way.” Finally, he turned to Bill Noyes. “What’s going on, Bill?”
Noyes blew through his nostrils. “Susan was at the desk, around noon.” Suddenly, he threw up his hands. “
I’m a wreck,” he said. “Susan, you were there. You tell them.”
Susan picked up the conversation calmly. “I was at the desk, as Bill said. There was a young woman who had checked in early on the evening of the murder. She was sitting over at the computer desk, typing. I had seen her there the evening before, too. She was there for about twenty minutes, I’d say. Then she went out—outside. I watched her through the big window. She headed down the street toward the hardware store. I wasn’t here when she came back.”
“The next thing we know is this!” Bill interrupted his wife as he waved a paper in the air and shoved it at John. “It was stuck in my office door.”
John took the paper and read aloud:
At the time you read this, I will be barricaded in the room my Gabriel died in. I will be preparing my own death. I can no longer live with my grief. I am sorry to inconvenience anybody, but I cannot leave the spot where his blood was shed. Please forward my love to his sister and dear, dear mother. I look forward to joining my darling in the next life. The hour approaches when I must go to him. Please do not interfere. Only carry out my last wishes and bury me next to him.
“She’s a crackpot!” snorted Bill Noyes.
While John had been reading, Tim Cully had come in to the lobby, with Mia close behind. Cully echoed Noyes’s sentiments. “She’s a nut! She doesn’t even know he’s still alive.”
John said, “Or does she, and this is the beginning of some elaborate defense charade?”
“Good thinking, Chief,” said Cully. “How’d she get into that room?”
John looked at Noyes. “I’ve no idea! We’ve kept it locked up tight,” the innkeeper insisted nervously.
“Probably up through the fire escape,” offered his wife. “Or she may have gone up the main stairway when we were all busy elsewhere.”
“Mia, this is getting serious. Go back and monitor the radio,” John instructed. “This woman is armed, or at least we know she bought ammunition earlier today. Twenty-two caliber, as it turns out.”
“No shit!”
“Cully, you’re on duty,” John barked.
“Sorry, sir.” The young man lapsed into silence.
“Dad, she’s not going to kill herself.”
“Mia, please, monitor that radio. Get a call in to Becky and have her alert Steve and Jason. Spread them out. Cully and I will be here for a while. Tell her to call State Police and send up Joe Bernard.”
“Daddy, she would never leave a note like that if she were really planning to kill herself. She’s a crazed fan who should be locked up! She just wants attention.” Mia tossed her hair with such defiance that it hit Cully across the face. Then she stalked out of the building.
Caleb remarked, “Your daughter’s got a point, John. We’re either dealing with the murderer—the person who killed that promoter—or she’s a real nut. Either way, it could be dangerous. For herself or anybody.”
“Then let’s do something!” Bill Noyes exclaimed, his clenched fists waving in the air.
“Caleb, you come with me,” said John, ignoring Bill’s antics. “We’ll go up there and try to talk her out. I think we can tell pretty quickly where she’s coming from.”
Caleb nodded his affirmation and followed the police chief up the stairs.
Susan said abruptly, “Wait!”
Both men turned from the bottom step.
“Here.” Susan extended her hand to John. “The room is still locked from the outside. You’ll need this key.”
“Thanks, Susan,” John said gratefully to his cousin, and they continued up the stairs.
On the landing, Caleb said, “What do we do if we run into somebody in the hallway? Noyes isn’t going to like any negative publicity.”
“That’s not our concern, Caleb.” John was tired of publicity and its effect, negative or positive, on anything or anybody.
The men made their way to the upstairs hall, which John was thankful to find empty. He walked quietly to the room where Bruce Blake had been killed. It was not marked, but it had been locked from the outside with a padlock. John figured she must have crawled up the fire escape and in through a window. It would have been pretty easy to guess which room it was, especially if she had been the person who pulled the trigger in the first place.
John and Caleb took their places on either side of the door. John reached out and tapped. There was no response. John rapped harder, with his knuckles. They waited. Still no response.
Caleb called out in a kind voice, “Is there anyone there? Is the person who left the note to the innkeeper there? We don’t know your name. We want to help you.”
Finally a response came. “I’m here, and you can’t help me.”
“I don’t understand why you want to die,” Caleb said gently. “You sound like a young person, full of life. Would you explain to me?”
John knew the goal was to do anything to keep her talking.
“I caused Gabriel’s death.”
John’s heartbeat elevated, and he arched his eyebrows at Caleb.
“Do you think you shot Gabriel Strand?”
“No! No! I love Gabriel. I loved him so, so much. I just didn’t get here in time.”
“I still don’t understand.”
“I think he came here to find a place where we could be alone together. He didn’t tell anybody he was coming here before the concert. I e-mailed him to tell him I had something very important to tell him. He knew I’d find him. I always do. I’m always there, at every concert. He knew he could depend on me, and there was this other girl, and I know he got a room here so she couldn’t find us. Now he’s dead. He’s dead, and I will be soon.”
“Gabriel isn’t dead.” There was silence. Caleb repeated, “Gabriel Strand is alive. Did you hear me?”
The woman’s voice went flat. “You’re lying to me.”
This time, John spoke up. “We’re not lying. I’m John Giamo, Chief of Police here. Gabriel Strand is under my protection. What is your name?”
“You’re just lying to keep me from killing myself. I know he’s dead. I watched when they sneaked the body out through the fire escape.”
“That wasn’t Strand. Really, I promise you he’s alive. What’s your name?”
“Kayla.”
“Kayla, open the door, please.”
“Will you promise to take me to Gabriel?”
John and Caleb exchanged looks. John said, “We would have to make sure everyone was safe.”
The voice sounded hesitant. “Safe from what?”
John said quickly, “Kayla, come closer to the door. I can’t hear you very well. I need you to be able to understand me when I explain things to you.”
The two men in the hall could hear footsteps cross the room slowly. John continued, “Kayla, are you listening to me? Do you have a firearm, Kayla?”
“I do. Yes, I do. I’ve always carried it, in my purse. You can’t be too careful. People are untrustworthy. They backstab you. People try to hurt you. People try to hurt Gabriel.”
“Kayla, we won’t let anyone hurt you or Gabriel, do you understand me?”
“He doesn’t love me, does he? That’s why he won’t come to meet me. He doesn’t believe me. It’s because I’m too fat. I can’t believe it. We’ve been through so much together. I’m on a diet now. He doesn’t love me, does he?”
“I can’t answer that, Kayla,” John said gently.
She began to talk faster. “He was only wounded, wasn’t he? He wasn’t dead. He doesn’t love me, does he? He would have called for me. Did he call for me?”
Caleb opened his mouth to answer, but the girl rambled on, becoming more and more agitated. “This is his blood, but he wasn’t dead, was he? They were sneaking him out past my window that night, but he was still alive, wasn’t he? They thought nobody knew who was in that room, but I knew. I always know where he is. We’re connected. We are. Oh, oh, Gabriel. Why didn’t you just come to me? Why did you let that girl come between us? She’s not fat, is she? Why di
d you even talk to her? Now it’s brought about my end as well as yours.”
They heard a click, and then another. Both men knew it was the gun. She was preparing to fire.
“Kayla,” said Caleb gently, “when I fell in love with my wife, things didn’t go easily. We had plenty of problems getting together, but we’re married now, and we’re happy.” He was attempting to ingratiate himself, to make her identify with him. It would buy them time.
“Sorry to do this to you,” came the voice through the door. “I can’t live without Gabriel, and I can’t live being called a fool. A fat fool. My face will be all over the tabloids as the person who let Gabriel die.”
“Don’t worry about that now,” John said. “Just open the door, Kayla, so we can talk together about when you can see Gabriel.”
“Now you are lying to me,” said the girl. “And I don’t want to talk anymore.” The voice had changed its tone, and it scared John.
Caleb whispered, “Is it possible to enter this room from any other way?”
John shook his head. “I don’t know.”
“I’m going down to talk to Bill Noyes,” Caleb said.
John held Caleb’s arm and gestured for him to stay. Then he tried to jump-start the conversation with Kayla. “Don’t ruin your chances of a relationship with Gabriel,” he said desperately.
“Is he with that other girl? Is that why he won’t come here? Does he want to hear my news?”
John whispered, “You stay here, Caleb. You’re better at this than I am. My job is downstairs, anyway. I’m going to see whether we can get up there from the outside.”
Caleb nodded, and John walked quietly away down the hall. He heard Caleb as he kept the conversation going, saying truthfully, “Gabriel isn’t with any other girl.”
On the way back to the first floor, John struggled to organize the jumble in his mind. His instincts told him the girl probably didn’t intend to commit suicide, that it was just her unfathomable need for attention that motivated her along the path she had taken into the situation she occupied now. Still, he could not be sure enough to force the issue or to risk taking the conversation, however inane, to the level of an argument. He also doubted, but could not be sure, that she had shot Bruce Blake, thinking it was either Gabriel Strand or the girl she suspected of coming between them. And did she really have news, or was it a ploy? John’s money was still on Richard Seeley as the perpetrator, and he was anxious to be done with this crisis and find his suspect. With Cully on scene, he only had two men in the field. He couldn’t be sure Joe Bernard had joined the hunt. He reached the bottom of the stairway. Bill and Susan Noyes stood with Tim Cully in the lobby. John was exasperated to see Mia there as well, standing beside Cully, but he said nothing to her as he joined the group.
Keeping the Peace Page 19