by Joan Rylen
“It all links to Brandon,” Wendy said. “There’s no getting around it.”
“True,” Kate said. “I still think we should look into April and Mike today, though. Let’s go see her at the Olympic Ski Jump Complex, then pay Mike a visit at his studio.”
Vivian grabbed her jacket out of the closet. “I wanted to go see Suzy Fairlie at the fish store, so let’s go there before we visit April.”
A knock sounded at the door and Brandon called, “Girls, Deputy Stokola is here to see you.”
The girls picked up the remaining files and threw them into the briefcase, then tromped downstairs to find Stokola in the living room chatting with Tracy, Brandon and Pierre. The conversation stopped when the girls walked in. Stokola had dark circles under her eyes but her uniform was clean and pressed.
“I brought all of the items that were in the car.” She held up a clear plastic bag filled with the girls’ purses. A little water sloshed in the bottom. “I just left the scene of the accident and thought I’d save you a trip to our office.”
“Any updates on who ran us off the road?” Lucy asked.
“We just had the car towed out of the lake and will need to process it, look for paint chips, that kind of thing.”
Tracy eyed the water in the bottom of the bag and reached for it. “Do you want me to take this onto the front porch?”
Stokola handed her the bag. “Sure. I need a minute with them.”
Tracy shot Brandon a look, then grabbed the bag from Stokola and headed for the porch. Brandon walked out the back door.
Once they were out of earshot, Stokola turned to Wendy and Kate. “I need to get statements from you since I didn’t last night.” She pulled out a notepad and pen.
Vivian interrupted before the interview could get underway. “If I’m not needed, I’d like to get the stuff out of my purse. Get it drying out.”
Stokola nodded. “I just need these two.”
Vivian, Lucy and Pierre walked out on the front porch and found Tracy pouring the water in the plastic bag on her rose bushes. “I’ll grab you some towels, be right back.”
Vivian picked up her purse. “Let’s see what the damage is.” She pulled scraps of paper, gum, car keys, makeup and her wallet out of her orange leather purse. She uncapped her favorite lipstick and poured water out of the tube. “A stop to a drug store is in order, but I think my bag will be fine once the lining dries.”
“I don’t think I’m as lucky,” Lucy said, going through her once silver and gray, now greenish-brown, leopard-print calf-hair Nancy Gonzales clutch.
Pierre nuzzled her neck and wrapped his arms around her waist. “I’ll buy you a new one.”
Vivian looked at the bag, though it wasn’t her taste, and she knew it was expensive. “Be careful there, Pierre. She doesn’t do knockoffs.”
Lucy started to protest, but the sound of cars approaching stopped her. “That must be our new rental.”
The cars pulled to a stop and a guy in a white dress shirt and black tie got out of a navy Jeep Grand Cherokee. “Hello. I’m looking for Kate Jameson.”
“I’ll get her,” Vivian said and then went inside where Stokola was wrapping up. “The car’s here.”
Stokola shut her notebook and clicked her pen. “I’m done for now. I’ll let you know if anything comes up or if we have any further questions.” She headed for the door.
The girls went out front and Kate dealt with the rental car. Tracy had brought them towels and extra purses of hers for the girls to borrow. The selection was difficult as they were all ugly. Two resembled shag carpeting, one was purple corduroy, and the green leather on the third was so beat up, it was surprising there were no holes.
The girls threw their credit cards, cash and IDs into the ugly-ass purses and asked Tracy where to get new cellphones. She gave directions to an all-carrier one-stop shop and sent them off with a bag of cookies. They walked down the front porch steps to a shiny, navy blue Jeep Grand Cherokee.
Kate signed the paperwork and climbed behind the wheel. “I love that new car smell. This Jeep only has 1,400 miles on it.”
Navigator Wendy got in the front seat and directed Kate into town and to the store that sold everything from batteries and alarm clocks to makeup cellphones. They planned to meet at the diner when each had a new phone in hand.
An hour later, Vivian set her new, hot-pink smartphone on the counter beside Wendy and pulled up the map app. “The fish store is on the way to the Olympic Ski Jump Complex.” She looked at Wendy’s French toast and told the waiter, “I’ll have a plate of that.”
“I didn’t have breakfast,” Wendy said as she slathered her plate in maple syrup. “Their brunch menu is kick-ass.” She stabbed a slice of strawberry and toast and hummed as she ate it.
Vivian’s new phone rang and a picture of Antonio with NOPD filled the screen. She picked up on the second ring.
“I’ve got some news on Jake’s other cellphone.”
“Let’s hear it.”
“My FBI contact was able to get the call history and is tracing the numbers. There was a lot of call activity and my guy’s doing this on his own time, so it could take a while.”
Vivian groaned inwardly. “Like weeks?”
“Could be a couple of months.”
Now she groaned audibly. “That stinks but we understand. What about text messages?”
“There wasn’t any text history. If there ever had been, it was wiped, but it seems odd he wouldn’t have wiped the call history, too.”
Vivian looked over at Wendy, who was sitting close enough to hear every word.
Wendy took the phone. “Thanks, Antonio, for helping. I appreciate it.”
“You got it. I’ll be in touch if I hear anything else.”
Wendy set the phone on the counter. “Weeks or months. That sucks.”
“Antonio will keep after him. He knows you need that info,” Vivian said.
That didn’t seem to cheer Wendy, and she picked up a magazine the patron beside her had left and flipped the pages. Vivian played with her new phone, waiting for her food.
They were finishing up just as Kate, Lucy and Pierre joined them. Kate sniffed the air and Vivian moved her jacket aside to reveal a to-go box. She opened it and held it out to Kate. “Two side orders of bacon and a slice of ham, just for you.”
Kate laughed. “You’re the best. I’ll munch on it in the car.”
They walked outside to the SUV, and Wendy consulted her directions before taking off. A short five minutes and one side of Kate’s bacon later, she pulled to a stop in front of the fish store, but it was closed. A papier máché seascape, including a life-sized mermaid, decorated the front of the store.
“We’ll have to come back tomorrow,” Vivian said. “Cute display. I like the mermaid.”
Wendy reversed and took NY73 to the Olympic Ski Jump Complex as Kate crunched her way through more bacon.
They took the fork to the dirt parking lot almost hidden by trees where a gate and small alpine building welcomed visitors. They drove to the gate and Kate rolled down her window to a teenage girl in black pants and royal blue polo with an Olympic emblem on the left breast pocket. Her brown ponytail stuck out of the back of her matching blue baseball cap.
“Hi, welcome to the Lake Placid Olympic Ski Jumping Complex, an icon of the 1932 and 1980 Olympics. Can I interest you in our Olympic Sites Passport? It gets you into all the sites as well as a gondola ride to the top of Little Whiteface Mountain and discounts on other items and activities. Here at the ski jump you’ll take the chair lift up to the K120 tower where you’ll get to tour the Nordic ski jumps themselves.”
“How much is it?” Kate asked.
“Only $32, which is a steal compared to paying individually for the various venues.”
“This may be the only one we get to,” Wendy said.
“That’s okay, it’s good through next spring.”
“We should totally do the gondola ride!” Lucy said. “I bet the view
is amazing.”
“Okay, I guess we’ll take five.”
Vivian reached into the borrowed purse and handed the girl the credit card and Pierre forked over two still-soggy twenties.
Lucy bounced up and down in the seat, in turn bouncing Pierre. “We are not leaving here without taking the gondola ride, and I’m riding with you!” She poked him in the arm.
“Well, all right then, I’ll happily dangle by a thin cable and be carted up the side of a mountain.” He smiled at her as she bounced. “With you.”
The teen brought back five large, clear-plastic lanyards on black string, the credit card receipt and Pierre’s change. Inside the lanyards were Olympic Sites Passport tickets, as well as a tiny brochure that looked like a real passport. Kate handed them out. “Don’t lose this. It’s our ticket to ride!”
Lucy and Vivian started singing the Beatles’ “Ticket to Ride,” and all five finished off with “but she don’t care!”
They parked and hopped out, taking in the scenery. To their right three jump platforms towered over a pool, and rows of bleachers stood ready for spectators. A dirt path led to the ski lifts waiting to carry skiers to their jumps during snow season. A one-story, chalet-style building had a sign for the restrooms, gift shop and café.
“Let’s try to to find April,” Kate said. “And I need a pit stop before we go see the ski jumps anyway.”
Wendy slipped her lanyard over her neck. “How are we going to do this?”
The four girls huddled together.
“I say we take the direct approach and just ask her,” Wendy said. “Tell her we’re staying out at Turlington Farms and want to know if we’re sleeping in the same house as a killer.”
“We can’t do that. We’ve got to be more subtle,” Vivian said. “Maybe we talk about the newspaper article or something.”
“Ooh, I like that,” Kate said. “Maybe she’ll just chime in.”
“That’s what I’m hoping for.”
They broke the huddle and Pierre held the door open. Kate made a beeline for the restroom while Vivian, Wendy and Lucy perused the Olympic-themed goodies. A woman in her late thirties sat on a stool behind the counter entranced in a People magazine. Her nametag read April. Her brown hair showed bits of gray around the roots and she wore the same blue shirt as the girl selling passports, but she had on khakis.
Vivian held up a fake gold medal and started swaying and singing, “I-I-I-I am the champion, my friend.” She threw in a little air guitar. “And I-I-I-I’ll keep on fighting to the end.”
Wendy plucked the replica medal out of Vivian’s hand. “All right, Freddie Mercury wannabe, we’ve got a job to do.”
Vivian sighed. “Okay, okay.” She moved to a rack of sale items, pushing the clothes hangers back and forth, and tried to sound inconspicuous. “So do we think Brandon is a killer? If we do, I’m NOT staying another night at Turlington Farms.”
The woman didn’t move, but Vivian saw her brown eyes flick their way.
“I agree,” Lucy said, dangling more bait. “If I see the cops there again, it’s over, we’re leaving.”
The woman slowly lowered her magazine.
Wendy set the hook. “That poor woman, drowned by her own husband, I can’t believe it. And then finding the second wife’s remains. Why is he not in jail?”
April was hooked so deep, she would have flopped herself on deck.
She stood up behind the register. “Are you talking about Brandon Holt?”
42
Vivian placed the sweatshirt she’d been contemplating back on the rack and walked up to the counter at the Olympic Ski Jump gift shop. “Oh, do you know Brandon?”
“I guess,” April said. “Mostly I knew his wife.”
“Which one?” Wendy asked. “He’s had three.”
April rolled her eyes. “Yes, I know. I used to teach with his first wife, Mary Beth.”
“Are you still teaching?” Wendy asked.
“Oh god no, god no. I got so sick of those brats, I had to leave. I was done.”
“Did you know Mary Beth well?” Lucy asked.
“Our classrooms were across the hall from each other. Brandon came up there a few times and went berserk. Yelling at her about finances. One time was after school and she was with that one kid, what was his name? The principal had to go in there and tell Brandon to leave. I think he might’ve been drunk.”
“Do you think he was abusive?” Kate asked.
April shrugged. “I don’t know, but she was a little too friendly with some of the students, in my opinion. Like that time I was just talking about, that student was hugging on her after Brandon left. She always had lots of students hanging around after school, especially the boys. But I shouldn’t talk bad about her, she’s dead.” April did the Catholic sign of the cross.
“Any boys in particular?” Lucy asked.
“You didn’t hear it from me, but I personally thought she might’ve been doing more than tutoring that one kid, what was his name? The hugger.” April slapped her forehead. “Damn, I’m getting old. What was his name? He wound up becoming a locksmith.”
“Jeremy!” Vivian yelled.
April looked at her like she was a loon. “Where’d you say you’re from?”
Kate whisked by carrying a baby moose, tears in her eyes. “This is the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen. It’s so gangly and ugly, yet so adorable. I have to have one. Little Plum needs it.”
Vivian smiled and shrugged. “She gets emotional over stuffed animals. We think it’s the hormones.”
Kate put the moose on her shoulder and picked up a baby bear. “I need this, too.” She laid them gently on the counter, petting each.
Wendy drummed her fingers on the counter. “So do you know for sure that Mary Beth and her student were, you know, working on extra credit?”
April rang up Kate’s two new critters. “I never saw him sharpen his pencil in her sharpener, if that’s what you mean. But they seemed to share a deeper connection than most teachers have with their students. It wasn’t normal, just not normal.” She looked at Kate. “That’ll be $18.48.”
Pierre stepped up and waved off Kate’s credit card. “My gift to Little Plum.”
Kate’s eyes welled up again.
“Oh, geez,” Vivian said. “Hormone attack, here we go.”
April looked at Wendy. “You’re staying out there at the B&B?”
“For now, yes,” Wendy said.
“I’ve heard rumors that they found the second wife’s remains out in the woods. How’s Tracy handling that?”
“Do you know Tracy?” Lucy asked.
“I waited tables with her at the brewery after I left teaching. I was shocked she married Brandon after his first wife drowned and his second ‘disappeared.’ I should probably go out and check on her. She never was overly friendly, yet I had a soft spot for her. Seemed like she’d had a rough life, you know, never showed much emotion about anything.”
“I heard her plumber ex-boyfriend ditched her for Omaha,” Wendy said.
April laughed. “Yeah, that was the bottom for her. She really loved that guy, I guess. As much as she could love someone.”
“How’d she hook up with Brandon?” Vivian asked.
“They grew up together, and then after number two disappeared, he started hanging out at the bar a lot and she got her claws dug in real deep. I saw the whole thing unfold, then I got hired on here. Next thing I heard, they were married. I think Brandon was so screwed up, so overwhelmed, he had no idea what he was doing. Everyone hated him.”
Awkward silence.
“I imagine that was tough,” Kate said, taking out her new moose and putting it next to her cheek.
April shrugged. “Reap what you sow. He was never a fan of mine, but I probably should run by and see Tracy. It’s been too long.”
“I bet she’d appreciate that,” Wendy said. “She works hard, her breakfast kicks booty.”
“I know I’ve packed on a few since I’ve been her
e,” Kate said. “Check out this pooch!”
April cracked a crooked smile. “Yeah, I’ll go for a visit.”
“Let’s hit the chair lift,” Lucy said. “I’m riding with Pierre!”
“Maybe we’ll see you out at the farm,” Wendy said. “Take care.”
“Thanks, enjoy your visit,” April said as she sat back down and picked up her People.
The girls and Pierre hustled to the chair lift where a worker checked their passports, then helped them get on the chair lifts two by two. Vivian rode by herself since Lucy was with Pierre and they didn’t want Kate to ride alone.
The breeze blew through Vivian’s curls as she took in the serene mountainside. Little yellow and white wildflowers speckled the ground beneath her. The pine trees had been groomed well away from the jump areas. The ride didn’t take long, and before she knew it an older gentleman yelled for her to lift the safety bar. She did, and he helped her off, scooting her to the right as the chair swung to the left and started back down the mountain.
Two large ski jumps towered in front of them. Between the jumps a sign displayed the Olympic rings and Lake Placid in red letters underneath. A cement tower stood behind the jumps.
“Let’s go!” Lucy said, grabbing Pierre’s hand.
A teenager greeted them at the elevator entrance. “Good afternoon, and welcome to the Olympic Ski Jumping Complex. Step right in.”
He turned a key and hit a button. The doors closed and they began to go up. He started chatting about something, but Vivian couldn’t hear anything.
Her ears popped just as the elevator slowed. The doors opened and they were inside the tallest of the jump towers. Pictures of past events hung on every interior wall, and windows lined the outside. Maps indicated what was in the view that went for miles: Whiteface Mountain, Lake Placid Village and Mirror Lake.
“Let’s go out to the platform,” Lucy said. “Hope no one is afraid of heights!”
They walked onto the deck with its 7-foot-tall chain-link fencing. Vivian stood at the edge and peered through a diamond-shaped square of fence. “Whoa. That’s a LONG way down.”