by Cindy Bell
“It was way too crowded in there.”
“Excuse me, please.” A staff member of the train tried to get past them into the dining car.
Samantha stepped aside. “Is something wrong?”
“Nothing. We’re getting ready to start moving again, I’m just going to let the kitchen staff know.”
“Wait, we’re leaving now?” Jo moved closer to the man.
“Yes, in about five minutes. We’ve already lost a lot of time.” He disappeared into the dining car. Jo and Samantha hurried back to the room. Walt and Eddy were already inside.
“The train is leaving.” Jo closed the door behind her.
“What do you mean the train is leaving?” Walt frowned. “How can they move on without the crime being solved?”
“According to them it was a suicide. They have the note. They have no reason to believe that it wasn’t a suicide.” Eddy shook his head. “But I’m telling you, the man that I saw today at the bar was not suicidal.”
“Even if he was, death by train?” Walt shook his head. “Sure there are people who jump in front of them, or drive in front of them, but that’s actually pretty rare. To jump off a train? Why would anyone do that?”
“I’m sure it’s been done in the past. This can’t be the first time,” Samantha said.
“Of course not, but that doesn’t mean that it’s a common thing. There are so many other simpler ways to kill yourself.” Walt sat back on the bed and frowned. “There’s nothing to explain the piece of material we found.”
“It could be from another red shirt or any other red clothes even.” Eddy rubbed his chin.
“What red material do you mean?” Samantha leaned up against the wall of the room.
“In the railing on the viewing platform, there was a piece of red material.” Walt pulled the tissue out of his pocket.
“Ryan was wearing a bright red shirt when I saw him in the dining car.” Eddy pointed to the piece of cloth. “To the best of my recollection it is the same shade.”
“Did you tell the police?” Samantha looked up from the scrap of shirt. “They could check to see if there’s a tear in Ryan’s shirt.”
“A tear?” Eddy looked at her. “After jumping off a moving train down a mountain onto rocks?”
Samantha grimaced. “Good point.”
“It’s true though. It doesn’t make much sense. I can’t believe the local police were satisfied with that note.” Jo sighed. “But what can we do? The train is going to be leaving in five minutes, and we’re going to leave the crime scene far behind.”
“Actually.” Eddy swept his gaze towards the corridor. “That’s not true. If we’re right, and Ryan didn’t commit suicide, then he was pushed or thrown from the train. If that’s the case, the real crime scene is this train.”
“And the murderer is probably on this train.” Samantha stood up from the wall. “We’re going to be on a train with a killer.”
“Great. Just great.” Jo shook her head. “I just wanted to have a nice weekend.”
“What’s nicer than an investigation?” Eddy smiled.
“It’s exciting isn’t it?” Samantha piped up. “I mean, not that someone is dead, but that we have a chance to figure out the crime.”
Jo looked at Walt and shook her head. “Can you believe that we associate with these two?”
“It’s a rather risky association. They’re very likely going to get us killed one day. I’ve checked the numbers.”
“I need some time to get some things straight in my head. Let’s take a few minutes, then we’ll get back together and figure out our next step. All right?” Eddy looked from Jo to Samantha.
“Sure.” Samantha nodded.
As Eddy and Walt left the room, Jo and Samantha settled into silence. There wasn’t much to be said.
Samantha stared out the window. The view of the mountains was astounding, but not as beautiful as it once had been. A sadness crept through the beauty.
“Do you think what Eddy said was true? Do you think Ryan was in love?” Samantha gazed out the window. “I wonder if she will ever even know that he was on his way to propose.”
“I don’t know about love. But if the way Eddy described it was true, I could see it as possible.”
“I’m sorry about your trip, Jo.” Samantha turned towards her friend. “But at least we’ll still make the flower show.”
“I am still looking forward to it. If we ever get there.”
Chapter Seven
When Eddy and Walt made their way back to their room, Eddy’s attention was drawn by someone calling his name.
“Eddy!”
Eddy looked up to see Peter. He jogged towards him.
“What is it, Peter?” He glanced at Walt. “Walt, this is my old friend, Peter. Peter, this is my friend, Walt.”
“Good to meet you.” Peter nodded at Walt. “Listen, I wanted to catch you because I talked to Samantha in the dining car.”
“You did? She didn’t mention it.”
Peter looked at him for a moment. “I just wanted to warn you that getting involved in all of this is a bad idea.”
“You seem just as involved as we are. Aren’t you?” Eddy folded his arms.
“Eddy, trust me on this one. There’s nothing to it.”
“So, you think it was a suicide?” Eddy tipped his head to the side.
“I’ve seen the note. There’s no question about it. The man killed himself, and though it’s sad, it’s nothing to dwell on.”
“Why would it be so dangerous to get involved in investigating a suicide?” Eddy’s forehead wrinkled as his brows knitted together. “What aren’t you telling me, Peter?”
“Like I said, there’s nothing to tell. I’d just hate to see you pull Samantha into all of this, just for old time’s sake.”
Walt took a step back and looked between the two men. He shifted uncomfortably as the tension grew thick. “We should be on our way, Eddy.”
“You think I’m pulling Samantha into this?” Eddy laughed. “Then you don’t know Samantha at all.”
“Not as well as you do, it seems.” Peter’s jaw locked. Eddy’s lips parted with mild shock.
“Peter, there’s nothing between Samantha and me. But more importantly, there’s nothing between you and her either.” He narrowed his eyes.
“Did she tell you that?” Peter’s eyes twitched.
“She doesn’t have to tell me. It’s been years. Don’t you think if she still held a candle for you she would have found a way to contact you? Have you forgotten that she’s one of the best crime journalists around? She could have found you if she wanted to, Peter.”
“Sounds to me like you’re jealous.” Peter smiled.
“Sounds to me like you’re nuts,” Eddy snapped. “I thought we were friends, but if you can’t let this go, Peter, you’re going to have a real problem.”
“Is that so, Eddy?” Peter straightened his shoulders. “I suppose you think you’re being a hero and protecting your friend from me? Well, I think the best way you can protect her is to stay out of this.”
“You can leave Samantha’s wellbeing to me.” Eddy moved past him towards the room. “Come on, Walt, there’s nothing more to say.”
Walt eyed Peter as he moved past him as well.
“You’re making a mistake, Eddy. You have no idea what’s going on here.”
“And you do?” Eddy looked over his shoulder. “If you know so much then maybe you should clue me in, or the police? If not, then I can only assume you’re involved. In which case, I would advise you to stay away from Samantha.”
“You would advise?” Peter smirked and shook his head. “We’ll see about that.” He turned on his heel and walked away.
“Pleasant friend.” Walt narrowed his eyes.
“I don’t know that I can call him that anymore.” Eddy stepped into the room.
***
“What’s bugging you?” Jo sat down on the seat beside Samantha in their room.
“How do you know something is bugging me?” Samantha looked over at her.
“You’re flicking your nails. You only do that when you’re annoyed.” Samantha looked down at her hands and noticed that she was flicking her nails against each other.
“Oh sorry.” She let her hand rest. “It’s just Pete’s behavior in the dining car. It’s strange. Then there’s Ryan. How are we ever going to solve his murder? We have absolutely nothing to go on.”
“Something will come up. That’s the thing about murder, something always comes up. Eventually there is no way to hide what has been done, and who did it.”
“You’re right, but we don’t have ‘eventually’ we only have a couple of hours until we get to the station. How are we going to figure it all out?” She gripped the edge of the seat and frowned. “Do you think I’m just reading too much into it, or is it possible that Pete is somehow connected with all of this?”
“Why would you think that?”
“He’s on the same train as Ryan, to go to a flower show? The Pete I knew would not be bothered with a flower show.” She chuckled. “I could easily believe that he was on this train to work an investigation of some kind. Then he was down talking to the police before Eddy even got to them. Why would he be so interested?”
“Ugh, for the same morbid reason that Eddy was. Those police types can’t look away from a dead body.”
“Maybe.” Samantha tapped her palm lightly against her knee. “I can’t help but wonder if he might have had something to do with Ryan.”
“What would a private investigator want with some lovesick kid?”
“That’s what we need to find out.”
There was a light knock on the door. Jo stood up and opened it.
“Sorry, I know it hasn’t been very long, but we think we’ve worked out what our next move should be,” Eddy said.
“Oh?” Jo stepped aside so that Eddy and Walt could squeeze their way inside.
“We need to find out what was going on in Ryan’s life. In order to do that we’re going to have to get to know him better. The only way we can do that, is by getting into his room.”
“But wouldn’t the police have taken everything?” Samantha asked.
“Probably, but they believe it was a suicide so it’s still worth taking a look in case something was left behind,” Eddy said.
“Well, if we want to see in his room, that’s easy enough to make happen.” Jo twiddled her fingers lightly against the curve of her hip.
“Are you offering?” Eddy turned to look at her.
“In the interest of not missing my flower show? Yes.” She smiled.
“It’s risky.” Walt frowned. “There’s a very good chance of being caught. It’s not like you can climb out a window or hide under the bed. The room is tiny and the corridor is long. It’ll be easy enough for someone to see you breaking into the room, and even easier to see you stepping out.”
“Then we’ll have to create a diversion.” Samantha looked over at Walt. “You and I can come up with something I’m sure. Jo can go in the room and Eddy can be the lookout.” She turned her attention to Jo. “What do you think?”
“I think it could work. I guess if we’re going to get thrown off the train we might as well go out with a bang.” Jo walked towards the room door.
“Just remember our goal is not to get thrown off.” Walt followed after her. Samantha started after him, but Eddy caught her by the forearm before she could get out the door.
“Samantha, can I talk to you for a minute?” Eddy asked. She paused and glanced at him. From how tight his jaw was she guessed it was important.
“We’ll catch up, guys,” Samantha said.
“Okay, we’ll scope out the situation,” Jo said as she walked with Walt towards Ryan’s room.
“Close the door.” Eddy released her arm. Samantha closed the door.
“What is it, Eddy?”
“Listen, I want you to tell me the truth about Peter. Was there something between you?”
“Why do you want to know?” Samantha narrowed her eyes. “That’s a pretty personal question.”
“I know it is. It makes me uncomfortable to ask, but I feel I need to.” He held her gaze. “So?”
“There was nothing between us. We worked closely on the story. He provided me with invaluable information. I was grateful. We shared a few meals, maybe he saw them as dates, I saw them as having to eat while working on a story. I honestly did not mean to ignore his calls, I’m not sure how that happened.” She shrugged. “That’s all there was to it, nothing more, nothing less.”
“How about you? Did you have feelings for him?” Eddy continued to study her.
“What does it matter?” Samantha frowned.
“Sam, I’m not trying to pry. It’s just that Peter being here on this train, it seems odd to me. His behavior has been a little suspicious. If he tries to connect with you, I just want you to be careful.”
“You don’t think that he could really be involved in all of this, do you?” Samantha stared at him. She trusted Eddy’s instincts. If he made the same connection she started to make, she was sure there was something to be suspicious about.
“I don’t know what to think to be honest. But I want you to be cautious, all right? He seems to be fixated on you.”
“Really? Do you think so?” Samantha smiled a little.
“Samantha.” Eddy rolled his eyes. “It might not be in a good way.”
“Oh, I know, I’m sorry. But the Pete I knew would never do anything to hurt me.”
“It’s been a long time, Sam, and people do change. Just let me know if he does anything that makes you feel uncomfortable. All right?”
“All right, I will.” She nodded.
“If you see him in the dining car it’s probably best to avoid him.”
“Sure.” She smiled. Samantha had no intention of avoiding Peter. Eddy’s suspicions only made her even more curious about what Peter might be up to. The only way to find out the truth was to ask. Eddy opened the door and moved back to allow her to step through first. Samantha stepped out and almost knocked right into Jo. “Jo? What are you doing, I thought you were with Walt?” Samantha narrowed her eyes. It seemed to her that Jo was positioned to listen through the door.
“I was, but he sent me back here to find you. You two took longer than we expected. We found Ryan’s room. It’s in the next train car.”
“Let’s go have a look and then we’ll figure out the next step.” Samantha fell into step beside her. Eddy followed after her. The train rocked a little as it rolled down the tracks. Samantha looked over her shoulder at Eddy. His brows were pinched and his lips pursed. He was thinking about something. As they approached Ryan’s room, Samantha caught sight of Walt. He discreetly pointed to a room that she presumed was Ryan’s. Near the door of the room a woman stood. It took her a moment, then she recognized her as the drunken woman from the platform. She moved back and forth in front of the door of Ryan’s room. Her eyes darted wildly up and down the corridor as if she was waiting for someone. Samantha turned all the way around to see if anyone approached from behind her. She was stunned to see Peter at the entrance of the train car, headed in their direction.
“Eddy, Pete is behind us,” Samantha hissed to him.
Eddy looked over his shoulder and nodded. “Keep walking, don’t stop at Ryan’s room.”
As they approached the room, the woman who stood outside the door, became more agitated. She paced back and forth once more, then walked into the next train car. Samantha glanced back over her shoulder again. Peter was nowhere to be seen.
“He’s gone, Eddy.”
Eddy paused and scanned the corridor. “Maybe he is staying in one of these rooms.”
“Maybe.” Samantha eyed the door to Ryan’s room. “But I wonder why that woman was outside Ryan’s door.”
“The important thing is that she is gone now.” Eddy gestured to the door. “Let’s have a look.”
Walt joined them. The
four looked at the door with interest.
“It will be easy to get in.” Jo kept her voice low. “But getting out is what concerns me.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll make sure that no one gets down this corridor.” Samantha smiled.
“How are we going to do that?” Walt wrung his hands. “I don’t know what kind of diversion to create.”
“Trust me, we can handle it.” Samantha hooked her arm around his. “Let’s go.” Samantha and Walt walked down the corridor.
“Everything’s clear right now.” Eddy watched the other end of the corridor.
“Better now than never.” Jo slid a card in the gap between the door and the door frame. With two sharp wiggles, the door swung open.
“Wow, real secure.” Eddy laughed.
“I’m not complaining.” Jo slipped inside. “Keep an eye out, Eddy, I’m counting on you.”
“Don’t worry, I have your back, Jo.” He pulled the door closed.
Jo swept her gaze over the tiny room. Then she moved everything she could. It didn’t even appear that the police had done a search. There was no sign of any disarray. Whatever luggage Ryan might have had was gone, most likely taken to give to his next of kin. She picked up the pillow on his bed. A ribbon fluttered out from under it. When she crouched down to pick it up she noticed that it was a hair ribbon. While she looked at it, her hand rested slightly under the bed. When she went to stand up her hand bumped into something soft. She pulled it out from under the bed. It was an undershirt.
On the tag of the undershirt four letters were printed: FBSP
It wasn’t a brand name that she was familiar with. The undershirt was fairly well worn and she guessed that it was Ryan’s. She looked around the room for anything else that might give her a clue as to who killed Ryan. As she was about to leave the room she noticed a brochure sticking up in the small trashcan.
She leaned down to pluck it out. Just then she heard Eddy rap on the door.
“Hurry it up, Jo.”
Jo snatched the brochure out of the garbage and tucked it into her pocket. She opened the door to the room just as an angry voice filled the corridor. “You there! You don’t belong there!”