The Deadly Art of Deception

by Linda Crowder

  “I didn’t think he would be. Let’s go check his cabin.”

  She joined me on the pier, walking slowly this time. “If you didn’t think he’d be at the boat, you should have said something and saved us a trip.”

  “Seriously? You were halfway to the marina while I was still putting my coat on.”

  She ignored me. “Poke your head in at Mel’s, will you? See if he got there late.”

  I did, but he hadn’t, so we set off up the road that led out of town. My parents owned several cabins that they rented out, one of which Frank had been living in all season. They were dry cabins, meaning they had no running water. They had composting toilets and access to a well for drinking water and personal hygiene, though they had to heat the water on a wood stove for cooking and bathing. There were camp showers set up outside the few cabins that were still occupied. It was rustic, but dry cabins weren’t uncommon in rural Alaska.

  The cabins were just over a mile out of town, so we quickened our pace to stay warm and spoke loudly to discourage bears and other nocturnal residents. We talked about nothing important, more to be making noise than conversation. By the time we got to Frank’s, I was out of breath. The cabin was dark, but Taylor didn’t hesitate. She walked right up and pounded on the door. When he didn’t answer, she pounded on the door again, kicking it a few times for good measure.

  “Cripes, Tay. Don’t break the door down.”

  My cell rang, and I pulled it out, hoping it was Frank telling us to cut it out, but it was Mel. “Cara, where are you?”

  “Frank’s place. Did I miss my check-in, mother hen?”

  “He’s not there?”

  “Nope. Tay’s just about knocked the door off its hinges, but nobody’s home.”

  I heard her talking to someone away from the phone then Dan’s voice came on the line. “Cara, you two wait there. I’ll be right out.”

  “Dan? What’s the matter?”

  “Don’t touch anything, and don’t go inside the cabin.”

  “I can’t go in. I didn’t bring my key. What’s going on?”

  “Just sit tight.”

  He hung up, and I stood staring at Taylor, who by this time had given up trying to beat down the door. I’m sure the one renter I had left in the cabins would appreciate that. “What was that all about?”

  “I don’t know, but we’re gonna find out. Dan’s on his way.”

  “Dan? Why? Did something happen to Frank?”

  “I just told you I don’t know.”

  She slumped against the porch railing and asked no more questions. I paced and stamped my feet, hugging my arms to my body to ward off the cold. Fifteen minutes after he called, Dan pulled up in front of the cabin. I walked over to meet him. “What’s up, Dan?”

  “No sign of Frank?”

  “No. What’s up? Why’d you come running out here?”

  He didn’t answer. Instead, he fished something out of his pocket and handed it to me. It was Mel’s passkey. Her keychain had a tiny mixer on it. Mine had the tip of an elk antler. “Let’s take a look.” Dan climbed down and started toward the cabin. He nodded at Taylor, who ignored him, and waited for me. “Don’t have a search warrant. As the property manager, you need to open it and give me permission to enter.”

  “When did you start going by the book?” He didn’t answer, so I unlocked the door. Before I could open it, Dan took hold of my arm and gently pushed me back.

  “Let me go first, Cara.” There was something in his voice I hadn’t heard before, and the chill that ran through me wasn’t because of the night air. “You ladies wait here.” He went inside, closing the door behind him. I heard the lock click.

  The light came on, so I moved to the window, but the shade was down. Dan’s shadow moved through the one-room cabin, but I couldn’t see what he was doing. Taylor was standing on the edge of the porch, staring up into the cloudless sky. The door opened, and the light went off. “Find anything?” I asked.

  Dan shook his head. “You two must be half-frozen. Let me give you a ride back.”

  Taylor didn’t respond, so I accepted for both of us. I waited until we were on our way, me seated in the middle with Dan’s heater on high. “Why all the cloak and dagger? Is something wrong?”

  “I hear you two were together last night, Ms. Lennon.” I nudged Dan when Taylor didn’t answer. “I’m not calling her a name that isn’t hers! She can talk to me in jail if she doesn’t like it.”

  “Not that it’s any of your business,” said Taylor, “but yes, we were together at his cabin. He walked me into town this morning.”

  “Why didn’t you answer the door last night?”

  Taylor stared out the window, and the truck slowed. I guess Dan wasn’t going to get us into town until he got some answers. Taylor must have realized it too. “We were... busy... when you knocked.”

  The air in the truck felt heavy. Why, oh why did I have to be stuck in the middle of this conversation? “Where did he go after he dropped you off?” Dan asked, pulling up in front of Mel’s.

  “I have no idea.” Taylor opened the door and started to climb out.

  “Then you don’t know if the body we fished out of the bay is Frank?”

  Taylor spun around to face him, open-mouthed. She stumbled backward, and I grabbed her arm to keep her from falling. She stammered but didn’t seem to be able to form a cohesive sentence.

  “Good Lord, Dan, why didn’t you say something?” My heart was in my throat, but I managed to speak for both of us.

  “I asked you a question, Ms. Lennon.” Dan’s voice was colder than an Alaskan winter.

  “My God, no! It can’t be Frank.” Taylor started shaking, and I held on to her, shoving my own feelings away.

  “You can be a real jerk, Dan.” I scooted over in the seat, glaring back at him. His face was unreadable in the shadows. “Is it Frank or isn’t it?”

  Much to my relief Mel and Bent came rushing out. Bent scooped Taylor up. Partly carrying her, partly helping her walk, he got her inside. I slid out, and Mel threw her arms around me. “Oh Cara, isn’t it horrible?”

  “Supercop over there won’t give me a straight answer,” I said, pulling away from her. “Was it Frank?”

  Mel slammed the passenger door and walked with me into the restaurant. “They don’t know for sure. It’s a man, but his head...” She turned positively green.

  I stumbled, and Mel put her arm around me. I fought to keep my voice steady. “Mel, don’t think about it. You don’t need this kind of stress right now.”

  The place was empty. When Dan came in looking for Taylor, the tables had cleared as locals rushed out to see whatever there might have been to see. Bent had closed up early and waited for Dan to bring us home. A local crabber had been checking his pots and pulled up a body of a man. The head and hands had been cut off, so there was only speculation that it might be Frank based on the fact that he was the only one unaccounted for.

  “It might not be him, Tay.” I took both her hands in mine and forced her to make eye contact. “They can’t possibly know yet whether anyone else is missing.” It would be cold comfort if Frank was okay, only to have some other local family devastated by the loss, but it was all the hope I could give Taylor right now.

  “State police are on their way.” Four sets of eyes turned toward Dan. “DNA will tell us if it’s Frank.”

  “It could be anybody, Dan,” I said.

  “When was the last time you saw him?”

  “Dinner last night, but I’m sure people have seen him since then.”

  Dan nodded toward Taylor. “Ms. Lennon said he dropped her off at the gallery this morning. Nobody else has seen him today.”

  “It was a cruise ship day. He must’ve done his tours.” I looked from Dan to Mel to Bent, but one shook his head and the other two just looked sad. “He no-showed on his tours?”

  “Looks that way.”

  “Mel, didn’t Frank come in for breakfast after he dropped Tay off?” She shook her
head, and I swung around to face Dan. “Something must’ve happened to him between the gallery and here because you know that’s where he would have been heading. Why are you just standing there? Why aren’t you out doing whatever it is cops do at a time like this?”

  Dan didn’t flinch. “What would you suggest, Cara? Look for your mythical Mr. Shoes?”

  “He’s not mythical! You saw his footprints outside my door last night.”

  “There was somebody there, Dan,” agreed Bent, and I flashed him a smile.

  “I can’t find the killer until I confirm the identity of the victim.”

  “How long will that take?”

  “Weeks, maybe. Depends on how busy they are up at the state lab.”

  “Weeks? The killer will be long gone by then!” I heard the hint of hysteria in my voice, but I was having a hard time fighting it.

  Dan’s eyes softened, and he put a gentle hand on my shoulder. To my surprise my nerves began to calm. “Neighbors are out checking on neighbors to see if anyone else is missing. I should know by morning, and if Frank is still the only one we haven’t found, I’ll move forward on the assumption the body is his. Better?”

  I nodded, and he took a step toward Taylor. “If it is Frank, who had a motive to kill him?” There were unshed tears in Taylor’s eyes, but she didn’t answer.

  “Do you know how he died, Dan?” asked Bent.

  “You know I can’t talk about an open investigation.”

  “The body was found by a fisherman. Every gory detail will be all over town by morning.”

  Dan sighed. We all knew how quickly the gossip mill worked in Coho Bay. “I couldn’t tell. May have been shot in the head, but I couldn’t say for sure.”

  “What kind of person cuts up a body and hauls it out to the bay?” asked Mel, looking queasy.

  “A sick son of a—”

  Dan cut me off. “Would take some strength.”

  “And maybe more than one person,” added Bent.

  “With a boat, though half the town has a boat,” I said.

  “And the other half could borrow one,” agreed Bent.

  “If it were me, I’d use Frank’s boat,” said Mel, and we all looked at her in surprise. “I’m just saying, you wouldn’t want to risk the police finding evidence on your own boat.”

  “Good point,” said Dan. “I’ll have the state lab boys take a look tomorrow.”

  “Taylor didn’t notice anything wrong on Frank’s boat tonight, did you, Tay?” She shook her head, her eyes large.

  “Is that so?” Dan sat down next to Taylor, who shifted her chair back, putting a little distance between them. “What were you doing on Frank’s boat, Ms. Lennon?”

  “Looking for Frank, of course,” I said when she didn’t answer.

  Dan kept his eyes on Taylor. “Wouldn’t it have been more likely he was at home?”

  Taylor twisted the leather gloves in her lap but didn’t answer. This one I couldn’t help her with because I was also curious why she’d headed for the boat. Dan looked up at me. “You see Frank this morning?”

  “No,” I admitted, drawing out the word into one long syllable.

  “So we only have her word for it that he was still alive.”

  He was clearly insinuating she knew more than she did, and why Taylor didn’t speak up to defend herself was beyond me. If someone were hinting I’d killed a man and chopped up his body, I’d be hopping mad. Since she said nothing, I jumped in. “Whoever did this would be covered in blood, don’t you think? Taylor turned up before dawn wearing the same clothes she’d had on the night before. I would have noticed if she’d had blood all over them.”

  “Brava!” Mel clapped. “You sound just like a TV show, Cara.”

  “Thanks!”

  Dan held up his hands. “I never said I thought Ms. Lennon killed Frank. I’m just trying to nail down the last time he was seen. Not a lot of people up and about that time of day who might have seen him.”

  “Kenny!” I said, snapping my fingers. “Kenny was about half an hour after Taylor, but he could have been making other stops before he got to the gallery.”

  “Good point, Cara,” said Dan, standing. “I’ll catch him before he leaves tomorrow.”

  Taylor’s head snapped up, and her eyes flashed at Dan. “Go ahead and say it. You think I killed Frank because you think I killed Johnny.”

  “Tay, nobody thinks you killed Johnny.”

  “He does.” She nodded her head at Dan, who was matching her glare for glare.

  “No he doesn’t, do you, Dan?”

  Dan never took his eyes off Taylor. “In case you people have forgotten, this isn’t a TV show. There’s a real body and a real killer. Everybody’s a suspect until I can prove otherwise. Ms. Lennon, I’d like to examine the clothes you were wearing.”

  “Dan! Tay, you don’t have to give him anything.”

  “Innocent people don’t withhold things from the police, Cara.”

  “Innocent people get railroaded all the time,” I said, immediately regretting it when I saw his pained expression. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean you would do something like that.”

  Dan turned to Taylor. “You’re under no obligation to surrender your clothes or to allow me to search for anything else that may become evidence. I would appreciate your cooperation, but I am not in a position to compel it.”

  “Take the clothes.” Taylor spit out the words. “I don’t care.” She stood up and marched out of the restaurant, Dan following a step behind her.

  I handed Mel her passkey, gave her a quick hug, and hurried out the door. I had to run to catch up since Taylor was walking as though she were in training for the Olympics. I unlocked the door, and she stomped up the stairs and into the bedroom. Dan followed her, and I stood in the doorway, leaning against the jam, watching the scene that unfolded. Muttering to herself, Taylor upended the dirty clothes hamper onto the bed and started digging through it.

  Dan stood beside the bed, hands on his waist, one resting lightly on the gun that was holstered there. I wondered if he was doing that because he thought Taylor might have a weapon hidden among the socks and sweaters or if it was just habit. It was a bit of a shock to me to realize I didn’t know Dan well enough to know the answer.

  “Here, take them.” A blouse and a pair of jeans flew at Dan. He folded them methodically, then pulled a bag from his pocket, tucked the clothes inside, and sealed it.

  “Since when do you carry evidence bags?” I asked as I walked back down the stairs with him.

  “Since somebody pulled a body from the bay.” He stopped at the front door and looked back up the stairs. He motioned me to follow him outside. It was cold on the stoop, and I found myself wishing I hadn’t taken my coat off. “I know she’s your friend, Cara, but this is the second man she’s been with who ended up dead.”

  “Dan...”

  “I’m just saying you should be careful.” I stood watching him disappear around the building, headed not to his truck but the city offices across the street. Taylor was waiting for me in the mudroom when I went back inside.

  “What were you two talking about?” Her arms were crossed over her chest, and her tone was hostile.

  “He reminded me there’s a murderer on the loose, so I should be careful. Like I needed reminding.”

  “What else did he say?”

  “Isn’t that enough?” She gave me a long look, but with Dan’s warning ringing in my ears, I didn’t volunteer more. She turned and went back up the stairs.

  “I’m taking a shower.”

  I heard the bedroom door slam and a few minutes later, heard water hitting the shower wall. I walked slowly up the stairs and dropped onto the couch. The accumulated stress of the past two days was making my head hurt. No matter what Dan said, it was impossible to think of Taylor as some kind of black widow. I knew she’d loved Johnny, and there’d been no mistaking her devastation when she saw his body. I didn’t know how Frank managed to end up in a crab pot in the bay, but
there was no way Taylor could have done that. Even if she could have, why would she have wanted to kill Frank, a guy she’d slept with only the night before? She’d seemed genuinely shaken when Dan told us the news, and I’d never known her to be a convincing actress.

  On the other hand, she’d been lying to me and avoiding my questions ever since she came back. I slumped over on the couch, too tired to wait for her to get out of the shower so I could go to bed. As much as I wanted to believe her, my guard was up whether I wanted it to be or not.

  Chapter 8

  I slept fitfully, dreaming of Taylor standing over a headless corpse, brandishing a butcher knife that was dripping with blood. She was laughing, but her eyes were cold. She took a step toward me, and I woke, sitting straight up and breathing so fast the room was spinning. It was still dark and quiet, but my internal clock told me it was time to force myself off the couch and into the shower. I threw off the down comforter Taylor must have covered me with last night. Her actual thoughtfulness was in stark contrast to the terrifying image conjured up in my dream.

  “Remind me to punch Dan in the nose next time I see him,” I said to no one in particular.

  The floor was cold under my bare feet as I padded to the bedroom. Taylor must have taken off my shoes for me too. I had to have been out cold if she’d been able to do that without waking me. I knocked lightly on the bedroom door before opening it. She was sprawled out on the bed, and from the condition of the bedding, I’d say she hadn’t slept very peacefully either. I gently eased clothes out of my dresser and slipped into the bathroom. I couldn’t muffle the sound of the shower, but I made it a quick one and got dressed before switching off the light and opening the bathroom door.

  Taylor had rolled over, but otherwise there was no indication I’d disturbed her. I tiptoed back to the living room and found my shoes sitting next to the couch. I thought about waking her, but decided to let her sleep. There was no cruise ship today since the line that normally visited on Sundays had already sent its ship south. I needed to help Mel get breakfast started then get my shipment ready for Kenny, but otherwise, there was nothing I had to do.

  The kitchen door was locked when I got to Mel’s, but the light was on, so I knocked. “Mel, it’s me. Open the door.”