by Krista Davis
She wrapped an arm around Charlotte’s waist as they walked away, and I heard her say, “Isn’t it peculiar that spilling your guts to a stranger can feel more cleansing than telling people you know?”
Charlotte responded, “That’s because the people who know you already know your problems and don’t listen anymore.”
I wondered if that was true.
The inn was quiet. It was the time of day when most people were out to dinner or getting dressed to go. I wondered where Aunt Birdie, Ben, and Holmes had disappeared to. Had they decided to take naps? I wouldn’t have minded a snooze.
Trixie knew exactly where they were. She dashed over to the door of Oma’s private kitchen and through the pet door.
I followed her, except I opened the big door. Sure enough, everyone had gathered there. Twinkletoes sat on the hearth, glaring at Ben, for whom she had no fondness. The feeling was mutual on Ben’s part. He didn’t grow up with animals and had never felt the bond of love with a cat or a dog.
Aunt Birdie nursed a large glass of wine, supervising Mr. Huckle as he warmed something on the stove. From the annoyed look on his face, and her comments, I gathered she was instructing him on how to do it correctly.
Holmes seemed thoroughly at home, relaxing in a big chair with his feet up on the hearth and Gingersnap by his side.
Altogether a charming scene. It wasn’t just the warm kitchen and the heavenly scent of dinner on the stove, but the togetherness of people who cared about one another.
“Wine, Holly?” asked Holmes.
I declined. I had no reason to imagine anything else would go wrong, but between the business with Shadow and the news that Juliana had been Val’s cousin, I felt the need to be alert.
“A good bracing cup of tea, Miss Holly?” asked Mr. Huckle.
He wasn’t British. I smiled at his firm faith that a cup of tea would make the world right again. “Thanks. I’ll put the kettle on. What are you cooking? It smells delicious.”
“Beer-braised pork chops. I hope you’ll enjoy them.”
Behind his back, Aunt Birdie waved her hand doubtfully. “There are entirely too many onions in it.”
“Perhaps you should taste it before you opine, Miss Birdie.”
Their banter was silly but it soothed my rattled nerves. There, in the warmth of Oma’s kitchen, the rest of the world seemed to melt away.
“Onions? Do we have something for the dogs?”
Ben showed me a pot. “It’s called Rodeo Roundup. I thought it was for people. It’s not bad.”
“You tried it?” He was eating dog food?
“A little bland, but all it needs is a dash of salt.”
I peered into the pot. Ground beef, kidney beans, corn, and brown rice. I’d had worse.
Holmes groaned and stretched. “We had quite an interesting conversation in your absence.”
I poured boiling water over a tea bag. “Oh? What about?”
“Norm!” they all chimed together, ruining my fantasy that the rest of the world had disappeared.
Mr. Huckle announced that dinner was ready.
“Sit next to me,” said Holmes, pointing to a chair.
Aunt Birdie nudged me with her elbow.
She needn’t have worried. Holmes flicked out a notepad and sat down. “We’ve made a list of all the people who might have wanted to kill him.”
“Our number one suspect is Blanche.” Ben spooned sauce over his pork chop. “Lillian saw him enter Randolph Hall. And we know he was terrible to her, taking her money and causing her to have to live in her car.”
I nodded my head and helped myself to salad. It was worse than they knew. Still, I liked Blanche. She’d been through the wringer with him. “Poor Blanche. I hope she didn’t kill him. Who else?”
“Don’t forget Blanche’s current husband and his brother.” Holmes made a notation on the pad. “They might have killed him to protect her. Or out of love for her.”
“You won’t like this, Miss Holly, but I’m afraid we must consider your friend, Miss Val. Her behavior has been so odd. How could she know all those things about Norm?”
I looked at Mr. Huckle. “She was related to him. His second wife, Juliana, was her cousin.”
Forks clanked to plates.
“Well, that moves Val to number one on the suspect list.” Aunt Birdie drank from her wine glass.
“To tell the truth, it sounded more like she was being lazy. After all, as Ben said, he made a great victim. He had done so many terrible things to people. It was easy for her to make up clues based on him.”
Ben shot me a pleased smile. “Aunt Birdie, why would that make Val the number one suspect? If anything, she would have wanted to murder Shadow for killing Juliana, not Norm.”
“Shadow.” Holmes cut into his pork chop. “I don’t know what to think about him. I feel like he’s telling the truth when he insists that he didn’t poison Juliana. Holly, did he give you the impression that he blames Norm for anything?”
“No. Norm lost his wife. He was the hapless victim of that sad saga.”
“How about Shadow’s dad, Hollis?” Aunt Birdie was gobbling up the pork chop and sauce that contained too many onions. “I was there when Shadow said his father had to quit blaming Norm for everything that went wrong for Shadow.”
“It was clear that he blames Norm for something. Mr. Huckle, this is so good I want to lick the pan,” said Ben.
Mr. Huckle offered him another chop and spooned more of the sauce over top of it.
Aunt Birdie placed her knife and fork on her plate and sat up straight. “I might be able to shed some light on this. I’m told that Shadow’s legal fees cost his parents a great deal of money. And then to add insult to injury, Norm sued everyone involved. Of course, that didn’t extend to Shadow’s parents, but it meant more legal fees for a civil trial.”
Ben ate like he’d never seen food before. Maybe he was living off cereal and milk now that I wasn’t around. He swallowed a bite. “Ah yes. When all else fails, blame the lawyers.”
“C’mon, Ben. You can see how Hollis would have been resentful.” Holmes speared a carrot slice in his salad. “Holly, who do you think it was?”
“I don’t know. I feel like we’re missing something. All we know for sure is that the night he was killed, Norm left here and Lillian followed him. She saw him hanging around outside of Randolph Hall, then she saw him go inside.”
“And that’s where the trail ends until he showed up on the bench, frozen. I’d say that’s fairly incriminating. Wouldn’t you?” Holmes gazed at me hopefully.
“Who does that incriminate? Blanche? Her husband? I know that killers don’t wear horns on their heads and carry pitchforks, but I like Blanche. I haven’t talked to Ian much, but Char and Geof seem like nice people. I’m having trouble imagining that they would have come here planning to kill him.”
“It’s worth noting,” said Ben, “that unless the killer is diabetic and had to have insulin on hand, the killer planned this in advance. Who would Norm have been willing to meet at a park bench in the middle of a blizzard?”
“Blanche or any young blonde.” The words slipped out of my mouth.
“Is there a mistress after all?” asked Aunt Birdie. “Someone he promised to marry perhaps?”
“Why would he stray when he can go home to Savannah?” Holmes sipped his wine.
“Excuse me,” protested Aunt Birdie. “There’s a lot to be said for women his age . . . and older. Maybe he got tired of young things who fill their heads with frivolity.”
We all stared at Aunt Birdie.
“It’s possible.”
I could see the men at the table were doubtful about that. And to be honest, so was I.
Gingersnap sat down next to me and pawed at me. “Are you still hungry?”
She whined. Not at all like Gingersnap.
“What’s wrong, sweetie?” She ran to the door, but instead of going through the doggy door, she looked back at me expectantly. It was my rule t
o make sure the dogs went out to do their business before they ate. But I’d forgotten about Gingersnap. “Did anyone take Gingersnap out?”
Somewhat sheepishly, they all shook their heads.
“We’ll be right back.” I rose from my seat, grabbed my jacket, and followed Gingersnap through the inn to the sliding glass doors in the reception lobby. Trixie trotted along for fun.
Once outside, Trixie bounded off somewhere, but Gingersnap headed for the doggy potty. Snowflakes floated gently from the sky. The peaceful stillness of snow surrounded us. I strolled in the direction of The Blue Boar, enjoying the wintery moment.
“Shadow,” sang a female voice. “Shaaadow.”
I looked around but couldn’t see her. Ground-mounted lights brightened the walkway but not much more.
“Shh. You’re not supposed to be here.” I recognized Shadow’s voice. “You’re going to get me in trouble.”
“I miss you.” Sweet, sincere.
“Baby, we talked about this. We can’t be seen together for a while.”
“I know. But it’s been so awful. I need you.”
Silence followed.
And then Gingersnap, the dog who loved everyone and never made a fuss, growled. It was a gentle growl that meant I want your attention right now. I knew what was coming. Yup. The plaintive barks. Not mean, not vicious. They were insistent little pleas. Shadow wasn’t paying attention to her.
Trixie returned to me and brought along a corgi wearing a quilted winter jacket. He looked an awful lot like Bingo.
I heard rustling through the bushes and fully expected to see Gingersnap but a person crashed through them.
Twenty-six
Flailing her arms, she staggered backward right at me.
Just as she keeled over, I reached out and stopped her from falling.
She screamed, and someone else rammed through the bushes, calling, “Savannah? Savannah, are you okay?”
She yanked away and turned to look at me. “Oh, it’s you.”
I was face-to-face with Norm’s widow, Savannah.
She finger-combed her hair. “It’s all right, Shadow. It’s just Holly.”
He emerged from the bushes, followed by Gingersnap. Even in the dark, I could make out the pain on Shadow’s face when he saw me.
“It’s a beautiful night for a walk,” I said.
“I just started spreading the ice melt,” Shadow responded. “Savannah, weren’t you on your way to pick up takeout from The Blue Bear?”
“I was! Bingo and I are starving.”
Right. Like she didn’t have a fridge full of food that people had dropped off? “I’d better get back. I was just letting the dogs out for a bit.” I called Trixie and Gingersnap, and headed toward the inn.
Savannah giggled, and I heard Shadow say, “I love you crazy bad, Savannah, but if you’re not careful, the only place we’ll see each other is at the county jail when you come to visit.”
I knew from the moment Savannah stumbled into my arms, but Shadow’s words confirmed the worst. I was crushed. Shadow was in love with Savannah.
I’d had such hopes for him. I had wanted to believe him. Now bits and pieces fell into place. He had probably taken the necklace intending to give it to Savannah. And worse, might have killed Norm so they could be together.
I shed my jacket and dragged back to Oma’s kitchen.
“What happened to you?” asked Holmes.
“You’re pale as a ghost.” Aunt Birdie dashed over to feel my forehead. “Are you sick?”
Mr. Huckle hurried to the stove and put the water kettle on.
I collapsed into my chair at the table and heaved a great sigh. “Shadow may have murdered Norm.”
They stared at me in silence and then they all spoke at once.
I raised my hands to shush them. “Shadow is in love with Savannah and the feeling is apparently mutual.”
“Maybe Savannah killed Norm,” suggested Ben.
“Nonsense,” scoffed Aunt Birdie. “She could have just divorced him.”
“Just because they’re in love doesn’t mean either of them murdered Norm.” Holmes frowned at me. “It’s a powerful motive, though. I’ll add Savannah to our list.”
I heaved a great sigh. “Shadow said they couldn’t see each other or the only place she would see him was at the county jail when she came to visit.”
“My word!” Mr. Huckle sat down quickly as though he’d lost all his strength.
I thought it was noble of him not to point out that I shouldn’t have hired Shadow. This would teach me not to listen to his advice. “You knew all along about Shadow’s criminal record. Why didn’t you just tell me?”
Mr. Huckle appeared surprised. “To be honest, I thought it a most unfortunate accident. I have always been fond of young Shadow. I just felt that your grandmother would not be pleased to come home and discover a new employee.”
Ben narrowed his eyes. “You went out to the dog bathroom and you came back with this revelation?”
“They’re out there necking in the dark, Ben. I overheard their conversation. Don’t you see? It all fits together. Shadow took the shamrock necklace to give to Savannah. And I bet the footsteps in the snow that I saw in Savannah and Norm’s backyard were Shadow’s. He was probably there when people started dropping by with food.”
Holmes headed for the door.
“Where are you going?” I asked.
“To bring them in here and find out what’s going on.”
Clearly appalled, Ben jumped up and shouted, “No! Have you lost your mind? You want to bring a killer in here and question him?”
“What do you think he’s going to do, Ben? There are five of us.”
I glanced at Aunt Birdie and Mr. Huckle. I didn’t imagine they would be much help if Shadow was aggressive. “I’ll call Dave. Maybe it’s better not to alert Shadow. He might try to make a run for it.”
“No one can get off this mountain, Holly. But I’m all for calling the law. A much better idea.” Ben took his seat again.
Holmes reluctantly returned to the table. “Okay, maybe you’re right. Shadow could make his way down the mountain.”
“How?” Ben seemed dumbfounded.
“Toboggan. Four-wheeler. Snowmobile. Skis. He grew up here like I did. He might have to steal some of those things to get away, but he’d know how.”
I stood up and trudged to the wall phone but only got Dave’s voice mail.
There was a knock on the door.
I was in the middle of leaving a message when Dave leaned his head in. His cheeks were rosy from being out in the cold. “I thought I might find you here.”
“Officer Dave, what a pleasure. Would you care for a bite of dinner?” Mr. Huckle retrieved his jacket and laid it on top of mine.
“No, thanks. I grabbed a Blanche Burger over at Hair of the Dog.”
“Perhaps I could interest you in dessert? Cook has left us gingerbread cupcakes with chocolate frosting.” Mr. Huckle pulled a serving tray from a back corner of the kitchen and brought it to the table.
“Now that is irresistible. Got any coffee?”
“Coming right up.”
I scrambled to my feet. “Ben, clear the table, will you? Mr. Huckle, I’ll make the coffee. You’ve been working all day long.”
“Why, Miss Holly, this isn’t work. It’s family.”
That sentence almost broke my heart. We were probably all the family he had. At least in Wagtail. I gave him a hug on my way to the stove.
Meanwhile, Holmes was filling in Dave about Shadow.
Dave listened carefully but didn’t seem surprised.
“You knew,” I said. “You’ve known since the day we saw the footprints in the snow behind Norm and Savannah’s house.”
“Let’s say I’ve had them on my radar.”
“But you haven’t arrested them,” Aunt Birdie mused.
I poured tea and coffee for everyone, and brought cream and sugar to the table.
“No evidence.”
Ben slumped a little in his chair. “All I have is a motive. No murder weapon. No witnesses. No confession.”
“It breaks my heart to think that sweet child could have murdered Norm.” Aunt Birdie sipped her tea. “The things people do for love. They should have just waited. Someone else would have knocked off Norm sooner or later.”
“It’s possible that someone else did. Birdie’s right,” said Dave. “A lot of folks in this town had reason to be angry with Norm.”
“But I heard Savannah’s conversation with someone saying she couldn’t wait. That she was going to do it this weekend.”
Dave nodded. “You want her convicted of murder on the strength of that?”
“She might have been talking about getting her hair cut,” said Ben.
Somehow, I didn’t think so, but I could understand their point. “You may never solve Norm’s murder then. If he died because someone gave him an insulin injection, the murder weapon will be impossible to find. Syringes are tiny. It could be hidden anywhere.”
Officer Dave bit into a gingerbread cupcake. “Mmm, these are good. Don’t worry about not finding the syringe. There is no perfect murder. Something always goes wrong.”
The bell in the front lobby rang again. I excused myself and stepped out to see who needed help.
Weegie and Puddin’ were waiting for me. Weegie gazed around before whispering, “I think I solved the mystery.”
“Really? Who?”
She pulled her head back and looked at me with suspicion. “I thought I was supposed to tell Val.”
“Oh, that mystery.” In all the commotion about Norm, I had momentarily forgotten about the Baron von Rottweiler. “Good for you! Yes, you’re quite right. You need to tell Val.”
“Where can I find her?”
“At Hair of the Dog.” I pulled a map of Wagtail out of the desk and drew a circle around the location of the pub.
“I’m on my way.”
“Alone?”
“That man was murdered but I assumed that was a fluke or a local thing. Are you saying it’s not safe?”
“It’s perfectly safe. I was just surprised that you don’t have an entourage. You’re usually with some of your book club friends.”