When No One Was Looking (Sophie McGuire Mysteries)

by Jenny Rebecca Keech

  I tapped the envelopes against my chin. “Maybe they do,” I said softly.

  The sound of wood snapping came to our ears. I turned with Jane. Marissa Sutherland stood less than ten feet from us. She was dressed in jeans and turtleneck with a thick thigh-length, multicolored jacket. The color pattern was intriguing and I wondered where I’d seen it before.

  We’d been far too engrossed in our discussion. In Marissa’s right hand, pointed straight at me and Jane, was a thirty-eight. I held up my hands. My eyes flickered back to the coat. Along the bottom front left was a rough edge where the fabric had snared on something and torn. I shivered as I remembered from where I recognized the color pattern.

  Jane raised her hands. “Uh, hi, Marissa. We didn’t mean to trespass. We were just looking for something…” Her voice trailed off. Marissa wasn’t lowering the weapon.

  “I don’t think she’s here because we’re trespassing, Jane,” I said tightly. I watched Marissa close the distance till she stood a few feet away. I could see very clearly now that the revolver cylinder was loaded. “I guess the path between here and the main house isn’t as overgrown as I thought,” I stated dryly.

  “Sophie?”

  I could see that Jane was confused. I gave a nod toward Marissa and muttered, “Remember that scrap of fabric we found the other night?”

  “Huh?” Jane’s gaze wandered over Marissa. I watched her eyes blink, then widen. She swallowed hard.

  Marissa smiled. It was cold. “I thought I’d check the place out this morning. Things can seem so different in the light. I guess you thought so, too?”

  It hit me. Jane and I were in trouble. Big trouble. The words that Gabe had spoken last night came floating back. People can be protective of their secrets.

  Jane looked from Marissa to me and back to Marissa. “I don’t get it. Why?”

  I tried to sound confident. I wasn’t certain I had the complete puzzle figured out but a lot of the pieces were coming together. I carefully stepped a little to the side, away from Jane. “Seth got the notecard from Cindy, well, from Rebekah. He was excited, wasn’t he,” I asked?

  Marissa gave a slight shrug. “Ecstatic, if you must know. Especially, when he heard about Rebekah’s commotion in town with Johanna and the words thrown around. He wanted to go see her immediately. Seth suddenly didn’t give a damn about how it would look.” She sighed and shook her head. “He honestly didn’t care. Seth said that if there was a chance that this girl was his daughter, he truly wanted her to have some of what he had to give.” Marissa gave a short laugh. “I managed to calm him down, told him to give it a few days and see how everything settled.”

  Jane’s mouth dropped open. “Then you killed Rebekah.”

  Marissa smiled again. She reached up and gripped the handle of the thirty-eight with both hands. “It was actually pretty easy. I called with the pretense that Seth wanted to set up a meeting and asked if I could see her.” Marissa laughed again. “She was pathetic and overconfident – telling me to come right over, that she’d listen to what I had to say.”

  “Which you did Monday night,” I said as a nudge.

  Marissa nodded. “I waited till Charlene was away from the desk and then slipped upstairs. Rebekah let me right in when I knocked. She was so excited, ready to find out what she was getting.” Marissa smiled and shrugged. “So I let her know.”

  I shivered at her cold look but continued, “You struggled. It’s where your coat got ripped. You hit her over the head to knock her unconscious and then strangled her with the scarf you stole from Johanna’s.”

  Marissa looked down at her coat with a perplexed look but quickly glanced back up and tightened her grip on the gun.

  “But, why?” Jane asked, confused.

  “She didn’t want the truth about Rebekah and Seth coming out,” I said, taking a deep breath. The revolver pointed at me wasn’t at all reassuring. I slid another pace apart from Jane.

  Jane looked baffled. “But why kill George?”

  Marissa raised an elegant eyebrow at me, so I continued. “I think because of two reasons. The night my vehicle had trouble was at your house. George was able to place you outside the house around my car.”

  “How do you think I felt when Martha later mentioned that Susan talked about George waiting for her in the car,” Marissa said incredulously. “I realized that someone had likely seen me messing under your hood.”

  I nodded, “Because you overheard me and Jane talking to Effie Rae about the family estate names. You realized that we were digging for something and that something might lead back to you. The other thing that nailed George’s coffin was that Seth must have mentioned the other men in Cindy’s life, George being one of them.”

  “You were afraid he might point out the connection between Seth and Rebekah if Gabe started asking questions. Or what? That he might come forward about what he’d seen the night my brakes failed?” I cocked my head. “But how did you know that George was going to meet me here last night?”

  She shrugged. The revolver didn’t waiver. “I didn’t. I followed George around most of the day yesterday, waiting for a time or place when I could make certain that no one would see me kill him. What a surprise it was, when later that afternoon, I saw George heading for Larrinaga.”

  “When I saw him take that old dirt road, I knew the only place it led. I turned around, went back to the main house, grabbed my revolver and came back along the old path. A part of me wanted to see what he was up to but when I got here, he was standing around like he was waiting for someone. I take it that someone was you.”

  She shrugged. “It was too good of an opportunity to miss. And you’re right. He had seen me outside the house that night and a short while later, trying to clean my hands of the fluid. I guess George wasn’t as stupid as I took him for. I don’t think he knew what exactly he’d seen but he planned to tell you and Gabe. He told me that right then and there.”

  “So you just shot him,” Jane asked in shock, taking a step forward.

  Marissa moved the revolver from me to Jane. “Yes,” she said calmly, “I couldn’t have him talking, saying anything that might lead to people finding out Seth was Rebekah’s father.

  “That might lead people to other suspects, which might lead back to me. It’s why I came back this morning—to make certain that I’d left nothing that might point to me. And what do I find but two nosy busybodies who won’t let something die.” The gun was raised a notch higher. “Well, I’ll be more than happy to make certain it dies with both of you. Gabe won’t solve this mystery in a week and that’s all I’ll need before I clear out.”

  Jane opened and closed her mouth. “So this was all about, what? Position?”

  “No. I’m thinking money,” I answered, and as Marissa’s attention started to switch back to me, so did the revolver. As it moved from Jane back to me, I dropped the letters and jumped forward, grabbed Marissa’s hand and shoved upward. The gun went off. It was so loud that my ears rang. I didn’t care. We both fell back into the marshy grass and mud as we fought for the revolver.

  “Jane, get out of the way,” I screamed at the top of my lungs, praying she would hear over our pants and grunts. The gun went off again. The sound was painful and I tried to swallow in an effort to clear my now deafened world. Still, I hung on. Marissa fought like a wildcat, kicking while trying to wiggle out of my hold.

  Suddenly Jane’s hand wrapped tight with mine and we were both able to wrest the gun from Marissa’s fingers. Jane fell back with the revolver in her hands. Even that didn’t stop Marissa, who struggled to get up. I’d had about enough for one morning. I reared back and let Marissa have it to the face with a punch.

  It knocked her back. She started to rise, so I punched her again. Marissa fell back limply against the ground, stunned. Even with the ache it brought to my hand, it still felt good. I flexed my fingers and looked at Jane. “Find me something to tie her with and quick.” While she was still dazed, I flipped her over and brought her arm
s up behind her back and held tight.

  Jane was still looking at the gun in her hands with a stunned expression but she quickly rose and ran to the Yukon. She brought back some twine. Twine? I sighed. It was better than nothing, I supposed. I looped it around Marissa’s hands and ankles till she looked halfway comical.

  I leaned back and stood off of her and yawned. My ears were still ringing. Marissa moaned and struggled to rise, so I rose and turned her on her back. An unpleasant feeling settled along my bones as I studied her expression. It bordered easily on hatred.

  I shook my head. “You killed Seth too, didn’t you?”

  Jane came up beside me with the letters in her hand. “Excuse me?”

  I pointed to Marissa. “What are the chances that a few days after his daughter shows up Seth dies from a heart attack? The only reason it seemed logical was that he’d always suffered from a weak heart. Dr. Maxwell treated him for it. Because of that fact, there was no autopsy done after his death. All of which I’m betting Marissa knew was a strong possibility.

  My look was intent as I studied her, “But I bet if they do, they’re going to find something in his system that’ll prove you killed him.”

  “I put five years into that marriage,” Marissa hissed. “I wasn’t about to split the bankroll I had coming with some upstart coming in this late in the game who hadn’t done anything to earn their share.” Her look turned murderous. “I did everything for that man. I gave him the best years of his life. Seth had no complaints about me.”

  Jane stuck up a finger. “Except for the fact that you killed him.”

  Marissa shrugged. “That day was coming no matter what. Seth had a good life. I made sure of that. All his daughter’s arrival did was move up the date.” Her dark eyes moved back and forth between me and Jane. “I didn’t have a choice,” she pleaded. “Even after she died, he wanted to come forward and talk to Gabe, see that Rebekah received a proper burial. I couldn’t allow that. It might turn eyes from where I had them pointed.”

  “Johanna.”

  “She was so perfect.” Marissa chuckled as she fell back into the grass. “She all but fell into it.”

  The woman was deranged. I nodded. “I remember. You heard that Johanna threatened Rebekah at Annie’s and later repeated it to me when we were talking privately in her shop. I remember now. You popped your head in the door, asking her a question. You also heard Johanna talk about her new spring collection that wasn’t out yet.”

  “Later that day, when the store was so busy, you must have slipped in the back and grabbed the scarf during the confusion. And somewhere along the way, decided to add Johanna’s earring to the frame.”

  Marissa smiled softly as she stared into the overhanging trees. “She made it so easy,” she repeated.

  I turned to Jane. “Look, go call Gabe or Pete or, I don’t care, Johanna—whoever you can get up with. We need Gabe out here.”

  Jane looked past me to Marissa before glancing back. “Couldn’t we just leave her here for Pete to find?” she asked tentatively.

  She was as nervous as I was of Gabe finding us out here against his orders. But did we really have a choice? I had no intention of leaving a murderer here by herself, even tied as she was. “Just go.”

  Jane sighed and turned away, flipping open her phone. She actually managed to get Gabe on the first try. She didn’t tell me the conversation but I could see her cringing and hear the boom of Gabe’s voice.

  *

  Within twenty minutes the world got a whole lot busier. Pete showed up. He had indeed stopped to help Johanna. Johanna wasn’t far behind, especially after she heard the dispatch message. Gabe showed up about five minutes after them. He had to have been hauling it to get there so quickly.

  The sight of me and Jane covered in mud and leaves, standing beside Marissa Sutherland’s prone form had him staring at us and me in particular in a peculiar glare I quickly recognized. He came up and stood beside us as Pete tried to undo my handiwork. I’d apparently done a better job than I’d thought, watching Pete struggle with the knots.

  “If I told you not to jump off a cliff, you’d do it just to spite me, wouldn’t you?” Gabe muttered.

  I glanced up. “Of course not. Jumping off a cliff sounds silly.”

  He nodded matter-of-factly. “But trying to overpower a woman pointing a gun at you doesn’t? Got it.” Gabe shook his head in disgust.

  “Like you said, people are protective about what they think is supposed to be theirs. I guess you could say that I was feeling a little more protective about what’s mine than she was. And with good reason,” I added, “Money verses kids?” I narrowed my eyes. “Money always loses out.”

  “You know,” Gabe stated stiffly, planting hands on hips, “I hope you and Jane don’t have anything planned this afternoon. I personally know that there are two chairs with your names on them waiting for you in my office. Consider it story time and I’m in the mood for a long and complete story this time.”

  I sighed as I watched Jane cringe under Gabe’s glare. “Boy, have I got one for you.”

  *

  It took the rest of the day and part of Sunday before Gabe was completely satisfied about what had happened in Merry Hill during the past week, and what he called mine and Jane’s obstruction of justice. He proved pretty lenient, though. I think he hoped the scare with Marissa and the gun might have taught us a lesson.

  After hearing what Jane and I had to say about Marissa, he’d ordered an autopsy done on Seth’s body and DNA testing on Rebekah and Seth. I already knew what the outcome would be. I could feel the truth of George’s words.

  Gabe also mentioned that there was a more detailed search going into Marissa’s background. It seems that her last husband had also died of a heart attack. Considering Seth’s death, it looked suspicious.

  A search of Larrinaga had produced a music box with the initials CP engraved on the bottom hidden in Marissa’s bedroom. There was a missing porcelain rose broken off the top edge. Gabe figured that Marissa had struck Rebekah over the head with the music box to stun her before strangling her. It had been collected as evidence for the coming trial, along with her torn coat.

  It was hard to believe that only a week had passed. So much had happened, and although I was grateful about catching Marissa, I felt this sadness concerning everyone else involved. Cindy Peterson. Seth Sutherland. George Wilkins. They had, each in their own way, chosen to carry silent burdens.

  Cindy had left Merry Hill with the thought that Seth couldn’t forgive her for the duplicity of her actions that summer. Seth had had to live with the thought that Cindy had run out on him and didn’t love him after all. And George? George had been left to live the rest of his life knowing that a moment’s hesitation had cost two people possible happiness.

  Then there was Rebekah, who’d been searching for her own form of contentment. Who knew what that might have been? And now added to that list of unhappiness was Susan, who had to live with the loss of her husband. A shocking loss I could understand.

  *

  I shook my head from my musings. Monday morning looked good. The sun shone bright. The clouds had fled. All the kids were out of school because of the holiday and the area was full of laughter and talking. My blue blanket was spread out on the grass and the food was on the tailgate in hopes that the ants would find someone else to annoy.

  I could see Steven and Simon readying the kite as they showed it to their cousin C.C., dressed in her usual assortment: a t-shirt and coveralls. My palms were steady enough but I could feel a layer of cold sweat at the thought of handling the kite.

  Reeve’s Field was filled to capacity and there was a good wind. It looked like an excellent day of flying was ahead. I could see my mom and dad visiting with the McGuire’s a few vehicles down. My niece, Beth, sat on my mom’s lap, enjoying the attention.

  The first kites took to the sky. The heavens slowly took on a mixture of various shades of color and shapes over a bright blue background. I took a
deep breath.

  “Penny for your thoughts?”

  I groaned. “That’s so overdone.” I looked over. Gabe was leaned against the side of the Yukon watching me. Drat. That man is forever sneaking up on me. He wore that unreadable look again.

  “Still?”

  I sighed. “I was thinking that David was so much better at certain things than I am.”

  Gabe smiled. “You know, this isn’t a competition.”

  I took another deep breath and slowly released it. “I know that,” I said slowly, “It would just be a lot easier if I didn’t feel I had to be at least as good as him about certain things.” I sat up and rubbed my hands along my thighs rapidly to calm my anxiety. “I mean, it’s just a silly kite. Why can’t I fly the stupid thing? David was so—” I broke off. My heart was in my throat. I could picture David with the twins on a day like this, taking the kite higher and higher in the sky while I watched. I blinked back tears and turned away as Simon and Steven bounded up.

  “Hey, Mr. Gabe,” they yelled out in excitement.

  “Hey, guys,” I heard Gabe answer back. In control of myself, I looked at the boys and tried a smile. “Ya’ll look like you’re ready.”

  “Yippee,” they hollered out.

  My smile was genuine. I couldn’t help it. Their excitement was bubbling over.

  Gabe knelt in front of them. “I was wondering if you guys could help me out.”

  My boys admire Gabe. He’s a lawman, and boys always admire lawmen, especially one who lives in a house next to them.

  Simon and Steven nodded earnestly. “Yes, sir,” they chorused.

  Gabe continued, “Well, I don’t have a kite this year. I’ve been busy working and didn’t have time to prepare. I came to watch today, but I wondered if maybe you’d let me have a chance to help you?” He glanced at me before looking back. “I know I can’t fly it anywhere near as high as your dad but if you let your mom fly the kite, as lite as she is, she’ll probably get blown away to who knows where and then the two of you will probably have to live with Paige as your guardian till you grow up.”