“She’s been good at Daisy’s,” said Scott.
“But the manager always seats us in the back next to the bathrooms just in case she acts up. It’s dismal.”
“Kate, I think we need to consider hiring a babysitter,” he said, and it wasn’t the first time he had suggested as much. “You wouldn’t have to be away from her that long, just an hour.”
“Hiring a babysitter is a commitment,” she countered. “Babysitters don’t want to work for only an hour. They want to know they’ll be needed regularly and for long stretches of time. Otherwise they feel like they’re just doing us a favor, and who would do us that kind of favor?”
“I can think of at least two people,” he said, right off the bat.
She knew exactly of whom he was speaking—Carly and Maxwell. But she was sure Maxwell would have another date with Gillian. They had been getting serious, though Maxwell had been consistently denying it. Carly was a fair option, but for Kate the bottom line was that she wasn’t sure she wanted to be separated from her daughter for that long, even if it was only an hour.
“What if we had dinner at Carly’s?” she asked. “Or invited her and Larry over here? We could order delivery and get the benefits of eating out without actually eating out.”
“That’s not the same,” he complained. “Listen, Josephine might be my first child, but I think you’ve been too attached to her. It’s good for her development to spend time without you in the company of other people. It will help strengthen her individuality.”
“She’s three months old, Scott. She doesn’t need to be an individual.”
“Don’t you want a night off?”
Kate paused thoughtfully, but only so it would seem like she was considering his question. She already knew that she didn’t feel the need for a night away from her daughter.
“I’ll give Carly a call,” she said finally. “I’m sure she and Larry won’t mind having us, especially if we bring dinner.”
Kate pressed her pen against the first field on one of the forms, but then said, “If we hire anyone, it should be someone who can fill out these forms. I can’t make heads or tails of any of this.”
Scott rose to his feet with Josie in his arms and then put her down in her playpen. “I’ve got to get to the precinct. Give me a call after you’ve spoken with Carly,” he said.
Kate had already showered and was dressed in her overalls, so a cup of decaf coffee was all she needed before heading out. In the kitchen, she brewed a pot and grabbed a thermos from the cabinet. After pouring a few ounces of half-and-half into the container, the coffee maker began spitting and steaming, an indication the pot had brewed.
She filled her thermos and tried not to remember the taste of real coffee as she sipped decaf on her way back into the living room.
It took a few minutes to get Josephine strapped into her car seat on the living room floor. As she rose to her feet, she heard Scott lumbering from the bathroom into their bedroom so she called out, “I’ll see you later!”
“Have a good day!” he responded.
She collected all of the loose forms, tucking them into a manila folder and with Josie’s car seat in her other hand, she made her way outside.
It was windy and much cooler than it had been. She laced the seat belt around Josie’s car seat in the back seat on the passenger’s side and shut the door.
As she rounded the hood of her truck, she pulled her cellphone from her pocket, found Maxwell’s contact number, and put through a call.
“Morning, Bossy!”
“Very funny,” she said. “I have to do a few things, but could you get the guys started at the inn? I’m not sure how long I’ll be, but it would be great if you could have that doorway on the second floor finished by the time I get there.”
“I’ll do my best,” he told her. “When will I see you?”
“I have to file all this paperwork for Eddie, which I haven’t even filled out, so an hour? Maybe two?”
“Okay, no problem,” he said.
Kate returned her cellphone to her pocket after hanging up and climbed into her truck.
As she drove down the long and winding driveway, and then into the center of town, Kate hoped someone at the Municipal Building would be able to help her fill out the stack of forms in her folder.
Pulling into the parking lot, Bobbie Hamden crossed her mind, but the recall was only a flash. Bobbie had been great at going the extra mile and helping Kate with forms even when they didn’t so much relate to acquiring permits. But Bobbie was dead. Maybe her widower, Joe Swenson would step up to the plate.
With that hope in mind, Kate grabbed the car seat, locked her truck, and carried her daughter into the building.
When she reached the second floor, she found Joe settling behind his desk with a steaming mug of coffee that made her slightly jealous.
“Good morning,” she said. “I have a number of forms to file and I was hoping to get a little help.”
Joe seemed happy enough to take her folder and as he thumbed through it he mentioned she was in the wrong department, but he would help her anyway.
As Kate sat across from him, she watched Joe fill out the form slowly and carefully. Here and there he asked her for information, which she supplied, and within fifteen minutes her morning headache had been remedied.
“Do you need envelopes? Some stamps?”
She hadn’t even thought of that. “Yes.”
It seemed to be no trouble at all and Joe started through his office to get the materials. She followed him with her eyes and when he reached a mailing station, a woman approached him from down the hallway.
The woman looked about Joe’s age, in her mid-forties, but she clearly kept in shape. Her bare arms were toned, which her sleeveless blouse showed off, and the black pencil-skirt she wore accentuated her lean figure. She draped her arm around Joe’s shoulder, distracting him in a way he seemed to like. And as she leaned in, she whispered something in his ear that made him first laugh and then glance around in a manner that told Kate he didn’t want to get caught in this exchange.
The second he started for his desk, Kate quickly turned her head so he wouldn’t know she had been watching him.
Bobbie Hamden hadn’t been out of the picture for an entire month and already Joe was involved with an office flirtation? It didn’t seem right to Kate. Had that been an innocent flirtation, she wondered? Or was it an indication Joe was already in a new relationship?
“You are almost all set,” he said, lowering into his chair. He folded the forms, stuffed them in envelopes, and placed stamps on each one. “Just fill out the addresses and you can drop these in the mail slot in the lobby.”
Kate thanked him and did just that, peeking into each envelope and jotting the address down, and then sealing the envelopes in the lobby before slipping them through the mail slot.
As she reached for Josie’s car seat, her daughter smiling up at her from where she was lying, Kate felt her cell vibrate.
It was Amelia.
“Good morning—”
“Kate, why aren’t you here?” Amelia demanded. “Are we behind schedule?”
She sounded anxious. “I’m on my way, and yes we’re behind schedule, but only by a day. My contractors are there,” she pointed out.
“Is there any way you can work longer today to make up for it?” she asked. “I’d like my balcony finished as quickly as possible.”
Kate had no idea why finishing a day early made such a difference to the innkeeper.
“I’m a man short,” she explained.
“Well, hire someone else,” insisted Amelia. “I have the resumes here. Just pick someone out when you get here.”
Arguing with the woman would only be a waste of time so she agreed, dropped her cell into her overalls after hanging up, and grabbed Josie’s carrier from the ground.
Dean’s phone call to her yesterday had been weighing on her mind. Eddie Jackson and his wife, Barbara, hadn’t finalized their divorce
two years ago, and Kate found it curious that Barbara had been living at Over the Moon. Had she been at the inn when the glass pane fell on Eddie? What did she make of her husband’s abrupt death? Had she been in the lounge and chose not to identify herself?
Or worse, was it possible the man she had glimpsed on the second floor—the onewho had been turning away as Eddie lay dead on the ground—hadn’t been a man at all, but a woman?
Kate could only hope that when she reached the inn, Amelia wouldn’t jump on her right away. She wanted to have a few minutes to ask around about Barbara.
She rolled to a stop in the parking lot of Over the Moon and pulled her key from the ignition. Josephine was sleeping in her car seat, but Kate roused her as she got her situated into the baby carrier and then slung it on her back.
As she pulled the entrance door open and stepped into the cool lobby, Amelia was nearing Holly Griffin, one of the receptionists. Kate had helped Holly find work a number of months back after the out-of-towner had more or less demanded her help. It seemed Holly had been working out for Amelia and vice versa, but Kate wasn’t sure the brassy woman would take it very well if Marla Zook managed to get a position at the Rock Ridge Library. The library, after all, had been one of the first places Holly had tried to get hired.
“Push the tour,” said Amelia firmly. “The bus should never be only half full. Push the tour, push the tour, how many times must I tell you? Push the murder tour!”
“All right!” Holly barked from where she sat behind the desk.
Amelia sighed as if exasperated, and what she said next sounded more like a reminder than anything. “Tell them there was a murder here just the other day.” She noticed Kate and smiled, straightening up from towering over Holly. “Wonderful! You’re here. I have resumes for you.”
She grabbed a stack of papers from the desk and as she approached Kate, she said, “I’ve organized them so that the best candidates are on top. You can let Holly know if you need help scheduling interview, and I suggest you get right on this. We don’t want to lose another day.”
After thrusting the stack of resumes against Kate’s chest, she marched off toward the lounge and boomed out hearty greetings to her guests.
Maxwell bypassed her, heading into the lobby. “Hey, Kate. My power drill is acting up.”
“You can use mine,” she offered. “It’s in the truck, and grab my tool kit while you’re at it?”
He started off, and Kate began flipping through the resumes. As she neared Holly, she pulled her cellphone out and asked, “So Amelia thinks it was a murder?”
Holly shrugged. “Whether it was or wasn’t, she profits more if people think it was premeditated.”
Two other people had already been killed at Over the Moon: Amelia’s first IT specialist and also Donna Kramer. They were each murdered in the same room upstairs. And for Amelia, that wasn’t enough?
“Can I ask you about a specific guest?” she asked when she reached Holly’s desk. The receptionist lifted her brows as if to indicate that she could. “Is a Barbara Jackson staying here?”
Holly typed the name into her computer and scanned the screen. “Yes, why?”
“She was Eddie’s wife. Could you tell me what room number she’s in?”
“That’s kind of against the rules,” said Holly.
And Kate quickly pointed out, “Rules you wouldn’t have to follow if I hadn’t helped you get this job.”
Grumbling, Holly checked the computer monitor and said, “Room 7.”
“Do you know what she looks like?”
“Why?”
“In case she isn’t in her room.”
“I really don’t know. She’s nondescript, but I haven’t seen her in the lounge, so she’s probably in her room.”
Kate thanked her, and as she started for the stairs on the other side of the lounge, Maxwell walked through with her tool kit and power drill in his hands.
“Give me a few minutes,” she told him and stole her tool kit, as he passed her.
On the second floor, she found Room 7 a few doors down from the landing. As she neared it, she heard the muffled voice of a woman and it sounded like she was engaged in a phone call. Kate listened for a long moment and soon the woman’s voice quieted, indicating she had perhaps ended the call.
She knocked. Someone approaching on the other side of the door prompted Kate to take a few steps back as the door opened, revealing a woman in her late-forties with brown hair and wearing a sweatshirt and jeans. “Hi, Barbara Jackson?” she asked.
“Yeah, what’s this about?”
“I’m Kate.” She held up her tool kit. “Just here to make sure you don’t need any repairs.”
“I didn’t call the front desk about any repairs,” she said. “But the toilet has been running. I jiggle the handle but it doesn’t help.”
Barbara widened the door for Kate to come in.
The bathroom was in disarray. Clothes were heaped on the tiles. The shower stall looked dingy. And a slew of makeup and toiletries lined the sink, all of which told Kate that Barbara had in fact been living here for a good long while.
“You work with a baby on your back?” she asked, smiling at Josephine.
“She seems to enjoy it,” said Kate as she set the toilet lid on the tiles and glanced at the chain and lever inside the tank. It had detached, so she found her pliers in her tool kit and began fastening the chain where it belonged.
As she worked, Barbara hovered in the doorway, watching her.
“So,” said Kate, wading into a conversation that would best satisfy her curiosity about the woman. “Did you hear about that man who was killed the other day?”
“Strange stuff,” said Barbara, acting casual.
“I think people are starting to wonder if it really was an accident.”
“How could it not have been?” she countered, folding her arms.
“Oh, I don’t know...it seemed accidental to me. Were you there?”
“No.”
“So you weren’t in the lounge with everyone else who saw the glass hit Eddie?”
“Nope.”
Kate glanced over her shoulder at her, hoping a little eye contact would inspire Barbara to disclose where she had been at that particular moment.
It worked.
“I was up here.”
“On the second floor?”
“In my room.”
“So, did you hear the crash?”
“Not really. How long is this going to take?” she asked, jutting her chin at the toilet.
“I’m almost done.”
In fact, Kate had already fixed the toilet, but she was too curious about why Barbara hadn’t admitted that she not only knew Eddie, but also was married to him.
“You know, you might have some money coming to you.”
Barbara furrowed her brow. “Because of the toilet?”
“No, because of Eddie. Didn’t he have a life insurance policy?”
“Who are you,” she demanded, stalking toward Kate and planting her fists on her hips.
“I am a handy woman, but I also worked with Eddie,” she admitted, getting to her feet and placing the lid over the tank. As she faced Barbara, she continued, “I know you were in the midst of a rocky divorce a few years back and that it never went through. And then Eddie just happened to die in the same inn that you’ve been staying at?”
“I suppose next you’re going to ask me why I haven’t spoken with the police.”
“It crossed my mind.”
“Well, you already have your reason. We tried to get divorced but couldn’t afford it in the long run, so we separated, not legally of course. But if you think Eddie’s death was anything other than an accident, you’re crazy.”
“What if it wasn’t an accident?”
The look on her face told Kate that the woman was more than skeptical, so she explained, “I saw someone turn away from the open window frame after the glass killed Eddie. I find the timing suspicious.”
; “You can’t possibly think I did it.” When Kate said nothing, she exclaimed, “You think I killed my husband?”
“You were up here.”
“I’d like you to go now, and don’t come back.” Barbara stomped into the bedroom then turned on her heel, expecting Kate to rush off.
She dropped her pliers into her tool kit, closed the lid, and made her way to the door, which Barbara was now holding open for her. “If you come to my room again, or try to talk to me at all,” Barbara warned, “then I’ll call Child Protective Services. I’m sure their agents would be interested to know you keep an infant with you while working dangerous contract jobs where people die of accidents.”
“What if he was killed,” she pressed. “Did Eddie have any enemies?”
“I thought you implied I had done it.”
“Tell me what you know.”
Barbara held her breath, folding her arms and glancing down at the floor. “I really hadn’t spoken with him in years,” she began. “But when we ran into each other here...”
“You saw him the other day?”
“He didn’t know I had been staying here, and I didn’t know he’d been hired to build the new balcony. Trust me; we would’ve avoided the entire situation if either of us had known. I would’ve just stayed in my room. But yes, I saw him and we spoke briefly. He seemed agitated and quite frankly paranoid, but I assumed it was because of his growing debt. He’s always so stressed out about making his bills. Then he told me he had run into some problems on his last job. He had been hired to build a guesthouse, and his customer accused him of pocketing a huge portion of the budget meant for building materials. Eddie said he hadn’t done it, but honestly, I could see him taking money, you know, bending a rule to meet his bills.”
“Who was the customer?”
“There’s no way they did it,” she insisted. “And even if they had, trust me, there’s nothing you or the police would be able to do about it.
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