“I’ll ask Ginny to call the sheriff over in Ukiah. We’ll need an official declaration of death at some point today. Just remind me if I forget, will you?”
Carlos nodded. “Got it. And CSI is already here, sir.”
“Thanks.” Eric glanced at me and shrugged. “Carlos’s mind is a steel trap.”
“Ah.” I was wondering why he was using the poor guy as a secretary to relay everything he wanted to get done. “Good to know.”
Carlos leaned into the small two-way radio mounted near his collarbone and spoke quietly. He walked into the foyer to talk and returned a minute later. “The other officers will await your signal to start searching the house. Meanwhile, they are watching the crowd outside, which has apparently grown in size. And some of those gathered are starting to ask questions. CSI is already on the porch waiting for the okay from you to get started.”
Lighthouse Cove’s CSI unit consisted of one guy, Leo Stringer. But Leo was as good as it got and if necessary, he could always call the Ukiah sheriff’s department for reinforcements. I wondered if that would be necessary in the case of Bree Bennett’s death.
“Leo’s always right where I need him,” Eric murmured. I noticed his jaw was clenched as he stood and stared down at the body for one more moment. “Let’s move out of here so he can get to work.”
Chapter Seven
Tommy met Chief Jensen at the top of the steps. “Blake Bennett is awake, Chief. He’s still groggy and appears to have been drugged. He insists that someone else did it to him. Said he never takes drugs. Doesn’t drink, either.”
I nodded. “Marisa the wardrobe mistress said the same thing.”
I saw that Chloe was listening to every word. She still looked shaky, but she spoke up. “That’s true. Blake would never take drugs. He wears his sobriety like a badge of honor and he’s always preaching drug abstinence to everyone on the staff.”
Eric nodded. “Thanks, Chloe.” His eyes narrowed as his mind worked the problem. Turning to Tommy, he asked, “Who’s watching Bennett right now?”
“The EMTs arrived a few minutes ago,” Tommy explained. “And Mac is still in there with him.”
Eric gave a brief nod and seemed satisfied with things for now. “I’ll give Mac a call in a minute.”
Mac wasn’t a cop but his reputation and character were beyond reproach. He might actually be able to get information from Bennett, I thought. It might not be admissible if it came directly from Mac, but Eric could always go over the same ground later during an interrogation, if necessary.
Leo Stringer and Officer Lilah O’Neil stood by the front door. They were already wearing gloves and waiting for Chief Jensen’s okay to go inside. Lilah was the cop assigned to work with Leo on the rare occasions when we had a real crime scene.
I pasted a smile on my face. “Hi, Leo. Hi, Lilah.” I had met Lilah a few times and knew that she had been a pre-med student in college. I assumed her science background was the reason she had been assigned to Leo. Or maybe they just got along well together.
“Go ahead, Leo,” Eric said. “I’ll join you in a few minutes.”
“Sounds good,” Leo said, and walked into the house followed by Lilah.
“Garcia, do me a favor and go check on the EMTs in trailer number three.” He turned to Mindy Payton. “Officer, start interviewing the people who were here earliest. Find out what they saw and who they noticed when they first arrived.”
He glanced across the lawn toward the driveway, where many of the crew were hanging around the coffeepot munching on donuts or sitting in the chairs provided for anyone working on the show.
He glanced back at me. “Is that Emily Rose over there?”
“Yes, she’s in charge of catering.”
He nodded and looked at Mindy. “You might want to start with the catering group.”
“Yes, sir.”
Pointing toward Chloe, Eric said to Tommy, “Tommy, this is Shannon’s sister, Chloe.”
“Oh, I know Tommy Gallagher,” Chloe said with all the warmth of a polar ice cap.
“Ah,” Eric said, feeling the chill. “Shannon, walk with me. Tommy, stay with Chloe. And make sure nobody goes in the house.”
“Yes, sir.” But Tommy didn’t look happy with what he probably considered a babysitting assignment.
I almost laughed. Would Tommy have any skin left after Chloe gave him a piece of her mind?
Eric and I remained on the porch but strolled around the side of the house and all the way to the backyard. I assumed he wanted to avoid being overheard so I went along, trying all the while to steer Eric around any badly weathered wooden planks that looked dangerous. The porch ended at a set of steps that led down to a brick patio surrounded by overgrown grass and weeds. We remained on the porch and stood at the railing, gazing out at the small forest of trees lining the perimeter of the Bloom land.
“Beautiful property,” Eric murmured.
“Yes. Or it will be when we get finished with it.” I sighed a little. Because really, with what had happened to Bree, I didn’t know if the show would go on, as they said. “By the way, this railing is ready to fall off the porch. Please don’t lean against it.”
He pulled his hands away and brushed them together to get rid of the old paint flakes that had come off so easily. “Thanks for the warning.”
I really liked Eric Jensen. We first met when I reported a murder in the basement of a house I was rehabbing. Since he was new in town at the time, he immediately considered me the prime suspect. It took a while to convince him I was one of the good guys, but eventually we became friends. Now, though, I wondered if he would always look at me with a touch of suspicion in his eyes. Of course, who could blame him? We always seemed to run into each other at the scene of another murder.
“Should I be worried about Tommy?” he asked.
I chuckled. “No. Chloe will just give him an earful and then they’ll be new best friends all over again.”
He tilted his head and looked at me. “I still don’t know if I’ve heard the whole story on this. Care to enlighten me?”
“You know Tommy was my high school boyfriend, right?”
“I’d heard that.”
“He cheated on me with Whitney, got her pregnant, and broke my heart.” I shrugged, then chuckled. “I’m over it, but Chloe still harbors some resentment on my behalf.”
“Okay. Got it.”
“I’m glad you forced him to stay with her. Yelling at Tommy will take her mind off the fact that she just discovered a dead body for the first time.”
“So Tommy’s providing a public service.”
“And learning an important lesson, I think,” I added. “You don’t want to piss off a sister.”
“Words to live by,” Eric said.
Privately I figured Tommy had been paying for cheating on me for years, since he’d been married to Whitney all this time.
Eric and I smiled at each other. I tended to forget that the man had a killer smile. The better to lure you in and make you spill your guts, I thought, and tried to prepare myself for the interrogation to come.
With a sigh I asked, “So what did you want to talk about?”
He pulled out his notepad and pen. “Let’s start at the beginning. What were the two of you doing here so early?”
“Well, you know that Chloe is the star of Makeover Madness,” I said. “And that this is the house they’re making over this week.”
“Yeah, I got that.” He smiled patiently. “We issued the permits so I’m aware that they’re filming here this week. I’m mainly curious as to why you are here.”
I smiled back brightly. “I get to be on the show. I’m helping my little sis with the rehab.”
“Makes sense.” He nodded thoughtfully, and stared at the landscaping. That was going to need a lot of work, too, I thought. “So you got here earl
y because . . . you were starting the rehab? You couldn’t sleep? Why?”
I reached into my shoulder bag and pulled out the show rundown. “First, you might want to hold on to this.” I pointed out various items on the six-page stapled document. “It’s got the call times and the schedule of the shots they plan to take and who’s involved in each setup along with the location where each shot will take place and what equipment will be necessary. The last few pages have the names and titles and phone numbers of the entire staff and crew.”
“That’ll be helpful. Thanks.”
“Sure.” I pointed to the first page. “So here’s what time everyone was supposed to be here, but Chloe and I decided to arrive even earlier because Bree was afraid that the Wagners would show up and make a stink.” I explained that, unbeknownst to the homeowners, Bree had chosen two houses and planned to eliminate one of them on camera. “The Wagners found out accidentally that they were the losers. They didn’t take it well.”
“Were the Wagners here when you arrived?”
“Not that I could see. Almost nobody was here except for a few of the crew. But they weren’t milling around. Mostly they were in their trucks and trailers, organizing their day. Or, you know, whatever.”
“So . . . you went inside the house. Why?”
“Well, since it was just the two of us, Chloe and I decided to get a look at what we were up against, rehab-wise. So I unlocked the door and we walked in. And it was just as I explained to you when we were inside a few minutes ago. Basically, we found Bree’s body sprawled across the hearth.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I appreciate that.” Shivering a little, I said, “You’d think I’d be used to it, but I’m not. It’s always a painful shock. I don’t know how you do it, frankly. Anyway, I’m really worried about Chloe. She’s so upset and she’s taking it all very personally.”
“Why?”
“Why is she upset? Are you kidding?”
He held up his hand to stop me. “I understand that she’d be upset. I want to know why she’s taking it personally.”
I suddenly realized I needed to be more careful with my words. I wasn’t about to blurt out that Chloe felt guilty that Bree was dead, but what was I supposed to say? Oh, well. I took a deep breath and plunged on ahead. “It’s just that Chloe knows Bree so well and she was such an important part of the team. And she’s worried about Blake, and the staff is going to be so upset and scared and, well, you know, all that stuff.” Was I starting to blather?
“Right.” He jotted down some notes, then looked up. “I heard a rumor about an argument yesterday.”
I blinked. “How did you already hear a rumor?”
“People tell me things,” he said with a shrug. “Must be my charming personality.”
“Yeah,” I mused with a smile, “that’s got to be it.”
“And also, I had a meeting last night at the Inn. People there were telling tales about the showbiz folks. So what about this argument?”
Again, I had to be careful. “Um, I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”
“An argument was overheard yesterday between the deceased woman and your sister.”
I knew that word traveled quickly in Lighthouse Cove, but this was ridiculous. It just figured that the chief of police had just happened to have been at the inn a few hours after my sister was heard yelling at her boss, who was now dead. “So who told you about the argument?”
He folded his arms across his chest and gave me his patented Sheriff Stare. “You’re stalling, Shannon. Is it true? Did you know about the argument? Or did you hear it for yourself?”
I grimaced. “Hard to say.”
“No it’s not. You either heard the argument or you didn’t.”
“Okay, I heard it, but I wouldn’t call it an argument per se.” A fight maybe, but not an argument. “They were discussing a really good opportunity for Chloe, so it was a good thing. Not an argument.”
“Was there yelling involved?”
“Okay, yes, they did raise their voices,” I admitted. “But that was because Chloe was defending another person on the staff. Bree had decided to fire that person and Chloe disagreed with her decision.” I didn’t dare tell him the full story, did I? I thought about it for a moment, stared up at his strong jaw, and decided I would hate to have him catch me in a lie. I would have to trust him with the truth.
I glanced around to make sure we were far enough away from anyone who might overhear us. “Okay, here’s the thing. Bree told Chloe that she had already fired Blake. Chloe wasn’t happy about it because she and Blake make a good team. So she argued with Bree, tried to talk her out of it.”
He looked incredulous. “You’re saying that Bree Bennett fired her own husband? That’s hard to believe.”
“It would be if you didn’t know the woman,” I said, frowning. I didn’t know her, either. But I’d heard her yelling at my sister and that was enough to convince me.
“She was a drama queen,” I continued, “and not in a good way. She liked to stir up chaos on the show and behind the scenes. She willingly set up people to be hurt and angry just to get a good scene on camera. And apparently she enjoyed firing staff people whenever she got in a mood. The staff was used to hearing her yell at people, including the stars of the show. And weirdest of all, after she’d fired someone, they would just continue to work on the show. So it didn’t mean anything—except that she had the thrill of watching them cry and go crazy for a little while. Who does that?”
I didn’t mention the big new show that Bree had been so excited about because I didn’t think it was my place to reveal that secret. I also didn’t bring up the fact that Chloe herself had been fired only a day ago, and I never would.
Eric read back his notes. “You said she ‘apparently’ liked to fire people and that she had just fired her husband. But then anyone who was fired simply remained in their job. So was her husband really fired or was that something your sister told you? You couldn’t have known it for a fact, could you?”
I didn’t like the way he phrased that question because either way I answered him, I could be hurting Chloe. Was Eric setting me up? Was he building a cage for me or my sister to suddenly fall into? And was I the one being a drama queen now?
I scratched my head and pondered whether I was complicating things or not. I glanced up at him and he met my gaze directly. So okay, it was too late to turn back now. I had grown to trust Eric over the last year or so and now I just prayed that my trust wasn’t misplaced.
“Both,” I said finally. “I heard it for myself and my sister told me.”
“How did you hear it for yourself?”
Once again I turned to check that we were still alone. “I was there in the office yesterday when Bree and Chloe were discussing . . . what I told you they were discussing.”
As soon as I said it I remembered that I hadn’t actually heard Bree mention that she’d fired Blake. I was about to take back my words, but noticed Eric studying me as though I were a particularly slimy smear under a microscope.
“What?” I demanded.
“I was thinking earlier,” he said, “how tiresome it is to keep finding you at a murder scene.”
That was an odd change of topic. I wasn’t sure if it was an insult or simply a realization. “You think I enjoy it?”
“I think it’s got to be difficult.”
“Difficult?” I choked on a laugh. “I’m starting to get a complex. I mean, not only do I actually have to stare into the face of a dead person, which is no fun at all, by the way. But then I have to deal with you. I mean, you know, the police, and the suspicion, and the rumors and . . .” I ran out of steam and waved away whatever I was going to say. “Never mind. I’m sure you get what I’m saying.”
“I do, and you have a valid point. But meanwhile, I have a murder to solve.”
“And I’m trying to help,” I said.
“I appreciate that.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” I took a breath. “So, do you want to hear my theories?”
“I don’t know. Do I?”
I smiled. “You absolutely do.”
He sighed. “Okay, go for it. But we’d better make it fast. There are a bunch of people out there waiting to find out what’s going on. I’ll need to speak to them.”
I considered it a hopeful sign that he kept his notepad and pen at the ready.
“Okay,” I began, “I got a key to the house from Margaret Bloom because we’re friends and I was the one who talked her into submitting her house to the program.”
“I understand.”
“So naturally, Bree would’ve had to have a key, too. Because as the producer, she would need access to the house.”
“Makes sense.”
As I talked my theory became clearer. I could almost see it happening as I described. “So either Bree met her killer somewhere and let him into the house, or the killer had a key, too. Or the killer stole her key, or Bree was already inside and the killer broke in some other way.”
He frowned and stopped writing. “I understand those are all possibilities. But where are you going with this?”
“I don’t know,” I said, frustrated as my oh-so-clear vision was suddenly draped in fog. “But there are plenty of people who had a reason to meet her here as well as a motive for killing her. For instance, there’s Blake. I told you Bree fired him just before she had her meeting with my sister.”
“And yet you also said that people who got fired rarely faced any real consequences. So I still have a hard time believing that Blake Bennett would kill his wife for firing him. But I intend to interview him as soon as he’s back on his feet.”
I really wished I could tell Eric about the big secret new network show that Bree had withheld from her husband. That would’ve given him a major motive for murder. But it wasn’t my place to talk about the new show. Eric would have to hear it from Chloe. And I would convince her that she should tell him. I had a feeling it would make a big difference in the case. If Blake had known that his wife was keeping him from starring in a big network TV show, he might’ve been angry enough to kill her. But I wasn’t at liberty to mention any of that.
A Wrench in the Works Page 12