by Kathi Daley
“I hope so,” I repeated.
“I saw Jeremy pull up with the large-animal van. Did he find the reindeer?”
“Two of them,” I answered. “He seems confident he can track down the other six. I feel terrible for not making sure the gate was latched correctly.”
“You don’t think someone intentionally let them out, do you?”
I frowned. “Who would do that?”
“I don’t know, but it doesn’t really track that you wouldn’t secure the gate properly. You own a rehabilitation center that deals with wild animals like bears and cougars. You know how important it is to securely close gates. I’ve known you for most of your life, and while you’re sometimes prone to missteps, I’ve never seen you be careless when it comes to the animals entrusted to your care.”
I paused to think about that. “You may have a point. I remember latching the gate and then pulling on it to make sure it was closed. Maybe someone did let them out.”
“You might want to add a lock to the gate just to be sure,” Ellie suggested. “A bike lock would work.”
“I’m sure there are extra locks in the garage.”
“Ask Levi to see to it. It’s better to be safe than sorry.”
I went to the den, where I could hear Levi chatting with Scooter. I took a moment to smile at the scene before me. Eli was sitting in Levi’s lap “helping” him work the handheld controller as he played a video game with Scooter. Eli was laughing and I hated to interrupt them, but I also didn’t want someone letting the reindeer out again.
“Looks like a close game,” I said as I entered the room.
“Eli’s pretty good,” Scooter said. “High-five.”
Scooter raised his hand and Eli giggled as he high-fived him. It warmed my heart to know Catherine was going to have such an awesome big brother.
“Ellie thinks someone may have intentionally let the reindeer out. I think she may have a point. I want to add a lock just to be sure and I have one in the garage, if you can help me with it.”
Levi set Eli on the floor in front of him and stood up. “No problem.” Levi glanced at Scooter. “Will you keep an eye on him until I get back?”
Scooter looked so proud as he agreed to do just that.
I followed Levi into the garage and helped him find the lock. Then he went out to install it while I returned to the kitchen. “That’s one great guy you have,” I said to Ellie.
“Yeah, he really is great. There was a time I thought he’d make a terrible husband and father, but he’s changed so much since Eli came into the picture. Where is Eli anyway?”
“Scooter’s playing with him in the den.”
“Dinner’s almost ready if you want to let the kids know. Scooter can just bring Eli to the table. I’ll put him in his high chair with some snacks.”
I let Scooter know he should bring Eli into the kitchen and then wash up himself, and then I went to the computer room to tell Alex dinner was almost ready. Alex was on her cell phone when I entered the room, so I waited. Based on what I heard from her end of the conversation, it sounded like she was talking to someone about Santa’s sleigh.
“Problems?” I asked after she hung up.
“Not really. One of the moms who was going to drive on delivery day has a conflict, but I’m sure I can find a replacement.”
“When are you going to do the deliveries?”
“Saturday. I have some people coming by tomorrow evening to help me wrap everything. I hope that’s okay. Ellie told me you had the cookie exchange, so I figured we wouldn’t be in your way.”
“That’s fine. And I’m happy to help if you need an extra hand. I don’t think I’m up to helping with the deliveries this year, but I can still wrap with the best of them.”
“Zak told me not to let you tire yourself out. He wants you to rest.”
“I’m fine. Really. And I want to help. Did you manage to get everything you still needed on your shopping trip this weekend?”
Alex nodded. ‘I think so. Our list is even bigger than last year, but more people are aware of our project as well, so we had a lot more donations. Just don’t go into the spare bedroom next to mine. There’s so much stuff in there even I can barely walk around.”
Alex turned back to the computer to log off just as a cramp squeezed my abdomen. I placed my hand on my stomach and gave it a gentle rub until the pain passed.
“Are you okay?” Alex asked, concern evident in her voice.
“I’m fine. Just a twinge.”
“A twinge?”
“Sort of like prelabor contractions. They’re pretty small and not all that painful. The doctor said they’re perfectly normal during the final weeks of pregnancy.”
Alex took my hand and led me to the kitchen. I could tell by the expression on her face that I hadn’t alleviated her concerns, but Alex was a worrier. I’d need to do a better job of not giving her anything to worry about.
I couldn’t help but smile as she and I entered the kitchen. It had been a really stressful day, but I found myself beginning to relax once we gathered around the table. Levi had funny stories to share about his day at the tree lot and both kids had things to tell us about school. I was confident Jeremy would find the reindeer; between Salinger, Alex, and me, we’d find out the identity of the person who’d taken Stella’s life; and I drew a certain amount of comfort from the fact that Zak would be home in time for Christmas.
Chapter 4
Tuesday, December 19
I found I had a new outlook on life by the time the sun rose the following morning. Zak had left me a text letting me know his mother was going to be released a day early, which I hoped meant he’d be home a day sooner as well. Salinger had a few things to follow up on and promised to call me later as long as I promised to stay put. I said I would because I knew that was what Zak would want, though staying home when everyone else was out doing something was highly overrated. At least I had Charlie and the other animals around to keep me company. Tuesdays were usually busy, but the woman who’d taken Willa’s place as events committee chairperson had changed the meetings to Wednesdays. Ellie and the kids had left the place spotless and Levi had taken the dogs for a long walk, so all I had to do with the rest of my day was relax.
Relaxing, I decided, was for the birds.
I’d promised Salinger I would wait here at the house for him, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t check out the dating site Stella had joined from the comfort of my own home. I decided the best way to check out the guys she had dated was to create a fake profile and try to set up chats with the same men. Alex had left a list of the men Stella had dated on the table near the computer, so I logged onto my own computer and went to the Sexy Singles site.
Name? Hmm. I obviously couldn’t use my real name; I’d need to come up with an alias. Marilyn seemed to be a sexy name. I typed in Marilyn M, identifying myself as a twenty-six-year-old former model living in Ashton Falls for the winter so she could ski while she prepared for a movie role. Too much? Maybe, but I was willing to bet the guys who frequented the site were looking for a good time, not happily ever after.
The next thing I had to do was post a profile photo. I’m petite with dark curly hair, but I decided to make Marilyn tall and blond. I logged onto the internet and found a photo that seemed to represent the right mix of sex kitten and girl next door. I posted it, then created an email address through the dating site. I typed in a few hobbies and other personal tidbits to make Marilyn seem real and waited. It took only five minutes before the first request for a chat arrived in my inbox. It couldn’t hurt to check it out. I clicked on the link.
Ron P was a single man in his early forties who lived in Bryton Lake. His hobbies included skiing and parasailing and his profile photo was decent. According to the contact history on Stella’s dating dashboard, Ron P had been the third man Stella had dated. They’d shared three chats, which I imagine they’d both used to screen the other, before they set up a date. After a few minutes of exchanging p
leasantries, Ron asked if I’d like to move over to a private chat room. I agreed and he provided a link.
“Ewww,” I said out loud when I entered the room to find photos of whips and chains and all kinds of things I didn’t want to see. What was wrong with people? I wanted to tell Ron to take a hike, but if he was one of the men who’d dated Stella I needed to engage him in conversation before that. I took a minute to ask myself what I needed to know about him. A full name would be nice, his phone number, email, and perhaps an address so Salinger could interview the guy.
I typed: I noticed you like to ski. I love to ski. The snow up on the mountain is awesome right now. Weekends can be crowded, but I work for a restaurant, so I have Tuesdays and Wednesdays off when it isn’t too bad.
Ron typed back: I work for the county, so I have weekends off, but I don’t mind the crowds.
Works for the county. Hmm. That narrowed things down a bit but not enough. I typed: I have a friend who works for the county in road maintenance and he works weekends. I imagine you must work in one of the offices.
I’m a planner, he typed, so it’s a nine-to-five gig.
Bingo. I doubted there could be more than one Ron P who lived in Bryton Lake and was a planner for the county. I’d give the info to Salinger and let him follow up.
Another message from Ron P: So, do you like to party? I’m always looking for someone who’s into some one-on-one action. Maybe we could take the next step and set up a date of the role-playing kind.
I returned: I’d like to get together with you, but there’s someone at the door so I have to run. Nice meeting you.
I cringed after I logged off the dating site. Maybe this hadn’t been the best idea. It appeared Stella had been attracted to guys who were total perverts and I didn’t think I could even fake playing the role of a dominatrix.
I heard a car in the drive, so I logged off the computer and headed to the front of the house. I watched as Salinger got out of his squad car and came up the walk.
“You must have news,” I greeted him as I opened the door and escorted him inside.
He nodded. “I was going to call, but I figured it might be a good idea to make sure you’d stayed put as I asked.”
“I’m not a child.”
“I know, but you’re impulsive and I want to make sure you and your baby are out of harm’s way. If that means working with you on this case so you’re less inclined to go off on your own that’s what I’ll do.”
“I have coffee in the kitchen and Ellie baked sugar cookies yesterday.”
“I love sugar cookies.”
I led Salinger through the house to the kitchen, in the rear. I poured Salinger a cup of coffee and myself a glass of water, then set a plate of cookies on the table. “So what do we know?” I asked.
Salinger bit into a sugar cookie before answering. “I spoke to the woman who runs the dating site. She gave me an overview on how it works, which could be helpful in figuring things out. Basically, there are three stages to the eventual personal meetup. In stage one, a man or woman sends a request to the person they’re interested in getting to know better. The person on the receiving end can accept or decline the request to take it to step two. If the request is accepted, step two is for the two individuals to enter a chat room. Depending on how that goes, they can request a physical meet or not. If they both request one personal information such as an email address and telephone number are provided by the dating site.”
“Okay, so do we know Stella’s history with all three stages?”
“Stella declined an invite to chat with twenty-three men right off the bat,” Salinger reported.
“She just looked at their photo or bio and hit Decline based on what she saw?”
“Exactly. Stella accepted the initial invitation to chat with nine men with whom she never requested a meet. The woman said just because Stella didn’t request a meet that didn’t mean they hadn’t worked something out on their own. As we know, Stella went on physical dates with seven men.”
“Did you ask the woman about DMG?”
“I did. She said each member sets up a personal email account. The accounts are considered to be owned by the person who sets them up and aren’t monitored. She wasn’t willing to give me access to the account or even to verify that DMG was a member. I’d need a warrant, but we’ll need more to get one.”
“Aren’t threatening emails enough to get a warrant?”
“Not in isolation. Don’t worry; we’ll find the guy. You need to keep in mind that more often than not, running a murder investigation is a marathon, not a sprint. All we can do is follow up with each lead and hope something pops up as being significant.”
“I have one lead for you. Stella’s third date, Ron P, lives in Bryton Lake and works for the county as a planner. I figure that’s enough to track him down.”
“It is, but how do you know this?”
“That isn’t important. What’s important is finding Stella’s killer.”
“We’ll revisit the method you used to obtain that information at another time. I agree finding Stella’s killer is the most important thing. In fact, I’m heading over to her apartment to interview her neighbors as soon as we’re done. The deputies who showed up on Sunday talked to a few people, but a lot weren’t home. I’m hoping someone who hasn’t been interviewed yet saw something.”
I stood up. “I’m coming with you.”
“I think it best you stay home.”
“I’m bored. If you won’t let me come with you, I guess I’ll have to go out sleuthing on my own.” I probably wouldn’t follow through if Salinger called my bluff—I didn’t want to put Catherine in danger—but I hoped my threat would be enough to convince him to let me ride along.
“I could just lock you up in one of the cells at the jail.”
“You wouldn’t.”
Salinger shrugged. “It’s tempting, but I guess I wouldn’t actually do it. You can come with me because I don’t think allowing you to ride along will put you in any danger, but I’m the one making the calls and you’re to do exactly as I say.”
“Deal,” I said as I hurried down the hall to grab my coat and snow boots.
It was a bright, sunny day and the roads and sidewalks were clear and dry, yet Salinger insisted I wait in the car to avoid the risk of a slip and fall when we arrived at the apartment building where Stella had lived. I wanted to argue, but waiting for him in the car was a lot better than sitting around at home so I agreed, slipped off my jacket, and settled in to bide my time.
Luckily for me, one of Stella’s neighbors approached the squad car. I rolled down the window and greeted the man, who looked familiar, though I couldn’t place him.
“Has the sheriff taken to arresting pregnant women?” he teased.
“No. I’m just doing a ride along.”
“I figured as much. I recognized you as the chick with a reputation for working with Salinger when one of Ashton Falls’ residents meets a violent end. I’m Christopher, by the way.”
“Zoe. You look familiar. Do you work in the area?”
“I wait tables at a couple of different places in town.”
“Did you know Stella well?” I asked, jumping to the point.
“We weren’t close friends, but we chatted if we ran into each other coming or going. I was real sorry to hear about her death. She was a nice woman, despite her crazy mood swings.”
I leaned closer. “Mood swings?”
“Stella seemed to have a lot of problems. When I first met her, she seemed normal, but then she lost her job and started drinking a lot. That seemed to make her both hyper and depressed, depending on whatever else was going on in her life. Then she got the job at the holiday store and things seemed to get better. She was happy and her moods leveled off. She even started dating again.”
“Did she ever bring her date’s home?” I wondered.
“Sure, on occasion. I don’t think she dated any one guy for long, but it seemed she’d been dating freq
uently toward the end.”
“Were you home this past weekend?”
“I was in and out. I work a swing shift at the Wharf, so I sleep late in the mornings. I was just waking up when the cops showed up on Sunday. One of Stella’s coworkers stopped by to check on her when she didn’t show up at work for the second time in as many days and found her dead.”
“When was the last time you saw her?” I asked.
Christopher paused to consider my question. “I guess it was Friday. She was going out at the same time I was on my way to work.”
“Did she say where she was going?” I asked.
“She said something about getting hammered. I had the feeling she’d had a bad day and needed to blow off some steam. Stella didn’t say as much, but I think she was having guy problems.”
“Why do you say that?”
“I saw her sitting in a car with a man when I came home from work on Thursday night. He was yelling at her and it looked like she was crying. It was dark, but the car was parked under a street lamp; while I couldn’t get a good look at what was going on, I got enough of a glimpse to know Stella wasn’t having a good time.”
“Do you remember what time it was?”
“I guess around midnight. I got off at eleven and had stopped for a drink on the way home.”
“Did you ask Stella what had been going on?”
He shook his head. “It was her business and I didn’t want to get involved.”
“What kind of a car was it?”
“Black Mustang. Newer model. I’d say not more than a couple of years old.”
“Did you happen to notice a license plate number?”
“Nope. I wasn’t paying that much attention. I noticed the car had something dangling from the rearview mirror. I’m not sure what.”
That didn’t narrow it down much, although with Ashton Falls’ heavy annual snowfall, most people drove four-wheel drives, not sports cars. “Did you see what the guy looked like?”
“It was dark and I didn’t get a good look. Seemed like he had dark hair. If I knew what was going to happen I would have paid more attention to the details, but as it was, I just walked by.”