by Nancy CoCo
“Oh,” I said, excitement running through me. “That’s the perfect opportunity to ask her some questions.”
“That’s what I thought.” Allie glanced at her watch. “She’ll be here at three PM.”
“Okay, I’ll think of some questions,” I said, sitting back. “She must be devastated over Tim’s demise.”
“Word is that she was,” Allie said. “Frances said that Tim and Eliza had a huge fight the night before he was murdered and Eliza stayed with friends.”
“She wasn’t at the cabin when Tim was attacked?”
“No,” Allie said. “She has an airtight alibi, though. She spent the night with friends, and the couple vouched for her.”
“It doesn’t mean she didn’t do it,” I said. “You know that.”
“I know,” Allie said. “I’ve got some questions for her.”
“What about Marley? The police didn’t just leave him at the cabin, did they?” I asked as my thoughts turned to the sweet lug.
“No,” Allie said. “I asked Rex. He said the couple Eliza and Tim came to the island with—the Golds—went out to the cabin and brought Marley back into town.”
“Wait, if the Golds came with Eliza and Tim, why are they staying in town? Didn’t you say the cabin had five bedrooms?”
“Apparently, Eliza’s friend Karla Gold insisted that they stay closer to downtown. She didn’t want to trek all the way up to the Bonds’ place after the pub crawl. So they got a room at Hon’s B and B.”
“I bet that’s a cramped bedroom with Marley and Eliza,” I said.
“He’s not staying at the B and B with them. The Golds are boarding him at the Dog and Suds doggie day care.”
“There’s a doggie day care on the island?” I asked. I didn’t remember seeing one when I was there before.
“It’s new,” Allie said. “Emry Fastend started it in a building just off Market. Everyone told him not to start it in the off-season, but Emry’s retired and he figured since he lived here year-round, it didn’t matter when he started it.”
“How’s business?”
“Better than I would have thought,” Allie said. “People love to travel with their pets, but when the weather is bad, they aren’t as keen to take the smaller dogs on the trails with them.”
“I bet Marley’s sad he’s cooped up when there’s so much snow to play in.”
“When I asked Rex about that, he said that Eliza reported that Marley was happy to make new friends with the other dogs.”
“Well, a doggie day care is certainly better than housing Marley in a jail cell,” I said. Rex was known to lock up whoever caused havoc with his crime scenes, even dogs and old ladies.
The office phone rang and Allie picked it up. “Hello, Frances,” she said. “She’s here? Great, we’ll come right down.” Allie hung up the phone, uploaded her message to the Web site and stood.
“Eliza?” I saved my spreadsheet and stood as well.
“Yes,” Allie said. We hurried out of the office and down the four flights of stairs to the lobby. Frances was getting coffee for a pretty blond woman in a high-end ski outfit.
“Ah, here’s Allie now,” Frances said, and touched Eliza’s arm, steering her toward us. “Allie McMurphy, this is Eliza Bond. I’ve known her and her family for years.”
“Hi, Eliza,” Allie said, shaking her hand. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”
“Thanks,” Eliza said, her blue eyes welling up with tears. “I don’t know how this could have happened.”
“I’m Jenn Christensen,” I said. “Why don’t you come and sit down for a while? What you’re going through is terrible. I can’t imagine what it must be like to lose your boyfriend. We hoped maybe we could lend some sympathetic ears.”
“Okay,” Eliza said. She sat in the flowered love seat. Frances sat beside her. Mal jumped up and squeezed between Eliza and Frances and rested her head and paw on Eliza’s leg. Eliza patted Mal absently. Mella had slunk down the stairs in front of us and now curled up on the fireplace mantel.
Allie and I took the overstuffed wing-backed chairs across from the coffee table. Frances pressed a hot coffee into Eliza’s hands. “I just got out of the police station,” Eliza said. “I tried to answer all their questions, but I’m just not sure what I could say to help them find the person who did this to Tim.”
“Why don’t you tell us about it?” Allie asked as she leaned forward. “Maybe we can help.”
“I heard a woman needs to tell something seven times to work through her feelings,” Frances said. “If nothing else, we can help you talk it out.”
“Plus, Allie’s good at solving murders,” I said. “She can really be supportive.”
Eliza sat back with a faraway look. Her high cheekbones and contoured face glistened with emotion. “I don’t know where to start.”
“Why don’t you start by telling us when you last saw Tim,” Allie encouraged.
“Last night around midnight,” Eliza said, and sipped her coffee. “We went out to the pub crawl. We were all wearing Santa suits. I thought it was a fun idea . . . seasonal, you know?”
“Yes, of course,” Allie said. “We were out, too. I think I remember seeing you. But I thought you were with a tall guy with black hair.”
“You remember that?”
“The guy was handsome and he was one of the few nondrunks in the building,” Allie said. “Jenn was with me. Do you remember them?”
“Yes,” I said. I reached over and squeezed Eliza’s hand in a gesture of comfort. “I do remember him. Weren’t you with a small woman with raven-colored hair?”
“That’s my friend Karla Gold. The tall, handsome guy is her husband, Bill. I invited them to come for the weekend and watch Tim and me in the Santa Fun Run.”
“So neither of them run?” Allie asked.
“Oh no,” Eliza said, her mug in her right hand while she smoothed Mal’s fur with her left. “Karla does Zumba and Bill is a mountain biker, not a runner, but they were free for the weekend. I thought it would be fun to spend time with them. Anyway, we were so excited to participate in the pub crawl. I had tickets for drinks at each of the open bars. It’s why Karla wanted them to stay in town. She didn’t want to have to go very far to get to her bed after the pubs closed.”
“Your family owns a cottage on the island,” Allie said. “I understand it’s quite large, but you didn’t go back there last night. Why?”
“By midnight Tim was really drunk. He got in a fight with some other guys in Santa suits.” She let out a sob. “Oh, Tim.”
“Where were you when the fight happened?” Allie asked.
“I was at the Boar’s Head, I think.” Eliza twisted the coffee mug in her hands. “Tim liked to say things to provoke people. He got into it with two guys with full-sleeve tattoos. Bill went over and tried to tell Tim to knock it off, but Tim kept up with the snarky comments until one of the biker Santas hit him. That was it. A real free-for-all broke loose. It was like one of those bar fights you see on TV.”
“Did you or the Golds fight?”
“No,” she said, and tears rolled down her face. “Bill was worried about our safety.”
“Why?” I asked.
“I guess he thought Karla and I might become collateral damage,” Eliza said. “Bill worked his way through the fight to our table and got us out the back door. That was the last I saw of Tim.” She paused and sipped her coffee, and I noticed the fine tremble in her fingers. “I was so mad at him that I didn’t want to go home. Karla and Bill let me crash on the couch in their room. It was a late night, so I didn’t get up until nearly eleven AM.”
“And Karla and Bill were with you the entire time?”
“Yes,” she said. “In the morning Bill went out and got us coffee from downstairs, but pretty much we were together the entire time. I thought I was letting Tim sleep it off. I figured he went back to the cabin to take care of Marley. But when we were getting lunch, the police found us and told me the bad news.” She sobbed an
d covered her mouth with her hand. “I didn’t believe it. I thought it was another one of Tim’s bad pranks until they took me to see the body.” A shudder went through her. “Poor Tim.”
Frances put her arm around Eliza. Mal climbed up into Eliza’s lap and gave her a puppy kiss on the cheek. Mella made a soft leap up on the chair and curled up on the tall back. The animals could sense Eliza’s distress.
“Have you told your parents?” Allie asked.
“Yes,” Eliza said as she gave Mal a squeeze and let the dog settle onto her thighs. “They called Tim’s folks as well, but his parents are in California for the winter. I’m going to have to make arrangements.”
“Eliza,” Allie said, “I know this is hard, but do you have any idea who would want to hurt Tim?”
“Besides the guys he picked a fight with?” Eliza asked, then took the tissue Frances handed her and wiped her nose. “Not really . . . except . . .”
“Except?” I asked.
Eliza made a face. “Tim had a stalker.”
“Wow,” Allie said. “A female stalker?”
We all leaned in to hear the story.
“No, a guy,” Eliza said, and put her cup down on the end table beside her chair. Then she took a second tissue and dabbed at her eyes. “Tim ran a winery.”
“Yes, Sara’s Vineyard, right?” Allie asked.
“Yes, it was named for his mom,” Eliza said, and twisted the tissue. “A great deal of profits at the winery come from the wine club. Tim had a wine club member named Albert Gray, who was unhappy with his last two wine club purchases. Tim guarantees all his wines, so he offered to send Albert more wine. But the man refused. So Tim offered his money back. Albert took the money, but continued to bad-mouth the winery on social media and those reviewer Web sites. Tim got his lawyer involved and sent him a cease and desist order. I told Tim just to let it go, but he couldn’t. He said people see a couple of bad online reviews and your entire reputation is in shreds. Well, when Mr. Gray got the letter, he went ballistic. He called Tim so many times that Tim had to change his phone number and his cell and his eight-hundred number, which meant all the wine labels had to be changed. Then Mr. Gray started sending nasty packages to the house, and Tim said he saw the guy following him three times last week.” Eliza shuddered. “If anyone should be a prime suspect, it’s Albert Gray.”
“Did you tell Officer Manning about Albert?” I asked.
“No,” Eliza said, and stroked Mal’s soft fur. “I was so shocked that Tim was gone. All I could do was think about the last time I saw him and how mad I was. I should have never stayed with the Golds. I should have gone with Tim. If I had been at the cabin, Tim might still be alive.”
“You can’t blame yourself,” Allie said, patting Eliza on the shoulder. “You had no idea anything bad would have happened. You’re on vacation. It’s Christmas. You’re supposed to be having fun. And if you’d been at the cabin, you might have been in danger as well.”
“We’re the ones who found Marley,” I said in an attempt at comfort. “We came upon him in the woods. I played with him for a while. He seemed happy.”
Eliza sent me a watery smile. “Marley is my baby. I would never have abandoned him. I thought he was with Tim. Tim loved Marley almost more than he loved me. He used to beg me to let him keep Marley overnight at the winery. He even bought the dog tag and put the vineyard’s address on it.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I planned on getting Tim his own dog for Valentine’s Day. I have a puppy on order with a breeder.” She reached for another tissue and sobbed.
“Marley’s in good hands,” Allie reassured Eliza. “If you need time to collect yourself before you collect him, I can call the puppy day care and see if they can keep Marley overnight.”
“Oh, no,” Eliza said, and stood placing Mal on the floor. “I need Marley now more than ever. I’m going to get him from the day care. I’ve asked Karla and Bill to stay out at the cabin with me.”
“Do you think that’s safe?” I asked.
Eliza looked at me a bit confused. “Yes, why wouldn’t it be?”
“There’s some evidence that Tim might have been killed near the cabin,” Allie said.
“But I thought they said you found Tim along the running trail.”
“I did,” I said, “but it looks like he might have been tossed down the hill and rolled to the spot where I found him. Allie and I went to see and that’s how we found Marley. Marley actually showed us that the door to your cottage was open. That’s when we noticed the obvious signs of struggle.”
“No, that’s not right,” Eliza said, frowning. “My family has owned that cabin for over one hundred years. We’ve always been safe there. Always.”
“I’m certain you still will be,” Officer Manning said as he stepped into the lobby of the McMurphy. “We’re pretty sure Tim was targeted. So everyone can relax. There’s no mad serial killer on the loose. I’m certain you will be fine up at your place. But I can have a police officer come by every few hours, if that will make you more comfortable.”
“That would be great,” Eliza said. “I’m going to go get Marley.”
“Don’t forget to tell Rex about Tim’s stalker,” Allie said as she gave Eliza a hug and handed her a care package of lasagna and fudge.
“Tim had a stalker?” Rex narrowed his eyes at Allie as if to say she should leave police business to him.
Allie raised her eyebrows at his tone. “She just now remembered.”
“Come on,” Rex said, putting himself between Eliza and us. But first he petted Mal on the head as she did a little pirouette to greet him. “You can tell me about the stalker while I walk you to pick up Marley.”
We all stood as Rex moved away from us with his police hat in his hands. The man cut a fine athletic figure in his uniform. Too bad I was into tall, skinny, nerdy guys. I warmed at the thought of Shane and then frowned. He still wasn’t talking to me. I’d have to remedy that soon if I was going to salvage my Christmas.
Chapter 5
Tim’s death had put a damper on the Santa pub crawl that night—at least for me and Allie. Nevertheless, plenty of people were out in Santa suits, using the tickets they bought to have a couple of drinks in each of the participating pubs.
Allie and I and Trent made a short night of it in an overcrowded bar called the Nag’s End.
“Hey,” I said, catching Allie’s attention, “is that Eliza’s friends the Golds?” I motioned toward the handsome black-haired man standing with a small woman, with raven locks, beside him. They ordered drinks and headed to a table in the back. I craned my neck to see that Eliza sat at the table. “Eliza’s here, too.”
“That’s kind of weird,” Allie said.
“We should go say hello,” I said, and stood.
Trent frowned. “Whoa, wait. Maybe they need some time alone. I know I would if anything happened to Allie.”
“That’s just it,” Allie said, standing with me. “If anything had happened to you, I certainly wouldn’t be out at the pub. Look at Bill. He’s wearing a Santa hat. And if that’s Karla with them, she is, too. It seems out of place.” Allie picked up her beer. “We should go say hi.”
Trent frowned and touched Allie’s wrist as she headed off. “Don’t stick around too long. I don’t like the idea of grieving at a pub.”
“It’s called a wake,” I said to Trent. “People do it all the time. Why don’t you come with us?”
“This place is getting packed,” Trent said. “I’ll stay here and hold down the table. That way you can use me as an excuse to come back.”
Allie kissed him. “Fine, this won’t take but a moment.”
I locked gazes with my dear friend and we snaked our way through the jolly Santas to the grieving Eliza in the back corner.
“Hi,” I said as we approached. I wasn’t sure if she would remember us considering all that she had gone through today so I reintroduced myself. It’s always better to be safe than sorry when it came to people rememberin
g your name. “Eliza, it’s me, Jenn Christensen, and this is Allie McMurphy, remember?”
“Yes, hello again,” Eliza said, seeming to perk up.
I gave her a hug and Allie followed. I noticed how Bill watched us, seemingly protective of Eliza.
“Hi, I hope you’re doing okay,” Allie said, and introduced herself and me to the Golds. “You must be Bill and Karla.” She shook hands with the handsome man and gorgeous woman. Karla seemed bored by us. Her perfectly made-up face held a bland expression.
“Jenn is the one who found Tim,” Allie said, and watched them for their reaction.
“Man, that must have been bad,” Bill said, and took a swig of his beer. “We went with Eliza to identify the body.”
“Who would do such a thing?” Karla asked. Dressed in crisp, dark-wash jeans and a red sweater set, she wiggled uncomfortably in her seat. “This is a horrid little island, isn’t it?”
“Oh, my! No,” Allie said. “Mackinac is really a Victorian paradise. I’m so sorry for your loss.”
Bill put himself between us and Eliza. “Listen, we only came to get something to eat. Eliza would really like to be left alone.”
“Right,” I said, and gave Allie a look.
“I understand,” Allie said to Eliza from around Bill’s shoulders. “Please let me know if you need anything . . . anything at all.”
“She will,” Bill said, and put his arm around Eliza.
Allie and I headed back through the crowd to Trent. “Did you notice that?” Allie asked.
“Yes,” I said. “He seemed far more interested in Eliza than in his wife.”
“I remember them from the night before,” Allie said as we reached Trent. “I thought Bill and Eliza were the couple. It’s pretty clear he has a thing for her.”
“If he does, Karla doesn’t seem to see it,” I said. “Either that or she doesn’t mind.”
“I’m ready to go if you are,” Trent said. He stood and grabbed Allie’s coat from where it hung on the back of her bar chair.
“Yes,” Allie said as he helped her put her jacket on and then helped me with mine. Before we even moved away from the table, a pair of blond girls swooped in to snag it for themselves.