Forest Outings (A Coffee and Crime Mystery Book 3)

by Nan Sampson

  Now Ellie knew what she was looking at. This was the murderer burying Margaret Roesch’s body in the snow. She flipped through the rest of the photos, and at the very end came across one that made her jaw drop.

  This one was better lit and it was a close up. It was the man again, cupping his hands around a match as he lit up a cigarette. Although some of his features were hidden in the shadows, he was still completely recognizable, right down to the carrot-colored hair that stuck out of the stocking cap he wore.

  It was Matt Pace.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Ellie couldn’t quite believe it, but the evidence was clear to see, in glossy 8x10s. She flipped quickly through the photos again, and found the other thing she’d been looking for without even knowing it. There, along the line of bushes at the back of the property – the silhouette of a horse, tethered no doubt, to the shrubbery.

  It came to her then, the thing about the scene that had been tugging at the back of her mind since she’d first seen Link’s body. There had been horseshoe prints in the snow. Matt had ridden the horse he’d borrowed from Seth’s stables to the north pasture. Patti had said he’d been there on a number of occasions bird watching. Bird watching, her great Aunt Fanny! He’d been meeting Link – the evidence was in the photo album. Heck, Ellie had even seen him riding along herself – out there on the lake. Riding to meet Link… and to murder him.

  She reached into her coat pocket, suddenly remembering something else. Something she’d meant to turn over to Bill, but had forgotten about. It was the lighter that Erik had found – that had to have been Matt’s. Since it was behind the hay rack, he must have been hiding back there, waiting for Link, waiting to catch him unawares, waiting to hit him over the head with a shovel.

  She felt that crawly sensation of being watched again.

  Unnerved, she tucked the envelope into the back of the photo album again and left through the front door, instead of out the way she’d come in. She wanted to be safe in her car, driving away from this place.

  Once back on the highway, she pulled out her cell phone and dialed Charlie. When he answered, all she said was, “You’ll never believe what I just found.”

  “What’s that?”

  “The answer to all our problems. It’s a stack of photos that show the killer burying Margaret Roesch’s body. Guess who the killer is?” But even before he could answer, she blurted out, “Matt Pace!”

  He sounded satisfactorily confused, and she filled him in on her evening’s activity, as she turned off the highway and headed down the road that would take her into town.

  “Bill needs to see those pics right away. Where are you now?”

  “I just got off the highway.”

  “Great. Go directly to Marg’s house. Bill is there. I’ll meet you there as soon as I can.”

  “Okay. I’ll see you there.” She hung up, and instead of turning right, she turned left, heading down the long stretch of lonely road that led past Lake Hodek and the recreation area before reaching Marg’s apartment complex.

  She could make out the little sparkle of the sodium-pink street lights in the distance when the steering wheel jerked beneath her hands, and the right front rim of her wheel juddered onto the pavement. After a brief second of panic, she rehearsed in her head what her father had taught her to do during a sudden flat and managed to get the van off to the side of the road and safely to a stop.

  Using every curse word she’d ever learned, she climbed out of the van and went to look at her tire.

  It was completely and utterly flat, and she cursed all the Traffic Gods for putting a nail or piece of glass or whatever in the road and that had caused her tire to go flat. It was a good three quarters of a mile either back into town or to Marg’s place. A frigid wind buffeted her as she stood there, looking at the tire. Damn.

  She scowled at the tire, gave it an angry kick which did nothing to help it, then turned back to climb into the van to call Charlie when she saw headlights approaching. Slowing down, even.

  She paused, watching, hoping, as the car, some sort of SUV she thought, given the height of the head lights, crunched to a stop behind her van, headlights practically blinding her. The driver’s side door opened and a figure she couldn’t quite make out through the glare hopped down and strode rapidly towards her.

  She shaded her eyes, trying to make out who it was, as she called out, “Thanks! You’re a life saver. I don’t suppose you can change tires.”

  As the figure got closer, she recognized him. It was Matt Pace. He had an odd look on his face, and when he held up the tire iron her heart skipped a beat. Still, he couldn’t know she knew. Maybe she could get him to change her tire and then escort her to Marg’s, where she’d hand-deliver him and the photos to Bill Gruetzmacher. “Um, hi. Care to help me change the tire?”

  He made an animal growl, then charged at her, bringing him within arm’s reach before the thinking part of her brain could even react. She raised her arm to ward off the blow even as she tried to make sense of what was happening. The pain was a distant thing, the numbness more recognizable as she stumbled backward from the force of the assault.

  He stalked the few paces towards her, the tire iron raised again and she scrambled back automatically, trying to get her feet underneath her, her right arm useless now, just dead weight hanging off her shoulder.

  “Give them to me!”

  He was shouting, but the words were torn from his mouth by the wind, making it hard to hear him.

  She dropped onto to her knees and scrambled to her feet, turning and slipping sideways away from him as he stood over her.

  “Give you what?”

  “You know what, you stupid bitch. Give me the pictures you took from the old lady’s house. I know you found them.”

  She shook her head, still trying to get her feet under her. “I don’t have any pictures, Matt. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  He swung the tire iron again, struck the ground near her right foot, deliberately missing her. “I saw you inside! I was watching! I should have come after you then but her damn nosy neighbors were watching through the windows! Now give them to me!!” He was shrieking now, his teeth clenched, his pale features contorted in rage.

  He raised the tire iron again and Ellie bolted.

  He roared and she heard him stagger and fall as he missed her, his weight and momentum sending him tumbling forward.

  There was nothing to do but run. She knew she couldn’t make it past him to the car, so she ran blindly into the dark field, her feet making crunching noises as they broke through the icy crust on the snow. It grew deeper as she ran, weighing her down as her shoes and her jeans grew encrusted with snow.

  Behind her she could hear Matt crashing along as well. His pace was steady, as though he had all the time in the world to keep up with her.

  It had been far too long since she’d run, that much was apparent by the huffing and puffing she was doing. She tripped once, then twice, scrambling to her feet both times. She had a lead on Matt, but it was quickly shrinking.

  The dark was all enveloping. She couldn’t see where she was going, only knew that the land was sloping gently downward. She tried to think about what lay ahead of her. She thought she might be on the edge of the recreation area that housed Lake Hodek, in which case, at some point, she’d run into the lake. She tried to see the lay out of the park in her mind’s eye, especially in relation to the road she’d been on. If she veered slightly to the left, she thought maybe she’d run into the outbuildings and picnic shelters that bordered the edge of the small lake, but looking ahead of her, she could see nothing but inky blackness.

  She could hear Matt’s breathing now, steady and measured. He must be a runner too. He probably could have out run her, she thought, but he was simply maintaining his pace.

  Pace. Matt Pace. In her bizarre mental state, it struck her as funny, so much so she thought she must be in shock. Her arm, although useless, didn’t seem to hurt and a part of her
brain knew that was not a good sign. On the other hand, it beat the heck out of writhing on the ground in agony while he finished her off.

  She pushed herself a little harder, sprinted to where she thought she saw a faint glow of light, then found herself skidding, out of control.

  Her feet flew out from underneath her, and she slid forward dozens of feet before slowing to a stop. Reaching out with her left hand she felt the hard slickness of ice, covered with a thin layer of water. Damn. She’d overshot her mark. She was now on the frozen lake -- and she wasn’t really sure, after their warm spell, just how frozen it was anymore.

  Matt had somehow sensed or saw the lake’s edge and stopped just short. She could see the shape of him, a dark form against a slightly lighter background.

  The glow she had seen had been the ambient light reflected off the sheer expanse of the lake.

  Shit.

  She tried to get to her feet, slid around a bit, then finally got to her knees again, but the ice was too slick and with only one hand, she couldn’t quite manage to get to her feet. Crouched down on her knees, she stared out at the dark form that was Matt. He was just standing there, watching her.

  Inching forward, she eased herself both away from Matt’s position and closer to the shore, but Matt just moved to parallel her, still holding the tire iron.

  She couldn’t take the silence any more. “Matt, you don’t need to do this. I don’t know what you think—”

  “Shut up. Just shut up.”

  Ellie paused for a moment. Slowly, with creeping intensity, the feeling was returning to her arm. Her teeth started to chatter. “Matt, why don’t we talk about this. I’m sure there’s another way to solve this.”

  He was quiet for a moment. The pitch of his voice cranked a little higher when he spoke again. “Why don’t you make it easy? Just come over here and let’s get it over with.”

  “Sorry, Matt. I don’t plan on letting you brain me with a tire iron.”

  “Fine. Then I’ll come to you.”

  He took a step out onto the ice, and began moving slowly and carefully towards her. “I’ve spent a lot of time on the ice you know. My father used to take me ice fishing when I was a kid. And in college, I studied snow birds. Not the idiots who go south – no, the ones who make their living on frozen lakes in the winter. I spent three winters tracking them across the frozen ponds and rivers. I know all about how to move, and how not to move. Where the ice is safe, and where it’s not.”

  True to his word, he was moving inexorably closer,

  Ellie scrabbled on the ice and finally got her feet under her again. She moved away from him, knowing she was heading out towards the center of the lake, but unable to change her trajectory without fear of slipping. She tried turning, ever so slowly, to the right, trying to remember the outline of the lake, not knowing if she was getting closer to the shore or simply paralleling it.

  Behind her, Matt was getting closer. He chuckled, a sinister sound. “I’ve got to give you credit for moxie. Most women would have crumpled after the first blow. That stupid bitch Roesch would have been a mewling mess if she’d seen me. But she was the easiest. Never even knew what hit her.”

  “Why, Matt? Why did you kill her?”

  He got angry. “Why? You know why! I saw you, you found the damn medical records. Don’t tell me you don’t know what it means.”

  “You mean the blood type? What about it? Why is that important?”

  “It was proof. Proof that his grandfather was his father!”

  “No, Matt, it wasn’t proof. But even if it was true, that just meant that his mother was a victim of an abusive father. It wasn’t Link’s fault who his father was.”

  “Not his fault maybe, but it would have ruined his reputation.”

  “So Link told you to kill her?”

  The rage caused his voice to rise in pitch and intensity yet again. “No! Stupid bitch!” Finally, he slipped, fell, then scrambled back to his feet. “You don’t understand a thing. You’re nothing but a stupid woman.”

  “Then explain it to me. Tell me what happened, Matt.” Her arm was a throbbing mass now, the pain growing so bad, she could hardly force herself to move. Her legs were starting to ache from trying to maintain her balance and she wasn’t sure how close to the shoreline she was.

  Matt increased his pace, seeming to sense her weakness. Or maybe he heard it in her voice. “I killed her because she was trying to blackmail Link. Link didn’t even know I was there until I came out from behind the hay rack.” His laugh was a mad cackle. “I scared the pants off Link when I jumped out and clobbered her.”

  Ellie tried to piece together what he was saying. “You killed Margaret at the Moughs? Then… then how did Link die? And why? And why did you take Margaret to the Muellers?”

  “He called me an idiot. He told me I shouldn’t have done it. He didn’t even appreciate what I’d done for him. And when I told him I’d done it because I loved him, he laughed. He just laughed!!”

  The last word was screamed, and Matt fell again. It took him virtually no time to get to his feet, but still, it was a few seconds in which Ellie could get a few steps ahead.

  She pushed herself, despite wanting to do nothing more than sit down and curl up in a ball. She put one step in front of the other until finally, she thought she could make out in the darkness, clumps of vegetation, buried under snow, just ahead.

  She took another step, then heard a cracking sound.

  Matt snorted a laugh. He was very close behind her.

  She froze, not knowing how deep the water was.

  Matt moved a step closer to her, then swung the tire iron – but not at her. He brought it down on the ice with a resounding crunch.

  The ice made a horrible noise, the cracking echoed in the still of the night. Ellie felt it shift beneath her feet, felt herself rocking on the slick surface.

  Matt giggled. “Shall we try again?”

  “No! Wait. First tell me what happened. You said Link laughed.”

  Matt’s mood shifted again, his tone growing terse, feral. “No one laughs at me like that. I killed her for him! To protect him! Son of a bitch! He told me I’d been an idiot. He said there was no way he was going to bail me out of this one, that there was no way he was going to let this sully his reputation.”

  “So you hit him?”

  “He tried to run. Just like you’re doing. But he tripped. And I clobbered him. It was so… easy.” He took a step closer. Ellie cold now see him, see his face, see the literal whites of his eyes. His face was contorted, his smile frightening, his eyes shining as though lit from within.

  “He squirmed around on the ground, and started sniveling. And it made me even madder, so I hit him again and again, until he stopped moving, until he stopped making those noises.”

  Ellie watched as he raised the tire iron again. He was watching her too, and now he was grinning and she could see the whiteness of his teeth. “You’re not going to make any noise at all. Are you?”

  Ellie took a step back. She heard the ice crack some more. The cracking sound grew louder, continued on. She looked down, saw the gap open between her feet, then travel towards Matt.

  She felt the tilt, felt herself start to slide backwards. She spun around and threw herself forward, towards those clumps of snow that lay maybe three or four feet away.

  She hit the ice hard, landing on her arm. The ice beneath her gave way and she plunged in to the frigid water. It took her breath away, froze her thoughts, immobilized her body.

  A brief image of her old college friend, Lacey Silberson, flashed across her mind’s eye, and Lacey’s voice penetrated the darkness into which she was falling. “Get up, you idiot. You’re going to freeze.”

  But she couldn’t get up. Couldn’t move. She was frozen, just like the water of the lake. She felt herself sinking, sinking.

  “GET UP!”

  Something awakened in her at last and she abruptly came to. She brought her head up, kicked her feet trying to swi
m, only to hit them on something hard beneath her. Her brain took a moment to translate the information her body was sending, that she was kicking against the bottom and that the water was only knee deep.

  She pulled herself to her feet and stumbled forward, upward onto the bank. Clutching the grasses that stuck up out of the snow, she crawled slowly upwards until she felt the ground level out in front of her.

  Only then did she look back.

  Matt stood on the shifting ice, and Ellie could see the fear on his face.

  He was standing on an almost free-floating island of ice, constantly needing to shift his weight to maintain his balance and to prevent the floe from tipping one way or the other.

  “Hang on, Matt. I’m going to go back to my van. I’ve got a chain in the back, I can throw it to you.”

  He looked at her, and the fear disappeared. “No. No, this is okay. I can do this.”

  She didn’t know what he was talking about. “Matt, just hold still. If you don’t move, you’ll be okay.”

  He wasn’t listening. “This is all your fault, you know.” His voice was oddly calm. “You had to come sniffing around. You had to go find that stupid real estate woman’s body. Then you had to put ideas into that idiot church lady’s head.” He stared at her, boring a hole through her. “All your fault.” He inched forward, dropped carefully down into a crouch. He was going to jump for it.

  “Matt, stop. Just hold still. I’ll get the chains, then…”

  The ice started to crack again.

  Matt bent his knees and leaped into the air. Ellie watched, horrified, as the piece of ice he’d been on tipped and slipped sideways into the water. Matt came down hard, on the edge of the ice in front of him. There was another crack and the edge crumbled beneath his weight.

  He pitched feet first in to the inky water, but managed at the last second to grab hold of the edge of the ice.

  Ellie knew she was insane, but she couldn’t stop herself. She slid back down the bank, hanging on to the grasses one-handed to keep her from plunging into the water herself. Then, with more control, she righted herself, and moved slowly out into the water, testing each footstep to make sure she wasn’t going to fall off into deeper water without warning.