by Cindy Bell
“I had a thought.”
“You had a thought?” She stared at him. “You woke me up in the middle of the night because you had a thought?”
“I woke you up because I’m afraid that it won’t make sense to me in the morning. I just need someone to talk it through with. When I was a detective this was how I worked on every hunch I had. But I always had a partner to bounce my ideas off.”
“At midnight?”
“Sometimes, yes.” He frowned. “I can go if you want me to, I probably should.”
“No, it’s okay.” She smiled at him. “Stay. Tell me about this hunch while I make us some tea.”
He sighed and sat down on the couch. “I know we’ve been so hyper-focused on Daniel that we haven’t properly investigated other suspects. But that article that was in the fire had nothing to do with Daniel. Why would she burn that article, or why would Daniel, if that had nothing to do with the murder?”
“Maybe it has something to do with the murder and we just don’t know what yet. I mean, we don’t know everything that went on between siblings.”
“You’re right, but I do know one thing. If he wanted to kill her, he could have done so at his house, or in her villa, or anytime that he took her out for dinner. Why would he go to all of the trouble of killing her in the community center? He didn’t even bring his own murder weapon.” He shook his head. “That doesn’t sound like a premeditated murder to me. The more I think about it the more I think that Daniel had a plan to cause May harm, but I don’t think it was to kill her. What I can’t get out of my head is that he didn’t need to. He managed to get doctors and friends to lie for him or at least convinced them that she was mentally unstable, so that he would get control of his parents’ estate. He was a few steps away from seizing all of her assets. Why would he take it a step further and actually kill her when he could have gotten just as much by getting control of her finances?”
“You’re right.” Samantha pulled the kettle off the stove before it would shriek and wake the neighbors. She poured them each a steaming cup of tea, then turned back to Eddy. “I’ve been thinking about that part of it, too. It just doesn’t add up. Even if he killed her in a fit of rage, why would he do it with a fire poker? He was much bigger and stronger than May, he could have easily overpowered her. It just seems like something that someone who was perhaps a bit weaker would do. Or maybe, someone who panicked. Daniel doesn’t strike me as the type who panics.”
“But if it wasn’t Daniel, then who?” Eddy shook his head. “I’d almost rather believe that it was Daniel because if it’s not, we’ve spent an awful lot of time on the wrong suspect. We’re practically back to square one.”
“I don’t think so. We still have other suspects to consider.”
“Like who?”
“Well, May didn’t exactly have a friendly relationship with Valerie. In fact, they were on the outs when May died. Apparently, May made some comment about the way that Valerie decorated the Halloween party, and I guess it brewed from there.”
“You think someone killed her over Halloween decorations?”
“There may be more to it than that. I don’t know. Valerie and May just really seemed to have something against each other.”
“Still, that doesn’t seem like much motive to go on.”
“Maybe not.”
“There’s also Reynold.”
“You still think he might be a suspect?”
“Yes, I do. I think there’s a very good chance, since he was there and knew she would be there, and has since acted quite strangely.”
“I think I would act pretty strange if my friend ended up with a fire poker in her chest.” Samantha handed him his cup of tea. “But you may be right about considering him a suspect. We can’t rule him out, that’s for sure. Still, I think the key is that article. We need to find out more about the brothers who were mentioned in it.”
“I just feel that there is something that I’m missing, something that’s staring me right in the face, and all I have to do is blink to recognize it. I just can’t get myself to blink.”
“Maybe you need to sleep. Drink your tea. It will help you relax.” Samantha had a sip of her tea and yawned.
“I can’t sleep. I have too much energy. I’m just not going to be able to sleep until this case is over.” Eddy sipped his tea.
A few minutes later Samantha pulled a spare blanket over him on the couch. He snored loud enough to make her jump. She rolled her eyes and gathered their cups to put in the sink. By the time she made it back to her bed her entire body ached from exhaustion. Once there, she collapsed. Her dreams were peppered with the loud snores of her guest.
Chapter 11
Just when Samantha settled into what she hoped was a sound sleep a knock on the door woke her. She blinked and noticed that the sun was up. She must have slept a bit longer than she thought. But who was at the door? She stumbled into the living room amid Eddy’s snoring. It certainly wasn’t him at the door. She trudged across the living room with sleep still heavy on her muscles. She hadn’t slept well in the past few days, but the night before was the worst. She tugged open the door and peered outside into the morning sun.
“Jo?”
“Hey Samantha. Are you okay? Are you sick?”
“Hm? No, I’m not sick. Why?”
“You’re still in your pajamas.”
“Oh.” Samantha yawned and shook her head. “I had a late night.”
“I see. I can come back later if you want.”
“No, it’s fine. Come inside. Just don’t sit on Eddy.”
“Huh?” Jo stepped inside the villa and spotted the lump on the couch. “He slept here last night?”
“Slept, I suppose, all I know for sure is that he certainly snored.” She yawned again. “So, what brings you here?” Jo continued to stare at Eddy on the couch.
“I didn’t know things were so serious between you two.”
“What?” Samantha laughed and waved her hand at her. “He showed up at my door at midnight with a hunch. That’s all it was. Please, like we’re in high school or something.”
Jo shrugged and smiled a little. “I don’t feel much different than I did then to be honest. Anyway, enough of that. I just came from the café down the road and the waitress that works there told me that she saw May and Daniel arguing. She said that it got so heated she almost had to ask them to leave.”
“What were they arguing about?”
“He kept insisting that they had to sell the property, she kept insisting that they didn’t. She wanted it to stay in the family, and go to a younger cousin. He didn’t like that idea at all. But the argument got really bad when they started talking about someone named Jacob.”
“Jacob?” Samantha finally fully woke up. “Why were they arguing about him?”
“The waitress told me that May said something about Reynold looking just like Jacob, and that they could easily be twins, and something about a scar. She didn’t hear what else she said, but Daniel shouted at May that she was senile, stood up and stalked out of the restaurant.”
“There it is!” Samantha waved her fist in the air. “There it is! The connection!”
Eddy snored loudly, then sat straight up. “Where am I?” He stared at the two women. “What is going on here?”
“Relax Eddy, you fell asleep on my couch.”
“Oh.” Eddy blinked, then rubbed his forehead. “So, what’s all the noise about?”
“Jo found the connection between Reynold, our victim and the man in the article, Jacob.”
“What connection?”
“Somehow, May knew Jacob, the man mentioned in the article, that drowned, remember? May said that Reynold looked just like him, could have been his twin.”
“Oh yes. Okay.” He yawned and struggled to focus.
“From the conversation it seems that Daniel knew Jacob, too. So that means that there’s a good chance that article that burned in the fire, had more to do with May’s death than any a
rgument over some property.”
“A chance.” Jo nodded. “But the way the waitress described the argument I’d say Daniel had plenty of animosity towards his sister. Apparently he said that a scar means nothing and that she was going senile.”
“Do you think Reynold and Daniel were friends as well? Maybe Reynold was in on the murder. He could have lured May to the community center so that Daniel could kill her,” Samantha said.
Eddy shook his head. “No, that doesn’t make sense. Why would he want to kill her there, in a public place, instead of in her villa?”
“I’m not sure what to think just yet.” Samantha tapped her chin. “But we need to find out more about Jacob’s death as soon as possible. It seems to be relevant and there is some sort of secret that surrounds it, and when we figure it out, we might just crack the case.”
“If there is a case file I’ll see if I can get my police contact to get it from Mariner County. It should have the names of everyone involved. It’ll also contain any inconsistencies found in the exam of the body if there are any. A lot of times a detective will tuck in little bits and pieces of information that maybe he didn’t follow up on, or didn’t pan out. So, there might be something there.”
“Even for an accidental drowning?” Samantha asked.
“It depends on how much of an investigation they did.” He rubbed his eyes, then stretched his arms above his head. “I’ll call Chris as soon as I get home.” He glanced at Samantha. “Thanks for the couch.”
“You’re welcome, Eddy.”
He nodded to both of the women, then walked out of the villa. As soon as the door was closed, Jo settled her gaze on Samantha. Samantha rolled her eyes and did her best to change the subject.
“So, if May took the time to print out the article about Jacob’s death, then she had to know something about him or his family that made the event personal to her.”
“Yes. The fact that she knew what Jacob looked like, despite the fact that the article didn’t include a picture, could indicate that she knew Jacob.”
“It’s been a very long time since his death.”
“Something that the waitress told me really sticks out in my mind. May said Reynold could be Jacob’s twin. The article said that Jacob was out fishing with his brother. Brothers can look pretty similar sometimes.”
“Yes, they can. But the article said that Jacob’s brother on the boat was John.”
“Maybe it’s another brother then?”
“Maybe,” Samantha nodded. “So, a man May knew dies several years ago. Then his brother shows up at Sage Gardens. May is reminded of Jacob’s death and talks to her brother about it?”
“But why?”
“I don’t know. My best guess is that if the conversation inspired that much anger from Daniel perhaps there is something about Jacob’s death that Daniel doesn’t want exposed.”
“Interesting.” Jo nodded.
“We may not be just looking at solving one mystery here, we might be looking at solving two.”
Chapter 12
Eddy still felt sluggish as he hung up the phone with the lab tech he knew at the police department. Chris assured him he would get the files sent over as soon as possible. He hoped that meant within a few hours and not within a few weeks. He sat down in his large recliner and closed his eyes. One by one the suspects paraded through his mind. Daniel with his desire to gain control of his sister’s finances. Reynold at the crime scene, with a mystery hanging over his head. Then there was Valerie. At first he dismissed Samantha’s suggestion that Valerie could be involved, but the more he thought about it the more he wondered if she might be right. Just because she seemed harmless, and didn’t appear to have a direct connection to the crime didn’t mean that she couldn’t be involved.
Eddy decided that he would take a walk down to the tennis courts and see if she was there. He’d noticed her there a few times in the past, and hoped that he might be lucky. When he spotted her in the middle of a game he suddenly recognized what the connection might be. Her partner across the net was Reynold. Eddy stood back outside the fenced court and watched as the two played. From the way they communicated and played with each other it appeared as if it wasn’t their first game. When the ball sailed past Valerie she huffed and put her hands on her hips.
“That was out!”
“It was inside the line, Valerie.”
“Reynold, if I say it was out, then it was out.”
“Okay fine, it was out. Just get the ball.”
Eddy narrowed his eyes. Were they bickering with each other?
“Hey, Eddy!” Reynold waved to him as Valerie jogged back onto the court with the ball.
“Eddy’s here?” Valerie shielded her eyes with her hand and looked through the fence.
“Just admiring the match. You two are pretty good.”
“Thanks.” Valerie smiled and twirled her tennis skirt. “It’s a great way to stay fit.”
“I see that.” Eddy chuckled.
“Watch it now, Eddy.” Valerie winked at him. “Or Reynold might get jealous.”
“Oh really?” Eddy held up his hands. “Sorry Reynold, I didn’t know you two were together.”
“We’re not.”
“Don’t be shy, Reynold.” Valerie giggled. “We’re just not official yet.”
“I see. Well, your secret is safe with me. How are you holding up, Reynold?”
“I’m still a little shaken up. I’ll be better when they figure out who did this.”
“Oh absolutely.” Valerie wrapped her arm around Reynold’s shoulders. “This poor fellow had quite a shock. All because he tried to be a good friend.”
“Is that so?” Eddy zeroed in on Valerie.
“Yes, I mean, if he’d never agreed to meet with her that morning he wouldn’t have walked into such a horrific scene.”
“Valerie please, I’d rather not rehash it.”
“Don’t be so modest, Reynold. She called you so upset and you jumped right up to be there for her. Too bad it was too late.”
“Yes, too bad.” He stared down at the tennis court. “I wish I’d gotten there just a little sooner.”
“I’m sure. We all wish we’d known, and could have protected May, Reynold. You’re not alone in that,” Eddy said.
“But it just wasn’t meant to be.” Valerie squeezed his shoulders. “So, now we just have to move forward. Don’t we, Reynold?”
“Sure.” Reynold shrugged off her grasp. “We should get back to our game. We only reserved the court for an hour.”
“Oh absolutely. I didn’t mean to be a distraction.” Eddy waved to them and started to walk away. He paused after a few steps and turned back. “So Reynold, you two didn’t plan to meet for a friendly cup of coffee? It was a last minute thing?”
“Sort of. She called me the night before upset about something and I offered to take her out to coffee.”
“Oh okay.” Eddy nodded and continued to walk away. Thoughts jumped in all directions within his mind. Valerie and Reynold were dating? May was upset when she agreed to meet Reynold for coffee? None of it made sense at the moment, but he had a feeling that it all would soon enough. When Eddy made it back to his villa, he was still deep in thought. His cell phone rang so loud that he jumped. He sighed and shook his head. It was easy to disrupt him when he was concentrating on something so hard. He kept trying to fit the pieces of the case together. While there was a lot of overlap, he couldn’t get it to work out just right in his mind. He noticed the phone call was from Chris.
“I’ve managed to get a copy of the file you wanted.”
“Thanks. I’ll be right in to get it.”
“It’s already in your mailbox.”
“How did you do that so quickly?”
“Magic.”
“Thanks Chris.”
After going to his mailbox to pick up the file Eddy sat at his kitchen table to go through it. He flipped the file open and began to read through the details of the death. Even though Jacob�
�s death was ruled accidental an inquiry was opened before the ruling was made. Jacob was on a fishing trip with his brother, John. They were drinking, but not to excess according to the investigator. Jacob fell overboard in an attempt to retrieve a fishing pole that he had dropped in the water. Since he was a very good swimmer John assumed that he would resurface and didn’t attempt to rescue his brother. John claimed that he thought his brother might be playing a joke on him, and still didn’t attempt to rescue him. It wasn’t until he realized how long it had been, that he jumped into the water. When he couldn’t find him, he rowed to shore to get help.
The rescue mission was classified as recovery by the time the rescue response began. Eddy read over the details again. Then a third time. There was no mention of anyone else being on the water with Jacob and John. There was no sign of foul play. Jacob’s body was found with his foot tangled in branches under the water. The medical examiner ruled it an accidental drowning.
Eddy sat back in his chair and closed his eyes for a moment. He tried to picture the two brothers out on the boat. Were they out there to blow off steam? There’s a cooler, beers on ice, mosquitoes in the air, it’s muggy. He took a deep breath. The water is murky, but still. The fishing lines plop right into the water. What went wrong? He attempted to pick up the fishing pole. Did one brother bump into the other? Did the boat list for some reason? Did someone drop their bottle of beer? Or could they have argued? No matter what caused it, one brother ended up at the bottom of the lake. Was it possible that John knew that Jacob wasn’t coming back up? Did he push him out of the boat?
Eddy flipped to the witness’s section of the file. There was only one name listed. But that one name was enough to make his heart drop. John Reynold Smith. Everything seemed to suddenly fall into place. Reynold must go by his middle name. Reynold was Jacob’s brother? Reynold was the other person in the boat with him? Now that was a connection. He pulled out his phone and called Samantha.