by Jessica Beck
“It has to be The Harbor Inn, doesn’t it?”
“I would think so,” Moose said as he started his truck again and drove toward the edge of town where the nicest place anywhere near Jasper Fork was located. The Harbor was the main location in our area where folks held weddings, showers, and all kinds of joyous festivities. Greg and I had only eaten at the restaurant on three occasions in the past, and I didn’t see number four happening anytime soon. We’d had to nearly mortgage the house to afford dining there the last time, and staying as a guest of the inn was out of the question.
“Even if she’s there, how are we going to get in to see her?” I asked.
“Don’t worry about that. I know someone on the inside at The Harbor. If she’s there, we’ll figure the rest of it out.”
“I wish I had your faith in us,” I said with the hint of a smile.
“You know what they say, fake it ’til you make it. The place is really snazzy, isn’t it?” Moose asked as the hotel/restaurant complex came into view. I was amazed that such an elegant place was right in our backyard, but someone clearly had money when they’d built it.
“It’s pretty cool. Who’s your contact there?” I asked.
“Never you mind. I’m going to drop you off at the lobby. Wait for me there.”
I looked at my clothes, and I was painfully aware of the common nature of my blue jeans and T-shirt. “Looking like this?”
“What’s wrong with the way you look?” Moose asked.
“Nothing, if I’m going to be cleaning the rooms.”
“Oh, you’re dressed much too casually for that,” my grandfather replied.
“Then how am I going to get away with lounging around in the lobby?”
“Maybe you’ve got a point,” Moose said. “Fine, you can come with me, but I’d appreciate it if you’d let me do the talking.”
“What kind of contact do you have here?” I asked. My grandfather’s sphere of influence in our area was much broader than mine, and I couldn’t help but wonder if we were going to call on the head honcho. “Who are we talking to, the hotel’s general manager?”
“Why on earth would we want to talk to him? He’s a stuffed shirt who rarely leaves his office, from everything I’ve heard about the man. No, we’re going to the person with the real power, the only one who knows everything that goes on behind the scenes.”
We pulled up around the back to the service entrance, and Moose parked the truck off to one side. “Remember, let me handle this.”
“With pleasure,” I said.
There was a skinny young man in a bellman’s uniform lounging in back flirting with one of the maids, and it surprised me when Moose walked directly up to him.
“Cal, do you have a second?” Moose asked him cordially.
“Sure thing, Captain,” Cal said as he lingered long enough to say good-bye to the housekeeper. “What can I do for you?”
“I’m looking for a woman named Jessie.”
Before Moose could say another word, the man nodded. “She’s in the Hickory Suite, checked in with one Gordon Murphy. The lady prefers bubble baths, cashews, and romance novels. The man’s not much of a reader, but he spends a great deal of time on his cellphone. What else do you need?”
I was a little surprised by the bellman’s instant recitation. “Pardon me, but how could you possibly know all of that?”
Cal looked at me a few moments, and then he studied Moose. “I’m assuming that she’s with you, is that right?”
“Cal, this is my granddaughter, Victoria,” Moose said.
Cal nodded. “Pleased to meet you. Ma’am, I make it a point to know about all of the guests who stay with us here at The Harbor Inn.”
“It sounds a bit invasive to me,” I said, not meaning to sound so judgmental.
If Cal took offense, he didn’t show it. “Okay, think about it this way. One of my jobs here is to see to our guests’ every need, at least the ones we’re allowed to provide for them,” he added with a smile. “Take Ms. Blackstone’s nut preference. I keep the closest pantry to her room well stocked in case she runs out of something in the middle of the night.”
“Even romance novels?” I asked with a smile.
“You’d better believe it. I keep a selection on hand, as many of our guests like to read a little for guilty pleasure. The reason I know that is because they rarely take the books with them when they leave us. As for Mr. Murphy’s telephone usage, I keep chargers nearby that fit most every phone ever made, just in case one’s needed. Knowing their habits and preferences is the only way to ensure that our guests get the treatment they’re paying for. For them, privacy is a price they are willing to pay for good service.”
“But surely they count on your discretion as well,” I said.
“Victoria,” Moose said a little impatiently. “Cal is talking to us as a favor to me. You understand that, don’t you?”
“I’m sorry,” I said quickly. “I didn’t mean any offense by it.”
“I didn’t take any, so don’t worry about it. If you’d asked me anything without having your grandfather in tow, you wouldn’t even have gotten my name, rank, and serial number out of me. It just so happens that I owe Moose a pretty huge favor, and this won’t even begin to pay it back.”
“Cal, I wiped that slate clean a long time ago,” Moose said mysteriously.
“You might have, but I know I still owe you, and until we’re even, all you have to do is ask.”
“Could I ask you one more thing, then? Do you happen to know if Ms. Blackstone is in her room right now?” Moose asked.
“She went for a walk ten minutes ago, as a matter of fact,” Cal said. He pointed to a path near the water and added, “If you head off that way, you’re sure to catch up with her.”
“Thanks, Cal,” Moose said. “We really are even now.”
“Not until I say we are,” Cal said. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m due to walk Jimikens for Mrs. Nance. If I’m late, old Jim takes it out on me.”
After Cal was gone and Moose and I started down the path that skirted the lake, I asked, “What on earth did you ever do for Cal?”
“That’s between us, young lady. What happened to you holding your tongue back there?”
I laughed. “Come on, Moose. We both knew that wasn’t going to happen. He really laid it all out there, didn’t he? It’s clear he feels beholden to you.”
“Cal just had a bit of bad luck in the past.”
“Why do I have the feeling that it’s not as simple as all of that?” I asked.
“I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about,” Moose said as he added a quick wink. “Now, do you have any ideas about how we should approach the grieving fiancée?”
“Well, it’s going to be hard to commiserate with her, since she’s probably the only person around here who’s all that sorry to see something happen to Gordon.”
“Maybe so, but she must have seen something in him to agree to marry the man,” Moose said.
“We can offer our sympathies and go from there,” I said.
“I suppose that it’s as good a plan as any,” my grandfather said.
We never had the chance to implement it, though.
We were about to round a corner when I heard a single voice speaking. It was a woman, and she sounded extremely upset. “I don’t know. He wouldn’t tell me. No, I don’t think he was bluffing. He had something he said would bury me. Yes, I know. It was a poor choice of words, but that’s what he told me. No, I can’t come back until I find out. Good bye.”
I tried to pull Moose back as the conversation ended, but we didn’t quite manage it. A rather plain woman in her thirties came down the path, and before she spotted us, there was a dark frown on her lips. She was well dressed, a little too nice for a hike around the lake, and her hair was expensively styled. Before she spotted us, I took a gamble and said to my grandfather, “I’m telling you, we’re lost. I have no idea where she is.”
Jessie Blacksto
ne and I made eye contact, and I did my best to smile at her as I said, “Are you by any chance Jessie? My grandfather and I had just about given up all hope of finding you out here.”
“I’m Jessie Blackstone,” she said a little warily. “Why were you looking for me?”
“We knew Gordon,” Moose said. “We wanted to come by and offer you our condolences.”
“Thank you,” she said automatically, though it did nothing to alleviate her scowl. “Excuse me for being so abrupt, but who exactly are you?”
“Forgive me,” I said as I stepped forward and offered her my hand. “I’m Victoria Nelson, and this is my grandfather, Moose.”
She started to reach out her hand automatically before she heard my name, but as I said it, Jessie pulled it back as though we were a pair of vipers. “You own that awful diner,” she said.
“I wouldn’t call it awful,” Moose said, using his most charming smile. “We prefer to call it quaint, if you don’t mind.”
“It’s where that woman works, though,” she said.
“Which woman are you referring to?” I asked, though I knew full well who she meant.
“Gordon’s ex-wife, Ellen. She wouldn’t let him see his own children. Can you imagine anyone being so cruel?”
“Hang on a second,” I said, trying to keep my voice calm. “You don’t know the entire situation. Gordon left her high and dry to raise two kids all alone. You can’t really blame her for not welcoming him back to town with open arms, can you?”
“I understand that sometimes people have differences in a marriage, but when Gordon first told me about his children, I could barely believe it. He assured me that when he left, he did his best to stay in their lives, but she wouldn’t allow it.”
“Let me guess. You’re the one who insisted that he come back to Jasper Fork and fight for them, aren’t you?”
Jessie nodded a little uncertainly. “It was the right thing to do. I could never have married him without at least meeting his children. What kind of man doesn’t see his own offspring?”
“Was trying to get custody your idea as well?” Moose asked.
“He needed to be a part of their lives, and we could afford to give them the very best things,” Jessie said. “Don’t they deserve that much, after what they’d been through?”
“They don’t deserve losing their mother,” I said, and I could barely contain my feelings. Ellen was the greatest mother in the world as far as I was concerned, putting the welfare of her children above her own every step of the way.
“Of course they don’t,” Jessie said, and I believed her. “It was never my intention for us to seek full custody.”
“Ellen believed otherwise,” I said.
Jessie frowned. “I told Gordon that it was a foolish strategy, but he believed that if we threatened to seek full custody, Ellen would be more compliant about allowing us into their lives.”
“I don’t suppose any of it matters now,” I said.
Jessie looked off toward the lake. “No, I suppose that it doesn’t. Have the police found her yet?”
“Ellen?” Moose asked. “How did you know that they were looking for her?”
“Sheriff Croft came here and spoke to me,” Jessie said. “Naturally, I told him about the argument Gordon had last night in Ellen’s home, and he left in search of your waitress.”
“Where were you when it happened?” I asked her.
Jessie looked away again before she spoke. “I don’t suppose we should be talking about it, since it’s part of an ongoing murder investigation.”
“What would it hurt for you to give us your alibi?” Moose asked. “It might make things easier for you if we could eliminate you as a suspect right off the bat.”
Jessie looked startled by the thought that Moose and I would be involved in searching for Gordon Murphy’s killer. “What possible business is it of yours?”
“My grandfather and I have been known to help the police out from time to time,” I said. I wasn’t exactly sure that Sheriff Croft would put it that way, but it was still true.
“I didn’t realize that either one of you had any official status,” Jessie said.
“It’s more of an informal thing,” I said.
Jessie shook her head. “Then I’ll deal with the sheriff directly. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m afraid that this tragedy has taken quite a toll on me.”
As she headed past us on the path, Moose and I turned to follow her. We took a dozen steps nearly in tandem when Jessie whirled around and faced us. “Are you honestly going to follow me?” There was real anger in her expression, and I was glad that Moose was with me, despite the fact that I had at least twenty pounds on this woman.
“It’s the only way back to the inn,” I said.
She stared at us for a few seconds more, shook her head, and then she stormed on, doing her best to ignore us.
I touched Moose’s arm to hold him back a little, but he just shrugged, so we walked on together.
When Jessie got back to open ground, her pace increased, and she was soon stomping off toward the safety of her hotel.
“She’s a little touchy about her alibi, isn’t she?” Moose asked. “I thought for a second there that she was going to push us both off the path straight into the lake.”
“I understand her being a little on edge,” I said. “After all, someone just killed her fiancé.”
“Was it me, or did she not seem too upset about who might have done it?” I asked.
“What do you mean?”
“She didn’t show much grief, as far as I’m concerned. She was angry, and more than a little defensive, but not grieving. And what about that telephone call we overheard? I wonder who she could have been talking to.”
“I don’t have a clue,” Moose said as he scratched his chin. “We need to keep an eye on her. I’m automatically suspicious of anyone who refuses to share their alibis with us, aren’t you?”
“Not everyone has one,” I said.
“No, but she sidestepped the question the second she heard it. I’ve got a hunch that she’s hiding something.”
“Do you think she killed him?” I asked my grandfather.
“It’s something we can’t rule out, but I have to wonder about something. If she is guilty, what made her get rid of him right here and now? She’s really the only one who’s been a part of Gordon’s life lately, so why kill him once he’s back in a town where he made a great many enemies?”
“That’s the answer to your question right there,” I said.
“I don’t follow you,” Moose answered.
“What better place to bump him off than someplace where there are half a dozen other viable suspects? If she planned it that way, she’s absolutely brilliant.”
“And if she didn’t?”
“Then she’s pretty gutsy, or maybe she’s just an innocent bystander.” I hesitated, and then I added, “The only time I bought her completely was when she was talking about Ellen’s kids. I’ve got a hunch that she was sincere about that, and Gordon knew it. His kids were a deal-breaker for her, and he must have really wanted her money. Why else would he risk coming back here after all of these years not knowing what he was going to face?”
“Knowing Gordon, the potential profit had to outweigh the danger.”
I was about to reply when I looked up and saw that Cal was walking toward us, along with a pair of husky men wearing sharp-looking suits.
None of them were smiling, and I had to wonder if this was more bad news for us.
Chapter 5
“I’m afraid you two are going to have to leave the premises,” Cal said as he reached us first. “We can’t have you walking the grounds upsetting our guests.”
“Who exactly has been complaining about us?” Moose asked. He was clearly in no mood to comply with exiting the property without a fight.
“This is private property, sir,” one of the men said, clearly from the security team. “We don’t need to provide any information o
ther than that. Now, if you’ll tell us what you’re driving, we’ll be happy to escort you to your vehicle.”
“What if we came by for lunch?” I asked as I pointed to the restaurant.
“I’m sorry, but that’s not going to work. We’re booked for the foreseeable future.”
Moose looked at Cal, who seemed to shrug for just a second. It was clear that this wasn’t his idea, but there was nothing he could do about it, especially since he’d been the one who’d told us where we’d find Jessie in the first place. “We’re truly sorry,” he said, though it was clear by his tone that he was doing his best to match his companions’ tone.
“No worries,” Moose said with a grin that was clearly artificial. At least it was clear to me. “We’re off, then. No hard feelings.”
No one responded to that, so my grandfather and I walked back to his truck with an escort. As I started to get in the passenger side, I looked over at the restaurant and saw one of the drapes flutter. Someone had been watching the entire procession, and I had a good hunch who that might be. Well, at least we’d given Jessie a show to go along with her meal.
As we pulled out of the parking lot, I said, “Wow, that was fast, wasn’t it? They didn’t waste any time getting rid of us.”
Moose just shrugged. “When there’s that kind of money involved, I’m pretty sure the hotel staff is ready to do just about anything that they’re called on to do.”
“Still, you gave up pretty easily,” I said with a grin. “What happened, did their sheer numbers intimidate you into backing down?”
“Yeah, that was it entirely,” Moose said, matching my smile. “I knew that we weren’t going to get anything else out of Jessie today, so it was important that no one had to actually throw us off the property. This way we’re free to come back and speak with her again later.”
“Do you honestly think that’s going to happen?”
“You never know,” Moose said. “Who should we tackle next?”
“I say we go by the garage and have a little chat with Wayne,” I said. “It sounds as though he had a few reasons of his own to take a pipe to the back of Gordon Murphy’s head. Not only did the man punch his lights out, but he did it in front of his girlfriend. I’ve got the feeling that more than Wayne’s pride was hurt by that blow.”