“Lydia, what are you doing here?”
“Teddy Thomas was murdered,” Lydia said.
“I realize that, but you’re a civilian. You should be waiting outside to make a statement. You shouldn’t be inside the crime scene. I understand that this might be an emotional time, but protocols must still be followed.”
He escorted Lydia to the door and told her to remain outside. She decided not to be discouraged. She was lucky that Leo had been emotionally distracted, and this allowed her to look around the crime scene as much as she did. She would also be able to partially follow the proceedings by watching through the doorway.
She told Detective Grey about the cell phones she saw outside, and he told her that they would look into it and that she should not touch them. Then, he headed back to his partner.
Lydia watched them. She wanted to do whatever she could to help, but that meant that she needed to have some information about the case. After hearing Suzanne’s voice on the phone, she knew that it would haunt her if she didn’t do everything she could to find her.
“It is a mask,” Leo said. “A black ski mask.”
“What do you think so far?” Detective Grey asked. He was trying to keep his voice low so Lydia couldn’t hear, but it was much easier to understand than what Suzanne had whispered earlier.
“There’s definitely been foul play here,” was all Leo could respond.
“Do you think that the victim had been wearing that mask? Or do you think he pulled it off of the man who shot him?”
Leo shook his head.
“Well, when the autopsy is complete, we can determine what caliber weapon was used,” Detective Grey said. “That could be useful.”
“The victim, Teddy Thomas, had a meeting here this morning with Suzanne and the new owner of the house. I don’t know anything about the new owner except that she inherited the house and was a woman. Suzanne and Teddy had just been hired by her.”
“We’ll find out what happened,” Detective Grey said supportively. Since he was normally so stern and serious, it sounded strange to hear these words meant to be comforting.
However, Leo wasn’t comforted. “What if I don’t like what we find out? What if I wasn’t here when she needed me? What if…”
“Let’s focus on the facts and move from there,” Detective Grey advised. “Everything else is speculative and won’t help us.”
“The facts,” Leo muttered. “The fact is that Suzanne is missing.”
“She called Lydia before. Even if Suzanne’s phone was destroyed, we could see the exact time that the call was made by checking your sister’s phone. We know she was alive at that time.”
“She wanted to call me,” Leo said sadly.
“We’ll need to find out more about the person who had them meet her at this house,” Detective Grey said, ignoring Leo’s melancholy.
Lydia had been thinking along the same lines. She wondered if the heir to the house was the perpetrator of this crime or if she was a victim in all this too.
Detective Grey began searching the crime scene as Leo stayed near the body, trying to control his breathing.
“I’ve just found something,” Detective Grey said as he checked under the table cloth covering the table that held the antiques. “However, I don’t think we should read too much into it. It is only one piece of evidence.”
Lydia felt her jaw clenching with tension after that sort of build-up. Leo was already looking worse for wear but moved closer to his partner.
Detective Grey held up a fabric headband that they both recognized as Suzanne’s. There was a small blood spot on it. Lydia leaned against the doorway for support.
6
Cars and Clients
Lydia shook off her feelings of horror. She knew it wasn’t helpful to Suzanne if she couldn’t keep her emotions in check.
Leo looked like he wanted to punch something in frustration and anger, but was just managing to contain himself because of the present company.
“There are only a few drops of blood,” Detective Grey said. “This does not look like it came from a fatal wound. And we’re not even sure if the blood is Suzanne’s.”
“Except that it is on something that was kept on her head,” Leo replied, not willing to accept any optimism.
“You know what it probably is?” Lydia suggested, inserting herself into the conversation. “That might have been where Suzanne was hiding when she made her quiet call for help to me. Maybe when she was found, the culprit grabbed her and knocked off the headband. That’s why it was under the table.”
“It sounds like you thought that would make me feel better,” said Leo. “It doesn’t.”
“I’m saying that the blood could have been caused by a superficial wound from being pulled out from under the table and her phone was taken,” said Lydia. “And I think her attacker broke her phone, causing those shatters on the floor. Then, the attacker just abandoned the phones by the bushes as he left.”
“That does sound like a valid explanation of events considering the call, table, and headband,” Detective Grey conceded. “Though civilians really shouldn’t be a part of this conversation.”
“You know that this isn’t an ordinary situation,” Lydia said. “A man is dead. A woman is missing. And a second woman might be missing too.”
“Would you please remain outside,” said Detective Grey.
He was keeping an eye on Leo as he spoke to her, and Lydia realized that he must already be worried about how his partner was facing the case. She didn’t want to get in the way of their work and agreed. She moved further outside, so she wasn’t in the doorway.
However, she didn’t have any intention of stopping her own investigation. She knew that the clock must be ticking to find Suzanne safe and sound. If Leo and Detective Grey found her first, that would be great. This wasn’t a race. But Lydia was still going to search too and do everything she could to save Suzanne.
Lydia decided that since she was told to stay outside that she would look more at the three vehicles by the house. Teddy’s looked to be full of tools, and there was some garbage on the passenger side floor. However, there wasn’t anything that could give her a motive for why he had been murdered.
The rental car was devoid of personality. The only thing that Lydia could see inside was a water bottle.
Then, Lydia looked in Suzanne’s car. There was a tote bag on the passenger side seat that had fallen over. It appeared to be full mostly of fabric swatches, but there was also a large planner amongst the colors. Lydia acted immediately and started snapping pictures of the summer’s appointments.
Suzanne had mentioned a client before she said someone was after her. If the heir to this house wasn’t guilty, then one of these people might be.
She hid her phone as she saw Murray, the medical examiner, head inside the house. He was eyeing her suspiciously before he went inside and Lydia hoped he hadn’t realized what she was doing.
It seemed that she had been busted, though, when Detective Grey and Leo came out to see her a few moments later.
“The cars can be considered part of the crime scene too,” Detective Grey said firmly.
“I’m just trying to help,” Lydia said. “And I really think that you should look into who rented the third car. It might be the new heir to the house if they traveled into town. Or it’s possible that the killer brought it here and left it.”
“This is something that I plan to look into,” Detective Grey agreed. “I think it is likely that the heir to the house brought it here and I’d like to find out more information about this person. All I’ve heard so far is the name: Megan Wilway.”
“I never met her,” Lydia admitted.
“We don’t even know if the person who told Suzanne and Teddy that she was Megan Wilway is her,” Leo said. “It’s possible that this was all a trap to lure them out here. Maybe this person wanted to kidnap Suzanne. Do you think they’ll demand a ransom?”
“I don’t know,” Lydia said.
“Suzanne said the phrase “after us.” It wasn’t someone that was only after her. Maybe she was referring to someone after her and Teddy. But maybe it was someone after her and Megan after already killing Teddy.”
Leo looked morose. “Suzanne and I were supposed to have dinner with Teddy and his wife. It looks like that will never happen now.”
Detective Grey cleared his throat. “I know this is a sensitive subject, but I’m afraid I do need to speak up. Doherty, I think you might be too close to this case.”
“Well, of course, I’m close to it,” Leo said. “My girlfriend is missing, and we found her bloody headband inside. She was trying to call me for help.”
“Yes, but I think you might be too close to it. You can’t look at the evidence objectively,” Detective Grey said. “For example, you’ve never considered that Suzanne might have orchestrated all this so she could kill her work partner.”
“Suzanne would never do that,” Leo said angrily.
“I don’t really think she would,” Detective Grey assured him. “But we need to be open to all possibilities in order to figure out what really happened. And we can’t let our emotions cloud our judgment. In a case like this, we need to work very quickly.”
“I understand that. But I want to save her.”
“We all want that,” Detective Grey said.
“And your emotions have gotten the better of you before,” Lydia had to admit.
Leo opened his mouth to protest, but couldn’t when he looked at his sister. He must have remembered how he was willing to believe that Lydia had poisoned someone when Leo had been upset about their uncle’s will. He hadn’t been able to put his anger aside and look at the case clearly.
“I can see that you want me to sit this one out, but I can’t just sit around when she’s in trouble,” Leo said finally.
“I’m not asking you to do nothing,” Detective Grey said. “But I think you might be better suited to doing some research instead of being out in the field. I promise that I will do everything in my power to bring Suzanne Peppercorn safely home.”
“All right,” Leo said, sounding defeated. “I’ll go back to the station and see what I can find out about the house.”
“I do want to see if there’s a connection between Megan Wilway and the victim,” Detective Grey said. “I think that’s a strong lead to follow.”
“I think—“ Lydia began.
“Miss Doherty,” Detective Grey said, sounding very formal. “I know you feel involved because you received the distress call. But the best thing that you could do right now is to stay out of the department’s way. And please don’t tell anyone about this until we make sure that the victim’s family is informed of what happened.”
“I should do that before I go to the station,” Leo said sadly. “I can inform Mrs. Thomas about the death.”
“Why don’t you make some taffy that Suzanne could enjoy if she comes home,” Detective Grey said.
Lydia knew that he meant this to sound comforting and to give her a task to complete, but she didn’t like the way he said: “if.”
7
Invitation to Investigate
Leo and Lydia walked away from the Wilway house that had been turned into a crime scene. They both seemed deflated. Lydia could understand why Leo was upset. He was worried about the woman he had just told he loved, he had been taken off the main action of the case because he was too close to it, and now he was going to tell someone that they had lost their husband. Lydia was also feeling low. She felt like she was letting Suzanne down by not immediately coming up with a clever solution on where she was after getting her call for help. After Detective Grey had let the phrase “if she comes home” slip, she was also starting to legitimately worry that they wouldn’t be able to save her.
“If you need to talk at all, I’m here,” Lydia told her brother.
“Thanks. But after I talk to Mrs. Thomas, I think I’m going to dive into research and see if there’s anything I can find out about this heir. I’ll see why she inherited this house and then if there’s a paper trail with an ulterior motive for what she is up to.”
“Okay. But I am here for you. So is Sunny, if seeing a dog will help you cope.”
“There’s no time to deal with my feelings. Everything should be focused on finding Suzanne. And Megan Wilway if she’s a victim too,” Leo said. “We need everyone on this case.”
He hurried off towards his cruiser, but Lydia kept focusing on his words. When she reached her car, she decided to pay Trina a visit instead of going back to the taffy shop right away.
Trina opened the door as soon as Lydia knocked, but her happy expression soon changed to concern. “What’s wrong? Don’t tell me something happened with Daniel. I started to fear that I had put out too many bad vibes last night at dinner. I didn’t mean to, but I was upset. I didn’t rock the boat in your relationship, did I? Is everything okay with Daniel?”
“It’s not Daniel. It’s Suzanne,” Lydia said.
“She and Leo broke up? No way. They were totally in love last night. In fact, they awkwardly confessed it in front of all of us. I feel like I might need a glass of wine again. Do you want one?”
“No. I need all my wits about me. Suzanne is missing.”
“What do you mean missing? Like she skipped town?”
“Like her contractor coworker was murdered and we don’t know where she is. She was most likely kidnapped by a killer.”
“Well, now I really want some wine. But I’ll refrain,” Trina said, ushering her friend inside. “Tell me everything you know and what I can do to help.”
Lydia recapped everything that she could. She told Trina how she had accidentally gotten Suzanne’s call for help and how she had to inform Leo about what happened. She described the crime scene and the cars outside. She told her about seeing Teddy’s body and about the black ski mask found in his hand. She told her everything she could and afterward felt exhausted. She felt like she had been carrying around this anxiety about Suzanne’s safety for days rather than hours.
“This is terrible,” Trina said, sitting on her couch next to Lydia. “Suzanne seemed like such a nice person. I was so annoyed with her and Leo last night, but that wasn’t really about them. It was about me and my own insecurity right now. I feel awful that that was the last time I interacted with her.”
“It won’t be the last time,” Lydia said, trying to convince them both. “The killer didn’t take any pains to hide Teddy Thomas’s body. If he had actually killed her, I’m sure we would have found her body already. That means that she’s alive. We just need to find her.”
“I still feel bad,” Trina said. “I feel like my actions cosmically jinxed a happy couple. I want to fix this.”
“This is not your fault. The only person responsible for this is the person perpetrating these crimes. But I will accept your help if you want to assist me in looking for Suzanne.”
“Of course I do. But will Leo and Detective Grey be mad at us?”
“I think finding Suzanne is much more important than worrying about annoying them,” Lydia said. “But it just so happens that Leo gave me the go-ahead to investigate.”
“He did? That doesn’t sound like him.”
“Well, he didn’t send me a literal invitation, but he said directly to me that they need everyone on this case.”
“You are part of everyone,” Trina agreed. “And these are desperate times. But what do we do now?”
“Unfortunately, we don’t understand why these crimes took place,” Lydia said with a frown. “Was Teddy the intended target, and Suzanne and possibly Megan were taken because they had seen too much? Was Suzanne or Megan the person that the killer wanted to kidnap, and he killed Teddy to show he was serious? Did the killer go there intending to murder someone, or did they have another objective in mind?”
“We really have no idea what happened. How can we figure it all out?”
“Well, Leo is going to focus his research on the inheritance
and the house. Detective Grey is going to try and find out more about Megan Wilway too. I think she is the prime suspect in his book right now,” Lydia said. “So, we should concentrate our efforts on something that they are not focused on.”
“Good idea. If one thing doesn’t pan out, hopefully, the other will and one of us will find Suzanne. What is it?”
“Suzanne mentioned her client when she called me. Either this is Megan Wilway, or it’s another client of hers that is the killer,” Lydia said. “I took some pictures of her summer calendar. I think we might be able to determine who her recent clients were. We can see if any of them make viable suspects.”
Sour Apple and Animosity Page 3