by Bell, Cindy
“Hello?” she said into the phone.
“Hi Vicky, it's Mitchell,” he said quietly.
“I know who it is,” she replied and found herself smiling without meaning to.
“Listen, I have some information about Simon's death,” he paused a moment and sighed before continuing. “It was no accident, Vicky.”
“Are you sure?” Vicky asked without much surprise. She had been expecting the call.
“Yes, there was alcohol in his system, but he also had defensive wounds, and he did not die from drowning. He died from a blow to the head, which could have happened if he slipped, but that doesn’t explain the defensive wounds.”
“Oh no,” Vicky sighed and closed her eyes briefly. “I just looked at the cameras that cover the pool, there's not much that's helpful on them,” she frowned.
“I'm sorry, Vicky,” Mitchell said soberly. “I know it's not what you want to hear. I'm going to be over there in about twenty minutes. This is now a homicide investigation, and,” he paused a moment before speaking again. “Sheriff McDonald is coming with me.”
“Great,” Vicky did her best to cover up a sigh. Sheriff McDonald was not someone that she enjoyed seeing. He was a bit of a bully and was always giving Mitchell a hard time.
“Can you please get all the tapes from the pool cameras together from around the time of the murder so I can look at them,” Mitchell requested.
“Of course,” Vicky replied with a sigh.
When Vicky hung up the phone she turned back towards Aunt Ida and Will who were still chatting over their cups of coffee.
“Well, Will it looks like your suspicions were right,” Vicky said as she studied the man intently. Now it was even more important than ever that he recall exactly what he saw.
“What do you mean?” Will asked with surprise as he looked up at Vicky.
“It turns out that Simon's death wasn't an accident after all,” Vicky explained as she paused beside the table they were sitting at. “Mitchell just called to tell me that this is now a homicide investigation.”
“Oh no,” Aunt Ida gasped and shook her head. “What does that mean?” she paused a moment as she looked towards the nearby elevator. “Someone here killed him?” she asked as she turned back to Vicky.
“It looks that way,” Vicky said with a frown. “I doubt that anyone would have just randomly hurt Simon. It must have been one of his family members.”
“Or his fiancée,” Aunt Ida pointed out.
“Well, it was a man I saw by the pool,” Wilbur said firmly. “Of that much I am certain.”
“Mitchell asked me to gather the family members in the lobby so that they're easily available to him when he arrives to question them. Will, I am sure Mitchell will want to talk to you as well, so are you okay to stick around?”
“Of course. Anything I can do to help,” Wilbur nodded, though his face had paled. None of them had expected this to really turn out to be a murder. As Vicky walked away from the table she called Sarah to inform her of what was unfolding. Even though she was taking some time off she wanted to be kept apprised of any happenings at the inn. This certainly was a happening.
“Do you know if they have any suspects?” Sarah asked after Vicky filled her in on what was happening.
“I think everyone is a suspect at the moment,” Vicky replied with disappointment. But of course, there was one particular person that Vicky suspected the most. The person she believed was having an affair with his brother's fiancée.
Chapter Five
Once all of the Carters and Jane were gathered in the lobby Vicky stood nervously in front of the group. As she looked among the faces staring back at her she knew that one of them was responsible for Simon's death. As likely as it was that it was Mike, she still couldn't rule out anyone else. The way the Carters bickered, there was probably more than one reason why they were angry at each other.
“Why are we here?” Alina asked with annoyance. “Don't you think you should be letting us grieve, not disturbing us?”
“Well, this is now a police matter,” Vicky explained as calmly as she could. “And in a few minutes Sheriff McDonald and Deputy Sheriff Slate will be here to speak to each of you.”
“What?” Jane asked with surprise. “The sheriff, why?”
“Because,” Charlene said as she crossed her arms. “They don't think it was an accident.”
Vicky quickly studied the faces around Charlene searching for one that might indicate surprise or fear. Although everyone did react with some level of shock, she didn't notice any one looking obviously guilty.
“It's true,” Vicky said quietly. “It looks as if Simon's death was not caused by a slip.”
“But he was so drunk,” Mike reminded everyone, his eyes narrowed. “Obviously he slipped. I mean, who would want to hurt Simon?”
“Well, I know that there was some arguing going on,” Vicky reminded the group before her.
“What are you trying to say, young lady?” Lawrence growled as he stared straight at Vicky. “Are you accusing one of us of having something do with Simon's death?”
“No sir,” Vicky said quickly as she realized her mistake. “I was just pointing out that there were some charged emotions yesterday. I didn't mean anything by it.”
“I bet,” Lawrence scowled and looked away from her. Vicky felt a twang of fear. She didn't want to alienate one of the wealthiest men that had stayed at the inn. It could do great harm to the inn's reputation.
“Hello, everyone,” Mitchell said as he walked through the door. Sheriff McDonald stepped in behind him. He fixed the entire group with a suspicious glare while Mitchell spoke politely to the family. “I'm very sorry for your loss,” he said with genuine sympathy. “I'll do my best to make this as quick and painless as possible. Because of some evidence that the medical examiner discovered we have reason to believe that Simon met with foul play,” he glanced among the faces of the people before him. “So, I'm going to divide you up, and all I need to know from you was where you were between three and five yesterday afternoon,” he explained as he pulled out his notebook. “Sheriff McDonald will take some of your statements, we need to confirm your whereabouts at the time of Simon's death.”
“And if we refuse?” Jane asked shyly. Her cheeks were flaming red. Sheriff McDonald laid his hand on the butt of his gun and stepped up beside Mitchell, his glare deepening though he remained silent.
“You have the right to refuse,” Mitchell admitted as his jaw tensed. “However, that will mean that I will have to name you as a suspect and bring you into the station. I just want all of you to know that this is simply to rule out all of you as suspects. With this information documented we can move onto outside suspects.”
“Outside suspects?” Lawrence asked with surprise. “Do you mean you think someone just walked off the street and decided to kill Simon?”
“With all due respect, Mr. Carter, with your wealth and the history of your corporation, I believe that it may be possible that someone harmed your son in order to harm you,” he arched a brow slightly as he met Lawrence's eyes.
“I never thought of that,” Lawrence said slowly. “I do have a few enemies.”
“Well, any information about them will be helpful,” Mitchell said quickly. “Let's go ahead and get started. Let's see,” he glanced down at his notebook where he had written a list of all the family members. “I'd like to speak with Simon's immediate family, and Sheriff McDonald will be speaking with the spouses. If that's all right with you, sir?” he asked as he glanced over his shoulder at Sheriff McDonald.
Sheriff McDonald nodded without a word and pulled out his notepad. Vicky could tell he was trying to be his usual intimidating self. She glanced over at Mitchell, who seemed to be waiting to share a grimace of annoyance with her at the sheriff's behavior. It was the first time he had even looked in her direction. Vicky studied him for a moment and then returned the grimace. As Sheriff McDonald gathered the spouses together, Jane nervously glanced in the
direction of the immediate family.
“Do I even count as a spouse?” she muttered under her breath as she stood beside Vicky.
“Yes, you do,” Vicky said as she met Jane's eyes. “Just be honest.”
“I can handle the questioning,” Sheriff McDonald interrupted gruffly. “I'll take it from here. Can you tell me where you were around four yesterday afternoon?” he asked as Vicky stepped aside.
“Of course I can,” Jane replied. “I was with Lawrence,” she admitted and lowered her eyes.
“Lawrence?” Sheriff McDonald asked with surprise. “Were you alone with him?”
“Yes,” Jane sighed. “I wanted to talk to him about Simon, and convince him that we were really in love, that I wasn't after anyone's money,” she frowned.
“And about how long were you with him?” Sheriff McDonald asked.
“About a half hour, I think,” Jane said thoughtfully. “Yes, it was about four fifteen when we were together, until about five o'clock.”
Sheriff McDonald was surprised by the exactness of the time. “How do you know for sure that was the time?” he asked suspiciously.
“I know because I looked at my watch,” Jane snapped in return. “I looked at it when I first met with Lawrence because I wanted to make sure I wasn't away from Simon for too long.”
“And you looked at it again when you left Lawrence?” Sheriff McDonald pressed as he jotted down the information.
“Actually no,” Jane said thoughtfully. “I saw the time on the alarm clock. We were in Lawrence's suite.”
“Oh, I see,” Sheriff McDonald said as he glanced over at the group that was talking with Mitchell. “Was Lawrence’s wife, Alina, with you?” he asked.
“No, I think she was in the garden,” Jane replied with a shake of her head. “I don't know, but since everything happened I can barely keep track of what time of day it is,” she glanced down at her watch. She stared at it for a long moment. “That's strange,” she mumbled.
“What is?” Vicky asked as she looked at Jane's watch, too.
“That's all I need for now,” Sheriff McDonald said as he moved onto Charlene, Mike's wife.
“What time is it?” Jane asked Vicky as she moved closer to her, confusion creeping into her voice.
“It's about twelve,” Vicky replied as she peered closer at Jane's watch.
“Huh,” Jane frowned and tapped the face of her watch. “It must have stopped. It looks like the bit on the side has broken off,” she sighed.
“I'm done here,” Sheriff McDonald muttered to Mitchell as he tucked his notebook back into his pocket. “You finish up here, and meet me back at the office,” he glanced at his watch and then sternly into Mitchell's eyes. “In no more than a half hour, no catching up with your girlfriend.”
Mitchell narrowed his eyes but nodded respectfully. Vicky watched as Sheriff McDonald walked out the door of the inn. She could never quite figure him out. When Mitchell finished up with the last of the Carters and their spouses he met Vicky at the front desk.
“Looks to me like everyone has an alibi,” Mitchell said casually though he did not meet her eyes directly. “Everyone, except for Mike. Lawrence claims to have been with Jane, Alina and her nieces were in the garden along with Max and his wife. Mike on the other hand said he went for a walk in the woods.”
Vicky remembered the man in the cap walking towards the parking lot and the woods on the camera. Could that have been Mike?
“Well, I have a guest here who witnessed an argument between Simon and a man at the pool. I already had a look at the camera feeds before they were requested for evidence but wasn't able to tell from them who the man was,” she shook her head. “But there's something else,” she lowered her voice and he leaned closer to her to listen. “Aunt Ida and I overheard a conversation between Jane and Mike. I think they are having an affair.”
“Oh,” Mitchell narrowed his eyes and glanced over at Mike who was talking animatedly with Jane. “Well, that does change things, doesn't it?”
“I think so,” Vicky agreed.
“Who's the witness?” Mitchell asked.
“It's Wilbur,” Vicky admitted and Mitchell cringed immediately.
“The one with the glasses?” he asked hesitantly, he knew of Wilbur's faulty vision.
“Yes,” Vicky nodded and glanced in the direction of the restaurant. “He's having coffee with Aunt Ida.”
“I'll go talk with him,” Mitchell said as he began to walk away from the desk, but paused a step or two away. When he glanced back Vicky realized she had been staring at him, because he looked right into her eyes. “Can we talk later?” he asked as he held her gaze.
“I think I just need to get all of this settled,” Vicky uttered and glanced away. When she stole a glance back at him she could see his jaw clenched and his lips twitching over the battle of whether to say more or remain silent. Luckily, Sarah stepped into the lobby at that moment. Vicky excused herself and hurried over to Sarah. Sarah looked from Vicky to Mitchell and back to Vicky again.
“Wow, intense,” she muttered as Mitchell walked towards the restaurant. “I guess you haven't ironed things out quite yet.”
“I don't want to talk about it,” Vicky said shortly as she turned to look at her sister. “There are more important things to deal with right now.”
“Okay, okay,” Sarah said quickly and held up her hands in a sign of surrender. “So what have you found out?”
“It looks like the main suspect is Mike. He's the only one that doesn't really have an alibi, and I'm pretty sure he's having an affair with Jane.”
“Really?” Sarah asked as she studied Mike from across the room. He was standing close to his wife Charlene who had an arm wrapped around his waist in an offer of support. “Looks like she doesn't have a clue about it.”
“Isn't it sad?” Vicky asked with a frown. “You can think you know someone, you can trust them, and they could be doing that behind your back.”
“Not really,” Sarah said softly. “I know my husband, and I know he would never do that to me.”
Vicky glanced over at Sarah whose eyes were filled with certainty. Vicky wished she could understand what made that possible. Maybe it was just her suspicious, investigative nature, but she had a hard time believing that even the people she cared about the most weren't keeping secrets.
“We have this under control,” Vicky assured Sarah and gave her sister a quick hug. “Go home, be with your family. If anything new comes up I'll let you know right away.”
“Okay,” Sarah nodded reluctantly. Vicky could tell that she was torn between staying or going. After Sarah left, Vicky walked into the restaurant to see if Mitchell was still talking to Wilbur, but she only found Aunt Ida and Wilbur at the table.
“Where's Mitchell?” Vicky asked curiously.
“He said he had all he needed,” Aunt Ida shrugged. Vicky was a little hurt that he wouldn't have at least said goodbye to her.
“I told him everything I knew, but I wish I could be more helpful,” Wilbur admitted with a sigh.
“You've already been a big help,” Vicky assured him. “You went to a lot of effort.”
“Anything for…” he hesitated a moment as he glanced at Aunt Ida before looking back at Vicky. “For the inn. It's like a second home to me, you know.”
Vicky smiled warmly at his words. “I'm going to take a look outside around the pool again,” she murmured.
“Be careful, Vicky,” Aunt Ida cautioned as she met her niece's eyes. “If the murderer is still here at the inn then we could all be at risk.”
“I will be,” Vicky promised her as she headed for the door in the lobby that led out to the pool. The truth was she wanted a few minutes alone to try to sort things out.
Chapter Six
The pool and its surrounds had been processed by the crime scene technicians and Vicky pushed the crime scene tape to the side so she could walk through. As Vicky stepped out onto the pool deck she noticed the quiet. No one was outside h
aving a glass of wine or contemplating an afternoon swim. The entire area held a sense of tragedy that was now made even more eerie by the knowledge that Simon had been murdered. Vicky stood beside the pool and stared down into the still water. As obvious as it seemed that Mike was the murderer, something still didn't sit right with Vicky. The argument she had overheard between Mike and Jane had left her very unsettled.
Then there was Alina's icy behavior, despite Lawrence's evident despair. She knew that Mitchell was working hard on the case, but the murder had occurred at her inn. She had been in the building when Simon was dying in the pool. She had to think about all of the little details she might have overlooked. She recalled the family gathered together beside the pool. They were laughing and having a great time one moment, and then arguing the next. They had turned from warm and friendly to bitter and volatile in the span of a few drinks.
Vicky tried to think back to what words were actually exchanged in the argument. She could recall that accusations flew about Jane, and that Simon had become furious. It sure seemed at the time that Simon loved his fiancée. But why would anyone kill Simon over a silly argument about his fiancée? Even if Mike was having an affair with her, was that enough to make him want to kill Simon? And what about Mike's wife, Charlene? She seemed like a mild and friendly woman, but perhaps she possessed enough strength to push a drunk Simon into the pool.
Vicky sighed and shook her head as the possibilities seemed endless. The family had a lot of history between them, and truly any one of them could be a suspect. Since they all had similar builds, the figure on the video tape offered no more of a hint. If only the cameras had been of better quality. She made a mental note to look into purchasing better cameras for the pool area. She decided it was time to speak more specifically with some of the family, off the record. If she could get Mike or Jane to admit to the affair then maybe she would get a hint as to who was responsible for Simon's death. As Vicky began to walk away from the pool, she heard Aunt Ida chatting with Wilbur just inside the lobby.