Drowning the Daffodils (A Heavenly Highland Inn Cozy Mystery)

by Bell, Cindy

  “What's wrong?” Wilbur asked as he leaned closer to her.

  “I just have this crazy suspicion,” Vicky shook her head slightly. “But it just couldn't be true.”

  “Hmm,” Aunt Ida met Vicky's eyes intently. “Never doubt your instincts, Vicky, you get them from me after all,” she winked lightly at Vicky.

  “Maybe you're right, Aunt Ida,” Vicky smiled a little as she began fishing through her purse for the bit of broken gold she had found. When she pulled it out of her purse Wilbur took off his glasses.

  “What's that you've got there?” he asked curiously.

  “I'm not sure,” Vicky admitted. “Do either of you know what it is?”

  Wilbur leaned very close to the gold and narrowed his eyes so that he could see it clearly. “Oh sure, it looks like a piece of a watch winding stem.”

  “What's a winding stem?” Vicky asked with some confusion.

  “It's the part of the watch that lets you set the time. You need it to wind it manually on mechanical watches. If you pull it out to wind the watch or set the time and leave it out, your watch stops,” he explained. “Most people have those newfangled digital watches. I'd venture to say this came from a more expensive watch, from someone who appreciates a classic.”

  “Like Jane's watch,” Vicky murmured under her breath as she recalled how Jane had said her watch stopped and it looked as if it was damaged.

  “Are you on to something?” Aunt Ida asked curiously as she studied Vicky.

  “I'm not sure yet,” Vicky admitted as she pulled out her cell phone. “The two of you just stick together, okay?”

  “Absolutely,” Aunt Ida nodded as she looped her arm through Wilbur's. “We're going to have tea and cookies in the garden.”

  “Tea and cookies?” Vicky asked with mirth in her eyes.

  “What?” Aunt Ida asked with a huff. “I can be fancy.”

  “If you say so,” Vicky found herself grinning as the two walked away. As she stood beside the front desk she texted Mitchell explaining what she had found. She was beginning to suspect that Jane and Lawrence's alibi might have been less solid than they first assumed. After sending the text she tucked the piece of watch into her pocket and left her purse and cell phone behind the desk. She wanted to take another look at the pool area now that the crime scene tape had been removed.

  As Vicky stepped out onto the pool deck she could hear Aunt Ida and Wilbur talking softly as they walked to the small patio area set up in the center of the garden to enjoy their afternoon snack.

  Vicky noticed right away that a bench was still out of place. She walked over to it and tested the weight of it. It was a metal bench, not a plastic one, so it was rather hard to slide. She guessed that it had been pushed in the middle of a struggle or maybe even by the crime scene techs. Vicky crouched down low and saw where the bench had been slid back across the pool deck. She was certain she had straightened everything up before the Carters had lunch out on the pool deck, so it must have been moved after that. As she slid it back into place she caught a glimmer in between the wooden decking out of the corner of her eye.

  She crouched down again and carefully removed the item that was wedged between the boards. It was golden chain along with a pendant. She recognized the pendant immediately because it was circular with a raised golden C. It was the pendant that Lawrence Carter had been wearing the day he checked into the inn. If the bench had been disturbed during a confrontation with Simon, then surely the pendant had been pulled off during that same confrontation. Which meant that Lawrence was most likely the other person who had been on the camera. The police must have missed the pendant because it was lodged quite far down and only visible from a particular angle.

  A chill ran down Vicky's spine as she remembered Lawrence’s comment about Simon being pushed into the pool. No one had stated that Simon was pushed, but that was a reasonable assumption to make. What wasn't reasonable was Lawrence's necklace being lost and he never mentioning that it was missing. The evidence was beginning to pile up, and it was all pointing in the direction of Lawrence. That realization sunk in slowly as Vicky stared at the pendant. Could she really accuse a father of killing his own child? There had to be some other explanation, she tried to tell herself. But she knew that there wasn't.

  Vicky stood up and held tightly to the pendant. She would talk to Mitchell about it first. Maybe he could offer her some kind of alternative theory. She reached into her pocket for her phone, and then recalled leaving it behind the front desk. As she walked back towards the lobby of the inn she heard footsteps walking up behind her. Vicky smiled and tucked the necklace into her pocket as she turned, expecting it to be Wilbur or Aunt Ida.

  “Vicky!” Lawrence called out as he came to a halt right behind her. “I'm glad I caught you.”

  Vicky's heart began to race, her eyes widened slightly. She tried to arrange her features in a friendly expression, but it was hard not to immediately judge the man she now believed had killed his son.

  “How can I help you, Mr. Carter?” she asked with a smile.

  “I was looking for Alina,” Lawrence explained as he studied her intently. “We had a bit of a spat and she took off. I haven't seen her since.”

  “Maybe she's getting a massage,” Vicky replied calmly, trying to keep her nerves from showing. “She did enquire about the masseuse we have available on Sundays.”

  “Oh, I see,” Lawrence smiled along with a chuckle that made Vicky twitch. “That would be where she is then. She never passes up a massage.”

  “Right,” Vicky nodded curtly, eager to get away from him, at least until she could plan out a way to confront him. “I can arrange one for you as well if you would like.”

  “No, that's fine,” Lawrence glanced at the hand she had covering her right pocket. A small amount of the chain of the necklace had slid through two of her fingers.

  “What do you have there?” he asked curiously. Instinctively he reached up to his neck. When he discovered that there was no chain or pendant there his expression tensed. “What is that?” he asked again in a more strained voice.

  “It's a necklace,” she replied hesitantly. She pulled it from her pocket and intended to pretend that she didn't know it was his. “I just found it, and was going to take it to lost and found,” she explained as the pendant with the golden C broke free of her pocket. She heard a slight clatter as the broken watch winding stem fell out with it.

  “That's mine,” he said quietly and then crouched down to pick up the stem. As soon as he realized what was in his hand he grimaced. He scowled as he studied her.

  “And what's this?” he asked.

  She hadn't planned to confront him just yet but he was forcing her to. “Oh, I just found it on the floor,” Vicky began to explain casually. Her heart was really pounding and she regretted leaving her cell phone behind the desk.

  “In my room?” he asked, his tone taking on an eerie calm.

  “I think so,” Vicky replied as she opened her hand and let the necklace drop into his open palm. “Here, have your necklace back.”

  “Where did you find it?” Lawrence asked gruffly, his eyes boring into hers as he stood to his full height.

  “By the pool,” she replied, her voice barely above a whisper. She did her best to avoid looking directly at him.

  “By the pool,” he repeated in that eerie tone, and took a step closer to her. “I suppose that makes you think some crazy things.”

  “No, of course not,” Vicky said quickly. “I'm sure you just lost it during lunch. Or maybe after,” she added and started to move past him towards the lobby. Lawrence caught her by the arm, his grip much firmer than she expected it to be.

  “Tell me what you suspect, Vicky,” Lawrence commanded and she was abruptly aware of the power he must wield in the corporation he ran. He expected her to comply without resistance.

  “I'm just going to let the police sort all of this out,” she said casually and started to pull away. When she felt his firm hand c
urling around her shoulder her heart sunk. She knew that this was not a confrontation that she was going to be able to avoid. He was not going to believe that she didn't suspect him.

  “You're not going to tell the police about the necklace or the watch piece, Vicky,” he hissed and tried to spin her around to face him. Vicky lunged hard and managed to tear away from him. When she felt her freedom she took off at a sprint down the narrow path that led to the garden. She knew that Aunt Ida had said she was going to spend an hour or so with Will in the garden and she would have her phone with her. If she could get to her, she could call for help, and hopefully Lawrence would think twice about hurting her with two witnesses present.

  “Get back here!” Lawrence growled while trying not to shout from anger. He chased after her. Despite his age he was very fit, and Vicky could hear him closing in on her.

  “Do you think you're going to get away from me?” Lawrence barked after her as she reached the edge of the garden. She couldn't run any farther without jumping over tall bushes that surrounded the garden.

  “There are people in the garden!” she said very loudly hoping Aunt Ida would hear her. “I know you don't want to hurt me, Lawrence,” she said again, louder than she needed to.

  “Are you talking about dear Aunt Ida and old Wilbur?” Lawrence chuckled as he stepped closer to her, his eyes gleaming with danger. “I sent them inside before I stopped to talk to you. I told them that you were looking for them, had some information about the case.”

  Vicky's heart sunk as she realized that he had planned the entire confrontation. He must have suspected something when she spotted the alarm clock being the wrong time. Now she truly was alone, and far enough from the inn that no one would hear her if she screamed.

  “Lawrence, let's just go back to the inn and talk about this,” she said as calmly as she could. She hoped he couldn't tell that she was trembling.

  “We're not going back to the inn, Vicky,” he said in that low growl that left her so unsettled. “As far as anyone knows, I'm with Jane, and that's how it will stay. No one will come looking for you,” he added.

  “You do know how to set up an alibi, don't you?” Vicky asked, her voice becoming less panicked and more determined. “Isn't that what you did with Jane before? Jane didn't even know about it, did she?”

  Lawrence glowered at her, the intensity growing in his gaze. “You used her for your alibi. You broke the winding stem so she would think it was a certain time, you even changed the alarm clock, so that it would trick her, too,” she narrowed her eyes and shook her head slowly. “You are a cunning man. I can see how you made your millions, but what I can't understand is why?”

  Lawrence lowered his eyes at the question but Vicky pushed him harder. She was hoping that if she could keep him talking, eventually someone would come looking for her. Lawrence was tall and muscular. His age did not make him vulnerable in any way. Vicky wasn't sure if she would be able to overpower him. “How could you do it?” she asked as she stared at him. “Why would you do it? He was your son,” she shook her head as she studied him. “Simon didn't deserve to die, did he?” her voice strangled with disgust.

  “Don't judge me,” Lawrence growled as he stepped closer to her. “You have no idea what it's like. When you have a fortune everyone wants a piece of it. You're not just a man, you're a treasure chest, and everyone around you will pick you clean if you're not careful.”

  “It was all over the pre-nuptial?” Vicky asked incredulously. “Did you find out about the affair she was having with Mike?”

  “With Mike?” Lawrence sputtered out. “For being so nosy, you've got it all wrong,” Lawrence chuckled and shook his head. “Mike hasn't touched another woman since he married that busy body Charlene. She keeps tabs on him, and he has this crazy notion in his head that he's in love with her. Jane was not having an affair with Mike,” he shook his head again as if it was the stupidest thing he had ever heard.

  Vicky was a little surprised by this. She was certain that Jane was having an affair with someone, otherwise what sense did the argument make that she had overheard? Was it possible that Lawrence simply didn't know about the affair? A moment later it dawned on her and her eyes widened further.

  “It was you,” she hissed as she narrowed her eyes, her stomach flipped with even more disgust. “You're the one that was having an affair with Jane.”

  “Guilty,” Lawrence smirked as if he was somewhat proud of his actions. “I have to admit, it started out as a way to get my son to turn against her, but I can see what he saw in her now. She's a very seductive woman.”

  Vicky grimaced with disgust at his words. “But she was your son's fiancée,” she reminded him. “Aren't there enough other women in the world that you could have just left her alone?”

  “Yes, she was my son's fiancée. From the wrong class, the wrong type of woman. All the more reason to prove how disloyal she is,” Lawrence sighed and shifted his weight from one foot to the other, he was watching her closely to make sure she didn't try to push past him. “She was more than happy to have an affair with me, so why would I let my son marry a woman like that?” he frowned and his jaw clenched for a moment as if he was recalling a painful memory. “But he was just so stubborn. I thought telling him the truth would finally knock some sense into him. He was so insistent that she not have to sign a pre-nuptial. They weren't even married yet and she was already cheating on him with his own father! But when I told him…”

  “He had a different reaction, didn't he?” Vicky asked as her heartbeat quickened. “He knew that you conned her into it.”

  “He got so angry,” Lawrence admitted with a sigh. “I tried to explain to him how I was trying to help him, to protect him. For once I was trying to be a father and protect my child from certain heartbreak and financial ruin. You would think he would thank me for that, but instead he was furious. He put his hands on me, accusing me of manipulating Jane and taking everything from him. The way he was shouting and carrying on, I knew someone was bound to hear. I couldn't have the rest of the family know that I was sleeping with Jane. He was out of control!”

  “So, you tried to control him,” Vicky suggested, her throat tightening with horror at the thought of it. “You tried to quiet him down.”

  Lawrence lowered his eyes and his cheeks flushed with shame. “I never expected him to slip. I never expected it, I just wanted him to be quiet. I told him to shut his disrespectful mouth and he spat at me! He said I was the reason the family was split apart, and now I was trying to do the same thing to him and Jane,” he shook his head and closed his eyes. “When he wouldn't quiet down I just gave him a shove but he fought back,” he murmured his words. “I just wanted to get my point across and he was refusing to listen to any kind of reason, I didn't expect…” his words trailed off for a moment before he reluctantly began to speak again. “His head cracked against the tiles by the pool,” he breathed his words out. “He just fell, and then he was just gone,” he swallowed thickly. “He wasn't even bleeding, but he had no life in him. No pulse, he wasn't breathing, I knew he was dead,” his final word wavered slightly but not enough for Vicky to believe that he was genuinely heartbroken over the loss of his son.

  “So, you decided to cover up what you did,” Vicky challenged him taking a daring step forward so that there was only a small amount of space between the two of them.

  “I did,” Lawrence murmured. “I couldn't have word getting out that I had killed my own son, even if it was his own fault really,” he shook his head and muttered something under his breath before continuing. “So, I rolled him into the pool,” he glanced in the direction of the pool. “I didn't think anyone would investigate the death too deeply. I figured it would all be swept under the rug,” he gritted his teeth as he looked back at Vicky. “Which is exactly what should have happened. Then we wouldn't be in the messy situation we are in right now.”

  “I can't believe you just pushed him in and walked away,” Vicky hissed with a scowl of repulsio
n. “Your own son, just like that!”

  “Yes,” he replied and then cleared his throat. “I would prefer it if he wasn't dead, but that's just not how things worked out,” he shrugged as if it was a business deal that had gone south. “I would have preferred that you not go snooping around and put yourself in this dangerous position, but you did,” he moved closer to her, his thick shoulders and broad chest making a wall in front of her. “So, now you're going to have to suffer the consequences for your nosy behavior.”

  “You're digging a hole for yourself, Lawrence,” Vicky said coolly. “One that you're not going to climb out of.”

  “Funny thing about holes,” Lawrence growled as he pulled a gun from the back of his pants. “If you dig them deep enough, no one ever finds them.”

  “Lawrence, you don't have to do this,” Vicky said quickly as the afternoon sunlight flashed off the smooth barrel of the gun. “Just put the gun away. What happened to Simon was an accident, like you said, at the very worst it will be considered a crime of passion. But if you kill me, there's no turning back from that. No one is going to believe…”

  “They won't need to,” he reminded her as he raised the gun in the air. “Because they won't find you,” he pointed the gun directly at her and then steered her away from the bushes towards the garden shed. With each step that Vicky took she knew it might be her last. She contemplated screaming, but there was no way anyone could get to her before he pulled the trigger. They were too far from the inn for anyone to hear her anyway. He jerked her towards the shed and then swung open the door, which of course the gardener had left open. As he pushed her inside he grabbed the padlock and hooked it over the latch on the door, essentially locking them inside. That was when Vicky realized Lawrence had no intentions of letting her leave the shed alive.

  “Lawrence,” Vicky attempted to get his attention again, to steer him away from the determination he seemed to have to kill her. “Just think this through,” she pleaded with him. “You're a reasonable man. You know that you can afford to hire the best lawyers in the country. You will likely get acquitted.”