by Kathi Daley
I thought of the haunted look on Trey’s face in that photo and realized speaking to the family pastor might not be a bad idea at all.
“How’s your search for the woman with the letters goin’?” Gertie asked. “I’ve shown the photo to a few folks, but no one seems to know who either person might be.”
“I haven’t had a lot of time to work on it, but so far it seems like a dead end. Vikki has a friend in the FBI who’s going to poke around a bit, but I’m not expecting much. I figure my best bet is to find someone locally who was around back then and might remember something. I know it was a long time ago, but there are quite a few folks on the island who are lifetime residents. Someone must remember something.”
“You know, you might want to speak to Deke Manning. Deke’s a lifer who’s been on the island for more than seventy years. He’s retired now, but he used to own a butcher shop. Now, offhand, I don’t know why a butcher and a guest at the resort would be acquainted, but I don’t suppose it would hurt to ask.”
I grabbed a pen from my purse and wrote down his name on a napkin. “Jack suggested a woman named Edna Turner might be able to provide a lead.”
“Yup, Edna would be a good one to talk to. Should have thought of her myself. And as long as you’re making a list, you should add Roland Carver. He was the mayor years ago. Oh, and Clint Brown. He used to own a real estate office and he seemed to know a lot of folks.”
“Anyone else?” I asked.
“Not off the top of my head, but I’ll think on it some more, and I’ll keep showin’ the photo around.”
“Thanks. Jack and I agreed to put Alex’s mystery to bed before we spend much time looking for Francine and Paul, but the more I think about them, the more curious I become.”
******
I called Jack when I left Gertie’s to let him know I was going to stop by to speak to Reverend Thompson before I came back. I’d never met him and had no reason to believe he would share personal information regarding Trey or his family with me, but it couldn’t hurt to chat with him just in case he had something he wanted to share.
The Baptist Church was in the center of town, near the library. It was a small building with a steeple and a bell tower that was built on a large lot that had been nicely landscaped with a lawn and a colorful flower garden. The Sunday service for the day was over at eleven and it was now close to noon, so I wasn’t sure the pastor would even still be there, but Gertie had suggested I check the small office to the left of the main building, where Reverend Thompson was likely to be tending to church business.
“Reverend Thompson,” I said to the older gentleman with gray hair and faded blue eyes after poking my head in through the open door.
“Yes. Can I help you?”
“My name is Jillian Hanford.”
“Garrett’s sister?”
I nodded. “I was hoping to speak to you for a few minutes about some research I’m doing for a friend of mine who’s writing a book.”
He smiled. “Please come in and have a seat. How’s Garrett doing? I’m afraid I haven’t taken the time to stop by to chat with him for more than a month.”
“He seems to be doing a lot better these days. He’s even planning to come home for Thanksgiving dinner.”
“That’s wonderful. I’m so happy to hear that. How can I help you?”
“One of the writers who lives at the resort, Alex Cole, is writing a book about Trey Alderman’s life as it relates to his baseball career, including his death during the ball game in Charleston. I was just speaking with Gertie Newsome, who suggested I speak to you.”
“I see. Was there something specific you wanted to know?”
I hesitated. “I’m not sure exactly. When I first began researching Trey’s life, I found him to be a confident and somewhat arrogant young man. But I recently came across a photo of him, and in it the smiling, cocky young man appeared more distracted and detached. More than that, he looked haunted. I guess I wonder if there was something going on in his life that wasn’t readily apparent.”
“I’m afraid I hadn’t spoken to Trey since he left the island to attend college, and even if I had and he had shared his concerns with me, I wouldn’t be at liberty to discuss that information with anyone else. I will say, however, that Trey had a depth to him that those looking only at his actions might miss entirely. He liked to play the arrogant athlete who only needed to cock his finger for others to come running, but the reality is that Trey felt things a lot more deeply than others would imagine. I don’t find it at all hard to believe that the course his life had taken, while quite fantastic, had left him feeling unbalanced and out of sorts.”
“I understand Trey had a falling out with his parents before he died.”
“That’s my understanding as well. As I indicated before, though, I’m not at liberty to discuss such things.”
I stood up. “I understand.” I turned to leave. “The initial police report indicated Trey’s heart attack was due to recreational drug use the night before he died. My writers’ group has found reason to believe he didn’t take the drugs voluntarily. In your opinion, did Trey seem the sort to take a bunch of drugs the night before a big game?”
“No. Trey was quite serious about his career—but keep in mind I hadn’t spoken to him in several years, so I can’t speak to his mental state at the time of his death.”
“Thank you for your time.”
“Tell Garrett hi for me. I’ll try to get by to see him in the next few weeks. That brother of yours is a good man.”
“Yeah. He is.”
I headed back to the resort. I wasn’t sure what Jack had planned between now and four o’clock, when we were supposed to meet with Portia and Brooke, but he probably had something in mind. I wanted to stop by the general store to look at decorations for the Thanksgiving table, and I should prepare a meal for the Mystery Mastermind meeting tomorrow night. Maybe I’d make tacos. It had been a while, and they were easy and would feed a crowd.
******
By the time I reached the resort, Jack and his friends had already begun to frame the ramp that would allow Garrett to enter the main house through the front door despite the four steps leading up to the front porch. Luckily, once you reached the porch, the front entry was already double wide and level with the decking.
“Wow! You’ve already made a lot of progress,” I said to them.
“We should have this finished by the end of the day. The doorway into the downstairs bedroom and then from the bedroom to the adjoining bath will take a bit longer, but we should have it ready by the time Garrett arrives for Thanksgiving,” Jack responded.
“I think it’s going to mean a lot to him that everyone pitched in to make him feel at home.”
“How did your talk with Gertie go?” Jack asked.
“She didn’t have a whole lot of new information, but it’s always nice to get another perspective. I was thinking about going to the general store, but I wanted to check with you first to see if you had plans for us between now and our meeting with Brooke and Portia.”
Jack lifted a board and held it in place while one of the others nailed it into place.
“I don’t have anything arranged other than to get the ramp done and make a supply list for the doorways. If you need to run to the store that’s fine with me.”
“Okay, great. I want to pick up something for dinner tomorrow night and maybe a centerpiece of the table. I shouldn’t be too long.”
“You might want to check with Victoria before you go. She was looking for you. I think she’s out back.”
“Okay, thanks. I’ll see you in a bit.”
I went around to the back of the house, where I found Victoria sitting on the deck overlooking the ocean. I pulled a lawn chair around and sat down beside her.
“Oh good; you’re back. I wanted to tell you about my date.”
Based on the huge smile on Vikki’s face, it seemed it had gone well.
“Rick and I had a wonderful time. We
dined in a nice restaurant, then took a drive down the coast a bit and found a place to park.”
“And…?” I asked the obvious did-they-or-didn’t-they question without words.
“And we didn’t have sex. Instead, we talked for hours. You were so totally right. Slowing things down after the way things started was the right thing to do. Not that I’d like to leave sex on the back burner for too long because I’m still me, but it was nice to make an emotional connection with Rick, not just a physical one.”
I leaned over and hugged my best friend. “I’m so happy things are working out. Rick’s a good guy and I think the two of you will be good for each other.”
“Me too.” Vikki grinned. “And how did your date with Jack go?”
“A little different from yours,” I hedged.
“You slept with him!”
“Shh.” I looked around to make sure no one was listening to our conversation. “Yes, I slept with him, and yes, you were spot-on when you wondered what I was waiting for.”
“How was it?”
Now it was my turn to grin. It would take time for me to get used to the changes in my relationship with Jack, but as I engaged in girl talk with Vikki, I realized I was happier than I’d been in a very long time.
Chapter 10
Jack and I arrived at the newspaper office an hour before we were due to meet with Brooke and Portia. He’d spent the whole day working on the ramp and never had gotten around to finishing the article he needed for the next edition. I’d managed to buy the supplies for the tacos but hadn’t gotten around to looking for a centerpiece, so I ran over to the general store to look for something to use while he made some phone calls. It was a nice day and the store was close by, so I walked the two blocks rather than hassle with borrowing Jack’s expensive sports car.
I was halfway between the newspaper and the store when I heard someone call my name. I stopped and looked around but didn’t see anyone until a flash of yellow caught my eye. I watched as Heather Granger wove her way through traffic to cross the street.
“Oh good, you heard me,” Heather said, breathing heavily from the effort of her sprint down the street. “I was going to call you, but then I saw you from the window of the paint store and decided to catch up with you instead. Who knew a little thing like you could walk so fast?”
I chuckled. “I guess I was moving along at a brisk pace. How can I help you?”
“Candy called me this morning in tears. She said you and Jack are trying to stir things up that shouldn’t be stirred. I tried to tell her that you were just looking for some answers to what exactly led to Trey’s death, but she was adamant that I speak to you and get you to put a stop to the whole thing.”
“Do you have any idea why she’s so against our investigating the case?”
Heather shook her head. “Not a dang clue. The whole thing is very odd.”
I frowned but didn’t say anything.
“Candy’s my best friend,” Heather continued. “I love her like a sister, but she tends to get things in her head that she won’t let go of. Her attitude about this investigation made me think back to the things that happened the night before Trey died. There were some oddities at the party that I’d all but forgotten. I’m not one to place blame, and I’m having a hard time believing anyone would intentionally hurt Trey, but now that things are coming back to me, I find I’m beginning to wonder.” Heather paused and took a deep breath, then blew it out slowly. “What I guess I’m trying to work up the courage to ask is whether you consider Candy to be a suspect in Trey’s death?”
“She’s on our list, along with several others,” I answered honestly. “We don’t have anything definitive enough yet to single out any one person, but we’ve found some things we believe warrant further investigation.”
“See, the thing is that while Candy does tend to be somewhat stubborn at times, I can’t believe she would hurt Trey. She might have had a low opinion of him, but she knew I loved him and she had to know I would be devastated by his death. I can’t believe she would do anything to cause me so much pain.”
“What if she didn’t mean to kill him? What if she just intended to make him sick enough that he couldn’t play in the game?”
“Why would she do that?”
I shrugged. “Maybe out of revenge for hurting you, or maybe she believed if he couldn’t play in the game he would lose his shot at the draft and come back to Gull Island where he belonged. I know that doesn’t really make sense…”
“No.” Heather shook her head. “It does. Like I said, Candy gets these ideas she won’t let go of.” She glanced out into the distance and then back at me. “If you find any sort of proof that Candy’s the one who spiked Trey’s drink, will you tell me before you confront her? I think things will go easier if I’m there when you speak to her.”
“Sure. I can do that. And thank you for trusting me enough to share this with me.”
“You and Jack both seemed so nice when we spoke before, and I talked to Portia, who told me that Brooke Johnson vouched for both of you. I know you’re just trying to find out what happened to Trey and I respect that.” Heather turned and looked behind her. “I best get back to the paint store. I left a basket full of supplies the clerk is gonna want me to pay for.”
With that, Heather turned and jogged back in the direction from which she’d come.
By the time I continued to the general store, bought some items to make a centerpiece for the Thanksgiving table, and made it back to the newspaper office, it was almost four. I stored my purchases in Jack’s car and quickly filled him in on my conversation with Heather.
“From her tone of voice and body language, did you get the impression she thinks Candy might have drugged Trey despite what she said?”
“I think she’s beginning to wonder. I imagine that now that we’ve put the idea in her head that Trey might have been intentionally drugged, she must be going over things in her mind, looking at the situation from different vantage points. I bet it’s strange for her to look, even for a moment, at people she’s been friends with for most of her life as potential killers. Personally, I hope when we get to the end of this investigation we find Trey really did just make a bad choice and his death was no one’s fault.”
“I’m beginning to feel the same way. It seems like even if someone did spike Trey’s drink, their intention most likely wasn’t to kill him. It will be sad if someone’s life is ruined because of a stupid decision at a welcome-home party.”
Brooke and Portia showed up a few minutes later. Jack got them settled around the long table he used to sort and stack newspapers before briefly filling them in on exactly what we were doing, why we were doing it, and what we hoped to gain from our investigation. Once he gave them a chance to ask any questions they had, he motioned for me to go ahead with the interview while he took notes.
I pulled out the photo I had of Portia, Rena, and Heather talking at the party while Candy looked on. I passed it across the table to Portia. “Do you remember this?” I asked.
“Yeah. I remember it.”
“And can you remember what you were talking about?”
“Seems like Rena was talking about Trey and what a total ass he’d turned into now that he was getting ready to head to the draft. Heather was trying to make light of things by letting Rena know not to take it personally because he had a history of dumping his women when it was time to move on to a new phase in his life. I thought it was strange that she was being so nice to Trey’s girl, but Heather is a nice person and she wasn’t looking for any drama.”
“And what was your part in the conversation?” I asked.
“I was mostly just listening. I guess I might have agreed with what was being said a time or two. You know how it is at parties; you wander around a bit and jump in on any conversations you happen to come across.”
“Do you remember why Candy wasn’t part of the conversation?”
“I don’t know for certain, but I’d say Candy didn
’t want to be part of any conversation having to do with Trey. She wasn’t a fan.”
“I asked someone else to look at the photo and she said she thought Candy looked scared.”
Portia’s brows rose. “Scared? Why would Candy be scared?”
“You know,” Brooke joined in, “now that you mention it, she does look a little scared. When I first looked at the photo, I was thinking she was angry, but now that I look closer I see what Jill means.” Brooke glanced at me. “Did you ask Candy what she was feeling when this photo was taken?”
“Not yet, but we intend to.” I returned my attention to Portia. “Do you remember who took the photo?”
“No. I don’t specifically remember anyone taking photos at the party, but everyone has a camera on their phone, so I guess there were people snapping shots throughout the evening.”
I took out the photo of the group talking, with the reflection of the photographer in the mirror. “Do you know who this is?” I pointed my finger at the person in the black hoodie.
Portia picked up the photo and looked at it closely. “No. I can’t tell. It is strange, though, that I didn’t remember Walter was even there. Guess he must have popped in and I missed him.”
“Walter?” I asked.
“Walter Farmer.” Portia pointed to a tall man with dark hair who was standing in the group of people I didn’t recognize.
“Who exactly is Walter Farmer?”
“Local guy. Works on a fishing boat. He was a grade ahead of me and Trey in high school. Real good baseball player until Trey went in for the tag when Walter tried to steal home base and he blew out a knee.”
I frowned. “I imagine that must have caused hard feelings between them.”
“Oh, yeah. Everyone said it was Walter that was gonna make the pros before he got hurt. He’s a good guy and I’m sure he knew that one of the risks of playing so aggressively is that you might get injured, but there are those who say Trey intentionally hit him in a way to cause the most damage.”