Swan with the Wind (Bought-the-Farm Mystery Book 9)

by Ellen Riggs

  “Clippers? Is he okay?”

  “Yeah, as far as I can tell. Cori is talking about an enrichment program. He’s under-challenged and I guess the goat castle doesn’t work for little horses with big ambitions.”

  I laughed. Just hearing his voice across the miles soothed me. Keats hadn’t let down his guard, however. His paws were on the dashboard, trying to lash the truck on to our destination.

  “So, when can you leave?” Kellan asked.

  “After the swans are safely reunited and Jilly is confident Bridie is safe.”

  “It sounds like she doesn’t believe Bridie will ever be safe.”

  “True. Maybe she’ll want to stay down here for a while.”

  “Asher won’t be too happy about that,” Kellan said.

  “No, he won’t.” I couldn’t help grinning. “Their reunion was like a scene from a rom-com. I expect you’ll lose one of your best officers for a time if she stays.”

  “I’m fine with that if it brings you home. It’s a fair trade: an officer for a lady.”

  I laughed. “I hate to leave a case unresolved, but after dealing with the swan, I’ll give it serious consideration.”

  “Clippers needs you,” he said, slyly. “Doesn’t that hold more weight than my request?”

  “Cori and I can talk about that on the phone.” I pondered for a second. “Honestly, I sense the issue here may be bigger than I can handle. If I truly can’t help, I’ll come home.”

  “Sounds good,” he said. “I’ll make a reasonable woman out of you yet.”

  “Reasonable? That’s a big ask, Chief.”

  “It’s a reasonable ask when you’re planning a future together. Your issues are my issues.”

  “You want issues? I can’t wait to consult you on the intricacies of farm management.”

  He groaned. “We’ll need a triage system. I prefer to be consulted on any and all criminal activities.”

  “Fair enough. I’m just about to turn into the Briars, so how about I touch base later, after catching the swan?”

  “Ivy, it’s dark. You can’t tackle that at night when there’s wildlife waiting to tackle you. I read about those pythons. There are tens of thousands of them, some big enough to swallow a deer whole. The state holds tournaments for snake hunters.”

  “That’s another reason to get Zeus out of there. Swans don’t have many predators, but a big snake sounds like one of them.” I glanced over at Keats. “It’s now or never, Kellan. I feel it and Keats feels it, too. Don’t you, buddy?”

  The dog looked away from the highway and delivered a concise yip of confirmation.

  “No time for idle chitchat,” Kellan said.

  “Dog on a mission.”

  I pulled up to the security doors, hoping Doug had come back from his mission in time to let me in. “I’ll call you when I’m done, no matter how late.”

  “Please do. I’ll stay at work till I know the whole pack of you are safe and sound.”

  After one last promise, I hung up and texted Janelle. She was at the party supervising Bridie, and keeping both Doug and Casey busy dancing with the many available ladies.

  Instead of getting her to send Doug down, I decided it was better to keep him there. After parking outside, I grabbed what I needed from the truck and followed the dog and cat through the breach in the fence.

  Keats mumbled a question and I pondered for a second before saying, “Good idea, buddy. It’s worth doing, even if it delays for half an hour.”

  I stashed my equipment in some bushes and walked up to the recreation center. Then I circled around it to the property manager’s office.

  Keats searched for a key, nose down, moving so fast he was a blur in the low light. I was starting to think it would be a bust when Percy meowed from the window ledge. He stretched as far as he could toward the top of the doorframe. Standing on tiptoe, I felt along the ledge and found it.

  “Good job, Percy. If I had to clamber through a window it would zap what’s left of my energy before I even get to Zeus.”

  Inside, I kept the lights out and went straight to the desktop computer. Casey didn’t seem like the kind of guy to keep paper files.

  Unfortunately, he was the kind of guy to protect his computer with a password. Maybe that’s because Vaughan and Doug were in and out of here, too. Casey probably didn’t trust them either.

  Was Casey also the kind of guy to be obvious about his password? I’d only have three tries before the system locked me out.

  The image of the vanity license plate on his BMW convertible came to mind straight away: HotProperty. I plugged in the letters and got an error message.

  “Oh come on,” I said. “That’s gotta be it. He’s so proud of that car.”

  I added the numeral 1 and got another error message.

  I only had one more guess and I tried it: BriarsHotProperty. Crossing my fingers, I hit enter.

  “And… we’re in,” I said. “I am a rock star, boys. So… where do we go first?”

  My plan had been to check on Doug Farrows’ personnel record.

  “I’ll check out Larry’s record, too,” I said. “He left with an injury right after Lottie was found. Doesn’t that strike you as a strange coincidence?”

  Keats agreed that it did.

  “I should have dropped by to question him earlier,” I said. “How about we try him tomorrow?”

  The next mumble told me to focus on the task at hand.

  “Right,” I said. “You know what, though? There’s a spreadsheet open in a tab. Let’s just take a quick— Oh, wow! It’s a record of who’s late on their fees. There are lots of people on the naughty list.”

  It looked like fully a quarter of the residents were in arrears, some by as much as a year. Elsie and Carlisle had joined their ranks two months ago. Had the stress driven her over the edge, I wondered? Something had brought her to tears in Clarington the other day.

  Lottie would likely have known about Elsie and Carlisle and some of the others. That might have driven Elsie to eliminate the risk of exposure and shame. But Alice Cheevers? I couldn’t see the link. Her name was in good standing in the spreadsheet.

  Keats mumbled a suggestion to keep going. He wasn’t feeling it yet, and I wasn’t either.

  “Moving on to Doug. Let’s start with email and see if they had any back and forth about the pond. I bet there’s something that— Whoa! I did not expect that either. Doug’s copied on an order with a pest control company for something called Rotenone. Let’s take a look at the browser history.”

  Keats mumbled a little louder. I was definitely on to something.

  “It’s a product for eliminating ‘problem goldfish,’” I said. “Apparently they’re invasive like pythons and will take over the pond and drive out everything else. So now we know what happened to the fish everyone loved. I guess Doug’s trying to revive the pond after the slaughter.”

  I searched a little more. “Wait a second… what’s this? And this? There were invitations from developers for offsite meetings. Did Vaughan plan to…” My words trailed off and I stared into space, putting the pieces together. Then I gasped and said, “We gotta run, buddy.”

  He mumbled that he’d been telling me just that for several minutes. Now it was urgent.

  “Gotcha. Just let me send some screen captures to the two chiefs.”

  It took a couple of tries because my fingers trembled. Now I knew exactly what had happened to the pond… and why. There wasn’t a second to lose in getting the next troublesome pest out of there.

  A growl deep in my dog’s throat startled me to my feet, and I sent the chair rolling back with a clatter. I hadn’t noticed that the door was ajar. Someone was eavesdropping and had probably heard enough of my observations to make my life—and potential death—very difficult.

  The door opened the rest of the way and a shadowy form filled the space. I could see well enough with the light from the computer.

  “Hey there,” I said. “Just chatting to my dog
about Zeus.”

  “The gods won’t help you now, Ivy. Not Zeus. Not Apollo. Or whatever the rest are called.”

  It was Casey Cox. Property manager and murderer of goldfish and old ladies.

  “How about Venus?” I said. “Because I’m an agent of love bringing two swans together again.” I stayed where I was, glad to have the desk between us. On the other hand, there was no way out from here. Stepping back, I sat down hard in the chair and then slid it forward while hitting record on my phone. “The whole family, actually.”

  “I don’t care about the swan,” Casey said. “Never planned to keep him long. I just wanted to scare people, but it backfired, like every other plan. People got attached, just like they did with the goldfish. They’re just pests, like rats, you know.”

  “The goldfish, maybe. That’s not their rightful home. But the swan is indigenous to the area.”

  “Whatever. I just wanted the board to vote for closing the pond. I’d put it forward twice and they said no. You can’t do a thing around here without bribing people. And what Vaughan wanted for filling the pond was outrageous.”

  “He’s got debts to pay,” I said. “Ford, too. And Rollie. And even the Cornwalls.”

  “Exactly. They’re all in hock up to the eyeballs and I’m the one trying to run the place with no funds. My dad wouldn’t let me kick them out on the streets where they belong.”

  “So you wanted to fill the pond and build more housing,” I said. “Hence the meetings you booked with developers.”

  “It was my only way out of this bind and Vaughan wouldn’t even grant me that. He said people need water to make captivity bearable.” He gave a dismissive grunt. “Like that’s my fault. I offered him a nice fountain.”

  “I get where you’re coming from,” I said. “Very reasonable under the circumstances.”

  “When my dad was in charge, people paid their fees. They think I’m a soft touch.” Casey rubbed his forehead. “I didn’t want him to find out I was running the place into the ground before he died. But then Lottie came poking around. Found her in here one day and later my dad’s old ledger disappeared. Unlike you she failed at hacking.”

  “Maybe all she wanted to do was write an exposé about the people in arrears,” I said.

  He shrugged. “I don’t know but she didn’t get the chance. Couldn’t find the ledger at her house, though.”

  That’s because it was in her crawl space, I bet, and in Chief Gillock’s hands now.

  “I’ve got an idea,” I said. “How about I help you convince Vaughan to approve the development? I’m pretty good at making a business case and not bad with PR.”

  “It’s too late,” he said. “No one would move here now. Our reputation is shot. Like the swan will be, soon.”

  “That’s an opportunity missed,” I said. “Use reuniting the swan family to generate goodwill. It’s the kind of story people get behind, trust me. Let’s go and do it together.”

  “I’m not going near that thing. He’s attacked already. Nearly burst my eardrum and cut my head. Won’t give him another chance.”

  “Ah. So it wasn’t a hoverboard accident.”

  He shook his head. “It’s been one of those domino situations where things keep going south till it all ends in the crapper. Story of my life.”

  “This can be salvaged,” I said. “It starts with rescuing the swan. I’m not afraid of him.”

  “You should be. He’ll take you and your dog under.”

  “He won’t. You’ll see. Let’s take the swan to the sanctuary together. You get some photos, everyone’s happy. Then we persuade Vaughan to do the right thing and your plan moves forward. I’m seeing a swan fountain in the center of the new complex. Maybe even a casino.”

  He pondered for a second. “Why didn’t I think of a casino? That might motivate him.”

  “I’m full of good ideas, Casey. How about we start making over the Briars’ reputation right now?”

  Finally he nodded. “Okay. I’ll give you one chance with the swan. Raise a ruckus and you know what happens?”

  “You drown me, I guess. Like the others.”

  Pulling out a gun, he said, “My wrist still hurts, so I’ll use this instead. Planned to use it on the swan. Maybe that’s still the right choice.”

  “If he goes missing, people will fret. It’s a love-hate thing. They love his beauty, but they’re scared of him. Moving him to the waterfowl sanctuary gives you the best of all worlds. You bring the family together, and the community is safe from an angry papa. I’ve been in a lot of sticky public relations situations and hitting people in the heart with baby animals is the way to glory.”

  He gestured for me to get up and pass in front of him, which was more difficult than I expected. In all my exploits with dangerous killers, I had somehow evaded having a gun pointed directly at me. Not that negotiating with a madman or woman was ever easy, but a gun certainly amped up the pressure.

  As I walked ahead of him down the path I slipped the phone back into my bra before he noticed it. Keats walked calmly by my side, while Percy headed off into the bushes.

  “If you pull anything silly, you won’t be the one I shoot first,” Casey said.

  “You leave Bridie alone,” I said. “She pays her fees on time.”

  His laugh was more of a grating squawk. “That old bird is nearly as bad as Lottie. But I won’t shoot her first, because it wouldn’t matter enough to you. Instead, I’ll shoot your dog. Then your cat. And then… you.”

  Keats moved his ears under my fingertips to offer silent reassurance. “You wouldn’t,” I said.

  “After what I’ve gone through do you think adding a couple of pets to the list would make a difference?”

  What he’d gone through. Like he hadn’t made choices every step of the way. It annoyed me to no end when people refused to take personal accountability. Every villain played the victim, it seemed.

  “Okay, I hear you. Could you at least promise me you’ll make it humane?”

  “I’m not promising you a thing. Besides, I haven’t had much practice, so it’ll probably be messy.”

  “You have my full cooperation,” I said. “Though I’d much rather you did your target practice on me.”

  “I’ll take that under advisement. Maybe if you come up with a few more PR tips I’ll consider it.”

  I dug deep and found a light laugh. “That’s an interesting bargain. I help you with PR if you agree to shoot me first.”

  “Life is funny, right? I used to laugh, too, until things started spiraling out of control.”

  “Money trouble is the worst,” I said, as he flicked the gun toward the trail to the pond. “I’ve been there. Still there, actually, because my inn struggled after a murder on my land. Things have turned around for me lately because of exactly what I just told you. People love animals. You can get great mileage from the swan family. Plus I was thinking you could do more with social media. An insiders’ Briars channel, to replace Lottie’s outdated newsletter.”

  “There’s no need to add another way for these people to gossip.”

  “They’re going to talk anyway. I assume that’s why you killed Lottie. Because she’d talk about your poisoning the pond.”

  “Among other things. She knew too much. Asked too many questions about our operating budget as a so-called reporter. Vaughan and Ford Fletcher kept their eyes and mouths shut and took what I offered them to stay quiet. Can’t tell you how many holes I dug Vaughan out of, but he’s stupid enough to be useful and aside from the pond, he never said no to a bribe.”

  “What about Doug?” I asked. “Is he part of your plan?”

  “Only knows as much as I feed him. Poor guy sees himself as a CIA operative and barely has the smarts to operate a hoverboard. I’m surrounded by idiots.”

  “That has its advantages, no? Larry seemed brighter.”

  “Yeah. Too bad for him. His head had a collision with a hoverboard the morning Lottie passed. Can’t remember a thing right
now.”

  I took the last turn down to the pond, desperately hoping someone was out for a stroll and knowing it was unlikely with a murderer at large. Percy may have gone for help, but since no one really spoke cat here it didn’t bode well.

  “Do you mind if I ask what happened with Alice Cheevers? I get that Lottie saw you poisoning the pond but I couldn’t figure out what happened to Alice.”

  “I do mind. You talk too much.”

  “You’re not the first to say so. But I figure you’re going to kill me anyway, so why not satisfy my curiosity?”

  “I hadn’t made my mind up what to do with you, but if that’s one of your pro tips, I guess I’d better take it.”

  “I’m not recommending my own demise, Casey. On the contrary, I think I could be very useful to you. I completely understand why you want to dam the swamp, fill the pond and build more housing. You were just trying to get people to go along with that plan by turning them against the pond.”

  “Everyone gets hysterical over a trash-eating raccoon. I figured dead fish and a vicious swan would have them suggesting it themselves. Who gets attached to a puddle filled with reptiles?”

  “People who don’t have much else, I guess. How did Alice make waves?”

  He pointed at Zeus, who was floating about 20 yards away. “Stupid woman came down here to keep the swan company while you were sipping fancy drinks yesterday. She found me on the dock with the swan in a net. Squawked louder than the bird, so I fed her to the gators. By that time, the bird had gotten free, and you know what happened next.”

  “Yeah. I went looking for the swan and found Alice.”

  He jabbed me in the back with what felt like the muzzle of the gun. “You’ve been a total pain in the butt since the day you arrived.”

  I laughed again. “My mom says the same thing.”

  He gave me a harder shove as I stepped onto the dock, almost sending me into the water. It wasn’t as daunting a prospect as usual given that I was still damp from the Strathmore adventure.

  “Have you got a bag for the bird?” I asked.

  “Burlap sack in the rowboat with his name on it,” he said. “A ride fit for a Greek god.”

  “Perfect,” I said. “I want to tie up my dog so he doesn’t try to come into the water after me. Please?”