by Thea Cambert
“And we just saw Sadie and Chad in flagrante,” said Owen, raising a brow.
“What?” said Luke.
“Yep. Out on the second-floor balcony. I’d give them a PG-13 rating.”
“How’s that for a big old cloud of suspicion over Sadie?” asked Alice.
Ben and Luke’s cell phones buzzed in unison, and they both checked them.
“It’s Zeb. He’s examining the body out in the ambulance. He needs us to come out,” said Luke, getting up. He looked back at Alice. “See if you can confront Sadie about her notebook. See if you can get her to crack. But stay together and around other people. I don’t want you in danger.”
With that, he and Ben hurried out of the room, and a moment later, Sadie came in.
“Hey, speak of the—” Owen started to say, but was stopped by a swift elbow in the ribs, courtesy of Alice.
“Oh, hello,” said Sadie. “I was just—”
Alice had an idea. She stood up abruptly and rushed past Sadie in the direction that Luke had gone and sideswiped her right in the arm that held the leather notebook. And it worked. The notebook toppled to the floor.
“Oof!”
“Sorry!” Alice said, feeling a smidge of genuine guilt as she quickly bent down to pick up the notebook—just as Sadie was also bending down.
“Ouch!” Sadie said, as Alice’s head accidentally collided with hers.
“Oh! Sorry again!” said Alice, flipping the notebook open as she handed it back to Sadie and looking at one of the many pages devoted to the lodge with faux shock. “Wait—what’s this?” She looked up at Sadie.
Owen took the opportunity to show off his acting skills. “Am I—I mean, isn’t that—I’m sorry, but that looks like the great room in this lodge!” He pointed at the sketch. “Sadie, you designed this lodge! Not Roz!”
Sadie looked, wide-eyed, at the sketch, then turned bright red. “Those are just studies . . . Of Roz’s design,” she stammered.
“Sadie,” said Franny quietly. “Roz is no longer here to berate you, or bully you, or shrink you down to the size of a pin.”
Tears sprang to Sadie’s eyes.
“This place—your design—is spectacular,” said Alice. “You’re an amazing architect!”
Sadie sniffled and sat down on the couch. She chuckled through her tears. “Roz helped. Not very much, but a little bit.”
Alice, Owen, and Franny sat down with Sadie.
“Tell us why a brilliant young woman stayed with a horrible employer for so long. Was it just because Roz would have blackballed you out in the architecture world?”
Sadie wiped the tears from her cheeks. “I was afraid of her—afraid of what she might be able to do to my reputation. But there are a couple of other reasons. The first was that Roz kept promising I’d get to work on bigger projects—that she would let me fly solo. I know it’s stupid, but I believed her. Now, I can see it was all a manipulation because she didn’t want to lose me.”
“What was the second reason?” Franny gently prompted.
Sadie looked down at her hands. “In light of Roz’s death, this is going to sound really sleezy. But I was—I am—in love with Chad. Have been since I met him five years ago.” She sighed. “And, of course, put this all together, and who do you think killed Roz?”
There was a pause.
“So, you didn’t kill Roz?” Alice asked.
“No. I did not.”
“Then, where were you tonight at midnight when Roz was pushed?” asked Owen.
“In my room,” Sadie said, sounding defeated. “Crying my eyes out. I went there because I didn’t want to be in the great room at midnight and have to watch Roz kiss Chad like she does every year.”
“Didn’t you know she was leaving Chad?” asked Franny.
“Not until Chad told me a while ago, when we went off by ourselves for a few minutes.”
“Where did you go off by yourselves?” asked Owen.
“The second-floor balcony,” Sadie said, reaching for a tissue from the box on the end table. “I’m awful. I was happy to hear their marriage was ending. And Roz is dead!” She blew her nose loudly. “What kind of a person have I become? I’ve never been able to tell Chad how I felt, and when he told me the news, I—I hugged the stuffing out of him. I feel like a complete idiot.”
Alice, Owen, and Franny exchanged subtle nods.
“Sadie, I want you to think about this next question,” said Alice. “Is there any way you can think of that you could prove you were in your own room when Roz was killed?”
“Did anyone see you going in or coming out?” Franny asked.
Sadie thought for a moment. “No. I mean, I was just up there, writing in my diary like a twelve-year-old.” She paused. “Wait. I keep my diary on my tablet computer. It’s digital. It would’ve recorded the time!” She jumped up from the couch and started toward the study door. “Come with me. I’ll show you.”
They jogged behind Sadie as she hurried up the stairs and down the hall to the staff apartments. She unlocked her door and they all went inside.
“Look. See?”
She held out the journal entry from earlier that evening.
“Dear Diary . . .” Owen began reading aloud.
“Owen!” said Alice and Franny at once.
“We will respect your privacy and not read the entry,” said Alice through clenched teeth, giving Owen a look.
“But look!” said Owen, pointing at the top right-hand corner of the screen where the date and time had been recorded. “You really were writing when Roz was killed.”
Sadie breathed a sigh of relief.
“Take this straight to Captain Maguire, Detective Evans, or Officer Dewey,” said Alice. “It might not be definitive proof, but—”
“I almost forgot!” said Sadie. “This tablet has a built-in GPS. They can see that I was in this room when I wrote this entry. It’ll prove I’m telling the truth! And I can even come clean about my troubles with Roz now. I was so afraid that if I was honest about all that, everyone would assume I killed her.” She looked at the three of them. “I feel like I’ve just been set free! Thank you so much!”
Sadie showed them out of her room but left them in the hall as she rushed off to find Luke, Ben, or Dewey.
“So, Sadie didn’t do it,” said Alice as they watched her go.
“And Chad didn’t do it,” said Franny.
“That leaves the Matthews,” said Owen. “Are we betting on the wayward senator or the dutiful wife?”
Chapter 14
As they followed the hallway back across the second floor, Alice spotted a lone figure, shrouded in shadow, standing out on the balcony.
“Hold on. Is that—” She walked over to the glass doors, then looked back at Franny and Owen. “It is!”
“It is who?” asked Owen.
“The senator!” whispered Alice.
“Again, with the whispering,” said Owen. “Alice, he’s outside.”
“Let’s go,” said Alice, and she pushed open the door and stepped out into the icy air.
The senator turned to see who’d come outside, then turned back to look at the starry sky. “Looks like the snow finally stopped,” he said quietly.
“Wow, the sky cleared up,” said Owen. “There must be a million stars out.”
The senator nodded silently, and they all came to stand beside him to marvel at the sky.
“I learned a lot of these constellations when I created the cake,” said Owen. “There’s Orion, I think.”
“Any idea which one is Hercules?” asked the senator, and now, Alice could hear a touch of a slur in his voice. Her eyes automatically went to the drink in his hand, which looked like scotch.
“I believe Hercules is a summer constellation, Senator Matthews,” she said.
“Please, call me Adam.” He took a drink. “Just plain Adam.”
“Sen—Adam, if I may,” said Owen. “What made you ask about Hercules in particular? I mean . . . Is it your favori
te constellation?”
Alice gave Owen a pointed look, and Owen shrugged his shoulders.
“Long story,” said Adam. “Used to be my nickname.” He took another big swig of scotch.
“Hercules? Wow. Someone must’ve been pretty crazy about you, to call you that,” said Franny.
Adam didn’t comment. He just chuckled to himself.
“We talked to your wife earlier,” Alice said. “She was really broken up about Roz’s death. We didn’t realize you were so close to Roz. Sorry for your loss.”
Adam drank down the rest of his drink, then dumped the ice cubes over the railing and watched them fall to the snowy ground below.
“That’s a great bracelet you’re wearing,” said Franny. “I like that symbol. What does it mean?” Franny gave Alice and Owen a wide-eyed look behind the senator’s back.
“That?” He looked at the bracelet and tried to focus. “That little swirly thing . . .”
“The triskele,” Alice said softly.
“What does it mean?” Franny asked Adam.
“I don’t know what it’s supposed to mean,” he said. “To me, it means past, present, and future.” His voice cracked on the last word. “Sorry.” He cleared his throat. “A dear friend gave me this.” He took off the bracelet and handed it to Franny.
“Senator—”
“It’s Adam.” His face clouded over. “Just Adam.”
“Sorry, I—” Franny started to hand the bracelet back to him, but he held up a hand.
“No. You keep it. I don’t want it.” He burped loudly. “Now, it doesn’t even matter.” He whirled around and looked at Owen. “Did I tell you that was the best cake I’ve ever tasted?”
“What? You actually ate a piece?”
“Yes. It was outstanding.” He hiccupped. “And, it had Hercules on it. Roz showed me.”
“Yes, it did,” said Owen. “She specifically requested that. And thank you, Adam.” Owen pointed at the camera which was hanging from the strap around his neck. “I wonder, would you mind coming downstairs and letting me take your picture eating the—”
“Owen!” Alice stepped in front of him. “Can’t you see that Adam is upset? Now is not the time for cake.”
“No, no, no,” Adam mumbled. “It’s okay. But I can’t do the cake right now because I have to go talk to the police.”
“You do?” asked Alice.
“Yes, I do,” Adam affirmed, now tossing his glass over the balcony railing and stumbling toward the door.
“Can we help you?” asked Franny.
“No, I need to go by myself.” With that, Adam shoved open the door and walked hurriedly toward the staircase.
“We should follow him,” said Owen.
“Hold on. I just got a text from Luke,” said Alice. “He’s asking where we are.” She tapped their location into the phone, and it quickly dinged again. “He says to stay right here.”
“What’s going on?” Franny asked, looking worried.
Before anyone could take a guess, the balcony door swung open and Ben and Luke came out.
“Have you seen Senator Matthews?” asked Ben.
“Yes. He was just here. He went to find you,” said Alice. “Didn’t you pass him?”
“Which way did he go?” asked Ben.
When Alice pointed, Ben rushed off in that direction.
“Luke, we need to talk to you about the conversation we just had with Adam—Senator Matthews,” said Alice. “All signs point to the fact that he was much more involved with Roz than he should’ve been.”
“Yeah, there was the Hercules thing, and the Triscuit thing,” Owen said.
“Triskele,” Alice corrected. “He seemed to be very drunk, and—”
Luke raised a hand. “I want to hear all of this, Alice, but right now, I need you all to go to your room and wait for us there.”
“What?” Alice felt her heart go into high gear.
“Zeb called us out to the ambulance. They’re still stuck here, but, meanwhile, he’s been examining the body. He found something, under Roz’s fingernails. Of course, it’s inconclusive until we can take some real samples and have them analyzed, but when Zeb checked the fingernails, he found—well, let’s just say that it would appear Roz took a swipe at her attacker.”
A light dawned in Alice’s eyes. “The scratch! On the senator’s face!”
“Yes. I’ve got to go. Wait for us in your room.” He shoved the door open and ran in the same direction Ben had gone.
Alice, Owen, and Franny looked at each other for a split second, then took off all at once for their room, running into one another as they tried to squeeze through the door together.
“Now what do we do?” Franny said, pacing the room once they were safely inside.
“We wait. And pray that Ben and Luke are safe,” said Alice.
Her phone dinged.
“It’s Luke. The senator is nowhere to be found. They think he’s making a run for it.” Alice swallowed hard. “He says to lock our door.”
Chapter 15
The room was too quiet. Alice felt as though the snow outside had covered everything and muffled all sound.
“This is the worst,” Owen finally said. “Just sitting here. Not knowing what’s happening.” He peered out the window into the darkness.
“Can you see anything?” Franny asked, joining him at the window.
“Nothing,” said Owen.
“Wait. Listen,” said Alice. She went to the door and peeked through the peephole.
“See anything?” asked Owen.
“No, but I hear something.” Alice paused.
“I hear it, too,” said Franny, coming to the door. “Someone’s crying!”
Alice opened the door a crack and saw Nan, sitting on the floor in the hallway, softly crying.
“Nan! Are you okay?” she asked.
“No,” said Nan, sniffling. “My husband—I think he . . .” She reached into the pocket of the senator’s jacket, which she still wore. “I found this in his pocket.” She held out a shimmering diamond triskele on a fine gold chain.
“Roz’s necklace!” said Franny.
Nan began to sob. “That’s right. Roz’s necklace.” She got to her feet, stumbling a little. Alice hurried over to help her stand. “Don’t you see what this means? Adam must have—” She looked at Alice. “My husband must be a murderer. I’m so frightened!”
“Nan, come inside,” said Alice, looking up and down the hall, feeling a shiver run down her spine. “It might not be safe out here. Let’s talk about it. It’s going to be okay.”
Nan nodded and followed Alice into the room, where Owen invited her to sit, and Franny handed her a box of tissues.
“He killed her! He must have! It all makes sense now. I feel like such a fool,” said Nan, wiping her eyes, then raising them and catching sight of the mirror. “What . . .” She squinted at the list of names, her eyes seeming to rest on her own name, which was circled several times.
“Oh!” Owen jumped up and stood in front of the mirror. “Pay no attention to this!”
“We were just trying to help,” said Alice. “Please know that we never thought you killed Roz. We were just thinking out loud . . . on the mirror.”
“I understand. It’s okay.” Nan looked down, a deep crease forming between her brows. “I still can’t believe Adam did this,” she said, her voice sounding colder now.
“Any idea why?” asked Owen.
“Because they were having an affair,” said Nan matter-of-factly.
“You knew?” asked Alice.
Alice’s phone dinged and she glanced at it. It was Luke, saying they’d found the senator. Face-down in the snow . . . beneath the widow’s walk.
“They found—” Alice’s heart jumped into her throat. When she looked back up, she saw Nan watching her closely. Every nerve in Alice’s body stood on-edge.
“Who was that?” asked Nan.
“Nobody,” said Alice quickly. “Just my mother.”
“What?” asked Alice.
In one swift movement, Nan snatched Alice’s phone from her hand and read Luke’s message. She looked back at Alice and silently slid a meat cleaver out of her purse. “You really should learn to hide your emotions better, Alice. You’ve figured it out. I can see that.” She scoffed. “I’m so sick of people who want to ruin everything.” She moved her eyes from Alice, to Owen, to Franny.
“You have a . . . giant knife,” said Owen, aghast.
“So, you, uh, knew all about the affair?” asked Franny with a gulp.
“Of course, I knew. I’ve had to know for all these years. I’ve had to live in the shadow of that woman since day one.”
Alice attempted to calm Nan. “You’ve been so patient. Such a faithful—”
“I’ve been an idiot!” Nan blurted out. “And tonight, when that little minx lured Adam up to the widow’s walk, so she could kiss him at midnight instead of me, his wife—well, I couldn’t let her get away with it.” She waved the cleaver angrily. “After everything we’ve worked for. All the good we’ve done! All of it would’ve meant nothing if the public found out about my husband’s indiscretions! All anyone would remember us for would be the scandal!”
Owen’s eyes were huge as he looked from Alice to Franny.
Franny took a small step forward. “Mrs. Matthews—”
“Not another word!” Nan lunged at Franny, cleaver in hand.
Alice had never seen Owen fly through the air, but, somehow, he did at that moment.
“No! She’s pregnant!” he yelled, landing between Franny and Nan.
The cleaver glanced off Owen’s left shoulder and clattered to the floor. Franny quickly stepped on it, and Alice grabbed Nan from behind, pinning her arms. Owen joined her, and Franny ran to the door, flung it open, and screamed for help. Within moments, Ben and Luke were in the room, and once they’d made sure everyone was okay, they took Nan away.
Alice, Owen, and Franny sat down on the bed, still in shock.
The room was quiet for a full two minutes before Bea, Martin, and Granny rushed in. There was much checking on everyone and hugging and chatter about what had happened. As Alice’s mother wrapped her into a tight hug, Alice met Franny’s eyes over Bea’s shoulder. Owen’s words had just sunk in.