Death by Fountain

by Jennifer S. Alderson

  Lana paused a moment as her mind registered what had been bothering her about the officer’s questions. “Why don’t you know what Rachel’s last name is? Didn’t she have a wallet or purse with her?”

  “No, she did not, and my colleagues did not find anything stuck in the fountain’s drains. Which leads us to believe that this was not an accident, but a robbery gone wrong.”

  “Then it couldn’t have been my friend. Randy wouldn’t have robbed her.”

  “He would have, if he wished to cast suspicion on a stranger.”

  Lana pursed her lips. “I suppose…”

  “Can your friends tell me more about Rachel’s intentions?”

  “They aren’t really my friends, but friends of Randy. We all flew in to attend his wedding on December 24.”

  “Christmas Eve is an unusual time to marry.”

  “I don’t know, I think it’s pretty romantic. Look, Rachel’s sister is one of those friends. Don’t you think someone should let her know that Rachel is dead?”

  “I would prefer to tell her myself, in person. Where do you think Randy’s friends are right now?”

  Lana looked to her watch. “It’s almost ten o’clock. I bet they are done with dinner. The men had plans to go to a gladiator school, but I doubt they’ll attend.” As soon as the words exited her mouth, Lana knew she’d made a mistake.

  “Why not?”

  “It was part of Randy’s bachelor party, which he canceled at the last minute because Rachel showed up.”

  “And where is Randy now?”

  “On a train to Florence, as far as I know. His fiancée is already at her family home in Tuscany, and he is joining her so he can help get everything ready for the wedding.”

  “Which village is that?”

  “I don’t know,” Lana mumbled.

  The officer startled at her answer. “Do you not know the name of the village your friend is getting married in, or is it difficult for you to pronounce? You can write it down for me, if you prefer.”

  The officer held out his pen and notepad.

  “No, I don’t know where it is or what it’s called. It is supposed to be a surprise,” Lana said, knowing her answer made no sense.

  “Why would the name of the village be a surprise?” he pushed.

  “I don’t know—it just is,” she said resolutely.

  “Why don’t you write down Randy’s phone number, then call his friends and ask them to return to their hotel. I wish to speak to all of them. It is important to find out when they saw Rachel last.”

  Lana jotted down Randy’s number, then dialed Heather’s phone. When she started to walk away, the officer cleared his throat and crooked his finger, beckoning her back.

  “Put the call on speaker phone,” he demanded.

  Lana did as she was told. When Heather answered, they could hear dance music blaring in the background.

  “Hey, Lana. Where are you? We just found the most fabulous bar,” Heather shouted into the receiver.

  “Good to know. I wasn’t certain whether you were still at the café,” Lana yelled back.

  “We finished dinner a half hour ago, and since the gladiator school isn’t happening, we decided to get a drink instead. Do you want to join us? I can give you the address.”

  “I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you all to come back to the hotel. There’s been an accident, and the police need to speak to us all.”

  “Is it Randy or Gloria?” Heather shrieked.

  “They are alright. It’s—”

  The policeman grabbed at Lana’s phone.

  She wrestled it back from him long enough to add, “I need to go, but can you all go back to the hotel now? The police will be there any minute.”

  “Okay,” Heather replied just as the officer succeeded in grabbing Lana’s phone and ending the call.

  “Why did you do that? Why can’t I tell her what happened?”

  “Because I wish to see their reactions when they find out Rachel is dead. Shall we? You can ride with me in the patrol car.”

  14 Expressions of Grief

  Randy’s friends entered the hotel lobby, laughing and carefree. At least, until they spotted Lana and the pair of police officers waiting for them by the reception desk. That sobered them right up.

  After everyone had shuffled into an empty conference room at the back of the hotel, the lead investigator introduced himself and his colleague, before asking to see their passports.

  “What happened? Why are you here?” Heather demanded. “Is Randy alright?”

  The investigator ignored the urgency in her voice. “After I know who you are, I will explain why I am here.”

  The two policemen jotted down their names and passport numbers, confirming visually who was who before returning them. The only passport that seemed to give the officers pause was Katherine’s. Lana assumed it was because she had already told them that she was Rachel’s sister. When one policeman showed Katherine’s document to the other, they stepped away from the table to confer privately before giving hers back. Once finished, the lead officer folded his hands onto the table and took in the group before him.

  “I regret to inform you that Rachel Merriweather is dead. Her body was found in the Trevi Fountain earlier this evening.”

  Heather gasped loudly as Randy’s friends looked to Katherine. Lana did, too, expecting to see a flood of tears streaming down her face or passionate cries of denial. Yet, other than blinking slightly more rapidly than normal, Katherine’s expression and demeanor didn’t change one bit.

  Lana was shocked by her lack of emotion. It was obvious from their interactions that the sisters weren’t close, yet she would have expected Katherine to care that her sibling had drowned. Had the officer’s words not gotten through? Perhaps Katherine needed more time to process this horrible news before she could react to it.

  “How can that be?” Bruce asked. His voice was choked with emotion as he wiped the tears from his cheeks. He seemed more distraught by Rachel’s death than Katherine was.

  However, his reaction was nothing compared to Jake’s. “I can’t believe that she’s really gone,” he moaned before breaking down into choking sobs.

  “It appears she had sustained multiple head injuries, but our medical team suspects the cause of death was drowning. We have to complete the autopsy before we can be certain.”

  Jake’s cries intensified, and Craig looked as if he was going to be sick.

  The investigator looked to Katherine, his tone gentle. “I understand she was your sister. I am sorry for your loss.”

  “Yes, she was. Thank you,” Katherine said as she shifted slightly in her seat. Her tone was incredibly formal and distant.

  He observed her for a moment before asking, “Why is your sister staying in another hotel?”

  “Bruce and I flew in this morning, but neither of us knew Rachel was coming. I assume she didn’t tell me because she knew I would disapprove.”

  The officer’s brow crinkled. “Why would you disapprove of her flying to Rome?”

  “This isn’t an ordinary vacation. We are all here to attend our friend Randy’s wedding. Rachel is Randy’s ex, so she is the last person I would have expected to see here. But I should have known she would try to ruin the wedding for him. They’d dated briefly, and she refused to accept that he broke up with her. She was quite obsessive, my sister, and very selfish.” Katherine spat the words out. “She couldn’t stand that Randy left her, that silly cow.”

  How could Katherine speak so poorly of her recently deceased sister—especially in front of the police, Lana wondered. It was akin to putting an “arrest me—I did it!” T-shirt on.

  The officer, on the other hand, seemed unfazed by Katherine’s outburst. Lana reckoned that in his line of work, he had witnessed many expressions of grief. “Did you fight with Rachel about her actions?”

  “No, I did not.” Katherine raised her chin up in the air. “After she showed up at the hotel and made a scene, I told h
er to leave us alone. She did leave shortly after—so she could check into her hotel, she said. But I don’t know where she was staying and I didn’t see her after that.”

  Lana’s eyebrows knitted together. That wasn’t right. She had seen Katherine and Rachel fighting outside this hotel right before Randy left for the train station. Why would Katherine lie?

  “What do you mean—made a scene?”

  “She surprised us down in the lobby a few hours ago. Randy wasn’t pleased to see her. Frankly, neither was I.”

  The investigator leaned forward, trying in vain to make eye contact with Katherine. “Did Randy and Rachel argue about her being in Rome?”

  Katherine pursed her lips, yet remained silent.

  “Yeah, you could say that,” Jake responded instead, garnering a nasty look from the rest. His sobs had lessened to sniffles the longer the officer spoke. By now, his cheeks were free from tears.

  “What? There’s no point in lying—the whole hotel saw them fighting. Randy was raging mad that Rachel had followed him to Italy and blamed one of us for telling her where the wedding was being held.” Jake crossed one leg over the other and leaned back. “It wasn’t me, but I can’t vouch for the rest.”

  “Just how mad did Randy get?”

  “Rachel taunted Randy so badly that he pushed her into one of those pillars in the lobby and she cut her head open.”

  The officer’s eyebrows shot up as he scribbled down the information.

  “That was simply bad luck—I bet Randy didn’t even push her that hard,” Katherine said. “Rachel deserved what she got.”

  Lana shook her head in confusion. The two sisters must have had a horrible relationship.

  The officer let Katherine’s comment slide and turned his attention to Jake. “You became quite emotional when I informed everyone of Rachel’s death. Were you in a relationship with the deceased?”

  The room grew quiet as everyone waited for Jake to respond. “Relationship is a strong word. We met a month ago and had gone out on a few dates,” he said, not entirely answering the officer’s question.

  Craig straightened up and stared at Jake, an evil look in his eye.

  His glare also caught the inspector’s attention. “Were you also in a relationship with the deceased?”

  Craig’s expression softened. “No, we weren’t together. I had met her a few times when she and Randy were dating, but I hadn’t seen her since they broke up.”

  The officer noted Craig’s response, then returned his gaze to Jake. “Do you know if Rachel was seeing anyone else?”

  Jake shrugged. “I never asked her to be monogamous.”

  “I didn’t realize you had to ask that of your partner,” Craig snarled.

  “We hadn’t talked about moving in together or anything like that, but I did consider us a couple.” He blushed before adding, “But I suspect I was more interested in her than she was in me.”

  “That’s usually how Rachel operated. It gave her a sense of control over the relationship. Randy was the unlucky exception,” Katherine butted in, seemingly in Jake’s defense.

  “What do you mean?” the officer asked.

  “Randy was the only one who dared to leave her.”

  The officer made a notation then looked to Bruce, Craig, and Jake. “Lana Hansen mentioned that you were scheduled to take part in a gladiator school training tonight, but Randy decided to leave Rome instead. Do you know why he left so suddenly?”

  Bruce scratched at his ear. “He said that he was worried about Rachel being in town, but he didn’t say that he was leaving right away. When he didn’t show up at dinner, I tried calling him, but he didn’t answer.”

  “Me, too,” Heather added. “Tonight was his bachelor party, and it’s not like him to skip something so important without saying something first.”

  Lana cleared her throat. “I was going to tell you all at dinner that Randy had decided to travel to Florence tonight instead of tomorrow. After he called Gloria, he went straight to the train station.”

  “Why did you know that he was leaving, but not the others?” the investigator asked.

  Lana shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “Because he was worried one of them might tell Rachel where he was going. He didn’t want her to know where the wedding was taking place and was concerned she might follow him to the train station.”

  “It would have been nice to know that earlier—I’ve been worried sick about him. You could have sent us a message,” Heather fumed.

  Lana started to retort when the officer said, “She was being questioned by the police so she wasn’t able to respond sooner.”

  “Why were you being questioned?” Heather asked. “Did you hurt Rachel?”

  “No! I was walking by Trevi Fountain when her body was discovered,” Lana explained.

  “That was good luck for us. If she hadn’t recognized Rachel, we wouldn’t have found you so quickly. Rachel’s wallet had been stolen,” the officer added.

  The rest glared at Lana, making clear they were not grateful for the coincidence.

  “Let’s go back to the fight between Rachel and Randy. After Rachel left, what did you do? When was the last time any of you saw or spoke to her?”

  Randy’s friends searched each other’s faces, as if looking for the correct answer.

  “As I said before, I didn’t see her after she left the hotel,” Katherine said.

  Jake and Craig nodded in agreement.

  “Me, either,” Bruce said. “Katherine and I rested in our room a while before dinner and didn’t see anyone else until we walked over to the Trastevere district.”

  Katherine startled slightly, but the officers didn’t seem to notice.

  Why was Bruce covering for Katherine by lying about their movements? Was he trying to protect her because he knew about her fight with Rachel? That did seem to be his role in their relationship. Although Katherine’s surprised reaction made Lana wonder whether there wasn’t another answer. Perhaps Bruce had also been out of the room and was hoping Katherine would now cover for him.

  The investigator wrote down Bruce’s statement, then turned his attention to Heather. “Did you see Rachel after this fight in the hotel lobby?”

  “No, I did not. I went up to my room to rest, too.” Heather’s eyes flittered across the group, as if she was daring someone to contradict her.

  Lana deliberated telling the officers that she thought she’d seen both Jake and Heather while she was chasing after Randy. Yet, considering she wasn’t entirely certain that it really had been them, she decided to keep her mouth shut. The last thing she wanted to do was get one of them into unnecessary trouble. She’d already done enough by leading the police to their group.

  “Do any of you know who might have wanted to harm Rachel?”

  “None of us did, that’s for sure. And I mean Randy, too,” Heather insisted. “Rachel was selfish, mean, and man-hungry, but none of us hated her enough to kill her.”

  “We’ll see,” the officer said and snapped his notebook shut. “We will soon question Randy Wright about his relationship with Rachel and their recent argument. My team is also gathering video footage from local businesses. We hope to find out more about Rachel’s movements so we can better determine if her fall was an accident or murder.”

  Lana gulped automatically, fearing for Randy’s freedom once the police found out about the restraining order he’d obtained against Rachel. Her showing up in Rome with the intention of sabotaging his wedding, as well as her threats against Gloria—made in front of a crowded lobby nonetheless—were excellent reasons for Randy to want Rachel dead.

  If only she hadn’t identified Rachel, the police never would have tied her to this group. Lana cursed her bad luck. After the officers left, she would have to call Randy and find out more about his walk to the train station.

  15 No One Deserves To Die

  “Randy! I’m glad I caught you. How are you holding up?” Lana said.

  The two policemen were walkin
g out of the hotel when she dialed his number, yet she wasn’t certain whether the investigating officer had already ordered that Randy be pulled off the train and brought back to Rome. Once he was in their custody, she figured it would be difficult for him to talk freely.

  “Hey, Lana. Sorry I didn’t get back to you earlier, but thanks for watching my back and letting me know about Rachel,” he said, sounding like his usual self and not at all distraught.

  “I’m on the train now, and I didn’t see anyone who resembled her getting on it, so I’m feeling much more relaxed. Are my friends mad at me for not telling them that I was leaving early?”

  No wonder he sounds normal, the police haven’t gotten in touch with him yet, she realized. “No, your friends aren’t mad at you. Randy, are you sitting down?”

  “I’m on a train, so yes. What’s going on, Lana? You sound upset.”

  “Rachel is dead. The police found her body in Trevi Fountain a few hours ago.”

  “Are you serious?” His voice choked up with emotion as he began to softly weep. “I hated her for stalking me, but no one deserves to die. What happened?”

  “The police don’t know for certain yet, but it appears to be a robbery that turned violent. They just finished interviewing me and your friends in an attempt to find out what Rachel was doing in Rome, and if any of us saw anything unusual tonight. They also want to talk to you, so I gave them your contact information.”

  “Of course, anything they need. Do you think she suffered much?”

  Lana’s heart went out to him. The woman had made his life a nightmare, and yet he still cared about her as a human being. Randy truly was one in a million.

  “The police suspect that she hit her head before she fell into the water. If she was unconscious when she went in, she wouldn’t have felt any pain.”

  Randy whimpered. “She must have been following me when she was attacked! I wish I’d been more aware of my surroundings during that walk. Maybe I would have seen who hurt her. But I was so focused on getting to the station that I wasn’t paying attention to what was happening around me. I didn’t even notice you’d left those voicemails until after I boarded the train.”