Ax to Grind (8 page)

Chapter Twenty

As Connor and Meg came out of the diner, Meg got a fascinating text message from Liz Donnelly.

Meg stopped in her tracks.  “Interesting.”

Connor turned to her.  “What is?”

“Liz Donnelly recognized the earring we found at the scene of the crime.”

“Who does it belong to?”

“Daphne Scott,” Meg revealed. 

“No wonder we’ve been having a hard time tracking Daphne down today.”

All signs seemed to be pointing to Daphne Scott.  Once again, Meg got the urge to cast a locator spell.  This time, she was going to do just that.  Not in the open, of course.  Instead, Meg came up with an idea. 

She pretended she had to go to the ladies room, excused herself, and then headed back into the diner.  Once she was in the restroom, she locked the door behind her.  Finally, she was free to cast a spell in peace. 

Meg closed her eyes, then whispered in Latin.  “Invenio, invenio, invenio.”

Like that, the spell was cast, and Meg had Daphne Scott’s current location.  This was a whole new ball of wax suddenly.  If the break about the earring belonging to Daphne wasn’t enough of a twist, her location was even more intriguing.  Of all places in town for Daphne to be, she was at Sebastian Brown’s house. 

Meg smiled to herself.  Things were getting more interesting by the moment.  Unfortunately, this was a secret she’d have to keep to herself for now.  Connor would learn of it soon enough, especially as Meg nudged him to head over to Sebastian’s house next.

***

When Meg and Connor arrived at Sebastian Brown’s brown Craftsman-style house, she prepared herself for some emotional fireworks.  Connor immediately spotted two cars in the driveway and became curious. 

“Looks like Sebastian has company,” Connor said. 

Meg played dumb.  “Let’s find out.”

After a few knocks on the front door led to no answer, Connor wondered if he was going to do things the hard way.  Sebastian could ignore the knocks all he wanted, Connor and Meg weren’t going anywhere. 

“Sebastian Brown, this is detective Connor Smith from the Enchanted Bay police department.  I’m not leaving until you answer my questions,” Connor said. 

Half a minute later, they still received no response.  This was going nowhere fast.  Meg didn’t have the patience to wait for Sebastian to come out on his own.  She wanted to speed up the process.  She knew just how to do it too.  

Meg turned to Connor.  “Keep trying.”

Connor furrowed his brow.  “Wait a minute.  Where are you going?”

“Around back.  I want to make sure he’s not trying to slip out the back door,” Meg said.

“Good idea.”

Connor didn’t know the half of it.  Meg had a much different reason for sneaking around the back.  It gave her the opportunity to be alone, which meant she could cast a spell without anyone spotting her.  Once she reached the back yard, she closed her eyes and whispered under her breath in Latin. 

“Fumi, fumi, fumi.”

Just then, the house filled with smoke, just like Meg had hoped for.

Meg then rushed back to the front yard.  Within thirty seconds, both Sebastian Brown and Daphne Scott rushed out the front door coughing as they held their mouths.

Connor was ready for them as they reached the front lawn. 

Meg wasn’t sure who looked more shocked; Connor, Sebastian, or Daphne. 

Connor immediately went to work as he processed the fact that not one, but two murder suspects had been holed up inside the house. 

Meg meanwhile watched their body language.  As an actor, Sebastian was used to faking emotions.  He had been the lead actor in the musical and looked the part.  He was in his late twenties with short brown hair, green eyes, a muscular body, and a handsome face.  Meg looked passed all that and saw the fear in his eyes. 

Daphne Scott also looked frazzled.  In addition to being Ethan Wakefield’s ex-wife, she was the producer of “Enchanted Nights.”  For a woman in her mid-sixties, she looked great.  Daphne had a slender body, an angular face, curly red hair, and matching freckles on her cheeks. 

“Ms. Scott, you’ve been a hard person to find.  Apparently, I’ve just been looking in all the wrong places,” Connor said.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Daphne replied. 

“We’ll get to that,” Connor insisted.  He turned to Sebastian.  “Mr. Brown, would you care to tell me why you refused to answer the door?”

Sebastian stammered his answer.  “I uh, didn’t hear you knocking.”

“Do you really think it’s wise to start off our conversation with a lie?” Connor asked. 

Sebastian tried to deflect.  “Do you want to tell me what this is all about?  I’m just trying to go about my day here.”

“This is about murder.  Suddenly, I happen to have two suspects in front of me at once,” Connor explained. 

Sebastian remained coy.  “What makes you think we’re suspects?”

“You both had a number of reasons to hate Ethan Wakefield.  And, he might have had one very big reason to hate you.”

Connor wasn’t kidding. 

Liz had told Meg about Ethan Wakefield’s huge ego.  In addition, Daphne Scott was the one to leave Ethan and file for divorce.  According to Liz, even years later, he was still burned by it.  If he found out Daphne had taken up with a much younger man, there was no telling what his reaction might have been.   

“Did he know about your relationship?” Connor asked. 

“Look, we didn’t do anything,” Daphne said.

“That isn’t what I asked,” Connor replied. 

“He knew, didn’t he?  That was one of the reasons he took such delight in canceling the show,” Meg suggested. 

Daphne and Sebastian both opened their mouths to answer, but Connor cut them off before they could get a word in. 

“Ms. Scott, where were you between eleven and midnight?” Connor wondered. 

Strangely, Sebastian was the one that stepped up and answered.  “We were here, watching TV.”

Connor glared at Sebastian.  “I asked Daphne, not you.”

Sebastian’s eyes opened wide. 

Connor turned back to Daphne.  “Ms. Scott, where were you?”

Daphne put on the most confident look she could muster.  “Like Sebastian said, we were watching TV together.”

Meg could see right through the facade.  This was the problem with questioning two suspects at once.  They gladly corroborated each other’s lies.  She had to cut to the truth and knew just how to do it. 

Meg pulled the ruby earring out of her purse.  “Then why did we find your earring at the scene of the crime?”

Before Daphne had a chance to answer, Connor piggybacked on Meg’s comment. 

“I think it’s best if we question you separately from here on out.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Meg and Connor pulled Daphne aside first. 

“Now, what do you have to say for yourself?” Connor asked.

Daphne averted her eyes.  “Yeah, that’s my earring.”

“Do you want to tell us what it was doing at the crime scene?” Connor replied. 

Daphne exhaled.  “Not really.”

Meg pumped her for information.  “Daphne, your ex-husband was murdered last night.  He had just put you and your boyfriend on the unemployment line.  And your earring was found at the crime scene.  It doesn’t take two and two to put this together.”

Daphne looked up with pleading eyes.  “It’s not what it looks like.”

“Really?  Because it looks like you murdered him,” Meg said. 

“I didn’t kill Ethan,” Daphne declared. 

“Why should we believe you?” Connor asked.

“Because, it’s the truth,” Daphne insisted. 

“Says the woman who just lied about her alibi less than five minutes ago,” Connor continued. 

“Ok, so I lied about that, but I’m telling the truth about this,” Daphne said.

“If you didn’t kill Ethan, then why did I find your earring at the scene of the crime?” Meg asked. 

“After Ethan canned the show, I went to talk to him.  I wanted to see if I could reason with him.  I knew he was still holding a grudge that I divorced him, but I didn’t want the rest of the cast and crew to pay the price for that. I begged him to reconsider.  To keep the show running,” Daphne explained. 

“What did he say to that?” Meg replied.

“He lashed out at me over my relationship with Sebastian.  He couldn’t get over the fact that I was dating a man half my age, even though men date younger women all the time.  We got into an argument, which led to him shoving me.  That’s when my earring must have fallen off,” Daphne said. 

“You realize this makes you look even guiltier,” Connor pointed out.

“I know what it looks like, but I didn’t do it,” Daphne said. 

“Are you saying you had a blow-up argument with your ex-husband shortly before he was murdered, but that you didn’t do it?” Meg asked.

Daphne was having a hard time keeping eye contact, whether intentionally or not.  She kept getting quieter with each reply, almost like she didn’t want to say her answers too loudly. 

“As hard as it is to believe, yes,” Daphne said. 

Connor stared long and hard at her, waiting for her to make eye contact once again.  “Can you name a single reason I shouldn’t arrest you right now?”

“Sebastian can confirm all this,” Daphne replied.

“You mean he can lie, just like he did when he told us you were here watching TV at the time of the murder,” Connor corrected. 

Daphne shook her head.  “No, he can confirm it because he saw it happen.”

Talk about a twist.  Meg cut in.  “Wait a minute.  He was at the scene with you?”

“Well, in the car.”

Connor called her out.  “Sebastian saw all this, and just sat in the car?”

Daphne nodded.  “I made him wait there.  I knew if Ethan spotted him, things would get really explosive.”

“Explosive, like Ethan ending up murdered?” Meg suggested. 

“I told you; I didn’t do it.  Ask Sebastian, he’ll verify everything I’ve said,” Daphne replied. 

“Who is to say you two didn’t kill Ethan together?” Connor asked. 

Daphne shook her head.  “No, that’s not the way it happened.  After Ethan and I finished our argument, Sebastian drove me back here, and we went to bed.”

“At least that’s your story,” Connor said.   

“See, this is why we lied to you earlier.  I knew you’d have a hard time believing me,” Daphne replied. 

“You were right.  The question is, what’s Sebastian have to say about all this?  While we’re finding out, don’t you go anywhere now, you hear?” Connor said. 

Chapter Twenty-Two

After the bombshell Daphne dropped, it would be interesting to see what Sebastian had to say.  His palms were sweaty as Connor stared him down.  Sebastian looked like he was on the verge of cracking before the sleuths even fired their first question his way. 

Connor went right after him.  “I’m going to warn you, lying to a police officer is serious business.  Now, Daphne already told us the truth.  We expect nothing less from you.  Do you understand?”

“What did she tell you?” Sebastian wondered. 

“We’re the ones asking the questions here, got it?” Connor replied. 

Sebastian quickly nodded. 

“Now, tell us what really happened last night,” Connor continued. 

Sebastian stepped back.  “I don’t want to say anything else without a lawyer present.”

Connor reached for his police-issued handcuffs.  “Fine.  You can call your lawyer from the station.”

Sebastian freaked out.  “You’re arresting me?”

Connor nodded.  “What choice do I have?  You’re not cooperating with this investigation.”

“But you have nothing on me,” Sebastian argued. 

“Daphne just admitted you were both at the scene of the crime, and that she had a big blow out fight with Ethan.  Being her boyfriend, why should I think you did anything but get out of the car and come to her defense?” Connor asked. 

“That’s not what happened,” Sebastian insisted. 

“Then tell us what really happened,” Connor said.

Sebastian stared at the pair of handcuffs and knew he could be wearing them shortly if he didn’t come clean.  He sighed.  “Fine, we were there and the argument happened, but I didn’t kill him.”

“How about Daphne?” Meg asked. 

“She didn’t kill him either,” Sebastian replied. 

“Are you saying you both just got back in your car and drove home?” Meg wondered.

“I told him what a scumbag he was and to stay away from my girlfriend.  I was so angry that I wanted to take a swing at him, but Daphne convinced me not to,” Sebastian explained. 

“Is that your version of the truth?” Connor asked. 

Sebastian shook his head.  “It’s not my version; it is the truth.  That’s what really happened.”

“You don’t happen to have anyone else who can verify this, do you?” Connor replied. 

“Daphne can,” Sebastian said. 

“I meant, someone who isn’t also a murder suspect.  Of course you two want to cover up for each other,” Connor reasoned. 

“Look, you wanted the truth, I just gave it to you,” Sebastian replied.  “I know you can’t prove we did this because we didn’t.”

“At least not yet we can’t.  We’re waiting for some test results.  Depending on how they turn out, you two might end up spending the rest of your lives behind bars,” Connor warned. 

Meg knew the detective was just using a scare tactic.  Connor had just enough to keep Sebastian and Daphne behind bars for no more than seventy-two hours.  Without test results positively identifying their fingerprints or DNA on the body or murder weapon, they’d get out on bail.  If Connor leaned on Sebastian enough right now, perhaps he could get the confession he wanted. 

Sebastian sure looked ready to crack.  In the end, he didn’t.  “Trust me, we won’t.”

Connor gave him another long stare.  “I’m going to be getting those test results back soon.  In the meantime, stay put here in town.”