Drowning the Daffodils (A Heavenly Highland Inn Cozy Mystery) (6 page)

“
And about how long were you with him?” Sheriff McDonald asked.

“
About a half hour, I think,” Jane said thoughtfully. “Yes, it was about four fifteen when we were together, until about five o'clock.”

Sheriff McDonald
was surprised by the exactness of the time. “How do you know for sure that was the time?” he asked suspiciously.

“
I know because I looked at my watch,” Jane snapped in return. “I looked at it when I first met with Lawrence because I wanted to make sure I wasn't away from Simon for too long.”

“
And you looked at it again when you left Lawrence?” Sheriff McDonald pressed as he jotted down the information.

“
Actually no,” Jane said thoughtfully. “I saw the time on the alarm clock. We were in Lawrence's suite.”

“
Oh, I see,” Sheriff McDonald said as he glanced over at the group that was talking with Mitchell. “Was Lawrence’s wife, Alina, with you?” he asked.

“
No, I think she was in the garden,” Jane replied with a shake of her head. “I don't know, but since everything happened I can barely keep track of what time of day it is,” she glanced down at her watch. She stared at it for a long moment. “That's strange,” she mumbled.

“
What is?” Vicky asked as she looked at Jane's watch, too.

“
That's all I need for now,” Sheriff McDonald said as he moved onto Charlene, Mike's wife.

“
What time is it?” Jane asked Vicky as she moved closer to her, confusion creeping into her voice.

“
It's about twelve,” Vicky replied as she peered closer at Jane's watch.

“
Huh,” Jane frowned and tapped the face of her watch. “It must have stopped. It looks like the bit on the side has broken off,” she sighed.

“
I'm done here,” Sheriff McDonald muttered to Mitchell as he tucked his notebook back into his pocket. “You finish up here, and meet me back at the office,” he glanced at his watch and then sternly into Mitchell's eyes. “In no more than a half hour, no catching up with your girlfriend.”

Mitchell narrowed his eyes but nodded respectfully. Vicky watched as Sheriff McDon
ald walked out the door of the inn. She could never quite figure him out. When Mitchell finished up with the last of the Carters and their spouses he met Vicky at the front desk.

“Looks to me like everyone has an alibi,” Mitchell said casually though he did not meet her eyes directly. “Everyone, except for Mike. Lawrence claims to have been with Jane, Alina and her nieces were in the garden along with Max and his wife. Mike on the other hand said he went for a walk in the woods.”

Vicky remembered th
e man in the cap walking towards the parking lot and the woods on the camera. Could that have been Mike?

“
Well, I have a guest here who witnessed an argument between Simon and a man at the pool. I already had a look at the camera feeds before they were requested for evidence but wasn't able to tell from them who the man was,” she shook her head. “But there's something else,” she lowered her voice and he leaned closer to her to listen. “Aunt Ida and I overheard a conversation between Jane and Mike. I think they are having an affair.”

“
Oh,” Mitchell narrowed his eyes and glanced over at Mike who was talking animatedly with Jane. “Well, that does change things, doesn't it?”

“
I think so,” Vicky agreed.

“
Who's the witness?” Mitchell asked.

“
It's Wilbur,” Vicky admitted and Mitchell cringed immediately.

“
The one with the glasses?” he asked hesitantly, he knew of Wilbur's faulty vision.

“
Yes,” Vicky nodded and glanced in the direction of the restaurant. “He's having coffee with Aunt Ida.”

“
I'll go talk with him,” Mitchell said as he began to walk away from the desk, but paused a step or two away. When he glanced back Vicky realized she had been staring at him, because he looked right into her eyes. “Can we talk later?” he asked as he held her gaze.

“
I think I just need to get all of this settled,” Vicky uttered and glanced away. When she stole a glance back at him she could see his jaw clenched and his lips twitching over the battle of whether to say more or remain silent. Luckily, Sarah stepped into the lobby at that moment. Vicky excused herself and hurried over to Sarah. Sarah looked from Vicky to Mitchell and back to Vicky again.

“
Wow, intense,” she muttered as Mitchell walked towards the restaurant. “I guess you haven't ironed things out quite yet.”

“
I don't want to talk about it,” Vicky said shortly as she turned to look at her sister. “There are more important things to deal with right now.”

“
Okay, okay,” Sarah said quickly and held up her hands in a sign of surrender. “So what have you found out?”

“
It looks like the main suspect is Mike. He's the only one that doesn't really have an alibi, and I'm pretty sure he's having an affair with Jane.”

“
Really?” Sarah asked as she studied Mike from across the room. He was standing close to his wife Charlene who had an arm wrapped around his waist in an offer of support. “Looks like she doesn't have a clue about it.”

“
Isn't it sad?” Vicky asked with a frown. “You can think you know someone, you can trust them, and they could be doing that behind your back.”

“
Not really,” Sarah said softly. “I know my husband, and I know he would never do that to me.”

Vicky glanced over at Sarah whose eyes were filled with certainty. Vicky wished she could understand what made that possible. Maybe it was just her suspicious, investigative nature, but she had a hard time believing that even the people she cared about the most weren't keeping secrets.

“We have this under control,” Vicky assured Sarah and gave her sister a quick hug. “Go home, be with your family. If anything new comes up I'll let you know right away.”

“
Okay,” Sarah nodded reluctantly. Vicky could tell that she was torn between staying or going. After Sarah left, Vicky walked into the restaurant to see if Mitchell was still talking to Wilbur, but she only found Aunt Ida and Wilbur at the table.

“
Where's Mitchell?” Vicky asked curiously.

“
He said he had all he needed,” Aunt Ida shrugged. Vicky was a little hurt that he wouldn't have at least said goodbye to her.

“
I told him everything I knew, but I wish I could be more helpful,” Wilbur admitted with a sigh.

“
You've already been a big help,” Vicky assured him. “You went to a lot of effort.”

“
Anything for…” he hesitated a moment as he glanced at Aunt Ida before looking back at Vicky. “For the inn. It's like a second home to me, you know.”

Vicky smiled warmly at his words.
“I'm going to take a look outside around the pool again,” she murmured.

“
Be careful, Vicky,” Aunt Ida cautioned as she met her niece's eyes. “If the murderer is still here at the inn then we could all be at risk.”

“
I will be,” Vicky promised her as she headed for the door in the lobby that led out to the pool. The truth was she wanted a few minutes alone to try to sort things out.

The pool and its surrounds had been processed by the crime scene technicians and Vicky pushed the crime scene tape to the side so she could walk through.
As Vicky stepped out onto the pool deck she noticed the quiet. No one was outside having a glass of wine or contemplating an afternoon swim. The entire area held a sense of tragedy that was now made even more eerie by the knowledge that Simon had been murdered. Vicky stood beside the pool and stared down into the still water. As obvious as it seemed that Mike was the murderer, something still didn't sit right with Vicky. The argument she had overheard between Mike and Jane had left her very unsettled.

Then there was Alina's icy behavior, despite Lawrence's evident despair. She knew that Mitchell was working hard on the case, but
the murder had occurred at her inn. She had been in the building when Simon was dying in the pool. She had to think about all of the little details she might have overlooked. She recalled the family gathered together beside the pool. They were laughing and having a great time one moment, and then arguing the next. They had turned from warm and friendly to bitter and volatile in the span of a few drinks.

Vicky tried to think back to what words were actually exchanged in the argument. She could recall that accusations flew about Jane, and that Simon had become furious. It sure seemed at the time that Simon loved his
fiancée. But why would anyone kill Simon over a silly argument about his fiancée? Even if Mike was having an affair with her, was that enough to make him want to kill Simon? And what about Mike's wife, Charlene? She seemed like a mild and friendly woman, but perhaps she possessed enough strength to push a drunk Simon into the pool.

Vicky sighed and shook her head as
the possibilities seemed endless. The family had a lot of history between them, and truly any one of them could be a suspect. Since they all had similar builds, the figure on the video tape offered no more of a hint. If only the cameras had been of better quality. She made a mental note to look into purchasing better cameras for the pool area. She decided it was time to speak more specifically with some of the family, off the record. If she could get Mike or Jane to admit to the affair then maybe she would get a hint as to who was responsible for Simon's death. As Vicky began to walk away from the pool, she heard Aunt Ida chatting with Wilbur just inside the lobby.

“
You don't remember anything about what he looked like?” she was asking.

“
I don't,” he shook his head. “All I remember is his ball cap.”

“
Which all of the Carter men were wearing,” Vicky pointed out as she stepped into the lobby. She paused beside the two and smiled kindly at Will. “I really appreciate how hard you're trying to figure all of this out,” she said.

“
I wish I could remember more,” Will sighed with frustration. “I couldn't even really hear exactly what they were saying.”

“
Wait,” Vicky paused a moment. “Maybe you can't remember the words, but do you remember anything about the voice? I know you said you can't tell the difference between the voices of the Carter men, but what about the tone or the volume?” she asked as she met Will's eyes through his thick glasses. Maybe vision wasn't his strong suit, but he might just have picked something up about the person's voice.

“
Well,” he frowned a little. “I remember that he sounded angry. He was growling his words, like he wanted to yell, but he was trying not to.”

“
And Simon?” Vicky pressed and listened closely as Will replied.

“
Simon was sputtering, like he was shocked, or he just couldn't believe what the other man was saying. I wouldn't even say he was angry, he just seemed really surprised,” he frowned and again shook his head. “I really do wish I could remember more.”

“
That's plenty,” Vicky assured him as she smiled at him. “Just remember to stay with Aunt Ida, okay?” she said firmly. With Will being a potential witness and trying so hard to remember who the killer might be, and all of the suspects still staying in the inn she was worried that someone might try to hurt him. She knew that Aunt Ida would try to protect him, considering that she was almost fearless and was skilled in martial arts, and very protective of Will.

“
Sure,” he nodded and smiled shyly at Ida. “I don't mind one bit,” he added.

Aunt Ida
blushed a little and winked lightly. “I don't mind either.”

As Vicky walked away from the l
obby she thought about what Wilbur had said. If Simon had been surprised by whatever the person was saying then maybe it had been about an affair with Jane. Maybe she could shed more light on who the murderer was, maybe it was even Jane, herself. She decided that it was time for her to have a serious conversation with the woman who seemed to have caused such a deep rift in a family.

***

As Vicky stepped into the elevator she found Alina already waiting inside. “Going up?” Vicky asked as she pushed the button for the third floor.

“
Yes,” Alina sighed. “I was just trying to get a few minutes away from Lawrence. He's really a basket case over this.”

Vicky eyed the woman with a hint of annoyance.
“Well, he did just lose his son,” she said as diplomatically as she could.

“
Oh, I know he did,” Alina waved her hand dismissively. “And honestly if that was what he was upset about then I would understand. But that's not even why he's upset.”

“
It's not?” Vicky asked with surprise. What could be worse than the murder of his son?