Camera Never Lies (10 page)

My throat grew tight, making it hard to swallow. This was big. Really big. I lifted my camera and looked to a lofty peak in the distance. “So, do you think Alec Gordon deserved to die?” I zoomed in and turned the lens on Peter before he could refuse me. Even if he did, I could hopefully read his eyes.

He turned away just as I took the shot. The back of his head was completely devoid of emotion. Big surprise. He’d been forthright, opened up to me. Maybe if I shared more about myself, he would as well—sort of a give-and-take relationship.

I opened my mouth to say something, but another woman’s words filled the gap. She’d gained Peter’s attention from his other side. After a few minutes it became apparent that I’d lost my opportunity. Not only had Peter avoided answering my question, he’d not given me the chance to capture his expression.

Had he known that his expression would give him away?

I took the empty seat on a bench next to an Asian couple who were busy taking pictures. As soon as they saw my camera, they jabbered on about it, though I couldn’t understand a word they said. No point questioning them.

The boat docked next to Thomason Island—a small volcanic cinder cone that formed an island at the north side of the lake. Peter explained that anyone who chose to hike the island would have to wait until the evening to be picked up. Two young men hopped out of the boat; one I recognized from the top of the trail.

I moved to the railing as others gathered to look at the island.

A silver-haired woman next to me spoke in hushed tones to her husband. “If only the beauty weren’t shadowed by this murder.”

Once we headed away from the island and people repositioned themselves, I made sure I sat next to the couple. All I could glean from them was they’d been briefly interviewed and were free to leave but wanted to tour the lake. They planned to cut short their stay at the lodge because of the murder.

I approached a woman with a young boy whom I assumed was her son. Before I could open my mouth, she quickly scooted her son away from me, unsettling me. Had I been too obvious in questioning people about the murder? I glanced about for other prospects, but the boat was already nearing the dock.

The tour ended too soon. A man assisted the tourists off the boat. I was last in line, and when it was my turn for help, Peter took the man’s place and gripped my hand to pull me up onto the dock.

He removed his sunglasses and cap. “How would you like a private tour of the island? I’d be happy to assist, if you’re interested.”

Because of his comments about a better way to have murdered Alec, his offer alarmed me. “Um…”

“Since you’re a photographer, I thought you’d like to see more than the average tourist.” He shoved his hat back on and put his sunglasses in place, ending my scrutiny.

He smiled, disarming me. It transformed him from Robert Shaw in
Jaws
to a suave, young Ewan McGregor in
Big Fish
. Still, it was hard to dispense with the grizzly character I’d painted on him like the name on a boat.

Part of me felt like he toyed with me, but the other part told me I was a paranoid fool. I returned his smile with a cautious grin. “That sounds like fun.”

I’d have to think long and hard about it, but I probably wouldn’t see him again anyway.

I started the arduous climb up the steep trail and back to the lodge, somehow feeling like I’d betrayed Spencer, because I’d been gone for so long and because another man had asked me to go somewhere with him.

Concern over his possible role in Alec’s demise was slowly fading. In fact, now that I considered it, my fears about Spencer were muted against the backdrop of George’s murderous glare and Peter’s strange words. No way was Spencer a cold-blooded killer. But doubt still niggled at me. What if it was an accident? I wanted to hear from Spencer that he’d not followed Alec. But on this, there was no getting to the point. I hoped it would somehow come out without me asking. Otherwise, I’d be admitting I could think such a thing of him. In his eyes, that would be unforgivable.

I’d just shut the door behind me in my room when the phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Polly, it’s Spencer.” He sounded upset.

I imagined that he’d seen me agreeing to a date with Peter, though he couldn’t have. “Spencer, what is it?”

“The authorities have taken your mum for questioning. She was in hysterics. I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”

“Oh no!” Guilt and worry flooded me. I was taking entirely too long to find someone else with motivation to kill Alec.

“Polly. Why didn’t you tell me of your mum’s business deal with Alec?”

CHAPTER
NINE

I
paced across the claustrophobic space of my room, wishing I had at least one of Mom’s nervous habits with which to expend energy. “I don’t know why I didn’t tell you.”

I wondered if someone had reported hearing her outburst at the Terrace Café—something else I’d kept from Spencer. I supposed I’d hoped that by keeping quiet, it would simply go away.

“I can’t help if you don’t tell me everything.”

“When did they take her?” I’d known her time would come, but I feared for her nonetheless. “Oh, why did I leave her?”

If she were in hysterics as Spencer had said, then I could see her confessing to the murder whether she’d done it or not. I imagined Mom in a dark, wet dungeon—somewhere I’d never see her again.

“Calm down. I don’t need two of you in an uproar. Your mum was enough to handle as it was. She’s been gone a couple of hours. I expect if her experience is anything like mine, she’ll be back soon.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“Polly, if I’d known about Alec’s scam sooner, I could have looked into it. We might have solved this already.”

Why does hindsight always confront us with a trail of wrong decisions? Then it hit me. “How did you find out about the scam?”

“I was with her when the ranger came through the lobby doors. He made a beeline for us.”

“But she was sick in her room earlier this morning and wanted to rest. That’s why I left her.”

“She must have recovered. No, wait, she was looking for you. Now that you mention it, she looked a little pale. But I assumed that was because the ranger came for her. Before he reached us, she told me Alec had scammed her on a real estate deal, but she didn’t kill him. Wait a sec…” Spencer spoke to someone in a muffled voice then came back. “Sorry, about that—”

“Who’s there with you? Are you in your room?”

“No, I’m in the atrium. Have you seen it? It’s beautiful.”

“You’re on your cell? How do you do that?” I’d failed to get a signal even once and had decided the place was a dead zone.

“It’s quite simple, actually.” Spencer began a spiel about how cell towers work.

“Stop, that’s not what I meant. Just get back to Mom’s story.”

“Right-o. I’m not sure why she wanted to explain it to me. But when they told her they needed to question her, she became a basket case. It worried me because…Polly, frankly…she acted guilty.”

I sighed, distressed with the news. “That’s exactly what I was afraid of.”

“You don’t mean to say she’s guilty.”

“Of course not! But I was afraid she’d act like she is. That she’d collapse, thinking they’d believe she killed Alec. She has motive and witnesses who heard her say…”

“Heard her say what, Polly? What are you talking about?”

“There’s something else you might as well know. You aren’t the only one who said something stupid at the Terrace Café that people overheard. She said she wanted to kill ‘that man.’ At the time, of course, I didn’t know she meant Alec, and neither did anyone who witnessed it.”

Silence lingered as if I’d stunned Spencer with the news. “I can’t believe this. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I’m sorry, Spence.” So, I’d finally come to the place where I felt comfortable calling him Spence.

Again he was silent, making me crazy. Was he considering what I’d called him—did he like me calling him Spence? Or was he thinking about Mom’s outburst?

Never good at staring or quiet games, I caved. “I need to know what you think.”

“I think I don’t like talking about this over the phone. And Polly, I’d like to know who told the rangers about my row with Alec. Perhaps they did the same with your mum, and maybe they’re trying to direct the rangers’ attention elsewhere.”

“Good point. You might have a clue there. But Mom’s experience will be different than yours. She had a reason to want to kill him.” As I said the last sentence, I wondered about Spencer’s warning to Alec.

“The good news there is your mum probably wasn’t the only one with animosity toward Alec Gordon. I’ve been researching while I waited for you to show up. Decided to take a walk and give you another ring. Glad I caught you.”

I slapped my forehead. At this rate, I’d need to purchase some sort of padded headband. With so many things happening, I hadn’t had time to look into Mom’s business deal. But that would have been the most logical first step in investigating Alec’s murder. “Spencer, you’re brilliant. You’ve got a lot to go on already. Maybe between the two of us we can solve this.”

“I agree. What do you say we meet?”

“What about the Terrace Café? I haven’t had lunch yet.”

Propped on the bed, I waited for his answer, which came in the form of a long pause. Immediately I tried to discern what that meant. “Spence, did you hear me?”

“Sorry. Yes, I’ll see you at the Terrace Café in say, fifteen minutes?”

“See ya.” As soon as I hung up, the phone rang again. It was Mom. “Oh, Polly.”

Her next words were unintelligible. Spencer wasn’t kidding when he said she was in hysterics. How had the rangers managed to question her at all? “Are you in your room?”

Some semblance of the affirmative answered me.

“I’m on my way.”

Still sobbing, she managed to say, “And I only have two sleeping pills left!”

“Mom, I’m hanging up now. I’m coming to your room, okay?” I dragged my words out, hoping she’d grasp them.

I headed out the door and to her room. Mom opened the door before I knocked and let me in. Things were strewn across the floor, over the bed, dresser, and television set. “What happened here?” Had the real killer searched her room while she was gone?

The bed was lopsided under her weight as she slumped on the edge. “I was looking for the extra bottle of pills I brought. I can’t find them anywhere.” She pressed her hands on her face, but, though I expected her to sob, she remained quiet. Maybe she’d cried all her tears. I hoped so.

As I recalled, she’d stuffed the prescription bottles right back into the sack after she’d showed them to me. No sense in arguing, though. “Everything is going to be fine. You don’t need more sleeping pills.”
Or cigarettes for that matter
. But I didn’t want to mention those, lest she launch into a search for them. “Now, tell me what happened.” She proceeded to describe the details of her ride to the ranger station. I chewed on my lip instead of screaming for her to get to the important part.

“And then they questioned me.” She began picking up the items she’d tossed about the room as though she had nothing more to say.

Fumes of sulfuric gas had to be coming from my ears. “Mom, I want to know what they asked you. I want to know how you answered.”

“Well, why don’t you just say so? You asked me what happened. So that’s what I told you.”

I could see things clearly now. Mom probably knew what she was getting into with Alec regarding his so-called scam. Maybe he hadn’t even scammed her. Maybe she wanted to buy a piece of property from him and drove him crazy until he just sold her something that didn’t exist. It could happen.… As my out-of-control thoughts surged, I rubbed my forehead, recognizing that my survival instincts were kicking in. If it weren’t for my strange sense of humor, I’m not sure how I would have survived all these years.

“Okay, so now I’m asking. Please tell me about the interview.” At that moment, I needed Rene’s lozenges or, God forgive me, Mom’s cigarettes! With nothing to diffuse my agitation, I started picking up the clutter, too.

“Polly, I think I have a big mouth.” While she folded a shirt, her eyes were riveted on me. “Don’t give me that look. I know you’ve always thought that. Just never said so. Well, at least not in so many words.”

Although I’d wanted to have this discussion for years, telling Mom that she let too many people close to her, that her secrets belonged to the entire world because she lacked a volume knob, this wasn’t the time. “Please. That has nothing to do with your interview. I want to know, and I want to know now.”

“No need to be disrespectful to your mother. I’m getting there. I should never have said those awful words about Alec where others could hear me. I’m not one to care about others’ business or to eavesdrop, and I expect the same treatment as well. The ranger—he’s very nice, you know—he told me that someone had overheard me say I wanted to kill Alec Gordon.”

Actually, she’d not said his name at the time, but I didn’t want to cork the flow of words once it started by pointing that out. “Okay, so we know that. Go on.”

“I told him why I’d said that. I tried to tell them that I could never kill him, but I was crying so hard I could hardly talk.”