Crowned and Moldering (7 page)

“That’s quite an accusation,” Eric said in a mild tone.

“If you knew him, you would agree it’s justified.” I lifted my shoulder in a half
shrug. “Maybe it’s unfair of me to accuse him, but I told you what a toad he is. I
kind of wish you’d arrest him on general principle.”

He met my gaze. “You said he was obnoxious, pushy. Give me some examples.”

I thought back to the months before Lily disappeared. “Even though he was dating Lily,
it was a well-known ‘secret’ that he was always cheating on her. He liked to hit on
other girls, including me. The thing is, he wouldn’t give up. And the more you said
no to him, the more he pushed. Maybe he thought he was so ultracool that the girls
would eventually give in and go out with him.”
He couldn’t have been more wrong,
I thought.

“Did you ever give in?”

“No, never. I kept telling him to buzz off. Everyone in school knew I was dating Tommy.”

“Right. High school sweethearts.”

“Yeah, that was us for a while.” I wasn’t about to go into the angsty history of my
relationship with Eric’s second in command. “Anyway, back in those days, Cliff worked
every summer for a local builder. Not my dad, by the way. And once he left for college,
he didn’t return for more than a decade.” I frowned in thought. “You could probably
get the precise dates from him. Because you’ll be talking to him, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. So, anyway, Cliff moved back recently, maybe two months ago. He was telling
everyone he missed the California weather. I mean, given that he was living in Chicago,
that story could be true. But I doubt that’s why he really came back. He’s been going
around town, letting everyone know what a big-time successful businessman he is, after
making millions in Chicago. I think he came back to rub everyone’s nose in the fact
that he’s rich now.”

“From construction?”

“Not exactly. He made his money by flipping foreclosures. Which is a perfectly legitimate
way to make money, as far as I’m concerned. But it wouldn’t surprise me to find out
he was underhanded about it.”

“Have you seen him around town? How do you know he’s still the same person he was
back then? Maybe he’s changed.”

I groaned. “Oh, please. He’s so much worse. I saw him less than an hour ago at the
market and he acted like a complete psycho.” I took a breath and realized I was still
reeling from the run-in. “Cliff doesn’t even try to hide the fact that he wants to
screw over all the local contractors, especially me. He’s trying to move in on our
jobs and steal our crew members.”

This had been bugging me since the day Cliff moved back to town. I mean, if things
were so great in Chicago, why would he come back to a town as small as ours? He probably
didn’t like being a little fish in a big pond like Chicago. In Lighthouse Cove, he
could be a big fish in a little pond. Maybe some bigger Chicago fish chewed him up
and spit him out, forcing him to swim back to my tiny pond. Something was definitely
fishy about the whole situation.
But okay,
I told myself.
Enough with the fish metaphors.

“He’s actually made offers to your guys?” Eric asked.

“Yes, in the beginning. But not lately.” I scowled. “My guys are too loyal to leave
me, or so they say. But several of my friendly competitors have had their crews poached.
And another thing Cliff has done is gone behind my back to talk to some of the homeowners
I’m working with to see if he can move in on my jobs. It’s a small world around here
and all the local contractors know each other. They’ve told me the same thing. It’s
a sleazy way to build a business.”

“Yeah, it is,” Eric said, staring thoughtfully at his notepad.

“And I can’t blame the guys on the crew. Like I said, my guys have always been pretty
dedicated to working for me, but if they were offered a lot more money, why wouldn’t
they take the job? That’s life, right? But it sucks.”

“It sure does,” Eric murmured.

“I have too much work to do every day without having to deal with a poacher in my
territory.” On a roll now, I leaned forward, elbows on the table. “And not only that,
but Cliff Hogarth is an arrogant sexist and, frankly, when he first started his business,
I think he deliberately homed in on my job sites and my crew members in particular.”

“Why would he do that?”

“I’m going to sound paranoid, but I think it’s because I wouldn’t go out with him
back in high school.”

Eric looked doubtful. “That does sound extreme.”

“I know. But every time I see him, he acts like a vicious bully. What other reason
could there be?” I flopped back in my chair. “He’s vindictive and childish and he’s
bugging me to death. I wish he would get over it and go away.”

“You sound frustrated.” Eric continued writing notes for another minute.

“I’m more than frustrated. He told one of my guys that it must be hard to work for
a woman because everyone knows they can’t do the same work as a man, but then they
expect to make all the same money.”

Eric wrote it down. “That’s sexist, all right.”

“You think?” I shoved a strand of hair back off my forehead. “Look, my father taught
me to do every single job his men could do. He told me that power wasn’t the answer
to everything, and showed me ways to finesse things when I couldn’t get it done through
sheer brute strength.”

“Your dad’s a smart man.”

“And he’s a good man.” And then, because I knew Eric wouldn’t want to take my word
for it when it came to Cliff’s attitude, I gave him the names of two other contractors
who’d been having the same problems with Cliff that I’d had.

“Do you know where Hogarth is living right now?”

“He’s staying at the Inn on Main Street. Word has it that he’s running up big tabs,
buying meals and drinks for anyone he meets. He’s the big spender now, trying to impress
everyone. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because he didn’t have a lot of money in high
school. But I refuse to feel sorry for him.”

Eric kept writing. “You mentioned that you ran into him at the market earlier. Something
happen?”

“Nothing out of the ordinary,” I said lightly. When he simply glared at me, I decided
I’d better tell him the whole story. “Okay, in a nutshell, he threatened to put me
out of business. He told me that by the time he was through with me, I’d be begging
him for a job.”

Eric glanced up slowly. “You’re kidding.”

“I wish I was. He grabbed my arm and—”

“He grabbed you?”

“Yeah. I guess he thought I wasn’t paying enough attention to him. And that’s when
he said all that stuff about destroying my business.”

“Has he threatened you before?”

“Yeah.” I told him about the time Cliff approached me at the pub and what he’d said.

Eric rubbed his jaw, clearly agitated. “He actually referred back to the way you treated
him in high school?”

“Yes. And I swear I hardly ever said anything to him in high school. Just had to finally
tell him to buzz off, or I’d tell Tommy.”

“And Hogarth said he could make life miserable for you. Did anyone hear him say it?”

“No. The bartender was too far away and there was music playing, too.”

“Those are some pretty ugly threats.”

I gazed at my hands, willing them not to shake. “I know.”

“Don’t get mad, but I’ve got to ask this.”

“Go ahead.” I had a feeling I knew what he wanted to ask.

“Did you threaten him in any way or say anything that would egg him on?” He held up
his hand before I could speak. “It won’t condone what he did, but I want to have all
the facts.”

“I understand.” I fiddled with a cracker. “I might’ve called him a few choice names,
like
jerk
and
clod
. And when he followed me outside the pub and said what he said about walking home
in the dark, I told him that if he didn’t want to be found dead in a ditch, he’d leave
me alone.”

Eric considered for a moment. “That sounds like something you would say.”

“Can you blame me?”

He didn’t answer, but asked, “Did he touch you that night? Hurt you?”

“He didn’t hurt me, but he scared me,” I admitted. “He grabbed my arm a bunch of times.
This afternoon in the market I thought he might punch me.”

I could see Eric’s jaw tighten. “And you said he’s staying at the Inn on Main Street?
I’ll have a talk with him.”

“I’d feel better if you just threw him in jail.”

“We’ll see how it goes.”

I gritted my teeth. “I hate to sound like a tattletale, but—”

“Shannon.” He reached over and squeezed my hand. “All you did was report a legitimate
threat to your well-being. I don’t like that happening in my town. So let me take
it from here.”

“Okay.” I took a deep breath. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” Eric flipped a couple pages of his notepad and read what he’d written.
“So, if you don’t mind, I’d like to go back to high school.”

“Good idea.”

“So, what was the story between Hogarth and Lily? You said they dated. For how long?”

“From what I remember, they were together maybe six months during their senior year.”

“Were they dating when she disappeared?”

I’d already thought about this question. “It had started to cool down. Lily was hearing
rumors about him cheating. But they still must’ve been involved, because I heard that
the police interviewed Cliff.”

He wrote it all down, then glanced up at me. “This may seem like an odd question,
but let me ask it anyway. Do any moments stand out in your mind from that time? Anything
at all that might’ve struck you as odd in the days and weeks before and after Lily
disappeared?”

I thought about it for a minute. The memories were still spinning around and I had
to concentrate. High school girls were known to dwell in fantasyland sometimes, and
I was no exception. I didn’t want to tell him anything that wasn’t absolutely true.

“This might not have anything to do with anything,” I said, “but if nothing else,
it’ll give you some insight into the way girls think. And once you start interviewing
Lily’s girlfriends, you might want to take the things they say with a grain of salt.
Because it all happened a long time ago.”

“Thanks for the warning. Go ahead.”

“My girlfriends and I were obsessed with Lily’s disappearance. She was like a celebrity
to us because, first of all, she was a senior and she was beautiful. She had the lead
in the school play and she could sing. And she was smart, too. So, after she disappeared,
my girlfriends and I would sit in the cafeteria and spin new stories, come up with
different ideas of what might’ve happened. Did someone lure her away? Was she kidnapped?
Did she tumble over the cliff into the ocean? Did she fall in love with a traveling
soldier? Did they run off and get married?” I glanced at him. “That last one was Jane’s
idea, because even back then, she had a romantic soul and believed in love that lasts
through time. The rest of us quickly blew off that scenario.”

Eric grinned. “You have to appreciate Jane’s good heart.”

“I do,” I said, smiling. I’d known Jane Hennessey forever. We’d been best friends
all through school and we still were. She owned Hennessey House, the newest, most
elegant, most
romantic
bed-and-breakfast in town. She and Eric were good friends, so I knew he could relate
to what I’d said. “Naturally, I was the one who kept pushing the notion of foul play.
I was forever coming up with elaborate, gruesome theories of what had happened to
Lily. Even with her problems at home, I couldn’t imagine that she would simply leave
town on her own.” I fiddled with my napkin. “I also had several clever conspiracy
theories that revolved around all the cutest boys in school.”

He laughed. “Naturally.”

“I guess we were being ridiculous. But here’s the weird thing, and it probably doesn’t
have anything to do with Lily. But you asked about moments that stand out in my mind
and this is one of them. There was one girl who went a little too far with the obsession
and caused a scene in the school cafeteria.”

He sobered. “What happened?”

“She accused an innocent boy of hurting Lily. Of course it wasn’t true, but his reputation
suffered. She wasn’t part of our group, but she occasionally tried to join in. Her
attempts always seemed to fall flat.”

“What was her name?”

“Ophelia Hawkins. She was sort of a needy type. I felt sorry for her, but I have no
idea what she was thinking when she accused Bernie. Maybe she thought her accusation
would make her more popular. Whatever her reason, I blame myself for her freaking
out.”

“But you don’t think Ophelia had anything to do with Lily’s disappearance.”

“Oh no, not at all. But you were asking for odd moments.” I paused to remember the
day it all happened. “She wasn’t evil. She was just sort of sad.”

“Kids are impressionable,” he said, staring at the page. “Can you give me the names
of some of Lily’s friends?”

I named five girls I knew had been in Lily’s crowd, including her best friend, Denise
Jones. I also named three boys that hung out with Lily and her friends. All of them
still lived in town. “There were plenty of others. Lily was really popular.”

“I’ll probably collect more names as I talk to these people.”

We sat in silence for a long moment, until Eric closed his notepad. He reached for
his glass of water and took a sip. “That boy in the cafeteria. The one who was falsely
accused.”

“What about him?”

“What’s his name?”

“Bernard, but we all called him Bernie. Bernie McHugh.”

“Is he still living around here?”

“No. His family moved away that summer, but I still wonder about him.” And I continued
to regret the small role I’d played in turning his world upside down.

*   *   *

An hour later, I left the house to meet my guys for dinner at the pub. Mac spotted
me leaving the house and I invited him to join us. A good thing, because he helped
make the atmosphere lighter than it would’ve been otherwise. He kept us entertained
with stories of how he’d researched all sorts of scary stuff for his famous Jake Slater
thrillers. Since Mac had been a Navy SEAL himself, he knew what it was like to be
in a helicopter hovering a few hundred feet above the ocean and have to scramble down
a rope to rescue a beautiful woman.