Dangerous Secrets (15 page)

‶
Ted Palmer or maybe that rocket
scientist with the bimbo.″

‶
I′d lay my money on
Ted.″

I straightened.
‶
I′ve got to find out what
Eileen knew about Laura Ross. I need to get into their room and rifle through
her stuff.″

‶
Isn′t that just a little
illegal?″

‶
So is framing an innocent
person for murder. Besides, it′s only breaking and entering if
you′re caught.″

‶
The police have already
searched the inn. If they′d found something incriminating, wouldn′t
they have confiscated it?″

‶
Not if they didn′t know
what they were looking for?″

‶
You′ve lost me.”

‶
It′s like that scotch
bottle. The cops saw it as just a plastic bottle. I knew Adam had handled it. I
might get a whole wealth of information just by touching Laura′s
things.″ I smiled at a new thought.
‶
Have you got any more of those
latex gloves in your little black bag?″

‶
It sounds like aiding and
abetting to me. What′s your plan?″

My smile faded.
‶
I don′t have one. But
there′s got to be a way to get everyone out of their rooms—and keep them
out for a while.″

Richard shrugged.
‶
A cocktail party.
Free food—free liquor. That usually does it.″

‶
Oh, sure. We could just throw a
cocktail party with a couple hours notice,″ I said.

‶
Why not?″

‶
I can′t afford a pizza,
let alone a party.″

He sighed.
‶
When are you going to stop
worrying about money? I′ll take care of it.″

‶
This whole trip is turning out
to be on you,″ I reminded him.

‶
I′m on vacation,″
he said.
‶
Although
I’ll admit my life′s a lot more interesting—and expensive—since you came
back into it.″

‶
I′ll take that as a
compliment. So, how do we arrange a party on the spur of the moment?″

‶
I bet Susan can throw one hell
of a cocktail party with only an hour′s notice. Besides, we′re not
expecting a buffet.″

‶
What if she says no?″

‶
Then we call a restaurant down
the road. But Susan doesn′t seem like the type to shy away from making a
little extra cash.″

‶
Amen. How do we explain it to
the guests?″

‶
I′ll let Susan take the
credit. I′ll go talk to her now.”

I watched him go inside, and then looked down
at the box of license plates and back to the one in my hand. It wasn′t
much to go on.

Leaving the garage, I climbed the porch steps
and paused to look through the bay window. Richard spoke with Susan outside her
office. After a few moments she came out of her cubbyhole carrying a clipboard
and they sat on the loveseat in front of the cold fireplace. Negotiations for
the party were well underway. Something told me Susan would really soak Richard
for it, too.

Beach′s car was still parked in the
drive, so I sat on the porch swing to wait for him. I stared at the license
plate in my hand, frustrated. I got no empathic vibrations from it—nothing.
Maybe the person who tried to kill Maggie and me had worn gloves and never
actually touched it. On its own, it was just another damned annoying piece of
the puzzle.

I leaned back in the swing, letting it sway
back and forth, content to stay there until Beach came out. I′d give him
the plate and that would be that.

Richard showed up first.

‶
It′s all set. I told her
eight-thirty would be fine. That gives us half an hour to get back from the
hospital.″

‶
Damn. I almost forgot we
promised to have dinner with Maggie.″ I scrutinized his face.
‶
What′s
this going to cost you?″

‶
A lot.″

‶
I appreciate it.″

‶
I know.″ He glanced at
his watch.
‶
I′m
beat. I didn′t sleep well last night. I′m going to take a nap for a
couple of hours. If you′re smart, you′ll do the same.″

‶
Maybe. I still have things to
do.″ I indicated the license plate.

‶
Suit yourself.″ He went
back inside.

Restless, I got up from the swing and gazed at
the lawn in front of the inn. The overgrown bushes near the sign by the road
needed pruning. The forest on the other side of the two-lane road looked dark
and foreboding on that sunny afternoon. I leaned against the porch′s
support post and gazed up the road. A grove of evergreens marked the property
line.

Curiosity got the better of me. I headed down
the steps, walked over to the road and looked up the rise, then started north.
I′d gone about a hundred yards when I saw ruts cutting into the brush. A
few yards in, a cleared space overlooked the Sugar Maple property, with ample
room for a Blazer to turn around. Under the cover of darkness, the location
would give its driver a bird′s eye view of the inn′s parking lot.
All the driver had to do was wait for Maggie and me to leave, follow us and the
rest was history.

My anger boiled as I started back for the inn
to look for Sgt. Beach. I took the steps two at a time just as he opened the
screen door and stepped onto the porch.
‶
Are you looking for me?″

I shoved the plate at him.
‶
I
found this in the garage. It probably belongs to Susan Dawson, but she may not
know it was used on that Blazer.″

He frowned.
‶
Of course you realize
you′ve probably obliterated any fingerprints that were on it.″

‶
If there was anything to soak
up by touching it, I′d already know.″

He nodded, conceding the point.
‶
Let′s
go talk to Mrs. Dawson.″

We found Susan in the kitchen, consulting an
array of cookbooks—presumably to get ready for the party.

‶
Mrs. Dawson, Mr. Resnick said
he found this license plate in your garage.″

She looked at the plate, then at me.
‶
So?″

‶
It was on the truck that forced
me off the road last night.″

‶
Are you accusing me?″ she
asked, her voice rising.

‶
I want to establish ownership
of this license plate, ma′am,″ Beach said.

She sighed, angry.
‶
It could be mine.
I′ve got a stack of them in the garage. But I never bothered with an
individual inventory. I don′t keep the garage locked, so I suppose
anybody could′ve taken it and put it back without my knowing.″

Beach nodded.
‶
We′ll be in touch.″
He turned.

‶
Can I have my property
back?″ she demanded.

‶
We′ll hang onto it—as
evidence,″ he said, and continued for the stairs. Susan glared at me
before turning back to her work.

I had to jog to catch up with the sergeant on
the porch.
‶
Hey,
Beach, I was looking at the adjoining property. The Blazer′s driver could
have parked on the hill, seen us leave, then followed us last night.″

He glanced up the hill.
‶
Makes sense.″

I tried to squelch a burst of renewed anger.
What had I expected from him besides agreement, anyway? I changed tacks.
‶
If
they′ve ruled Eileen′s death a homicide, then the cause of death is
public record, right?″ He nodded.
‶
So what killed her?″

‶
Blood loss or drowning—take
your pick—brought on by blunt trauma to the skull. Her alcohol level was point
two nine, well over the max.″

No wonder Eileen hadn′t put up a
fight—she was literally too drunk to know what hit her.
‶
Did they establish
a time of death?″

‶
Between eleven and midnight.
Why?″

‶
Just being nosy. How about
Adam? What′s going to happen to him?″

‶
He′ll have to give
another statement. We′ll keep our eyes on him.″

‶
Do you still think you′ll
have this wrapped up by tomorrow?″

‶
It′s possible.″ He
brushed past me.
‶
I′ll keep you posted.”

He headed for the patrol car. I watched as he
started the engine, pulled onto the highway, and headed south.

Exhaustion weighed me down. Richard′s
suggestion of a nap sounded like a sensible idea. If I was going to break the
law later on, I needed to be sharp.

Chapter 17

A knock on my door awakened me barely an hour
later.
‶
Come
on,″ Richard called.
‶
Maggie′s waiting for her dinner.″ Still
blinking, I hauled myself off the bed, slipped on my shoes and grabbed my
jacket.

Thirty minutes—and a stop for take-out—later,
we paused in the open doorway of Maggie′s room.

With pen in hand, she was bent over her writing
tablet, staring at nothing, as though the muse had just left her.

‶
Greetings from China,″ I
announced.

An afternoon of rest had done wonders. A smile
lit her face, and the last of the afternoon sun streaming through the window
made her eyes shine.
‶
Wow! Did you bring hot and sour soup?″

‶
Is the Pope Catholic?″

I gave her a quick kiss and Richard and I moved
the flowers from the tray table to the window ledge. Richard won the coin toss
for possession of the room′s only chair. I perched on the edge of
Maggie′s bed and played Maitre d′, passing out cardboard cartons.

‶
Looks like you′ve got a
good start on the article.″

She pushed it aside.
‶
I′m more
interested in food right now.″ She took the plastic spoon I offered her.
‶
This
is kind of fun,″ she said, digging in.
‶
Only I wish Brenda was here
with us.″

‶
I wish we were at home with
Brenda having this fun,″ Richard added.

‶
I′ll say. Being in the
hospital is no picnic, but you guys have made it a lot better,″ she said.
‶
What
did you do all day?″

‶
Worked on the case,″ I
answered.

‶
Don′t call it a
case,″ Richard pleaded.

‶
It may as well be. What with
all the intrigue,″ I countered, for Maggie′s benefit.

‶
What intrigue?″ she
asked, her eyes widening.

I told her it was Adam who pushed me down the
stairs and planted the scotch bottle.

‶
What else?″ she asked.

‶
We′re giving—or rather,
Richard′s giving—″ I amended,
‶
a cocktail party
tonight.″

She pouted.
‶
And I wasn′t
invited?″

‶
Jeff needs an excuse to snoop.
I′m supposed to divert everyone′s attention—all ten of them.″

‶
I have confidence in your
social skills.″ We moved on to the egg rolls.
‶
I′ve got a
feeling that we′ll soon know who the killer is.″

‶
Good. Then we′ll all be
safe and can go home. Do you think I′ll get out of here tomorrow?″
Maggie asked Richard.

‶
It′s up to the doctor
who′s treating you.″

I glanced at him, admiring his smooth delivery,
his bedside manner working full force.

‶
Susan called,″ Maggie
said.
‶
She
said she didn′t think she′d get up here today, but said if I needed
anything to call her.″

I knew Maggie wouldn′t.

‶
We chatted for a few minutes
and you′ll be very proud of me, I pumped her for information and learned
some interesting tidbits. One may be the secret you mentioned the other
day.″

I stopped squirting duck sauce on my egg roll.
‶
Which
is?″

‶
She′s worried about how
the RSO will react when it finds out Eileen was murdered.″

‶
The what?″ Richard asked.

‶
Reservation service
organization. Advertising is expensive. The RSO screens guests and books them
for a fee. Susan′s already had one cancellation because of the murder.
That′s why she hasn′t kicked you out of your room, Richard.″

‶
Thank you, Susan,″
Richard muttered.

‶
Let′s get back to
Eileen,″ I said.

‶
She wanted to come up for the
long weekend, but they were fully booked, so she offered Susan money if
she′d find a cancellation.″

‶
She bribed Susan?″

Maggie nodded.
‶
Two hundred bucks—paid in cash—plus
the cost of the room. The most expensive one, too. Only she died before Susan
put the credit card through.″

Eileen paid for a cancellation? Something about
that didn′t add up.
‶
Wait a minute, I thought we got invited here this
weekend because the inn wasn′t fully booked?″

She shrugged.
‶
They weren′t booked a
week ago when I first talked to Susan. Since they′ve had trouble filling
the place, she wasn′t about to turn away business. Which explains why our
room isn′t finished. She couldn′t offer it to a paying
guest.″

‶
I suppose not.″ I
pondered the situation for a few moments.
‶
Why was it so important for
Eileen to be here on this particular weekend?″

Maggie shrugged.
‶
I don′t know, but Susan
told me Eileen arranged the contest the bimbo won.″

‶
How?″ I asked.

‶
She said Eileen had a lot of
friends in advertising. The last time she visited the inn, back in July, she
suggested the weekend prize as a form of free advertising. A lot of the
inn′s guests come from Long Island.″

‶
That′s where Laura Ross
lives. She said she′d been coming to the inn for years. And she
previously knew Eileen.″

‶
I also got the feeling Susan
didn′t like Eileen and isn′t sorry she′s dead,″ Maggie
continued.
‶
She
called her a conniver—said she was just a little
too
helpful. But she felt a kind of grudging gratitude because
since that radio contest, their business has picked up.″

‶
This is getting
convoluted,″ Richard commented. He held up a hand, ticking off each point
on his fingers.
‶
You
said Eileen came up here to see her lover. She didn′t have a reservation,
so she bribed one of the owners to let her have a room. She apparently came to
the inn to confront her married lover. But, an old friend—possibly an
enemy—Laura Ross was also a guest at the inn and Eileen knew some deep dark
secret about her. She also arranged free advertising for the inn and the people
who won the radio contest are here the same weekend as she was. Then, to top it
off, somebody murders the woman.″

‶
It does sound
convoluted,″ I agreed,
‶
and I don′t have a shred of tangible proof,
but I have a feeling every word of it′s true.″

‶
So this party is just a
cover-up so you can search the rooms? What if some of the guests don′t
show up?″ Maggie asked.
‶
That Mrs. Andolina strikes me as a party pooper and
a tattletale.″

‶
I′ll make a point of
personally inviting her,″ Richard offered.

‶
Great.″ I unpacked the
rest of the cartons, while Richard passed out plates and plastic cutlery.

We dug in. Considering we picked the restaurant
at random, the food was surprisingly good.

‶
Something else puzzles
me,″ Maggie said.
‶
That first night, Eileen took us into the game room
and we all introduced ourselves. Why didn′t she want us to know she knew
Laura?″

Richard shrugged.
‶
Didn′t you
say Ted was there, too? Maybe she didn′t want the kid to know she knew
Laura.″

I hadn′t considered that.
‶
Maybe
I was wrong. Maybe Eileen was
only
here to confront Laura.″

‶
How could you confuse meeting
Laura with Eileen meeting her married lover? So far as we know, Eileen wasn’t
gay. And Laura’s still a very attractive woman, as evidenced by her much
younger ... friend.″

‶
He′s a gigolo,″
Maggie accused.

Richard raised an eyebrow, but made no comment.

‶
Besides,″ Maggie
continued,
‶
Mrs.
Andolina said she′d seen them arguing. So Eileen must have already
confronted Laura.″

‶
What if she came to the inn to
confront her lover
and
see
Laura.″

‶
That would give her an awful
lot of hidden agendas, wouldn′t it? Pass me some of that chicken stuff,
will you?″ Richard said.

‶
If you were dying, maybe
you′d want to tie up all the loose ends in a hurry.″

‶
But she didn′t really
look sick, just tired,″ Maggie said.

‶
You′d have had a better
handle on that, Rich.″

‶
Just because a I’m an internist
doesn′t mean I can diagnose on the fly—especially for someone I’d never
even met.″

‶
Sure you could. You′re
great,″ I said and smiled.

‶
That testimonial not
withstanding, it′s a lot more complicated than that.″

Maggie pushed a pea pod around on her plate.
‶
What
I don′t understand is why Adam would want to hurt you, Jeff. You
could′ve broken your neck when he pushed you down the stairs.″

‶
He was probably just
scared.″

‶
And he probably wondered why
you told everyone you fell,″ Richard added.

‶
That may have been a
mistake,″ I conceded, and shoveled up a forkful of rice. I thought about
my conversation with Adam earlier in the day.
‶
Something he said today
didn′t ring true, but at the time I couldn′t put my finger on why.
He told Beach he was afraid Susan would be blamed for Eileen′s death
because Susan told Eileen she had to leave the inn. But Adam wasn′t at
the inn at the time of the argument on Friday night. Only Maggie and I heard
Susan read Eileen the riot act. So why would Adam hide the scotch bottle the
next morning and later try to pin it on me?″

‶
If Adam already knew Eileen was
dead, you probably pissed him off when you dragged him outside to help you find
the body. Or maybe Adam was as worried as Susan was about the RSO finding out
about the canceled reservation,″ Maggie suggested.
‶
He
seems to worship the ground she walks on.″

‶
Maybe you ought to mention all
this to Sgt. Beach,″ Richard said.

‶
Good idea. I don′t feel
any loyalty to Susan. How about you, Maggie?″

‶
If the situation weren′t
so serious, I′d say forget it. But a woman was murdered. When will you
talk with Sgt. Beach again?″

‶
I wouldn′t be surprised
if it was tonight.″

‶
Do you think he′ll show
up at the party?″ Richard asked.

I nodded.

‶
One of your funny
feelings?″

Again I nodded.

‶
Well, let′s just hope he
doesn′t spoil the frivolity.″

I couldn′t tell if Richard was serious.

Maggie pushed back her Chinet plate.
‶
That′s
it for me. I′m stuffed.″

I studied the remains on my plate then set my
fork aside.
‶
Me,
too.″

‶
It′s unanimous,″
Richard said, and collected the debris, placing the large paper sack by the
door to toss later.

He returned to his chair as Maggie leaned back
against the pillows on the bed.
‶
Thanks, guys. I can′t
tell you what this all means to me.″ She reached for Richard′s
hand.
‶
Thank
you for everything.″

He leaned across and kissed her forehead.
‶
No
thanks necessary.″

The mood was definitely too maudlin.
‶
Hey,
quit kissing my woman, will you?″

‶
I haven′t seen you do it
lately.”

Maggie laughed, the soapy moment past.

We stayed until the second announcement came
over the public address system, reminding us that visiting hours had ended.

‶
I’ll see you in the morning,
Maggs,″ I said and leaned down to kiss her good night.

‶
I want to hear everything that
happens at the party.″

“You bet.”

As we left her room, she picked up her
writer′s tablet, already going over what she′d written earlier that
afternoon.

Richard and I headed for the lobby. The wall
clock read 8:10. I hoped Susan would be smart enough to delay the party until
we arrived.

The stale smell of Chinese food still filled
the warm car, and we opened the windows to air it out. Richard slid in, dipped
a hand in his jacket pocket and handed me a pair of latex gloves.
‶
Here.
For later.″

I took them and shoved them into my own pocket,
embarrassed.

He started the engine and headed for the exit.

‶
By the way, I just want to
second the round of thanks.″

‶
For dinner?″ he asked.

‶
Yeah. And everything
you′re doing for Maggie. But especially the party. I’ve put you in an
awkward position.″

‶
Why? I′m the one who
suggested it.″

‶
Yeah, but you′re such a
law-and-order fanatic. That party is a cover for me to break the law.”

He thought about it for a moment.
‶
Under
ordinary circumstances, I′d agree. But Maggie′s in the hospital
because someone wanted to kill her and you. Maybe the ends don′t justify
the means, but long before civil law was the Biblical saw,
‵
an
eye for an eye.′″

I′m glad he felt that way, because I,
too, wanted to nail the bastard who hurt us.

We arrived at the inn at precisely 8:30 and
found the lobby deserted. All the cars were in the drive, but there was no one
around.
‶
It′s
understandable,″ Richard said.
‶
Who wants to be the first to
arrive at a party?″