Death Takes a Holiday (31 page)

“Did he?” Grace asked.

“I’m positive. Victor was scum. He had no morals. No decency. I have no doubt he took advantage of the poor, naïve, adulterous little . . .” She hesitated before adding, “Not that I
hold anything against her. Victor could be very charming when he wanted to be. After all, I fell for his lines. Poor girl. She probably just snapped.”

Parker made a face. “I’m sure she was fine,” he said dismissively.

“Eh, you’re probably right,” Felicity said. She suddenly smiled. “Wouldn’t be a kick in the head if Victor really did die of natural causes?”

“Well,” Grace said carefully, “considering there had been several attempts on your husband’s life that day,
just by you two alone, I think the odds are someone murdered him.”

“All I know is that it wasn’t me
or Parker.” Felicity smiled brightly. “Oh, and if you repeat this conversation to anyone, I’ll deny it and tell the police that I saw you both kill Robert.”

*

Grace and Kyle found Lucas in the back of the kitchen. He was standing next to Tracy who had a phone pressed against her ear. He reached for the phone only for her to slap his hand away. “That’s right,” Tracy said into the phone.

Kyle and Grace walked over to the small booth in the corner and sat down
to wait.

Lucas wrapped his hand around the phone and tugged it away from her ear.
“Tracy, please.”

Tracy clamped her hand over the mouthpiece and t
urned to her brother-in-law. “I’m not going to lie for you, Lucas. Now let go,” she said through clenched teeth. “Frankly, I’m starting to doubt Jack killed Robert.”

“
You know he did,” Lucas said quickly.

“
Then why haven’t we found him?” Tracy dropped her hand and spoke into the phone. “No! His name is Jack Horner,” she said spelling out his last name. “I don’t know. He’s about five feet five, one hundred thirty pounds. I guess.” She looked to Lucas for confirmation. Finding none, she turned back to the phone. “He’s got brown hair and brown eyes . . . Yeah, a hook like scar from a boating accident—”

Lucas grabbed the phone, much to Tracy’s annoyance. “Look, h
e’s goofy looking. Like a really short Gumby—”

Tracy jerked the phone back out of his hand. “
Yes . . . that’s my brother-in-law,” she said, punching Lucas in the shoulder. “Let’s see . . . he has a mole over his left eye . . . two, I think . . .”

Lucas pulled the phone away, but she jerked it back with a hiss. She put it back to her ear. “I’m sorry about that . . . yeah, Jack in
the beanstalk. Yes,” she said with barely restrained hostility, “Jack Horner is his real name.” She covered the mouthpiece with her hand. “They’re laughing.”

Grace watched as
Lucas’ face darkened. He angrily pulled the phone out of her hand and brought it to his ear. “Look, I’m glad you are finding this so amusing, but he killed my brother, so you’ll have to excuse me if I don’t find this the least bit funny!” Lucas slammed the phone down.

“Would you calm down
?” Tracy asked. “You’re not helping things acting like this.” She picked up the phone.

“Who are you calling now?”

“Some friends at the station. Maybe they can find Jack for us.”

“Jack’s dead.” Lucas
turned around, but stopped short when he caught Grace and Kyle sitting a few feet away.

Tracy
hung up the phone and grabbed him by the arm. Worry coloring her voice, she asked desperately, “What do you mean dead? What did you do, Lucas?”

Lucas jerked his arm away. “I didn’t do anything.” He looked at Grace and Kyle and then back at Tracy. “
Come on. We’re all thinking it. Jack’s got to be dead. If he wasn’t, we would have seen him by now.”

“Maybe he escaped last night when the train stopped,” Kyle said.

Tracy looked pointedly at Lucas. “Or maybe someone pushed him off the train before we stopped.”

“Wh
y are you looking at me like that?” Lucas asked angrily.

“You went looking for him after we found Robert’s body.” Hands on her hips,
Tracy closed the distance between them until she was only a few inches away. “I think you found him.”

Lucas took a step back and crossed his arms. “Don’t be stupid, Tracy. I’m not a murderer.”

“You were angry—”

“Of course I was angry
, but I didn’t kill Jack.” He leaned forward. “You know me, Tracy. Do you really think I could kill someone?”

Sighing deeply, Tracy hung her head. “No, of course not.” She reached up and gave him a brief hug. “I don’t know what I was thinking. It’s just that Sara thought . . .
” She suddenly shook her head. “Never mind, I’m sorry.”

“Sara thought what?” Grace asked.

Finally acknowledging Grace and Kyle’s presence, Tracy said, “I overheard her and Asa talking.” She looked up at her brother-in-law reluctantly. “She said that she found blood on the floor of your room.”

Lucas paled. “So, that doesn’t prove anything. That could have come from anyone.” He glanced back and forth between the three other people in the room. “Who knows how many people have
stayed in my room?”

Tracy laid a comforting hand against his arm. “Relax, Lucas. You’re not the only suspect. I also heard Sara tell him that she caught Parker going through Steve’s room
this morning.” Eyes narrowing, she looked toward the door. “I’m going to go have a little chat with Sara and Asa. I think they know more than what they are letting on.” She patted Lucas’ arm twice before turning and walking out of the room, leaving him alone with Grace and Kyle.

Kyle nodded to the phone. “Who was she talking to a few minutes ago?”

“The cops,” Lucas said. “They’re waiting at the hotel depot for us.”

Grace reached into her pocket and pulled out Tracy’s lipstick. “Good. I can give them this,” she said
, setting the lipstick down on the table in front of her.

Lucas glanced down at the
lipstick and crossed his arms. “Why? What does that have to do with anything?”

“
This is what you used when you wrote that message on Steve’s bathroom mirror.”

Lucas snorted. “No, I didn’t.”

“Tracy says otherwise. Besides, I overheard her tell Robert that you were going through her purse yesterday morning. I figure that’s when you swiped her lipstick and decided to leave that little love note. It would explain why you were so disturbed to see me come out of the room.”

Lucas looked ready to deny it when Kyle took the lipstick off the table and held it out. “If you tell us the truth, we’ll give this to you once we’re at the station.” Grace spared a few seconds to glance at her friend. She pressed her knee against his, wondering what he was up to.

Lucas searched Kyle’s face, trying to assess whether or not to believe him. He appeared ready to drop the subject and walk out when he suddenly reached out, attempting to snatch the lipstick out of Kyle’s hand.

Kyle was quicker. He held his empty
hands out and smiled at Lucas who glared at them both. He crossed his arms in front of his chest. “What do you want to know?”

“Start
with the mirror,” Grace said.

“All right, I admit I left the message on the mirror
. Happy?” Lucas asked, holding out his hand.

“No,” Kyle said, “why did you
do it?”

“
I was just trying to mess with him,” Lucas said softly. “Look, Mattingly ruined my life. It’s because of him that Merry won’t have anything to do with me. I wasn’t going to do anything. I just wanted to scare him.”

Grace groaned. “You can’t be serious.”

“Merry was the only person who ever loved me and it’s because of Mattingly that she left.”

“She wasn’t the only person,” Kyle said. “Robert loved you, didn’t he?”

Lucas frowned. “Fine, she’s the only other person who loved me.”

“What about your mother?” Grace asked.

“You mean the woman who abandoned me?” he asked bitterly. “She didn’t love me and I still have the letters to prove it.”

“All right,” Kyle said, “What about Tracy? She must love you.”

“Tracy?” Lucas asked with a laugh. “Tracy doesn’t love me. She tolerates me because I’m family.”

“I hear she was doing more than that,” Grace said. “You got to that guest house awfully quick that night.”

“For the last time, she and I were not having an affair.”

“
There’s apparently a hotel clerk somewhere that says differently,” Grace said.

He glared at her for a moment.
“It was just that one time,” he admitted reluctantly. “Long before I met Merry.”

“Did Robert know
about your affair?” Grace asked.

“No, not until Mattingly gave us away,” he said bitterly.

“How did he react?” Grace asked.

“How do you think? He was furious. He wouldn’t speak to
either of us for a long time, but he eventually forgave us both. Look, Robert was no saint,” he said defensively. “He wasn’t exactly faithful to her, either.”

“Yes,” Grace said, “we know all about the weathercaster he was seeing in town the night the guest house was set on fire.”

Lucas’ head rose sharply. “She wasn’t with him that night. I saw her on TV giving the weather report. Besides, he told me that he had broken it off with her a couple of weeks before. Robert loved Tracy and wanted to work on their relationship.”

“
Do you have any idea who was with Tracy in the guest house?” Grace asked.

He looked down at them. “Did it ever occur to you two that she was
alone?”

“No,” Grace and Kyle said simultaneously.

He ran his hand over his face. “Look,” he said, “please give me the lipstick. I promise you, I’m not going to hurt Mattingly. I just wanted to scare him.”

“You
threatened to kill him,” Kyle said.

“If I wanted him
dead, I wouldn’t have—” Lucas suddenly snapped his mouth shut. He shook his head and crossed his arms. “Look, I’ve answered your questions. I want that lipstick.”

“When we’re safely off the train,” Kyle said.

Lucas glared at them both before turning and walking out the door.

Perching her head on her hand, Grace waited patiently.

Kyle pushed up his sleeves and showed her both sides of his hands. With a twist of his wrist, the lipstick appeared in the palm of his right hand.

Grinning
, she grabbed the lipstick and slid it into her pocket. “That’s our only piece of evidence, why in the world did you offer it to him?”

“I promised to give it to him, only if he told the truth. I was pretty confident he’d throw in a few lies here and there. I don’t think he can help himself.” He lifted his arm and draped it across the back of the booth behind her head. She felt him run his fingers across her shoulder. “
That was fun. So, did that answer all your questions?”

“Maybe.”
Grace leaned her head back against his arm. “What time is it?”

Kyle lifted his wrist. “Seven
. We should be at the hotel in a few hours. Want to get something to eat?”

“
I have a better idea.” Taking his hand, Grace smiled up at him before pulling him up into a standing position. “Let’s go back to the sleeping car. There’s something I’ve wanted to do with you all day.”

Chapter TWENTYfive

“When you said
you had a better idea and led me back here, this isn’t what I had in mind,” Kyle said, closing the door behind him. He shivered against the cold wind coming from the open window between Grace and Meredith’s beds.

Grace picked up one of the blankets
off her bed and shook it out until she was reasonably certain it was free from glass. She wrapped it around her shoulders. “Oh, stop complaining.”

“What are we looking for?”

“A dead body.”

He looked at her sharply. “Really? Whose?”

“Jack’s or Henry’s.”

“What makes you think
they’re dead and in here?”

“
According to Sara no one walked away from the train last night, so they have to be on this train.”

“Unless Steve’s guardian angel tossed their bodies off the train before he stumbled into the vestibule last night.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Why?”

“Why would someone break the window?” She said drawing the blanket closer around her. “I think they needed to make it nice and cold, so we wouldn’t notice the smell. I also found a few drops of blood on the floor last night. There wasn’t much, but still . . .”

She walked over to the
dresser she and Meredith had used as a barricade. Behind the dresser was a small closet. If she was right, there was a dead body behind that door. “Can you help me move this back?”

Kyle
walked to the other side of the dresser and laid his hands against the edge. “I thought these things were bolted to the floor.”

“This one wasn’t,” she said, pushing against the edge of dresser.

They quickly moved the dresser around and over to the side. Once it was out of the way, Grace reached for the closet door. She threw the door open and stepped back. She wasn’t sure what she was expecting, but complete emptiness, wasn’t it.

“Well, that was a bust,” she said
, slamming the door shut. She turned around to find Kyle kneeling down, examining the floor near her bed.

“What’s wrong?”

He bent down and ran his hand over the carpet. “Is this where you stepped in the blood?”

“No.
It was over near the bathroom.”

“There’s a stain here,” he said examining the palm of his hand. “I think you may be onto something.” He showed her his
hand. Streaks of red were smeared across his skin. He glanced up at the overhead light which burned weakly in the center of the room. He pulled out his pen flashlight and shined it on the floor. It was difficult to see with the dark brown carpeting, but there was definitely a stain.

“I knew it.”
She knelt down next to him. “The dresser must have covered most of it last night.” She stood up and walked into the bathroom.

Empty.

She turned around and leaned against the doorjamb. “Where could it be?”

Kyle lightly kicked at the
side of Grace’s bed. “I suddenly thought of another nursery rhyme.
London Bridge is Falling Down
.”

“Oh, I
know that one,” she said humming a few bars.

Kyle looked at her dumbfounded. “
That’s the
Big Bad Wolf
. How could you possibly confuse the
Big Bad Wolf
with
London Bridge is Falling Down
?”

Before he could start in on her woeful understanding of pre-school ditties, she interrupted, “Just tell me why it’s so important.”

“It’s about burying people in the foundation of buildings and such.”

Grace felt sick. “
I slept there last night.”

Sighing, Kyle reached for the edge of the mattress and hauled it off. A few minutes later they were propping the box springs up against the door.
They peered between the slats of the bed. To their relief, they found nothing but dust and a couple of old cobwebs. “Well, that’s a relief,” she said, helping Kyle slide her bed back into place.

“Not really. Do you know how many beds we have to check?”
He turned around and reached for Meredith’s mattress. Working together, they quickly removed the mattress and box springs. As Kyle propped the box springs against the dresser, Grace looked down and flinched. Hidden underneath Meredith’s bed was Henry Cross’ body.

*

Parker crossed his arms. “So, which one of you shot him?”

Meredith,
who had been pacing the length of the dining car, glowered at him. “Neither one of us killed him.”

“Nonsense,” Felicity said, “it had to be one of you.
”

“As much as it pains me to agree with Felicity, she’s right,” Tracy said. “
How else did he get under your bed, Merry?”

Meredith
strode over to Tracy and glared down at her. “I had nothing to do with this. If it was anyone, it was her,” she said, pointing her finger at Grace standing next to the bar.

Kyle, seated
on one of the bar stools, leaned over the bar, pulled out a bottle from underneath the counter and poured himself a drink. Swiveling around, he smiled reassuringly at Steve who was watching Meredith worriedly. “Grace didn’t kill him,” Steve said. “She barely knew the guy.”

“Neither did anyone else here
,” Sara said, “but someone obviously killed him. He didn’t climb in there all on his own.”

Lucas tried to reach out to Meredith who pushed him away. He turned to Wellington. “I don’t know why everyone’s so convinced either one of them killed the conductor. We all know he was helping Jack. Jack must have turned on him,” he said weakly.
His eyes flashed toward Meredith who had resumed her frantic pacing and then back at Steve. Lucas walked over to Steve. “What do you think, Mattingly? You agree with me, don’t you?”

“I don’t know, but I know Grace didn’t
kill anyone.”

“Thank you, Steve,” Grace said. She looked o
ver at Asa Wellington. He sat at his usual table near the bar. Seemingly uninterested in the unfolding drama, he turned his head to stare out the window. Sara sat next to him, her chair half way out from underneath the table. She looked ready to spring into action at any moment. Her eyes shifted from person to person, never settling on one for too long.

“Grace
has no motive,” Steve said in her defense. Everyone looked at her suspiciously.

Grace nodded. “You all should listen to him.”

“The only reason she’s even here is because she’s obsessed with me.”

Grace groaned.

Patting Grace on the back, Kyle threw her an amused grin.

“I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself,” she hissed.

Shrugging, Kyle brought the glass up to his lips. “I’ve had worse New Year’s Eves,” he said before knocking the drink back. He slammed the glass on the bar. “Why did you want in Grace and Meredith’s room last night, Lucas?”

“I told you,
” Lucas said, “I was looking for Meredith.”

Kyle
leaned back against the bar. “Do you ever stop lying?”

Flinching, Lucas took a step back. “I’m not lying.”

“Yes, you are,” Grace said. “Admit it, you wanted in that room so you could remove Henry’s body from where you hid it. I’m betting it was when you tried to throw Oscar’s body off the train. You would have done the same to Henry’s body, but unfortunately Meredith was lying above him by then.”

Shock written on her face, Meredith stopped pacing
. She came to stand in front of Lucas. “That’s why you wanted to trade rooms?” She glared up at him. Horrified, she asked, “You let me sleep on top of a dead man?”

Shaking his head, Lucas backed up a few more steps. “I’m being framed.”
He pointed to Steve. “He’s framing me, Merry. Just like he tried to do to you last year. Like he did with Jack.”

Meredith wheeled around and began pacing again.

“You have to believe me Merry. It’s Mattingly.” He walked up to Wellington. “Check his room.”

“Why would I do that, Mr. Kirby?”

“Why do you think?” Lucas asked sarcastically. “Evidence. Clues. You know, what you people usually look for.”

Grace and Kyle exchanged looks. “What sort of evidence?” Kyle asked innocently.

“No one’s found the nursery rhyme book,” Lucas said desperately.

“You mean the one the killer’s been using to frame Jack Horner?” Wellington asked.

Lucas snapped his fingers. “Yeah, that’s the one. I bet he’s hidden it in his room.”

Tears running down her face, Tracy stood up. “Stop it! Just stop it, Lucas.”

He reached out and grabbed Tracy’s shoulders. “Tracy, they’re trying to frame me.” He looked at Wellington. “Let’s search his room now, before he has a chance to destroy it.”

Reaching under the table, Wellington brought out
a large plastic baggy. Inside the plastic was the same nursery rhyme book Grace and Kyle had found earlier. They exchanged a quick look before glancing back at Wellington who was reaching back down under the table and hauling out the snowboard used to kill Oscar. He dropped it on the table next to the book. “Steve and Sara found these earlier today and turned them in to me.”

Running his hands through his hair
, Lucas took a deep breath and slowly blew it out. “You people don’t have anything on me. It’s all just speculation. You know nothing.”

Grace waited for Wellington to say something, anything
, but he simply quirked an eyebrow up and turned back to the window. Unable to keep silent, Grace stepped forward. “We actually know quite a lot. It took me a while, but Steve said something a few hours ago that got me thinking. Actually, it was really Steve who figured it out.”

Lucas glared at Steve
causing Steve’s normally fair complexion to pale even more. “Really?” Lucas asked taking a step toward Steve. “Just what did you figure out?”

Steve
threw Grace a pained look. He held his hands out in supplication as Lucas took another step toward him. “What do you want from me? She’s the one accusing you this time.”

Lucas wheeled back around and faced Grace.

Grace smiled. “Let’s start from the beginning. Christmas Eve and the guest house fire. Steve was right about one thing, the whole reason the guest house was set on fire was out of revenge, but it wasn’t Jack who set the fire.”

Steve began to point to Meredith.

“And it wasn’t Meredith, either,” Grace said before Steve could accuse her.

“Thank you,” Meredith said loudly.

“Then who was it?” Steve asked quickly. He looked at Lucas and began to open his mouth, but snapped it shut when the other man took another menacing step toward him.

“Victor was the one who set the fire
,” Felicity said. “He was trying to kill me.”

“No, it wasn’t Victor,” Grace said. “
But he did take advantage of it. As soon as he saw the flames and Felicity standing by herself in the kitchen, he saw his opportunity to get rid of her once and for all. He knocked her out and dragged her to the building, leaving her to die.”

“
Victor was sound asleep,” Tracy said, shaking her head.

“According to Parker,” Grace said. “Sara walked into Victor’s room that night. His empty room.”

Everyone turned to Sara, who nodded. “Okay, but if Jack didn’t set the fire then who did?” Sara asked.

“I believe it was Robert,” Grace said.

“He was at the hotel,” Sara countered.

“No, Jack saw him
at the house that night. That’s the real reason Robert moved so fast to have him committed. That’s also why he was anxious to get Jack off this train. He didn’t want Tracy to know that he set the fire that almost killed her.”

Flinching, Tracy rubbed her hand across her arm. She gently shook her head.
“That can’t be.”

“
He suspected Tracy was unfaithful,” Grace said, “so he set up a trap to catch her in the act.”

“I knew it
,” Steve said excitedly. “I knew it. Lucas and Tracy were having an affair.”

“Tramp,” Meredith muttered
.

“I wa
s right,” Steve smiled in relief before his usual cockiness took over. He stepped in front of Grace. “Thank you, but I’ve got this.” He pointed his finger at Lucas. “Robert saw you two in the guest house, got jealous and tried to kill you both.”

Snarling, Lucas reached for Steve’s hand which was poking him in the chest.

Steve quickly jerked his hand away and took several steps back until he was standing next Kyle.

“
So, it was Robert,” Felicity said with a pout. “I was so sure Robert had watched Victor set the fire and I couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t admit it.” She looked up at Lucas curiously. “Did you know?”

Lucas shook his head helplessly. “I thought it was Jack.”

“So, who killed Victor?” Felicity asked.