Derby Divas (Zoe Donovan Mystery) (13 page)

“Does Pandora know all of this?”

“Not unless Pepper told her at some point,” Salinger informed me. “As far as the Worthingtons know, when she became Pepper, she left Stella Worthington behind.”

“We need to tell Pandora. She might be able to help us figure this whole thing out.”

“So far, no one knows that the woman who died isn’t Ms. Worthington and her parents would like to keep it that way.”

“Why?”

“Like I said, the Worthingtons want to conduct their own search for their daughter without interference from law enforcement. They believe they know how to handle this better than I would.”

I realized they could be right about that. Salinger was a small
-town sheriff. What did he know about hostage negotiation, if Pepper was indeed being held against her will? Of course, at this point we didn’t really know that. In fact, we really didn’t know much of anything at all.

“Can the Worthingtons request that you not investigate?” I asked.

“I suppose right now I don’t have cause to do so. No one has filed a missing persons report and we haven’t had a ransom demand so, as far as we know, Ms. Worthington has simply gone off somewhere and failed to tell anyone of her intention. Without the Worthingtons’ cooperation, I don’t see what I can do.”

“That doesn’t make any sense
.”

“I know,” Salinger agreed. “
As much as I resent being told what I can and cannot investigate, from a legal standpoint my hands are tied. The Worthingtons are very rich and very powerful. It wouldn’t serve me well to ignore their wishes, especially since I have nothing to go on.”

“
Someone
died in that crash,” I pointed out. I tried to remember if I’d noticed anything at all about the person driving Pandora’s car. The individual had worn a full helmet and racing suit with long sleeves and gloves. As far as I could recall, there was nothing to indicate who might have been behind the wheel as the car pulled up to the starting line.

“Someone did
die in the crash,” Salinger acknowledged, “which is why I’m going to focus my energy on discovering the identity of the victim. If you’re concerned about Pepper, I suggest you look for her on your own. Quietly.” Salinger looked directly at me. “
Very
quietly,” he emphasized.

“If you want me to try to find Pepper
, I’ll need to tell a few people,” I insisted.

“Perhaps
, if you use discretion. The Worthingtons won’t be happy if they find out you’re interfering in their business.”

I looked toward the judge
s’ booth, where Levi was already waiting. “I need to go. I’ll give this some thought and call you when the derby is over. At the very least, I need to fill in Levi, Boomer, and Pandora. Maybe the four of us can figure this whole thing out without involving anyone else.”

“Do you think you can trust Pandora and Boomer? They could be involved,” Salinger warned me.

“They’re not.” I don’t know why I was so certain of that, but I was.

“Stella Worthington is worth a lot of money. If she did reveal her true identity to Pandora
, perhaps she’s the one behind the kidnapping.”

I thought back to Pandora’s shock when I informed her that Pepper had died
, and Boomer’s depth of mourning when he thought the victim was Pandora. No, I decided, there was no way they were involved, and it I was going to find out who actually died in the fiery crash and where Pepper had been since yesterday morning, I was going to need their help.

The second round of the derby was as exciting as the first, ending with Boomer, Zelda, and Crusher as the finalists, which meant there would be three men and three women in the finals.

I looked at the clock on my phone. I’d promised Zak I’d attend the chili cook
-off and classic car parade with him and Scooter, but I really needed to fill Levi, Pandora, and Boomer in on the latest development. After providing Zak with a shortened version of what had occurred, he agreed that I should meet with the others and catch up with him later in the evening. I was going to owe Zak big-time when this was over. It seemed like I always had to put the needs of others ahead of him, and I realized that I was going to have to address that issue at some point,

But not now. Not today. Today
, I was going to figure out where Pepper was and who had died in the fire.

“What do you mean
, the woman who died in the crash wasn’t Pepper?” Pandora screeched after I’d pulled her and Boomer to the side and told them that I needed to talk to them in private.

“Shh,” I cautioned. “We
’re supposed to keep this quiet.”

“So where is Pepper?” Pandora
whispered.

I explained about the titanium screw and the kidnapping theory of Mr. and Mrs. Wentworth.

Pandora frowned. “Pepper is rich?”

“So I’ve been told
.”

“But she never has money,” Pandora insisted. “That’s why we usually share a room. Pepper can never afford her own. She h
ad to work at a bar evenings after working for me all day to buy the car she entered into the derby. I think there’s been some sort of a mistake.”

“I think Pepper wanted to leave Stella Worthington
behind when she left home to work for you. Based on what Salinger told me, it sounds like she didn’t bring anything with her from her old life, including her checkbook and credit cards.”

“If I had money
, I’d take it,” Boomer declared.

“Me too,” Levi agreed.

“How about if we all meet at the boathouse in thirty minutes?” I suggested. “I have cold beer and a bag of stale peanuts.”

“Stale peanuts?” Levi raised a brow.

“I haven’t had time to go to the store since we’ve been back from our trip, but at least we can talk without having to worry about being overheard. Maybe we can come up with a way to figure this whole thing out.”

Everyone agreed to the plan.

“And it’s important that you don’t mention any of this to anyone else. Salinger was
very
clear about that.”

“What about Zak and Ellie?” Levi asked.

“I already filled Zak in,” I said. “Ellie is busy with the food for the event, but if she comes around, we’ll fill her in. But other than that, we all keep quiet until we decide on a plan.”

By the time we’d all gathered at the boathouse, it was obvious Boomer and Pandora had discussed the situation in detail. After greeting the cats and tossing them each a couple of salmon treats, I joined Levi and the others on the deck. It was a warm afternoon, but luckily, the umbrella I’d set up to provide shade coupled with a cool breeze coming off the water provided a very comfortable environment in which to conduct our strategy session.

“Okay
, let’s begin with the question of who might have died when Pandora’s car crashed if it wasn’t Pepper,” I said.

“Boomer and I have been discussing
that, and the reality is that we have no idea who might be lying in the morgue,” Pandora started. “We personally have seen everyone who might have had access to my keys since the accident. It makes no sense.”

“Maybe the driver didn’t have your keys,” I suggested. “Maybe someone hot
-wired the car and drove it to the race.”

“Who would do that?” Pandora asked.

I had no idea.

“Maybe someone who had a financial stake in you winning the race,” I tried
, even though I knew my theory was lame.

“Financial stake?” Pandora asked.

“A sponsor, or maybe a bookie who had bet big that you’d win?”

Pandora frowned. “I guess it’s possible
, but it seems unlikely. Did they find keys in the wreck?”

“I didn’t think to ask,” I admitted. “Do you still have your keys?” I asked.

“They were on the dresser in my room and I didn’t think to look,” Pandora shared. “I’ll check when we get back.”

“I’ll call Salinger and see if he knows,” I offered.

I called Salinger while the others chatted. The keys—or at least what remained of the keys—had been recovered from the ignition.

“Whoever drove had the keys,” I confirmed. “Might Pepper have given them to someone?”

“I guess she could have,” Pandora acknowledged. “It makes sense that she would have enlisted someone else’s help if she realized I wasn’t going to make it to the race and she wasn’t able to cover for me. Are you sure the person who died in the crash was female?”

“That’s what Salinger said,” I
answered. “You’re thinking of Dezee, who is also missing? I’d thought of him as well, but I’m pretty sure even our coroner can tell female bones from male.”

Pandora rubbed her head with her right hand. I was pretty sure the situation was giving us
all
a headache.

“I have to be honest,” Pandora finally spoke. “I
’m a lot more concerned about Pepper’s whereabouts than the identity of the body in the morgue at this point. We have effectively eliminated all the derby drivers as potential victims, but Pepper could be in real trouble.”

“Yeah, and
Dezee too,” Boomer added.

“It does seem odd that they
’re both missing,” Levi added. “Might they be somewhere together?”

Boomer and Pandora looked at each other.

“They did seem to have a thing going on,” Pandora shared. “Pepper first introduced me to Dezee maybe seven or eight months ago. She said he was an old friend from school and asked if I could help him get started on the derby circuit. I gave him some advice and helped him find a car and he began traveling with Pepper and me. I’m pretty sure Pepper and Dezee were seeing each other between trips as well. Pepper never said as much, but I’d be willing to guess they’re romantically involved. Still, it seems odd that they’d be gone this long if they were simply away on a lovers’ tryst.”

“Does Pepper have any other friends she might have gone to see?” I asked Pandora.

“Not that I know of.”

“And
Dezee?”

“Not that he’s ever mentioned
.”

I took a sip of my beer as I pondered the possibilities. On one hand
, it sort of felt like things were all tied together in some way. On the other, I really couldn’t see how a spiked drink, a car tampering, and two missing people who didn’t appear to be together could be related at all.

“Do you know
whether Salinger tried to track the cell phone of either missing person?” Levi asked.

“He says that neither phone is giving off a signal,” I verified.

“They have to be somewhere together,” Pandora decided. “It’s the only thing that even remotely makes sense.”

“
What possible reason could kidnappers have for taking Dezee?” Boomer asked.

“We didn’t know that Pepper was rich
, but she did say she knew Dezee from school, so maybe he’s rich too and, like Pepper, is hiding his wealth for some reason.”

I
t occurred to me that Pandora had a point. I suspected that Stella Worthington attended an exclusive private school, so if she knew Dezee from there, it seemed likely that he came from money as well. Maybe someone had seen an opportunity to snag two heirs for the effort of one and took it. If so, that explained where our missing drivers were, but not who died in the crash or tampered with the car.

“There are just too many pieces to make sense of this whole thing.” Boomer groaned.

“Here’s what we know,” Levi began. “Someone tampered with Pandora’s car, with the intention, we can assume, either of killing her or whoever was driving the car at the time of the race. Pandora was drugged the night before the race. That may or may not be related to the tampering. We have a dead body in the morgue with no identity and two missing persons who seem to have vanished without a trace. Neither, it seems, can be the victim.”

“Sounds about right,” I concluded.

“So where do we even start?” Boomer asked, leaning back in his chair.

“We start with what we know,” I decided. “Someone who was partying with Boomer and Pandora on Wednesday night drugged Pandora. That gives us a limited pool of suspects. According to notes I’d previously made
, there were eight people in attendance that evening: Boomer, Pandora, Pepper, Dezee, Jugs, Masher, Rizo, and Big Boy Branson. We can eliminate the two of you, and we don’t have a way to interview Pepper or Dezee at this point, but I’m going to suggest that you speak to the others and extract a confession one way or another.”

“I’m on it,” Boomer stated.

I turned to Pandora. “You stated that on the night in question, Dezee walked you back to your room and Pepper put you to bed. It seems likely that the two might have met up after that point, especially if, as you suspect, the two are lovers. Someone could have seen something. Why don’t you talk to everyone and see if they remember seeing the pair after Dezee dropped you off? Did Dezee have his own room?”