Murder in the Devil's Cauldron (45 page)

"You're kidding!"

"I wish."

"Are you okay?"

Starr nodded. "Mostly. I have a bump on the
back of my head where I hit the porch. It hurts when I touch it,
but that's all."

"You must've been so scared."

"Not right away. I mean, at first I didn't
feel very good and I was really worried my mom would find out I
snuck out. So I didn't really get scared until I realized he'd been
in the cabin.
That
was really creepy."

"He wasn't in there when you were home,
though. Right?"

"I don't think so. I think he broke in before
I got back. All I can figure out is that he couldn't find what he
was looking for and that's why he took the backpack."

"What was he looking for?"

"I
think
he wanted my camera."

"Why?"

"I don't know. Or, at least, I don't know for
sure," Starr amended. "The only thing I've come up with is that
maybe he thinks I got pictures of him pushing his wife into the
Devil's Cauldron."

"Did you?"

"No. But I had my camera with me, so maybe he
thinks
I did."

"Geez."

"Yeah. But if we're lucky today, maybe we can
get pictures of him for real at the motel."

"So if he pushed his wife in the Cauldron,
just who the heck is that other lady?"

"Well, the sheriff said that her ID said she
was Fishy Fowler's wife. So like we figured yesterday, either she
is
his wife and he killed someone else who was pretending to
be his wife. Or the woman the sheriff met is the one pretending to
be the wife so nobody knows he killed his real wife."

"This is getting awfully complicated,"
Charlie said.

Starr frowned. "I suppose it could be
something else, but what? Besides, if
you
killed someone and
wanted to cover it up, what would you do?"

"Geez. I don't know. I can't even imagine
killing somebody. I don't think I'd be very good at covering
something like that up."

"I suppose it's not exactly like taking an
extra dessert, is it."

Charlie started giggle. "No, it sure
isn't."

Starr looked at her and realized how
ridiculous the comparison had been and started laughing, too.

"Hey! What's that?" Charlie was pointing at a
lump of fabric off to the side under a tree.

Starr looked over and her heart began racing.
She went over to see it closer. "It's my backpack." She began to
pick it up.

"Don't touch it." Charlie's words were sharp
and stopped Starr cold.

Starr straightened and looked at her. "Why
not?"

"It'll have his fingerprints on it," Charlie
said. "When we go to see Fae, we can give her that. It'll prove
you're telling the truth. Pick it up by that little strap on the
end. We can get something at the Lodge to put it in."

Starr felt her mouth drop open. She
never
would have thought of that. "Maybe I should read
more," she said. "That's a great idea."

Charlie's grin made her eyes nearly
disappear.

Starr gingerly picked up the backpack by the
strap and held it at a distance, afraid that if the backpack rubbed
against anything, it might remove the fingerprints. Feeling as if
she was transporting a dead raccoon, she followed Charlie to the
rear door to the kitchen and waited while Charlie hurried
inside.

Fortunately no one came by while she was
standing there and soon Charlie was back with a big trash bag.
Charlie held it open so Starr could drop the backpack inside. They
closed it up tight and strapped it on top of the basket.

"Once we get the pictures," Charlie said.
"Everyone will know you were telling the truth."

Starr liked the sound of that. Then she
thought about her camera still strapped in the bike basket.

"Can we hide the bike someplace while we're
inside?" Starr asked. Even though it was well hidden, she didn't
want to leave her camera in the basket for even a few minutes.
There was no telling where Fishy Fowler was hiding out and she
didn't want to take any chances. Especially after what happened
last night.

"Tell you what," Charlie said. "Why don't you
take the bike around the corner and I'll go fill up the bags. I'll
meet you back out here in five minutes."

"Okay." Starr wheeled the bike around the
corner where she would be practically invisible. The corner was a
secluded alcove with pine trees blocking the view and seemed to
muffle even the sound of the Lake. The thick carpeting of pine
needles crunched as she rolled the bike into the space.

Charlie arrived ten minutes later with Ziploc
bags stuffed with all their favorite goodies. "We sure aren't going
to go hungry today," she laughed.

Starr checked out what Charlie had picked
out. "Oooooh. You got apple turnovers."

"Yeah. And lots of cheese and they had fresh
buns and muffins."

"Good job. Any juice?"

Charlie held up four cartons of orange juice.
"Plus, we can get water from Ole and Lena's, so we should be all
set."

The trip to Ruby Cove went quickly this time,
especially since Starr knew what to expect. Soon, they were set up
behind the picnic table across from the Bide-A-Wee. Starr sat
cross-legged on the ground and put her camera on the picnic table
bench to give it stability since she hadn't brought the tripod.

"How long do you think it will take?" Starr
asked. While she had waited for the perfect picture before, she had
never done a real surveillance, so she had no idea what to
expect.

Charlie shrugged. "It doesn't take very long
on TV or in the movies, but I'll bet they cut out all the boring
stuff."

"What about in all those books you read?"

"It takes longer in those," Charlie
admitted.

"What if he's already gone?"

"Then I figure we could talk to Fae." Then
Charlie's face brightened. "But if he's gone, then at least he's
not after your camera any more."

Starr nodded. "But then he still gets away
with murder."

"It's not like
you
can do anything
about it."

"I suppose." Starr made a face at the idea.
Somehow that didn't make her feel better.

"Well, whatever happens, at least we won't
starve." Charlie handed over an apple turnover.

Starr laughed and began nibbling on the
turnover, her eyes on the motel. If Fishy Fowler did show up, she
would be ready.

"Can you get a good shot from here?"

"I think it'll work. It's a nice clear shot.
As long as they don't see us, we should be okay."

David Fowler looked at his watch as Viv put
the finishing touches on her makeup.

"Oh, for god's sake, David, you can't be that
hungry."

"I'm not. I'm just trying to figure out if
the kid has gone yet."

"You're not afraid of some little kid, now,
are you?"

"Don't be stupid." He walked over to the
window and pushed the drapes aside slightly as if that would give
him a better view of the comings and goings outside. The problem
was, all he got was a view of the trees surrounding the Lodge.

"I am concerned, though," he said and turned
back to look at her. "They should have questioned me about last
night. So I'm wondering why they didn't."

"Maybe the kid didn't say anything."

"Please."

"Okay then. Maybe they didn't believe her. Or
maybe they're waiting to talk to you today. It's not as if this is
the big bad city, after all."

He nodded. "You've got a point there. But
still…"

Viv rolled her eyes. "But still …," she
prompted.

"I don't want to run into that kid this
morning. The last thing I need is her making accusations and
calling attention to me. Could you do me a favor?"

"What?"

"Go down to the dining room. Make sure she
isn't there. I'd like to have a decent breakfast today. It's going
to be strenuous and I don't want to search all over the North Shore
for something edible."

"Just make sure she's not there?"

"Yeah. You saw where she was sitting
yesterday."

Viv sighed and looked at Fowler, her eyes
narrowing. "And then…."

"If the coast is clear, we'll have
breakfast."

"And then…"

"How do you feel about hiking?"

"You've
got
to be kidding."

He grinned. "Don't worry. You don't have to
come. Unfortunately, I have to work on getting that film."

"And what do I do in the meantime?"

"Go over the information I gave you again
until you're letter perfect. When we go to the bank, I want to be
in and out so fast the cameras don't even have time to focus."

"All right. But the money better be as good
as you say it is. I'm earning every penny of it."

He gave her a wolfish grin. "I wouldn't be
going to all this trouble if it wasn't. So get going. I'm getting
hungry."

Fae had gotten up early and finished calling
the smaller motels along the North Shore. She had correctly figured
that the smaller places hadn't seen a David Fowler or Diana
Marshall, but at least she was able to cross them off her list.

She had saved Storm Point Lodge for last. She
had planned on calling, but decided to go over so she could give
them a picture of Devious Dave. Plus, considering the lone slice of
toast and small orange juice she'd managed between calls, she could
enjoy a real breakfast.

When she arrived at Storm Point Lodge, Fae's
attention had already turned to the thought of one of Zach Running
Bear's fabulous weekend brunches. So when she asked at the front
desk if David Fowler or Diana Marshall were staying here, it took
her a moment to realize that Ivy had said that they were.

"They are?" Fae echoed, trying to get her
brain back on track.

"Uh huh. They're on their honeymoon," she
added, lowering her voice as she said it.

"How long have they been here?"

"A couple of days," Ivy said. "I can look it
up if it's important."

"That'd be great." She waited while Ivy
pulled up the record on the computer.

"Uh … looks like they got here on
Monday."

Fae felt like kicking herself for not
stopping by sooner, no matter what the profile said. She pulled out
her notebook and pen.

"So how come you're interested?" Ivy
asked.

"Just trying to locate them," Fae said. "Are
they in now?"

"Probably."

"What room are they in?"

"205. Do you want me to call them?"

"No. And don't let them know I asked about
them. This is really important, okay?" Fae thought quickly. She
didn't have her gun, nor did she have backup. And she had a feeling
it wouldn't be smart to confront Fowler on her own.

"Okay," Ivy said. "But does this have
anything to do with why the sheriff came by yesterday?"

Fae controlled her surprise. "When was he
here?"

"Late yesterday afternoon. Everybody's been
wondering what
that's
all about."

Fae ignored the avid curiosity on Ivy's face.
"Can you give me a phone? I need to make a call."

Disappointed, Ivy handed her a cordless
phone. Fae took it over to a chair in one of the secluded alcoves
for privacy and called Bailey.

Viv stood on the stairs halfway between the
front desk and the upstairs landing, hardly able to breathe. She
was behind the girl at the desk, but if she moved too quickly, she
knew she'd be spotted.

All she could think of was being hauled away
by the sheriff, getting arrested, getting locked up. She closed her
eyes briefly as she tried to push that thought away. Then opened
them again and made sure no one had noticed her yet.

She stepped backwards up one step, feeling as
if she was moving in slow motion. The woman in the alcove was busy
on the phone and didn't notice her. Without moving her head, Viv
looked down and to the left to see what the desk clerk was
doing.

Fortunately, the girl was doing something
with the computer and Viv felt safe enough to back up another step.
Gradually she reached the top until she was safely out of sight.
Only then did she feel safe enough to run on the tips of her toes
back to the room, grateful she was wearing flats.

Back at the room, she had to pound on the
door because David had locked the door behind her.

Fowler peered out the peephole before opening
the door.

"Christ, Viv. You just about gave me a heart
attack." He stepped back in the room.

"We have to get out of here. Someone was
asking about you and Diana and she wasn't from the sheriff's
office."

He stared at her. "Any idea who it was?"

"No. But she got on the phone the second the
desk clerk said you were registered here. Plus, she didn't know the
sheriff had talked to us yesterday."

Fowler realized he didn't have time to
think.

"Do you have anything here with your real
name on it?"

"It's all at the other place."

"Good. Let's go."

He looked around the room quickly, making
sure he wasn't leaving anything critical. He opened the door, stuck
his head out, looked both ways and then headed down the hall to the
back door, Viv right behind him.

Fowler walked quickly, but didn't run. He
didn't want to attract any more attention. Fortunately, no one came
out of the other rooms and a few minutes later they were in the
Lexus and headed north on Highway 61.

"My SUV," Viv said suddenly. "We left my
SUV."

"Don't worry about it," Fowler said. "I'll
pick it up later. Thank god we kept that motel room."