Murder is Academic (22 page)

I was about to reply in the affirmative when the lights went off.

“This is going to be better than I thought,” Guy said. “Bring along some candles.”

I found the candles and joined him in the bedroom. For a long while we lay on my bed watching the light show through the skylight. Then amid the crashes and booms of the thunder and the flashes of lighting illuminating the bedroom, we made love. It seemed awkward at first, but our bodies began to remember each other, and we found ourselves caught up in the chemistry that first drew us together. We were friends as well as lovers now.

Afterwards, we lit the candles and sipped our brandy, talking long into the night about our lives and our families. I must have fallen asleep before he did. When I awoke later the candles were snuffed out, and Guy had covered my naked body with the comforter. His head lay beside mine on the pillow and his breathing tickled the hair on my forehead.

The storm ceased, and the night was still. I stole out of bed and walked to the glass doors leading to the balcony off my bedroom. The lake was washed in moonlight. Guy’s hand touched my shoulder, and he kissed me on my ear.

“Come back to bed. I promised you we would make love in the moonlight.”

So we did.

*

Despite my lack of sleep I was up early the next morning. I was putting on the coffee when the phone rang. Without a moment’s hesitation, I picked it up, my fears of the other night vanishing in the clean morning air.

“Hi!” Sandy’s voice said into my ear. “We’re on our way to your place. A change of plans for breakfast. We bought eggs, muffins and bacon for the morning’s feast. We’re curious to see if Guy can chew without all his teeth so the bacon’s really tough!”

I laughed and told her the coffeepot was already on. Guy came into the kitchen as I was hanging up. He had my robe wrapped around him.

“That reminds me. We’re going to have to talk about your wardrobe.”

He looked at me puzzled.

“I mean, if you’re going to stay here, you’re going to have to move a few things in like a toothbrush at least. Or maybe you need to consider letting that cold water flat of yours go and simply relocate here for the rest of the summer.” I held my breath wondering if he would think this offer was another example of going too fast, but the words just seemed to jump out of my mouth.

“That’s fine with me, but I think we need to do some talking and planning before I make the move so that everything’s straight, don’t you think?” He moved back into the kitchen and put his arms around me. Sandy and David found us locked in this embrace when they opened the door to the kitchen.

“Wow!” David exclaimed, as he spied Guy in my robe, “I wish Dad could see you now. I thought I’d covered it with the lack of shirt and teeth story. But this. Well, this is too much.”

Guy retreated quickly upstairs and returned in his shirt and jeans from the day before. Sandy and I began to prepare breakfast while Guy and David took their coffee out to the deck. By the time we finished talking and eating, it was early afternoon and David and Sandy needed to get back to the city.

We promised to be in touch about planning the wedding ceremony and reception. I was as excited as Sandy about having the nuptials here. David expressed his enthusiasm also and decided to give the camping another try later this month, then he grabbed me in a bear hug and planted a large kiss on my face. I loved it so much, I clung to him.

“Gee, Mom. Let go. I’ll be back here in only two weeks. It’s not as if you won’t see me for years and years.”

“It seems as if I’m just seeing you clearly for the first time now.”

He gave me a lopsided smile. “Yeah, Mom, I know.”

Guy and I waved them off in the car and returned to the deck to clean up cups and dishes.

“Feel like a swim?” Guy said.

“As long as I keep my head out of the water, sure.” I ran upstairs and slipped on my suit while Guy went out to the bike to get his swim trunks. We spent the rest of the afternoon playing in the water. By the time early evening arrived we were both famished and decided to dine out at a local restaurant, thinking the weather looked good enough for a ride on his bike.

Last night would be hard to top, but we were convinced we could do it. As it turned out, we did. We ate a fine meal at a local restaurant. The wind blew the smells from the meadows and woods onto the country road we traveled on our way back to the lake. The moon rose full as we sat and sipped our brandies on the dock, then we slipped into the lake and let the warm water lap at our naked bodies as we swam through the gentle current. I thought life couldn’t get any better, and I shared this thought with Guy.

“So do you think we should tempt fate by sharing lodging for the rest of the summer?” he asked.

Of course I said yes.

*

Monday dawned hot and humid, a continuation of the typical upstate summer. I knew better than to complain of the oppressive heat considering how soon it would be replaced by the colder days of autumn and winter’s blasts from the arctic. Summers were short here, and natives appreciated them regardless of how overwhelming the humidity or how frequent the thunderstorms that rolled through this river valley.

Guy left for work early, kissing me good bye while I was still in bed and informing me a pot of coffee awaited me. I was upstairs when Annie’s car pulled into my drive and the door slammed followed by her call of “pastries.” Frank stopped by also. Then I heard another car pull into the drive. I ran down the stairs and dialed Der’s cell phone number.

“Hi there. Why so late? I just finished the donut with your name on it, and there’s only one cup of coffee left in the pot. Better get in here on the double.” I was looking at his astonished face through my kitchen window. He put away his cell phone and walked through the kitchen door.

“You’re in a cheerful mood for a change.” He headed for the pastry box and breathed a sigh of relief to find it still full of donuts. As he reached for the coffee pot, Frank grabbed it out of his hands, poured cups for Der and him and reminded Annie and me we had paddling practice later in the morning.

“I’m off.” Frank took his cup with him and slammed out the door.

The three of us talked about the case, of course, dwelling mostly on what the papers could contain and the information revealed by Bunny that her husband was one of the principals in the development of the condos up the lake. We agreed that was a good set-up for blackmail, and Der decided to track down this possibility by checking the bank accounts of prime suspects in the murder of President Talbot.

“And who all would that include?” I pushed away my half-eaten donut.

“I wish I could say the list was limited, but it’s not. Certainly it would include his wife, anyone associated with the condos and people at the college closest to him and those in any way connected to the BFS.”

“Why the station?”

“Because of Stanford’s suicide. Although we’re almost one hundred per cent certain it was suicide, the reasoning set forth in the note connects his death with Talbot’s alleged change in the leadership at there. It’s a long shot, but worth the work. At this point I’ll follow any lead no matter how slim.” Der spoke in a tired voice running his hands through his thick black hair.

Knowing how the pressure was building in the community and from his captain to solve Talbot’s murder, I felt sorry for him. The addition of arson to the unsolved crimes only increased the burden. The dark circles under his eyes confirmed he was not sleeping well, if at all.

“Assuming the letter with Bunny’s papers arrives late this afternoon at her daughter-in-law’s, I’ll be able to examine its contents later. Meantime, I’m going to the county courthouse to take a look at the papers on the condos filed there to see what I can find,” Der said.

“Don’t bother. I’ve already looked at them. They all look in order and very mundane to me. Perhaps, though, you’ll see something I’ve missed.”

“I’ll have a look at them also, and then we’ll get together tomorrow and talk about what we found. I’ll let you in on the contents of Bunny’s letter to her daughter-in-law, and we can compare notes about the courthouse documents. Two heads are better than one. Besides, that’ll assure me you won’t be snooping around behind my back with some half-baked idea about how to extract information out of my witnesses. I’ll give you a call tonight and let you know what time tomorrow.” He extracted himself from the kitchen chair and let the door bang behind him on his way out.

Annie and I prepared to settle in for another cup of coffee when Frank reappeared, anxious to get out on the lake.

He took Annie and me through our paddling exercises, making us follow his canoe around the coves and inlets for several hours until my shoulders burned with muscle fatigue. I shouted to Frank we were heading back to my dock. He shook his head.

“Wimps.” He struck out across the lake on his own.

Annie left, and I ducked into the shower, then sat down at my desk to work on my manuscript. Der called late in the afternoon and asked if he could stop by and talk with me about some progress he made on the case today.

“Since I assume you’re already in my driveway or driving into it just now, sure, come on in. I’ll make you a glass of iced tea.”

Not more than fifteen seconds later, the kitchen door opened and his head appeared.

“How did you know I was here?”

“It’s summer. It’s hot. All the windows are open. It’s the country. Sound travels easily here. Not bad for an ‘amateur detective.’ Let’s take these out to the deck. It’s a lot cooler out there. We’ll get a breeze off the lake at least.” I handed him a tall iced tea.

There was a small breeze, but enough to make both of us slide into the deck chairs with sighs of relief.

I grabbed the front of my blouse and flapped it in the air. “So give. What’s up?”

“I was right, and I was wrong. No one connected in anyway with Talbot evidences unusual deposits to his or her bank account. On the other hand, Talbot’s account shows hefty withdrawals each month for the last eight or ten years. It sure looks like a blackmail payment, but to whom? Once your patsy is dead, no more payoffs. This case just gets more confusing as we uncover more information. Nothing points in any reasonable direction and certainly not to any one person.”

“Maybe the papers from Bunny’s daughter-in-law will help.” I wanted this possibility to cheer him. I’d never seen him so down.

“Assuming they arrive in a late post this afternoon, my man should be rushing them back here tonight.” His tone indicated he held little hope of the papers shedding much light on the situation.

He sipped the last of his tea, sucked on one of the ice cubes for a second, then heaved himself out of the chair.

“Why don’t you stay for dinner? Guy will be by, but it’ll just be the three of us. You can kick back and relax for a while, and I’ll burn something on the grill. Your brandy will be a great finish to the meal. C’mon. Stay.” I stood and patted him on his arm.

“Okay.” His tone said he was reluctant to intrude on Guy and me, but he needed the company. “But only if you let me buy and burn the steaks. You’re always feeding me, and all you’ve gotten in return is a bottle of brandy.”

“Oh, I’ve gotten a lot more than that.” Der looked at me, reached out and hugged me. As quickly as he grabbed me, he stepped back, embarrassed at his impulsiveness.

“You’re a hoot.” That was his way of saying thanks and that he appreciated me as much as I appreciated him. It was as close as Der would ever come to saying he liked me, that I was a friend.

I felt obligated to repay the gesture. “And you’re a real pain in the ass, but I don’t know who else I’d find to hassle as much as I do you.”

We both shuffled our feet around in discomfort. I coughed, and Der cleared his throat. Guy’s arrival saved us from further anguish. He hopped off the machine and strode toward us in the yard. Sensing something was going on between the two of us, he looked at me curiously as if I could somehow clear up the matter. I let Guy know Der was staying for dinner.

He hesitated a moment, then shrugged. “Okay. I’ll make us some gin and tonics.”

“And I’m going to the store to buy steaks. Be back in fifteen minutes.” Der hurried toward his car and drove off.

Chapter 20

Guy walked up to me and looked me in the eye. “Is there something I ought to know?”

“No, it’s just that Der and I were expressing our friendship, and it’s kind of embarrassing for both of us to admit we like one another.”

“You two had me worried there for a minute. Here I was thinking things were going so well for the two of us, and I find you and Der looking all funny at one another like teenagers with a crush.”

“You know what it is. It’s not common for a man and women to be good friends and nothing else. There are few role models for it, so we struggle with it. And he’s a guy. It’s hard for him to say he likes me.” I reached out to touch Guy on the arm, to assure him of our relationship.

“I think he’s crazy not to have made a move on you.”

“That would feel weird. He’s like a brother.”

Guy gave me a deep look, then grinned. “I still think he needs glasses if he can’t see how sexy and beautiful and funny and…”

“You don’t have to spread it on so thick. You’ll find your way into my bed tonight. No need to be so effusive.” I punched him in the arm and headed for the kitchen.