Murder of a Wedding Belle (14 page)

They were speaking too quietly for her to hear from where she was. Keeping the vehicles between her and the siblings, she duckwalked until she was beside Tabitha’s rental car. Hale and Hallie were just on the other side of the Acura.

Leaning against the cool metal, Skye heard Hale say, “I still don’t understand why you want to spend the night here rather than at the hotel with Dad and Grandpa. I promised Luca Jay we’d take him to the new Disney movie.”

Skye edged toward the rear of the sedan and peeked around the bumper. The twins were standing facing each other, and Hale was bending forward, intent on his sister. Their similarity was eerie. In the dim light, they appeared two halves of a whole.

Hallie answered, her voice so like his it almost sounded as if Hale was talking to himself. “You didn’t have to come with me.” She hunched her shoulders and stuck a hand in the pocket of her jeans. “I asked you not to.”

“But why?” Hale’s tone was troubled. “We always do everything together.”

“Maybe it’s time that changed.” Hallie nibbled at her thumbnail. “Maybe we should spend some time apart, like your therapist said.”

Hale’s normally pale complexion turned red. “Do you have someone in mind?” His tone forbade her from saying yes. “Who is it? That guy in our philosophy class?”

Skye frowned. Hale sounded more like a jealous boyfriend than a brother.

Hallie turned as if to go into the cabin but paused and said over her shoulder, “At least he’s a nice guy, unlike the witch you hooked up with.”

“Belle wasn’t that bad,” Hale said, but his tone wasn’t convincing.

Belle Canfield! Skye lost her balance and sat abruptly on the asphalt. The idea of someone as worldly as Belle having an affair with a boy like Hale was difficult to believe, but then everyone said opposites attract.

Determined to see Hale’s expression without revealing her presence, Skye crept forward. But he had followed Hallie to the step in front of the cabin. Now Skye couldn’t even hear them.

Skye poked her head around the bumper and strained to hear what was being said, but their voices were too low. She chewed her lip. She had to get closer, but how could she without being noticed? She spotted a large bush near the door. If she went along the rear of the neighboring cottage, she might be able to slip behind the evergreen without being seen. Darting from the shelter of the Acura to the side of cabin nine, she jogged around the structure, then inched forward until she was hidden by the shrub.

Hallie held the door of her cabin open, one foot over the threshold. “You know I want you to have a girlfriend, just not someone shallow and mean like her.”

“She’s wasn’t my girlfriend. We had sex a few times.” Hale shoved a hand through his hair. “She made it clear I wasn’t good enough for her to really date. I’m not handsome or powerful.” His lips pressed together in a bitter line. “And I’m not rich, since Dad refuses to set up a trust fund for us.”

Skye wrinkled her brow. Hale sounded sincere, but she’d worked with enough adolescents to know that wasn’t a good enough reason to trust anyone. A teenager could be caught red-handed with a bottle of vodka at his lips and still vow that he had never taken a sip of alcohol in his life.

Skye moved a little closer, not wanting to miss a word, and heard Hallie say, “Why would she lie?”

“She was a twisted woman.” Hale’s voice was edged with annoyance. “It amused her to toy with us. She knew you disapproved of her, and she liked that she dumped me but could still make my life miserable.”

“That
would
be something she found entertaining. And she thought we were stupid not to be able to talk Dad into giving us any serious money.”

“So do you believe me?”

“Yes, I guess so.”

“Do you still want to spend time separately?”

“Yes.” Hallie turned away. “I think your therapist is right. And he’s right about you needing to find a real girlfriend, not just keep hooking up with women you know will use you, too.”

“Maybe.” Hale crossed the grass to his cabin. “Good night.”

When Hallie stepped into her cottage and closed the door, Skye counted to sixty, then eased out from behind the bush, marched up to number ten, and knocked.

“Go away, Hale.” Hallie’s voice was impatient. “We’ll discuss it more in the morning.”

“It’s Skye. I noticed your light and remembered you wanted to talk to me. Is now not a good time?”

“Oh, sorry.” Hallie swung open the door. “I thought you were my brother.”

“Can I come in?”

“Sure.” Hallie’s expression was resolute. “After I said I wanted to talk to you, I sort of chickened out, but your showing up just proves what Reverend Hill said. God wants me to do the right thing.”

“People often feel better after they tell someone what’s bothering them.” Skye sat in the desk chair.

“I know. I’m a psych major.”

“And I’m a school psychologist, although I also work as the psychological consultant to the local police department.”

“Yeah.” Hallie nodded. “Riley’s mother mentioned that, which is why I thought talking to you would be easier than talking to the one of the officers.”

“Sure.” Skye kept her voice neutral. “I understand.” Was Hallie about to confess? Had she killed Belle to get her out of Hale’s life? That would be weird even by Scumble River standards.

“The thing is, I really, really don’t want anyone to know I told you this.” Hallie wrinkled her brow. “If my brother knew, he’d have a meltdown.”

“Well, I can’t promise anything.” Skye hated having to say that, but she couldn’t lie to the girl. “If what you tell me has anything to do with the murder, I’ll need to share it with the chief.”

“That’s fine.” Hallie glanced toward her twin’s cabin. “Just don’t tell Hale. His therapist says not to upset him right now.”

“I can promise that.” Skye nodded. “Unless, of course, you’re confessing to Belle’s murder.”

“Not a chance. But I did hear her arguing with someone Saturday night when we got back here after the attendants’ party.”

“Why didn’t you tell anyone this before?” Skye questioned.

“I didn’t want to get involved.” Hallie studied her shoe, avoiding Skye’s gaze.

“And your minister changed your mind?”

“Yes. I spoke to him on the phone this morning, and he said it was my Christian duty to tell the police what I heard.” Hallie’s attention moved to her intertwined fingers. “He said I could never minister to the poor if I put myself first.”

“I see.” Skye nodded. “He sounds like a wise man.”

Hallie nodded, then took a deep breath and said, “You know that after we got back to the motor court from the attendants’ party we borrowed a car and drove into Chicago?” When Skye nodded, she continued, “While Hale was getting the keys, I took a walk over by the floral refrigerator.”

“Okay,” Skye encouraged her. “Is that when you heard Belle arguing with someone?”

“Yes. Inside cottage four, the one you’re using for storage.”

“Belle and who else?”

“I couldn’t tell.” Hallie shook her head. “It was too far away.”

“Any idea if it was a man or woman?”

“No. The only reason I knew one of the people arguing was Belle was because I recognized her laugh—you know, that high-pitched hee-haw—but I couldn’t hear what she or the other person was saying.”

“And this was around what time?” Skye asked.

“Close to one fifteen. We left here at one twenty.”

“Why did you take a walk in the first place?”

“Well.” Hallie bit her lip. “The truth is I told my brother I had to go to the bathroom, but I was smoking. That’s why you can’t tell him any of this.”

Before Skye could respond, the cabin door was thrust open, and Hale exploded into the room.

Something Old

“
Y
ou know, for a second, just before she told me what happened, I thought she was going to say that her brother had killed Belle.” Skye sat with her back to the carved oak headboard of Wally’s king-size bed, telling him about her conversation with Hallie. “Then, after she reported what she’d heard and Hale came bursting into the cabin, I thought we would have another murder on our hands.”

“I’m still not clear on the logistics, or, for that matter, why she was so concerned that her twin would be mad.” Wally lay on his right side facing her, his head supported on his hand. “Why was it such a big deal that she took a walk and had a cigarette instead of going to the bathroom?”

“The brief explanation is that Hale is abnormally possessive and keeps Hallie on a short leash.” Skye raised an eyebrow. “Which is fairly odd considering he’s her brother, not her husband.”

“So, she just needed a few minutes away from her twin because he doesn’t approve of her smoking. Was that her excuse?”

“I guess. Once Hale arrived I couldn’t ask a lot of questions.” Skye smoothed a wrinkle in the bedspread. “I felt like it would be better to speak to her again when I could get her alone.” She looked at Wally. “Do you think that was a mistake? After all, she who hesitates . . .”

“Is probably right,” he assured her. “From what you told me, Hallie wouldn’t have talked openly with Hale there.” A deep line formed between Wally’s eyebrows. “Although, I’m sorry to say, getting her by herself is going to be even tougher now that her brother is on full alert.”

“I know, and I understand his concern about her health, but she’s twenty-one and if she wants to smoke, I don’t see how he can stop her.”

“Yeah, imagine having to sneak away from your brother to have a cigarette.”

“I guess I should be thankful I only have Velcro Mom and not Super Glue Brother.” Skye rolled her neck. She was exhausted, and she still had four days to get through until the wedding.

“Definitely,” Wally agreed, then said, “Back to what Hallie witnessed.”

“As we already knew, Saturday night—well, actually Sunday morning—when she and Hale got back to the motor court after the attendants’ party, they—and by
they
, I’m thinking Hale, since Hallie wants to be a missionary—decided that the cottages were ‘just too icky’ and borrowed a car to drive into Chicago so they could stay at the hotel where their dad is staying.”

“So, when Hale went to get the keys to the Hathaways’ rental, Hallie told him she had to use the bathroom and went into her cottage.” Wally half closed his eyes, recapping what Skye had told him. “Then Hallie slips out of number ten, walks over to the floral refrigerator in front of number three, and lights up.”

“Yes.” Skye adjusted the pillow behind her back. “She wants to be far enough away so Hale won’t see her or smell the smoke. She’s puffing away and she hears Belle and someone else yelling from inside cottage four.”

“Too bad Hallie couldn’t tell who was arguing with Belle or what they were fighting about.”

“Yeah.” Skye made a wry face. “Instead of being nosy and finding out what was going on—as I would have done—she crushed out her cigarette, slipped back into her cabin, then joined her brother when he pulled up in the Hathaways’ rental car.”

“How was it that Hale didn’t notice she smelled like smoke?”

“Hallie’s not dumb, despite some evidence to the contrary. She keeps perfume and mouthwash in her purse to use after she sneaks a cigarette.”

“It sure would have been nice if she told us this when she was interviewed after the murder.” The skin across Wally’s prominent cheekbones tightened. “Since her information narrows down the time of death, maybe we could have eliminated a few more suspects.”

“Possibly. We know Belle was put in the refrigerator sometime between one twenty and three a.m. because Simon said it would take close to five hours for her to suffocate, and I found her a little after eight. But I doubt many people will have an alibi for that time period, because most of them were probably in bed.” Skye pressed her fingers to her temples. “We just can’t get a break in this case.”

“It sure seems that way.” After a moment, Wally said, “So what happened when Hale burst in while you were talking to Hallie?”

“It turned out that Hale saw me going into his sister’s cabin and wanted to know why I was visiting her at that time of night, so he eavesdropped. The walls are pretty thin, and he heard our whole conversation.”

“And he heard Hallie admit to smoking and went ballistic.” Wally finished Skye’s thought.

“Yep.” Skye half smiled. “Not only had she broken her promise to quit; she had also lied to him about where she was and what she was doing.”

“He sounds a little psycho.”

“His possessiveness is extreme.” Skye put her elbows on her knees and rested her chin in her hands. “From what I know about the psychology of twins, it’s not unusual for them to be extremely close, even to the exclusion of other friends, but his behavior is bordering on the pathological, and Hallie did mention he’s in therapy. I’m guessing for anger-management issues among other problems.”

“And you did say Belle had dumped him. So, if he’s already feeling betrayed that his sister wants more independence ...” Wally trailed off.

“Still, when would he have murdered her?” Skye pointed out. “The drive to Chicago would have taken at least ninety minutes, so even if he immediately turned around and came back, he couldn’t have gotten to the motor court before four thirty.”

“So he’s out as a suspect, as is Hallie.” Wally frowned.

“Yep.” Skye stretched. “But wait until you hear about Madam Olga’s little scheme.”

After Skye finished telling him about the dress labels being switched, Wally whistled. “That sure gives her a motive to kill our vic if Belle threatened to expose her.”

“Except ...” Skye wrinkled her brow. “From what we’ve learned about Belle, she’d be more likely to blackmail Madam Olga than rat her out and turn her in.”

“There is that,” Wally conceded. “I’ll have to ask the city attorney to check the law, but I suspect counterfeiting labels might be a federal crime, since crossing state lines is probably involved. If that’s the case, I’ll pass on your information to the proper authorities.”