Cozy Mystery Box Set: Murder Mysteries in the Mountains Page 19

  “I’m sure you did,” Victoria said and stayed until she saw his car drive away. A little shudder went down her spine. This case was almost solved, she thought, though she didn’t really want to believe it.

  Chapter 16

  Three hours later, Victoria got a call from Corporal Jager.

  “Yes?” She said, excited.

  “Victoria, is it true that you visited Hanson earlier this afternoon?” Randolf asked, his voice sounding tight.

  “I did,” Victoria said. “He’s down at the station now, isn’t he?”

  “He is, yes, in a manner of speaking,” Randolf said. “Where are you?”

  “I’m at the café. Would you like me to come down too?”

  “Yes. That would be best.” Randolf said. “It looks like we’ve got to make an arrest and fast.”

  In fifteen minutes, Victoria was at the station, excited at the new developments. She remembered the glassy, vacant look in Declan’s eyes as he had sat in his car, and almost felt sorry for him. He was a great bull of a man, but could he really be a murderer? Even Hanson’s statement was not enough to implicate him totally, surely.

  Then, there was the case of the red-coated girl. In focusing so much on LeeLee, the murder that began it all had been forgotten. The girl had been interested in art. Hanson had said. Coincidentally, there was a painting missing from LeeLee’s room, and she had been talking about a missing CD too. Could that CD have featured the artwork? Was that why it had been stolen? Mentally, Victoria replayed the murder, trying to recapture every detail of the conversation as LeeLee had described the missing CD. They had been talking at first about the missing girl’s coat being an expensive Italian make- probably hand-made. Then LeeLee had mentioned that the CD was missing. Or was it the other way around?

  “Two pieces of news,” Randolf said, coming out to meet her as she parked in the station.

  “Go on,” Victoria said.

  “First, the DNA tests came back.”

  “LeeLee isn’t the red coat girl’s mother,” Victoria said. “In fact, they have no blood relationship at all, isn’t that correct?”

  “That is correct,” Randolf said, looking surprised. “How were you so confident?”

  “Because the girl was here inquiring about art,” Victoria said.

  “Perhaps she was a scam artist trying to steal the painting on LeeLee’s bedroom wall?” Randolf asked.

  “I have a theory about that,” Victoria said. “But I’m not completely sure. What was the second piece of news?”

  “My uncle has been found murdered,” Randolf said. His voice was still light, but Victoria, with dawning horror, got past her own excitement and saw the sadness in his face.

  “Hanson is dead!?” she asked. “No, he was alive just three hours ago. What happened?”

  “He and his secretary were both found murdered in their offices,” Randolf said.

  Victoria sat down, the air knocked out of her. Almost immediately, she got up and gave Randolf a hug. “I’m sorry.” She said. “So sorry for you.”

  “I’m…” Randolf shook his head. “He was my uncle. I’m supposed to be grieving. Instead, I just feel numb and hollow. I can’t seem to feel anything about his death.”

  “You’re hurt,” Victoria said.

  “I’m calling on the Banff detachment to help me with the case,” Randolf said. “You know the saying right? A doctor should never diagnose his own family?”

  Victoria didn’t, actually. But she saw his point. “You’re too emotional about your uncle to be objective?”

  “More or less.” He said. “Victoria… how did this happen? He was happy. He was… he had his share of issues with the bottle, but he was alright overall.”

  “Was it…” Victoria’s question trailed off.

  “They were shot. Both of them.” Randolf said. “His secretary too. They must have screamed, but Hanson’s office is far enough off the street that no one heard. The murder must have happened right before they shut down for the day. All the other employees had gone home. Hanson had stayed behind for a half an hour extra, as he always does, to review his day and week, while his secretary was taking notes.”

  “The intruder… he must be someone Hanson knew, mustn’t he?” Victoria asked.

  “He must have,” Randolf said. “We’ve identified the make and model of the gun already. It was wiped clean and lying next to the bodies. But it’s an illegal firearm, bought on the black market. Nearly impossible to trace those.”

  Victoria took a deep breath. “I’m so sorry.” She said.

  “You were there this afternoon, weren’t you?” Randolf said, “I interviewed everyone who was in the office today. Steve told me he saw you there.”

  “I was talking to Hanson about LeeLee,” Victoria said. With a deep breath, she began to tell Randolf everything. He sat, listening, his face getting progressively angrier.

  “....and you didn’t think to phone me?” he said. “You extracted this information out of Hanson, and you didn’t even bother to tell me?”

  “He was going to come to the station in three hours,” Victoria said. “As soon as he was done with work. He told me that. I didn’t think...”

  “You never think.” The Corporal exploded. “We could have stopped this. I could have stopped this. It’s obvious, isn’t it? Who did it? We’ll arrest him now, but what use will it be? He’s committed three murders. Victoria, you saw him there. You saw. Him. At. The. Office.”

  “I didn’t think he’d be bold enough to murder people in broad daylight,” Victoria said, her eyes full of tears. “Randolf, even now I have some doubts. Declan...”

  “Declan will be arrested as soon as we get an airtight case against him,” Randolf said. “Which, in my mind, is pretty soon. We bought him in for questioning. He’s in the holding cell now, and he says he doesn’t even remember what he did all afternoon. That he was driving around aimlessly, before going home and sleeping. Now we’ve got you placing him at Hanson’s office. One crucial witness.”

  “Did he admit to any of it?” Victoria asked.

  “He’s got his lawyers with him, and he’s rich.” Randolf sneered. “It’ll be a while before we catch him, and if we don’t get some really strong evidence soon, we may never catch him. Hanson’s testimony is useless now. You may have heard him say it, but that’s hearsay. Not admissible in court. Officially, his statement was that he was nowhere near LeeLee’s house that day. That’s the statement that will hold weight. We were so close, Victoria.”

  Victoria put a hand on his shoulder. “Randolf...”

  “No.” He said. “I don’t even want to talk to you right now. I’m furious, Victoria. You… you put your own life at risk too, by talking to Hanson before talking to me. You like to play the lone ranger, but the stakes are very high here. This isn’t a game, or a novel, Victoria.”

  “Randolf...”

  “You better go.” He said, crossing his arms. “I don’t want to lose my temper any more than I have already.”

  “I’m sorry.” She said, helplessly. “Randolf, I wish I could change this. I know I made a mess of it.”

  “You did,” Randolf said. “I’d rather not talk to you right now. Please leave.”

  Chapter 17

  Victoria tried to go back home. She brought the car all the way to her driveway, and then, impulsively, decided to drive away. Her thoughts were a jumble in her head. She needed someone to bounce her thoughts off. Randolf…

  She felt a twinge of sadness inside her, followed by an overwhelming guilt. Randolf had been furious at her. She hadn’t meant for that to happen. She hadn’t talked to Hanson herself because she wanted to “break the case” or gain fame. It had been impulsive. Amanda had reminded her of Hanson, and she’d run to talk to him, that was all. Randolf was right, though, she hadn’t sat down to think about the consequences.

  Then again, what could she have done? Hanson had been in an office, surrounded by people, and agreed to meet Randolf that evening. Surely t
hat was…

  …unacceptable. Randolf was right. With two murders already committed, Victoria should have told him, as soon as she could. She had to apologize.

  But would he accept?

  He was heartbroken, poor man. Victoria thought. Hanson’s death had really affected him. It was such a sad, useless thing, really.

  She found herself parking and realized she was at Amanda’s home. Getting out, she took a deep breath. She needed someone to bounce ideas off, and Amanda was perfect.

  She tried the doorbell, but no one answered. Deciding to sit down and wait on the stoop, she began going over the entire case in her mind.

  LeeLee had been killed by Declan, so had the girl in red. For what reason? For the two million dollar painting, perhaps? Hanson had been about to give evidence against Declan. Evidence that might take away LeeLee’s massive inheritance from him.

  This was where the theory broke down for her. Whoever had stolen that painting hadn’t sold it yet. Amanda had told her that. A stolen painting cannot be sold, often for years, until it’s not so much on the police radar anymore. It’s not like Declan could just have walked into a pawn shop and walked out with two million dollars. No, it would have made far more sense for him to sell off his TV or LeeLee’s jewelry. Not try to sell a two million dollar painting that would have papers attached to it, and provenance to prove.

  So it didn’t make sense to her, that missing painting.

  Whoever stole it, did so because they were confident they could sell the painting or hold on to it and sell it years later. So whoever stole it, did so out of greed, and didn’t need the money immediately.

  Declan needed money, and he needed discretion. Even if he wanted the painting, why would he take it down the same time he murdered LeeLee? Surely it made more sense for him to wait, let the police leave, and then take the painting down? In fact, he lived in that house so he could take the painting down whenever he liked.

  With a start, Victoria wondered if Declan even knew about the painting’s worth. Now, she remembered his casual, offhand remark about how he couldn’t tell a watercolor from a million dollar painting.

  It just didn’t make sense.

  She put her hands to her head and forced herself to think, to think hard about a piece of crucial evidence. The piece that Randolf needed.

  Somewhere, in the back of her mind, she was convinced that she knew. The subconscious mind had already connected the dots and created a pattern that made sense. Her conscious mind just hadn’t caught up with it.

  Alright, she told herself. Let’s throw all the assumptions about the case out of the window. Let’s rethink it. Let’s start with a blank page.

  She picked up three pebbles and laid them out beside her. Pebble one, a large gray, oblong one, represented the murder of the red-coated girl. Pebble two, a small black pebble with a streak of red running through it, represented the murder of LeeLee. Pebble three, a bright blue speckled one, represented the murder of Hanson. In the murderer’s world, there was a logical connection between these three pebbles. A certain flow.

  So what was it?

  With a frown, she rearranged the pebbles, so that LeeLee’s pebble was on top, and the red-coat girl and Hanson were on the bottom.

  Isn’t this how she was looking at the problem? LeeLee’s murder being the crux of it? LeeLee’s murder was the main murder on everyone’s mind. After all, she was rich, and it was her painting that had gone missing.

  Victoria added another pebble, putting it between LeeLee’s pebble and the red-coated girl’s pebble. Hanson had said the red coated girl asked him a lot about art.

  There was an intrinsic error she was making, wasn’t she? Victoria thought. LeeLee’s murder might look like it was the center of the case, but, in fact, it was the red-coated girl who had been murdered first.

  That was the main mystery here.

  If the red-coated girl had been a scam artist, and her partner had murdered her, why do it after the party? It would make sense if the painting had been stolen at the party, the red-coat girl and her partner ran away, and then he murdered her.

  But that had not been the way it happened.

  The red coated girl was murdered first, then LeeLee had been murdered, then the painting had been stolen, and then Hanson had been murdered.

  The painting had been stolen impulsively after the murderer killed LeeLee. Victoria realized. That made sense. She began listing the facts she was sure of.

  First, the murderer had to be local because he knew the hidden trail where he had killed the red coated girl.

  Second, the murderer had decided to kill LeeLee after he killed the red coated girl.

  What could that mean? Did LeeLee know something about the red-coated girl and the murderer didn’t want her to talk?

  It was as if a flashbulb went off in her brain.

  Of course! She’d gotten it wrong from that point. She had focused on the missing CD when LeeLee had said something else that day. Something far more incriminating. Since she was a fashion baroness, she had confidently said that she could identify the tailor or designer who created the red-coated girl’s coat. If she had identified the Italian tailor who made the coat, it would have revealed the red-coated girl’s identity.

  Someone didn’t want her identity revealed. That’s why LeeLee had to die.

  As for Hanson, Victoria gasped again, as the case suddenly clicked together for her.

  Hanson had not testified to the police about LeeLee. He hadn’t talked to the police about anything really. The murderer could have killed him at any time, so why did he kill him just as he was about to give his testimony? How did the murder even know that Hanson was going to talk right then?

  Because the murderer found out, quite by accident. Victoria realized, as the final piece of the puzzle clicked into place. The murderer walked in when Hanson was talking about the red-coated girl, and misunderstood when Hanson said, immediately after, that he had to talk to Randolf.

  “Hello, Victoria.”

  Fear pulsed through every part of her body, replacing all the blood in it. “Steve.” She said. “Hello.”

  He stood in front of her, and for the first time, Victoria noticed how immensely tall, and powerful he seemed. His eyes were glinting, and a sharp smile lit up his face.

  “Come to see Amanda?” He asked. “She’s picking up Ida. Come on in, why don’t you?”

  “No, I think I better leave,” Victoria said. “I’ve got to go pick up Annie too.”

  “Oh, I thought Annie and Byron come home together?” Steve said.

  “Yes… well… Byron is busy today.” Victoria said. “I've got to get going, Steve.” She walked away, crossing her fingers.

  A sharp pain exploded on the side of her head. The world went black.

  Chapter 18

  When Victoria woke up, she was in a car, speeding on the highway. She groaned and tried to get up, but found her hands tied with duct tape.

  “How did you know?” Steve asked her, his hands tight on the steering wheel.

  “Steve, what is this? Let me go!” She pretended to shake her hands as if she were trying to free herself. While Steve’s focus was on the road, she slipped a thumb inside her pocket and pressed the dial button twice.

  “Oh don’t pretend,” Steve said. “You were asking Amanda about LeeLee’s painting, weren’t you? A deliberate jab at me, I thought. Then I saw you at Hanson’s, and you’re talking about the red-coated girl.” Steve laughed. “Look at that, even I’ve started calling Isabella the red-coated girl.”

  “You killed all three,” Victoria said.

  “Correct,” Steve smiled. “Now I’m going to kill you too. Back on the trail, where I killed Isabella.”

  “You won’t get away with it,” Victoria said. “Not this time. It’s daylight.”

  “There won’t be people on that trail,” Steve said. “I think it’ll work out fine. Besides, I’m not going to wait around. I’m going to take Ida and disappear again.”

&nb
sp; “That’s why you killed the red coated girl, didn’t you?” Victoria said. “Because she was Ida’s real mother?”

  “How did you conclude that?” Steve looked surprised. “I thought I hid my tracks well.”

  “I didn’t even consider you a suspect, really,” Victoria said. “But when I thought hard, it all clicked into place. The red-coated girl was asking Hanson about art. I assumed that had something to do with the missing painting, but that was a red herring. The red-coated girl was trying to ask Hanson about an artist. An artist who hates any kind of fame, and refuses to have photos taken of him. But you made a mistake. Hanson made a brochure featuring you. You were furious, but there was nothing you could do. Somehow, Ida’s mother saw that photo and tracked you down. She went to LeeLee’s party, thinking you’d be there. She took the CD that LeeLee had made, hoping that you would be on it too. She was tracking you.”

  “Right you are,” Steve said, in a horribly cheerful voice. “She was always such a pain.”

  “You came to ask Hanson about the money, and heard him, and me talking about the red-coat girl, and heard Hanson saying he would testify in front of Randolf. You panicked, and you thought I had solved the case. Still, you had a bit of time. Hanson wasn’t going to testify for the next three hours. So you snuck into his office when you knew it would be deserted, and shot him and his secretary.”

  “Correct,” Steve said. “So your tally’s wrong, by the way. I’ve killed four people, not three.”

  “As for LeeLee, you wanted her dead because if Isabella’s identity was revealed, that would end in disaster for you.”

  “Correct again,” Steve said. “There’s one person in this world I love more than myself, and that’s my daughter. When Isabella said she’d divorce me all those years ago, Ida was only three. I knew that the courts would give Ida over to Isabella, so I took Ida and ran away. I gave up being a doctor and began painting. I had always wanted to be an artist anyway. Ida and I wandered around from one city to the other for years, before I settled on Larch Springs five years ago. I thought I’d found a home. I thought I could finally bring Ida up the way she deserved with a happy family, a good home, in a fine town.