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  “And where were you last night, Mister Cugno?” Sakura questioned.

  “I was in the fitness center after dinner, for many hours,” he replied. “I prefer to work out whenever possible so that I can keep in shape. I’m strong for my age.”

  “I’ll say,” Sakura agreed, taking in the man’s robust arms and chest. “For a guy in his sixties, that’s impressive.”

  “Age isn’t a factor,” Anthony answered. “Just persistence and a schedule.”

  “But you didn’t see Amber at all last night?” Veronica asked again.

  “Not since dinner, no,” he repeated. “I was in the fitness center most of the evening. I went back to my room and had a shower around ten.”

  Sakura wrote all this down while Veronica was distracted by the puppy again. “What a sweetie!”

  Martin smiled as he watched the puppies run around the chef’s feet. The paler one appeared particularly enamored with her.

  “You’re a dog person, aren’t you?” he inquired.

  “I haven’t had one for a long time,” Veronica informed him. “But I do love dogs. Especially Goldens!”

  “Was there anything else you wanted to ask?” Anthony interrupted.

  “I don’t think so. Not right now at least.” Veronica looked at Sakura, who finished her writing. “Can you think of anything else?”

  “I don’t think so,” Sakura agreed. “I think we need to compile everything now.”

  “Let me know if there is anything else I can do to help,” Martin declared. “If it turns out that Amber was murdered, I will do everything in my power to make sure this person never sees the light of day again!”

  Everyone in the room was taken aback by the ferocity in his voice. Martin had never sounded like that before. It was a bit shocking.

  “We’ll let you know,” Veronica said after she regained her composure. “Thank you for seeing us.”

  The two chefs moved to the door, but the puppies blocked their way. The little pale one sat in front of the door, and Veronica laughed.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll visit you again,” she reassured the pup with a few pets. She gently pushed the puppies out of the way, allowing for her and Sakura to leave the suite.

  Veronica and Sakura waited until they were a short distance down the hall before they turned to each other. The rest of the hallway was empty, so hopefully no one would overhear them speaking.

  “Okay, let’s see what we have,” Sakura said, reading through her scribbles in her notebook. “Amber disappeared sometime after she spoke with Martin, but we don’t know where she went or whom she spoke to.”

  “We have no clue who might have murdered her,” Veronica concluded. She pressed the button to summon the elevator. “One of the family might be lying, and they did see her after that, but we have no way to prove that. On the other hand, there are a lot of people here so that it could be someone completely unrelated to the Buckners.”

  “I have a hard time believing this is a random murder,” Sakura persisted as they stepped into the elevator. “Let’s focus on the family. What about motives?”

  “David might have had enough with her disobeying his wishes about going to medical school,” Veronica described. “Janet might have done it because Amber was causing a lot of strife in the family, and Janet didn’t want to deal with it anymore.”

  “Martin and Charlie both seem unlikely, since they’re the ones who agreed with her wanting to be a singer,” Sakura surmised. “But I’m not that good at telling when someone is lying. Are you?”

  “No, I’m not either,” Veronica admitted. “We could be missing something, or they could be lying.”

  “Everyone could be lying. Maybe they’re all in on it!” the younger said. Veronica gave her a sarcastic smile. “Okay, okay, that’s unlikely, but you’ve got to admit it would make a good book!”

  The elevator dinged, and the doors opened, revealing not only the Starlight Resort lobby but also the face of Detective Bernard. He stood in front of the elevator buttons as if he was about to call for the next one. He looked up at the women’s appearance and grinned.

  “There you are,” he said. “I thought you two would be in the kitchen since you’re chefs and all.”

  “Not at the moment,” Veronica replied. “Did you need something, Detective?”

  Max took a deep breath. “Swallowing my pride a little here, but you were right, Chef Koche.”

  “I was?”

  “About Amber Buckner’s death,” he continued. “The coroner finished the autopsy. She didn’t have any water in her lungs.”

  Veronica’s eyebrows furrowed. “Wait, wouldn’t someone who drowned have to have water in their lungs?”

  “Kind of the definition of drowning, or part of it,” Detective Bernard confirmed.

  “So that means Amber didn’t take water into her lungs when she was in the pool,” Veronica deduced. “She wasn’t breathing, so she was already dead by the time she was in the swimming pool?”

  “That’s right,” Max agreed. “You’re very perceptive. Her eyes were also horribly bloodshot, which according to the coroner is a strong indication that she suffocated. So, although drowning is a type of suffocation, it wasn’t the cause of death.”

  “Because of the lack of water in her lungs,” Sakura repeated. “She was suffocated out of the water?”

  “That’s the theory,” he verified with a nod. “Turns out this is a murder investigation after all. I was wondering if you two would like to help me with the case?”

  Veronica and Sakura smiled at each other and then turned to Max’s confused and expectant face.

  “Detective, we would be happy to help,” Veronica answered, and Sakura held up her notebook for him to see. “In fact, we already have some information to share with you.”

  Chapter 11

  It took about fifteen minutes for Veronica and Sakura to explain everything they learned from their interviews with the whole Buckner family. Detective Bernard sat patiently on a chair next to the cold fireplace in the lobby, watching the two women describe their experiences. Veronica explained everything in a calm, methodical manner while Sakura was throwing her hands around in elaborate gestures to help her illustrate everything. The detective listened intently, taking in every detail.

  Max smiled when they had finished. “Good job, both of you. One of the most helpful things in a murder investigation is to have a timeline of what happened up to the victim’s death. Just asking about Amber’s movements is a huge step.”

  “We’re not sure if everyone’s telling the truth, however,” Veronica mentioned. “So we can’t be sure this timeline is even correct.”

  “You’re right about that, but it’s still a start and knowing it might be wrong is also very insightful,” Max explained. “And good on you for taking motive into account. I’ve worked with lots of investigators who are just starting out who don’t take the why a murder happened into account. It can be just as important as the evidence that leads you to the killer.”

  Veronica smiled shyly at this while Sakura’s grin almost split her face in half. Max folded his hands and looked contemplatively at his fingers.

  “It would be helpful if we knew how Amber died as well,” he said. “There weren’t any indications of a gunshot wound, stab wounds, or anything other than the signs that she suffocated. We also don’t know how or what was used to suffocate her.”

  “It wasn’t a violent end, you mean,” Veronica commented. “People can suffocate with lots of things…washcloths, pillows, towels, even hands.”

  “And there’s probably hundreds of things like that in this resort that could be used to smother someone,” Sakura added. “And with so many people here, who knows if it was someone in the family or someone unrelated.”

  “It doesn’t give a lot for us to work with,” Detective Bernard admitted.

  “How about we try to follow in Amber’s footsteps like we have been, but a little more literally,” Veronica suggested. “Starting from
when she left dinner, and going to each place and searching for clues until we reach the point where she disappeared.”

  “That’s a good idea, but we probably don’t need to start from scratch,” Max replied. “You’ve already done that very well. Let’s head back to the Buckner’s suite. That was the last time anyone saw her. We can walk from there to the fitness center, where Anthony claims he was all evening.”

  “We just came down from Martin’s suite,” Sakura joked. “Up and down, up and down we go!”

  After taking the elevator up to the top floor, the trio stopped in front of the Buckner’s suite door. Detective Bernard took a glance around, taking in the door that led to the employees’ elevators and stairway as well as the public staircase and the elevators they just used. The chefs watched him with a bit of confusion in their expressions.

  “What’re you doing?” Sakura inquired.

  “Looking for all the ways Amber might have left the suite,” he described. “There are three ways down: the two public routes and the employee passage. We’re on the twentieth floor, so boy, we’ve got a lot of floors to cover.”

  “Do you think Amber might have taken the employees’ route?” Veronica asked.

  “Probably not, but I want to cover all our bases,” Max answered. “I’ll take the employee doors since I’m allowed in there. You two take the public access. We should time how long it takes to get to the fitness center. That’ll let us match Amber’s route and compare that to her time of death.”

  “Got it,” Veronica agreed. “We’ll meet you on the first floor.”

  Max nodded and headed to the end of the hall, to the door labeled “Employees Only.” Once he was gone, Sakura quickly rushed to the public elevators to push the down button.

  “I call dibs on the elevator!”

  “Hey wait a minute,” Veronica protested. “How’d I get the short straw?”

  “You’re a slow-poke, that’s how ” Sakura responded. “See you at the bottom!”

  Sakura headed into the elevator while Veronica sighed dramatically and headed for the staircase.

  Going to make Sakura pay for this, she thought with a smirk. Makes me take the stairs. Really!

  Veronica started the timer on her watch and began her long trek down the stairs. She made sure she stopped to check out the areas every couple of floors, most of which just lead to more hallways with rooms for the hotel. They all looked the same as the top floor.

  “Is this déjà vu just because they aren’t creative enough with their décor?” she asked herself. “Well, they’re creative, but not varied.”

  “You know the first sign of insanity is talking to yourself, right?” Veronica turned to see Detective Bernard watching her from the employees’ door. “Or were you talking to the ghost of the bride left at the alter who now haunts this very resort?”

  Veronica burst out laughing. “You’re ridiculous.”

  “It’s another coping mechanism,” he said with a shrug. “Got to have a sense of humor in this line of work.”

  “I can imagine.”

  “Found anything?”

  “Other than the same hallway over and over again?” Veronica offered. “Not really. I’m still looking around.”

  “Better get back to it then,” Max said. “Don’t want to throw off our timers.”

  Veronica nodded and continued her way down the stairs. She stopped for a moment at the fifth floor, where the hair salon, spa, and sauna were all stuck together in one room, with giant windows taking up the entire walls with views of the mountains outside. There were already some people inside, employees and clients alike, and there was not a single place where someone could hide.

  “There’s no way someone wouldn’t see something happening to Amber if she was here,” Veronica concluded, shaking her head and continued down the staircase.

  The remaining floors consisted of more hotel rooms, and Veronica finally found herself on the first floor of the resort. She glanced around, taking a moment to catch her breath.

  “Back in the lobby again. I wonder where Sakura and Detective Bernard are. At least, Sakura should have beaten me here,” she muttered to herself. Neither her sous chef nor the detective was anywhere in sight. “Guess I should head over to the fitness center. I think it was right next to the indoor swimming pool.”

  As she was checking her watch to see what her travel time was so far, Veronica heard the distinct sounds of arguing. The deep voices suggested it was two men who were fighting. Veronica couldn’t tell what they were arguing about since the walls muffled the voices. A couple of the resort employees ran from their desks in the direction of the bar where Veronica and Sakura had found David before. There was a loud crash followed by more shouting.

  What in the world is going on?! She thought as she rushed to find out the source of the noise.

  Chapter 12

  The shouting became louder when Veronica came closer to the resort bar. As she approached, she barely dodged a stool thrown in her direction. Thankfully she jumped out of the way in time, and the stool flew past her and into the hallway leading to the lobby. A few other customers had come along to see what all the commotion was about, although Veronica was the only one who dared to get close.

  A few security guards ran past her, followed closely by Sandro, and headed into the bar. Veronica watched for a second, completely taken aback by this unusual event. She had seen bar fights when she worked as a bartender to help pay her way through school. The pub she worked for at the time had bouncers to make sure nothing became too heated. It usually ended up being unnecessary since the bar fights in those days never amounted to more than some yelling and an occasional black eye. After the fight, everyone calmed down or left.

  This time, however, the people arguing didn’t seem to have any intention to stop. There was another crash, and Veronica heard other voices yelling for the fight to stop. She hurried the rest of the way to the bar.

  “How dare you just come in here and try to tell me what to do!”

  “You did the same to your daughter. I’m just trying to give you some advice.”

  That sounds like David and Anthony; Veronica realized as she stopped in the doorway.

  Sure enough, David Buckner and Anthony Cugno stood opposite each other, a broken beer bottle between them. A couple of security guards held David back by his shoulders while he sputtered and spat at Anthony, who was nursing a black eye and frowning deeply. The bartender was cleaning up the broken glass to make sure no one hurt themselves on it, while Sandro stood among the fighting men, holding up his hands in a nonverbal stance to calm them down.

  “Gentlemen, gentlemen, please,” he begged. “There’s no need for violence. Let’s all relax and talk this out.”

  “There’s nothing to talk about,” David insisted. “This man needs to leave me and my family and our money alone!”

  “I’m just trying to help you be financially responsible,” Anthony argued. “Your family hasn’t been doing a good job of that lately.”

  “What is Mister Buckner doing that’s not responsible?” Veronica asked.

  “Miss Koche, please stay away,” Sandro requested. “For your safety.”

  “I started talking about arranging a funeral for Amber,” David described. “And he started going on about cutting costs for it.”

  “There’s no reason to buy her an expensive casket, or have a huge service,” Anthony reasoned. “She’s dead. She won’t care. You have to accept that.”

  “So you want me to insult her memory by just having her cremated without any chance for anyone to mourn her?” the father yelled. “She had lots of friends and family who want to know about this, and to commiserate together. Why shouldn’t I do that?”

  “It’s a waste of money, David.”

  “Only from your view.”

  “Anthony,” Veronica called, and the injured man looked at her. “Why is it so important that Amber’s funeral be cheap?”

  “As I said, there is no reason to was
te money on something Amber wouldn’t appreciate,” Anthony replied. “She won’t care.”

  “All the more reason to have her funeral be something special,” David insisted. He relaxed against the security guards’ grip and clenched his eyes shut. “I did so much wrong to her, pushing her into misery until she died. If I do only one good thing for my only daughter, I want to give her a proper funeral and burial. I won’t be stingy with it.”

  Veronica walked over and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. David glanced up at her. “You feel horrible about all this, don’t you?”

  “I’m an idiot. There are no words to describe the regret I feel for not letting Amber follow her dreams,” he muttered. “If I had just listened to her from the start none of this would have happened. Giving her a nice funeral is the only way I can make it up to her now.”

  David gave Anthony a dark glare. “And I’m not going to let some cheapskate who has no business in my family’s affairs stand in the way.”

  “No business in your affairs?” Anthony repeated with a hiss. “Am I not part of the family business? Have I not worked my hardest to make your father’s business success? It’s because of my advice that your family is as prosperous and profitable as it is. And you say I have no business in your affairs?!”

  “It’s all about being profitable, isn’t it?” David shouted. “Always about spending the least but earning the most in the process. Money! Money! Money! That’s all you think about!”

  “Is that not what business is about?” Anthony debated. “Even one focused on hospitals?”

  “You bother my father about it, you bother me about it,” David continued as if his opponent hadn’t spoken. “You even started bothering Charles about it when he came back. Janet also complained that you kept trying to rewrite her grant applications. All to use the money improperly!”

  “It’s not used improperly! It’s a strategy to make her research more profitable!”

  “But not safer for the tests or to make the results reliable! Don’t deny it; I’ve read your proposals. They all focus on the money the experiments will make and not how helpful and informative they will be.”