Twenty-Five

Gentlemen that they were, or at least appeared to be, the VimPets execs did pay for my dinner. That earned them a point or two in my estimation but didn’t remove them, or at least Marv, from my consideration as suspects in Wanda’s murder.

Unfortunately, Jack remained on that list, too.

Fitzgerald—whom I didn’t really suspect—handled the bill, and I hung out with the others inside, in the cash register area near the restaurant door.

Gwen stood nearby, taking orders at a table where half a dozen seniors sat. She noticed us and gave a small wave before appearing to concentrate again on their requests.

“I’ll see you tomorrow at your Barkery,” Marv said as we waited for Fitzgerald.

“Great,” I said. “As I said, I’ll be glad to give you a few sample treats for your dogs.”

“Thanks. I’ll buy some, too. I plan to come back to town soon, by the way. My appetite has been whetted, and not just for dog biscuits. I want to explore Knobcone Heights some more.”

“Good idea,” I said. “And if you like hiking, come with me right now. I’m going to talk to my brother before I leave, and he hosts tours of the area. He’s going to lead one sometime this weekend, I think.”

“Love the idea. He’s the one who said hi to you before?”

“That’s him. His hikes are great. You should definitely try one out when you’re in town. I’m hoping to go on one of the upcoming ones.”

Fitzgerald got his credit card and receipt, and we all walked out of the restaurant. We exchanged goodbyes and I told them I’d be in touch with Jack about the recipe idea soon.

“We’ll wait for you in the bar,” Fitzgerald said after Marv explained he wanted to talk to my brother about a hike.

Marv and I went to the registration desk. Though it was late, Neal still sat there, despite there being two other employees present. He might have been waiting to talk to me, but that needed to be put temporarily on hold; I explained that Marv wanted to discuss upcoming hikes with him.

Neal said he’d just decided that his next hike would be on Saturday morning, starting near the lake and going up into the adjoining mountains—one of the pre-Halloween adventures he’d been considering, since the holiday was a week later. Those who hiked with him then would not be trick-or-treating, as he’d decided his Halloween night followers could, but they’d get to see some amazing views of the area.

“Sounds like fun,” I said.

“You want to come, too?” he asked. “You know you’re always welcome, sis.”

“Thanks. I’ll try.”

Neal proceeded to give Marv the details of the date, time, and cost while I continued to stand there. Were we being too nice to the person who’d killed Wanda?

Unfortunately, I still didn’t know. But if nothing else, maybe the hike would somehow provide me with a way to find out.

I said goodbye to Marv, then told Neal I’d see him at home soon. He agreed, so he probably wasn’t getting together with Janelle any more than I was seeing Reed that evening.

Before leaving, I headed to the restroom. The facility was a little crowded, but I found a stall quickly. As I finished and washed my hands, Gwen came in. She looked tired, but she seemed to perk up as she saw me.

She also looked around as if seeking someone who might be there, who I suspected was Elise, or perhaps her more direct supervisor at the restaurant. “I hope you understand that I was just considering my options and future and all, when I told Jack I might be interested in a job,” she said. “And I don’t really want word to get out about it.”

“I’m sure Jack seduced you into it,” I said with a smile, “like he tried to seduce me into selling him some dog treat recipes. Or at least that’s what I’ll say if anyone asks me, and I won’t bring it up.”

“Well … yes, that’s kind of how it was at the time. But—” She hesitated, then changed the subject, at least somewhat. “Did I hear right, that Neal’s leading one of his hikes this weekend?”

“Yes. Are you interested?” I hoped she would interpret my question the right way: interested in the hikes, not Neal.

She headed toward an open stall. “Not sure. But thanks for asking.”

“See you there,” I called, “or here.” Then I left.

 

I hurried home and was walking Biscuit in front of my house when Neal returned, too. He pulled his car down the driveway, opened the garage door with his remote button, and pulled in. In a few minutes, he’d closed the door and joined us.

“So how did your dinner go?” he asked. “I assume that was all about trying to determine another murder suspect, right?”

“They knew Wanda,” I agreed, nodding. “She worked for them and, as you know, had apparently been trying to outshine Jack.”

Biscuit finished her sniffing and we all headed toward the unlocked front door, the way my pup and I had exited the house.

“Did you learn anything?” Neal opened the door, and Biscuit and I walked inside.

“Not really. I was already aware that the younger guy, Marv, knew Wanda. The senior executive apparently did too, but maybe not as well. Marv has visited Knobcone Heights before, so he knows his way around, but I didn’t hear anything that suggested he was here last week. That’s not to say he wasn’t, though.”

We’d reached the kitchen and both got glasses of ice water from the refrigerator door, then adjourned to the living room, Biscuit at our feet. Neal turned on the television and found a news station, but put it on mute as we both sat on the sofa looking at each other.

“So what’s next?” he asked. “I assume from what you’ve told me that the cops might actually be right this time. The killer is most likely to be Jack Loroco—or even Billi Matlock.” He frowned a little, tilting his head. “Or do you still think it could be Harris or Elise?”

“I wish I knew,” I said, shaking my head. “Jack seemed to know Wanda best of any of those people, and she was trying to get him fired. He’d been working hard, from what I gathered. He kept trying to get me to sell him some recipes with a veterinary technician’s twist to them, but then Wanda butted in and tried to usurp my business relationship with him. Not that my treats were hugely special, or that he couldn’t have found another vet tech somewhere who was also developing recipes for special treats.”

“Hey, yours are extra special, sis.” My nice-looking brother aimed a huge and contagious smile at me. “You’ve got the Barkery and its increasing business to prove it.”

I could only smile back. “Thanks. I just wish I understood better what Jack was going through. I know Wanda was rough on him and that he could have wanted her ousted from the company. And—”

I suddenly stopped as a completely absurd new idea came to me.

Whoever killed Wanda might have wanted to silence her. I already had some suspects in mind, such as the VimPets exec who’d been seduced by Wanda and perhaps wanted to shut her up. Or maybe he hadn’t yet given in and wanted to oust her before he succumbed. This meant that maybe one of the two men I’d just met had killed her. And there were potentially others in the company who could also have had reason to silence Wanda.

But one other person in particular came to mind at that moment, as ridiculous as it seemed.

Or not so ridiculous …

I’d need to talk to Jack about it, but in a way that wouldn’t give away my silly idea to him. I didn’t have to do it in a hurry, though. I could ponder what was the best approach to take, one that didn’t tell him what I was thinking—I hoped.

“What’s going on, Carrie?” Neal’s inquiry sounded like a clap of thunder in my head, even though it hadn’t been very loud. But it had definitely resounded in a way that disrupted my odd train of thought.

“Actually,” I said, “I’m not really sure. But you know my imagination. I’ve got some strange ideas percolating, probably nothing particularly useful. But I need to—”

My phone rang, and I was relieved to take it out of my pocket. I didn’t want to answer the questions Neal was clearly about to ask, judging by the frown he’d leveled on me just before opening his mouth to spit out whatever had come to him.

Fortunately, my caller was Reed.

Our conversation was brief. Since I’d promised to keep him informed about what I learned while snooping into Wanda’s murder, I described my dinner with Jack and his bosses.

I told Reed that I still didn’t know who’d killed her, but I hadn’t eliminated any of the people I’d come to consider as suspects, some of whom I’d seen at resort that evening. Plus, there were others I wanted to find out more about.

I kept my latest suspicion to myself. After all, I had nothing really to base it on, except that I had an open mind as to suspects. And the list in my head kept expanding.

But maybe this would be the one murder in town lately that the cops would solve without my actually figuring it out. Which would be fine with me, even though I’d already spent so much time trying to solve it.

“Hey, if that’s Reed, be sure to invite Hugo and him on my hike this Saturday,” Neal called from the other end of the sofa. “You and Bug are coming, aren’t you?”

Biscuit, hearing her special name, moved away from where she lay at my feet to grab some attention from her uncle as I complied with his order. “Neal’s doing a hike on Saturday morning. Biscuit and I are going, and he wanted me to invite Hugo and you, too. Can you come?”

“I doubt it,” Reed said. “I’m scheduled at the clinic that day.”

“Oh, well.” I was disappointed, but of course I understood.

If my brother hadn’t been in the same room I’d have provided Reed with a sexier good night, maybe even thrown him a kiss over the phone. As it was, we just discussed that I’d have a shift at the clinic the following day, and also maybe on Friday. “See you tomorrow, then,” I told him and said goodbye.

“So when are you staying the night with him again?” Neal asked, standing up to go to bed.

I wanted to say it wasn’t really any of his business, but it actually was, since it would let him know when the house was free for him to invite Janelle. “Not sure, but I’ll let you know as soon as we make plans.”

“Good. So I probably won’t see you till tomorrow night—maybe. Right? Unless I wake up before you leave tomorrow for work, which I hope I don’t.”

Since Neal seldom did, I didn’t think he should be overly con-
cerned.

Something occurred to me then. Yet another visit to the resort?

I had a potentially good reason for it.

“Can you join me for a quick coffee tomorrow morning at the resort restaurant?” I asked.

“Sure,” he said, his brow sinking in a dubious expression. “But why?”

Without answering, I called Biscuit. “Time for our last visit outside,” I told her. “Good night, Neal. I’ll let you know tomorrow when I’m on my way, and also as soon as I know about my plans later in the day.”

 

My day in the shops on Wednesday morning started out so busy that I considered postponing my coffee with Neal. But I knew my own compulsive nature, so I instead rallied my assistants—three of them that day, fortunately: Dinah, Frida, and Vicky. Once they were all there and the doors to the shops were about to open, I told them about my erratic schedule that included a meeting that morning plus a vet clinic shift that afternoon.

As always, they were wholly supportive and sweet and practically said they’d boot me out the door soon so I could meet up with my brother. Plus, they promised to take their usual loving care of Biscuit so I could leave her at the shops with no worries.

Once more, though, I struggled with how I’d supply all of them with raises. Was it possible, after this murder was solved, that I’d still be able to sell a new recipe or two to VimPets, get some kind of royalty on its use, and pass on the profits to my employees?

I hoped so. And that made it feel even more necessary for me not only to figure out who’d killed Wanda, but to do so quickly.

And so, at around nine that morning, I sat in the corner of the not especially busy resort restaurant with Neal, who assured me he had officially taken a permitted break.

“Yes,” he told me as we waited for our server to come take our orders, “those two VimPets executives are still registered here as hotel guests, but they’re now scheduled to leave tomorrow.”

Would that still give me the time I needed to collect the information I was after? Surely it would.

And their leaving now wouldn’t keep the cops from going after them if it turned out one of them was guilty.

Gwen came over to take our order. “Coffee and wheat toast for me,” I said to her.

Neal ordered coffee, too, plus a cinnamon roll. The ones here at the resort weren’t as good as the ones I made, but Chef Manfred Indor had provided the recipe before being dropped as head chef of this restaurant, so they were at least okay.

“Wait just a second, Gwen,” I said once we’d both given our orders. I kept my voice low. “I gather that those executives from VimPets are still staying here. I know you said otherwise, but do you have any regrets about not pursuing the job? If so, this would be a good time to bring it up again.”

“Like I said, I’m not interested anymore,” she said quietly, leaning so that her head was between Neal’s and mine.

“That’s definitely good for the resort,” I said. “And now I want to ask something else, and I’m sure you’ll understand why. Wanda apparently had something going with that Marv guy, and possibly manipulated him as well as Jack. Maybe she had something similar with the big wheel, Fitzgerald, too. Did you ever hear either of those men discuss, with or without Jack, anything that Wanda had done to manipulate anyone?”

“Nothing specific, but I—well, I shouldn’t say anything because they’re still our guests.” She turned to look at Neal, as if she expected him to tell her to stay quiet.

My brother may not have known exactly what I was up to, but he remained on my side. “It’s okay. I won’t say anything. Carrie’s seeing if she can figure out evidence against those men. It would certainly be better for Knobcone Heights if one of them turned out to be the killer.”

“Or if Jack did,” Gwen said, still quietly. “He’s not from around here either, and I thought he’d be the one the cops would decide had done it.”

“Could be,” I agreed. “Wanda clearly tried to manipulate Jack, in public and evidently in private, too. Did he tell you anything about it? Did you hear anything about her when you were looking into a possible job with the company?”

“Maybe. Well, I’m not sure.”

“You said that the execs are scheduled to leave tomorrow,” I said, looking at Neal, who nodded. “I thought Marv might stay to go on the hike on Saturday.”

“All he said was that he’d like to come, but if he did, he’d have to come back up here since he’s got to go back to LA first,” Neal explained.

“Got it. They’re not exactly rushing off, though. If one of them murdered Wanda, he must not think the cops are zeroing in on him. But Gwen, if you think of anything potentially helpful that either of them said, I hope you’ll let me know. Oh, and the cops too, of course.”

“Sure.” Gwen moved, then, standing up and looking toward her right. “Look, I’d better get back to work. But—well, I’m sure you guessed that if I had to pick the killer from out of the air, I’d go for Jack, not necessarily his bosses. Can I provide the cops with anything to prove it? No. But I believe Jack and Wanda had a strange relationship for a while. Now, sorry, I’ll go get your order, and I’d better take some others, too.”

As she walked off, Neal looked at me. “I’m sorry too, sis. I know you don’t want it to be Jack, but if I had to guess whodunit, he’s the one I’d focus on. Unless, of course, you have something on those executive guys that you haven’t told me.”

“Maybe. Or maybe I’m considering another angle. Anyway, I hope Gwen hurries with our stuff. We both need to get back to work.”

 

Neal and I didn’t talk about the murder during the short time we enjoyed our coffee and snacks and conversation with each other. I paid our tab, thanked Gwen, and aimed a questioning smile toward her as I said again, “Hope you’ll keep our conversation in mind and let me know if you think of anything helpful.”

“I will,” she said.

A few minutes later, as I walked Neal back to the registration desk, I promised I’d explain what all that had been about—eventually. But I had more to look into as a result.

“Thanks, bro,” were my last words to him as I took off for my shops. “See you later.”