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As it turned out, Savannah hadn’t needed to worry about breakfast. When they arrived at in the banquet hall, they were surprised to find Reese, Walter, and Kevin, still waiting to be served.
“Oh good,” Reese said snidely, “the star is finally here.” He glanced over his shoulder where Haskell was waiting by the kitchen door. “Can we eat now?”
“Of course, sir,” Haskell said formally before disappearing into the kitchen.
Kevin stood and pulled out a chair for each of them. “Turns out, we can’t eat until everyone is present.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Savannah said, taking her chair. “We had no idea you all were waiting for us. Why didn’t you come up and get us?”
Walter angrily jerked his thumb toward the door. “Haskell didn’t tell us what the holdup was until a few minutes ago. I was just about to go in there and fix my own plate when you three finally showed up.”
Kevin smiled. “Ah, it’s all right. It would have been impolite to start without you all anyway.”
From Reese and Walter’s expressions, they didn’t agree. They glared at Haskell as he wheeled his cart toward the buffet table.
Reese arched an eyebrow, and in a bored voice, said, “So, did you all find any clues?”
Savannah smiled. “None, that we’d share.”
Arden watched Haskell as he set up the buffet table. Every so often, he would glance back at the table, his gaze sweeping over them, lingering the longest on Savannah, then turning back to the buffet table.
Arden’s mind returned to the unidentified boy in the picture. Haskell’s eyes, like the boy’s, were an unusual shade of blue. Was he the boy? A relative? He seemed old enough to be the boy, but it was hard to tell with the gray makeup on his face. He suddenly turned and she shifted her gaze to the side. Who was he really? And why was he here? Zeke hired him to be part of the game, obviously, but why him? No one else seemed to recognize him...no, that wasn’t quite true. She glanced at the other people at the table. One person did recognize him.
Reese sat back with a smug smile. “You don’t want to tell us about the doll of Zeke’s you found in the bathtub?”
Savannah’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “How did you...” She stopped and with a sigh turned to Kevin. “Kevin, honey, you weren’t supposed to tell.”
Kevin’s eyes widened. “I wasn’t? You didn’t say it was a secret.”
“It’s always a secret,” she whispered back. “We’re in competition with each other. We can’t go blabbing to everyone about what we find.”
“But I always do,” Kevin said with a dismissive wave of his hand.
Reese snorted. “Yes, you do, and we’re always appreciative of that, Kevin.”
Kevin smiled. “Well, share and share alike is what I always say.”
Haskell stepped away from the table and formally announced that breakfast was ready, followed by sarcastic cheers from Reese and Walter.
“But Dennis and Yvette aren’t here,” Savannah said. “I thought we were waiting for everyone to be present.”
“They instructed me to start without them, madam.”
Arden was the last in line. As she waited for the others to fill up their plates, she glanced over at Haskell, trying to recall if she had ever seen him on television or the movies. “So, do you live close by, Haskell?”
He looked at her in surprise. “I have a room on the first floor madam.”
“Where do you live when you don’t live here?” she asked reaching for a piece of toast.
“This is my home for the moment, madam. When my position here has come to an end, we shall see.”
“Oh.” She moved to the side and reached for a pair of tongs. Filling her plate with an assortment of fruit she asked, “Did you used to live in Hollywood?”
He looked at her strangely.
“You just look so familiar. Yvette said that you were an actor. Perhaps I’ve seen you in the movies or on a TV show before.”
“She is mistaken. I am not, nor have I ever been, an actor.” His lips pulled back revealing a row of white teeth. “I must have one of those faces.”
“Right, I guess so.” Coming to the end of the buffet table, Arden beat a hasty retreat back to her seat.
Most of the next hour was spent making small talk, mostly about the weather. “Sunny skies this morning and a high of 85 or so,” Reese said.
“It’s going to rain again tonight,” Walter said, shoveling food in his mouth. “All week long.”
Deciding to take advantage of the rare bit of sunshine for the week, Savannah declared that she was going swimming and firmly pushed her empty plate aside. Kevin and Paige followed a few minutes later, leaving only Arden, Reese, and Walter seated at the table.
Despite Arden’s best efforts, conversation died until Dennis and Yvette strode into the room five minutes later, their features grave.
Walter’s eyes followed their every move as they walked to the buffet and filled up their plates. “Did you find him?”
Dennis shook his head. “He’s not at the cottage.”
“He must be hiding upstairs,” Reese said.
Dennis sat down at the head of the table. “He’s not there either.” He started to take a bite but stopped. With a disgusted sound, he dropped his fork on his plate and pushed it away from him, his gaze drifting to the window. “I’m worried about him. What if—what if he...” He shook his head. “He’s not thinking straight right now. What if he did something?”
“Oh, don’t be ridiculous,” Yvette said, slipping into the chair next to him. “Zeke would never commit suicide.”
“We would have found his body by now if that happened,” Walter said.
“I think we should call the police,” Dennis said.
Yvette and Walter spoke over each other, rushing to reassure Dennis that his brother was alive and well.
“The coward’s just hiding from us,” Yvette said angrily. “He promised to sign the contract and he’s changed his mind at the last minute and isn’t man enough to tell us no to our faces.”
Dennis lifted pain-filled eyes toward her. “We can’t find him, Yvette,” he said softly. “We should have found him by now.”
Yvette angrily snapped the napkin, and then placed it on her lap. “Perhaps, he’s run away.” She glanced at Walter who gave a slight shake of his head. “Then again, perhaps not. Walter will help you search the house.”
Walter lifted up his head sharply. “I was planning on going into town with you.” He lifted his eyebrow. “Remember?”
Yvette pushed herself away from the table. “Don’t worry, I’ll run your errand for you.” Her knuckles whitened as she held on to his shoulder. “I’ll have to stop by the cottage first, but I should be back here by lunch. You just find Zeke.” She loosened her fingers and patted his shoulder. “It would break my heart if something happened to him.”
Subtle, Arden thought wryly as Yvette dabbed at her dry eyes. Yvette wasn’t much of an actress, but was she The Executioner or just a suspect playing her part to the hilt? She clearly didn’t like Zeke and it was obvious she and Walter were up to no good, but that could be just a red herring.
Dennis rose to his feet, interrupting Arden’s thoughts. “I can’t eat. Come on, Walter. Let’s search the house again. Hopefully, between the two of us, we can find him.”
Walter ran his napkin over his mouth before throwing it down on his plate with a small curse.
Reese walked to the French doors leading to the terrace. “I hope you find the psycho,” he called out as the men walked out and then in a quieter voice added, “and toss him over the side of the cliff.”
* * *
ARDEN STOOD AT THE edge of the pool and looked around. Paige, Savannah, and Kevin, were sunning themselves on the lounge chairs nearby while Haskell, partially hidden by a tree near the edge of the cliff, was discreetly talking into his cell phone. He ducked out of sight when he noticed her staring his way, then reappeared soon after without his phone. Adjusting his jacket, he strode to a table nearby and picked up a silver serving dish filled with tall glasses of ice tea, which he carried to Savannah’s side of the pool.
Spotting Reese floating in the deep end of the pool, Arden dove off the edge, coming up by an empty float. With some effort, she climbed on top. Then she pushed herself towards Reese.
She just hoped she could get Reese to talk to her. Reese’s reputation for rudeness was legendary and from what she had seen of the actor, it appeared to be well deserved.
However, to her surprise, Reese was more than happy to see her. He grinned as she paddled towards him. “I was wondering when you were going to come out and see me.” He winked at her suggestively. “I was getting lonely out here.”
She maneuvered her float next to him and attempted to engage him in normal conversation with little success. Reese was far more interested in flirting with her and bragging about himself than to pay much attention to anything she said. It was only when she mentioned Zeke’s name and his odd behavior at dinner that he finally gave up on trying to seduce her and spent the next ten minutes, with very little prompting, filling her in on Zeke Tapper.
“Zeke’s always been crazy,” Reese said. He glanced over each shoulder before leaning in closer. “He’s a murderer.”
She cocked her head to the side. “You think he’s the Executioner? But he’s the one who’s dead. We found the doll in his room.”
“No,” he said making a face, “forget the stupid game for a second. I’m saying he’s actually a murderer. He killed his girlfriend back in ‘74.” He let his hand dangle in the water. “They hushed it up, but you talk to anyone around here, and they’ll tell you all about Zeke and Elaine.”
Arden shielded her eyes from the sun. “Here? Are you saying they used to live in this town?”
“Not only in this town, this place belonged to Elaine’s family. Her parents died young and then her Uncle James sort of came in and took over. They say he used to be the judge around here. They also say he was a nasty piece of work. Into kickbacks and bribes and stuff. Dennis and Zeke’s parents used to rent out the cottage near here each summer. Yvette lived on the other side of town, literally by the railroad tracks. They all grew up around each other and spent most of their summers right here. That stopped when Elaine died however. Her uncle ended up boarding the place up and buying a place in town. He wouldn’t sell it though, no matter how many times Zeke tried to buy it from him over the years. When Elaine’s uncle finally kicked the bucket a few months ago, Zeke swooped in, bought this place lock, stock, and barrel from his heirs, and moved in the very next day.”
“What happened to Elaine?”
“That’s the million dollar question. Her uncle went away for the week and when he came back, Elaine was gone. Couldn’t find her anywhere. The whole town started looking for her. They checked the beach, the woods, the abandoned mill a few miles from here. Everywhere. Then they remembered the room behind the fireplace. They opened it up and saw her lying there, dead.”
“How did she die?”
“Something scared her to death.”
Arden rolled her eyes. “Oh, please.”
“I’m serious. Everyone around here thinks Zeke frightened her to death.”
“How?”
“I don’t know, but they’re convinced he did.”
“Did he go to jail?”
“Nah, I bet his old man paid someone off, more than likely it was the judge.”
“Her own uncle?”
“The old man was greedy. He inherited everything after she died.”
“That gives him a motive for murder then, not Zeke.”
“You don’t get it. Zeke told everyone he hadn’t seen Elaine in weeks.”
“What makes you think he lied?”
“Because when they found her body, she was dressed up like a 1920s flapper.”
“What?”
He lifted his hands up in defense. “Look, that’s the story I heard. She was dressed up in some sort of costume and get this, they found all sorts of prop weapons lying around her and in the library. I think Zeke was playing one of his mystery games and he did something to the girl. Poor kid. I heard that she was scared to death of that room. That’s why they didn’t find her for a week. They never thought to look for her in there.” He looked thoughtfully up at Cliff House. “I don’t blame her for being scared. I hate those creepy gargoyles they have all around the house. Can you imagine being in the dark and only having one of those things for company? Looking up and seeing those evil red eyes staring down at you.” He shuddered dramatically. “It’s no wonder her heart gave out. The guy who filled me in on the story thinks Zeke locked her inside and walked away.”
“Why would Zeke kill his girlfriend?”
“Because she broke up with him. I guess he decided to get revenge. But you want to hear the really creepy part? Her name was Elaine Sutton.”
Arden’s eyebrows rose. “Sutton?”
“That’s right. Sutton, as in Sunny Sutton. You know what Elaine means, don’t you?”
Arden looked at him in surprise at the sudden question. “No.”
“Shining light,” Reese said with a nod. “Zeke used to call her Sunny. Do you understand? He named the main character of his TV show after his dead girlfriend. The girlfriend he murdered. The man is truly nuts.”
Arden looked at the actor suspiciously. “Who told you this?”
“A reporter in town.” Reese looked smug as he readjusted his sunglasses and laid his head back on the float. “I started doing a little investigation when I got the invitation to come here a few weeks ago and discovered there was some big scandal in town forty years ago concerning Zeke. No one in town would talk about it, but just out of the blue a few days ago, I got a call from a reporter named Brad Anderson who was only too happy to fill me in.”
Arden glanced at him at the mention of the reporter’s last name. Where had she heard that name before? The two old men at the gas station immediately came to mind. Didn’t they say the dead guy was named Anderson? Has to be a coincidence, she said, immediately dismissing the thought. We’re playing a game. It’s just a game. “Rather odd reaction to an invitation.”
“I wanted to know if it was safe to come,” Reese lifted his head up. “Why? Don’t you believe me?”
Arden’s laugh sounded strained even to her own ears. “No, you’re making all this up.”
“Why would I do that?”
“For the game.” Arden smiled. “I don’t believe a word you just said.”
“It’s the truth.”
Arden’s smile fell as she lightly trailed her fingers through the water. “What else did this reporter tell you?”
“Only that Zeke’s a homicidal maniac. He’s been in and out of hospitals over the last twenty-five years. Mostly for his drinking problem, but a few times, it was because of his mental state. Always under an assumed name, of course.”
“Why? What was wrong with him?”
“Guilty conscience, maybe? You know, Brad showed me a picture of Elaine. Guess who she looks like?”
“I don’t know, who?”
He jerked his chin to Savannah. “Savannah’s a dead ringer of Elaine Sutton. Zeke used to be obsessed with Savannah and now I know why. It’s like he was trying to bring Elaine back to life. I think when they cancelled the show that it destroyed what was left of Zeke’s sanity.”
Arden raised an eyebrow at that.
“It’s true. I was there and saw it all. Dennis didn’t want the tabloids printing lurid stories about his crazy brother so they circled the wagons and kept quiet. The official story was that he checked himself into rehab after the show ended, but in actuality, Dennis and Yvette shipped him off to some sanitarium in Europe somewhere. When I found out Dennis and Yvette were thinking about bringing the cast back together and then received an invitation from Zeke for one of his murder mystery games, I knew something was up.”
A disconcerted feeling settled in the pit of Arden’s stomach then. What if Reese was telling the truth? She shook her head, reminding herself it was just a game and nothing more. “So, when did Zeke get out?”
Reese turned his head away. “Why do you care? You don’t believe me.”
“No, but I still want to win the game.”
Reese turned back and pressed his lips together in a tight angry line. “This is no game. Everything I’ve told you is the truth.”
Arden chuckled as goosebumps appeared on her arms. She rubbed her hands up and down her arms. “You are a very good actor. You almost had me going. What was in that envelope Zeke left for you this morning?”
“You’d best believe what I told you. Brad warned me not to come. He’s convinced Zeke’s dangerous.”
She didn’t want to believe Reese, but something in his tone made her heart skip a beat. “Why should I believe you? Why would you come here knowing all that?”
A vein in his jaw began to jump as he stared straight ahead. “I’m not afraid of Zeke and I’m not going to run from him.” He slipped off the float and easily hoisted himself out of the water. “With any luck, Dennis will find Zeke soon and lock him up so he can’t hurt anyone.” He grabbed a towel and began drying off. “If I were you though, I’d get out of here before you get hurt. There’s no reason for you to be caught up in all this.” He wrapped the towel around his waist, and with one last look at Arden, he turned and walked back to the mansion
The sound of a match striking the concrete and the smell of cigar smoke caught her attention. Using her hands, she slowly spun her float around, surprised to find Walter sitting in a chair nearby. “How long have you been sitting there?”
“Long enough,” he said chomping on a cigar. He laid his cigar to the side, and then slipped out of his t-shirt, revealing dozens of scars crisscrossing his upper body and a tattoo of a dragon on his right arm.
“Find Zeke yet?”
“Not yet, but we will.” Using his cigar, he gestured to Reese. “He’s not a half bad actor.” He returned his attention to you. “He’s certainly got you duped.”
“Is this your charming way of saying he was lying to me?”
“No, not at all,” he said stretching out his legs and crossing his ankles. “I’m just saying you can’t trust actors. Professional liars, the lot of them.” His upper lip curled. “I hate them.”
“You picked a strange career then.”
“I’m good at what I do.”
“Which is?”
“I take care of ‘em.” He grinned down at Arden. “You got anything you need taking care of, sweetheart?”
A shudder rippled across her back as she stared into his cold gray eyes. “Not at the moment,” she said coolly as she slipped into the water.
“Well, you just keep me in mind.” A smile crossed his face as she moved away. “I’m a good guy to have around. Know what I mean?”
“Arden!” Savannah called from across the pool. “Kevin wants to play shuffleboard and we need a fourth player. Do you want to play with us?”
Arden didn’t need to be asked twice. She quickly ducked under the water and swam away, putting as much distance between her and Walter as she could.
