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Savannah was the first to react. “What do you mean Walter’s dead?”
“Simply that, Madam. Mr. Elmore passed away at some point during the night or early this morning.”
“No,” Kevin cried out. “I thought for sure he was the killer this time.” He returned to pouring syrup on his French toast. “Well, back to the drawing board.”
Dennis threw his napkin down and stood up. “This is getting ridiculous.”
“Where are you going?” Savannah asked.
“I’m going to find Walter,” Dennis said as he strode toward the foyer. “I told him the game was over and we weren’t playing anymore.”
Haskell raised his voice. “I’ve taken the liberty of calling the police, sir. They should be here shortly.”
Dennis gave him a weak smile. “You’re not serious, Haskell.”
“I’m afraid I am, sir.”
They all looked at one another, some in disbelief, and others with grim certainty.
Dennis turned around, his face pale. “What happened to him?”
“It appears he fell to his death, sir.”
Max pushed his chair back and stood. “Where’s his body?”
“It’s lying in the rose bushes on the north side of the house. I’ve been instructed to keep everyone away from that location of the property.”
“Who instructed you?” Arden asked breathlessly.
Haskell arched an eyebrow. “Why, the police, of course.”
They all began talking over one another, each insisting on being heard over the other, their voices rising in panic much as they had the night before.
This time, the doorbell ringing startled everyone into silence.
Haskell swept past Dennis and out. Max followed him into the foyer, and then returned a moment later followed by Haskell and Officer John Grayson.
The young officer looked grave as he walked in, hat in hand.
“Now, what’s going on here?” Dennis asked, disbelief coloring his voice. “Is Walter really dead?”
Officer Grayson didn’t answer. Instead, he turned to the butler. “Are you the one who found the body?” At the butler’s nod, he said, “All right show me,” he said before motioning for the butler to close the banquet hall pocket doors. “I’m going to have to ask the rest of you to stay where you are.”
They did that, each sitting silently until the officer returned an hour later and ushered each person, one after another, into the library where they were questioned. It was then that Arden ran back upstairs and retrieved the dolls from her room, but try as she might, she couldn’t seem to get Officer Grayson to look at them for very long. He was so focused on the questions he had prewritten on a notebook that he only gave the dolls a passing glance.
“Yeah, uh huh, nice doll. How well did you know Mr. Elmore?”
She set the dolls down on the coffee table between them with a sigh. “We only just met.”
“When did you last see him alive?”
“Last night at dinner, but he must have died shortly after we went to bed because we discovered this morning that his bed hadn’t been slept in.”
“Did he seem depressed?”
“No, not at all, why would you ask that?”
He raised his head then and smiled. Dropping his voice low, he confessed, “I’ve only been a police officer for a year. I’ve never worked a suicide before.”
“A suicide? You think he jumped to his death.”
“Seems like it,” he said with a shrug. He flipped through his notebook. “I heard he was in some sort of financial trouble. Do you know anything about that?”
“Yes, I overheard him telling Yvette Tapper that he owed some dangerous people some money. She was supposed to help him out, but then she disappeared.”
“Well, there you go.” He nodded to himself. “You know, I bet she couldn’t come up with the money and she was too embarrassed or afraid to tell him, so she’s hiding out somewhere waiting for him to leave. He probably freaked out when he realized she wasn’t going to help him and decided to end it all.” He nodded again as he began scribbling into his notebook. “Yeah, that makes sense.”
Arden glanced from the officer to the dolls. She held the Clay Grimes doll up by its head. “For goodness sakes,” she said with rising panic, “look at the doll.”
He did then, his brow furrowing. “Is this the doll...” He consulted his notes. “Is this the doll Max Ferris found outside his room this morning?”
“Yes,” she said relieved that she now had his attention.
“I wonder...” He stared at the doll. “Perhaps, Mr. Elmore saw this and it prompted him to commit suicide.”
Arden’s eyes widened in disbelief. “What?”
“Yeah! He’s already depressed about the whole money thing. He knows he’s in big trouble now. I bet he saw this...thought it was a warning from whoever he owed money too and it sent him over the edge.”
“No.”
“No? Clay, I mean Kevin Harper figured Walter jumped because he was stressed out over the game you all are playing.” He waved the doll around. “This thing probably didn’t help matters much.”
As much as it broke her heart, she could easily imagine Kevin saying and believing such a silly idea, she couldn’t imagine the officer before her believing it. She could only believe he was being willfully obtuse.
But why?
“Officer, he was murdered,” she said before launching into a description of what had happened during the last few days. She was happy to note he took detailed notes and when she was done, he nodded grimly. “I’ll let the detective in charge know,” he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a plastic bag. He shoved the dolls inside the bag, and then stood. “Detective Martin will definitely want to talk to you.”
She sat back in relief, waiting until finally the officer returned with a sheepish look on his face. “Detective Martin had to leave, but don’t worry, I’ll make sure he understands what’s going on.” He held up the bag containing the dolls. “I’ll show him these as well.”
She stood and followed him out and into the large conservatory at the back of the house where everyone was anxiously waiting for the police officer to return and let them go.
Officer Grayson stood at the doors. “Mr. Elmore’s body has been removed,” he announced, “but the flower garden and his room is off limits for now.”
“That’s fine by me,” Reese said. “I have no intention of sticking around here any longer.”
“I must ask you to remain at Cliff House for the time being.”
“You must be insane,” Reese said, his voice rising in panic. “I’m not staying here with a murderer running around just waiting to kill me.”
Officer Grayson looked surprised by Reese’s outburst. “Murderer? Who said anything about a murder?” He glanced over his shoulders, then dropping his voice, added, “We’re pretty sure Mr. Elmore committed suicide, but we can’t say that officially yet.”
Reese ran his hands through his hair. “There’s no way I’m staying here. You don’t understand, officer. I have an audition on Tuesday for the movie of a lifetime and Zeke is out there somewhere waiting for a chance to kill us all. I can’t let that happen. Not now.”
“I assure you,” Officer Grayson said, “you are perfectly safe here. In fact, Detective Martin has ordered that an officer be stationed outside the gates until things are cleared up.”
Max raised his eyebrows. “Will you personally be sitting outside, officer?”
The young officer’s eyes narrowed to slits as he stared at Max. “Sometimes...when I’m on duty.”
“Are you sure Walter committed suicide?” Paige asked.
“Like I said, it’s not official,” Officer Grayson said regretfully, “but it does appear so.”
Arden gestured to the bag in his hands. “But the dolls...”
“We will look into it,” the officer said, barely refraining from rolling his eyes. “Now, what I would suggest is everyone go about your normal business.”
Dennis wrung his hands. “Look, I want to see the detective in charge. It’s urgent that I speak to him about a personal matter right now.”
“That storm last night did a lot of damage in town and we’re a bit short handed at the moment. I assure you that Detective Martin will be back soon, but if there are any problems in the meantime, I want you to call this number,” he said pulling out a card. “It’s my personal cell phone number. If I don’t answer, leave a message and I will get right back to you.” He gave them a reassuring smile. “I know you all are upset about Mr. Elmore, but please don’t worry, you’re perfectly safe. I promise you.” With one last nod, he turned and addressed the butler. “If I could see you for a moment.”
“Of course, sir,” Haskell said following him out the conservatory.
Arden was the first to speak. “I think we should pack up and go into town.”
Dennis looked shocked. “What? Leave? We can’t leave. You heard the officer. We have to stay here.” He blew out his breath in frustration. “Walter’s death was tragic, but it wasn’t like he was murdered.” He rubbed his hand against his forehead as he stepped behind the mini bar near the wall. “I need a drink.” He rummaged behind the bar for a moment before giving a disgusted sigh. Spotting a bowl of strawberries at the end of the bar, he said, “I guess I can make a strawberry smoothie. Anyone want one?”
“I’m getting a real drink,” Reese snarled as he stomped out of the room.
Savannah was the only one who took him up on his offer. She slid onto the bar stool next to the bar and watched as Dennis brought out a blender.
Kevin laid back on the couch and looked up at the glass ceiling. “Man, I can’t believe Walter’s really dead. We should probably call someone. He used to have a sister in Texas, I think. I wonder where the funeral will be. My dad will kill me if I’m not back by tomorrow. Do you think the detective will let us leave by then?”
“You can leave now if you really want to,” Max said over the sound of the blender.
“But...”
Max leaned forward. “Sorry, I can’t tell if you are playacting or not, so I’m just going to assume you’re not. That wasn’t a real police officer.”
Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at him.
“What do you mean?” Arden asked.
Max carelessly flung his hand toward the door. “He’s an imposter, or I guess you all would call him an actor.”
Dennis looked hopeful. “Are you sure?”
“One hundred percent. Did any of you talk to anyone but him? I certainly didn’t. I didn’t see anyone else and I didn’t hear anything either. Suicide or not, we should have seen and heard more than one cop moving about. Not to mention they left in an awful hurry. The kid didn’t even act like a real cop. He acted like how an actor thinks cops act.”
Savannah’s mouth fell open. “But he stopped us and gave me a ticket. If he’s fake, then so is the ticket.” A grin suddenly lit up her face. “Excellent.”
“I guess that means Walter’s really alive,” Paige said with a relieved smile.
“For now,” Dennis growled as he handed Savannah a glass. “When I get my hands on my brother and his team of bit players, I’m going to strangle the life out of them.”
Kevin lifted his arms high above his head. “I knew it. Game’s back on.” He bounded to his feet. “Well, I’m going to do some investigating. See you all later.”
Arden exchanged a brief glance at Savannah. If she interpreted the expression on Savannah’s face correctly, her friend was still concerned.
Good. Now if they could only convince Paige and Max there was something wrong.
She started to reach for Paige when Haskell appeared at the door.
Dennis pointed his finger at Haskell. “You have some explaining to do, buster. I told you yesterday the game is over and we were done playing.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” Haskell said tipping his chin up slightly. “I...” His eyes widened slightly as his gaze settled on Savannah. Taking two long steps, he reached over and jerked the glass from her fingers. “The strawberries are out of season,” he said striding from the room.
Dennis held the glass in his hand up to the light. “They looked okay to me.”
