Twenty-two

I accidentally broke a little twig. When I glanced back at their table, Sky’s eyes met mine. Had Sky been rooming with Randall’s killer?

Randall was Sky’s brother-in-law. If Nessie had known him, wouldn’t she have told Sky? One of those it’s-a-small-world-type things? A shiver crawled across my neck. Could Nessie have killed Randall? That would have been an excellent reason not to disclose the fact that she knew him.

I itched to hear more. Grabbing the pitcher of ice water, I lingered near them, refilling glasses.

“What have you been doing this morning?” Nessie asked her daughter.

Rats! Nessie was deftly changing the topic.

“Mom, remember the sorority sister I told you about?”

“Sweetheart, I have told you before that we do not need a private plane.”

“Not that one. The one who had an affair with the professor! He’s here!”

“Well, don’t you get mixed up with that man. You hear me? I swear I’m beginning to understand why the parents pick spouses for their children in some cultures.”

Sky excused herself and cocked her head at me ever so slightly.

I followed her into the inn. She headed straight for the library.

In the smallest whisper, Sky asked, “Do you think Nessie could have killed Randall? No. No, that’s ridiculous. No one is a good enough actress to have pulled that off and faced me every day.”

I liked Nessie. The last thing in the world that I wanted to imagine was that she could be a murderer. But if, and that was still a big if, she knew Randall, was it possible that she had killed him, and Hank, too?

“Where did you go last night when you left Tequila Mockingbird?” I asked Sky.

“Nessie was beside herself. She was headed for the restaurant where Celeste and Hank were in the photo.”

“Did you go with her?”

“No. That whole mix-up with Hank was Nessie’s fault. She’s the one who changed the guy Macon picked for Celeste. Remember how pleased she was to set up Celeste with a doctor? I probably shouldn’t have pointed that out to her.”

“She got mad at you?”

“She was a little huffy. More at Hank than at me. So I made an excuse about my feet hurting because of tight shoes and came back to the inn.”

“When did Nessie return?”

“I don’t know. I fell asleep before she got back.”

“That must be how Duchess got out.”

“Maybe. Nessie came back briefly, but when I woke in the middle of the night neither she nor Lulu was there.” Sky scowled at me. “Why are you asking where she was last night?”

The news about Hank clearly hadn’t made it far yet. “Hank is dead.”

Sky’s eyes widened in shock. “No! What happened?”

“Looks like he was murdered.”

She staggered backward and collapsed into a chair. “It’s just a coincidence. It has to be. Nessie is headstrong and controlling, but it’s unimaginable that she would go to those lengths.”

Sky covered her eyes with her palms and dragged her hands down her face. “He was a liar and a con man, but he didn’t deserve that.”

She looked away, shaking her head. “Holly, I’m going to check out today. Maddie and I need to go to my sister’s anyway. Given this development, I think that’s best. Would you get my bill ready, please?”

“Of course.” I couldn’t blame her. Who would want to hang around when two men had been murdered? “I’ll have it waiting for you at the desk.”

Sky left at a good clip. I walked to the office to finalize her bill.

Oma, Gustav, and Zelda were having lunch on Oma’s private terrace just outside the office. I took a minute to tell them what had happened before I sat down at the desk inside to work on Sky’s account.

I printed the bill out and carried it to the desk in the reception lobby. I was placing it in the drawer when Dave walked in.

He didn’t smile at me. “I need to talk with you.”

“Sure. What’s going on?”

“Can we speak in the office?”

I nodded. “Come on back.”

He walked around the counter and followed me into the office. Dave stopped short when he spotted Oma, Gustav, and Zelda outside. He closed the French doors and motioned for me to sit down.

I perched on the sofa, beginning to worry that someone else might have been killed.

Dave sat on a chair, winced, and rubbed his eyes before he spoke. “Tell me what you did last night.”

“Me?” I grinned. “You think I had something to do with Hank’s death?”

“Just answer the question, Holly.”

I explained about distracting Hank so Zelda could get away from him. Last night, when Hank was alive and being annoying, it had seemed sort of logical and funny. Now that he had been brutally murdered, it didn’t sound quite as amusing. I took the coat, life vest, and wig out of the closet and showed them to him.

“Why did you take them off in Hot Hog?”

“I was watching for Hank and thought it best if he didn’t get a good look at me in the wig. If he did, he might realize that we had tricked him. Plus, they were very warm and uncomfortable.”

“Then you came back to the inn?”

I relayed what had happened at Tequila Mockingbird. “Nessie was outraged that she and her daughter had been conned by Hank. She stormed out.”

“What did you do?”

“I came back to the inn and went to bed.”

“Did anyone see you?” Dave asked.

“Casey. He would remember too, because the cats were ripping up something, and I asked why he didn’t stop them.”

“How about later on?”

“If you’re asking whether I spent the night with anyone, the answer is no. Ben was there, but he slept in the guest room.”

“Did you talk to him during the night?”

“No. He was sleeping when I came in. I woke him around six, because the dogs and cats were gone and the door to my apartment was open.”

Dave’s eyes narrowed and his head tilted ever so slightly. “How did that happen?”

“I have no idea. The dogs and cats have had a pantry party two nights in a row. I suspect that Ben isn’t closing the door all the way, but that doesn’t explain how the other dogs have gotten out. Unless . . .”

“Unless what?”

“I don’t want to point fingers, but I think a few people might be slipping out at night to meet up with”—I searched for the right word—“love interests. And maybe the dogs and cats manage to sneak out with them? You should know that Sky says Nessie was out last night.”

Dave studied me. After a moment he said, “Do you want to rethink anything you’ve told me?”

What was he talking about? I thought back. Had I omitted something? “No. I don’t understand. The important thing is that I never saw Hank once I reached the restaurants. There were huge crowds on the sidewalks, so I might have missed him, but I don’t think he followed me all the way there. So I don’t know where he went or who he saw after that.”

Dave’s mouth twitched to the side. “Holly, I have at least ten witnesses who saw you at Hot Hog last night.”

“That’s not surprising. The place was packed.”

He stared at me. “I’ll need the coat, life vest, and wig as evidence.”

“You have to be kidding. You think I murdered Hank? Have you lost your mind?”

“I believe I’m the one who should be asking that question.”

“I tried to fool him, okay? This is silly. You know me. Do you really think I could murder someone?”

Dave sighed. “Under the right circumstances, people do things I would never expect of them. Don’t you realize how suspicious you looked stripping off this costume at Hot Hog?”

“Don’t you think I would have been smart enough to shed them in the ladies’ room or in an alley if I was concerned about people seeing me? I didn’t give it any thought because I hadn’t murdered anyone. Last I knew, it wasn’t against the law to trick a stalker.”

Dave looked me in the eyes. “Holly, I have someone who can place you in Zelda’s backyard last night around the time of the murder.”