Twenty

“I THINK you’d be surprised at how strong someone can be, in the grips of an uncontrolled emotion.” Harding sat at the desk in the spa office, his laced fingers resting on his stomach.

“You can’t actually believe Chantal did this to that poor girl.” Antonia had insisted she be allowed to join me and, to my surprise, Harding had agreed. A determined Antonia is a hard woman to deny.

“What I can’t believe is how the two of you fail to understand how police interviews work. I’ll be the one asking questions.”

“At least tell me you agree that the two murders are connected,” I said.

“It’s certainly a possibility, which is why I’m keeping my list of suspects open at this point, including Chantal and everyone that had access to this spa.” He narrowed his eyes. “The fact that you found the body doesn’t mean you aren’t on that list as well.”

“If I’d known I was in a steam room with anybody, and I mean any body, I would have been out the door.”

“Not necessarily. Not if you were guilty. What better place to hide than in plain sight? However,” he raised his voice over my protestations, “I have other suspects with more motive than you. No, we’ll continue our investigation and follow the leads wherever they take us. It could even be a robbery that ended with unintended consequences.”

I caught myself before I snorted. “Two days after someone else in the same group of people is thrown off a train? Quite the coincidence, wouldn’t you say?”

He ignored my question. “Did you see a diamond earring?”

“No. I saw she was wearing only one. Maybe it was lost when she was killed.”

“Maybe. My deputy is searching the victim’s bag for it now.”

Good luck finding it there.

“We think Penny might have been the target and that the killer made a mistake,” Antonia said.

Harding raised a brow and his lip curled faintly. “Really. You’re just going to insist on voicing your opinions on this, aren’t you? So go ahead, Penny, tell me why you think you might have been the intended victim.”

I gave him the quick version of being followed along the bike path and getting shut in the Berninni caves. While I spoke he looked at his watch several times and checked his phone. When I finished, he sighed.

“So you think you might have heard someone on the bike path yesterday morning.” He rocked back in the chair behind the desk.

“I know it doesn’t sound like much, but you weren’t there. Just the way the birds, everything, stopped. It just felt wrong, and I’m sure I was being watched. Followed.”

“Right. And then at Berninni Winery someone turned off all the power when you were alone in the caves. It could have been a coincidence.”

“It can’t be a coincidence that both things happened to me on the same day.”

“If something happened on the bike path, and I’m not convinced there was anything to cause real concern, there’s nothing to connect the two events.”

“Together they could be taken as a warning,” I said.

“A warning? About what?”

“Someone doesn’t like my asking questions, interfering.”

“Well.” He rubbed his arm absently. “You’ve put me in the unusual position of finding myself in agreement with my suspect, whoever that might be. I don’t like you asking questions either.”

“Indeed, somebody’s got to,” Antonia said.

Harding focused his attention on Antonia. His jaw quivered, and when he spoke, he worked to control every word.

“I will allow you some latitude since it’s your daughter you’re trying to protect.” He picked up a pencil, tapping it on the desk while he stared into space. Finally he dropped it and laced his fingers. “It looks like you’ve been asking questions in spite of my admonitions to stay out of it. If that’s the case, tell me what you’ve discovered about your fellow passengers.”

I briefly outlined what I’d learned. Harding didn’t move, his eyes focused on the wall somewhere behind me. When I finished, he flattened his palms together and rested his chin on the tips of his fingers.

“Vance was afraid Tara was spending his inheritance, Big Dave didn’t have a prenup, Seth was her high school lover and was possibly rejected in his bid for a final fling, and Barb wanted Tara to keep her hands off Seth. That it?”

My spine stiffened. “All pretty decent reasons to want someone dead. Better than that little scrap Tara had with Chantal.”

He watched us for a moment, absently rubbing his chin, until finally he shook his head. “This is how we’re going to play this. I know you won’t stop meddling where you don’t belong, and we all know I can’t haul you both down to jail. How’s it going to look, me dragging winery owners in? Especially you two.”

“Why especially us?” I asked.

He leaned toward us, meaty elbows resting on the desk. “Because you’re a yapper, and she’s old enough to be my mother.”

“It’s true,” Antonia said. “She is sort of a yapper.”

I shot Antonia a look and Harding ignored the interruption. “So here’s how it’s going to work. Everything you hear, and I mean everything, I want to know about it.”

Antonia sniffed. “I would have thought you’d be conducting your own interviews.”

“I’ve interviewed everyone who was on that train. It doesn’t matter if you believe me. I don’t answer to you.”

“Surely the reasons I just gave you prove that other passengers had as much motive as Chantal to kill Tara, if not more,” I said.

He rubbed the back of his neck and frowned. “The problem is that nobody else could have been there but Chantal.” He swiveled his head toward me. “You’re the one who pointed out the tablecloths piled against the door. Nobody else entered that room after the brake was hit and the entry blocked.”

“Yes, very clever of you, Penny.” Antonia raised her brow. “My daughter and I can’t thank you enough for sharing that interpretation of the crime scene.”

“But.” He held up his hand. “There’s something about it I don’t like.” He tilted his head toward the door. “I also find it unlikely Chantal was responsible for this murder here.”

“Well, that’s something,” I said. “What about me?”

He shook his head. “The span of your hands isn’t large enough either. Did you notice anything else in there before I found you with the body?”

He made it sound like I’d rearranged the crime scene. “Just that the killer is probably left-handed.”

“Of course,” he reached for a notepad. “Because the bruises line up with someone’s left hand.”

“Or it’s someone equally strong with both hands. Someone used to manual labor. Or an athlete. Like a tennis player. I should mention that a couple of nights ago, Vance grabbed my arm in the bar. The power in his grip was astonishing.” I thought back. “Come to think of it, he used his left hand.”

“There is the problem of getting into the spa without being seen,” Harding said.

“Not really. This place is huge and the only staff actually walking around are Sandie and Suzette. The massage rooms are on the far side and can’t be seen from the lobby.”

Harding flipped his notebook shut. “Interesting information about Vance. I’ll make sure to talk to him first.” He signaled one of the officers by the door, who nodded and then disappeared. “I’m quite confident this murder was done by a man.”

Antonia slapped her palm on the desk. “Finally we’re getting somewhere.”

He snorted. “Don’t get carried away. I just explained to you why Chantal is still very much my prime suspect in Tara’s murder. Just because I think the fight she had with Tara is weak as a motive, I still have a problem with her having the only known access to the body. If I come up with a stronger reason for Chantal to be Tara’s killer, we’re going to be having a very different conversation.”

“So what happens next?” I asked.

“As much as I dislike your involvement in this crime, you seem to be getting people to talk. I’m not convinced anyone threatened you on the bike path or at Berninni Winery, but it’s possible. If they warned you off, they’re nervous. And if you’ve made someone nervous, you’re on the right track.”

“It seems reasonable that if we’re making progress and we’ve agreed to keep you informed, maybe you can share with us what you’ve learned,” Antonia said.

He toyed with the pencil. “You still aren’t getting how this works. Your daughter is my main suspect. Anything you find out and share with me might prevent her from being charged with murder, but I won’t be telling you anything about the case. Not a thing.”