Keeley put on a bright smile, though her stomach was twisting with anxiety. Where was Raquel?
“How nice to see you,” said Suzy, without bothering to hide the sarcasm in her voice. Keeley wondered if she held a grudge for damaging her painting. If she had truly murdered Gerald just for voting against the art festival, then Keeley might well be next on her hit list. Keeley found herself edging back toward the door.
“Where’s Raquel?” Keeley asked, echoing her concerns. Suzy shrugged and looked annoyed.
“I don’t know. She phoned me and asked me to meet her here. I expect she’s on her way.”
That was odd. Taking a few deep breaths to calm her nerves, Keeley took a seat at the table nearest the entrance, reminding herself that she had no real proof Suzy was the killer. She might well be putting two and two together and coming up with five hundred. But why would Raquel want to talk to both of them? She wondered if she had judged the situation all wrong and Raquel was going to confess. Or perhaps she had gotten her manicured nails into Christian and wanted to tell Suzy, with Keeley there to ensure the artist didn’t try to scratch her eyes out.
Or take a scalpel to them. Keeley shuddered. Suzy narrowed her eyes at her.
“What’s the matter with you? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“I’m just cold,” said Keeley, although she knew it was still warm outside in spite of the coming twilight. Wondering when Raquel was intending to put in an appearance, she reached into her bag for her phone. Raquel’s number went straight to voicemail. Keeley was sure that when she had spoken to her, Raquel had indicated she was already at the diner.
“Where’s Christian?” she asked. Suzy just looked at her, and Keeley felt a frisson of fear. Had she done something to him too? Perhaps caught him in a clinch with Raquel? Although she couldn’t quite imagine the mild-mannered Christian doing such a thing.
“He’s gone to see a band in Matlock. Why do you ask?”
“With Megan?” Keeley said, answering Suzy’s question with one of her own. Megan hadn’t mentioned Christian was there, and when Suzy’s eyes went wide with surprise she realized she may have caught the girl out. She looked toward the door, judging the distance and the time it would take her to get out if the girl went for her. She decided she would give it five minutes to see if Raquel showed, and then she was off.
“I’m not sure,” Suzy said slowly, looking as if she was thinking hard. Then she glared at Keeley.
“I’m glad you’re here actually. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about reimbursing me for my painting.”
Keeley nodded, deciding it was best to humor her.
“Of course. If you come into the café tomorrow, we’ll have a chat about it. I’m really very sorry,” she said, hoping she didn’t sound as insincere as she felt.
“No you’re not.” Suzy wasn’t fooled for a moment. “You hated it.”
“No, I think you’re incredibly talented,” she said with more honesty, “but I suppose the, er, subject matter was a bit shocking.”
“Death is one of the most profound inspirations for an artist,” Suzy said, rather arrogantly. Keeley looked at her phone again, wishing Raquel would turn up or better yet, Ben. How long would it be before he saw her calls and checked his voicemail?
“I’m sure it is. It was just a bit upsetting for the residents.”
“Oh really?” Suzy scoffed. “I haven’t heard any genuine grief for the mayor, just a lot of gossip and malicious rumor.”
“Edna genuinely grieved him,” Keeley said without thinking, and then immediately wished she hadn’t mentioned the other murder victim.
“Well, he deserved to die anyway,” Suzy said, her face twisting with a cold rage that transformed her pretty, if sullen, features into a visage that left Keeley in no doubt that Suzy was more than capable of murder. She felt herself go cold all over. This was it; the girl was going to confess. Where the hell was Ben?
“What makes you say that?” Keeley asked, being very careful to keep her voice neutral, trying to remember everything she had ever read or seen on CSI about talking to murderous maniacs. Suzy’s eyes glittered angrily.
“He was going to cut funding to the arts festival. This would have been the last year. Can you believe it? The arts are vital, especially to small communities such as this!” Suzy’s voice rose higher as she spoke.
“I agree, they are very important.”
Suzy glared at her. “You’re patronizing me.” She shifted forward in her chair, and Keeley jumped to her feet, her heart thumping in her chest. Suzy sat back, looking surprised again, the anger gone.
“I’m going to go, it doesn’t look as though Raquel is coming, and Ben’s on his way. Here,” she added, hoping Suzy believed her. Every muscle in her body was tense and coiled as she prepared herself to make a run for it. When Suzy just shrugged Keeley blinked, confused.
“Suit yourself. I’ll wait for a while. She had better not be with Christian.” The girl looked angry again. Keeley felt utterly bemused. Had she got it all wrong, and it wasn’t Suzy at all? But the girl had all but admitted she had wanted Gerald to die.
“Right. I’m sure she’s not. I’ll see you soon.” Keeley turned to go out of the door, and bumped straight into a manly chest. She felt a surge of relief for a second until she saw it wasn’t Ben, but Christian, who looked from her to Suzy with a strange look on his face. Keeley stepped back to let him in, and he shut the door behind him and stood in front of it, barring the way.
“Excuse me,” Keeley said, giving him a friendly smile. Christian ignored her, and didn’t move.
“Where were you?” Suzy asked, accusingly. Christian shrugged. “I told you. In Matlock.”
“With Megan?” Keeley asked, wondering if Megan had returned with him and where she was. Perhaps she had sent Christian to fetch her? Although that didn’t feel right, given that she thought his girlfriend might be the killer.
Christian looked at her properly then. He looked annoyed, and for the first time Keeley thought he wasn’t so handsome. In fact, he had a clammy look to his skin, and his eyes were wide, his pupils dilated, almost as if he had been smoking suspicious-looking cigarettes with Tom.
“Sit down,” he snapped.
“Excuse me?” Keeley felt affronted at his tone. He turned a look of such menace on her that she found herself doing as he said, a horrible awareness dawning on her. No, it couldn’t be, it made no sense.
“Who rattled your cage?” Suzy seemed genuinely bewildered at Christian’s tone. Then she asked with suspicion, “Were you with Raquel?”
Christian barked a laugh. The sound was alien to what Keeley knew of him, but then, she didn’t really know him at all. He didn’t answer Suzy, just looked from her to Keeley with an eerie smile spreading across his face.
“She thinks you did it,” he said in a sing-song voice. “Don’t you, Keeley?” He raised an eyebrow at Keeley, who swallowed hard and didn’t answer.
“Did what?” Suzy said, then the knowledge dawned. “Killed Gerald? That’s ridiculous. Even your boyfriend let me go.”
Keeley didn’t look at Suzy, she was watching Christian.
“It was you,” she said in a flat voice, not knowing how, or why, but knowing as well as she knew her own name that she was right. Christian smirked.
“Took you long enough, didn’t it? I was worried you were going to work it out with your relentless digging, but perhaps I shouldn’t have been so concerned. I could have just let you frame Suzy; that was my original intention. But then it occurred to me she would probably ask you for help just like Raquel did, and then you’d be off again, investigating. Quite the little amateur detective, aren’t you?” There was a nasty sneer to his voice.
Suzy, who had gone even paler than usual, stood up. She was visibly trembling, though Keeley wasn’t sure if it was with fear or rage.
“You were going to frame me?”
“Of course,” said Christian, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “Well, not at first, but then when you unveiled that painting, I just thought it was too perfect an opportunity to pass up. And being as I had already used your scalpel to kill him, it was almost uncanny. That amazing artist’s intuition of yours.” He said the last almost reverentially. Keeley shook her head. He was insane.
Suzy looked as though her eyes were about to pop out of her head at this latest revelation. When she spoke, she all but spat her words.
“You. Used. My. Scalpel?”
Christian nodded, looking pleased with himself.
“Yes. It was perfect. I knew you weren’t using it for your latest work so you wouldn’t miss it as long as I put it back quickly. So I took it, killed our dear mayor with it, cleaned it up, and replaced it. Hidden in plain sight.”
Suzy leapt at him, her hands outstretched into claws in a way that was reminiscent of Edna’s attack. Keeley got to her feet, seeing her chance to escape, but concern for Suzy made her hesitate.
She dithered too long. As Suzy flew at him, Christian grabbed a ceramic jug that was on the table Keeley had been sitting at and swung it at Suzy’s head. Suzy swayed on her feet for a few seconds, then crumpled to the floor in an unconscious heap. Keeley heard a little shriek come from her own mouth and she started forward toward Suzy, but Christian was in front of her, turning to face her, barring her way not just to Suzy but also, she saw with a shudder, to the door. He smiled at her in a way that made her think of a shark.
“Now it’s just us,” he said.