“YOU’RE ONE OF THE RUMORS?” I asked.
Heidi pounded her fingers under her eyes, as if trying to force out her frustration. “It’s a long story.”
“I have time, if you want to talk.” I pointed to my full pint. “There’s always more beer, and I don’t know about you, but I could go for a bowl of Ursula’s famous beer cheese soup.”
“That sounds good,” Heidi agreed.
We ordered bowls of the beer cheese soup and then returned to our conversation.
“It would be nice to talk about this,” Heidi said, fiddling with her napkin. “I’ve been keeping it bottled up for so long now.”
“I’m here to listen.”
She reached for her stein and took a sip of her beer. “It started about a year and a half ago. If you remember, the Hamburg wasn’t in great shape. I mean, we’ve done well in terms of staying booked through the busy season, but we haven’t been able to compete with the bigger hotels in the village. We just don’t have the same amenities—a pool, outdoor patios, suites. You know. And then there’s a lot more competition with the vacation rental market these days. Everyone in the village is turning their spare bedrooms and basements into private vacation rentals.”
I nodded.
“That’s made it tough to stay competitive, and the hotel was in desperate need of modernization. Our guest rooms were outdated. We needed new electrical and plumbing systems and some ADA upgrades. All to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars. I didn’t have that kind of capital on hand and went to a couple of banks to see if I could get a loan for the renovations. The local banks agreed to loan me the money, but the repayment costs were intimidating, and I’d be spending even more in interest over the life of the loan. I was complaining to another business owner, who suggested that I find someone with venture capital to invest in the hotel. That way I wouldn’t have to worry about repaying a huge business loan. It would mean giving up a percentage of ownership, but that was fine by me. I’m not in this to make a fortune. I love the Hamburg, and I love being in the hospitality industry. I just want the hotel to continue to thrive.”
She didn’t sound like a killer.
“I wasn’t sure where to start. I’d never sought out venture capital before. It sounded so out of reach. I mean, are there venture capitalists here? I figured I would have to go to Seattle and maybe hire an investment firm to help me, but then I learned that Kristopher was interested in partnering. It was like winning the jackpot. I’d known Kristopher for years, and he was a respected member of the community—a city councilor. I should have done my due diligence, but I jumped at his offer. He agreed to cover the renovation costs as well as put some money into a marketing campaign in some regional travel magazines. He didn’t want any part of day-to-day operations, which was great with me. He wanted to be a silent partner, so to speak, but in exchange for an influx of cash, he asked for a substantial piece of ownership. I didn’t think it through. I’d always been a single owner since I purchased the Hamburg two decades ago. The thought of having someone like Kristopher as a sounding board and partner was appealing. I really thought it would take us to the next level.”
“That sounds good to me.”
“Yes, but you know what people say about things that sound too good to be true?” Heidi massaged her temples.
I nodded.
“Well, they were. What I didn’t realize was that Kristopher had been investing in a number of other small businesses in town.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“He had a master plan to take over the entire village. He wanted to create a German utopia of his making.”
“Without alcohol.”
“Among other things, yes. I guess he came from a very wealthy family. His father died unexpectedly, and he inherited a very large sum of money. He’d been using that to take a majority share in every business he invested in.”
“What was his plan?”
She shrugged. “I tried to talk to him about it. He came to me when he started his reelection campaign and explained his stance on prohibition as well as informing me that once the campaign was over, the Hamburg was going to take a very different direction.”
“Like what?”
“Honestly, I have no idea. I think maybe he was a bit crazy. His father had been killed by a drunk driver, and he went off the deep end. I can understand his grief, but he took such an extreme position. He was convinced that alcohol was the root of all evil. He didn’t care about the businesses in Leavenworth and what banning alcohol might do to our livelihoods. He was on a singular mission, and if the village suffered, it didn’t matter to him. He would be fine.”
“I had no idea.”
“No one did. It came as a complete shock.”
Our soups and glistening buttered pretzels arrived at the table. Heidi broke off a chunk. “I didn’t know what to do. I hired a lawyer, but there wasn’t much she could do for me. I had stupidly signed a contract with Kristopher. He owned five percent more of the business than me, so he had all the power.”
Knowing that Kristopher’s motivation for canceling events like Oktoberfest stemmed from grief made more sense, but everything Heidi had told me so far made her motive for killing him that much stronger.
“I hate to admit this, Sloan, but I was kind of relieved when he ended up dead.”
I plunged my spoon into the gooey, cheesy soup, trying to buy some time before I responded. This was my chance. I needed to craft my words carefully.
She continued before I could speak. “I didn’t kill him, if that’s what you’re thinking. Absolutely not. That’s not me. I just mean that his death, while terrible, was also a relief. I wouldn’t have to worry about what might become of the Hamburg or my job and income with Kristopher dead. I’m not the only one. I know there are plenty of other business owners who feel the same as me. They were in the same position. Which is why I’m sure that one of them must have killed him.” She barely paused for a breath. “It makes sense, don’t you think? That’s why I’ve been so distracted and staying late at the Hamburg. I’ve been trying to figure out what other businesses he invested in and who might have gotten so desperate that they decided to kill him.”
There was the possibility she was lying to me, but I wanted to believe her. She sounded sincere and equally stressed about who could have killed Kristopher.
“Do you know what other businesses he had a stake in?”
Heidi ripped off another piece of pretzel. “I’ve been replaying every conversation I had with Kristopher. He had mentioned diversifying his investments—wanting a combination of retail and restaurants. He claimed that the Hamburg was the only hotel he was investing in, but I have no way of knowing whether that’s true.”
“Have you mentioned this to Chief Meyers?”
Heidi shot me a strange look. “Multiple times. She was at the Hamburg for half of the day reviewing contracts and trying to help me jog my memory on anything else that could lead to his killer.”
If Chief Meyers was already looped in on Kristopher’s investment in the Hamburg, I felt even more confident that I wasn’t sharing a beer with a killer.
“Do you have any other thoughts on who else in the village he was working with?”
“He was tight-lipped about his other investments, which makes sense in hindsight, knowing what he had planned. I have some speculations but nothing concrete.”
“Like what?”
“I had heard a rumor that he approached Garrett about Nitro. Who knows, it could be nothing more than a rumor, but I guess Kristopher made him a very attractive offer to purchase Nitro’s building and restore it back to a bed-and-breakfast. From what I heard, it sounded like Kristopher was successful with the offer.”
I gulped. That couldn’t be true. Garrett hadn’t said a word to me about selling Nitro. “Are you sure?”
Heidi shook her head. “No. You know how the rumor mill works around here. Who knows.”
“Have you heard of anyone else that Kristopher tried to buy out?
“No, but I heard that Conrad’s nutcracker business hasn’t been doing well.”
“It hasn’t?” Not that I was surprised. Everyone in the village had been slightly baffled when he opened his nutcracker shop.
“No. You didn’t hear?”
“What?”
“He’s probably going to have to close up shop. He hasn’t paid his lease in months.”
This was news.
“Conrad’s shop hit all of the marks—small, new business that was having financial struggles.”
“Right. I thought it was odd that someone would open a second nutcracker shop in town. It doesn’t seem like there’s a market for more than one.”
“Me too. That makes it even more likely that Conrad might have jumped at the chance to partner with Kristopher.”
She raised a valid point. The problem was that I had no idea what that meant in terms of Kristopher’s murder. If Conrad needed cash to save his shop, he wouldn’t have had a motive to kill Kristopher—would he?
Heidi pushed her soup around with her spoon. “Then there’s Ross. He’s the one who I personally think had the most motive.”
“Really? Why?”
She lowered her voice. “We work out together. He and Kristopher got in a huge fight because Kristopher got him shut down.”
“I heard that, but I also heard he was in danger of being shut down, not that he actually was shut down.” I ran my index finger along the rim of my pint glass.
“No. He’s been completely shut down. The state revoked his liquor license. He’s trying to keep it quiet. That’s why he’s been painting and doing ‘work’ on the Underground. It’s a smokescreen while he fights to get his license reinstated.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.” Heidi nodded. “I promised him I wouldn’t say a word. Please don’t share this information. He’s worried that if people find out that the Underground is in trouble, regardless of whether it’s true, that they’ll boycott the bar and he’ll lose the business.”
“Of course I won’t say anything.” I sighed and took a drink of my beer. “Except, I do feel like Chief Meyers needs to know this.”
Heidi swirled her soup with her spoon. “She knows. Ross told me that he’s been working with the police to prove his innocence. The only reason the state got involved was because Kristopher kept calling in fake complaints.”
All the more reason he could have killed Kristopher, I thought to myself. The subject shifted to the upcoming light festival and the election. We finished our soups and beers and parted ways. I needed to get home to Alex. Heidi’s revelation had sent me in a new direction. Was I closing in on a killer, or was I more lost than ever?