Chapter 14
Bruce hastily threw on his clothes and drove himself and Hayley over to the inn on Mount Desert. Two police cars with flashing blue lights were already parked out front on the street. On the lawn outside, just under the soaring oak trees that shaded the property, a small gathering of guests mingled and gossiped about what was happening inside the large colonial-style inn that was just a five-minute walk from the Village Green in Bar Harbor’s historic corridor. After parking behind one of the police cruisers, Hayley and Bruce jumped out and raced over to Sheila, who was spotted leaning against one of the oak trees as if she was trying to catch her breath. When they reached her, Sheila reacted with a start as Hayley touched her arm, and then she burst into tears and threw her arms around her daughter.
“Oh, Hayley, it was horrible . . .” Sheila moaned.
Hayley lightly patted her mother on the back. “It’s going to be okay . . .”
“Can you tell us what happened?” Bruce asked quietly so the other guests who had been evacuated from the inn and were now loitering nearby could not hear their conversation.
Sheila kept her head buried in Hayley’s chest for a few more moments before finally letting her go and stepping back. She was wearing a bulky gray wool sweater because the sun had already gone down and there was a sharp chill in the air as darkness began setting in. She hugged herself as she spoke. “I . . . I walked down to the Big Apple to pick up some bottled water and a few snacks to keep in my room for later, and when I got back and was fumbling for the key I noticed the door to the room next door to my room was slightly ajar. I remember it was room six, which I thought was weird because I’m in room nine. The rooms are not numbered sequentially for some reason. Seven and eight are down another hall. Anyway, I didn’t think much of it at first, but as I passed by, I thought I saw someone lying on the floor. Well, I knocked on the door and when there was no answer . . . I pushed it open just a crack so I could get a better look, and that’s when I saw her . . .”
Hayley gripped her mother’s arm. “Who?”
“Her head was turned away so I couldn’t tell at first . . . that’s when I called you . . . but while we were on the phone, I walked around the body and I saw her as clear as a summer’s day . . . it was Caskie . . . Caskie Lemon-Hogg . . .”
Sheila broke down again, sobbing.
Hayley and Bruce exchanged stunned looks.
They had just seen her less than a half hour earlier.
She was on her way over to the inn to apologize to Sheila.
How did she end up dead in another room?
Chief Sergio Alvarez, flanked by two of his officers, Donnie and Earl, emerged from the inn and met with a team of crime scene investigators who had just arrived at the scene.
Bruce turned to Hayley. “If they’ve called in forensics, that must mean one thing . . .”
Hayley nodded. “They think it’s a homicide.”
Hayley left Bruce to comfort her mother and briskly crossed the lawn over to Sergio, who was directing his officers to string up some yellow police tape to keep the guests and growing number of rubbernecking locals a safe distance from the building.
Sergio spotted Hayley approaching. “Not now, Hayley.”
“Just tell me one thing and I promise not to bother you anymore,” Hayley begged. “How did she die?”
Sergio exhaled, glanced around to make sure no one could overhear him doling out confidential information to a civilian, and then whispered under his breath, “Somebody strangled her.”
And then he quickly walked away, pretending he had not said a word. Hayley just stood there, dismayed, before running back to Bruce and her mother. She decided to keep the cause of death to herself, at least for now.
Bruce kicked into crime-reporter mode and began questioning the guests outside, asking if they had seen anything suspicious, as Hayley quietly comforted her mother. About twenty minutes later, Officer Donnie ambled out of the hotel and over to one of the cruisers to make a call. Hayley left her mother and dashed over to him, hovering behind him until he finished talking to his girlfriend, who seemed more concerned with Donnie picking up a few items on her grocery list at the Shop ’n Save than she did about the apparent murder at the inn on Mount Desert.
“I know my shift ends at seven, but I’m probably going to have to work late . . . I’m at a murder scene, Sally! It’s kind of serious . . .”
Sally appeared to cut him off and he stood there, shoulders slumped, listening. “Okay, heavy cream, a dozen eggs, vanilla extract . . . Any particular brand? Uh-huh . . .”
Donnie turned to glance back at the inn to make sure his boss, Sergio, wasn’t looking for him, and instantly noticed Hayley eavesdropping on his conversation. “Sally, I have to go! I’ll go to the store just as soon as I can get out of here and then I’ll come right home.”
Hayley could hear Sally still talking as Donnie ended the call and pocketed his phone. “What’s the word, Donnie?”
“I’m not supposed to talk to any reporters about what’s going on in there!” Donnie barked.
“Well, then it’s a good thing I’m not a reporter. I’m just a food columnist for the paper. It’s not my job to cover the police beat.”
Donnie pointed a shaky finger at her. “Yeah, well, it’s common knowledge that’s never stopped you before!”
“What’s Sally making?”
This seemed to confuse him. He hadn’t expected that to be her first question.
“She’s making a blueberry cake for dessert tonight.”
“Sounds yummy!”
He eyed her suspiciously. “I’m sure you would think so. The recipe came from one of your columns.”
“Did she get the fresh blueberries from Caskie Lemon-Hogg?”
Donnie gulped, shifting nervously from one foot to the other. “I don’t know . . .”
“Poor Caskie . . . I heard she was strangled . . .” Hayley whispered.
Donnie’s eyes widened. “Where did you hear that?”
“I have my sources,” Hayley said coyly. “I know she was found in one of the rooms and I also heard there was no sign of forced entry.”
“Well, then your source is not a reliable one because there was a door adjoining the room next door, and the lock looks like it was broken!”
Donnie immediately knew that he had just shared way too much information.
“The room next door? Where my mother was staying?”
“I can’t say!”
“Donnie, tell me!”
“No!”
“I already know about the broken lock. I’d hate for Sergio to find out that it was you who told me about it.”
Donnie’s mouth dropped open. “Are you blackmailing me? Is that what you’re doing? Are you really going to tell Sergio what I said?”
Hayley didn’t want to torture the poor boy any further and so she decided to put his mind at ease. “Of course not. You know me better than that. I was just trying to scare you into telling me.”
She could see the relief on his face. He believed her.
“I appreciate your honesty,” he said.
Hayley turned to leave.
“Yes . . .” Donnie said in a low voice.
Hayley spun back around.
“Yes, what?”
“Yes, it was your mother’s room. But if you say it was me who told you, I’ll deny it.”
“Does that make her a—”
Donnie cut her off. “Yup. A suspect. And not only just a suspect. Your mother’s our number-one suspect.”
Hayley heard a loud gasp behind her.
Donnie peered over Hayley’s right shoulder and his eyes suddenly popped wide open.
Hayley knew who it was.
She slowly turned around to see her mother, clutching her chest, a panicked look on her face. “You think I did it?”
“No!” Donnie cried. “I didn’t say that! I didn’t say anything! Leave me alone!”
Donnie bolted away, back toward the inn.
Hayley rushed over to hug her mother again, who was on the verge of a full-blown meltdown.
“Are they going to arrest me?”
“No one’s arresting you, Mom!”
“I swear I had nothing to do with what happened to Caskie! I may not have liked her, and she may have taken out a restraining order against me, but that doesn’t mean . . . Oh dear Lord, it looks really bad, doesn’t it?”
“Mom, did you notice when you were in your room that the door that connected to the room next door had a broken lock?”
“What? No! I had no idea there was even someone checked in to the room next door! I didn’t see or hear anything!”
Hayley nodded, then saw Bruce, who had just finished questioning the other guests, walking toward them.
“Am I going to jail?” Sheila sputtered.
“You’re not going to jail! I promise!” Hayley assured her.
But Hayley was not entirely sure that was a promise that she could keep, especially given the circumstantial evidence.
In fact, there was only one thing she was sure of at the moment, and it was time to tell Bruce.
Bruce approached with a puzzled look. “What’s going on?”
“Mom’s moving back to our house and we’re canceling our honeymoon.”
Bruce’s face blanched. “What? Why?”
“I think we may have to prove that my mother is not a murderer.”