CHAPTER TWELVE

 

I was the first to recover from the shock of seeing her. "Where have you been? We were looking for you!"

Caroline leaned back in her chair. "I got bored, so I walked around, exploring this floor. I even went out on the porch for a bit."

"We were on the porch, and we didn't see you," I said.

The doctor shrugged. "It's a big porch. We must've just missed each other."

"No one," I insisted, "has seen you since you were arguing with Wren after breakfast."

All eyes turned back to the main suspect.

Caroline studied the medical examiner. "What are you talking about? I wasn't arguing with her. Where is she? She'll tell you."

How could she miss the body covered with a tablecloth at the foot of the stairs? She'd have to have walked right past it to get in here.

"Wren was murdered a short time ago," Soo Jin said levelly.

"You just walked past her," Dennis said. "She's at the foot of the stairs."

Caroline's jaw dropped. "I came from the kitchen, past the ballroom, and into here through the side door. I didn't walk past the stairs."

Then why wasn't she rushing out to see the body? She was a doctor, after all. And if Wren was her friend, why wouldn't she want to confirm what we'd said? But no, Caroline stayed put.

"Did you go upstairs at any time?" I asked.

She shook her head. "No. I was on this level the whole time." The woman looked around her, and something dawned on her. "Am I a suspect?"

"I'm afraid so, dear," Violet said softly. "Everyone's a suspect."

Caroline's face grew red. "I'm not a killer. I didn't kill Wren or anyone else!"

"I say"—Betty stepped forward with the pool cue she'd mysteriously retrieved—"you let me take the poop doctor outside for a few minutes."

A tremendous thunderclap boomed, making everyone jump.

"You can't prove I did it, can you?" Caroline said defiantly.

"We can put you near the scene of the crime, and I think you have motive enough for all three of the murders," I said.

She looked puzzled. "What are you talking about?"

"You and Taylor were close friends until you had a falling out and she started seeing Thad," Ava said, ticking the victims off using her fingers. Huh. I didn't know she'd been listening. "That's why you killed Taylor and Thad."

Caroline shook her head. "That's ridiculous. And even if it was true, why would I kill Enos and Wren? I just met them yesterday!"

Betty growled, "That sounds like something the killer would say!" She gave a karate cry that sounded like a high-pitched Owwweeeoh and twirled the pool cue in front of her.

Ava looked at me expectantly. It was time to lay out my theory.

"Enos was a red herring," I said. "You and Wren were working together. You killed Taylor, and she killed Thad. Then you killed Wren to silence her."

Dr. Regent folded her arms over her chest. "How do you know Wren didn't just fall down the stairs?"

It was odd how there was no protestation of innocence, just a challenge to my deduction skills. I found it interesting and damning at the same time.

Soo Jin stepped forward. "Because I found bruises on her upper back consistent with handprints. She was pushed. Just like the poem said—one fell down some stairs."

Caroline blanched. Either she didn't know that, or she'd pushed her.

"Face it," Ava said. "You're Kevin. As a doctor you have access to whatever poisoned Enos!"

"Who's Kevin?" Caroline asked. "What are you talking about?"

Betty sighed and pulled the poem out of her pocket. "Kevin the Killer. From the poem. You're Kevin. Duh."

The doctor looked at me with confusion in her eyes.

"Kevin," I said slowly. "From the poem. Eight little Girl Scouts on a trip with Kevin. You're Kevin."

Caroline shook her head. "Um…I don't…"

Inez interrupted her. "You were the only one to see Taylor leave the room last night."

"And you said the killings were over at breakfast." Arthur put his two cents in.

Violet nodded in agreement.

Caroline listened to all this with a poker face to rival an Easter Island statue. We all waited for the confession that had to come next, which would soon be followed by tying her to a chair. Maybe I could let the girls do it. They were getting very good at knots.

"I didn't do it," she snapped. "Any of it. And you can't prove I did."

She had us there. We only had circumstantial evidence at best. Soo Jin came the closest to scientific evidence, but without a lab, she couldn't do much.

"Yes we can!" Inez shouted. "The poison could be in her room!"

I hadn't thought of that. "Stay here!" I told everyone. "Soo Jin, with me!"

"You can't go through my room without a search warrant!" Caroline exploded as she jumped up and came within inches of me.

I stepped even closer, hoping she'd take a swing. "Yes I can. And I will." And then I ran up the stairs.

Behind me, I heard Stacey and Violet tell the girls to stay put, but Caroline and Dennis were hot on my tail. We bounded the steps, almost abreast. Caroline surged at the top of the stairs and threw her body between me and her door.

"You," she growled. "Are not going in there."

I turned toward Wren's room and gasped. "Oh wow! Is that a clue?"

It was all I needed. Caroline slipped a little to her right to crane her neck, and using a pressure point in her armpit, I tossed her aside and went into the room. What I saw made me gasp in shock.

"This is the messiest room I've ever seen!"

Clothes were scattered everywhere, on every surface, including the floor. Caroline charged me, but Dennis pulled her arms behind her and gave me a nod. I wondered if sudden activity had hurt him.

Soo Jin and I went through the closet and dresser and checked the bathroom. We lifted clothes and looked under them and checked every inch of the room while Caroline fumed. I'd love to say we found a wrench or lead pipe covered in blood or a bottle labelled CYANIDE or even a tub of lube, but I couldn't because we didn't.

Caroline's room was clean. Well, figuratively at least.

I was just considering checking all the rooms, when I heard Ned shout "LUNCH" from the bottom of the stairs. We could continue searching later. Right now, I needed to talk to those two.

Dennis grabbed Caroline's arm and shoved. Where had this guy come from? Up until now the only thing he'd assaulted was an apple pie—and from the looks of things, the pie didn't make it.

The dining room was laid out with six large pizzas. That was a surprise, and a concern because that was my weakness. The girls had already started digging in, staying at their kiddie table in the corner, even though there was now room for all of them at the big table.

The other guests sat and began to tear into the food. We all kept an eye on Caroline, even though there was really nowhere she could go. The storm was waning, but we were on a very small island with no boat. I snagged the pizza cutter so it couldn't be used as a weapon. It wasn't very sharp, but it was a good idea to operate on the safe side.

Oh sure, you probably think you can't kill anyone with a dull pizza cutter. I once witnessed an Italian police officer injure and disable four burglars, armed only with a rolling pizza cutter. Hint—it's all in the wrist.

"Ned!" I called out toward the kitchen, where I hoped he still was. "Can I see you and Miriam for a moment, please?"

The groundskeeper appeared and didn't look too happy about it. "I was in the hall. She should be in the kitchen."

Soo Jin and I followed him into the kitchen, where Miriam was washing up. None of the other guests followed us. Maybe they thought we had it covered. Maybe their attention spans were shot. Whatever it was, I was hoping there'd still be pizza left when I got back.

"Where have you two been all morning?" I asked.

The two looked at each other and then back at me.

"What do you mean?" Ned asked.

"I mean, you guys have been missing since breakfast." I pointed at Soo Jin. "We've looked everywhere for you, even searching your cottage. Couldn't find you anywhere," I said evenly. "So I'll ask again. Where were you?"

"None of your business!" he snapped.

Miriam nodded in agreement.

"I'm afraid it is my business," I said. "Didn't you see Wren's body at the foot of the stairs when you called for lunch?"

The man's face froze. He looked totally confused. "I didn't go to the stairs to call you. I did it from the dining room door. Another one of you is dead? Seriously? What kind of fundraiser is this?"

I nodded. "It doesn't look good that you two have been gone. It's storming outside. Where could you have been?"

Miriam burst into tears. She was so quiet I could only tell she was upset by the water pouring over her cheeks.

"There, there, it's alright, kiddo." Ned wrapped his arms around her.

"Kiddo?" I asked.

"She's my daughter," Ned responded. "You didn't know that?"

I shook my head. "I suspected as much, but I wasn't sure. But it still doesn't explain where you two were."

"In the shed," Miriam sobbed. "Sorting the pantry in there for lunch and dinner."

I remembered seeing a small building when we ran back to the cottage. It was big enough to be a room. Was that where they'd been?

"What do you know about Dr. Caroline Regent?" Soo Jin asked.

"The gruff one?" Ned asked as he released his daughter, who was now hiccupping softly. "Never seen her before."

"Okay," I said before turning on my heel and heading across the hall to the dining room.

"That's it?" Soo Jin caught up with me. "That's all you're going to ask?"

"It's lunch, and they aren't going anywhere until the boat comes back," I answered. "And most importantly, you can't solve crime on an empty stomach."

As we walked into the dining room, Soo Jin whispered, "I suppose not. But I hope yours is strong, because after this, we're going to search the bodies for clues."

She sat down and grabbed a slice as I just stood there, jaw on the floor. I'd seen plenty of dead bodies before but never an autopsy. Was that what she was planning? I sat down, stuffed the pizza roller under my chair, put that idea out of my mind, and started to eat.

Sure, we didn't find any evidence in Caroline's room. So what? She was still my main suspect. As long as we kept an eye on her, we should be okay. Right?

I looked at my troop, eating and talking among themselves, and felt terrible about how this weekend turned out. Which was silly, since it was more likely that they thought this was the greatest weekend of their lives. I wondered what their teachers would think on Monday when they told their respective classes about four dead bodies, a villainous poop doctor, and a drowning in a bowl of lube. We probably wouldn't be able to hold meetings at the school anymore.

The whole thing went off script right from the start. And we'd had a great event planned. Linda Willard had outdone herself with the storyline and script. Dennis would die (not really) first, followed by Violet (again, not really) and Caroline (this should make sense by now).

Thad was supposed to play the part of the killer. And look how that turned out for him. It was going to be fun, with no blood or gore and a fake autopsy or two. Now, we had four bodies (dead for real this time) and a real autopsy coming up.

I was super impressed with my girls. They didn't fall apart at the murders or go to pieces with the storm. They were tough, smart, tenacious kids, and I was lucky to have them. Granted, they'd escaped out the window to burgle the conservatory last night, and Betty was starting to scare me with that pool cue, but on the whole, they came through with cool heads and nerves of steel. Most grown-ups would crumble under these circumstances.

Kelly would probably disagree. She'd felt that the girls had become numb to murder since being around me. Even though none of the murders that happened in my presence were my fault, she might have had a point.

Most kids weren't exposed to this kind of thing unless they lived in war-torn third-world countries, inner-city Chicago, or one very disturbing, wealthy suburb in Montevideo. By the way, never ever go there. Never.

Was I doing the wrong thing? It's not like I had any choice this time since we were trapped in this house in the middle of a lake with no hope for rescue anytime soon.

No. They'd be okay. I didn't have any degrees in psychology or elementary education (my real degree in Russian with a minor in Japanese history seemed a little useless here), but my troop was amazing. They were leaders who weren't afraid of things that go bump in the night. The least I could do was help them grow.

No one spoke during lunch. Caroline glared at everyone, including the girls. The rest were on edge, suspicious of Doctor Death but afraid it might not be her and there could still be more bodies before we were through.

I knew that my girls and Soo Jin were innocent. Did the guests think otherwise? I did have a past based on violence. My CIA record was getting out, and then there was Lana.

Lana! I'd totally forgotten about her. A terrible thought popped into my head, causing my blood to run cold. Could she be the killer? I wouldn't put it past her. Dennis knew her—which was bizarre because he certainly wasn't her type. Why did she groom him, and how did she know he was going to be with me this weekend?

While I mostly didn't think Lana was really the killer, she had been in my mind these last several months to the point I thought she was following me. Rex and Riley, my former handler, thought I was crazy. When this was over, and if he was still alive, I'd be grilling Dennis on his "relationship" with Lana. And then I'd use him as bait to draw her out of whatever hole she was hiding in.

Argh! This was not productive. I had to shove all thoughts of her aside. Right now I had to focus on this problem and only this problem. There would be no more dead bodies for the rest of our imprisonment on Penny Island. Not as long as I could keep Caroline in my sights. I didn't know for sure that she was the killer, but she was my main suspect, and I wasn't taking any chances.

Lunch ended with everyone retreating to the hallway outside the dining room. The mood was as overcast as the sky.

"Look!" Violet shouted as she pointed to the windows in the dining room. "It's stopped raining!"

"Can we go outside?" Ava begged. "Please?"

Of course they wanted out. They'd been cooped up in here for the past twenty-four hours with a killer. Something in the back of my mind told me this wasn't a good idea. But I was so sleep deprived and murder saturated, I couldn't put my finger on it.

"Let's do!" Violet smiled at the girls and Arthur. "It will be safe if we all go together."

I looked around and saw hopeful faces…except for Caroline, who was still angry with me.

"Okay. But just onto the porch, okay?" What was it I was forgetting? Something was off.

The girls were gone before I could finish. The rest of us ran after them, and soon we were all standing on the porch. The clouds were definitely menacing, and lightning flickered among them. We weren't out of the woods yet.

Caroline was in my peripheral vision on my right, with everyone else on my left. I just needed to make sure I knew where she was at all times. Like I'd said earlier, she couldn't get far if she ran. I was just too tired to run after her.

Arthur's eyes were closed as he took deep breaths. Dennis even smiled. Stacey and Juliette relaxed a little. Everyone knew that no one had been killed in public. The killer worked in the shadows.

The killer…that was it. Something about the killer and his plans. Wait, the poem! Wren had "fallen down some stairs" like in the poem. In my rush to find the killer, I'd deviated from the one declaration the killer had made. The poem was the manifesto…the script for the remaining murders. I'd almost forgotten that.

Violet carefully took the steps down to the sidewalk. She seemed almost giddy to be outside. Somehow, we'd have to make this up to the Kasinskis. They were the only donors who didn't want refunds for the disastrous weekend.

What was the next line? What number were we on? I counted the murders. Four. The next murder would rhyme with four, like the others.

The elderly woman spun around and looked up into the sky.

CRAAAAACK!

One was crushed by a branch! And there was Violet, under a tree! We'd walked right into it!

"Inside!" I shouted. That wasn't lightning. The huge branch hanging over Violet had started to break. And the old woman was about to be crushed.

Lunging off the deck, I tackled Violet and rolled the two of us out of the way as the huge branch fell onto the ground. The earth shook. It had to be three feet in diameter, and it just missed her!

"Are you alright?" I helped her to her feet. "I'm so sorry!"

She nodded weakly, her face ashen. "I'm okay, thanks to your quick thinking." She was unsteady on her feet, and I took her arm to help her. "Thank you."

Arthur cried out as he came down the steps and gathered his petite wife into his arms. I searched the faces on the porch. Each and every person seemed surprised. Then I examined the broken edge of the branch.

"Get everyone inside," I shouted while motioning for Soo Jin to join me. When the door closed, I pointed to the branch. "It's a clean cut," I said as she knelt to examine it. "Someone cut that branch and tried to kill Violet."

I turned to face the door. "We need to get the poem. The killer isn't through with the rest of us."