Something gleamed on the other side of the branch as huge droplets started to fall from the sky. I straddled it, studying the torn wood. It was some sort of saw/wire, about an inch thick in diameter.
I followed it to find one end nailed to the tree while the other end just hung there. Unless I missed my guess, I'd say the other end had been tied to the bannister…right where Caroline had been standing.
"We need to get back inside," Soo Jin shouted.
The rain was coming faster and harder. We just couldn't catch a break. There would be no rescue today. How was it possible that it rained this long? It was like the killer conspired with the weather so we could all be hunted.
As we walked into the house, anger washed over me. Thad and Taylor were a bad sort. Wren was annoying, and Enos was…well…there. But Violet was a nice little old lady. This had to stop. Now.
What was the solution? Tie Caroline to a chair and beat a confession out of her? She'd sure acted strangely when accused.
"Mrs. Wrath!" screamed four girls in unison from the lounge.
We ran inside to find the girls standing around the table with the figures. I'd forgotten all about them. When Wren was murdered, I should've checked. Now, there were only three figurines left.
No, wait, that wasn't right. Two looked like the others, but one was new. An action figure of some sort. Which meant that the killer took one of the figurines and replaced it with this doll.
"She looks like you!" Inez said.
"She's right!" Soo Jin gasped.
The doll had short, curly dirty blonde hair and was wearing some sort of jacket over a T-shirt. I picked it up and examined it. The T-shirt read, Property of the CIA.
"Don't you remember the last line of the poem?" Betty nodded. "You're the last one."
"But that can't be right!" Inez mumbled. "There are two figurines here and the doll. But there are four guests left, Arthur, Violet, Dennis, and Caroline."
"The killer didn't put one on there for themselves because they knew they weren't going to die," Lauren reasoned.
"But two new ones are broken." Inez pointed.
She was right. One for Wren and one for Violet. But the killer acted prematurely. They hadn't counted on me or anyone else being there to save her.
"Why are you smiling?" Soo Jin asked.
"Because…" I grinned. "The killer made a mistake. For the first time, they screwed up." And that was a good sign.
"At least we know Stacey and Juliette are safe," Soo Jin said. "I think they should watch over the girls and the Kasinskis while we take Wren and Thad to the basement for autopsies."
"But the murderer is now killing people in front of everyone else." I shook my head. "I don't know if anyone is safe right now."
Soo Jin put her hands on her hips. "We don't have any evidence. We can't exactly lock her up without proof. That's just asking for a lawsuit when this is over."
"I have no problem locking her up without proof," I said. "In fact, I'm kind of thinking of waterboarding her for a confession. It would be quicker."
"Merry Wrath!" Soo Jin startled me by shouting. "We are going to do this by the book—like civilized people. And the one thing I know how to do is all we have right now."
Soo Jin had never been mad at anyone or anything for as long as I'd known her. This normally bouncy, bubbly person was losing it. It made sense—witnessing one murder after another was nerve-racking at best—even for someone who spent all their time cutting up dead people. And I knew she was right, because I was one of those people who needed to have the voice of reason kicked into her every now and then.
I sighed. "Okay. Let's get this over with."
After settling everyone in the conservatory—just to get them all in a different room—I got Violet a glass of brandy from the lounge and with a quick glare at Caroline told them I'd be right back.
I wasn't sure how long this would take, and I didn't tell them what we were doing, because I didn't want Caroline to think she had time to finish Violet off. Before I left, I approached the doctor and whispered one or two extremely violent threats in her ear. Once she blanched appropriately, I joined Soo Jin in the hallway.
Thad was still upstairs, and as we were both exhausted, we decided he should stay there. Soo Jin uncovered him, and I watched from the doorway, where I'd insisted I needed to be a lookout. The medical examiner pulled a lamp down from the nightstand and angled the shade to give her more light. Then she probed the inside of Thad's mouth and nose.
As I averted my eyes, I tried to think of a way to confine Caroline. Searching her room wasn't legal, but we didn't find anything anyway. I really wanted to chain her up but knew that since I wasn't a police officer, she'd have a strong legal case for a lawsuit. This could be a citizen's arrest thingy, but I wasn't sure how that worked.
We still had the afternoon and evening…with the dire possibility of being stuck here overnight again. No one on shore would miss us until lunchtime tomorrow because that was when we told the boat to come back.
"Merry?" Soo Jin stood up and ran into the bathroom to wash her hands.
"All done?" I peeked and saw that she'd covered the body back up.
Soo Jin emerged, wiping her hands on a towel. "He suffocated. The blow on the head wasn't enough to kill him. And I have the distinct feeling that the killer wanted him alive so they could smother him in the lubricant."
"Did you find anything else?" I asked.
"Not really, unless you consider that for an idiot, he had eclectic reading material." She pointed to a book on the other nightstand.
I picked it up. "The Canterbury Tales? Seriously?"
Was Thad smarter than we had given him credit?
"Maybe they only have the classics in the library?" I asked.
Soo Jin shook her head. "The girls found Agatha Christie and Nancy Drew books. Maybe he just liked Chaucer?"
Thad didn't strike me as the type to read fourteenth-century English literature. But I couldn't think of another reason why this book would be here, and I couldn't ask the man, so I dropped it. Besides, it was time to check his wife. And the sooner these autopsies were done, the better.
At the bottom of the stairs, I stood guard as Soo Jin pulled back the tablecloth.
"I'd prefer to look her over here," she said. "Make sure no one comes near. Then we can move her and Thad downstairs with the others."
"Okay," I said a little too quickly.
Music from a piano came from the conservatory, with voices singing Girl Scout songs. My girls loved to sing, and I appreciated whoever was playing piano for giving everyone a nice distraction.
"Her neck was broken during the fall," Soo Jin muttered behind me.
"Are you avoiding medical examiner terminology because I don't understand it?" I tried to joke.
She giggled. "Sorry. I just thought that was easier."
"You said she'd been pushed. That there were handprints on her back?" I remembered.
"Oh. Right. I made that up."
I whirled around to stare at her. "You did what?" Soo Jin didn't strike me as a liar. I liked it!
She nodded as she started to unzip the back of Wren's, or rather, Taylor's dress. "I'm pretty sure that's what we'll find. I wanted to put Caroline on the spot." She peered under the dress. "Yup, contusions. That's what happened alright." She looked up at me. "It takes a while for the blood to drain to the part of her that's facedown. That's when you see the bruising best."
I shrugged. "Works for me."
We lifted the woman and carried her down the stairs to the basement, putting her with Enos's and Taylor's remains. Then we collected Thad's remains and moved him downstairs. After a quick dash up the stairs to the conservatory to make sure things were okay, we returned to the basement.
"Where'd you get that?" I pointed at the huge lamp Soo Jin had in her hands.
"From the conservatory. I need it down here. The light isn't very good."
I fidgeted as she set things up. Hopefully, she didn't have a scalpel on her. Blood doesn't bother me, but there was something about these murders that creeped me out. Especially after the very public attack on Violet.
The murderer took a huge risk trying to kill the elderly woman in front of all of us. Why did they do it? And would they try again since this one failed? Was Violet Kasinski in danger of another attempt?
The remaining clues in the poem popped into my head. Someone was going to die from sniffing glue, another would be roasted in the sun, and then I…well, it didn't say how I was going to be killed.
In fact, none of the other clues indicated who the next victims would be. I was fairly certain it would be Dennis and Arthur. And possibly another attempt on Violet's life. Would she stick with the modus operandi being "crushed by a branch"? Well, from here on out, I was going to stick to my number one suspect—Caroline.
The continued murders confused me. Caroline knew I suspected her. Either she didn't care anymore and the murders were the most important thing to her, or she was trying to cast doubt on my suspicions.
What would I do if I were her? Besides getting a makeover and trying to have a little fun now and then. We weren't exactly the same person. Would I give up or keep going? I suppose I would do whatever I thought would confuse the police when they got here.
She really got lucky. The weather certainly helped her. Did she know a horrendous storm was going to hit? If the weather had been nice, we would've called the sheriff right away and Thad, Taylor, and Wren would still be alive.
What about Ned and Miriam? Caroline was my main suspect, but could I rule them completely out? Those two had behaved strangely throughout the weekend. Were they involved? Were they related to Caroline? Had they joined forces?
There was a scurrying sound behind the walls. Gertrude. She was the smartest one of all of us. Hiding in the walls was the best way to stay safe. If only I could hide the girls there. Of course, then the only thing we'd hear was four girls squealing and chasing down the Holland lop.
The bunny appeared next to me. I didn't even care where she'd come from. She hopped over to the bodies and sniffed.
"Would you grab her?" Soo Jin asked. "She's getting in the way."
I gently lifted the rabbit and held her in my arms. She responded by sniffing me. Gertrude really was cute. I stroked her ears, and she settled and closed her eyes.
"Good bunny," I said. "I'll bet you know who did it. You probably saw some of the murders. Too bad we can't put you on the witness stand."
Gertrude responded by gently nibbling on my shirt. I didn't even know bunnies were good pets. What would Philby think if I brought a rabbit home? This animal was almost as big as the feline fuhrer. Philby loved tormenting Rex's dog, Leonard. Would she do the same to a bunny? Looking at the size of the lop's claws and feet, I'd say she was armed well enough.
"I can't find any other clues on Thad." Soo Jin sighed as she sat back on her heels. "I stand by my original theory that he was bludgeoned and suffocated."
"What about the others?" I set Gertrude down and pointed at the other three bodies. The rabbit skittered away and soon was out of sight.
"Give me a few more minutes." She winked. "I might find something yet."
Soo Jin turned to Wren. She unzipped Taylor's dress again, and I saw two hand-sized bruises on her back. She was definitely pushed.
"Was she bludgeoned beforehand? Like Thad?"
Soo Jin shook her head. "No, but her neck is broken from the fall down the stairs."
We had no gloves, which I knew would be better. But Dr. Body touched as little as she could, using one finger to gently search the dead woman's hands.
"No skin in the fingernails or broken fingernails." She shook her head. "Wren didn't fight back. Which means she didn't see it coming. Just like Thad and Taylor—no defensive injuries."
"Our killer wanted to get it over with quickly. They were caught unawares." I frowned. "Why wouldn't they want them to see them before they struck? Wouldn't the killer want the victims to know who it was?"
Soo Jin shrugged. "Not necessarily. Not if they wanted to get back to the lounge or out of Thad's room unseen."
"Huh. Seems like an opportunity missed." If I wanted someone dead, I'd make sure they at least saw me.
"The killer had quick instincts, grabbing every opportunity as it came up," Soo Jin said as she probed Wren's pockets. "It would've been easy to put poison in Enos's food. Especially with the first meal since there were so many of us there. And when attention was drawn to the opposite end of the table, the killer pounced."
I snapped my fingers. "Taylor slipped off on her own. Caroline knew that because Taylor told her. She could've been watching for that and jumped to it."
"And Thad sent Wren downstairs. That was an opportunity to kill him." Soo Jin nodded.
"Unless Wren was in on it," I mused. "We still haven't ruled that out."
Soo Jin sighed. "I doubt I'll find any evidence of that." She frowned and pulled something out of Wren's pocket. "What's this?"
I leaned in. "It looks like a page from a book."
The torn piece of paper came from a corner, but not the place where a page number would be, and there was nothing on it. I took it from her and pocketed it. Maybe I could compare it to Thad's book. I wasn't sure why it would matter if a page from Thad's book ended up in his wife's possession. Although technically it was in Taylor's dress pocket. Was it some sort of code to meet up later? But then again, Taylor had changed out of the dress by the time she'd slipped off to the study.
My head was starting to spin, and my nerves were on edge. Hopefully, the rest of these "autopsies" would produce some solid evidence so we could tie Caroline up for the night and get some rest.
As Soo Jin moved on to Taylor, I picked up the trophy, in its bag, that had gone through her neck. It really was a fencing trophy for first place in the state. That was so like the dead woman, who was big on being the first in everything.
"This is meaningful," I said. "The killer made a point of using a first-place trophy."
Soo Jin nodded. "I just wish I had the weapon that bludgeoned Thad."
"Or the bottle of poison for Enos." I sighed.
"Wouldn't that be great?" She gave me a weak smile. "I'd love it if my job were so easy. Sadly, killers rarely leave a How I Did It manifesto behind."
"That would make things easier."
She pointed at the body. "Everything is consistent with being stabbed in the throat. The trophy hit her jugular vein. Taylor was dead in seconds."
Soo Jin moved on to Enos, and I set the trophy down. These modes of murder puzzled me. If the killer didn't care if the victims knew who was killing them, why go to all this trouble with the poem, the trophy, the lube, and Wren wearing Taylor's dress? Was it just for her own personal satisfaction?
I felt like I was missing something. The killer was making a statement to the rest of us, not to the victims. It seemed backwards to me, but wasn't she telling us that there was a reason why each person was killed? And if that was the case, why make it so cryptic?
"That's interesting," Soo Jin mumbled. She was bent over Enos's neck and had pulled up her cell phone's flashlight app.
I stepped closer. "What is it?"
"A needle mark." She sat up and stared at the body, lost in thought.
"He wasn't poisoned through the food…" I mumbled.
She shook her head and smiled. "I think someone administered the poison with a hypodermic needle."
My mind turned back to lunch yesterday. Betty approached him. I didn't remember anyone else. And I was sure Betty hadn't killed him. Ninety-nine to one, but mostly sure.
"In the back of his neck," Soo Jin mused. "But cyanide works instantaneously. Caroline would've had to be standing behind him, and Enos might've cried out when it was administered."
"You said cyanide works immediately," I wondered aloud. "So she couldn't have done it in the lounge or on the way into the dining room."
"Unless it's something else," She thought about this. "It could be from a previous doctor's visit, or he was doing drugs. Although, very few junkies shoot up in the back of the neck. Too hard to reach." She demonstrated by trying to inject herself in the back of the neck with an imaginary hypodermic needle.
"Great," I grumped. "It made sense when we thought the food had been poisoned."
"It could've been the fish." She looked at the plate of food in the baggie. "I just don't have any way of knowing without my lab."
"If Caroline's the killer, do you think she'll go after Violet again?"
Soo Jin seemed frustrated. "I think it's time we tied her up or something. We can't run that risk."
"I know. We have to do something. But I don't want to feed her by hand or untie her when she needs to go to the bathroom. Maybe we can lock her in her room?"
We joined the group, still huddling in the conservatory. The girls were playing a board game. Caroline and Arthur were reading, with Arthur glaring at the doctor every now and then. Dennis was napping at the other end of the room on one of the three sofas. Violet was intently watching the girls. Stacey and Juliette had placed chairs on either side of the door, presumably to guard who went in and out.
"The lightning has stopped." Betty looked up as we walked in.
"Yeah, but it's still raining like crazy." Ava kept her eyes on her cards.
I didn't recognize the game, but I was too lost in thought to ask. Soo Jin sat down next to the girls, and I sat down next to Violet.
"How are you feeling?" I asked.
"Oh, I'm fine. Just a little scare, that's all. I'm sure it was an accident. There were a lot of tree branches down outside."
Caroline smirked until she saw the look on my face, and went back to her book.
The figurine had been broken, probably in advance. But if Violet wanted to believe it was an accident, I was willing to pretend. Why put any more stress on the woman?
As for ideas—I was out. Soo Jin was right. We should lock Caroline up. But wouldn't it be better to watch her like a hawk and maybe even catch her in the act? Maybe that was too dangerous.
We sat in the conservatory, everyone lost in their own little worlds, until Ned walked in.
"Dinner will be ready soon," he growled and left.
The adults nodded listlessly. No one was much in the mood for food, but going through the motions on a routine might help. People were comforted by what they were familiar with. As for me, I could always eat.
I picked up a magazine from the coffee table and pretended to look through it, glancing furtively at Caroline now and then. If she noticed, she didn't react. A wave of exhaustion crashed over me.
Wow. I hadn't realized how tired I was. But then, I hadn't gotten much sleep the night before. My brain was running on adrenaline that gave up the ghost hours ago. If there was a hamster running inside my head on a wheel, he'd have been dead by morning.
What were the Deivers going to think when they returned home to find bodies in the basement, blood on the carpet, and their trophy confiscated? And what would the Girl Scout Council think when they found out that half of their big donors had been killed?
Then again, maybe these people put the Council in their estate planning. I stifled a giggle, thinking of the Girl Scouts having a team of assassins who knocked off people to collect from their wills. Stacey would be the perfect assassin because no one would believe she could do it. Juliette, on the other hand, was perpetually angry and sour, so maybe…
"What's funny?" Lauren asked. The child was standing in front of me.
"What?" My mind reeled backward. "Oh. It's a story on…" I looked down to see what I was reading. "…feathers."
Feathers? I was reading an article on feathers?
"DINNER!" Ned's voice bellowed from the dining room.
With a sigh, each of us got up and started out the door. I waited behind, just to make sure Caroline walked in front of me. She moved very slowly, making a big show out of putting a bookmark in the book, setting it on the table, and getting to her feet. She gave me a dirty look and then headed for the door. Once everyone was gone, I noticed that Dennis was still asleep.
"Dennis." I went over and prodded him. "Wake up. Dinner."
He didn't move. In fact, he was very still. I shook his shoulders, but the man didn't so much as bat an eyelash. Placing my fingers on the side of his neck, I couldn't find a pulse. I leaned down and put my head on his chest, but there was no thump of a heartbeat.
Dennis was dead.