Chapter 19

I did an Internet search and figured out where I needed to go to find the records I required. By the time I had what I wanted, a couple of officers arrived to gather evidence, fingerprints, and whatever else they needed. I showed them around the back and let them get on with it.

As they were leaving, Jack and Gillian returned and I realized that I was okay. I had a plan, and I wasn’t going to put up with being harassed. Surviving Phil’s infidelity had changed me, and I wasn’t going to sit around and let anyone else set the agenda for my life. I belonged here, and I wasn’t leaving.

“Cool. If the cops are through, we can get to work.”

I frowned. “Do we need permits or anything?”

Jack laughed. “No structural changes. Just repairs. No problem. All of your screens are different shapes, so it’s a good thing that no frames were splintered.”

“That’s good.”

“Want to help,” Gillian asked. “Or do you need to rest?”

“I’m fine. Really I am. I have something else I need to do, though. I want to know who has an interest in this place, who’s been paying the taxes, who might want to scare me away.”

“Come straight back here,” Jack said. “Don’t go off half-cocked. Someone clearly doesn’t mind a little violence.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll come back and share.” I grabbed my keys and headed for my car.

****

Jack was cleaning up and putting tools and paint away when I returned. “We painted over the graffiti. The new paint stands out, though. Good thing it’s along the back, but you were planning to paint the whole place, right?”

“Thanks. Just what I need: another expense.”

Gillian called out from the living room. “What did you find out?”

“The taxes were paid by Dave.”

“Seriously? He couldn’t have told us and saved us some angst?” Gillian said.

“I called him after I checked the records. It never occurred to him to say anything. He was quite happy to have a vacant, haunted house next door on the beach. Keeping it vacant gave him privacy. He did some work around the place so that no one would complain and have it condemned. He thwarted several attempts by builders who wanted to buy it as a teardown. He was very concerned at first when he heard that a divorcée from Pleasanton had bought the place. He was prepared to scare me away if I proved to be trouble, but he decided he liked me and was happy to have me next door. He found out from the realtor that I had no intention of replacing the house with a monster home.”

“Too bad he won’t keep paying the taxes.” Jack had washed up and joined us in the living room.

“The reason the garage is in such bad shape is that he never ventured back there, assuming it was empty.”

Jack looked thoughtful. “You know, I’d better do a little repair work before we leave. I want to make sure my car is safe.”

The air next to him coughed.

Jack swiveled to face Doris, who half-materialized behind him. “Look, I know it’s your car, but it’s not like you can drive it.”

“But you could drive Thoris around in it,” Gillian said.

Doris silently clapped her hands.

“Guess you’ll just have to come back to visit,” I added. “Okay, so there was nothing sinister in the tax question. I’ll have to try to figure out other possibilities.”

“If Jack is going to spend a little more time fixing up the garage, we should go back to visit Samantha before we leave,” Gillian said.

“Speaking of which, I promised George I’d ask you to stay. I told him you probably couldn’t…” I let my voice trail off.

They looked at each other.

Jack sighed. “I totally get it. I was thinking you should come back with us or take a vacation or stay at a hotel.”

I shook my head. “Can’t afford it.”

“I’ll make some phone calls to work,” he said. “I hope they catch this jerk fast.” He pulled out his cell and headed out the back door.

“I should check with Ricardo to find out what’s going on with Samantha before we just go over to the hospital.” I took out my cell and phoned. “Ricardo, it’s Cass. I was wondering how Samantha is doing. We were thinking about visiting her.”

“She’d love that. She’s a bit put out with the cops right now. They should be releasing her soon, so you might want to call first. The police have been to the shop and to her house. They took her computers.”

“Can they do that?” I asked.

“That’s her argument. She’s getting a lawyer lined up. They may suspect her of something. They may be trying to protect her. Who knows? But it’s motivating her to get out of the hospital.”

“She’ll give the police what for, but I want her to get better. This is a lot of stress. She has no advocate, though.”

“She has us,” Ricardo said. “I agree that someone needs to stand up for her while she’s incapacitated, but I’m trying to do that. I shut Crystalline down for now, so the best way to reach me is by phone. I’ll be putting some hours in at Bobbo’s, but the rest of the time Mia and I will be finishing Brendan’s site.”

“I’m afraid I’ve been slacking. There was some vandalism at my cottage. Jack’s making repairs.”

“Are you all right?” His voice was heavy with concern.

“I’m fine. I wanted to ask you about the situation at Brendan’s. When the cops left there, it was because they found a missing gamer. What’s happening with that?”

“The buzz among the gamers is they picked him up. Out-of-towner. I never liked him, and I do think he’s capable of murder. He tried hitting on Mia. At first, she was open with him, telling him some of the stuff about her family. She told the whole group part of her story, but he really focused in on Alan, declaring him to be evil. He told Mia he could kill Alan and make it look like a vampire got him. There was a similar case in Louisiana that he’d heard about.”

“Looks like we have our murderer.”

“Not really. Mia begged him to stay away from Alan. After Alan died, she confronted him. He told her he plotted it out but never did anything.”

“But the cops don’t believe him?”

“No idea. It’s not like they tell me what they’re doing. This is all hearsay, what Mia told me, and what I found online.”

I paused to think.

“Cass?”

“Sorry. They took him in for questioning at the very least, so I’m guessing they do suspect him. But you aren’t convinced?”

“He had motive, means, and opportunity, but it’s pretty weak.”

“Have you heard anything about what made the wounds?”

“Wounds didn’t kill him. He drowned. That was on the news. Look, I’ve got to go. Let me know if you find out anything.”

“Will do.” I hung up. “I just remembered what I saw at Dave’s a few days ago. Gillian, what did we see hanging off the grills in the picnic area?”

She picked up on it right away. “Hot dog forks. But weren’t they chained to the grills?”

“Two evenly spaced holes,” I said. “Dave had the same type of long, two-pronged fork hanging from his grill, and it wasn’t chained.”

“But they’re so ubiquitous in a picnic area, who’d notice?”

“The killer,” I said.

Gillian asked, “Good point. Did Ricardo have anything new?”

“Just some information on the gamer the police wanted for questioning.”

“I have a question for you. If Alan is Mia’s father, is his wife her mother?”

“Good question. I have a feeling the only person who can answer that without a test is Sara and maybe not even then.”

“Has anyone said anything about it?”

I shook my head. “Not that I remember. I would think that, if she were, Alan would have said something to Mia, but she talked about Alan as her father but not Sara as her mother.”

“Do you feel that it’s something you can discuss with her?”

I thought about it. She’d been pretty open about the autopsy, but it wasn’t as though we were bosom buddies. “I can ask. Now that you mention it, it seems odd that Mia wasn’t mentioned in his will.”

“Unless there’s a later will.”

“Now that hadn’t occurred to me. For that to be true, I’m guessing that either Sara or her lawyer would have had to know about it.”

“Unless there’s another relative or friend that Alan was closer to. That someone might have had a reason not to come forward. Protecting Alan’s memory?”

“Or the person doesn’t like Mia. I’m remembering the conversations we had while helping Sara with her inventory. Sara didn’t know about Alan’s relationship to Mia. When we talked about the reading of the will, Mia wasn’t mentioned, and I had the distinct impression that Marcy thought Mia and Alan were having an affair. Now I’m not saying this is fact, but it doesn’t seem to me that anyone except us, Ricardo, and Mia has a clue that Mia is Alan’s daughter.”

“That makes me wonder if the person who killed him had any idea. Didn’t Ricardo mention that Alan had taken a DNA test for paternity?”

“I think he did.” I sighed. “I’m going to have to pursue this.”

“You need to tell George.”

“True. And then I need to talk to Mia and Ricardo.” I hesitated. “I also have to tell Sara if no one else will.”

“You do realize you’re not responsible. I think Mia and Ricardo will understand, but Sara may think you’re poking your nose where it doesn’t belong.”

“I know, but it’s the right thing to do.”

Gillian raised an eyebrow. “Then start with George.”

“You’re right.” It wasn’t how I’d pictured our next conversation. “What constitutes obstruction of justice? It’s a small town and they’re cops. They probably already know, don’t you think?”

“Take three deep breaths and make that first call.” She got up. “I’m getting a drink.”

I phoned George. “Hey, George.”

His voice sounded cautious. “Did anything else happen? Do I need to pay you another visit?”

“You’re always welcome here.”

“Even with a search warrant?” At my silence, he continued, “Just a little cop humor.”

Gillian set an iced tea in front of me and took a sip of her own.

I looked up at her, mouthing thank you, and continued. “How’s the case going? Anyone confess yet?”

She gave me a thumbs up.

“It should be that easy.”

“Listen, George. I remembered something I probably should have mentioned before.”

“Oh?” His voice tensed up.

“Mia told me that she’s Alan Howland’s daughter.”

“Go on.”

“You should talk to her. I’m just repeating what I’ve been told, but I gather that Alan had a paternity test that confirmed it.”

“Would you happen to know if Sara Howland is her mother?”

“I don’t know, but if she is, she doesn’t know as far as I can tell. I know that Mia wasn’t mentioned in the will. Sara mentioned some of his relatives that she didn’t know about; surely, she would have mentioned a daughter.”

“Is there anything else you haven’t told me?”

“Not that I can think of.” I looked over at Gillian.

“Thanks, Cass. I have to go now. Talk to you later.” And he hung up.

I set my phone down and took a big swig of tea. “That was weird. All of a sudden in the middle I forgot why I was telling him that.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s up to him what he does with the info. As you said, they may already know.”

“Good point. He was pretty noncommittal.”

There was a knock at the door. I started.

Gillian got up and answered. Ricardo and Mia followed her back into the room.

“We just dropped Samantha off at her house and wanted to come by to tell you so that you didn’t make an unnecessary trip to the hospital.”

“Thanks, Ricardo. Have a seat.” I gestured toward the couch. “How is she?”

Gillian said, “Want some iced tea? Or anything else to drink?”

“Yes, please,” Mia said and followed Gillian into the kitchen.

Ricardo sat down on the couch. “Where’s Jack?”

“He’s making some repairs to the outbuilding. It’s pretty run down. He’ll probably be back soon.”

“I have some interesting info about Samantha’s injuries. She was telling me about it as I drove her home. Remember Alan’s neck?”

“No!” I said.

He nodded. “Yes.”

“Two holes?”

Ricardo nodded again.

“No way!”

“And there was a note pinned to her body. It said that she’d been spying on the gamers, had turned them in to the cops, so she had to pay. The police questioned her in the hospital about it.” He leaned forward and cracked his knuckles.

“That doesn’t make much sense. You’re a gamer. She knows you. All the gaming groups are playing in public places when she videos them. They have nothing to hide. It’s not like she’s creeping around and peering in windows.”

“That’s what I told her. Her feelings were hurt at the thought, but I told her we were being framed. The police seem to think that Alan’s murder and the attack on Samantha are related.”

“So now the police are focusing in on the gamers.”

He nodded.

“I’ll bet capturing the two gamers they were looking for has helped them zero in. The thought had occurred to me that Samantha’s pointing the finger at the gamers over Alan’s murder might have repercussions.”

“I don’t think we should guilt her out over that,” Ricardo said. “Samantha was unconscious when the note was pinned to her, and it was removed by the police before she regained consciousness. In all the pain she was suffering, she was also unaware that someone had stabbed her in the neck. The wound was superficial, unlike Alan’s, which may point to two different attackers. I think we have a copycat.”

“Gillian and I were discussing a theory about the holes in Alan’s neck. We realized that a hotdog fork would make those lovely, evenly spaced holes in his neck. My neighbor, Dave, has a pair hanging on his grill, and there are some on the grills up at the campsite on the crest by the cliff with implements chained to the sides.”

Thor, sleeping on the throw rug under the coffee table, yawned, exposing his two long white fangs.

Mia and Gillian joined us, bearing a pitcher of iced tea and glasses. Mia sat as Gillian poured.

“Did you two get any more done on Brendan’s site?”

Mia took a glass. “Thanks. We did. We made a bunch of changes, and I think we’re ready to go. I’d like to send Brendan a password and walk him through viewing it.”

“I think we should offer to walk him through in person, particularly the first time. I want him to be comfortable checking our updates without having one of us present all the time,” Ricardo said.

“That’s a good point,” I said. “But he is a cornerstone client, and we should work to keep him happy.”

When Ricardo looked a bit mulish, I added, “For now. We’ll train him to be more computer savvy.”

“Okay,” he conceded. “I can do it.”

Mia put a hand on his and smiled. “I think you’d better let me do it.”

“I agree,” I said. “Brendan might be stressed over the police focus on him because of Samantha’s videos, so having a live human who cares about him help him out is a good thing.”

Mia set her glass down. “I’ll get on it right away. We need to go live.”

My cell rang.

Ricardo got up. “We have to go, anyway.”

“I’ll get the door,” Gillian said.

I answered the phone. “Hello?” It was a local number, but one I didn’t recognize.

“Cass? It’s Sara. I’m down at the police station again. Can you pick me up? Marcy was supposed to, but she had an emergency.”

“Sorry to hear that. Of course I can come get you. Are you all right?”

“No. I-I don’t want to talk about it here. I’ll tell you when you pick me up.”

“Okay. I’ll be right down.” I hung up. “Gillian, I’m going to pick Sara up. She’s at the police station, and I’m wondering if it’s because of the call I made to George.” I pulled on my jacket and grabbed my gloves and car keys. “See you in a few.”

“I’ll go see how Jack is doing.” Gillian walked me out.

I parked and dodged a light rain as I entered the police station. Despite the double doors, the room was chilly from all the people going in and out.

“May I help you?” the officer on duty inquired politely.

“I’m just picking up a friend. Thanks.”

“You can sit down over there.” He gestured toward a bench against the far wall.

“Thanks again.” I walked over to the bench as he turned back to his computer.

After ten minutes Detective Daniels came out, stopped, and stared at me. “What are you doing here, Ms. Peake? Do you have information for us?”

I stood. “No, I’m picking Sara Howland up. Do you know if she’s ready to go yet?”

He frowned and thought for a moment. “Let me take you down the hall. There’s a little room where you can wait privately.”

“Thanks, I appreciate that. It’s a bit chilly out here by the door. Is she all right?”

“She’s fine. She’ll be out in a minute.”

He escorted me back through labyrinthine corridors to a bare and dingy room with the sort of metal furniture that used to make offices so bleak before brilliant young programmers demanded more luxurious working conditions.

“Coffee?”

“Yes, please. Cream and sugar.” I sat on the hard metal chair.

Detective Daniels brought me coffee in a paper cup that immediately transferred its heat to my fingertips. Then he left me to wait. Before long, footsteps drew my attention to the hall.

Sara saw me and came into the room. “Ready to go?”

“Let’s get out of here.” Once in the car, I said, “What did they want you for?” I turned the key in the ignition, started the car, looked both ways, and pulled out of the parking lot.

She hesitated a moment and then said, “They wanted to question me about Mia’s…” She swallowed hard and then exhaled audibly.

I waited.

“The police feel… Apparently, Alan had a child. Mia. They asked a lot of questions about what I knew and was she my child.” Sara burst into tears.

I glanced over at Sara. “Do you want me to pull over?”

“No, that’s all right.” She turned to stare out the window, wiping her eyes. Then she said in a thin, small voice, “I had a daughter once, but she’s dead.”

“What?” I nearly ran a red light.

She cleared her throat. “My daughter died at birth.”

When she finally turned to look at me, there were tears in her eyes.

The car behind me honked, and I looked up to see that the light had turned green. I hit the gas.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to open up old wounds.”

“It’s okay. I haven’t thought about Holly for years.”

“Holly. That’s a nice name.” But I didn’t believe that she hadn’t been thinking about her. The grief was too raw. The loss of a child. Does anyone ever forget? “Was Alan her father?”

“We weren’t married. It was an accidental pregnancy, but I—I didn’t want to give my baby up. My parents wanted me to, ah, get rid of the baby and go back to school. But I loved Alan.”

“Looks as though he stuck by you.” I turned the corner.

“Yeah,” she said softly. “My parents were wrong. They said he would leave after Holly died, but he came to me secretly.”

“Forgive me for prying, Sara, but how did your daughter die?”

She hesitated. I almost regretted asking her. Almost.

“She died shortly after she was born. I don’t know what happened exactly. I heard her cry. At least, I think I heard her cry. I called her Holly because… because…” Her voice got high and tight as she pulled a tissue out of her purse and wiped her eyes. “It was Christmas.”

I wanted to comfort her, but I kept my eyes on the road. “How do you know your daughter is dead?”

“My mother told me.”

In that moment her voice sounded very young to me, girlish.

“And my father and…Alan.”

“Did you see a death certificate or…” I hesitated to say “a body.” I glanced at her for a second. “Did you have a funeral?” An idea was forming, but it was so fragile that I didn’t want to express it yet.

She shook her head. “I was very ill…afterward. She was cremated. After I was better, we had a memorial service and sprinkled her ashes in the”—she swallowed—“ocean.”

“So you never saw any official documentation?”

“It was so cold that day. The ocean was dark. The ashes just…went away. It was as if she’d never been.”

“Sara, when exactly was she born?”

“Christmas morning. My parents were so upset. I ruined Christmas.” She wiped her eyes again.

Crummy parents. But it wouldn’t do Sara any good for me to voice that opinion. “How many years ago?”

“She would be nineteen. It’s so hard for kids when their birthday is at Christmas time. No birthday presents.”

She was rambling, maybe a sign that the pain was too great for her to handle. “Where was she born?”

“St. Luke’s.”

“What city?”

“Santa Dolorosa.”

Santa Dolorosa was a high-end, mid-peninsula town. They should have good records. I’d learned a bit in my search for the person who paid my cottage’s taxes. “Is that where your parents live?”

She nodded. “They want me to come home.”

“I’ll bet,” I said.

“They don’t think I can make it on my own without Alan. They’ve never thought I was strong enough to be alone, and I know they’ll take care of me.” Again her voice had a child-like quality. “Did I already tell you that?”

“Is that what you want to do?”

“They have a huge house. Belong to the country club.” Her voice went all soft and dreamy. “It would be safe there.”

“You’ve been through a lot recently, and I understand if you don’t want to answer any more questions, but I’m curious. Why did you marry Alan? I mean, you didn’t have to at that point. You could have taken your time. Made sure he was the right one. Recuperated a little after the baby died. There was no longer any pressure to marry quickly.”

She turned to stare at me, wide-eyed. I watched her peripherally, keeping most of my attention on the road.

“He was very sweet and gentle. He brought me flowers and candy. Like a romantic hero.” She smiled. “Not like my dad who yelled and bullied us into doing what he wanted us to do.”

“Your parents didn’t like him.” I was struggling to make her description of her father jibe with the rosy picture she had just painted of returning to her parents’ home to live.

“No, they hated him! But when I got pregnant, they relented. I think they liked the idea of being grandparents.”

I pulled up in front of her house and put the car into neutral. “Sara, if there’s anything else I can do, please let me know. I mean that. I hadn’t realized… about your daughter. That must have been awful.”

“Thanks for picking me up and for everything else.” She unbuckled and turned toward me. “I told them about you.”

“Beg pardon?”

“I told my parents how you were helping me, going through things, doing inventory, and trying to find out who killed Alan. I told them all about you, that you were my friend, that you would figure it all out. That you wouldn’t let the police arrest me.”

“I seriously doubt that you’ll be arrested, and I’m happy to help in any way I can.”

“I know you will.” Sara smiled and got out of the car. Halfway up the sidewalk, she turned and waved.

I waved back but waited at the curb until she went into her house. All the way home I tossed around family combinations and motivations. I must have been concentrating a bit too hard because, when I opened the front door and stepped inside, a black furball hit me on the ankle with a spring-loaded paw and ran off to sulk under the table.

“Hey! What was that all about?” I closed the door behind me. “Jack, your cat just hit me on the ankle.”

Jack and Gillian turned around from the table where they were both huddled over the laptop.

“You must have been ignoring him, Cass. He always does that when he wants attention. Besides, he’s your cat now.”

“So he is, but he may have to wait a bit longer for attention. Is the garage all fixed?”

“It’s as good as it’s going to get without a lot more time and effort,” Jack said.

Gillian asked, “How’s Sara?”

I sat down in the chair opposite them. “She had a baby right after she married Alan, but she said it died shortly after it was born. Holly. That was the baby’s name. Born Christmas morning.”

“Was Alan the father?” Jack asked.

“Yes. She didn’t see the baby after it died. No funeral. No viewing. She took her parents’ and Alan’s word for it.”

“And you don’t think that’s good enough?” Jack said.

“I guess I just have a suspicious nature,” I said.

“If the baby survived and they put it up for adoption, wouldn’t they need Sara’s signature?” Gillian asked.

“If they took her baby, then they’re sleazy enough to forge her signature,” I said.

“They might have been trying to protect her at a time when she was emotionally fragile. It doesn’t mean that they spirited the baby away and put it up for adoption. There’s no motive to do that. Alan would have been in a stronger position as the father of Sara’s parents’ only heir. Money wasn’t a problem, and Alan and Sara got married so legitimacy wasn’t an issue.”

“I know. I know.” I sighed. “Something is bothering me, but I don’t know what it is.”