Murder over medium, p.9
Murder Over Medium, page 9
I was astonished. This was the first time she’d done any cleaning up.
“If you’ll excuse me, I feel the burden of the past quite fiercely. I’d like to return to my room to meditate for a while.”
“Of course,” I mumbled, feeling awkward for bringing up unhappy memories and heavy emotions. I’d had no idea she’d gone to such lengths to help me. I wasn’t sure what I’d thought I’d hear, but it certainly wasn’t that.
~~**~~
I spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon in my office, with the knowledge of Gwendolyn’s courageous actions playing in the back of my mind. I was dealing with a mountain of invoices, both due and owed to me, when Wendy tapped on my door, opening it just enough to ask if we could have dinner soon. Apparently, she and Gwendolyn had afternoon plans and hoped to have sustenance before that.
I gritted my teeth in an attempt to keep a civil tongue. I didn’t trust myself to speak, so I nodded silently and made a note of where I’d stopped in my monthly accounting task. I guess that one trip to the dishwasher was all I was going to get out of Gwendolyn. Funny, I thought they were both self-sufficient enough to make their own sandwiches.
Fifteen minutes later, I sat their sprouted quinoa bread, faux turkey, and rice cheese sandwiches on plates in front of each of them and added a plate of celery sticks and a bowl of fresh fruit salad. We crunched and munched without much discussion until we neared the end of the meal.
Out of the blue, Gwendolyn said, “Jade, do you know when the sheriff will be finished with our laptop? Wendy has marketing tasks to complete, and I had been thinking I’d offer readings using a variety of divination modalities, specifically, natal charts. Unfortunately, the software I use for that is on that laptop, so I’ve been forced to alter my plans.”
Not sure what a natal chart was, I caught myself just before I asked. “I have no idea. I could ask him, but my guess is that he’ll keep it until the murder is solved.” If it isn’t evidence.
“Well, darn.” Gwendolyn turned to Wendy. “I guess we’ll have to further delay our next Vortex Ceremony, Wendy.”
Sudden inspiration hit. “I have a spare laptop you can use while you’re here. I’m sorry I hadn’t thought of it sooner. It won’t have your star program on it, but Wendy will still be able to work on spreading the word about your next event.”
Gwendolyn clapped her hands together and smiled in delight. “Oh, that’s simply lovely. Thank you so much.”
She continued looking at me, which I realized was her way of saying she’d like me to go get it there and then. I took a final bite of my sandwich and went up to the office to dust off the computer.
Sharing the computer with them gave me access to more information about what they did and what they were planning. I might even be able to scroll back through Gwendolyn’s business Facebook page to read the messages between her and Harry. I couldn’t help but smile to myself. It would hopefully help me clear my friend from any wrongdoing and get her out of my hair.
~~**~~
Later in the afternoon, while I was finally finishing up the invoices I’d started before I was summoned to produce dinner, I heard Agatha Christie’s Poirot theme song playing, announcing someone was calling my cell phone. I smiled when I saw it was Crystal.
“Hey there. Didn’t expect it to be you calling in the middle of the day,” I started cheerfully.
In hushed tones, Crystal said, “Can you talk?”
“Of course I can talk.”
“I mean, are your guests around where they could overhear you?”
“No. I’ve got my office door shut against their tarot readings. Who’d have thought that could be so noisy? What’s up? Why are you whispering?”
“For the same reason. I don’t want to be overheard. I need to tell you a couple of things, but if anyone here gets wind of me sharing it, I’ll be on the next stagecoach back to Cody.”
“Okay, what is it?” I realized I was whispering too.
“They’ve found more incriminating stuff on Gwendolyn’s laptop. Ross had the tech team dig into the deleted history items, and they found that she’s watched a few online videos about disabling the power steering fuel line of a vehicle. Specifically, on a truck like Harry’s.”
My mouth fell open in disbelief. “Oh, sweet Mother Mary.”
“Yeah. I wanted you to know so if Ross decides to arrest her, you’ll be ready for it.”
“But, but, well, isn’t everything they have circumstantial? Couldn’t someone else have gotten access to the computer? I mean, who knows how long ago those videos were visited.”
“Well, yeah, someone could have gotten into the computer. The passcode was a joke, so a five-year-old could have guessed it. But the history, even deleted history, is time and date stamped. We know the videos were viewed the night of the séance. And of Harry’s murder.”
I was speechless. Could we be housing a murderer? I gulped and took a big swig of icy cold water to help me gather my thoughts.
Crystal went on. “I mostly wanted you to know, so you didn’t hack her off. She probably wouldn’t hurt you and Christian since you’ve taken her in and your longtime friends, but who knows. And you don’t know her assistant at all. I just want you to be careful.”
“Thanks, Crystal. I owe you.” I said weakly. “Does Ross have any other suspects?”
“Well, he’s talked to that Brian guy, oh and Trevor and Susan Wills. But Gwendolyn is still who he’s focused on.”
“I know she’s lied, but Susan and her son hated Harry with a passion. Gwendolyn said she never held a grudge about their breakup. She simply didn’t want to dig up the past. So why is she the one Ross is fixated on?”
Crystal hesitated. “I hate to tell you this, but they both have alibis. Of course, Trevor was with Dina at the séance. She swears he didn’t leave her side at your house, and that they went straight home and to bed when it was over. Plus, you were sitting right across from him—you know he didn’t leave once the séance started.”
“But what about Susan? She could have done it while we were all inside.”
“Susan was out of town. At some horse show. She’s shown Ross her hotel and gas receipts, registration, the lot. I’m so sorry, Jade. But now you know why I wanted to call and warn you.”
I was staring straight ahead feeling numb, but what Crystal said next brought me jarringly back to the present.
“One more thing. Harry’s autopsy came back. He had terminal cancer and only had a few months to live.”
Chapter Ten
After that abrupt announcement, Crystal was called on her walkie-talkie to go check out a tip on an unrelated matter. I didn’t mind though since I didn’t have words for the bombshells she’d just dropped. I pushed aside the papers on my desk and grabbed the pad I’d been using for figures. I did my best thinking when I could sketch out my ideas on paper.
Not knowing how Harry’s terminal illness played into it, or even if it did, I wrote it down on the side of my notepad and circled it. Then I listed all of the circumstances that implicated Gwendolyn. They were really mounting up.
Tapping my pen on the pad as I deliberated, I must have been making too much racket because Tuppence stood up and stretched from her nap on my armchair. Gazing at me sleepily, she walked to the door, stopping only to stretch her hindquarters along the way.
After letting her out, I resettled at my desk. How could someone at the séance have accessed Gwendolyn’s laptop to watch the incriminating videos? I couldn’t come up with a way someone could have done it without being noticed. There just hadn’t been enough time.
Did Harry’s illness change anything? Could he have only pretended to want to reunite with Gwendolyn when they chatted on Facebook? He could have taken the opportunity to frame her for his own murder. He knew he only had a short time to live and no loved ones to care for him. Perhaps he’d decided to end his life before living with the illness became too hard and painful. And since Gwendolyn had contacted him, he had a new sense of purpose—not only to stop his inevitable misery but to take her down with him.
But what did he have against Gwendolyn? He’d been the one who’d practically left her at the altar. Besides, if he was setting her up for his murder, why would he leave everything to her in his will? He wouldn’t have known she was going to announce a murder that night. Without that spectacle, his death would have no doubt been ruled an accident. No, that didn’t work at all. Besides, he couldn’t have gained access to her computer.
Tap, tap, tap went the ink pen on the pad. I believed we were all capable of murder. I tried to imagine Gwendolyn sabotaging Harry’s truck in the dark, hurrying, so no one missed her. But I remembered seeing her greeting people as they arrived in her bright-colored robes. Nope, it didn’t compute.
Moreover, wouldn’t it mean she was totally faking all this love and peace stuff? Was she that good of an actress? I turned my neck to the left and then the right to loosen the knot that seemed to have lodged there and had no plans of moving.
Okay, I would approach it from a different direction. I wrote down the names of everyone at the séance, sans Harry and my three friends, Crystal, Gabby, and Phyllis. Scrolling slowly down the list, I added checkmarks next to Trevor Wills and Brian Potter and question marks next to the two young men I didn’t know. That left the market owner, Mr. Fowler, and Reverend Holt. If either man had a feud with Harry, I didn’t know about it.
After thinking about the suspects, possible motives, and implications of what I’d learned from Crystal, I ended up with a pounding headache that sent me to my bed. I rested very little, though the pain medicine I’d taken did the trick. While lying there, I decided I would talk to Christian after he got home before doing anything else, including letting on to Gwendolyn that I knew she’d been lying to me…again.
~~**~~
Upon finishing their evening meal, our guests retired to their rooms. Apparently, they had another full day of clients tomorrow and wanted to spend time in meditation and then get to bed early.
As it happened, Christian and I were happy with that arrangement and settled on the couch to watch TV. After the end of an episode, I filled him in on the day’s events.
“You’ve had an interesting day, haven’t you?” He smiled and snuggled me closer. “Just the way you like it.” I nestled my head under his square jaw. His 5 o’clock shadow tickled my scalp.
“I worry that I’ve never really known Gwendolyn. I thought I did, but…What if she is capable of murder? And for all I know, she could be using her paranormal stuff to con honest people out of their hard-earned money. I despise myself for suspecting her, but as each new piece of evidence comes in, I find the questions in the back of my mind growing louder. How can we rule her out when she’s been so dishonest?”
Christian pulled me away from him enough to look me in the eyes. “What’s this we stuff? This, as Ellie would say, is your circus, not mine.”
“Oh, I see. So, does that mean you don’t want to know the rest of it?” I said teasingly.
“There’s more?”
That’s when I filled him in on what Crystal had shared with me. By the time I’d finished, he was sitting up straight, his caramel-brown eyes wide. “Surely it couldn’t have been Gwendolyn. I don’t know her as well as you do, but she always seemed to have such a firm moral code. What about her assistant? She’s the wild card. We don’t know anything about her.”
“What’s this ‘we’ stuff?” I asked, chuckling for the first time in days.
“I just mean, you know, we’ve known Gwendolyn forever, but this other girl—"
“It’s hard to picture Wendy having the gumption to do anything strenuous, let alone plot out the murder of someone she’s never met. What would be her motive?”
“Well, that’s my point. We don’t know anything about her past. We only have her word for it that she didn’t know Harry.” Christian shook his head and frowned. “Poor Harry. I still can’t believe he’s gone. I started out his way this afternoon before I remembered. He’d commissioned me to do some work for him a month or so ago, and I wanted to follow up with him. He was such a nice guy—would give anyone the shirt off his back.”
“Hmm. I wonder why he would have hired you to do work at his place if he knew he didn’t have much time left? Surely he knew, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, you’d think so. But who knows for sure. It’s not like folks around here run to see the doctor for every little thing. Home remedies are more our speed. Maybe he knew he wasn’t feeling quite himself, but hadn’t seen a doctor about it yet.”
“I think I’ll pop around to Doc Wilson’s to find out when Harry’d last been in.”
“Now, whoa, just a minute. It’s one thing for you to contemplate what’s going on, but another for you to start poking around.”
“It wouldn’t be poking around, just asking a simple question. Wouldn’t you be interested in learning if Harry knew he was sick?”
“I guess, but what does it ultimately matter? He’s gone now.”
I sighed. “Well, for one thing, it would get me out of the house, so I don’t end up killing one of our guests.” I pretended to stroke a fake villain beard, “I bet they couldn’t even taste certain poisons mixed in with their disgusting meals.”
“Don’t change the subject on me, Jade. You know how I feel about you getting yourself involved in this type of thing.”
“Well, I am involved. In fact, we both are, since we have the prime suspect living under our roof.”
Christian looked at me unconvinced, eyebrows raised, so I said, “Don’t you want to get the house back to ourselves?”
“Yes, but not at the expense of you getting yourself into trouble again. You’ve shaved a few years off my life by investigating past murders.”
I ignored his comment. “Do you think I should confront Gwendolyn about what was found on her computer? I’d like to hear her explanation, but I’m not sure I want to show my hand.”
Christian considered for a moment. “I admit I don’t like that she’s been outright lying to you. Do you think she’d tell you the truth if you asked her about this new evidence? After all, she is Dillon Hexby’s aunt. When you tried to help him out of trouble a few months ago, he either lied or refused to help you at every turn. This stubborn streak might run through the family.”
“Yeah. I remember. The little twerp. If he’d been honest from the beginning, things wouldn’t have gotten so bad for him. And a second person might not have been killed.” I laid my head back on Christian’s shoulder and sighed. “I’m not sure what to do. Maybe I’ll sleep on it and see what tomorrow brings.”
“Just promise me you’ll stay on the right side of both our guests. All this will probably turn out to be nothing, but I don’t want you taking any chances.”
~~*~~
I slept badly that night and woke up grouchy. I dreaded going downstairs to deal with people and lay in bed for a while thinking. In the cold light of day, I decided I’d let my imagination run away with me yesterday. There had to be some explanation for Gwendolyn’s secrecy. Letting out a big sigh of resignation and throwing the covers back, I got up and went downstairs. I needed coffee.
My guests were already up and drinking tea while scanning something of seemingly great interest on the borrowed laptop screen.
“Good morning, Jade. How did you sleep?”
“Not great, but thanks for asking.” I stopped measuring coffee grounds into the filter long enough to look behind me at them sitting at the table. “You two are up early.”
Gwendolyn clapped her hands together loudly, causing me to flinch. “Oh, we have an exciting day lined up. Overnight we had several new registrations for tarot readings. People will be arriving shortly, so you may wish to get changed, Jade.”
That was it. I twirled around on the balls of my feet and glared at them both. “Gwendolyn, did it ever occur to you to ask me if it was okay for you to have people coming ‘round all day and night? First the séance, which I knew nothing about, but was supposed to happily join in on. And now every day there’s a line of people, including my neighbors, ringing the doorbell, disturbing my peace. I do run a business, you know. I have work to do and am used to solitude. I find it extremely irritating and frankly, rude that you just barged in and took over the running of the household.”
Gwendolyn looked significantly at Wendy, at which point, Wendy took her cue and went upstairs. One down, one to go.
“I apologize for the inconveniences I’ve caused, Jade. Why didn’t you say something sooner? It’s not good to let these things fester.”
“I was trying to be a good hostess.” I poured a cup of coffee that had just finished brewing and sat at the table. “Sorry. I woke up on the wrong side of the bed, but I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”
“No, I suppose you’re right. We have probably made it difficult for you to concentrate, though we have tried to be mindful of our noise level.” She tilted her head and looked closely at my face. “What’s really bothering you?”
“I just got some bad news yesterday, but I’m not ready to talk about it. Sorry again for snapping at you.”
“Ever since I arrived, I’ve gotten a strong impression that you are dealing with an underlying sadness…um, but more than that. A feeling of being unsettled and dissatisfied.” When I didn’t say anything, she went on. “I sense you are unhappy with your work. It’s become monotonous, and you feel unfulfilled. Much of what you are feeling is due to the expectations you put on this business of yours. You often wonder if you did the right thing by leaving the world of teaching.”
Reluctantly, I said, “Yeah, if you want to know, in the last few months, the business has felt like an albatross around my neck.”
“Go on.” She smiled kindly at me and folded her hands in front of her before closing her eyes.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Business is better than ever, and I’ve set things up so that I don’t have to be in the office as much anymore. So it’s not like I’m overworked, at least not like I was in the beginning. But I’m disengaged. The passion is gone, and now that it’s run its course, I’m left wondering what I should do. I don’t want to hop from one career to another, but changing course seems to be the only way out of it.”
