Christmas In Paradise (Tj Jensen Paradise Lake Mysteries Book 4) (11 page)

“No. She refuses to speak to him. She won’t explain
to anyone what happened, and she won’t say anything to defend herself. She’s even refusing to share with the attorney the specifics of her relationship with Bob.”

“Maybe she realize
s that the less she says, the fewer lies she’ll need to keep track of,” Kyle contributed.

“
Maybe, but if she doesn’t start to cooperate, she’s going to live out the rest of her life in prison.”

“Don’t worry
; we’ll figure this out,” Tj assured her.

“
Where do we even start?” Jenna sighed.

Good question. It would make things easier if there was a list of suspects with
the means and motive to start with, but the way things had played out, the only way she was going to clear one friend was by proving another one guilty.

“If neither Bonnie n
or Dennis killed our victim, then it was most likely someone else at the dinner,” Tj asserted. “I suppose it’s possible that someone else drove out to the resort and killed him, but with the snow and all, it seems unlikely. I guess we should start by trying to figure out if any of our other guests had a motive. I suppose everyone who was on the property that day had opportunity.”

“This is crazy
.” Jenna sighed. “Even I have to agree that Dennis is the most likely suspect, but he says he didn’t do it and I believe him. Bonnie insists she did, but I know she didn’t. At the same time, I can’t believe a single person at the dinner could have done something so horrible. Almost everyone present has been a close friend for most of my life. Maybe there was some serial killer lurking in the woods and Bob’s death was random.”

Tj just looked at Jenna.

“It could have played out that way,” she defended herself.

“Really? A serial killer just happened to be lingering in the woods at the exact moment that a man pretty much everyone hated on sight decided to go for a walk?”

“Yeah, okay, I guess the theory is a long shot, but the only alternative is that someone I know and love killed a man in cold blood.”

“What about Frannie’s new guy?” Kyle asked. “He
’s probably the guest we know the least about. I think his first name is Arnie, but I don’t think I ever caught his last name. I suppose I’m reaching, but his presence in our lives feels sudden and just a tad unconventional.”

“It
is
an odd pairing,” Tj agreed. “Frannie has never shown any interest in having a man in her life and, as far as I can remember, has never even dated; then all of a sudden she starts parading around town with some guy who’s probably young enough to be her son. The whole thing is weird. Maybe this guy is up to no good and is using Frannie the way Bob used Bonnie. I guess I can try to have a chat with the guy.”

“Yeah
, but if we’re wrong and start accusing this guy of any wrongdoing, it will really hurt Frannie,” Kyle pointed out. “I’m sure she’s sensitive about the fact that half of the town is gossiping about her new guy.”

“Okay then
, perhaps we should talk to Frannie,” Jenna suggested.

“I’ll do it tomorrow,” Tj volunteered. “She has a
couple of books on order for me, so I have an excuse to drop in. I’ll do it at lunch.”

“And I’ll try to talk to Bonnie again,” Jenna offered, “although I doubt it will do any good. She seems determined to be a martyr.”

“I’m sure she feels responsible for all the trouble Bob’s death has caused,” Kyle said. “If she hadn’t been fooled by the man, he would never have come to Paradise Lake and Dennis would never have been charged with murdering the SOB.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. I just wish we could wind back time and undo everything that
’s happened over the past week,” Jenna said. “If Frannie’s friend didn’t do it, that means someone we know and love did. I’m not sure how any of us are supposed to live with that.”

“Can I have everyone’s attention
?” Tj yelled over the drone created by the eighteen members of the high-school ski team chatting among themselves. There was excitement spreading through the group as the fresh snow made for fantastic downhill conditions. Tj understood her students’ excitement. There was nothing better than that first big snow of the season.

“As you all know
, the town has voted to lengthen Christmas break from two weeks to three this year.”

Everyone clapped and cheered.

“While this is wonderful news for most of you, I’m sure, it also means we have less time to prepare for the first of our regional meets, which is scheduled for the weekend after we return from break. Last year we dominated in regionals, and although a larger percentage than normal of last year’s team graduated, I feel we have a real chance of winning again this year.”

Tj paused as she calculated the number of school days between th
at moment and the beginning of the school holiday. She realized that, although the longer break from school would help her to juggle the other aspects of her life, including helping out at the resort, entertaining the girls, and investigating a murder, they were going to need to hustle if they were going to be ready for their first meet in January.

“We have a week and a half left to prepare
, which, as I’m sure you all realize, isn’t enough time to really be ready for what our competitors have to throw at us. While I won’t require you to practice while on break, I’m going to strongly encourage you to do so. I’m sure there’ll be plenty of snow on the slopes, so I want all of you out there as often as possible.”

Everyone chanted that they would
“ride, ride, ride.”

Tj looked out the window of her classroom. There were huge flakes falling from a dark sky. Sometimes she wished she could leave all her responsibilities behind and spend her days on the slopes
, as she knew many of her students did. Tj suspected that all the fresh powder would guarantee that most of her kids would spend most of their time on the mountain.

“
I still need to select team captains. I usually appoint both a male and a female captain from the seniors, who have been with me the longest, and I have a couple of candidates in mind, but I’d like your input as well. I left sheets of paper on my desk. If you have someone you’d like to nominate, just leave me a note with the name of your candidate and the reason you think he or she would be a good captain. While it’s tradition to choose seniors to fill these very important roles, there’s no rule that the team captains must be seniors.”

One of Tj’
s new team members, a sophomore with dark green eyes and deep red hair, raised her hand.

“You had a ques
tion?” Tj asked the petite athlete.

“Can you nominate yourself?”

Tj thought about it. “I suppose there’s no rule against it; however, if you all nominate yourselves, we won’t end up with anything other than a huge tie. Perhaps those of you who feel you should be team captain should make your case to your teammates, with the hope that one of them nominates you.”

The girl turned and looked at the group. “As you all know
, my name is Monica. I would be a good captain, so I think one of you should nominate me.”

The girl sat down with a look on her face
that seemed to convey that someone—probably one of the boys—would do as she asked.

One of
the senior boys raised his hand. He wasn’t a strong skier, but he was popular and could very well make a good team captain. “Instead of a boy and a girl, maybe you should choose a snowboarder and a skier. The events are so segregated these days. It’s almost like two completely different sports.”

“The idea has merit. What do you think?”
Tj asked the class.

Pretty much everyone agreed.

“Okay; in other news, we’ll meet at the bottom of Devil’s Run at two o’clock this afternoon. Be dressed and ready to take to the hill. If any of you need a ride to the slopes, see me after class. We’ll practice tomorrow as well but will take the weekend off, although, again, I encourage you all to head to the mountain as often as possible.”

“You said we had the weekend off. What about Friday?”
one of her new girls, a freshman with a ton of promise, asked.

“The tree lighting has been moved to Friday
, so we won’t be holding practice that day. I would encourage all of you to come out for the lighting ceremony. The school choir will be performing, and I’m certain they would appreciate your support.”

“What time?”
a freshman girl wearing a light pink sweater asked.

“
The tree lighting is at five-thirty and the choir will perform until six. I believe there’ll be a food vendor on site, and Santa will be holding court in the gazebo, if any of you have younger brothers and sisters.”

“Is Angel Mountain planning to have their used ski swap like they did last year?”
one of her returning students wondered.

“I believe so. While I
haven’t seen a list of the vendors who have signed up for booths this year, traditionally Angel Mountain has a presence. They usually have a representative selling season tickets, if any of your friends or family are in the market for a pass.”

The downhill team members were all given free passes so they could practice
whenever they wanted. As downhill coach, Tj received a free pass as well. This year she planned to purchase passes for Ashley and Gracie. She’d already been tearing up the slopes by the time she was their age.

“
If there are no more questions, I’ll leave you to work on your homework for the rest of the period,” Tj wrapped up. “Remember, you must maintain a C or above in all your classes in order to be eligible for afterschool sports. I need you all, so
study
.”

Luckily
, most of her students cracked open their books and did just that. Tj decided to work on her own paperwork while her kids studied since she planned to use her lunch break to pay Frannie a visit at the library.

“Tj, how are you, dear?” Frannie greeted her when Tj walked into the library, one of her favorite places in town. Built as a bordello at the turn of the century, it had been converted into a library more than sixty years earlier, a few years after the town had been incorporated. The downstairs, which at one time had served as a common room for entertaining, held a large wooden counter that was now used as a reference desk but originally served as the bar on which the girls had danced to entertain the men.

“I’m doing fine. I came by to see if you had those books I requested.”

“Actually
, I do have them.” Frannie placed three books on the counter. “I also have a book for Kallie. I know she’s busy with holiday visitors and most likely won’t make it in to pick it up. Would you mind taking it to her?”

“I’d be happy to.”

Frannie turned to fetch Kallie’s book and added it to Tj’s pile.

“
How are things going?” Frannie asked. “I haven’t spoken to you since Thursday. I heard about what happened after I left.” Frannie diverted her eyes and Tj frowned. There was no way Frannie would ever kill anyone, but she definitely looked like she was hiding something. Maybe Kyle wasn’t so far off to suspect Arnie. Could Frannie be covering for him?

“It’s been an in
teresting few days,” Tj answered. She watched Frannie’s expression as she continued. “I guess you heard Dennis was arrested for the murder of his mother’s fiancé, but he was released when Bonnie herself confessed to the crime.”

Frannie bent down
as she stacked the books from the return bin onto the counter. “I had heard that. Surely no one believes Bonnie is guilty of such a serious crime?”

“I don’t believe she did it
, but it seems Sheriff Boggs is so happy to have the case wrapped up that he’s pushing prosecution. Bonnie is out on bail now, but things are on track for trial at some point after the beginning of the year unless we can find the real killer. The problem is that all of our suspects are dear friends and neighbors, none of whom seem at all likely to kill a man. Kyle and I are doing what we can to help Bonnie. I know this is an awkward way to bring it up, but I wanted to know if you could tell me a bit more about your new boyfriend. Not that I’m accusing him of anything,” Tj hurried to add.

Frannie looked up
, surprise evident on her face. “You think Arnie might have killed Bonnie’s fiancé?”

“No, it’s not that
.” Tj tried to cover herself. “We’re looking at everyone, but we’re starting with the people who are new to the area and we know the least about.”

“Arnie is
n’t new to the area. He’s lived here quite a while, in fact,” Frannie said. “He moved to Paradise Lake from Los Angeles a couple of years ago, after his wife died. I guess he came to visit a friend, fell in love with the area, and decided to stay.”

“Maybe
‘new to the area’ isn’t really accurate. It’s more that he’s new to our social circle. I mean, you only recently started spending time with him. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. A lot of women enter into relationships with men who are significantly younger than they are.”