Christmas In Paradise (Tj Jensen Paradise Lake Mysteries Book 4) (17 page)

Kyle added forks and napkins to the serving platter. “You think so? I’d really like to get her a new car that she wouldn’t have to
worry about being dependable.”

Tj wiped the chocolate from her hands. “A new car won’t work. She’ll know it
was a gift. But a used car that someone gave you or that you bought from a friend to help him out should do the trick. But you can’t make a big deal out of it. You’re going to have to convince her that having the car is a hassle you’d just as soon not have. In other words, you’ll need to make up a really good story.”

Kyle frowned. “I don’t know. Kiara is pretty smart. She’ll see right through it.”

“Of course she will, but that’s not the point. You’ll know what you’re really doing and she’ll know what you’re really doing, but it will still allow her to accept the gift without feeling like she’s taking charity from you.”

Kyle chuckled. “That makes no sense.”

Tj shrugged as she added cups of coffee to the tray. “It doesn’t have to.”

“So how am I going to give the car I
’m suddenly burdened with to Kiara for Christmas if it’s not supposed to be a gift?”

“Oh
, you can’t. She’ll need to take the car as a favor to you.”

“Isn’t the point of this entire conversation to identify a gift for me to give Kiara on Christmas?”

“That may be where it started, but I guess that isn’t where it ended up. Get Kiara clothes for Christmas. I’ll help you choose some.”

Kyle picked up the serving tray and started back toward the dining table where the others were waiting. “Tj Jensen
, you’re a devious woman.”

Tj planned to meet Jenna for an afternoon of shopping before the cookie exchange that evening, but first she wanted to stop by the Serenity Motor Inn and have a chat with owner Colin Welsh. Colin had bought the place about ten years earlier and had been an active member of the Serenity Chamber of Commerce ever since. Tj didn’t know him very well, but they had served on a couple of committees together and she was acquainted with him enough to know that he was, generally speaking, a reliable guy.

The
Motor Inn was located about a mile out of town, perched quite spectacularly on the bank of the Paradise River. In the spring white-water rafters migrated to the Motor Inn, which served as an ideal launching point for daylong float trips through the dense forest. During the off season, however, it was mostly deserted except for weekends, when visitors came to enjoy the solitude of the quaint, isolated facility.

Since it was a Saturday in December
, there was a
NO VACANCY
sign displayed out front. Tj knew that many out-of-town skiers looking for an affordable place to hang their hats when they weren’t on the slopes kept the Motor Inn in business during the winter months. While the rooms were functional but really nothing special, Colin had remodeled the lobby to include a cozy fireplace where his patrons could gather for an after-ski cocktail or a cozy afternoon reading in the rustic log structure.

“Tj
, what brings you all the way out here?” Colin asked.

While the
“all the way out here” wasn’t really all that far, Tj rarely had reason to visit the popular establishment. “I wanted to ask you about a visitor you had last summer. I believe he checked in as Rupert Kingston.”

Colin
smiled. “Once I realized that the man who stayed with me last summer was the same one who died out at the Hideaway, I figured you might be by.”

“Why is that?”

“It seems you’re developing a local reputation as a freelance investigator.”

“I’m not really investigating,” Tj
said, remembering the borrowed deputy’s warning. “But I do have friends on the line, so I guess I’m casually asking around.”

Colin
laughed. “Whatever way you want to label it is fine by me. The man was a real interesting sort. Not easy to forget.” He set aside the ledger he’d been working on. “Most of my guests have headed to the mountain for the day, so I have a few minutes. Would you like a cup of coffee?”

“I would
, thank you.”

Tj sat down on one of the sofas surrounding the cozy fire.
Colin set a cup of hot black coffee on the table in front of her. Christmas music played in the background as the television, which had been muted to provide up-to-date news but not serve as an intrusion, featured a weather report predicting another big storm before the end of the week.

“
So about this Rupert Kingston—or I guess I should say Bob King . . . I’m not clear which of the two is his real name.”

“
To be honest, I don’t know his real name either. Kyle indicated that Bob King didn’t show up until after Rupert Kingston graduated college, so we’re operating under the assumption that Rupert Kingston is his real name and he for some reason created Bob King as an alias later in life.”

“Guess you might not want to use your real name
when you swindle folks.”

“Yeah, I suppose not.
Anyway, I was speaking to Nikki Weston, who mentioned that he’d stayed here over the summer. I hoped you might have some insight into the man.”

“I didn’t speak to him in depth,”
Colin said. “He checked in late one evening. Normally, I wouldn’t have any rooms available without a reservation in August, but I’d had a cancellation, so I told him I could put him up for a few nights. We didn’t chat, but he seemed to know some folks in the area, and I got the feeling he might be on the prowl, if you know what I mean.”

Tj knew exactly what he meant.

“I saw at least three women either coming or going from his room during his stay. While I have no way of knowing what they were doing there, based on the rumors I’ve heard about the scoundrel, I’d be willing to guess he invited them to be charmed out of their money. Although,” the man paused, “if you want my opinion, none of them seemed the type to be taken in by him.”

Tj took a sip of her coffee. It was surprisingly good. She wasn’t sure why she assumed it wouldn’t be. Perhaps she was getting spoiled by the special blend her dad bought for the resort.

“Do you remember who any of the women were? Tj asked.

“Sure. They were all local
s. All single, but none who seem to be the one-night stand type, though Ellen Pomeroy is probably the one most likely to fit the profile of the type of woman Mr. Kingston might be on the prowl for.”

Tj knew that Ellen was a hairdresser in her midforties who was newly single after her divorce a year
earlier. She had always been a steady sort, but after her husband left her for a twenty-five-year-old yoga instructor, she’d lost thirty pounds, frosted her hair, and begun dating with a vengeance.

“Did you speak to Ellen?” Tj wondered.

“No. She didn’t even see me. I was in the room where I keep the cleaning supplies early one morning and saw her sneaking out of his room. Her hair was mussed and she had on a dress and heels—the sort of thing she might have worn to dinner the previous evening.”

Tj made a mental note to speak to El
len. It sounded like Colin was spot-on about the reason she was sneaking out of the room, but any little detail might help to nail the real killer. At least with Ellen she didn’t think there was a jealous husband or boyfriend in the mix.

“Who else visited Mr.
Kingston while he was here?” Tj asked.

“Libby Wells, although she came by during the day and didn’t stay for more than an hour. Still
, I guess an hour would be enough.”

“D
r. Libby Wells?” Libby was the town pediatrician who had dated Hunter for a while, though as far as she knew they were now just friends. Tj was pretty sure the two hadn’t been out since Dylan had left town and Hunter had made it his personal mission to look out for her.

“That would be the one
.”

“Okay, I’ll see if I can have a chat with her. Anyone else?”

“The only other female was Rita Halliwell.”

Rita Halliwell was
the co-owner of Guns and Roses, a retail establishment that sold both guns and roses. When her father died and left his guns-and-ammo store to his two children equally, Rita had decided that she wanted to use her half of the space to open a flower shop. Her brother continued to sell guns and ammo, so the unusual pairing was created.

“Was Rita here during the day
, or did she stay over?” Tj asked.

“I saw her talking to Mr.
Kingston around seven in the evening. They chatted at the door for a minute and then they went inside. I’m not certain how long she stayed since I retired to my apartment at about that time. Her car was gone the next morning, and Rita is a real firecracker. I don’t see her as the type to be wooed by Mr. Kingston’s brand of phony-baloney charm.”

Tj had to agree
that it seemed unlikely that Rita had had an amorous fling with Bob or Rupert or whoever the man was at that point in time. Rita was a strong, independent sort who wasn’t married or in a serious relationship by choice. It didn’t fit that she would be a likely target for Bob to focus on. Still, she added Rita to her mental list of people to follow up with.

“You said Rita was the only other woman
who visited Mr. Kingston. Were there any men?”

“Just one
: David Harris.”

David was the local pharmacist, Tj’s good friend, and gay
. Tj couldn’t imagine what David would want with someone like Bob King. She hated to even ask him about it, but she did want to help Bonnie, and if she was going to find the killer, she needed to follow every lead, no matter where it might take her.

“Did anything else you might consider odd or noteworthy happen while the man was here?” Tj asked.

Colin thought about it. “There was a fire in the meadow behind the motel. It was a small one, but we had to evacuate until they put it out. The fire was set intentionally, so the fire crew spoke to everyone to see if anyone had seen anything that might lead to the arsonist.”

“And was Mr. Kin
gston in his room at the time?” Tj wondered.

“I honestly don’t remember. I suppose if you can get hold of the official report there would be a list of who was here
.”

Tj
thought Dennis could most likely get the report . . . if he was ever allowed to return to his job.

After finishing her coffee and chatting with Colin about the forecast for the upcoming lodging season, Tj headed back into town. She still had a half hour until she needed to meet Jenna, so she decided to stop by Guns and Roses to see if Rita was free for a few minutes. Tj always enjoyed visiting the Roses side of the establishment. Rita had a knack for presentation and displayed plants, gifts, and scented candles in an inviting manner that changed with the seasons. Since it was only twelve days until Christmas, the displays tended toward red and white flowers arranged with dark green pine and fir branches. As in every shop in town, holiday music was playing in the background.

“Interesting decoration,” Tj commented to Brandon Halliwell when she walked in the front door.
The large moose head that hung on one wall was dressed in a moose-size elf hat, while the full-size stuffed black bear that normally was in the back of the shop had been moved to the front and dressed in a Santa suit. “Santa and his elf?”

“I try to do my part to contribute to the holiday spirit.”
Brandon grinned.

“You could get rid of all th
ose dead animals you have lurking around. I know that would greatly contribute to my holiday spirit.” Tj never had appreciated Brandon’s collection.

“This is a guns
-and-ammo shop,” he reminded her.

Tj sighed. “Yeah, I know. Rita around?”

“In the back. You can go on through.”

Tj walked down the hall to the storage area where Rita kept refrigeratio
n units for the flowers. She found the woman she was looking for standing behind a table arranging red and white carnations into a centerpiece that featured not only evergreen branches but four tall candles.

“Tj, so nice to see you. Do you need some flowers?”
Rita asked.

“Actually, I ju
st wanted to chat,” Tj said, “although now that I’m here, some fresh flowers would be nice.”

“
If you decide on the flowers let me know; otherwise, I have a few minutes to chat. What’s on your mind?”

Tj watched as Rita expertly wove a red silk ribbon
the same color as the angora sweater she was wearing through the display. She was a talented designer, and the flowers really did seem to brighten the cold winter day.

“I guess you heard about the murder we had out at the resort.”

Rita frowned. “I did, and if you ask me, it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.”

Ouch.
“I take it you knew Bob King?”

Rita stopped what she was doing and looked at Tj. “I didn’t really know him so much as I had the distinct displeasure of doing business with him when he was in town last summer
, although he was going by the name of Rupert Kingston at the time.”