Class Reunion of Murder (14 page)

“Maybe both,” he said, grinning. “Now, I fessed up my Summer story. You show me yours. Also, I’d like to hear your Summer story.”

She flicked a paper clip at him. He caught it but otherwise sat waiting patiently for her to talk. “Summer did a lot of stuff to me. Most of it was just annoying. She took things from my bag—pencils, books, magazine cutouts of Colin Firth. One time she locked me and another kid in the band room for hours. The potted palm almost became a potty, but the janitor let us out in the nick of time.”

“Those sound properly annoying, but I sense that you’re holding out on me,” he said.

Lacy took a deep breath.
Time to come clean.
Before she could start, there was a quick knock on the door, and Eddie, the day manager, stuck his head in. “Excuse me, but there’s something weird going on in the conference room.”

Jason stood, instantly on alert. “What do you mean weird?”

“A bunch of people came in wearing robes, like priest robes. I’m not sure, but it looked like they had weapons,” Eddie said. Jason began striding toward the conference room before he finished speaking.

“Lacy, go back to your office and stay there,” Jason commanded.

“That’s likely,” she said. No way was she letting him enter a scene of armed lunatics alone.

“This is not a civilian matter,” he tried.

“It’s my hotel,” she said. “And you’re not the boss of me.”

He latched onto the back of her shirt and dragged her behind him, but she still managed to push her head into the door as he opened it. They both stared at a group of her friends as they sat in the middle of the conference room wearing priestly robes and swords. They were murmuring quietly together. Lacy couldn’t catch any of what they were saying.

“What are they doing?” Jason whispered.

“I have no idea,” Lacy said.

“They’re your friends,” he said.

“This wasn’t something we ever did at band practice.”

“What are you doing?” Tosh eased up behind them and began trying to see inside the room, too.

“We’re trying to figure out what they’re doing,” Lacy said. She moved aside so Tosh could see.

“No way,” he whispered, but his tone was filled with excitement.

“What?” Lacy and Jason chorused together.

“You really don’t know what this is?” Tosh said. “Lacy, think. You know this.”

Lacy turned back around to study the group. There was something off about their swords, and then she got it. They weren’t swords; they were sabers—light sabers. “They’re Jedis,” she whispered to an unenlightened Jason.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he said.

“This is so awesome,” Tosh said.

Their whispers finally caught the attention of the gathered group. “Come in,” Carter invited, putting up a hand to beckon them inside. “We wanted to talk to you anyway, Lacy.”

Tosh pushed them aside and tumbled into the room.

“I think I’ll skip,” Jason whispered so only Lacy would hear. “Last week when I met with the Easter Bunny, he told me not to associate with Jedis anymore.”

“I’ll see you later,” Lacy whispered.

He caught her hand before she could move away. “I hope you’re better than fine by then.”

“I’ll work on it,” she said.

He glanced at the assembled group once more. “I don’t think we should raise children in this town,” he muttered, and then he was gone.

Lacy was left blinking at the spot he had just vacated, a little dazed. Had he said what she thought he’d said? That last comment had sounded like a whole lot more than
friends
, unless he meant it in a general way.

“Lacy, are you coming?” Tosh called. He was clearly anxious to be a part of whatever was taking place.

“What’s up, guys?” she asked as she took a vacant chair between Carter and Tosh.

“This reunion coincides with our Jedi council meeting,” Carter said. He was obviously the leader of the group. “Like the reunion, this is a big year for us. It’s our decade anniversary and kind of a big deal. We’re staging a scene, and we need extras.”

“You want me to be a Jedi?” Lacy clarified.

“Well, we’re missing a few key players. Most everyone who is already here wants to be a Jedi warrior. It’s kind of an honor.”

“I’m not following,” Lacy said.

“We want you to be our Leia,” Carter said.

Lacy blinked at him. Tosh’s hand shot in the air. “Do you need a Darth Vader? Please say yes.”

“No, actually, we have that covered. We just need Leia,” Carter said.

Tosh took Lacy’s hand and gave it a hard squeeze. “How badly do you need me to be your Leia?” Lacy asked, ripping her hand from Tosh’s death grip.

“Pretty badly,” Carter said.

“Then Tosh gets to be Vader,” she said.

Carter stared at her, considering. She felt a little silly that she was wasting valuable negotiation skills on something that didn’t exist. Tosh raised his hand again. “I have my own suit. It has a voice modulator.”

Carter leaned away from them, and the Jedis conferred in furious whispers. “All right, the stranger can be Vader, but this goes no farther than this room.”

“You have my word that I will not repeat this story to anyone,” Lacy promised. There was probably no way to keep people from finding out she was going to be Princess Leia in the near future. She didn’t want anyone to know how desperately her best friend and brother-in-law longed to be Darth Vader.

After her role was settled, Lacy was dismissed. Tosh stayed to help plan the event, whatever it was. Jason was nowhere to be seen, and Lacy was glad because she needed to finish payroll. With no distractions, she was able to finish in short order. She was just standing to leave when Jason opened the door and stepped inside. Lacy could tell by his expression that the news was dire.

“Is it Brady?” she asked.

“In a manner of speaking. He’s still hanging on, but a witness has come forward. Apparently Brady had a screaming match with someone after you left.”

“But that’s good news, right? I’m in the clear,” Lacy said.

“It’s good news for you, but it’s bad news for someone else.”

“Who?” Lacy asked, instinctively knowing the answer wouldn’t be good.

“Lacy, it’s Kimber.”

“Kimber, I think you should call an attorney,” Lacy said.

“Lacy,” Jason said. He didn’t exactly shush her, but his tone had the same effect.

“What? She should.”

“We’re just having a conversation here,” Jason said.

“That’s cop speak for anything you say can and will be used against you,” Lacy said.

“Lacy,” he said again in the same warning tone. “Your presence here is a courtesy and can easily be undone. It’s going to be very awkward to kiss you later if I have to throw you out of the room now.”

Lacy crossed her arms over her chest and sat back. For the moment, her loyalties weren’t divided; they remained wholly with Kimber. Jason was seeing her as a suspect, but he didn’t know her the way Lacy did. She would never hurt anyone, ever, not even Summer or Brady.

Kimber sat in much the same position. It was obvious she resented Jason’s impending questions.

“So, Kimber, let’s chat,” Jason said. He folded his hands on Lacy’s desk and smiled. Kimber relaxed slightly and uncrossed her arms.

“Don’t let him fool you,” Lacy said. “He’s trying to disarm you with charm. Keep your guard up.”

“Woman, you’re working my last nerve,” Jason said. “One more word and I will toss you on your cute little behind.”

“It’s my office,” she grumbled.

He used his fingers to make a punting motion toward the door. She made a show of zipping her lips and he turned his attention back to Kimber. “You were supposed to meet Lacy here on the seventeenth,” he said.

“Yes, and I did,” she said.

“But according to hotel records, you checked in on the sixteenth,” Jason said.

Lacy shifted in her seat. Jason shot her a warning look, but she remained quiet. She hadn’t known Kimber arrived that early.

“I got here late at night. My parents go to bed early, and I didn’t want to disturb them. Lacy had already made arrangements with the hotel, so I stopped by and dropped my suitcases. The bed looked inviting, and I stayed. I got up the next morning, went to my parents’ house, and met Lacy that afternoon.”

“And on the night of the seventeenth, you stayed up talking,” he said.

“That’s right,” Lacy volunteered. “Until the wee hours.”

“Exactly how wee?”

Lacy scoured her memory, trying to remember what time they had fallen asleep. “I fell asleep at four,” she said.

“The coroner estimates Summer’s time of death between four and five,” Jason said.

“But Kimber fell asleep, too. I saw her. I heard her snoring.”

“Girl, I don’t snore,” Kimber said. “You’ve been saying that since college, and it’s still not true.”

Jason didn’t comment, but Lacy could tell what he was thinking. Faking sleep would have been easy. Kimber could have sneaked out, and Lacy would never have known.

“Time of death estimates can be off,” Lacy said.

“That’s true,” Jason agreed. “Lacy, we’re on the same side here. I’m trying to get some answers, okay?”

“Okay,” she agreed and tried to relax.

“Tell me about the argument with Brady,” he urged Kimber.

“It probably sounded worse than it was. I walked by him. He said something, a standard racist remark, one he said to me a lot during high school, and I went off. Years of stuffing down my anger and indignation finally erupted. I yelled. Brady yelled. He shoved my shoulder, and I punched him in the face.”

“You punched him in the face? I kneed him. If we had been together, we could have taken him for sure,” Lacy said.

“It was satisfying, but I hurt my hand,” Kimber said.

“Let me see,” Jason said. He held out his hand. She put hers into it for his inspection. He turned it over a few times, noting the bruise pattern. She winced. “It might be fractured.”

“It’s fine,” she said.

“So, you and Brady yelled at each other. He shoved you. You punched him. Then what happened?”

“Then it was over. I walked away.”

Jason stared at her. She returned his gaze unblinkingly. “You’re screaming at each other. He shoves you. You punch him. And then you walk away, just like that.”

“Just like that,” Kimber said.

“Kimber, I’ve been in plenty of fights. When two people are heated enough to be yelling, shoving, and punching, no one ever just walks away.”

“Maybe you’ve never fought with anyone as mature as I am because that’s what happened,” Kimber said. They stared at each other some more.

“Where did you go after the fight?” Jason asked.

“I hung out for a while.”

“With who?”

“No one.”

“Where?”

“Around.”

“Kimber,” Lacy interjected. “What are you doing? Tell him where you were and who you were with.”

“I wasn’t with anyone and I wasn’t doing anything. I drove around for a while, sat in my car for a bit, and then went to the diner for breakfast. You can ask that Rose person because she talked to me.”

The diner conversation with Rose would have happened after Brady was attacked, Lacy was sure.

“Kimber, you can see my dilemma here,” Jason said. He laid his hands plaintively on the desk between them. “You had motive, means, and opportunity. Is there anything you can tell me that will help take you off my suspect list, anything at all?”

“No,” Kimber said. “Am I under arrest?”

Lacy held her breath. The tension in the room was thick.

“No,” Jason said at last.

“Am I free to go?”

“Yes,” Jason said.

Kimber stood and left the room without a word.

“Jason, you know she didn’t do it,” Lacy said.

“Do I?” Jason said.

“Jason!”

“Look, Lacy, I don’t want Kimber to be guilty, but investigations aren’t about my personal feelings; they’re about facts. The facts point to Kimber, but not strongly enough to arrest her. I’m not closing my mind and deciding on her, you know that. I’ll keep investigating every opportunity until the situation is resolved to my satisfaction, but you have to admit that it doesn’t look good for her.”

“It doesn’t,” Lacy agreed. “But that doesn’t mean she did it.”

They sat in silence a few beats.

“Are you angry with me?” he asked at last.

“No,” she said and meant it. He was only doing his job, and he had been fair, much fairer than she would have been if the situation were reversed. She tended to let her feelings get the best of her. “I’m sorry if it seemed that way. Kimber has bad memories about this town; I don’t want to make them worse. And I want her to like you.”

He opened his arms and she tumbled into them, snuggling in his lap. The romance and chemistry were nice, but she liked this just as well, this feeling of intimacy and belonging. “It’s important to you that your beloved college roommate likes me,” he said with feigned innocence. “Why is that?”

“Because we’re all
friends
.” If he caught the inflection on the last word, he didn’t let on. Instead he kissed the top of her head. His hand made a few passes over her hair before resting comfortingly over her ear.

“Lacy, tell me about Summer. What did she do to you?”

She hesitated. His thumb traced soothingly over her ear. “You accuse me of not trusting you, so this is me trusting you. No one else knows this story, not Tosh, not Kimber, not my grandma—no one. Sophomore year I received a letter telling me I had been selected to try out to be the school’s mascot.”

“The flying penguin?” he clarified.

“The flying penguin,” she agreed. “The letter said all I needed to do was record myself giving an audition. I was told to create a costume and bring something special to the role, something all my own.” He groaned. She ignored him and pressed on. “I made a costume from my dad’s white sweat pants and black sweat shirt. I took black feather boas and glued them onto the sleeves and made a beak from yellow construction paper.”