Cornwall and Redfern Mysteries 2-Book Bundle (34 page)

I was well into
my second drink when Redfern finally showed up.

“Close the door, will you? You're letting all the heat out.” I sucked up the cherry at the bottom of my glass and stabbed a mandarin orange slice with the point of my wee umbrella.

“Why are you wearing a bathing suit and eating a fruit salad from a margarita glass?” He hung his outer layer of clothing on a hook by the door and loosened his tie. “Christ, it's hot in here.”

“This is a special, vitamin-packed margarita. I cranked the heat to twenty-five, so you better divest yourself of some more clothes. Just a suggestion, I'm not trying to be bossy.” I tied the strings of my sheer black cover-up into a neat bow and padded into the kitchen to turn the broiler on.

When I returned, Redfern was fiddling with the thermostat.

“Hey, leave that alone, copper. Nachos will be ready in a couple of minutes. Sit down and I'll pour you a drink.”

He eyed the pitcher of margaritas like it had committed an indictable offence and he was preparing to whip out the handcuffs. “I'd rather have a beer.”

“Go get one, then. And check the nachos aren't burning while you're there. I'm going to be pretty wasted if I have to drink this whole pitcher by myself.”

He came back with a tray loaded with nachos, salsa, sour cream, and a frosty bottle of Molson Canadian. His hair was standing up in sweaty spikes and he shed another layer of clothes down to his underwear, but not before closing the drapes and locking the front door. Like anybody who wanted in wouldn't go around to the kitchen door, or come through the garage.

“Where's Rae?” He sank down beside me and picked up a napkin.

“In her bedroom. She'll be out in a minute.” I laughed at his expression. “Kidding. She's in Owen Sound again, staying overnight with one of her sisters.”

“You didn't answer my first question. Why are we pretending it's July and listening to steel band music? Which is quite loud, by the way.”

“That's two questions. But I have one answer. I'm trying to forget about the first storm of the winter, with at least four months to go until spring. I'm feeling quite depressed.”

“Maybe we can take an island vacation in January or February. Would that help?”

A dollop of sour cream dripped onto my bare knee. I leaned over and lapped it up. “Don't toy with me, Redfern.”

His gaze followed my tongue back to my mouth. “We'll do it if you want, but right now I have a crime or two to solve.”

I ignored the napkins he handed me and licked the salsa off my forearm. The ice was melting in the pitcher and I topped up my glass, adding more fruit and a fresh umbrella. “So. Sophie Wingman. Murder?”

“Perhaps.”

I snorted. “Sure. Pull the other one, Redfern.”

“If you were on the job, I might tell you that, at this time, murder is probable.”

“I may not be on the job, but I bet I know more about this town and its citizens than your exclusive little club.”

“I don't doubt that, Cornwall.”

“What are your reservations, then, about giving me more details?”

“I can't allow a civilian to influence the investigation.”

I picked up a maraschino cherry by its stem and twirled it in front of my eyes. It was so round and red and perfect. I placed it on my tongue and slid it into my mouth.
Mmmmm
. “I don't aspire to be a cop, or even a police rat. But I do have a vested interest in solving the murder of a classmate. Make that
two
classmates.” I spat the stem towards my paper plate, but missed.

When he began his obligatory protests, I waved my hand in front of his face. “Yeah, yeah, I know. A teenage girl felt a heart attack coming on and crawled into her gym locker to die alone. She didn't want to bother anyone. Makes perfect sense. And another girl becomes a priest, only to be murdered in her church the day after the first girl's body is discovered.”

He tipped the last of the bottle's contents down his throat. “I'm only too happy to hear what you know about your two classmates. But what you tell me has to stay between us.”

“Whatever. So, it's settled. I'll give you all the deep background you need, and you keep me in the loop.”

“Sure, Cornwall. You go first. But I'm going to turn off the music and lower the heat.”

“You can be a real downer. I can hardly wait to get you alone on an island. You'll probably bring your own water-purifying kit.”

While Redfern carried the remains of our meal to the kitchen, I emptied more fruit into my glass and opened two yearbooks to the pertinent pages. I organized my thoughts between bites.

“What are we looking at, Cornwall?”

With my shoulder touching his bare chest, it should have been a cozy prelude to a delightful interaction, but tonight was all about business. I nudged the first volume. “This one here is the book you borrowed, from the year I graduated. The other is from the following year. Most of us bought it because it had two full pages of photos of us on the official grad night that occurred the next October.”

Redfern pulled it out of my fingers. “Take me through each one. Who's in it, what they were doing.”

His phone rang. I sat back and watched him search frantically through the pile of clothes — shirt, pants, jacket — where was that darn phone? By the time he located it in his coat, it had stopped ringing. The sweat ran off his body in rivulets and I opened the front door and fanned it back and forth to let some of the snowstorm in.

The cold air froze the blood in my veins, so while Redfern redialed, I went to my bedroom and changed into a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt.

When I came out, Redfern was pulling his clothes on with one hand while holding his phone in the other and conducting an official-sounding conversation. Who says men can't multi-task?

“Okay. Why didn't we have a report in our files? Really? When? I wonder why Davidson didn't mention this to us. Read it to me. Okay, call me back.”

I scooped more fruit from the pitcher into my glass and watched Redfern button his shirt.

Redfern in full uniform can be an intimidating sight — for some people. His hard stare made even innocent folk quake in their shoes. “What's up with you, Redfern? Got a hot tip?”

“Tell me everything you remember about your graduation night. Begin with your arrival at the high school.”

“Oh, well. There are a few gaps in my memory. Keep in mind, it was a long time ago.”

He sat down in the easy chair across from me until our knees were almost, but not quite, touching. “High school graduation is a highlight in everyone's life. You must remember something.”

“We had all moved on, whether to university, college, jobs, whatever. The ceremony was just for our parents' benefit. They wanted to see their kids dress up in robes and stupid hats and get handed a rolled-up piece of paper that didn't matter because we all knew we had graduated the previous June.”

“Point taken. The ceremony didn't matter to you kids. Any of the grads missing?”

“We were all there, except Lionel Petty, who went to the University of Victoria and refused to fly back, then or ever. His mother accepted his diploma.” I pointed at Lionel's picture. He looked nerdy, but he was stubborn. It was impossible to talk him into hiding a paper bag containing a wasp's nest in the boys' locker room to get even for their sexist behaviour over the past four years …

“Forget Lionel then. Everyone else there?”

“Each and every little captive one of us.”

“So the ceremony is over. You have a party in the gym?”

Vague wisps of memory were all I had from that night, most of them from before the party began. “After the ceremony, the parents left, taking the rented gowns and caps and diplomas. The few significant others weren't allowed to stay …”

“Why not?”

I shrugged. “Maybe the chaperones didn't want anyone making out in the dark corners. Then, the decorating committee — including my reluctant self — hoisted the disco ball to the rafters, set up tables and refreshments. We flipped the lights off, turned on the floodlights, and the DJ started playing tunes. And there it was. One magical evening.” After that, the rest of the night was pretty much a blur.

Redfern didn't glance away from my face. “Go on.”

“To tell you the truth, I believe someone may have brought a bottle of tequila, or two, and when the authority figures weren't looking, some of us may have poured a drop or two into our pop cans. You have to remember, Redfern, we didn't want to be there, our high school teachers were still trying to boss us around, and they wouldn't let us leave until we had a party to celebrate our graduation. By the time they unlocked the door — and that had to be against the fire code — we were pretty much blasted. Even the nerds were bored into imbibing.”

“You paint a vivid picture, Cornwall. So, that's all you remember?”

“Pretty much. I do recollect the body jam in the door to the parking lot when they finally released us. Must have been midnight or so. But you can't go by me.”

“Obviously. What next?”

“I woke up rolled in a rug in the back of Fang Davidson's pickup. In Dogtown.”

“Really? Did Fang roll you up to keep you warm?”

“I think I did it myself, to prevent liberties being taken with my person. It's a trick I learned from my dad, and that night wasn't the first time I took advantage of his wisdom.”

“I feel a strange compulsion to hear the end of this story.”

“Well, that's about it. I unrolled myself and wandered away to find Fang. His father told me he was passed out in his bedroom and drove me home himself. My parents were still sleeping. I crawled into bed. And I've never been able to drink tequila since. End of story.”

“You just made a quart of margaritas.”

“I used white rum. And Grand Marnier. It doesn't taste as good as it sounds.”

He shook his head like a dog that stuck its head too far into the water dish. “And that's all you remember? You can't recall where anybody else was, or where you were for that matter?”

“Sorry, Redfern.” My glass was empty of fruit and I reached for the pitcher, but Redfern picked it up and headed for the kitchen. “Don't throw out the fruit! It's expensive.”

He returned with his notebook and pen in hand. Things were about to get serious. I stifled a snort at his cop face. He was so cute.

“Besides your fellow classmates, who was at the dance? Caterers, chaperones?”

“No caterers. Our moms supplied the sandwiches and desserts. Mr. Archman was there, and a couple of lady teachers whose names escape me at the moment. Mr. Archman is principal now. The others might be retired, or dead. Oh, and Kelly Quantz was the DJ.”

Redfern looked up from his scribbling. “Kelly Quantz? Sophie Wingman Quantz's husband?”

“Kelly always DJed the school dances. He was a graphic artist, designing covers for books, mostly horror and fantasy. But, that doesn't pay well, so he moonlighted as a DJ at the school dances — and weddings. I think he still does.”

“So, he would have known Sophie when you were in high school?”

“Everyone knew Sophie.” Oops, I shouldn't have started down that road. Speaking ill of the dead isn't classy.

Redfern must have caught an inflection in my voice. “What does that mean?”

“Well, before Sophie became a priest, she was … um … not so priestly.”

“Who was she not priestly with? Anyone in particular?”

“Pretty much everyone in particular. She nearly went through the entire senior class by spring break. There were even rumours she was involved with an older man.”

His phone rang again. He did a lot of listening and a bit of grunting; so sexy. “Thanks, Bernie. If you find anything else, call me.”

“What's the big news, Redfern? Does it have to do with this case?”

He pushed the yearbook with the grad photos closer to me. “First, tell me which boys were involved with Sophie.”

Neil watched Cornwall
as she leaned over the yearbook. Her crazily striped hair was pulled into a ponytail and her toenails glowed neon green. He meant it about taking a vacation. Somewhere warm where they could lie in the sand and coat each other with sunscreen. Margaritas would not be served, but he would find her some other tropical drink with an umbrella … and no tequila.

“I can't remember the exact order, but the only guys Sophie didn't date in senior year were these.” She pointed to four young males in turn. “Nerd, gay, nerd, and this guy, Chico Leeds, who was under the thumb of his girlfriend in grade eleven. But Sophie cut a swath through the rest of the class. After spring break, though, she didn't date anyone. I only remember because it was so out of character for her. That's when the rumours started about the older man, but it could be she just got sick of the male sex, or ran out of options.”

“Do you think any of Sophie's relationships were sexual?” Neil noticed that Cornwall's ex-husband, Mike Bains, was not one of the excluded males.

“At least some of them, yeah. Boys like to brag, I know, but I think some of their stories might have been true.”

“Including your ex-husband's? You weren't dating then?”

“He was one of the legions of Sophie admirers. The Weasel and I didn't get together until university. Second year.”

Cornwall's big, dark eyes fastened on his and he felt a sudden rage against Mike Bains for hurting her.

“As far as you know, was the relationship between Bains and Sophie a serious one?”

“I already told you, Sophie didn't have any serious hookups in senior year. Certainly none that lasted.”

“What about Kelly Quantz? Anything between them back then?”

“Maybe he was the older man she was seeing, if there was one. Kelly is at least ten years older than Sophie. But there was no sign of it on grad night that I can remember. What did Bernie have to say?”

“In a minute. What about Fang Davidson? Did he harbour any resentment when Sophie broke up with him?”

“Who knows. Sophie was a slut back then. Everyone was surprised when she went to Divinity College, and even more surprised that she came back to the scene of her sinful past.”

Neil replaced the yearbook with the one containing pictures of the grad party. “Let's go over these photos. Maybe something will come back to you if you talk about them.”

“I kind of doubt it, Redfern. After that night I swore off the hard stuff, and only drank an occasional glass of wine in university. Blackouts are a warning that one should limit one's alcohol intake.”

“Yes, I've heard that. Just tell me who these people are and what they're doing. And don't speculate.”

She pointed to the first picture. “The Weasel sucking up to Mr. Archman. Did I mention the Weasel was the high school valedictorian that year and spent a lot of time sucking up to everyone except his classmates? He showed nothing but contempt for us, and that should have been a warning to me, but I was too dumb to see it.”

“Ancient history, Cornwall. He was never good enough for you. Let's move on.”

“Next one: Fang and Chico either lowering or raising the disco ball.” She looked up. “Is the ball still in the auditorium?”

“Still there, as well as the garbage nobody cleaned up.”

“Yeah, well, that was supposed to be the last duty of the decorating committee. Chico, Fang, and I were told to come in early the next morning and remove all that stuff and pile it behind the new high school. Plus, bag up the garbage and throw it into the Dumpster behind the gym. By the time I remembered that, I was back at university the following Tuesday and didn't give a shit. It's not like the school board could revoke my diploma.”

“You're a rebel, Cornwall. Who's Chico, by the way?”

“Charles Leeds. He manages the Canadian Tire store in town.”

“And would Faith Davidson be Fang's sister?”

“His twin sister, yes.”

Cornwall had started wearing eye makeup, making her eyes seem even bigger and darker. With sweatshirt and jeans, she looked like Cleopatra on casual Friday. She aimed those eyes at him now. “Those bones in the locker are Faith's.”

Neil looked at Faith's picture. Long dark hair, slight build, perfect smile. Perfect teeth. “About the phone call, Cornwall. Bernie says that Faith Davidson was reported missing by her parents two weeks after your party at the high school.”

She stood up and walked away. When she came back, she held a glass of water which she drank in one long swallow. “I knew that Faith was missing. I heard it from my parents when I came home for Christmas. I thought about her for a long time, wondering what had happened to her. We had been friends at school. But then life happened. I forgot about her. Everyone said she disappeared in Toronto where she was staying with an aunt and going to college. I can't remember which one. But the skeleton has to be Faith.”

Neil said, “Until a few years ago, Dogtown was under the jurisdiction of the Owen Sound Police Service. They initiated the missing person report. A few years later, there was some sort of boundary re-alignment and now Dogtown is part of Lockport.”

“Oh, sure. They even tried to amalgamate us with Blackshore to the north of us, and everything in between, and call us something else. We just ignored it.”

“The Davidsons reported Faith's disappearance to the Owen Sound force. We'll have a bulletin somewhere, but the investigation file is lean. Bernie obtained a copy of the report from Owen Sound and read me the highlights. We can't be sure at this time that we've located Faith Davidson, but it appears she was never seen after grad night.”

Cornwall stared at the pictures in front of her. “Here's Faith. Standing off to the side … alone, as usual. I think she was the only one who wasn't drinking.” She looked up. “She just came back from Toronto for the evening and was taking the late bus back to the city. Did she get on that bus?”

“A witness saw a young woman waiting at the Greyhound bus stop in front of the Petro station about twelve-thirty. She was wearing a white dress. The bus driver couldn't confirm he picked anyone up at that stop on his way through Lockport. Not after two weeks. They didn't have electronic tickets back then. So we don't know if the young woman was Faith. If it was, she got on the bus and disappeared in Toronto.”

“Faith's graduation dress was bright yellow. Like a buttercup. And she wouldn't have worn it on the bus. She would have changed into jeans and a jacket. I guess we know she disappeared right here. She never left the building that night.”

“We can't be sure yet, Cornwall. Were you good friends with Faith?”

“Yeah. We hung around at school. Me and Faith, Fang, Chico … a few others I haven't seen in years.”

During his time on the Toronto force, Neil knew of many people who slipped off the radar and were never heard from again. There were just too many places to hide, or hide a body. He thought a small town might be different, but he should have known better. Big city, small town, it was all the same. And poor communications were a major cause of screw-ups between police jurisdictions.

He stuffed his tie in his pocket and put on his belt. “Why don't you throw a few things in a bag and come home with me for the night, Cornwall? I'll bring you back first thing in the morning.”

A faint smile appeared, then vanished. “It's pretty stormy out there. Maybe you should close the highway and just hunker down here for the night.”

“The OPP decides when to close the highway. I have a full day of interviewing ahead of me and I'll need a fresh uniform. How about it? I don't want to leave you here alone in case the power goes out.”

“If that happens, I'll pull a blanket in here and sleep in front of the gas fireplace. I won't freeze, or starve, but thanks.”

He leaned over and gave her a lingering kiss. Maybe he could run home in the morning to change. Spending the night in Bliss Moonbeam Cornwall's bed was far more enticing than returning to his cold cabin in the bush and sleeping alone.

Before he could change his mind, he stepped out into the storm. The snow had turned to sleet that cut into his face as he scraped the ice from his windshield. He sat in the driveway for a few minutes to let the inside of the windows defrost. Fuck. Bruce County in the winter had to be the shittiest spot on the planet. The sun didn't shine for days, and the snow came at you sideways — try driving in that without your stomach heaving.

He restrained himself from charging back into the house, throwing Cornwall over his shoulder, and dragging her back to his cabin. She'd kick him in the head, call him an asshole, and never speak to him again.

He knew why she didn't want to spend the night at his place, and it was his fault, no doubt about that. But he didn't know what to do about it. He backed out of the driveway and drove cautiously out of the subdivision toward the highway — which may very well be closed by morning if this weather kept up.

The sound of a revving motorcycle filled his vehicle: Cornwall's ringtone. He touched the Bluetooth button on the steering wheel. “Have you changed your mind? I'll come back for you …”

“No. Listen to me. Did you find Faith's suitcase?”