COZY MYSTERY: Trail Mix Murder: A Cozy Mystery in the Mountains (Book 2) (10 page)

Victoria sat for a second, processing this. “You left the house at… one? One Thirty?”

“Closer to One Thirty, I think,” Hanson said. “See, that’s the thing. As soon as I heard she’d been murdered the next morning, I went over to talk to Declan. He’d told the police nothing about me. He said that he’d been so shocked and traumatized that he actually forgot to tell them about me. I told him that was good.” Hanson took a deep breath. “The way I saw it if he wanted to inherit her estate, he had to prove that he was her common law spouse and that they were devoted only to each other. If I testified to a judge that I had kissed her that day, bam, it would wash his inheritance down the toilet. On the other hand, if he testified that I was with her until one thirty, all sorts of nastiness might rain down on me. So I told him it was best if he just stuck to the story he’d already told the cops, and leave me out of it. That way, his inheritance would be safe and sound.”

“You never considered the possibility that Declan might have murdered her, did you?” Victoria asked.

“Declan? Don’t be ridiculous. He had an alibi.” Hanson said.

“Hanson, Declan could easily have slipped out of the bar. He could easily have driven back home, murdered LeeLee, and then gone back, and pretended nothing happened.” Victoria said. “Did it ever occur to you that you might need to testify about what had happened?”

Hanson paled. “It didn’t, no.” He said. “I didn’t think it was Declan, and since I hadn’t seen who the murderer was, I didn’t want to be involved in the case.”

“You’re involved now,” Victoria said. “I think you always have been. You told me that the Red-Coated girl approached you, didn’t she? At Marley’s bar?”

“What about it?”

“What did she want to talk to you about?”

“She was mostly flirting with me,” Hanson said. “The more I think about it, the more I think she was just trying to make me take her to LeeLee’s.”

“Last time, you told me she was talking to you about your ski-resort,” Victoria said.

“Oh, well, I suppose it wasn’t exactly that.” Hanson squinted his face, trying to remember. “I was actually telling her about it. I told her about the mural I’m getting installed, and we started talking about art.”

Victoria’s heart beat faster. Art! “Was that when you invited her to LeeLee’s?” She asked.

“Yes, eventually. To be honest, I’d had a few drinks and the night’s conversation isn’t very memorable. I just remember being attracted to her, and wanting to show off to LeeLee that I could date a woman so young and beautiful.” Hanson sighed.

The secretary knocked on the door. “Hanson, it’s Steve.” She said, peeking from behind the slightly opened door. “He’s come about the money for the mural.”

“Oh tell him to go away, I’ve got no time,” Hanson said. He turned back to Victoria, “The girl in the red coat was...”

“You bet you’ve got the time,” Steve said, angrily making his way in. “Now look here Hanson...” He looked at Victoria, surprised. “Victoria? Aren’t you supposed to be at the café? Amanda was going to talk to you about...” He blinked. “Anyway, Hanson, I need that money and I’m tired of being ripped off by you folks.”

“Tomorrow,” Hanson said. “We’ll talk about it tomorrow. We’re discussing important things here.”

“I don’t care if you’re discussing state secrets, I...”

Hanson sighed. “Victoria, I’ll come down to the police station after work so in about two hours. You better leave for now. You’re right, I have to tell Randolf about this.”

Shaking his hand, Victoria left.

Would this testimony be enough to implicate Declan, she wondered? She walked to the parking space and took a step back in shock. “Declan?” she said. “What are you doing here?”

He’d parked next to her car and was just sitting, staring blankly ahead, his fists clutched tightly around the steering wheel.

“Hmm?” he looked up, surprised, and then blinked, as if coming back to himself. “Oh, I... I had come to talk to Hanson.” He said.

“Hanson’s busy,” Victoria said. “You better get out of here, Declan. You don’t want to be here. You don’t look too good. Maybe you should see a doctor or a grief counselor.”

“I’m…” Declan’s words were slow, distorted as if he had been drinking. Surreptitiously, Victoria leaned forward and sniffed. Yes. Alcohol fumes invaded her nostrils.

“Well. I better be going then.” Declan said, looking up at her. “I don’t really know why I came here. I was just… driving around town, and I ended up here, somehow.”

“I’m sure you did,” Victoria said and stayed until she saw his car drive away. A little shudder went down her spine. This case was almost solved, she thought, though she didn’t really want to believe it.

Three hours later, Victoria got a call from Corporal Jager.

“Yes?” She said, excited.

“Victoria, is it true that you visited Hanson earlier this afternoon?” Randolf asked, his voice sounding tight.

“I did,” Victoria said. “He’s down at the station now, isn’t he?”

“He is, yes, in a manner of speaking,” Randolf said. “Where are you?”

“I’m at the café. Would you like me to come down too?”

“Yes. That would be best.” Randolf said. “It looks like we’ve got to make an arrest and fast.”

In fifteen minutes, Victoria was at the station, excited at the new developments. She remembered the glassy, vacant look in Declan’s eyes as he had sat in his car, and almost felt sorry for him. He was a great bull of a man, but could he really be a murderer? Even Hanson’s statement was not enough to implicate him totally, surely.

Then, there was the case of the red-coated girl. In focusing so much on LeeLee, the murder that began it all had been forgotten. The girl had been interested in art. Hanson had said. Coincidentally, there was a painting missing from LeeLee’s room and she had been talking about a missing CD too. Could that CD have featured the artwork? Was that why it had been stolen? Mentally, Victoria replayed the murder, trying to recapture every detail of the conversation as LeeLee had described the missing CD. They had been talking at first about the missing girl’s coat being an expensive Italian make- probably hand-made. Then LeeLee had mentioned that the CD was missing. Or was it the other way around?

“Two pieces of news,” Randolf said, coming out to meet her as she parked in the station.

“Go on,” Victoria said.

“First, the DNA tests came back.”

“LeeLee isn’t the red coat girl’s mother,” Victoria said. “In fact, they have no blood relationship at all, isn’t that correct?”

“That is correct,” Randolf said, looking surprised. “How were you so confident?”

“Because the girl was here inquiring about art,” Victoria said.

“Perhaps she was a scam artist trying to steal the painting on LeeLee’s bedroom wall?” Randolf asked.

“I have a theory about that,” Victoria said. “But I’m not completely sure. What was the second piece of news?”

“My uncle has been found murdered,” Randolf said. His voice was still light, but Victoria, with dawning horror, got past her own excitement and saw the sadness in his face.

“Hanson is dead!?” she asked. “No, he was alive just three hours ago. What happened?”

“He and his secretary were both found murdered in their offices,” Randolf said.

Victoria sat down, the air knocked out of her. Almost immediately, she got up and gave Randolf a hug. “I’m sorry.” She said. “So sorry for you.”

“I’m…” Randolf shook his head. “He was my uncle. I’m supposed to be grieving. Instead, I just feel numb and hollow. I can’t seem to feel anything about his death.”

“You’re hurt,” Victoria said.

“I’m calling on the Banff detachment to help me with the case,” Randolf said. “You know the saying right? A doctor should never diagnose his own family?”

Victoria didn’t, actually. But she saw his point. “You’re too emotional about your uncle to be objective?”

“More or less.” He said. “Victoria… how did this happen? He was happy. He was… he had his share of issues with the bottle but he was alright overall.”

“Was it…” Victoria’s question trailed off.

“They were shot. Both of them.” Randolf said. “His secretary too. They must have screamed, but Hanson’s office is far enough off the street that no one heard. The murder must have happened right before they shut down for the day. All the other employees had gone home. Hanson had stayed behind for a half an hour extra, as he always does, to review his day and week, while his secretary was taking notes.”

“The intruder… he must be someone Hanson knew, mustn’t he?” Victoria asked.

“He must have,” Randolf said. “We’ve identified the make and model of the gun already. It was wiped clean and lying next to the bodies. But it’s an illegal firearm, bought on the black market. Nearly impossible to trace those.”

Victoria took a deep breath. “I’m so sorry.” She said.

“You were there this afternoon, weren’t you?” Randolf said, “I interviewed everyone who was in the office today. Steve told me he saw you there.”

“I was talking to Hanson about LeeLee,” Victoria said. With a deep breath, she began to tell Randolf everything. He sat, listening, his face getting progressively angrier.

“....and you didn’t think to phone me?” he said. “You extracted this information out of Hanson, and you didn’t even bother to tell me?”

“He was going to come to the station in three hours,” Victoria said. “As soon as he was done with work. He told me that. I didn’t think...”

“You never think.” The Corporal exploded. “We could have stopped this. I could have stopped this. It’s obvious, isn’t it? Who did it? We’ll arrest him now, but what use will it be? He’s committed three murders. Victoria, you saw him there. You saw. Him. At. The. Office.”

“I didn’t think he’d be bold enough to murder people in broad daylight,” Victoria said, her eyes full of tears. “Randolf, even now I have some doubts. Declan...”

“Declan will be arrested as soon as we get an airtight case against him,” Randolf said. “Which, in my mind, is pretty soon. We bought him in for questioning. He’s in the holding cell now and he says he doesn’t even remember what he did all afternoon. That he was driving around aimlessly, before going home and sleeping. Now we’ve got you placing him at Hanson’s office. One crucial witness.”

“Did he admit to any of it?” Victoria asked.

“He’s got his lawyers with him, and he’s rich.” Randolf sneered. “It’ll be a while before we catch him, and if we don’t get some really strong evidence soon, we may never catch him. Hanson’s testimony is useless now. You may have heard him say it, but that’s hearsay. Not admissible in court. Officially, his statement was that he was nowhere near LeeLee’s house that day. That’s the statement that will hold weight. We were so close, Victoria.”

Victoria put a hand on his shoulder. “Randolf...”

“No.” He said. “I don’t even want to talk to you right now. I’m furious, Victoria. You… you put your own life at risk too, by talking to Hanson before talking to me. You like to play the lone ranger but the stakes are very high here. This isn’t a game, or a novel, Victoria.”

“Randolf...”

“You better go.” He said, crossing his arms. “I don’t want to lose my temper any more than I have already.”

“I’m sorry.” She said, helplessly. “Randolf, I wish I could change this. I know I made a mess of it.”

“You did,” Randolf said. “I’d rather not talk to you right now. Please leave.”

Victoria tried to go back home. She brought the car all the way to her driveway, and then, impulsively, decided to drive away. Her thoughts were a jumble in her head. She needed someone to bounce her thoughts off. Randolf…

She felt a twinge of sadness inside her, followed by an overwhelming guilt. Randolf had been furious at her. She hadn’t meant for that to happen. She hadn’t talked to Hanson herself because she wanted to “break the case” or gain fame. It had been impulsive. Amanda had reminded her of Hanson, and she’d run to talk to him, that was all. Randolf was right, though, she hadn’t sat down to think about the consequences.

Then again, what could she have done? Hanson had been in an office, surrounded by people, and agreed to meet Randolf that evening. Surely that was…

…unacceptable. Randolf was right. With two murders already committed, Victoria should have told him, as soon as she could. She had to apologize.

But would he accept?

He was heartbroken, poor man. Victoria thought. Hanson’s death had really affected him. It was such a sad, useless thing, really.

She found herself parking and realized she was at Amanda’s home. Getting out, she took a deep breath. She needed someone to bounce ideas off, and Amanda was perfect.

She tried the doorbell, but no one answered. Deciding to sit down and wait on the stoop, she began going over the entire case in her mind.

LeeLee had been killed by Declan, so had the girl in red. For what reason? For the two million dollar painting, perhaps? Hanson had been about to give evidence against Declan. Evidence that might take away LeeLee’s massive inheritance from him.

This was where the theory broke down for her. Whoever had stolen that painting hadn’t sold it yet. Amanda had told her that. A stolen painting cannot be sold, often for years, until it’s not so much on the police radar anymore. It’s not like Declan could just have walked into a pawn shop and walked out with two million dollars. No, it would have made far more sense for him to sell off his TV or LeeLee’s jewelry. Not try to sell a two million dollar painting that would have papers attached to it, and provenance to prove.

So it didn’t make sense to her, that missing painting.

Whoever stole it, did so because they were confident they could sell the painting or hold on to it and sell it years later. So whoever stole it, did so out of greed, and didn’t need the money immediately.

Declan needed money, and he needed discretion. Even if he wanted the painting, why would he take it down the same time he murdered LeeLee? Surely it made more sense for him to wait, let the police leave, and then take the painting down? In fact, he lived in that house so he could take the painting down whenever he liked.

With a start, Victoria wondered if Declan even knew about the painting’s worth. Now, she remembered his casual, offhand remark about how he couldn’t tell a watercolor from a million dollar painting.

It just didn’t make sense.

She put her hands to her head and forced herself to think, to think hard about a piece of crucial evidence. The piece that Randolf needed.

Somewhere, in the back of her mind, she was convinced that she knew. The subconscious mind had already connected the dots and created a pattern that made sense. Her conscious mind just hadn’t caught up with it.

Alright, she told herself. Let’s throw all the assumptions about the case out of the window. Let’s rethink it. Let’s start with a blank page.

She picked up three pebbles and laid them out beside her. Pebble one, a large gray oblong one, represented the murder of the red-coated girl. Pebble two, a small black pebble with a streak of red running through it, represented the murder of LeeLee. Pebble three, a bright blue speckled one, represented the murder of Hanson. In the murderer’s world, there was a logical connection between these three pebbles. A flow.

So what was it?

With a frown, she rearranged the pebbles, so that LeeLee’s pebble was on top, and the red-coat girl and Hanson were on the bottom.

Isn’t this how she was looking at the problem? LeeLee’s murder being the crux of it? LeeLee’s murder was the main murder on everyone’s mind. After all, she was rich, and it was her painting that had gone missing.

Victoria added another pebble, putting it between LeeLee’s pebble and the red-coated girl’s pebble. Hanson had said the red coated girl asked him a lot about art.

There was an intrinsic error she was making, wasn’t she? Victoria thought. LeeLee’s murder might look like it was the center of the case, but, in fact, it was the red-coated girl who had been murdered first.

That was the main mystery here.

If the red-coated girl had been a scam artist, and her partner had murdered her, why do it after the party? It would make sense if the painting had been stolen at the party, the red-coat girl and her partner ran away, and then he murdered her.

But that had not been the way it happened.

The red coated girl was murdered first, then LeeLee had been murdered, then the painting had been stolen, and then Hanson had been murdered.

The painting had been stolen impulsively after the murderer killed LeeLee. Victoria realized. That made sense. She began listing the facts she was sure of.

First, the murderer had to be local because he knew the hidden trail where he had killed the red coated girl.

Second, the murderer had decided to kill LeeLee after he killed the red coated girl.

What could that mean? Did LeeLee know something about the red-coated girl and the murderer didn’t want her to talk?

It was as if a flashbulb went off in her brain.

Of course! She’d gotten it wrong from that point. She had focused on the missing CD when LeeLee had said something else that day. Something far more incriminating. Since she was a fashion baroness, she had confidently said that she could identify the tailor or designer who created the red-coated girl’s coat. If she had identified the Italian tailor who made the coat, it would have revealed the red-coated girl’s identity.

Someone didn’t want her identity revealed. That’s why LeeLee had to die.

As for Hanson, Victoria gasped again, as the case suddenly clicked together for her.

Hanson had not testified to the police about LeeLee. He hadn’t talked to the police about anything really. The murderer could have killed him at any time, so why did he kill him just as he was about to give his testimony? How did the murder even know that Hanson was going to talk right then?

Because the murderer found out, quite by accident. Victoria realized, as the final piece of the puzzle clicked into place. The murderer walked in when Hanson was talking about the red-coated girl, and misunderstood when Hanson said, immediately after, that he had to talk to Randolf.

“Hello, Victoria.”

Fear pulsed through every part of her body, replacing all the blood in it. “Steve.” She said. “Hello.”

He stood in front of her, and for the first time, Victoria noticed how immensely tall, and powerful he seemed. His eyes were glinting, and a sharp smile lit up his face.

“Come to see Amanda?” He asked. “She’s picking up Ida. Come on in, why don’t you?”

“No, I think I better leave,” Victoria said. “I’ve got to go pick up Annie too.”

“Oh, I thought Annie and Byron come home together?” Steve said.

“Yes… well… Byron is busy today.” Victoria said. “I've got to get going, Steve.” She walked away, crossing her fingers.

A sharp pain exploded on the side of her head. The world went black.