Small Town Filly (Sandbar Stables Cozy Mystery Book 1) (10 page)

              The rest of the day passed slowly. Alex wasn't sure how long it would take for the local police force to get a search warrant and get to Gray's hotel room. Then, just as they finished bringing the horses in and doing the evening feeding, Alex's cell phone rang.

              She listened intently, nodding her head and glancing up at Lance the whole time. "Okay. Thank you. We'll be there."

Finally, she turned to him. "They've made an arrest. They want us to come down to the department building tonight, so they can tell us what they found."

"Let's go, then," he said, and they started off towards the rental car.

***

A short time later, Alex and Lance walked into the large modular building that served as the headquarters for the local police force. Officer Pitts showed them into a little meeting room, where a table holding a folder of papers was waiting.

"Okay, have a seat," said Pitts. "And let me be the first to congratulate you. You were right. Stuart Gray has been arrested, and will be charged in the murders of both Fred Lucas and Chuck Wood. And with several counts of trespassing, vandalism, and animal cruelty for coming onto your property, turning four horses loose, stealing one, and spray-painting one."

Alex closed her eyes. "Thank you, Officer Pitts. Thank you."

"So," said Lance, "what evidence did you find to arrest him?"

"Quite a bit. He seemed to think nobody would ever look at him as a criminal. Right there in his hotel room we found the can of blue spray paint, the same paper that he used to write the note wrapped around the rock, and even the pistol that we feel certain was used to kill both Fred Lucas and Chuck Wood."

Alex whistled. "Wow, he left all that stuff in his hotel room? I guess that would make it easy to charge him."

"Yes. That and the fact that he sang like a bird the minute we walked in and found his can of spray paint."

"He didn't even try to deny it?" asked Lance.

"Nope. I guess he thought we'd go easier on him if he confessed right away." The officer grinned. "I've lived around here all my life. My family's got a couple of horses, too. Not a chance he'll get away with this."

Lance nodded. "And he did all that just so he could run Alex off the property and buy it cheap?"

"Yes. It turns out there was a big bonus in it for him—near seven figures, plus a promotion—if he could get that piece of land for his hotel company. That's why he wasn't about to give up."

"But why kill the first caretaker? That happened before I even got here—before anybody knew I was the new owner."

"Yes. But as soon as the Norman family actually vacated, Gray's company got wind of it and they sent him right down. At first, Gray was just trying to scare the caretaker and, he hoped, the unseen new owner—Ms. Alexandra Byrne. But on the very first night, Fred Lucas caught Gray red-handed in the barn with a pair of scissors. He'd intended to cut off Violet's mane and tail."

Alex sat up. "Oh, my god," she whispered.

"That's what Fred Lucas thought, too," said the officer. "He told Gray he was going straight to us and to the local newspapers. Stories about guys hurting horses don't set too well with people, and that would have hurt Gray's chances to get that bonus and promotion. Poor Fred didn't stand a chance."

"So I guess Gray's the one who let the horses out onto the road, and stole Starfish and left him in Jonni Lowe's back yard."

"That's right."

"At first," said Alex, "we thought it must have been Chuck Wood who was trying to run me off. He was right next door and sure didn't like having the horses next to him."

"Well, that's true, he didn't," said Officer Pitts. "But he was all bark and no bite."

"So you're saying Gray killed him, too? What for? Wood almost ran me off all by himself! I was ready to sell to him and get the horses out, just to get away from the misery of living next door to him."

"And that was exactly the problem. If you sold to Wood, no bonus for Gray. So Wood had to go, too."

"Wow," she murmured. "Just…wow."

"That only leaves one question," said Lance. "How did Fanny know Stuart Gray? She never barked when he was around, and I actually saw her go up to him once and sniff his hand."

"Yes. The dog." Officer Pitts was smiling. "Until a couple of months ago, she belonged to Gray."

Lance and Alex looked at each other. "Belonged to him? How is that possible?" asked Alex. "He doesn't seem much like the dog type."

"Well, he isn't, really," said the officer. "Apparently, some friends in Boston gave him a border collie puppy as a Christmas gift about a year ago. He loves status and fancy things, you see, and border collies are a very bright and popular dog.

"So, he kept the puppy, but didn't realize how much exercise these dogs need. They won't do well in an apartment, especially with an owner who works long hours and doesn't have time for any kind of dog."

"Poor Fanny," said Alex.

"I guess that's how she got that strange name—Faneuil," said Lance. "Because she's from Boston."

Pitts nodded. "Probably. So, Gray really didn't want the dog, but wasn't about to give her back to his friends or turn her in to a shelter. That would be admitting failure. So he arranged for her to fly down with him on this trip."

Alex snorted. "I'm sure his friends were very impressed by his devotion to his dog to bring her with him. I've seen the type."

"Maybe," Pitts continued. "But his real plan was, as you said, to impress his friends—and then leave the dog out on a beach somewhere in hopes she wouldn't come back. And that's exactly what he did."

"That explains why I found her wandering around the motels looking for food," said Lance. "No telling where he dumped her or how far she had to go to get back to town."

Alex shook her head. "You can add abandoning an animal to the list of charges, Officer. Too bad it can't be worse than that."

"Oh, I think we've got plenty to put him away for the rest of his life—or worse," said Officer Pitts. "And as for the dog, I'd say things have ended up far better for her here with you than they ever would have up in Boston with that guy." He shrugged. "Ever been up there? I was in Boston once for a seminar. It's dark. Cold. Gray. Not anything like Argentina Shores."

Alex looked at Lance and grinned. "I think he's right. Things have turned out better than I ever could have expected. All three of us have got a home now, right here on this beautiful sunny beach."

CHAPTER TWENTY

A week later, on a beautiful spring morning, Alex drove down the familiar two-lane road through Argentina Shores. She grinned when she saw the large white wooden sign with blue lettering that now stood just behind the fence:

SANDBAR STABLES

BEACH RIDES

LESSONS

HORSE TRAINING

Even better was the moving van following right behind her, which had finally arrived with all of her furniture and possessions. She waved at Lance, who waved back, and then got right to work directing the movers on placing her things inside the right rooms in the house.

Just as the light was fading outside, Alex began putting away a few scarves and extra purses in the master bedroom closet. She reached up to place the scarves on the shelf, but it seemed that something was already up there.

It was something made of paper. She wasn’t quite tall enough to see it and hadn't noticed it until now. Carefully, she reached up and took down a manila envelope—a very old and well-worn one, by the look of it.

Inside was a 5 x 7 in black-and-white photograph of a girl who appeared to be about ten years old. Alex just stared down at it, blinking. The girl in the photo had very light eyes that could have been pale green, and long hair in two curly ponytails that could have been light brown.

The photo looked very much like her own school photographs when she'd been about ten years old. Alex turned the picture over and saw only
1959
handwritten in faint blue ink on the back.

She slid the photograph back into the envelope and carefully put it away in her desk drawer. As she unpacked the rest of her things, all she could think of was the face of that young girl, who must have once lived in this house and who looked just like a young Alexandra Byrne.

~~~

NEXT IN THE SANDBAR STABLES MYSTERIES:

Rocky Mountain Mustang

High Stepping Murder