The K Handshape (28 page)

He raised his eyebrows. “Really?”

“I understand there is another exit from the parking lot but it’s in the nature of a secret. Nobody is supposed to use it but on occasion employees do go out that way to beat the rush on concert nights.”

“Who told you that?”

I didn’t want to get Tiffany’s boyfriend into trouble. “Let’s just say I heard this on good authority.”

Ben was silent for a moment, holding his mug of tea and looking into it as if he were reading the tea leaves.

I took the sheet of paper from my briefcase. “This is the list of names that the missing vehicles are registered to — your name is on the list. Is that your licence plate number?”

He put down his tea and I handed him the paper.

“Yes, that’s my car all right.”

“Now I am positive you said you weren’t working on Tuesday night. Did you come to the casino anyway?”

He didn’t answer but turned away from me and sat down heavily in the chair.

“Do you have children?”

“Uh-uh.”

“I’ve got four and they’re all still at home, God forbid. My oldest is eighteen. I was at home on Tuesday, like I said, and Aaron asked to borrow the car. He told me he was going over to his girlfriend’s house. I never thought twice about it. Now according to what you showing me, somebody brought my car over here.”

“Does your son know about the other exit?”

“Sure he does.” Ben gave me a wry grin. “Is there a man in the world who doesn’t want to impress his teenage son with what a big chief he is? Aaron’s come to various concerts with me and the family and I took them home via the back way. I told them it was only for special folks like me and they mustn’t tell.” He sighed. “I’m going to tan his hide, I don’t care how old he is. One for lying to me and two for using the car like that. That rear exit is verboten and I could be in deep shit if the bosses knew I’d used it.”

“Why do you think he came here?”

“God knows. The concert was the Irish Tenors, and to say the least, they’re not his style. He’s a rap man. And he doesn’t gamble; I’ve made sure none of them ever got bitten by that particular bug. So no, I don’t know what he was doing here. What time was he clocked in?”

“Just before seven o’clock.”

I took out my notebook. “Perhaps I could have a word with him? Where’s the best place to reach him?”

“Right now he should be at work. He has a job at the ice cream parlour in Orillia. He won’t be too busy on a day like this.
Who wants ice cream in this weather? Are you going to phone or go over?”

“I’ll go over.”

His eyes met mine. “You don’t think he has anything to do with the dead girl, do you?”

I’d like to have said, “oh gosh no,” but of course I couldn’t. Anybody in that parking lot who couldn’t give an account of themselves on Tuesday night was a “person of interest” as far as I was concerned. We badly needed to trace Deidre’s movements after she left the building. Young Aaron Snake wasn’t the only person on the list, however.

“Do you know these three people?” I asked Ben. “They all clocked in just before seven.”

“Cartwright’s one of our cashiers. Tom Bruder is a pit boss and Don McBready works in the bar. They’ll be easy to verify. They’re all working now. If you like I can get them … maybe this room isn’t the best but do you want to talk to them?”

“I’ll do it later.”

I had to start getting back to the office and I wanted to have a quick chat with young Aaron before I did. I was about to impress on Ben the need for discretion but he beat me to it.

“Don’t worry, I won’t phone ahead and warn my son you’re coming. Whatever the hell he was up to I know it wasn’t murder. I’ll see him later tonight, but if you want to talk to me some more you can reach me at home. And I won’t speak to those other guys either.”

“I appreciate that.”

Again he flashed me the wry grin. “The Snakes are part of the Bear clan and traditionally we’re responsible for security, originally no doubt security of the village or the camping ground, now it’s the casino. I don’t like the fact that something horrible happened to somebody who was on my turf. You can count on my co-operation … and I hope you will do likewise. I don’t want to be left in the dark.”

“Fair enough.”

He knew I couldn’t discuss the details of the case with him but he wanted to know if he should worry about his son or not. Needless to say, this was all very reminiscent of Leo Forgach.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

In fact, my interview with Aaron Snake didn’t take long at all. He was sitting forlornly in the deserted ice cream parlour, waiting for customers. He looked a lot like his dad, tall and big-boned except that his dark hair was cut short and gelled into fashionable spikes. I explained why I wanted to talk to him. He gulped.

“Does my dad have to know?”

“He already knows you took his car, that you said you were going to your girlfriend’s but went to the casino. That was you, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah. I’ve met this girl, Nuala, see, and she’s crazy about the Irish Tenors. So I took her to the show. Yeah, I know I didn’t tell my dad but frankly he gets a bit nosy where my girlfriends are concerned. Not to mention how I spend my money.” He threw up his hands in a placatory gesture. “Don’t get me wrong, my dad’s a great guy, one of the best, and we get along great, but he’s what you’d call old school. He’d like me to marry a Native girl eventually and he wants me to get on in the world. I’m not opposed to that.” He pointed at the notice board. “I was the one introduced sandwiches so we can get customers in the off-season. They’re popular. But I’m not always going to work in a place like this for minimum wage, I can tell you.” He grinned at me, showing white even teeth. “But it does for now. I’m learning the business and it gives me pocket money. I live at home, which keeps the costs down, but dad keeps a tight grip, so yeah, I don’t tell him absolutely everything. He goes
on about how his kids won’t leave home but if truth be told, he’s the one hanging on, ever since my mom died, which was five years ago. He’s even worse with my sisters, if you’d believe. He drives them crazy … but like I said, he’s basically a really good guy. I don’t fault him for wanting to look out for us. I just do end runs every now and then.”

He admitted that meant literally an end run on Tuesday night. He had gone out of the rear exit right after the concert, at about eleven o’clock, to beat the lineup to go out the normal exits. He’d stayed with Nuala until two in the morning. He’d actually looked a bit shy at that admission, which was a surprise to me. I thought the younger generation was blasé about fessing up to having active sex lives.

I’d got all I needed for now. He hadn’t parked anywhere near where we’d found Deidre’s Toyota and he hadn’t seen her or the car. I believed him but took down the name of his girlfriend. We’d have to confirm his alibi.

“I saw on the television about the girl being killed in the park. She’s come in here a few times with her kid. She was cute. She couldn’t talk but I could figure out what she wanted.”

“Was she ever with anybody else?”

“Yeah. Another woman, sort of tough looking with pink hair. A guy one time. He was deaf too. Fair with a bit of a straggly beard.”

“Do you remember when that was?”

He rubbed his finger across his forehead. “I’m bad about time. Days melt together. But it wasn’t that long ago, still warm out, people still wanting ice cream. So it would have been about five weeks ago, maybe less. The same guy was here recently though. On Tuesday.”

“You’re sure it was the same guy?”

“Positive. He came in late. I was just closing up. I couldn’t make out what he wanted at first so he was doing a lot of pointing. He wanted a butter pecan with a second scoop of chocolate on top.”

Well, that put Zachary Taylor in town on Tuesday evening.

Aaron looked at me. “Do you think I should tell my dad about Nuala?”

“I strongly recommend that you do. Parents get worried if their kids lie to them.”

He scowled. “Yeah, I know but it’s his own fault. If he cut me a bit of slack, I would tell him things.”

I knew that one from the inside out and I sympathized with the lad. But I was on the side of the adults now. “You should sit down and have a good talk. Your dad struck me as a reasonable sort of guy.”

Aaron gaped. “He did? If you say so.”

I closed up my notebook, ready to leave.

“Hold on.” He hurried over to the fridge. “Why don’t you have a freebie on me? It’s good stuff, I promise you, real cream. What’s your fave?”

I couldn’t say I was in the mood for ice cream but it seemed churlish to refuse so I left the store licking at a stacked cone of maple walnut ice cream. The chilly wind hit me in the face when I stepped onto the street, making eating ice cream seem ridiculous, but it certainly lived up to Aaron’s promise. I thought I’d come back when the temperature was in the thirties.

He seemed a good kid and I hoped he would eventually discover what he wanted to do. I put in the back of my mind a resolution to talk to him at a later date about joining the OPP.

I’d managed to drip ice cream down my jacket by the time I pulled up into the parking lot of the Centre. I wiped it and my sticky fingers as best as I could and headed in. As I passed Janice’s desk, she looked up from the phone call she was involved in and held up a finger to indicate I should wait a minute.

She disconnected. “You’ve had two calls from Scotland. Your mother phoned at three and says to please call her first thing in the morning, our time that is. She has important news.”

“Did she say what it was?”

“No, and I didn’t ask,” said Janice. She’d had experience before with Joan’s calls, which could be interminable if she found a sympathetic ear at the other end, and Janice was nothing if not kindly. Joan didn’t seem to mind, or notice, the constant interruptions as Janice had to answer other calls.

“Who else?”

“Your friend the policeman. He’d like you to call him today if you can but before midnight his time.” She looked up at the clock on the wall. “That gives you one hour. It’s going on eleven for them.”

“Is Katherine in?”

“No, she’s left early.” Janice raised her eyebrows. “I think there’s another crisis with her mother.”

Katherine’s mother was in the early stages of Alzeimer’s and had become increasingly demanding over the last year. In my view, Katherine deserved sainthood. She never complained, just worked extra hours to make up for the times she had to fly out of the office to see to her mother, who lived with her.

“She asked you to write up your report and leave it on her desk. She’ll look at it in the morning.”

“Leo isn’t here, is he?”

“No. He did phone though and asked if you’d call him as soon as you could.”

That was going to be fun!

I traipsed to my office, reversed my sign so I wouldn’t be disturbed, and phoned Gill. He answered after the second ring but I could tell I’d woken him up.

“Gill, it’s me. Sorry about the hour.”

“It’s not your fault. I think it has to do with latitude and longitude, doesn’t it?”

“Do you want to go back to sleep and call me tomorrow?”

“I was no asleep, lassie. My eyes were closed and my brain had left the room but here in Lewis we men dinna call that sleep, we call it prayer.”

He always made me laugh when he put on the heavy accent. His own regular accent was not too marked to make him incomprehensible the way I’d found some of his countrymen.

I heard him sigh, or perhaps he was yawning. “I wanted to tell you a couple of things sooner rather than later.”

I almost made a flip remark about his dumping me and marrying somebody else but I’d gone that route and I kept a firm hold on my overblown insecurities.

“You still there, Chris?”

“Still here.”

“I just got confirmation: I’ve got two weeks’ leave at Christmas.”

“Terrific.”

My mind began to race with how this would involve me. We’d been expecting he’d get Christmas and Boxing Day only.

“I spoke to Morag today and she is definitely planning to spend Christmas with her new boyfriend in Tenerife. Isobel wants to stay in Skye and she says it’s her mother’s turn to be the Christmas Day parent. She’s also going skiing right afterward…”

“And that means…”

“It means I can come over to you, if you like. I know you’re torn about Joan’s wedding and staying put in Canada because of Paula but if you can extricate yourself from your mother, we could have the two weeks together. I’ve no problem with you having to spend time with Paula if you need to. I’d just be glad to hang around.”

I could have wept as I was reminded yet again why I was crazy about the guy. He understood me!

“Gordon Gillies, if you were in this room right now, I’d jump your bones.”

He laughed. “We can pretend, if you like.”

“No. I want the real thing. That is the best offer I’ve had all day.” But even as I said that, I felt a tug on the complex rope of emotions that attached me to my mother. “I haven’t completely decided whether or not I’m coming to the wedding. Joan will be very put out but I must say the thought of having you here and being able to keep an eye on Paula and Chelsea is a powerful inducement to stay in Canada. I have to give Joan a call in the morning. I’ll sound her out.”

“I can tell you already what she’ll say. She’s booked the parish hall already.”

“You’re kidding. She said she’d wouldn’t be seen dead in a church even when she’s dead.”

“I think her views are changing now that she’s here. I’ve seen her going into church for the service.”

“She never told me that.”

There was an awkward silence. There were lots of things Joan hadn’t told me when I was growing up and her habit of playing her cards close to her chest hadn’t changed significantly.

“She wants to do this big time is how she expressed it to me,” said Gill. “And you being there is very much part of the plan.”

I could feel a snap of the old anger. “Well, it might not be part of my plan.”

More silence. I said that Gill understood me and it’s true but he was sometimes puzzled by my conflicts with my mother. With him
she was just as sweet as could be so I can hardly blame him. She saved the knives for me.