"I"d like not to say more than necessary." Alasdair bit a parched lower lip. "My loyalty is to the family and will forever be. Particularly to Jane, who"s elevated me to this position. I was her barn manger and now run this place. Lots of people would have hired somebody over my head when the former man left, but not her. I"m well-paid, and my wife and I live rent-free behind the cottage, in a carriage house. You must understand that."
"I do." Mary noticed that Pigeon Tony was setting the smoker down, so she a.s.sumed the bees were calm, if they hadn"t taken up cigarettes.
"I decided to help you because I"ve known Allegra her entire life, before Fiona"s murder and after, and she isn"t quite as ill as her father thinks. I overheard you and the other lawyer on your previous visit, and I know you"re acting in her best interests." Alasdair meet her gaze directly. "Do you think you can get her out of Churchill? She hardly needs residential care."
"Not yet, but let me ask you a question or two about Fiona and her murder. That"s what Allegra hired me to do." Mary needed to get to the point, because she didn"t know how much time they"d have before everyone returned. In the meantime, Pigeon Tony took an old pair of pliers from his wrinkled sack, went back to the screened box, and turned it around on top of the empty hive, which still looked to Mary like a nightstand. "Alasdair, do you remember Fiona"s boyfriend, named Tim Gage?"
"Of course. Tim and Fiona were going steady."
"Was he here often?"
"All the time. He was besotted with her, as anybody would be." Alasdair"s tone softened, almost paternally. "Fiona was a lovely girl, and a lovely rider. I"ve never seen anybody with such a natural manner around horses." Alasdair gestured at Pigeon Tony. "Like your friend, over there. It"s his calm demeanor that makes the bees calm. Tony has a very easy way of going, as did Fiona. Allegra has it too."
"Fiona broke up with Tim. Do you know why?" Mary saw Pigeon Tony begin to pry off the front of the wood frame with the pliers, and it cracked as if he were breaking it off, so she took a step back, in case the bees were p.i.s.sed.
"No, I don"t know why they split. But I know he wasn"t happy about it."
"What makes you say that?"
"He used to call her afterwards, on her mobile. We"d be on a trail ride, cooling the horses out, and he would call and call. When she answered, it always made her nervous, and she told me once that he said the meanest things to her. I told her not to take his calls, and after a while she stopped, but the calls kept coming."
"I"ve learned that Tim was at the party the night that Fiona was murdered, that he left upset and had been drinking. Did you know any of that?"
"No, not at all." Alasdair frowned, which turned his eyes narrow and flinty. "How do you know?"
"It doesn"t matter. But you didn"t see Tim at the party?"
"No, not at all. I know that he was expressly not invited. Fiona didn"t want him there."
"Was she afraid of him?" Mary was dying to know the answer, but got distracted by Pigeon Tony, who was holding the screen on the box aside so the bees could get out. She jumped back, reflexively putting up her hands in the heavy gloves. "Pigeon Tony, you gonna let them out? Just like that?"
Alasdair edged away. "Not much warning, eh?"
Pigeon Tony didn"t reply except to smile happily, as bees swarmed from the opening and flew in all directions, buzzing around the box and setting the air vibrating with their loud droning and collective beating of their wings. The ones who weren"t flying clung to the screen, walked all over the hive, or landed on Pigeon Tony"s arms, shirt, even his cheek.
"My G.o.d!" Mary gasped, afraid for him, but he seemed completely unworried.
"Quite a sight." Alasdair"s eyes widened. "He could get badly stung, if he"s not careful."
"Is this the worst hobby in the world, or what?"
Alasdair smiled. "Allegra enjoys it, and she makes wonderful honey. Maeve and I use it all the time."
"For what?"
"Tea."
Mary let it go, watching with admiration as Pigeon Tony slowly turned the open box on its side, gave it a gentle shake over the open slats of the hive, and let a living ball of bees tumble inside. Others crawled all over the screen, and Pigeon Tony held the open box upside down until they found their way into the hive, then he set the box aside.
"Now, he"ll have to get the queen from the box," Alasdair said, then returned his attention to Mary. "Where did we leave off?"
"Yes, well." Mary got her bearings, but there were still bees on Pigeon Tony"s face, so she averted her eyes. "I was asking you if Fiona was afraid of Tim."
"I don"t think so. Fiona wanted the relationship to be over, and Tim didn"t."
"I understand they broke up approximately two weeks before the party. Does that square with what you know?"
"I don"t recall exactly, but it was around then."
"Let me float you a theory, because I"m trying to figure it out." Mary needed a sounding board, and Alasdair knew the players. "My guess is that if Tim didn"t want to break up with her, maybe he went to the party to see if she was dating anybody new. In other words, he wanted to see if she had brought a guy to the party, other than her girlfriends. Does that make sense to you?"
"Yes, that would be so like him." Alasdair rubbed his face, his tanned skin shifting back and forth. "I never liked him, not one bit. He"s a fraud, that boy. Too posh for his own good."
"How much interaction did you have with Tim?"
"Enough. Fiona tried to teach him to ride, gave him one or two lessons, so she had me hang around the arena, for his safety. He tried to canter right away, before he"d even trotted." Alasdair harrumphed. "You know, I come from a society that some say is cla.s.sist, but America has its cla.s.ses, too. The Gardners never act that way, especially Jane, but Tim did. He treated me differently than he treated Fiona, and he treated me differently around Fiona. He was polite to me, only for show. Not because it was genuine."
Mary thought of Tim, helping the little boy at the frat house with his hamster syndicate, and she saw him with new eyes. In the background, Pigeon Tony was lifting an unmarked aluminum can out of the empty box, setting it aside, and withdrawing a tiny screened box on a cotton string, which presumably held the queen bee.
"Tim was expecting everything to come to him quickly. The second lesson, he pulled so hard on Paladin"s mouth, I had him dismount."
Mary knew she had heard that name before. "Paladin is Jane"s horse, correct?"
"Yes, her mare." Alasdair"s expression darkened. "Jane hasn"t ridden since Fiona"s murder. Her heart is simply broken. I"m keeping her mare in work, hoping she"ll come back again someday."
Mary checked Pigeon Tony, relieved to see that the bees weren"t walking on him anymore, though many flew around the hive, which buzzed noisily. "Around the time of her murder, Fiona was working at the cottage after school, is that right?"
"Yes, on the Meyers acquisition. That"s another thing, because Tim resented that time she had to spend."
"What do you mean?"
"I heard her on the phone, explaining that she had to work, that her uncles needed her. It was a big deal, very important to the family business, and she was proud to be earning her own money, even if it was clerical work."
"Why was it a big deal?" Mary"s forehead was starting to sweat under the veil, but she wasn"t about to take it off. Bees flew everywhere. "I understand she was working with her Uncle Richard."
"That"s right. It was about the acquisition of condominiums in Delaware, and it kept the staff at the cottage busy all that month, including Richard, Neil, and his staff. You remember them, from your previous visit. They behaved badly that day, but they"re not bad men. Neil, in particular. He"s simply protective of the family, like me."
Mary kept her own counsel. She glanced over as Pigeon Tony turned the tiny box on its side and took the string, which had a nail on it, using it to pry out some sort of cork stopper. "You were saying, about Fiona."
"Yes, Fiona did more than her part on the Meyers acquisition. She had many privileges, but she was smart and able, being groomed to take her place in the family business. Tim resented that."
Mary wanted to switch gears. "Allegra told me that Fiona was dating Lonnie Stall, the waiter who was eventually convicted of her murder. Allegra said that Lonnie used to come over when Fiona was babysitting Allegra. Do you know anything about that?"
Alasdair"s eyes rounded in obvious surprise. "Fiona, seeing the killer? Lonnie Stall? That would be news to me. I don"t know anything about that."
"Did Fiona ever babysit Allegra, that you know? Allegra says yes, but John says no." Mary couldn"t completely ignore Pigeon Tony, who had moved back to the open slat of the hive and affixed the tiny box inside, with the queen.
"I don"t know if Fiona babysat. I"m not privy to everything that goes on in the house. My main work is on the grounds and at the stables. So it"s conceivable Allegra could have been babysat by Fiona."
"Is it also conceivable that Fiona was dating Lonnie Stall?"
"Yes, perhaps," Alasdair answered, ducking an errant bee.
"Would you know Lonnie if you met him? He was one of the waiters employed by the catering service that the Gardners used."
"Yes, I would know him. We try to avoid those parties, though I"m welcome, as is Maeve, my wife. We lead a quiet life, and I rise early to exercise the horses before it gets hot."
"You went to the party the night Fiona was murdered, didn"t you?"
"Yes, we were both invited, and it was a very special night, until it took such an awful turn."
"Were you with Fiona that night, at all?"
"Yes, both Maeve and I were, at around eight o"clock. She came by to give us a hug, to make sure we had what we needed, make us feel included." Alasdair"s eyes shone, and he looked away a minute. "Only an hour later, she was gone."
"Was she alone?"
"Yes."
"Did you see Lonnie Stall that night?"
"Yes, when he was serving."
"What about around the time of the murder?"
"No. We saw nothing. We were dancing when Fiona was found."
"Did you know any of the girls she brought that night?"
"Yes, they were always at the house. A great group of girls." Alasdair"s face fell. "Another tragedy, all of it, one leading to the next, such a sad, awful waste."
"Hannah Wicker survived the crash." Mary noticed that Pigeon Tony was placing a wooden frame inside the open slat, as if he were sliding in a bureau drawer, then slowly covering the beehive with a lid that had a hole in the top, careful not to squash any of the bees.
"Yes, she did, Thank Jesus."
"Did you know Hannah at all?"
"None more than the others. She rode, though. She and Fiona used to ride out, and she was here often, when she was younger and they were in Pony Club."
"What"s she like?"
"A nice girl."
Mary could see that Pigeon Tony was finishing up, putting another lid on top of the one with the hole. The base of the hive had an opening about a half an inch long, and it appeared to be the bees" entrance, because they were already flying in and out. "Did you keep track of Hannah?"
"No."
"Hear anything about her?"
"No."
Mary didn"t want to tell him what she"d learned about Hannah last night, so she kept it to herself. "Did the police or D.A. interview you or talk with you?"
"No." Alasdair turned away, to the driveway. "Oh look, they"re back."
"Perfect timing. I have only a few more questions." Mary glanced over to see Jane crossing the lawn toward them with her father and Tony-From-Down-The-Block. She glanced at Pigeon Tony. "You finished?"
"Moment, Maria!" Pigeon Tony called back, cleaning up the mess, but Alasdair waved him off.
"Leave the box, Tony. I"ll take care of it. Good job! Bravo!"
"Grazie!" Pigeon Tony nodded, leaned over, and spoke to the bees, then scurried after Mary, who gave him a hug in the clunky bee suit.
"Thank you so much! You were awesome!"
"Prego, Maria!" Pigeon Tony blushed as red as his bandanna under his leathery tan. "Andiamo a casa!"
"You got it!" Mary started walking with Alasdair. "Did any part of you suspect Tim of killing Fiona?"
"Honestly, no. I thought he wasn"t there. I a.s.sumed he was well out of her life."
"Does it seem out of character to you, for him to have done it?"
"No."
"You"re saying that he"s capable of murder."
"I"m aware, but there"s cruelty in Tim. He yanked so hard on Paladin"s mouth, she almost reared." Alasdair eyed the approaching group, his expression growing guarded. "Can we end this interview? I"m an awful liar."
"Sure I called you today, to give you the heads-up, but there was no answer. Is there a way we could meet or talk at more length, if I have other questions?"
"I"m afraid it would be difficult to talk again, with my living here, and frankly, even this conversation makes me uncomfortable. Apologies, I saw someone called, but I was with Jane, so I didn"t pick up."
"Understood, thanks for your time today." Mary saw her father laughing as he grew closer.
"MARE! YOU READY FOR HALLOWEEN!"
"Oops!" Mary had forgotten she was wearing the beekeeper"s get-up. She popped the veil off her head, inhaled a lungful of fresh air, and fluffed up her hair, since she had veil head.
"I"ll take the veil." Alasdair held out a calloused hand.
"Thanks." Mary gave it to him, then slid off the gloves and beekeeper"s jumpsuit, turning to her father. "Pop, we can go now. Where"s Feet? In the car?"
"NO." Her father stopped short, blinking. "HEY, WAIT, WHERE"S FEET?"
Jane frowned, looking over. "Oh no, he"s not here."
Tony-From-Down-the-Block grinned. "I got no problem with that."