"Uh..." Yes, and I sounded like an idiot.
"Why, h.e.l.lo you two," a voice called out.
For the first time all weekend, I was grateful for an interruption.
It was Allison, however. I looked away and gave a disgusted grunt.
"h.e.l.lo, Allison. Enjoying the festival?" Maggie asked politely.
"It"s wonderful. Mags, I heard from your aunt about last night about poor Bedford- how awful." She reached over and touched Maggie"s arm. "Are you all right?"
"Allison, I"m fine and yes, it was horrible about Bedford," Maggie said sadly.
Allison had enough grace to stop talking for a moment.
"How are you Miss Ryan?" she asked sweetly when she ran out of grace. "You don"t look too much the worse for wear."
"I"m very well, thank you," I replied and bowed slightly.
"I understand you brought your whole family here," she said sarcastically.
"Nah, just my sister and her husband. The rest come up in a few days. I"m bussing them in."
She ignored my sarcasm and continued. "Boy, things started happening once you arrived on the scene the other day."
So that was her opinion: I was the cause of the last two day"s events. I guess I couldn"t blame her. She was in love with Maggie and protecting her.
"Well," Maggie started, trying to diffuse the situation, I was sure. "We were just going over to the beer garden, everybody-"
Allison interrupted her. "How do you explain that, Miss Ryan?" she asked.
"I have no explanation for it. However, I"m sure you have an opinion and you"re dying to impart your theory."
"Okay ladies, let"s not get into-" Maggie started, but Allison interrupted her again. It must be in the water they drink.
"Well, of course I"m not a great detective," Allison said, "but it doesn"t take Charlie Chan to figure out you might be the catalyst for all of this."
She was really beginning to annoy me.
I"d had enough and said as calmly and quietly as I could, given the fact that I wanted to belt her, "I a.s.sure you, Miss Carson that I am only here to help. If you think differently, I"m sorry. Frankly, I could care less what you think. I would hope you care enough about Miss Winfield to help rather than hinder. Either way, I do not want to have this kind of discussion with you again."
Mac and Teri were standing right there. My heart was racing and my blood boiling as I continued, "Now if you"ll excuse me, I"m going to join Hannah. Maybe I"ll see you there." I looked at Maggie. "I"ll see you over there." I didn"t wait for a reply as I walked away.
Mac and Teri followed me. "Hey, wait up."
"Who was that?" Mac asked. "Wow, she"s-"
"Yes, she is. And I"m wondering if she could be a part of this mess," I said.
"Do you think she could do that?" Teri asked.
I shrugged. "I"m not sure, but she annoys me."
We found Hannah at a picnic table with Doc, another older couple, and Steve. Hannah saw us and waved. "Where"s Margaret?" she asked.
"With Allison," I replied.
"Ugh," she groaned and I laughed. "Kate, I want to you to meet Tom and Lily Caldwell."
I reached over and shook hands. Tom looked like Steve with white hair. "Mr. Caldwell, the resemblance to your son is striking."
"That"s what everybody says. I don"t see it though. Please, it"s Tom and Lily."
I sat down next to Hannah.
"So, Hannah tells us you"re an accomplished photographer. That sounds fascinating," Lily said.
After a few minutes of idle chatter about my job, the conversation went to Hannah and Lily. Tom tapped me on the shoulder.
"So, I understand it"s been pretty dicey around here," Tom said. He looked at the bandage on my forehead.
I instinctively reached up to it. "Well, it"s been interesting." I told him I read the report and filled him in on all that had happened as Maggie joined the group and sat next to me. Allison sat by Mac and Teri.
"So, what have you done with the jewelry?" Tom asked.
"It"s back at the house in a plastic bag," I said and looked at Maggie. "I want to talk to Tom about your mother. I don"t want you to get upset," I whispered to her. I was dying to talk to Tom.
"I"d like to hear," Maggie said. "I never heard exactly what happened. I think I need to hear this." She swallowed with difficulty.
Tom busied himself with his mug of beer. "So, you read the report?"
"Yes, I did. No evidence was ever found, no clues no weapon, no murderer. Sounds like a typical murder in Chicago," I said.
"It may be typical for a big city but not in Cedar Lake and not while I was sheriff." He looked at Maggie and me. "I"m an organized person, Kate. I put the top back on the toothpaste. I straighten pictures. I like to have things in their place. So when a citizen in my town gets brutally murdered, especially someone I know and admire, then nothing is in its place. We never found anything to go on. However, we never closed the case. And now in light of what you found, I"m given renewed hope of finding the murderer." He continued sipping his beer. "Steve tells me your father was a Chicago cop."
"Yes, he was for thirty years. He was a good, honest man."
"Steve seems to think you have his genes. He told me what had happened. What"s your slant on this, Kate?" he asked.
"Okay, if I"m a robber, I"m a sneak by nature. I would come up from behind my victim and, I"m sorry about this, Maggie, but if I"m going to stab somebody, I want it to be a surprise so there"s no struggling. So, I come from behind." I shook my head, ran my fingers through my hair and thought for a moment. "Tom, according to the police report, Miranda was stabbed from the front-she had to see her attacker. If I saw someone coming at me, I"d be running. If I turned and started to run, wouldn"t the entry wounds be different? I mean the angle." I looked at Doc.
He looked a little uneasy for some reason. "You"re right. The angle of the wound would be different. Miranda"s attacker came from the front."
"So what do you think?" Tom asked.
"Okay, let"s take it step by step," I said. "Now, I might sound like I"m beating a dead horse, so bear with me here, folks. If you can"t, then feel free to take a nap. So, Miranda was at the lake. We know this. This was where the attacker stabbed and robbed her. We know the attacker was in front of her, and there were no defensive wounds."
I looked at Doc for confirmation and he agreed.
Hannah frowned as she spoke, "So, twenty years later, your dog digs up Miranda"s jewelry. The attacker wrapped it in burlap. Why would he steal the jewelry, kill Miranda and then bury the jewelry? It was expensive."
The hair on the back of my neck bristled. "It was expensive. So, why wouldn"t he take it? Because logic says, he didn"t need it. It wasn"t robbery for money. It was a murder of pa.s.sion. Okay, now, once again bear with me," I said, trying to keep my train from derailing. I stood and started pacing. "If you"re walking in the woods, by yourself, and you see someone coming toward you that you don"t know what"s the first thing you do?" I went around the table.
"I"d probably get nervous and try to avoid them." Teri shrugged.
"I"d be apprehensive but I"d continue," Mac said.
"I agree with Teri," Maggie said firmly. "I"d be very nervous. I"d head back to my car. But, h.e.l.l, I"m not sure I"d be in the woods alone by myself to begin with."
"I guess I would agree with Mac," Doc said.
"I agree with Maggie, I would never be in the woods by myself. I don"t care how well I knew the woods," Lily said.
I looked at Tom. "I agree with the boys," he said.
Hannah was next. She looked at me and exclaimed, "Good heavens! Who in their right mind would go out in the woods, at night, alone?"
"Exactly!" I said, emphatically.
They all gave me a curious look as I looked at Maggie.
"Was your mother a brave woman?" I asked.
Maggie frowned. "I don"t remember, but I don"t think brave would fit." She looked at Doc.
"I would not say Miranda was a brave woman. She was stubborn and that part of the gene pool, Maggie bathes in. But brave, I would say not."
I let out a hearty laugh. "Bathes in it," I repeated as Maggie glared at me. I cleared my throat and looked at Tom. Both he and Lily agreed.
"Miranda was not brave in that sense, but she was stubborn," Hannah said.
"If this is all true, then why in the world would she be in the woods, alone at night, and not be afraid if she saw someone coming up to her?" I asked as I looked around at the confused faces.
In my heart, I knew with my next words events would quickly start unraveling. I needed to choose those words very carefully.
Chapter Fifteen.
Miranda was unafraid because she knew her killer." Everyone at the table looked at me and I continued. "This wasn"t a random robbery. It was a violent murder. He then made it look like a robbery and took everything. He missed the keys, though. He didn"t take them because he didn"t need them; robbery was not his motive. That was his only mistake, but it wasn"t enough to continue the investigation. Was it, Tom?" I looked at him directly, knowing I was not wrong.
"No, believe me I tried, but then I didn"t have the evidence you have now."
"Kate found my mother"s watch and wedding ring," Maggie said. "And the most curious thing." She looked around the table. "She found a locket, with Uncle Nathan"s picture and mine in it, with a lock of my hair."
Tom looked at Lily; they both looked at Doc and Hannah. "Does anyone have a clue as to why Mom would have Uncle Nathan"s picture in her locket?" Maggie asked boldly.
This kid had guts. "I was wondering the same thing myself," I added. "What was happening back then, twenty years ago?"
Tom was the first to speak. "When Jon brought Miranda home everybody instantly fell in love with her. She was that type of person-always helping people. She was a volunteer at the clinic for a long time. That"s back when Doc and Nathan were both working there, it was way before you were born Maggie." He smiled and, as he continued, I stole a glance at Lily. A faint sad, smile flashed across her face.
"You know we all grew up together-Doc, Nathan, Jon, Hannah and me. When we were kids I always said I wanted to marry Hannah." He looked at Hannah and smiled. "But, Hannah always said she wanted to marry Doc. Then a cute little blond girl moved into town, and she hooked me. Took her to a dance one year and that was that."
Husband and wife exchanged light laughter, then Lily continued, "Jonathan was gone a great deal of the time. Miranda was alone, in that big house. We all went out together quite often. She was a sweet woman. Such a tragedy-so young. Well, back then, Nathan and Miranda were very close. There was no secret about that."
I noticed a wistful smile flash across Hannah"s face. "When Maggie was an infant," Hannah said, "I remember Nathan and Miranda taking her to the lake. We all had picnics by the lake back then."
"Um, so where does that leave Miranda and Nathan?" I asked and looked around the table. "And what does it have to do with the locket found in the woods?"
"So, maybe Miranda kept his picture for sentimental reasons," Lily offered with a shrug. "Miranda was like that."
But no picture of her husband?
"But no picture of my father?" Maggie asked. Fine, now she"s in my head.
Maggie looked around the table for the answer I feared she would get. In my heart, I knew that answer.
"Margaret, your father was like my father, not very sentimental," Hannah admitted then looked at her watch. "Look at the time. The caterers are at the house by now. I should be going."
She walked away with Doc. Tom and Lily rose to leave. "Keep all the evidence in the bag and in a safe place. Steve will pick it up tonight at the party," Tom said.
With everyone else gone, I looked over and noticed Allison talking to Teri and Mac. I had forgotten she was even there.
The catering company was indeed there. They were all over the house. Bedlam ensued.
Decorated for Halloween, the house was festive from the inside out. The dining room was setup for a buffet. I went into the kitchen and found an attractive woman at the stove hovering over a pot that had a heavenly aroma coming from it.
"Wow, what"s cooking? That smells wonderful." I sighed and sniffed the air.
"Hollandaise and I don"t want it to curdle." She looked at me and grinned. "Would you like a taste?"
"Sure," I said and rubbed my hands together in antic.i.p.ation.
She placed the sauce on a silver spoon and gently blew at it to cool it off. She looked up and winked.
"I wouldn"t want you to burn your tongue and ruin your day," she said and held the spoon to my lips. She finished in a seductive whisper, "Or your night."
I started choking and the sauce spilled down my chin and onto my shirt. The s.e.xy cook grabbed a towel.
"Hold still, you have sauce on your chin," she said, watching my lips as she wiped the tasty sauce away.
"You have a bit more right here," she said and took her thumb to run it across my bottom lip. I love Hollandaise sauce.
I laughed and looked up to see Maggie standing in the doorway, arms folded across her chest, sporting a smug grin.