Scone Cold Dead Page 12

  “She’d have been taking quite a risk,” Sandy pointed out. “We all know Sarah. Besides, if she baked the scones, why break into one of those cabins to do it? That would have increased her chances of being recognized, what with members of the company staying there.”

  “She’s just one possibility,” Liss reminded him, making a mental note to find out exactly which cabin had been used to bake the scones. “Anyone could have broken in.”

  “How did they get out there to do it?” Zara asked. “Steal a car?”

  “Good point.” Liss wrote that question on a fresh page.

  “Where was the bus parked?” Dan asked. “Could someone have borrowed it to get out to Lakeside Cabins?”

  “It was left at the theater,” Sandy said. “Again, kind of risky to take it. Crew might have noticed it was gone, plus it would be pretty hard to hide.”

  Liss tried to envision a map of the cabins and realized that they were located in a heavily wooded area. “It would be easy enough to hide a car and not impossible to conceal something as big as a bus. Still, Sandy’s right. Why take the risk? The bus sports huge Strathspey Dance Company logos on both sides.”

  “We can ask around. See if anyone noticed it out on the roads. And who was driving it.” Dan wasn’t giving up on his notion and Liss briefly considered encouraging him to pursue it so she’d be left to her own devices. Almost immediately, she thought better of the idea.

  “Can you can get off work tomorrow? I could use your help.”

  “With . . . ?”

  “There are some people I want to question again and I’m not stupid enough to do it alone. Sherri’s on days at the jail, so—”

  “Say no more. I’m at your disposal. Just give me a call at the construction site and I’ll meet you wherever you say.”

  “Good. Now, everyone in the company has a cell phone. All we need are the numbers.”

  Zara had a list of them and as soon as she’d fetched it from the guest room, she, Sandy, and Liss spent the next hour making calls to ask their colleagues where they had been between their arrival in Fallstown and the time they’d reported to the theater to dress for the show. It didn’t take long to discover that almost everyone had an alibi.

  The five young dancers staying at Lakeside Cabins had been together in Denise’s cabin the whole time. They’d had a pizza delivered and had given each other facials. Seven of the male dancers had also stuck together, playing cards in one of the motel rooms. The one married couple in the company, Karen and Jim Nixon, had stayed put in their motel room, too. Not playing cards. Charles Danielstone and Jock O’Brien—they weren’t a couple, but habitually roomed together on the road to save money—had gone out to get a bite to eat at a fast food place with Roberta Gough and Janet Burns, who occupied the adjoining room at the motel. Cal MacBain and Josie Malone had left the B-and-B as soon as they’d unpacked to take a stroll around town. They’d been together the whole time.

  In the end, Liss’s list of thirty names had shrunk to six. The only members of the company who did not have anyone to vouch for their whereabouts during all of the crucial hours were Sandy, Zara, Stewart, Emily, Fiona, and Lee Annie, the company songbird. And Victor Owens. No one knew where he had been or what he had done on the last afternoon of his life.

  Tuesday morning Dan was scheduled to work at the site of a new house Ruskin Construction was building. He got there early, but his brother, Sam, was ahead of him, drinking coffee out of a thermal mug he’d brought with him from home and studying the blueprints. The smell of chicory drifted toward Dan through the low-hanging fog that had made the drive from Moosetookalook something of a challenge. It was warmer this morning than it had been for weeks, triggering a rapid snowmelt. Another sunny day or two like this one and they’d be smack in the middle of mud season. Not the most beautiful time of year in Maine.

  “I may have to take off later today,” Dan told his brother.

  “Why’s that?”

  “These friends of Liss’s . . . she’s trying to help them out.” He gave Sam a quick recap of the situation.

  “Friends like that, who needs enemies?”

  “Most of them are okay. One bad apple . . .”

  Sam shrugged. “Liss taken to snooping again?”

  “You know Liss.” They headed for the shell of the house and began nailing sheathing to the frame. Dan held one of the eight-by-four-foot panels of treated plywood while Sam used the nail gun. “At least this time she asked me to watch her back.” Even if he had been her second choice after Sherri Willett!

  “Seems like she’d have plenty of people to back her up, what with all of those dancers being stuck here.”

  “Except that one of them is probably a murderer.”

  “They’re all suspects?”

  “Pretty much.”

  “Tell her to butt out. Safer that way.”

  “Oh, that would go over big. She prides herself on being able to handle anything.”

  Sam shook his had. “Man, you are so whipped!”

  “She’s important to me,” Dan said quietly.

  Something in his tone must have gotten through to Sam, because the smart-ass grin disappeared from his face. “What’s really got you scared?”

  “You mean besides the fact that I’m afraid she’ll get too close to Victor Owens’s killer and end up as victim number two?”

  “Yeah.” They moved on to the next sheet of plywood.

  “I screwed up, Sam. I was jealous of this guy, Sandy—he’s staying at her house with his fiancée—and I let Liss see how I felt. She was not flattered. I think she’s forgiven me for that, but the last thing I can do now is start issuing orders. If I try too hard to protect her, she’ll dump me along with yesterday’s trash. I’m not willing to risk that. She’s too important to me.”

  “I sure hope you’re not asking me for advice to the lovelorn. I’m no expert on romance.” Sam chuckled. “Just ask my wife.”

  Dan gave a snort.

  “You could ask Mary, though. Maybe she can suggest something, being a woman and all.”

  Oh yeah. That was going to happen. If his brother had thought his inability to deal with Liss was funny, their sister would laugh her ass off. Dan, choosing to use a hammer instead of a nail gun, worked off some of his frustration pounding on the next section of sheathing.

  Sam waited until they’d finished the front of the house. “You could ask Liss to marry you. Husbands are allowed to be a little overprotective.”

  “Don’t think I haven’t considered it, though I’m not sure Liss would agree with your reasoning.” A husband, however, or even a fiancé, could stick a whole lot closer to his woman than a mere “neighbor.”

  “So, what’s holding you back?”

  “Abject terror, Sam. I’m afraid she’ll say no.”

  Like Tandy’s Music and Gifts, Moosetookalook Scottish Emporium was a family business. Liss’s grandfather had started it and for a while her father and her aunt, Margaret Boyd, had run it together. When Liss’s parents moved to Arizona, Aunt Margaret had continued the business on her own, until last summer when she’d sold half interest to her niece.

  “I love this place.” Liss unlocked the door and waved Zara and Sandy inside.

  She’d made all sorts of improvements to the business in recent months, adding a Web page and producing a glossy mail-order catalog, but the store itself remained essentially the same. The sales counter was to the left of the door. To the right, beyond rows of shelving displaying all sorts of Scottish-themed gift items, was the “cozy corner” where comfortable chairs had been arranged for the convenience of patrons who wanted to consider before they bought. Several shelves full of books about Scotland, both fiction and nonfiction, also occupied that space.

  The rest of the sales floor was taken up with racks of kilts and tartan skirts and display cases holding various Scottish accessories. There was everything from kilt hose and sporrans to skean dhus, brooches, and clan crest badges. Along one wall were bagpipes,
practice chanters, penny whistles, and drumsticks—the kind with a big ball of fluff at one end, used to play the bass drum in a bagpipe band.

  The surfaces of the cabinets, shelves, and tables gleamed, redolent of lemon-scented furniture polish. Every item on display had been meticulously placed to show to advantage. Liss felt her heart swell with pride as she surveyed her domain. She had succeeded in the goals she’d set for herself six months ago when she and Aunt Margaret became partners—she’d brought the Emporium into the twenty-first century and still managed to carry on in the traditional manner. Old customers revisiting the store would find everything just as it always had been, with perhaps a few more items added to the inventory.

  “Just show me your pricing system and I’ll take it from there,” Zara said. “Do you discount to other dealers?”

  “Ten percent. I didn’t realize you’d worked in retail before.”

  Zara’s face closed up. “It was that or waitressing. I wasn’t interested in lugging heavy trays of food around and dodging pinches from customers.”

  Liss let the subject drop. She spent less than half an hour familiarizing her houseguests with the store’s stock. After mentioning a shipment she was expecting that someone would have to sign for, she was out the door. As soon as she picked Dan up, she would be on her way to Fallstown to talk to the rest of the people on her short list. She also intended to look for Sarah Bartlett.

  Halfway out to the construction site, her cell phone rang. She pulled over to the side of the road to answer it and was surprised to find the owner of Lonesome Stranger Bed-and-Breakfast on the other end of the line. “Problem, Rosemary?”

  “I’m afraid so. All four of my rooms are booked from tomorrow night on—guests coming into town for a wedding. You’re going to have to find other accommodations for your people.”

  “Has Miss Townsend returned to her room?”

  “Yes. She’s here. Do you want to talk to her?”

  “No, that’s all right. I’m on my way to Fallstown. I’ll see her when I get there. And don’t worry, Rosemary. I’ll make other arrangements for everyone.”

  She returned the phone to her purse with a thoughtful expression on her face. It was going to take some work to shuffle everyone around to their—and her own—satisfaction, but this unexpected eviction might turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

  Ten minutes later, Liss pulled in at the house the Ruskins were building. “I have another favor to ask,” Liss said as soon as Dan opened the passenger-side door.

  “What? No ‘hello, Dan. That new house is really coming along’?” He slid inside and reached for the seat belt.

  “Sorry.” She glanced at the building-in-progress through the windshield, but it didn’t look like much to her.

  “Never mind. What’s the favor?”

  “You don’t have to help, you know. I can go on my own.”

  “Just drive. What’s the second favor?”

  “Can you put a few people up at your place?” She explained about Rosemary’s incoming guests. “I could probably squeeze more of them in at the motel, but this might be a good opportunity to . . . observe the, uh—”

  “Suspects? Jeez, Liss, you just don’t know how to let go, do you?”

  “If you don’t want—”

  “I know! Fine. I’ve got room. You know that. How many and who?”

  Dan’s place had four bedrooms, if he counted the one in the attic. Liss had good reason to know. She’d grown up in that house. “I thought Stewart.” Dan rolled his eyes. “And Ray.”

  “Why am I not surprised?” he muttered.

  “And Cal.”

  “Who’s Cal?”

  “Country dances are done by pairs. Cal was my partner for a couple of years and then he danced with Sarah and now he dances with Emily. And before you get any ideas, unlike Sandy, Cal is gay.”

  Dan opened his mouth and shut it again without saying anything.

  And that seemed to put paid to conversation for the rest of the drive to Fallstown. Liss made no effort at small talk and neither did Dan.

  She drove first to Lakeside Cabins. The building that had been broken into was easy to spot . . . if she followed the twisting driveway until it dead-ended. Yellow crime scene tape made an X across the door.

  That unit was the one farthest from the road, almost hidden by two big spruce trees. As Liss visited each of the other cabins to talk to the dancers, she realized that only Fiona’s was close enough to see more than the roof of the cabin the killer had used, and Fiona’s door faced away from it. Unless she’d been looking out a window, she wouldn’t have seen a thing.

  It didn’t take Liss long to confirm what she’d already suspected would be the case. For two nights, the cabins had been fine, but no one really wanted to be stuck this far from civilization indefinitely.

  “Pack up, then,” she told everyone. “I’ll make arrangements to move you to the motel.”

  Only to Fiona did she make a different offer, suggesting that the older woman stay in her aunt’s apartment above the store. “No cat dander,” she promised.

  “What a thoughtful suggestion, Liss. Thank you. I’d like that.”

  “Good. Can you drive a few others up to Moosetookalook with you?”

  Fiona frowned. “What others?”

  “Well, that depends on who is willing to give up a motel room. I’ll call you in an hour.” She started to leave, then turned back. “Fiona, you don’t happen to know where Sarah Bartlett is, do you?”

  Fiona looked startled. “No idea. Why do you ask?”

  “Just a passing thought,” she lied. “Nothing important.”

  At the motel she didn’t have any trouble coaxing Ray or Stewart into moving to Dan’s. Convincing Lee Annie to stay in the extra room at her house, however, was a bit more difficult. Liss had to admit that what she was offering was smaller, and that there wouldn’t be much choice when it came to restaurants or shops.

  “But it’s free,” Liss reminded her. “Room and board.” She thought better of mentioning that she’d probably be the one cooking.

  “Okay,” Liss said to Dan as they left Lee Annie to pack her things. “Drop me at the B-and-B and go get the five girls from the cabins to move them into these three rooms. Then you can take Stewart and Ray and Lee Annie to Moosetookalook in the station wagon and I’ll follow in Fiona’s car with the rest of our guests.” She pulled out her cell phone to let Fiona know what was going on.

  Dan gave her a mocking salute but did as she asked. He even opened the passenger-side door before going around to take the wheel of her aunt’s station wagon. He dropped her off at the B-and-B a few minutes later.

  Everything now depended upon the cooperation of those currently staying at the Lonesome Stranger Bed-and-Breakfast. If even one of them balked, her scheme would fall apart.

  Liss was a little leery of meeting Emily Townsend again, but the tall blonde who joined the others in the B&B’s parlor a short time later seemed a different person from the one Liss had met at the reception. Shoulders slumped, face pale and bare of makeup, she regarded Liss through lackluster eyes.

  “I’m sorry to have been so much trouble,” she whispered.

  “It’s been a trying time for all of us.” Liss resisted the urge to pat the other woman on the shoulder. Emily really did look pathetic.

  “What’s up, Liss?” Cal wanted to know. “Has something else happened?”

  “I’m afraid you have to move out. Your rooms are needed, and since Fiona has committed the whole company to staying on for another few days, I’ve had to make new arrangements. Josie, are you okay with moving over to the motel and bunking with Denise?”

  “Sure, Liss. We get on just fine.”

  “Great. Cal, you’ll be staying with a friend of mine. He has a house in Moosetookalook.”

  “Is he good looking?”

  She stuck her tongue out at him and almost said “He’s taken.” She stopped herself just in time. She’d have to think about their future
as a couple sometime, but not now. Later. Much later.

  “Stewart and Ray are staying there, too.”

  “Oh, joy. Oh, rapture.”

  “Go pack!”

  Cal offered Josie his arm and they went upstairs together. Liss turned to Emily and Winona. “I thought, since you two preferred these accommodations to the motel, that you might be more comfortable in an apartment than at the motel. My aunt is away right now, so you’ll be staying at her place.”

  “That’s very considerate of you,” Winona said. “I do get tired of motel rooms.”

  “Emily?”

  The blonde gave a listless shrug. “Whatever.”

  “Well, that’s settled, then,” Liss said brightly. “All we need to do is ferry everyone to their new digs.” Once again she dug the cell phone out of her purse to call Fiona.

  So far, so good, she thought when she disconnected. Now all she had to do was figure out which one of the people she was transporting to Moosetookalook had killed Victor Owens.

  Chapter Nine

  Stewart Graham had apparently been intoxicated when he’d agreed to leave Fallstown because now he was on the verge of a panic attack at the thought of staying in a village that didn’t have a bar. Dan got him calmed down by assuring him that he could buy beer at either the convenience store or the supermarket and pointing the way to the latter. Odds were he’d spend his entire stint in Moosetookalook in an alcoholic haze. Dan couldn’t decide which was going to prove harder to put up with over the next few days, Stewart’s drinking or the fact that Ray Adams was a die-hard Yankees fan.

  “Can’t you talk about something else?” Dan finally asked. “I really don’t want to have to punch out your lights.”

  “Like you could.” Ray had made himself comfortable in Dan’s living room and was happily surfing through the sports channels.

  “We could talk about women instead.” He moved a stack of woodworking magazines off a chair and sat down. “You could tell me about Sarah.”