Shelley Freydont - Celebration Bay 03 - Independence Slay (4 page)

“You can’t think Leo killed him.”

“When you find two people on the roof, one is dead, and the other one is holding the murder weapon…” A.K. didn’t bother to finish his sentence. It was all too evident. And it
was
a pretty damning situation.

“So now what do we do?”

“Wait for Bill Gunnison to come take custody of the suspect.”

Ted, who had been consoling Leo, looked up at that. His mouth tightened, but he didn’t bother to argue. The writing was pretty much on the wall.

“Perhaps we could take him downstairs to wait? Maybe Hildy can be coerced into giving him something to drink.”

A.K. reached for his hip and a pair of cuffs.

“Oh, A.K. Is that necessary?” Liv asked.

“He acts like a child, I get why, but he’s a powerfully built young man. That wound was caused by someone who was either very strong or running on a lot of hate and adrenaline—or both.”

“Or fear?”

“You mean self-defense?”

“It’s possible, isn’t it?”

A.K. lifted a shoulder, not exactly in agreement but not dismissing the idea altogether.

A.K. opened his phone and began texting.

“Well?” Ted said, sounding for the first time slightly impatient.

“I have a couple of men coming up to transport him downstairs.”

Liv flinched. It sounded so impersonal.

While they waited, no one spoke. Liv tried to just stare into space or at her feet and not think about the gruesome scene that was right behind her. Trying not to focus on Leo or the dead man but just looking. It was one of those moments that she just fell into naturally, not thinking anything in particular, just looking. Letting her mind focus on the area itself. It was a technique she used to spot a poor traffic pattern, an overcrowded table setting, clashing colors, drooping décor.

It came naturally to her tonight. She took in the position of the body and Leo, the place where Leo said the ghost had disappeared. The angle of the wall that jutted out halfway across the floor. The tower door looking like a black rectangle.

Like a set waiting to be dressed, like a ballroom after the dancers were gone, like a murder scene with the victim lying in situ.

She shivered. It wasn’t cold. And she jumped when she saw a head appear through the opening to the stairs. A man, followed by a second, climbed onto the roof. They were dressed in jeans and T-shirts. One had long hair, the other a standard barber cut. They looked like any other tourists, except they’d climbed onto the roof without a sound.

“Todd, Kemp, escort this young man down to wait for Sheriff Gunnison. Mr. Driscoll and Ms. Montgomery will accompany you. Wait there for me.”

One of the men stepped foreward. “The housekeeper is none too happy about us being here.”

“Use your charm,” A.K. said.

“Sir.”

Kemp and Todd moved simultaneously toward Leo as precisely as a marching band.
Or a military parade
, thought Liv. Were they all marines? The thought was comforting and also a little unnerving.

Leo saw them coming and scrambled back, so close to the wall that Liv was afraid if he stood suddenly, he would fall over backward and plunge to his death. Or even worse, he might jump just to get away.

The men stopped simultaneously.

Ted took Leo’s arm. “These men have come to keep you safe.” He glanced at Liv.

And she saw the misery on his face. The men had come to hold him until the police arrived.

They parted as Ted led Leo toward the stair opening.

Liv marveled that they were going to let him go down ahead of them. Weren’t they afraid he might try to run? If she were in Leo’s place, she would be inclined to get as far away as she could.

But she understood when Leo froze and stubbornly refused to go any farther.

Then she heard a voice below. “Come along son, everything will be fine.”

Ted urged him forward, and they both climbed back into the house.

“Like a frightened animal,” A.K. said, almost to himself.

Liv cut him a sideways look.

A.K. nodded. A dismissal. “Go downstairs. Kemp, see that the lady gets down safely and send the sheriff and the CSI team up when they get here.”

• • •

“I don’t know what Mr. G will say when he finds out that people have been traipsing through his house all night,” Hildy said as she clanked glasses on the table in front of Liv, Ted, and Leo.

A.K.’s men had refused refreshments. They stood around the periphery of the room, four of them, at attention, which was strange looking considering their summer casual wear.

“And just what
is
going on up on the roof? You been causing trouble, Leo?”

“No ma’am. I don’t think so.” He cast a worried frown at Ted.

Ted patted his shoulder.

“Where’s Mr. G?” Hildy demanded.

“Mr. Henry’s gone.”

“I know that. The fireworks is over.” The housekeeper threw her head back and looked at the ceiling. “Lord save us from this ignoramus.”

One of the security men visibly tensed. “Ma’am, if you could keep those opinions to yourself.”

Hildy Ingersoll snorted. “I’ll just go find out for myself. And if you’ve done anything—”

“Ma’am.”

“I’m going.” And, mumbling to herself, she left the room. One of A.K.’s men followed her out.

Leo watched them go, then turned his attention back to the security guards. His eyes kept darting from one to another and to the windows. One of them moved a step closer to the window, and Leo seemed to relax a little. It occurred to Liv that Leo wasn’t thinking about getting away. It was as if he thought the ghost might outwit his protectors and swoop in through the window to snatch him away.

He didn’t seem to have any idea that he was being detained, not protected.

Time crept by with no one speaking. They heard Bill Gunnison and the crime-scene people arrive, but when Ted attempted to go out into the hall, the guard casually stepped in front of the door.

Ted sat down. “I think I should call Silas Lark.” He punched in the number on his cell.

Liv nodded. It certainly looked like Leo might be needing a lawyer, and Silas was the best lawyer in town. He also did pro bono work.

“I want to go home,” Leo mumbled, and shrank down in his chair.

“We all do,” Liv said. “Hopefully it won’t be much longer.”

But the minutes ticked by. Leo put his head down on his arms and seemed to fall asleep.

At last they heard a commotion in the hall.

Leo’s head came up and his eyes widened.

“It’s just some people coming down the stairs,” Ted told him. He was beginning to look a little stressed himself.

Footsteps clattered down the stairs, followed by metal clicking as the EMTs unlatched the wheels of a gurney.

Bill walked measuredly into the room. His sciatica was definitely acting up.

“Hello, Leo. What are you doing here?”

“I wanna go home.”

“And we’ll try to get you there as soon as we can. Can you tell me what happened when you were up on the roof?”

“The ghost did something bad to Mr. Rundle.”

A piercing screech erupted from the hall, and they all turned to see Hildy Ingersoll standing in the doorway and clutching the frame for balance.

“Hildy, didn’t I tell you to wait for me in your sitting room?”

“Who’s that they’re taking away on the stretcher? Is that Mr. G they’re carrying away with his head all covered up? Oh, Lord, save us!”

Leo moaned.

Hildy stormed into the room and lunged toward Leo. “What did you do, you hooligan? You’ve killed him. He was nice to you and now you’ve gone and killed him. Devil’s spawn!”

“Hildy! Stop it!” Ted was on his feet and barring her way. “It isn’t Henry Gallantine.”

Hildy blinked. “Then who was it?”

“It’s Jacob Rundle,” Bill said.

“What was he doing up there? He knows better than that. Mr. G don’t like him coming in the house. Dirty and half drunk more times than not.”

“Well he was up there tonight.”

Hildy tried to look around him to where the EMTs were rolling the gurney toward the front door. “What happened to him? If I told him once I told him a hundred times, drink would lead him to a bad end.” She punctuated her sentence with a sharp nod. “And what was that boy doing up there?” She lifted her chin toward Leo. “Where is Mr. G?”

Leo’s eyes rounded. “He’s gone.”

Bill took her arm. “I will want a statement from you, Hildy.”

“I’ll give you a statement,” Hildy said. “We haven’t had a moment’s peace since Mr. G let that Phillip Schorr talk him into letting those delinquents from the community center help out around here.

“And bringing him meals, like I didn’t cook for him and leave things in the freezer.”

Beside her, Ted smothered a snort.

“And coming to play games with him.” Another snort. “Games, as if he weren’t a grown man, passed sixty a good time ago. I told him they were up to no good. Stealing things every time I turned my back. And now one of them has gone and killed off the gardener, though he weren’t no great shakes himself. Heathens. All of them.”

“Thank you, Hildy,” Bill said. “If you could just hold your thoughts until your interview, I would appreciate it.” He took her elbow to escort her from the room.

“You let go of me, Bill Gunnison. Won’t have nobody manhandling me, even if you are the sheriff. I know where I’m not wanted.” She paused to glare at Leo. “I know Jacob was mean to you, boy, and that weren’t right. But there was no need to go and murder him. And if you’ve hurt Mr. G… well, I hope you get everything that’s coming to you.”

She huffed out of the room. One of A.K.’s men slipped silently after her, no doubt to keep her where Bill wanted her.

Leo looked at Bill, then at Ted, then Liv, and back to the sheriff. He didn’t seem to understand that Hildy had just accused him of killing Jacob Rundle.

“Hildy’s just upset,” Bill said. Which was an understatement.

Liv couldn’t help but be impressed with the Bayside Security team. They’d worked several events for her since last winter, but never before had she seen them in action.

Normally she wasn’t even aware of who they were. They were like chameleons blending into the crowds seamlessly and effectively. She knew there were also women working for the company. She just hadn’t ID’d any of them, and they certainly weren’t here tonight.

“I didn’t hurt Mr. Henry.” Leo said. “He’s gone. He always goes away in July. He said he would teach me to play chess when he got back.”

“When did you see him last?”

“Huh? Um…” He was silent for a few seconds, then his eyes got a mischievous look. “Wednesday. He said he was gonna get old Rundle good.”

Even Bill flinched at that statement.

“Then he said we’d play when he got back.”

Liv wondered if they were finding any evidence on the roof. A.K. hadn’t made an appearance downstairs. Was he still with the crime-scene team? Could a civilian do that? Though the more she got to know the man, the more she thought he might have more ties with law enforcement than she imagined.

Bill didn’t seem to be in a hurry. Maybe he was waiting for A.K. to finish up whatever he was doing and take his men away.

The only one besides Leo who seemed anxious to get out of there was Liv herself.

She felt bad for the dead man and was concerned for Leo, but she was neglecting her duties. The main event was over, but she should be touching base with Fred Hunnicutt to make sure people got safely out of the grounds to their cars and homes or to one of the many restaurants and cafés open for the occasion.

And do it without letting a possible leak about the murder set off a widespread panic.

She had complete confidence in Fred, who was the coordinator of vehicular and pedestrian traffic, to take care of things in her absence. And there
were
extra law enforcement officers and A.K.’s staff of security guards.

But Liv wondered how many of them had been reassigned to the crime scene. She’d paid for an extra two details for the fireworks, an event that drew the biggest crowd of all the events she’d organized for Celebration Bay so far. That was twelve extra staff, but six of them were standing in the kitchen looking like refugees from a tour bus, which cut her down to one extra detail.

Was that enough to insure the safety of the hundreds of visitors? Especially if there was a murderer at large? She considered asking Bill if she could leave in order to find out, but one look at his face stopped her.

Bill pulled out a chair facing Leo and eased himself into it.

“You know I’m your friend, Leo,” Bill said.

The boy nodded. “The police are our friends. You can always go to them and they’ll help you.”

Liv’s gut clenched. It sounded like a quote from a school safety lesson. She cut a glance toward Ted. She was pretty sure Leo shouldn’t be talking to the sheriff without having his rights read. Though from what she’d experienced, she wasn’t sure the young man would understand what the Miranda warning meant.

Leo looked pleadingly at Bill. “But I wanna go home.”

“I know you do. But could you help me and answer some questions first?”

Leo nodded.

Liv slowly tilted her head for Ted to meet her at the other side of the room. They both eased out of their chairs.

“Shouldn’t he have read him his rights?” Liv whispered.

Ted looked toward the other end of the table. “So far he’s only taking a statement. He doesn’t want to befuddle the boy with all the hoopla. He’ll get closer to the truth if Leo feels comfortable.”

“And he feels comfortable with all these people listening?”

“He trusts Bill. But yes. If it starts getting incriminatory, Bill will stop him.”

“Are you sure?”

“Liv, Bill would never do anything to entrap Leo. Or any of us.”

“Do you think he killed Rundle?”

“I don’t know what to think. I don’t think he would, but maybe if he were frightened and he thought Rundle was the ghost… I just don’t know.”

A.K. Pierce appeared in the doorway about as silently and surprisingly as the ghost of Henry Gallantine himself. He nodded slightly to Bill and lifted his chin, and his men filed silently out of the room. It sent goose bumps up Liv’s arms.