COZY MYSTERY: Murder At The Festival: A Cozy Mystery in the Mountains (Book 4) (6 page)

Victoria couldn’t sleep that night. Everything seemed to float around in her mind. The few dreams she had were of Margie, crying or calling out for help over and over, while Victoria tried desperately to reach her from the other side of a wall of flames. Then Margie’s face turned into Anne’s, and some primal instinct made Victoria leap over the flames to reach her.

She woke up with tears on her cheeks. Poor Michelle was her first thought. I’m glad it’s not my child, was her second. Imagine if it was? How would she live? What kind of half-life would she lead, forever waiting for news, wanting to know, and yet not wanting to know because she wanted to keep hope alive?

Victoria hadn’t seen Michelle around, but she knew others who had visited her more often. Within a week, Michelle had also been back at the boutique, trying her hardest to cover up the darkness under her eyes with makeup. Poor woman.

And Jonas. What kind of a man was he? No one in town liked him much. It was a wonder that Michelle loved him enough to stay with him. Had Margie run away because of him?

What about Jay? She remembered him saying that his uncle had recommended he hire a lawyer. Why? Surely, if he had nothing to be afraid of, Jay wouldn’t have done that.

But what if he did? What if he had killed Margie?

If he had, what happened to her body? Victoria asked herself. Randolf was right, bodies don’t simply disappear. If he had dispatched sniffer dogs over a 50-mile radius, well, there was no chance that her body wouldn’t have been found.

Which brought her back to the question, was she wasting her time? Was Margie, even now, perhaps happily settled in some far off city, and putting her past behind her?

No, each day that passed convinced Victoria that something had happened. There were too many ways to get in touch with people and if Margie had been close to her friends then she would have messaged them. Let them know she was safe.

“Bodies don’t go up in smoke.” Randolf had said. She agreed with him. She did not believe in magic, after all.

“Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.” She muttered to herself. Then laughed. Real life was rather different than Sherlock’s stories. For one thing, it was impossible to eliminate all possibilities. It was highly improbable that a limousine had pulled up and whisked Margie off. But could Victoria honestly say that it was impossible?

She sat up in bed and walked to the window. What had happened the night before Margie vanished? She asked herself. Taking a piece of paper, she wrote down all the events she could think of. A web soon formed.

There was Margie at the center of it, and her family on one side, her school friends on another. On top, there were Jay and Byron. Karen underneath with a question mark over “car incident”.

Over and over she found herself putting question marks on the paper. Like the hot springs that dotted Larch, the web seemed like an unending hole.

With a sudden flash, Victoria sprang up. It was barely 5 am now, and the first birds had begun to chirp- but she had to talk to Randolf. In five minutes, she had showered, dressed and run out of the door.

Randolf was still fast asleep when she banged on his front door. He opened up looking sleepy and boyishly rubbing an eye with his fist. “Victoria?” He yawned. “Whazzit?”

“Randolf, it’s about Margie.”

“Hmmm?”

“Did the Rangers or anybody else check the hot springs?” Victoria asked.

Randolf’s eyes widened. He caught on immediately.

Among Larch’s beautiful and medicinal hot springs, there was one named the Teardrop of Flame. This particular hot spring and a handful of others close to it, had acidic waters with temperatures close to 200 C, instantly causing the moisture in the atmosphere around them to turn to steam.

“I didn’t think of it,” Randolf said. “The sniffer dogs weren’t much use in that area because the high sulfur concentration blocks their sense of smell. But Victoria… if she was killed because she ventured too far into the hot springs, why there’s absolutely no chance we can find out. The body will have dissolved completely by now.”

“We have to try, don’t we?” Victoria asked.

“Try we will,” Randolf said. “I’m close to certain that’s what happened. It seems odd that none of us really thought of it before. At any rate, I’m off to make some calls. Do me a favor, and don’t talk to anybody about this until I get more news, will you?”

“I won’t,” Victoria promised.

“Alright then.” Randolf bent down and pressed his lips to her. “You deserve an award, but that’s the best I can manage right now.” He rubbed his nose against her.

A big goofy smile spread on Victoria’s face, quickly wiped out as she thought of Margie. “Good luck,” Victoria said. “Though to be honest, I hope I was wrong. I hope you don’t find anything.”

“Me too,” Randolf said.

She went back home, a little lost in thought, wondering about what the new day would bring. Would it bring a horrible closure to Michelle’s wait? She hoped not.

Inside, Byron was lying on the couch, his feet propped up on the back, touching the wall.

“Oh!” Victoria gave a start. “Byron. I didn’t realize you were up.”

“I’m not up. I’m about to go sleep.” He said.

“Byron!” She was about to launch into a lecture about why sleep habits were important when something in his expression made her stop. Softly, she asked, “What is it?”

“I did something,” Byron said. “I found something.”

“What?”

“I know you told me that I shouldn’t use the computer. But I was thinking it over last night. Margie had once borrowed my laptop for a day when hers was at the shop. She deleted her files, but I realized that if I did a root, I could bring them back. So I did. I know it’s not admissible in court, but...”

“You found something?” Victoria asked.

“I found things.” He said. “A search history. A word file with a few words saved on it.”

“Let me see them,” Victoria said.

Byron jumped up and bought her the laptop, Victoria quickly looked over what he was showing her.

“She used my computer for a whole day, so a lot of the search history is just random,” Byron said. “She was like me. She was on the computer almost constantly.”

“But?”

“But there’s a logical pattern that emerges when you see it laid out in a list,” Byron said.

Victoria nodded.

The first few searches were random. Red Jacket. How to accessorize a Red Jacket. Can Moles see? How to tell if a boy likes a girl. What can I do if my boyfriend likes another girl?

Victoria looked up. Whistled. “What on earth. I thought Jay was supposed to be devoted to her.”

“Me too,” Byron said. “Then again, it could be nothing. Right? Just something random she was reading.”

Victoria nodded. She kept reading. There were search entries for biology problems, searches about actors and singers, searches about kittens, funny articles… a relatively typical list of things to look at online.

Three things stood out, though.

An article entitled “10 stupid pranks to scare your enemies with.” 8th on the very poorly written list was a suggestion that the person takes the air out of their enemy’s tires.

“At the very least, it’ll aggravate them. At the very best, it might keep them from going to that meeting you want to attend to impress your crush.” The writer had said, attaching a stock photo of an angry man kicking a car’s tire.

The second and third articles were far more attractive.

An article about the FBI arresting a Wisconsin couple for tax fraud, and an article about corruption in a small town mayor’s office.

Victoria felt her heart beat faster. Why was a teenager reading these articles?

Byron nodded gravely as he saw the expression on her face. “Exactly.” He said. “There’s more too.” He opened up another file. “She wrote this. It makes no sense to me. It’s almost like she was writing in code so that no one else would catch it. But maybe you will?”

Victoria read it. “It’s a riddle of some sort.” She said. “ A code or just a silly poem?”

Byron read it aloud. “Three men go to a hotel and rent a room. They pay 10 dollars each. The manager realizes he overcharged them 5 dollars and gives it to the bellboy to take to them. The bellboy realizes you can’t split 5$ evenly between three men, so he pockets 2 dollars and gives them each a dollar. Now each of these men has 9 dollars, and the bellboy has 2 dollars. Where did the last dollar go?” He frowned. “It’s an old riddle, isn’t it? I feel like I know the answer, yet each time I read it, I’m always confused.”

“Yes. It must have some significance to her.” Victoria said.

“Maybe we’re overthinking it,” Byron said. “She’s fond of coding, perhaps she’s fond of puzzles too.”

Victoria was interrupted by a buzz from her cell phone. She picked it up and saw that it was Randolf calling. Victoria felt her stomach sink. Even before she took the call, she prayed that it wasn’t what she thought.

“You were right,” Randolf said, his voice weary. “We found something.”

Victoria closed her eyes and put a hand over her mouth.

Randolf continued. “There were no remains to be discovered. The hot springs are far too acidic, and the body has probably dissolved completely by now. However, we recovered the earrings, the bracelet, and a belt buckle.”

“This is terrible news,” Victoria said. “A lot of people were clinging on to the hope that she was alright. They are going to be heartbroken.”

“It’s terrible for more than one reason,” Randolf said. “I can’t tell if this was suicide or murder, without a body around to help me get evidence.”

Victoria nodded. “How did she get there, though?” Victoria asked. “There might be tire tracks? Or… I don’t know. Something.”

“We’ve searched, but the springs are very accessible. They’re about half a mile away from the main road by foot. The main road, as you know, has way too many cars traveling on it for us to be able to gather evidence. Our trail is cold for now.”

Victoria understood, but she couldn’t help stem the feeling of anger that was rising inside her. There had to be something she could do. The thought of how Margie had died sent shivers down her spine. She’d been a young, happy girl, with a life ahead of her. No, Victoria didn’t believe that it could be suicide, even if it might make others a little more peaceful to think so. No one, least of all a girl like Margie, who had plans for college and friends and a boyfriend, would want to die in such a horrific manner.

“The answer has to stem from the night of the festival,” Victoria said. “One of her friends must know something.”

“Believe me, we’ll be asking them questions,” Randolf said. “We don’t even know the time of death anymore, do we? It’s anywhere between midnight, when she was last sighted at the party, to 8 am, when her mother found her room empty.”

“At night, or in the dawn, someone took her to the springs and pushed her in,” Victoria said. “I hate to think about it.”

“It could be suicide,” Randolf said. “Don’t close your mind so early.”

But Victoria knew with certainty that it wasn’t. This had all the hallmarks of a foul murder.

Karen woke up to the sound of Byron sobbing. She knew it had to be serious if it reached her all the way up in her room. Pulling a bathrobe over her pajamas, she came down to find Victoria cradling his head as he curled up on the sofa next to her and cried. Victoria looked tearful herself.

“What is it!” Karen asked.

“They didn’t find Margie’s body,” Victoria said. “But they found remains of what she was wearing. It’s over. We know she’s gone.”

Karen paled. “So she never ran away?”

“She fell into the hot springs,” Victoria said. “Now whether she was pushed or whether she elected to kill herself, we'll never know."

Byron sobbed even harder. “She didn’t commit suicide!” He cried. “Someone in this vile town killed her. I’m telling you, Margie wasn’t suicidal.”

“I believe you,” Victoria said. “Everyone I’ve talked to thinks she wasn’t. Randolf doesn't believe so either, and he’s done a pretty good check of her house. If she were suicidal, surely we would have found something like a search on her computer, a note, even a message to someone that she wasn’t feeling well.”

“You never know,” Karen said. “Sometimes people can just go mad. Temporary madness might have made her do it.”

“Why that night?”

“Sadness at breaking up with Jay, maybe?” Karen shrugged.

“She was happy to be done with him,” Byron said. “She and I would have started dating eventually. I know we would have. I should have done something. I should have been there. I..”

“Hush.” Victoria stroked his hair, her heart aching at the grief that was flowing through her child. “Byron, things happen sometimes, and there’s nothing we can do. Alright? It isn’t your fault. If someone killed her, then it’s entirely that person’s fault.”

“You’ve got to catch the mom,” Byron said. “You will, won’t you? You just have to!”

Victoria couldn’t answer. She said, after a long pause, “I promise I’ll try my very hardest to. I can’t promise I’ll succeed.”

“I won’t forget her,” Byron said. “I won’t forget this. I won’t ever be able to.”

No, Victoria knew. There was little doubt that Byron would always look back on this with a question and doubts in his heart about whether he could have helped unless she managed to answer that question. Unless she managed to find out who had done it.

“Ok, Byron,” Victoria said. “You can help me, by answering this. At the party that night, what happened? Tell me every detail including those you want to hide from your mother. Every single detail.”

Byron nodded. “I will.”

Karen sat down and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. Victoria had a brief flash of deja vu. A memory floated up of doing this with Michelle that first night when Margie had been declared missing.

“We decided to have the party on the evening of the fest because everyone’s parents would be distracted,” Byron said. “The party was held in Miller’s woods, beside the river bend by the old abandoned mill. You know the one I’m talking about?”

Victoria nodded. The old mill had been used as a teenage hideout even in her school days. It was a crumbling two-story structure of stone, unused by anyone except perhaps rats and crows. When the teens of Larch Hot Springs wanted to party, there was no better place. No matter how much noise you made, no one could possibly complain. Plus there was space to build a bonfire, and plenty of fun to be had in telling ghost stories about the mill.

“Well, the entire batch of seniors was coming,” Byron said. “We were all very excited about it. I was… especially happy, because a week ago, Margie had asked me if I was coming. I thought. I thought maybe...” He broke down a little but soon steeled himself. “I’ll be honest, I always hated Jay. I figured he was a controlling creep, and that she deserved someone better. Someone like me. I know I shouldn’t have thought that way… but I did. I still do.” He looked up at Victoria, who did not say a word, allowing him to keep speaking.

“I thought maybe she finally was going to break up with him. But when I came to the party- there they were, both of them standing under a tree, talking animatedly. He had his hand on the back of her neck. I remember that because something about the gesture seemed so… so possessive that I had to turn away. I was burning with jealousy. I went and danced with Janie for a while, and then she and I were talking about class. Eventually, I looked up to see Jay and Margie fighting. Janie and I went up to them because they both looked pretty heated up.

Margie was in a foul mood. She was saying. “It’s best this way, Jay. Can’t you understand that?”

Jay had a hand on her wrist, and he was refusing to let her go. “I can’t believe two years meant nothing to you.” He retorted.

“They meant everything to me,” Margie said. “Which is why breaking up this way is the best solution. Jay, it has to end sometime. Let’s end it as friends. Not enemies.”

“If I can’t be your boyfriend, I can’t be your friend either,” Jay said.

By this time, I wanted to step forward, and if Janie hadn’t been restraining me, I would have punched Jay already for not letting go of her. But he did, in the end. He called her a bad name and walked off to meet his other friends. I thought I saw tears in his eyes.” Byron took a deep breath. “I was so angry at him then. That’s why, when I got the chance, I beat him up later on. I really thought he was the reason Margie had run away. Now, I don’t know what to think. I hate Jay, but he isn’t a murderer. He can’t be, right? He’s just a kid my age.”

Victoria said nothing. Kids Byron’s age had been going to war since long before the internet had been invented. They still did. Kids Byron’s age were very much capable of killing.

“Anyway, Margie started crying after that, and both Janie and I did our best to cheer her up. We spoke to her for about an hour. She brightened up a little bit, and eventually even danced with me.”

“What did you talk about?” Victoria asked.

“We talked about our project,” Byron said. “Janie was very interested in it too. Margie was telling her how much she would miss Everdeen High once she went to college.” Byron sniffed. “She was telling me she hoped we’d be in the same school together, all three of us. Margie was telling us about her time interning at the Mayor’s office and how his letter of recommendation would actually help her. Then Janie announced that she’d gotten an early acceptance from BCU, and we were all excited about it. Margie was trying to convince her to switch to a forensics major. Janie was more interested in law...” Byron sighed. “It was all unnecessary stuff. We were just trying to get her mind off Jay and in truth, we didn’t have to work hard. As for Jay, he was drinking out of a flask with some of his other friends. I saw him, though I didn’t say anything about it because…”

“Because you didn’t want to cause trouble.”

“Exactly,” Byron said.

“So Margie gave you no signs of being suicidal and no indications that she wanted to run away,” Karen said.

“No,” Byron said.

“Did anything she said strike you as odd?” Victoria asked.

“I don’t think so… at least…” Byron frowned. “Well, she did say something odd about Jay.”

“What’s that?”

“That he’s a great actor,” Byron said. “I don’t know why she said that.”

“Did she talk to you about her parents? Jonas and Michelle?”

“She didn’t think of Jonas as a dad,” Byron said. “But she didn’t mention them that day. Margie did mention something about how Jonas would probably be fast asleep by the time she came home. Yes, I remember now. Janie asked her if she wasn’t worried about being caught going home late, and Margie laughed. She said that Jonas had probably popped enough pills that he wouldn’t notice if a hippo did ballet next to his bed.” Byron snickered. “Margie was funny.” The memory seemed to overwhelm him, and he buried his face in his hands.

Victoria patted his back. “I’m sorry, Byron. Really I am. But you’ll get through this. I promise. I’m right here for you if you need anything.”

“Right now,” Byron said. “I feel maybe we should go see her parents since they’ll need support. At least Michelle will.”

Victoria felt proud. Was this the same small boy who’d sleep in her lap? When had he become this smart, generous young man who was now silently trudging up the stairs?

Karen had a mix of sadness and anger on her face as she was watching him go.

Victoria gave her a hug too.

“I’m alright,” Karen said. “A bit guilty about feeling happy that Margie was out of his life, but I’m alright. Oh, it’s terrible. I wish I’d never said one bad thing about her. She was a nice girl after all.”

“It’s what you didn’t say that has me curious,” Victoria said. “You didn’t tell me about her slashing your tires.”

“Slashing my tires?” Karen looked surprised. “She didn’t slash my tires. She just let the air out of them. I caught her in the act. I was furious. But what was I supposed to do? Arrest her? I let her go.”

“You’d threatened her when you fired her, didn’t you?” Victoria said. “I found out from one of your employees. You got furious and threatened to throw her in jail if she ever stepped foot in the store again.”

Karen turned red. “Have you been spying on me?” She asked in a dangerously low voice. “I didn’t expect this from you, Victoria. I’m your own blood. How can you suspect me?”

“I’ve made the mistake of not suspecting my own blood before, and paid for it,” Victoria said.

“What does that mean?” Karen asked, getting up. She was staring at Victoria. “What does that mean?”

Victoria bit her lip. She’d never told anyone but Randolf about her father’s deeds. As far as the town was concerned, he was a hero. As far as Karen was concerned, he was a hero.

“Never mind what it means,” Victoria said. “Why didn’t you talk to anyone about what she did to your car, Karen? I know how much that Mustang means to you.”

“I didn’t feel the need to,” Karen said.

“Oh please, you tell me every single detail of your life. At least I thought you did. Why would you miss out on telling me this?”

“I just didn’t want to.”

“Why?”

“Because!” Karen thundered. “Because I was told not to, ok? I talked to someone about it, and he said that the smart thing to do would be to just… stay quiet.”

“Who have you spoken to?” Victoria asked, surprised.

“Mayor Calum Larch,” Karen said.