COZY MYSTERY: Murder At The Festival: A Cozy Mystery in the Mountains (Book 4) (8 page)

Randolf refused to talk to her. She tried to explain herself several times, but each time, she was met with a blank refusal and a curt, “I’m too busy right now.” She sent him messages that she wasn’t sure he’d read, and wrote him emails that went unanswered.

This was torture to her in more ways than one. Since he wouldn’t talk to her, she wasn’t sure if he knew about Mayor Calum.

Finally, after a day, she decided to head down to the station during working hours, taking time off from the cafe. Constable Keeney was manning the desk, while Randolf was on the phone. On seeing her enter the station, he turned his back.

Constable Keeney looked from one to the other, curious. “Come to file a complaint?” He asked her cheerfully. “I’m afraid there’s nothing the law can do about men who refuse to listen.” He chuckled.

“Keeney, can you give us a moment alone?” Victoria said. “I really need to talk to him.”

“I guess I can take a break right about now.” Keeney got up, stretched. “Good luck you two. I hope you’re all smiles when I come back.”

“I won’t guarantee that,” Victoria said. “But thanks, and do me a favor, close the door behind you.”

“Done.” Keeney put up a “gone to lunch” sign for good measure.

Randolf dropped the phone on its cradle and glared at Victoria. “What?” He said. “If you’ve come to apologize, there’s nothing you can say that will make me...”

“I slapped Jonas,” Victoria said. “How about that? Will that get you to change your mind?”

Randolf was still glaring at her, his shoulders hunched defensively. “Before or after I saw you two together?”

“We weren’t together,” Victoria said in despair. “Randolf, you have to believe me. Jonas is slime. I would never be interested in a man like that.”

“Slime? I thought he’s precisely the kind of person you’re attracted to. The brooding artist type.”

“Don’t bring Michael into this,” Victoria said furiously. “That’s a low blow, Corporal.”

“Maybe it is. Not as low as kissing a mourning woman’s husband at their daughter’s funeral, though.” Randolf said. “The kind of person who’d do that… well, I can’t believe I was ever friends with that kind of a person.”

“What is this?” Victoria asked. “You’re a policeman, aren’t you? You told me never to jump to conclusions about a case until you’ve heard all the facts. Why won’t you at least let me lay down the facts?”

“Because,” Randolf said.

“Because what?”

“Because I’m afraid.” He said.

“Afraid?”

“I’m afraid that you’ve fooled me once and that you might use sweet lies to fool me a second time,” Randolf said. “You know, fool me twice, shame on me.”

“Randolf,” Victoria’s eyes widened. “You were married before you met me. The woman divorced you, didn’t she.”

“I divorced her,” Randolf said. “But let’s not go into that story.”

“She cheated on you, did she?” Victoria asked.

Randolf’s laugh sounded like the cry of a wounded animal. He refused to answer. “All I know is that when I saw you with Jonas, blood rose into my eyes. I could have killed him. I wanted to kill him.”

“Randolf.” Victoria was a bit softer. She approached him, put a hand on his shoulder.

“All I could think was, not again. Not this time. I figured it was different with you.”

“What happened with your ex-wife?”

“I was in love with her,” Randolf said. “My friends didn’t like her much, but it was young love so what could they say? She and I had such amazing chemistry; she was the only girl I’ve loved that way. You know? When I met her, I knew I knew with certainty that she was the only girl I would ever love.”

Victoria sighed. She’d felt the same way about Michael. For a few glorious years before he died, things had been perfect. Even now, even after she’d accepted his death, even after she’d made peace with it, a little part of her never gave up on the belief that she’d been cheated out of something by fate.

“She wasn’t what you thought?” Victoria asked.

Randolf laughed. “Not by a long shot. I loved her, and I wanted to be her knight in shining armor. I suppose I had some ridiculous fantasy that I’d save her from all her demons. The thing is, no one can do that. The person has to want to save themselves.”

Victoria nodded. “It’s just very hard to accept that, though. It’s easier to keep trying.”

“She was… she had so much negativity about herself.” Randolf said. “Then she’d come to me, and we’d talk, and after hours, she’d promise to change, and I’d believe it. For years, I believed it. Then, one day… I found her with another man.”

Randolf had squared his shoulders and was looking off into the distance. Part of Victoria melted. He was so strong. Those broad shoulders and his immense height gave you the feeling that Randolf could never be hurt. He cultivated that sense too, with his calm demeanor and his inexpressive face. But underneath all that, he was just a small boy who’d once been hurt badly and had never quite recovered. She felt honored that despite what he thought he saw between her and Jonas, Randolf was opening up to her enough to show her his vulnerabilities.

“She lied to me,” Randolf said. “She lied to me and told me that the man had forced himself on her. I pointed out why that didn’t make sense. For one thing, he was a total stranger, and she’d clearly let him into the house. For another, his clothes were neatly folded on a chair. She got angry, accused me of not believing her. The other man was terrified; he kept protesting his innocence. In the end, I could see it. I couldn’t believe her words over what my eyes saw.”

“But now I’m asking you to,” Victoria said. “Please, believe me, Randolf. Trust your instincts again. Does any part of you think I’m capable of kissing a man like Jonas? A married man at that?”

“No,” Randolf said heavily. “I trust you blindly. I trust you in a way I never trusted her.” He looked up at Victoria. “In a way, that terrifies me most of all. The crazy thing is, even after everything, my emotions for her never changed. They became this nettle that digs into me every once in a while.”

“What happened to her?”

“She married a politician in Denver,” Randolf said. “Last I heard, she has three kids. Seems happy. I’m glad for her. I’m not one of those people who wanted bad things to happen to her just because she’d hurt me.”

A fact that made Victoria appreciate him all the more.

“Anyway,” Randolf said heavily. “You and Jonas...”

“We were talking. I was trying to scope out what kind of father he was to Margie. I thought he was sincere too… until he ruined it by trying to kiss me.” Victoria said.

“Want me to do something about him?” Randolf growled.

“You can’t arrest him for kissing me,” Victoria said.

“I’m not talking as a policeman here,” Randolf replied.

She paused and squeezed his hand. “Thank you. Thank you for believing me, despite what happened to you in the past. Thank you for offering to help. But no, I slapped him. That’s enough for me. The best thing I can do now is figure out if he had any hand in what happened to Margie. You could throw the book at him if he did.”

Jonas was waiting for her outside the cafe later that day. When she came out, he was leaning on her car, sunglasses perched on his head. He gave her a cocky smile as he saw her approach. “Well hello.” He said.

Victoria fought down her instinct to slap him again, and in a cold voice, said, “You can move out of the way, or get mowed down.”

“Hey, I just came to talk this time,” Jonas said. “Really.”

“I’d believe you if you didn’t reek of alcohol,” Victoria said. “Maybe.”

“Hey, people cope differently to tragedies,” Jonas said. “My preferred method is alcohol.”

“You disgust me,” Victoria said. “More than that, you don’t interest me. Not even in the slightest. A man like you… well, sooner or later, he dies alone. What’s worse is, no matter how many people he surrounds himself with, he lives alone too. The concept of empathy is alien to you.”

He flinched as if she’d physically slapped him and Victoria had the satisfaction of knowing that her words had probably hit him harder than she ever could.

“I’m not interested in what you think of me.” He said, his voice changing and there was no cocky laughter in it anymore.

“Well did you come to the cafe for a drink then? We don’t serve alcohol.”

“I came here to ask you why you’ve been talking to people about Margie and what you’ve found out,” Jonas said.

“Me? Talk about Margie? I’ve done no such thing.” Victoria brushed past him and opened the door to her car. “Now if there’s nothing else...”

“I’ll tell you something else,” Jonas said. “I don’t like people who act over smart.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I heard Byron got into a fight with her ex-boyfriend,” Jonas said. “That Jay kid.”

Victoria stilled. “So?”

“So I’m saying maybe you should investigate your own son instead of trying to pin the crime on me,” Jonas said.

“What gave you that idea?”

“Rebecca, Margie’s best friend, she told me that you were asking her questions about me. About how Margie treated me. I thought about it for a bit and realized that’s what you were trying to do when you were flirting with me the other day. Uncover information.”

“Flirting with you? Boy, you’ve got an ego bigger than Jupiter’s moons.”

“Deny it all you want, but you came on to me,” Jonas said. “Don’t even think of tattling to my wife, because I warn you, I’ll tell her that it was you who kissed me.”

Victoria laughed. “Is that what you’re afraid of? Afraid of your wife finding out?”

He didn’t deny it. “Keep Michelle out of this.”

“I’d say it was my duty to tell her exactly what kind of husband she has,” Victoria said. “The kind of man who’d talk to a total stranger about how he wanted to divorce his wife and was only staying with her out of pity. As if everyone in town doesn’t already know that she’s the breadwinner, and you’re the sponge. Good luck finding another woman half as good as Michelle.”

“Sponge?” Jonas laughed. “I’m no parasite. My artwork sells for hundreds of thousands across  Europe. Believe me, I keep us well. If anything, Michelle is lucky to have me.”

Victoria laughed. “Sure, you’re a real catch, slimeball. That’s why she’s working so hard.”

“She’s working long nights because she’s ambitious and I admire that,” Jonas said. “Not that you’d understand.”

He smiled and waved at a passerby. It was a local business owner, who stepped up to give Jonas his condolences. Victoria stood there awkwardly, forced to nod along until the man went his own way.

“Anyway,” Jonas said. “I’m warning you. If you start peeking too much into my doings, I’ll start peeking into yours. Your son’s story isn’t entirely waterproof, is it? He went to that party with my daughter. What time did he come back home? Did you ever ask him that? I can make things tough for you. Ask him what he was saying to Margie that night. Ask him if he’s telling you the whole truth.”

Jonas was a slimeball, alright. But the confidence with which he spoke made Victoria realize that perhaps Byron had not told her everything.

“Hey, mom.” Byron was cheerful as he and Annie walked through the door. Victoria didn’t smile. She had her back to him, as she cooked pasta on the stove. But even then, he could tell that her face would be tense with anger when she turned around.

“What is it?” He asked, kicking off his shoes. He walked up to her, slipped his hands on the counter and propelled himself up onto it. He was sitting next to the stove, while his long legs dangled.

“Annie, go to your room,” Victoria said, without turning around.

“Mom?” Annie’s voice was small and scared.

“Now.”

“You’re scaring her, mom,” Byron said. “You’re scaring me too.”

“You should be afraid,” Victoria said. “You’ve been lying to me, Byron. You’ve been lying to me right from the start.”

He bit his lip. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He said, jumping back on the floor.

Part of Victoria had hoped that what Jonas told her wasn’t the truth. Now, she knew from Byron’s tone that it was.

“Jonas loves cars,” Victoria said. “You know that?”

“So what?”

“So he especially loves vintage Mustangs.” She said. “He knows only one family in town owns them, and he was very surprised to see tire tracks from the mustang on his driveway. The day after the fest.”

Byron began to breathe deeply. An attempt to keep calm.

“I only went there because… oh, Mom… I just didn’t know what to say, or how to say it. I was afraid, ok? I was scared I’d get expelled, and I was angry I’d be hated by everyone.”

“So you took the easy route out,” Victoria said. “You lied.”

“I didn’t totally lie.” He said. “I… Mom I don’t know what to tell you.”

“The truth,” Victoria said. “The whole truth this time. Not just to me, but to Corporal Jager too. That’s your best solution. That’s your only solution, actually.”

“Alright,” Byron said. “I’ll confess. I’ll tell you everything.”

Wiping her hands, Victoria walked to the dining table. She had a feeling she’d better be sitting down.

“Margie and I danced that night at the party, but she never kissed me. I left the party early, while she left later with Janie. I came home, but I couldn’t sleep. You and Aunt Karen came home about midnight, and I decided I’d sneak out in Aunt Karen’s Mustang.”

“For shame!” Victoria said.

“I know. It was dumb, it was so stupid, and I’ve never done anything like it before. But I just had to see her. I kept imagining her crying alone at home and wondered if she needed me. I had to go to her. I had this idea that it would be wildly romantic like in the movies, you know?”

“Stupidity,” Victoria said. “Sheer stupidity.”

“I know it was.” He said humbly. “But the point is. I was in love. Or so I thought. I went over to her house.”

“What happened then?”

“I snuck around the back and threw pebbles at her window till she opened up. Then I climbed up. It wasn’t like I imagined. I thought it’d be like in the movies, you know?”

“You mentioned that already.”

“Yeah, well, if this were a movie, she would have kissed me, and we would have declared our love to each other, and that would have been the end of it,” Byron said. “Instead, she was terrified. She told me I was crazy to come there. She was furious at me. She said she didn’t see me as anything more than a friend.  She also told me she'd just broken up with Jay, so she was in no mood to have a boyfriend right now.”

“Did that make you angry?”

“It did. I accused her of using me. I told her I didn’t want to be friend zoned. She said that she felt used too and that instead of being her friend, I’d just been acting until she’d be willing to be my girlfriend.”

Victoria nodded.

“Well, at that point, I felt terrible. I apologized for coming on too strong. I offered to leave, but she said it was ok. That we could chat for a while. We were talking about computers, then. She was telling me a biology project she was doing about insulin. I told her about this new software I have on my computer that lets me check the search history in detail.”

“And?”

“And nothing. She actually got pretty excited about her project and said she wanted to go check out her computer and search for something. At around 3 am, I left. I came home, I slept.”

Victoria asked, “She gave you no indication of wanting to run away? Or of being suicidal?”

“No! I told you before, and that's why I never quite believed that she’d run away. Initially, I thought Mrs. Thompson was just overreacting as usual until I realized that something had to have happened for her to just vanish. I got worried. Jay came over, accusing me of knowing something, and I beat him up out of frustration. I’ve told you the truth about everything now. I wasn’t lying when I suspected Jay for having something to do with it.”

“Jay…” Victoria said. “Janie told me she saw Jay’s car.”

“That was a lie,” Byron said. “I made her say that.”

“Why?”

“Janie likes me, and she believes me completely,” Byron said. “She knows I’m telling the truth about never wanting to harm Margie. She knows I’m not that kind of guy. I told her that I’d been to see Margie. On my way back home, at 3:00 a.m. I saw Jay’s car coming towards Margie’s house. At the time, I thought nothing of it, I was too sleepy, and I was thinking of Margie and myself. But then later, when you asked me to try and remember every detail about that night, that’s when I remembered seeing his car. It’s a 1990 BMW M3. Fairly distinctive. He’s the only one in town who has one. I had to let you know that Jay had gone to see Margie after I had, but I had no way to tell you. So I asked Janie to pretend to remember this.”

“Byron what you did was very wrong,” Victoria said. “It was unforgivably bad. I’m surprised Janie went along with it.”

“She thinks Jay did something too,” Byron said. “We can’t bear the thought that he’ll get away with it.”

“I think Janie likes you,” Victoria said. “But she should have had better judgment than to lie for you or anyone else.”

“It’s not like she was lying to the Mounties, right?” Byron said. “It was only to you and if it helped you question Jay, and if Jay admitted to seeing Margie, things would be okay then.”

“I need to think this through,” Victoria said. “A lot of the puzzle pieces just don’t make sense right now.”

“It was Jay who did it,” Byron said. “You can bet on it. He met her, he tried to reconcile, and he probably took her for a hike to the hot springs. That was her favorite place to walk, you know? Especially under a full moon, when it looks particularly beautiful. When things didn’t work out… he pushed her in. It’s that simple.”

“It’s not that simple,” Victoria said. “The hot springs have a boardwalk and a clearly marked area beyond which you’d have to jump a railing. Pushing Margie wouldn’t have solved anything.”

“Then… I don’t know. He knocked her unconscious and then pushed her over the edge.”

Victoria wanted to say more when Karen came bursting in. “Victoria!”

They looked up at her, surprised. Her face was flushed, and she was panting as if she’d run all the way from town.

“They found blood in his car!” She gasped. “They’re planning to arrest him!”