Dead in the Daisies (A Heavenly Highland Inn Cozy Mystery) (6 page)

“
Maybe,” the sheriff nodded and then glanced up at the window above the body. “It's certainly big enough for a fall, either intentional or unintentional. I imagine that the tox screen will reveal more.”

“
Boss, I don't see any bruising,” one of the officers stated after looking over the body as thoroughly as he could.

“
No defensive wounds,” the sheriff nodded.

“
Those can sometimes show up later,” Mitchell pointed out in a professional tone.

“
Sure they can,” the sheriff nodded and then adjusted his hat. “But, I don't think that will be the case. Seems like it's pretty cut and dry.” The sheriff waved his hand towards the officers under his command. “Conduct minimal interviews with the staff, do your best to avoid the guests,” he glanced over to where Sarah and Vicky were talking quietly to one another. “This wedding has been a huge deal for the entire town, if we can keep this quiet, we will.”

“
His watch is smashed and the time on it is 10:25 pm,” Mitchell told the sheriff as he bent over the body.

“It is possibly the time of death. The time he hit the ground,” Sheriff McDonnell acknowledged.

“
Sheriff, should I process the scene upstairs?” Mitchell suggested as he stood up.

“
Yes. There are some officers already up there securing it,” the sheriff nodded.

Mitch
ell nodded and headed into the inn. He didn't notice that Vicky was following quickly behind him, until she ducked into the elevator with him.

“
Vicky,” he frowned and met her gaze sternly. “You can't go into the room with me, you know that. This is an official investigation.”

“
I am aware of that,” Vicky nodded innocently. “I just wasn't sure if you knew what room he was in...”

“
Vicky,” Mitchell firmly pressed the button to re-open the doors on the elevator. “I promise, I will keep you up-to-date.  We are trying to process everything quickly so that the wedding can go ahead,” he assured her.

“
Fine,” Vicky sighed and reluctantly stepped out of the elevator. As she rejoined Sarah outside to observe the forensic team, she was wondering if they found anything important in the photographer’s room. She stared up at the window, watching for Mitchell's shadow to cross it. When he returned from the building she held her breath as he walked over to the sheriff and spoke to him in a low tone.

“
I think this was a suicide or an accident,” Sheriff McDonnell said loudly enough for them both to hear. “There's no reason to stir up more dust than necessary.”

“
I just want the chance to rule out all other possibilities,” Mitchell replied, standing his ground while attempting to remain respectful.

“
What's that about?” Sarah said in a hushed voice as she moved with Vicky.

“
I don't know,” Vicky frowned. “They don't exactly get along.”

“
I'm going to go and talk to Seth and Trinie to make sure they know what is going on and see what they want to do.”

“
What’s going to happen with the wedding?” Vicky asked as she looked towards her sister.

“
The sheriff said that this area and the room upstairs will be sealed off, but at the moment the wedding is still on as long as Seth and Trinie still want it to be on,” she said as she hurried off.

The s
heriff and Mitchell were still speaking, but more quietly. As Mitchell walked off in the direction of the inn again, Vicky fell into step beside him.

“
Everything okay?” she asked as she glanced over at him.

“
I think the sheriff is a little star-struck,” he admitted with a shake of his head.

“Oh right,” Vicky nodded with a smile. 

“I am just going back to the room,” Mitchell nodded.

“Well, I'll ride up with you, I want to check and make sure everything else is ok up there and then check in with Seth and Trinie,” she smiled.

“
Sure,” he returned the smile.

They crossed the lobby and
took the elevator to the third floor. As soon as they were alone in the elevator, Mitchell reached out to take her hand in his.

“
Can't all go smoothly huh?” he glanced over at her.

“
If it did, it wouldn't be my life,” Vicky said with a sigh. He stroked the back of her hand and then gently squeezed it. “We'll get through this, don't worry.”

“
I'm trying not to,” she frowned and then tilted her head slightly towards him. “I feel better now that you're here.”

He smiled at that.
“Careful now, or you'll have me thinking you really want me around,” he warned her.

When they reached the third
floor hallway one of the officers was waiting for Mitchell. “I was just coming to get you Deputy, we found something,” he said as he joined Mitchell at the doorway to the photographer’s room and as he swung the door open Vicky couldn't help but take a peak.

The room was
neat, the bed still made as if it had not been slept in. The photographer's phone was sitting on the small table beside the bed. All of his expensive digital camera equipment was resting on the floor untouched.  If anyone else was involved it certainly wasn't for the purpose of stealing valuables.

The officer walked with Mitchell over to the computer screen.  Mitchell’s eyes went wide as he looked at the screen.  Vicky ducked down the hallway despite her desire to be more nosey. What was on that computer?  As she walked towards Seth and Trinie's room she caught sight of the scene below through one of the windows in the hallway. She saw Sarah had already returned to the scene and was talking with a few members of the staff.

When she reached Seth and
Trinie's room, she knocked lightly on the door. The door swung open beneath the knock, and she heard voices inside the room.

“
I still don't think it could have been him,” Seth was saying in an aggravated tone. “I mean, I trusted him, didn't you?”

“
Sure I did,” Trinie replied with a heavy sigh. “But with lives like ours Seth, you know we can't trust anyone. Someone probably waved a high enough pay check in front of him and he decided that protecting us wasn't worth missing out on millions,” her voice rose with anger as she continued. “Every single time something good is about to happen in my life, something like this happens!” she growled. “How can we go through with the wedding after this?”

“
You're not really thinking of calling off the wedding are you, Trinie?” Seth replied with shock. “We can't let one selfish creep stop us!”

As Vicky listened in on the argument she felt her heart sink.
It sounded like they were talking about the photographer and from everything they were saying it was clear the wedding plans were in danger. She knocked again, this time a little harder. Both voices suddenly cut short. After a moment, Seth opened the door.

“
Hi Vicky,” he said glumly as he opened the door for her.

“
Everything okay?” she asked him.

“
No, everything is not okay!” Trinie announced as she marched out of the bedroom. “The wedding is off!”

“
Is that because murder doesn't go well with wedding vows?” the sheriff's voice asked from the doorway.

“
What?” Trinie stammered out as she looked from Seth to the sheriff. “What are you talking about?”

“
Vicky you need to leave.  I need to talk to Seth and Trinie in private,” Sheriff McDonnell said in a stern voice.

Vicky left but she didn’t close t
he door all the way and stood in the hallway trying to listen in.

“Look folks, I hate to do this,” the sheriff said calmly as he studied them both. “Honestly I'm a fan,” he nodded his head towards Trinie. “I didn't want anything to disrupt your special day. But, I can't overlook cold blooded murder.”

“
Murder?” Seth repeated looking just as dumfounded as his fiancée. “Why do you keep saying that?”

“
We have reason to believe that the photographer, Graham Walker, was murdered,” the sheriff informed them both coolly. “But one or both of you already knew that, didn't you?” he asked in a stern tone.

“
Excuse me,” Seth snapped as he stepped in front of Trinie. “You've no right to accuse us of anything. We were in our room all night, since after the dinner until now. There was a bodyguard in the hallway throughout the night. Besides that, why would we have anything against this photographer? We approved him.”

Vicky narrowed her eyes as she recalled the argument the two had been having when she arrived at their room. She
presumed it was about the photographer and wondered if Seth was truly going to lie to the sheriff about it.

“He has defensive wounds that are beginning to show and we found evidence on his computer that clearly indicates he had leverage over both of you. Photographs of you, Trinie, in a very compromising position. I believe you probably know what I'm talking about,” Vicky’s mouth dropped open in shock. “That's something we'll need to discuss further down at the station,” Sheriff McDonnell said sternly.

“
You're not really going to force us out of here in handcuffs in front of all of those reporters, are you?” Seth asked incredulously. “This is outrageous. Is this how law enforcement works in this town? We have an alibi for God's sakes! Matt, our bodyguard can confirm we were in our room.”

“
Just relax we are not arresting you, yet,” the sheriff countered. “But, we have spoken to Matt and he cannot confirm that you were definitely in your room the whole night. He said that you told him he could take a break and he wasn’t outside your room the whole time. You could have easily left your room and gone into the photographer’s room without him seeing. So, if the only person who can confirm your alibi is your fiancée, and vice versa, then you do not have an alibi.”

“
There was also a woman, who brought us the champagne last night! She knows we were here, she spoke to us, even shared a glass with us,” Trinie insisted.

'What woman?
” the sheriff asked.

“
The one with the purple hair,” Trinie nodded with confidence. “I think she might work here.”

“
What time was she here?” the sheriff asked.

“
From about ten until eleven o'clock,” Seth nodded with a frown. “She was quite entertaining, but we wanted to get to bed early so we'd be ready for the ceremony today.”

“
Well, of course we'll have to verify the alibi and the time of death,” the sheriff said with a sigh. “For now, just stay in your room, and do not contact anyone, okay?” he looked directly at both of them. “Whoever did this may have had something against you, and you need to exercise extreme caution.”

“
We'll make sure our bodyguards are on alert,” Seth agreed, still offering the sheriff a blistering glare. He did not enjoy being accused of murder. The sheriff ignored the glare.

The
sheriff stepped out as Vicky was walking down the corridor. “Vicky,” the sheriff called. Vicky turned around with a smile, relieved she had not been caught right outside the door. “Please find your aunt and tell her I need to speak to her,” he met her gaze with a quirked brow and she knew that she better not ask any questions and should find Aunt Ida fast.

“
Sure,” she nodded quickly.

Aunt Ida was not usually hard to find. Vicky assumed that she would only have to follow the trail of handsome security guards to find her. To her surprise her aunt was nowhere to be found. As she made her way back through the lobby of the inn she spotted Ida and Sarah standing near the reception desk with Sheriff McDonnell.

“
But all of the staff were told to stay off that floor,” Sarah was saying as Vicky walked up to the trio.

“
I made that clear to everyone,” Sarah emphasized, her own expression darkened by the knowledge that someone had defied her direct instructions not to disturb the couple. Ida shifted from foot to foot, and then smiled at Mitchell as he joined them in the lobby.

“
Would you like some tea, sweetheart?” she asked, laying on her thickest charm. “I'll just run and get us some,” she said quickly and started to walk away.

M
itchell shifted his gaze towards her at the same moment that the sheriff, Sarah and Vicky did. Ida looked as if she was caught in the beam of headlights as her eyes widened innocently. “What?”

“
Aunt Ida,” Sarah growled and scrutinized the woman. “Did you take the champagne to them?” Vicky braced herself as she already knew that is what her aunt must have done.

Ida huffed and fluttered her hands at her sides as if she was searching for an excuse on her person.
“Well, you said not to,” she pointed out.

“
And?” Sarah asked with a stunned chuckle. “That doesn't answer the question.”