Death Takes a Holiday (18 page)

“Who did he accuse?” Kyle asked.

Uncomfortable, Sara looked up. “Well, at different points everyone. First, he accused Robert of setting the fire and framing Jack.”

“Why?” Grace asked.

“We had discovered during our investigation that Lucas and Tracy had been having an affair. Steve theorized that they were meeting in the guest house for their secret trysts and Robert found out about it and set the fire while they were inside.”

“That would make sense,” Grace said slowly. “According to Felicity,
someone saw Robert there that night.”

“Yeah,” Sara said sarcastically, “according to Felicity. There’s just one problem with that theory.
Lucas finally admitted to having a one night stand with Tracy in July, but he swore that was the extent of it. He told Robert that Tracy had only slept with him out of spite. She, apparently, had found Robert in bed with another woman and decided to get revenge by seducing her brother-in-law.”

“Did you believe him?” Kyle asked.

“Not really, but you never know,” Sara said. “Regardless, Robert was not lurking in the bushes waiting for Lucas to appear. He was stuck at the Gold Rush Inn that night and he had the credit card receipt to prove it.”

“That doesn’t mean
anything,” Kyle pointed out. “He could have changed his mind and decided to risk the roads.”

“Or he was setting up an alibi,” Grace added.

“But he would have had to have suspected that Tracy had rekindled her affair with Lucas,” Sara said. “He didn’t give us any indication that he knew she was being unfaithful and if he did suspect she was sleeping with his brother, why not ask us to investigate. He knew why we were there. It would have been safer to let us do our jobs than risk death on those roads. Besides, I’m pretty sure he had some company,” she said wryly, “of the female persuasion with him that night.” Her eyebrows rose meaningfully. “A friend of Tracy’s.”

“I suppose Robert was pretty mad
when Steve accused him,” Kyle said.

“I have no idea. I was too busy trying to pull Lucas Kirby off of St
eve. Merry became enraged when Steve presented the proof that Lucas and Tracy had an affair. She stood up and threw her engagement ring at him. That's when Lucas turned on Steve.
He called Steve a liar and then tackled him to the floor. It was awful.”

“How did Tracy react?” Grace asked.

Sara shook her head. “She was still at the hospital. Her left arm had been burned pretty badly in the fire. I found out later that she had been released that night just in time to appear on the news for the big New Year’s celebration. She was the town’s local news anchor,” she explained.

“She didn’t immediately go home after being released?” Kyle asked.

“Oh no,” Sara said. “She told Robert that as long as Jack was there, she wasn’t going to return. I don’t think she went back until he was actually committed.”

Grace leaned back on her elbows. “What did Steve do next?”

“Well, he fumbled for a bit, but then came back and accused Meredith.”

“Ah,
” Grace said,” I guess that explains why Meredith is Steve’s biggest fan.”

“Yeah,” Sara said. “Only problem was Lucas was willing to swear Merry was sound asleep when he looked outside and saw the fire. She slept through it all.”

“I don’t suppose Steve stopped at that point?” Kyle asked hopefully.

“
Oh no, he just changed gears and accused Parker and Felicity of setting the fire and framing Jack. Except he couldn’t explain why someone shot Parker the next day.”

“Please tell me he stopped at that point
,” Kyle said with a groan.

“
Sorry, I wish I could,” Sara said. “He then accused Victor.”

“Why would Victor set the fire?” Grace asked.

“Steve had two theories. One was that Victor wanted the insurance. The only problem with that was Victor was loaded and didn’t need the money.”

Kyle laid his head in his hand. “What was his second theory?”

“That Victor was trying to kill Tracy because he couldn’t stand to see either of his sons happy. Which I believe was true, but I couldn’t see him killing Tracy. That hateful old man seemed to like her. I could see him trying to kill Felicity, but not Tracy.”

“W
hat did Steve do next?” Grace asked.

“Nothing,” Sara said. “He was done.
Victor wasted no time in calling Mr. Wellington and demanding that he come to the house immediately. We had to wait for hours while everyone came in and out of the foyer sneering at us. Then Victor called his lawyer so that he could change his will and write Lucas out of it. Mr. Wellington got there just as the lawyer was leaving.”

“What happened after he arrived?”
Grace asked.

“
Wellington tried to calm Victor down, but he was practically foaming at the mouth. He started ranting and raving about how he was going to destroy us. Then he accused us of being incompetent, unethical and nothing but thieves.”

“Thieves?” Kyle asked.

“Victor said that he had been testing us and that we failed. He started screaming that Wellington knew Felicity and Parker were having an affair yet purposely lied to him. He told us that not only would he not pay us a dime, but that he was going to sue.”

“Sounds like you guys had a fun New Year’s Eve,” Kyle said.

“Believe it or not, it got worse. Victor started having difficulty breathing when he was having his little temper tantrum. If it hadn’t been for that, he probably would have continued screaming at us throughout the night.”

“Is that when he died?” Grace asked.

“He went upstairs after his asthma attack to get another inhaler and said that he would be right back down. We waited awhile and when he didn’t reappear, we went up there to check on him. When he didn’t answer the door, Mr. Wellington had Steve break it down. That’s when we found him lying on the floor.” Sara quickly described how Robert gathered everyone together for the reading of the will only minutes after finding his father’s body and then the circumstances surrounding Parker’s accident a few minutes later in the truck.

“Was it an accident?” Kyle asked.

Sara shook her head. “The brakes had been cut. If Parker hadn’t have jumped when he did, he’d be dead right now. He was very lucky to walk away with just a few broken bones.”

“What
did the police say about the brake lines?” Grace asked.

“Nothing,” Sara said
. “They did a rather sloppy investigation. I think I spoke to them maybe once . . . possibly twice, but they didn’t seem to be too concerned with what I had to say. They were ready to close the case just moments after they arrived. I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised. Victor was not a very popular person. Not with the community and most certainly not with his family. The only person that seemed the slightest bit upset that night was Steve. He just looked crushed. I think he blamed himself for everything going wrong. I know you probably won’t believe this, but I really do like Steve. I know he can be a bit . . . ,” Sara reflected silently, searching for the right word.

Grace, more than happy to help, quickly threw out some, in her opinion, more than applicable descriptions. “Sexist? Overbearing? Annoying? Arrogant?
—”

Kyle laid a restraining hand on Grace’s arm, knowing from past history Grace could keep coming up with adjectives for the rest of the day.

“Hmm.” Sara hesitated as she tried to come up with a polite description. “Let’s just say he could be a bit too confident in his own abilities at times.”

“At times?” Grace muttered to Kyle. The Steve she knew had an overabundance of confidence
, usually fully on display at all hours of the day.

“Steve could also be sweet, caring, a loyal
friend—and a good detective,” Sara said with a touch less enthusiasm on the latter description. “He was the only one that would help me at the agency. He was always more than happy to give his expertise and advice.”

“He hasn’t changed much,” Kyle said ruefully.

Sara nodded sympathetically. “Granted, it was usually unsolicited and it wasn’t always the best of advice, but at least he cared enough to try to help. Unlike some of my co-workers.” A trace of bitterness colored her voice.

“How big is your detective agency?” Kyle asked with interest.

“Huge. We have over five hundred detectives with ten offices in the U.S. and five overseas.”

Kyle whistled.

“I was so excited when I was hired but the shine quickly wore off. Wellington is a fiercely competitive agency. They like to pit detective against detective. The one on top gets a bigger payout, better perks, and the better assignments.”

Kyle took in her silk blouse, canary diamond earrings and platinum watch. “You seem to be doing well.”

“I do better than well,” she quickly corrected. “I learned very quickly that if I wanted to get ahead at my job, I had to be the best detective in the room. I am good at my job and I have Wellington to thank for that. If it wasn’t for him taking me under his wing, I don’t think I would have lasted at the agency past a week. I spend all day, every day following his advice, learning, keeping my skills sharp, and paying attention to the smallest quirk or expression. I have absolutely no social life,” she said wistfully and with some humor.

“So,
what happened to Steve after Victor died?” Kyle asked. “Did Wellington fire him?”

Sara shook her head.
“Not exactly. Steve was shipped off to one of our offices in Italy.”

“Does Steve speak Italian?” Grace asked.

“Not a word. He lasted a few months before deciding to come back home and set up his own business. Last I heard, he was living out of his car. I guess that’s when he decided to move back to his hometown and start over.”

“Poor Steve,” Grace said suddenly feeling very sorry for the man.

Yawning, Sara glanced at her watch. “It’s a little after eleven. I’d better see if Wellington needs me.” She stood up and walked toward the door.

“What’s your theory, Sara?” Kyle asked. “Do you think Jack killed Robert?”

“No doubt about it.” Sara reached for the doorknob. “Now all we have to do is find him. I bet Henry is hiding him somewhere on this train. They certainly had plenty of time to prepare,” she said, opening the door and walking out.

Grace leaned closer to Kyle
. “So, what did you find out from Wellington?”

“Did you know Julius Caesar was stabbed twentythree times?”

“Yes. What does that have to do with Robert’s death?”

“I have no idea. He wants to know if anyone tampered with the hot chocolate container while
we were all in the kitchen with you and Abry.” Kyle laid back and closed his eyes. He tried to picture the people who had followed Grace into the kitchen. The problem was that he was facing Grace. The container and everyone else were in back of him. He opened his eyes and looked at Grace.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Kyle sat back up. “Because, you would know if someone tampered with it. You were the only one facing that direction.”

“I wasn’t really paying attention, Kyle. The only thing I cared about was hiding Abry and avoiding a pet fee.”

He smiled reassuringly. “We’ll go person by person.”

“All right,” Grace said with a shrug. “We
know Wellington was asleep in the lounge.”

Kyle shook his head.
“We think Wellington was asleep. He could have been wide awake. Speaking of which, if the drug wasn’t put in until we were all in the kitchen then why was Rip Van Winkle sound asleep before then?”

“
Did you ask him?”

Kyle nodded.

“What did he say?”

“
I’m not entirely sure.” He shook his head in irritation. “Let’s just focus on the people that followed you into the kitchen. Try to picture them in your mind, Grace.”

“Kyle, I don’t remember.”

“Yes, you do. Just close your eyes. Try to picture yourself in the kitchen. You just placed Abry underneath your shirt and your standing and facing the door. You’re holding a tray out in front of you and Oscar is standing at the stove to your left. Now what do you see?”

Grace closed her eyes. She remembered holding Abry. She remembered taking the tray and holding it in front of herself like a shield. Then she remembered Kyle
running in and standing in front of her.

She
smiled, rather impressed with her memory skills as Kyle came into clear focus. She remembered the slightly bemused expression on his face. The way the golden highlights in his hair shone under the overhead light. How blue his eyes looked. She especially remembered the way his suit jacket pulled against his biceps as he crossed his arms.

“All right. Do you have a mental picture of the
kitchen?”

Still thinking about Kyle
, Grace breathed a little sigh.

“Grace? Can you picture the kitchen?”

Coming back to awareness, Grace apologized before adding, “Yep. You were standing right in front of me.”