Derby Divas (Zoe Donovan Mystery) (9 page)

Salinger frowned. I could tell he hadn’t considered the fact that Pepper might
have been the one someone wanted to kill.

“I don’t suppose that whoever tampered with the vehicle had any way of knowing that Ms. Worthington would be driving the car
, so the intended victim must have been Ms. Parker,” Salinger said.

“Unless whoever tampered with the car is also the one who drugged Pandora
, thereby ensuring that she wouldn’t be driving the vehicle at the time of the race.”

“Yes, but how would the killer have known that Ms. Worthington would take it upon herself to take Ms. Parker
’s place?” Salinger asked.

“True.”

It did seem odd that Pepper hadn’t approached one of the other women more experienced with road racing to take Pandora’s place once she realized that Pandora was never going to make it in time.

“It looks like this case has just gotten a whole lot more complicated
, and Ms. Worthington’s parents are on their way back from overseas. I’d like to have some answers for them when they arrive in,” Salinger looked at his watch, “twelve hours.”

“I’ll snoop around and see what I can find out from the other contestants
while you find out what happened to the car and how exactly Pandora was drugged.”

“You do realize that this is a police matter?
” Salinger pointed out. “I should be the one making plans.”

“Do you want my help or not?”

Salinger hesitated. I knew he hated the fact that he really did need my help. “If you hear anything, let me know,” he answered without committing to the help thing one way or the other.

I called Levi, who was still at Ellie’s with Pandora. I told him that I had news and they should wait there for me to arrive. After a bit of discussion, it was decided that it might be better to talk in a less public place, so we arranged to meet at the boathouse as soon as they finished their meal. I called Zak to fill him in. I didn’t want to interfere with his time at the beach, but I also didn’t want him to think I was leaving him out of what had just turned into another Zoe Donovan murder investigation.

I also checked in with Jeremy
, who said he was fine and didn’t need me to come in.

I
started reworking the derby schedule while I waited for Levi and Pandora. It occurred to me that Boomer most likely still didn’t know that Pandora was alive. I realized that his reaction to the news could be pretty telling, so I called Levi again and told him I might be a few minutes late, and then headed to the park downtown where the cars were displayed for viewers as well as potential buyers.

I suspected Boomer would be at the car show with the other members of his team
, but when I stopped by, I was informed by Masher that Boomer had pulled out of the entire event and planned to leave the area as soon as he was packed. I changed direction and headed over to the Ashton Falls Motor Inn. I knocked on the door of his room and was invited to come on inside.

“Hey
, Zoe.” Boomer sounded defeated. “Guess you heard I was leaving.”

“I did, although I’m surprised
, given the circumstances.”

“Circumstance
s?”

I watched his face as I continued to speak.
“I figured that once you found out that Pandora didn’t die in the crash this morning, you’d stay around to help her deal with things.”

Boomer
’s jaw dropped. “What do you mean, she didn’t die? Of course she died. There’s no way anyone could have survived that crash.”

“True
, but Pandora wasn’t driving the car. I thought you knew that.”

Boomer grabbed my arm. Hard. “Are you messing with me?”

“Of course not. Now let me go, you oaf.”

I pulled my arm away and began rubbing it. I was pretty sure I was going to have a bruise.

“Pandora wasn’t driving?”

I could see that he wanted to believe me but couldn’t quite bring himself to do so.

“She wasn’t,” I insisted. “I’ve talked to her myself. She was passed out in bed when I found her. Guess she had too much to drink last night.”

Boomer smiled as he let my news sink in.
“Then who?” He left the sentence unfinished, but I knew what he was asking.

“Pepper.”

Boomer’s smile turned back into a frown. “Pepper? Why Pepper?”

“I guess she decided to fill in for Pandora so the race wouldn’t be forfeited.”

Boomer sat down on his bed and put his head in his hands. I decided to give him a minute to process things. He seemed genuinely surprised that Pandora was alive and Pepper was dead. It didn’t clear him from tampering with the car or drugging Pandora, but I got the feeling he was almost as torn up about Pepper as he had been about Pandora. If I had to guess, Boomer was innocent of both acts.

“God, poor Pepper,” Boomer groaned. “The whole thing makes no sense. I was with Pandora last night. She had two drinks, maybe three.
Definitely not enough to get drunk.”

“Did you notice her acting oddly?”

Boomer lifted his head, ran his hand through his thick dark hair, and looked at the ceiling. “This whole thing is my fault,” he moaned.

“Your fault?”

“I did notice Pandora was acting strange, but I figured she was just tired. I’d had a few drinks before she arrived and was feeling the effect of the alcohol. I remember telling her to go back to her room and sleep it off. I should have known something was off.”

“Did Pandora leave with Pepper?” I asked.

“No, Pepper had already gone. Pandora left with Dezee. He said he’d walk her back to her room since he was going out for a smoke. These are all nonsmoking rooms.”

“Have you seen
Dezee today?”

I knew he hadn’t been at the race
, and Willa hadn’t tracked him down as of this morning’s emergency events committee meeting.

“No, I haven’t,” Boomer answered. “
He must be at the show with the guys.”

“He’s not. I was just there
, looking for you.”

Boomer frowned.

“Do you have any idea where he might be?” I asked.

“No idea at all.
Dezee has been saving up for a new muscle car. He has enough if he can get a good-enough price at the auction for his old Nova. I know he was looking forward to showing her off during the weekend events. Are you sure he wasn’t in town?”

I
hadn’t noticed him, but I really hadn’t looked around all that much, so I couldn’t be sure he wasn’t there.

“How about we go and take a look
? I need to confirm with everyone who is in and who is out for tomorrow’s derby anyway. After that, you can come with me to meet Pandora and Levi, if you’d like.”

Dezee wasn’t at the park, and no one had seen him since the previous evening. Everyone decided to participate in the derby as planned, although Boomer wanted to talk to Pandora before committing. By the time we got to the boathouse, Levi and Pandora were waiting on the back deck.

“You live here?” Boomer asked as we pulled up.

“I do.”

“Wow, it’s great. I bet you have a fantastic view.”

I nodded. “Let’s grab a couple of beers and join the others.”

The reunion between Boomer and Pandora was sweet. I’m pretty sure they both had tears running down their face
s as they hugged and once and for all put to bed any doubt I might have had that they were more than rivals.

“I’m sorry about Pepper,” Boomer said to Pandora. “I know she was like a sister to you. I can’t imagine what might have possessed her to take your car and fill in for you. She’s an okay derby driver
, but she wasn’t a drag racer.”

“
She must have realized I wasn’t going to make it and wanted to fill in,” Pandora said sadly.

“Yeah, but why didn’t she
ask Jugs or Zelda to take over?” Boomer said, stating the same thought I’d had earlier. “They have experience with road racing, and we both know Pepper only joined your team to be close to you. She just pulled right up to the starting line. Why wouldn’t she enlist the help of the others? The whole thing makes no sense.”

Pandora frowned. “Boomer is right. Pepper would have brought the car to the starting point if she realized I wasn’t going to make it
, but she wouldn’t have raced herself.” Pandora looked at me. “You said that Jugs and Zelda were both at the race?”

“Yes, they were both there,” I confirmed.
“To be honest, I had a similar thought when I learned that the victim was Pepper.”

“There has to be more to this,” Pandora insisted.

“There are a couple of pieces to the story that may or may not be related,” I pointed out. “First of all, it appears that you were drugged last night, Pandora. We won’t have confirmation until Salinger gets the blood test back, but based on what everyone has said, a couple of drinks wouldn’t render you unconscious.

“Additionally,” I added, “we know that the car was tampered with
, ensuring a fiery conclusion to the race. The person who tampered with the car may or may not have been involved in the drugging incident.

“And finally, we know that Pepper, for whatever reason, decided to participate in the race personally rather than asking for help from more qualified team members. Perhaps she wanted to protect your reputation with the others.” I looked at Pandora.

“Maybe, but I still think she would have filled in Jugs at the very least. Jugs has been part of the team for a long time. Pepper would know that she wouldn’t think less of me, even if I had been dumb enough to get wasted the night before a race.”

“Seems like we have a lot of questions,” Levi added. “Was Pandora drugged? If so
, by whom and why? Who tampered with the car and why? Why did Pepper decide to race rather than enlisting the help of the more-qualified Jugs? If a fiery crash was the intention of whoever tampered with the car, who was the intended victim?”

“Yeah
, and where is Dezee?” Boomer added. “I know that participating in the show in town was really important to him. It makes no sense that he’d miss it.”

“Unless he
’s our guilty party,” I speculated.

“
Dezee?” Boomer appeared shocked by my suggestion.

“
Dezee would never do anything to hurt anyone,” Pandora agreed. “He’s good friends with Pepper, so I’ve gotten to know him well over the past six months. He’s a good guy. Sweet and gentle.”

“Okay, so if you had to guess
, who do you think
would
have wanted to drug Pandora and/or cause the crash?” I asked.

Boomer and Pandora both seemed to be pondering
my question. Chances were that the guilty party or parties were involved in the classic car show in some capacity. Some random person not connected to the show was a possibility, but it seemed like a long shot at best.

My phone rang as Levi and I waited for Boomer and Pandora to offer some suggestion as to where we might begin our investigation.

It was Salinger.

“The prelims for the blood test are back. It confirmed that Pandora was given a tranquilizer. It appears she was slipped a
drug called Rohypnol, a sedative more commonly known as a roofie
.
The drug was most likely added to her drink. I’m going to need the names of everyone she was partying with last night.”

“I’ll get it and call you back,” I assured him.

“Get what?” Pandora asked.

I explained about the drug. Both Pandora and Boomer hit the ceiling when they realized that someone they were close to had drugged the derby diva and most likely was at least partially responsible for Pepper
’s death. I got them calmed down and managed to get the list Salinger was looking for.

“So after Boomer and Pandora compared notes, they came up with a list of eight names, including their own,” I informed Zak later that evening as I recounted the events of the day. Scooter was inside playing video games, while Zak and I shared a bottle of wine on his lakeside deck. Charlie was sleeping at my feet and Bella slept at Zak’s side. I was happy to see that the dog had settled right in.

“Boomer, Pandora, Pepp
er, Dezee, Jugs, Masher, Rizo, and Big Boy Branson were all at the impromptu party,” I continued. “We know it wasn’t Boomer or Pandora and are fairly certain it wasn’t Pepper, which leaves Dezee, Jugs, Masher, Rizo, and Big Boy Branson.”

“
Who seems most likely?” Zak asked as he tossed another log on the fire he’d built in the outdoor pit.

“
Dezee has been missing since last night, so he seems the strongest suspect to me, but Boomer and Pandora both insist he wouldn’t have done it. Jugs has been touring with Pandora for a long time and next to Pepper is probably her best friend, so it seems unlikely she’d drug her. Masher is Boomer’s number two and wouldn’t have acted without Boomer’s consent, so the pair agreed we could eliminate him as well. That leaves Rizo and Big Boy. Rizo is a quintessential dumb blonde. I doubt she’d be one to come up with some sort of master plan, so my money at this point is on Big Boy Branson.”