Heather Horrocks - Who-Dun-Him Inn 02 - Inn the Doghouse (27 page)

“I’m impressed,” I said.

He chuckled. “I told you I was pretty cool. You just didn’t believe me.”

I nodded. “Pretty cool. Duly noted.”

David glanced at his watch. “What time was Zach’s party over?”

I looked at my watch. “He should have called by now, I think.” I checked my phone, but no calls or texts had come in. “I’d better call.”

“He said he was going to walk home, about thirty minutes ago,” the mother hosting the birthday party said when I reached her. “A couple of the boys were walking together. I’m sorry. I thought it would be okay. I’ll check to see if he’s still here.”

A mother’s panic nipped at me and I tried to keep it in check. “I’ll go see if I can find him.”

“Please call me,” she said. “Now I’m getting worried, too.”

When I hung up and told them where I was going, David offered to come with me.

Walking out the back door, David pointed. “Isn’t that Zach?”

As I looked, relief flooded me. “It is.” I pulled out my cell phone and called the other mother back to tell her he was safely home.

Before I hung up, David started chuckling.

“What’s so funny?”

“Your little boy has a dog with him.”

I looked more closely and, sure enough, there was a dog. When we walked out to meet Zach, I saw it wasn’t a puppy, but nearly a full-grown dog. Probably about a year or so, because it still had big, puppyish-looking paws.

“I guess he got tired of waiting,” David said. “He’s been pretty patient so far.”

“You and your darn visualizations.”

“They work every time.”

“Put your power to better use and visualize me up some minions.”

“Ha! We’re your minions.”

“Mom, look!” Zach called out, pointing to the dog. “It’s a girl dog. A
grown
dog.”

“Where’d you get her?” I asked, kneeling to pet the dog as it ran up to David and me.

Her coat was dirty and she looked like she wasn’t getting enough to eat, which triggered my
awww
reflex. I couldn’t tell what breed she might be. She kind of looked like several breeds had a party. Her body was a little longish, like a beagle or dachshund, her nose long and colored black and white like a border collie, a white chest, and different shades of brown and beige splotched her back, though that could have been mud.

I felt sorry for the poor dog.

“She followed me home!”

“With him feeding her bread crumbs all the way,” David whispered.

I nodded.

Zach stopped in front of us, and the dog danced around a moment until Zach knelt down and patted its ears. Then it licked his face.

When he threw his arms around the dog’s neck, I knew what was coming next. I decided to change the subject. “Why didn’t you call so I could pick you up? I’ve been worried, and so was your friend’s mom.”

“Sorry, Mom. But the other guys were walking home. And then I found Penny.”

“Why are you calling her Penny?”

“Because she’s like my lucky Penny.”

Zach looked up at me, joy and hope shining in his beautiful face that reminded me so much of my beloved late husband, Robert. “Can we keep her, Mom?”

How could I say no to that? This actually felt like giving in to the inevitable, as if it was meant to be somehow. I said, “Maybe. We’ll have to see if she belongs to anyone else first.”

“Awww, Mom.”

“I know that disappoints you, but there may be another little boy who lost her and feels sad because his dog is missing. We have to at least check.”

“Okay,” Zach said. “Now I can use the water bowl and food bowl David got for me to visualize with.”

“Yeah, I’ll have to thank him for those.” I was only being partially sarcastic.

“I already did, Mom.”

Chapter Fifteen

“YOU GOT A NEW DOG?” Grandma asked, her tone incredulous.

“Not exactly. A dog followed Zach home.”

“Same difference.”

“I’m going to see if we can find the owner.”

She smiled at me as she climbed out of my Jeep. “Come take my arm, oh deluded one. The sidewalks are icy today.”

She called shortly after Zach introduced me to Penny, to say her car was in the shop and could I drive her over to talk with Matt Borman? Since it was a Saturday, his offices weren’t open, but he had agreed to come in for Grandma. I just bet he had. Grandma had a gazillion dollars to invest and he was no fool. She asked Paul to meet us here as well, because she trusted his judgment.

I just wanted to sneak in a few questions for Matt. I was desperate to prove that someone—anyone besides my sister—could have done Gene in.

Grandma took my arm and spryly walked toward the door of Matt Borman’s investment office.

“So he’s got a new development coming in?”

“Lucille over at the Chamber of Commerce called and told me about it. He’s hoping to get a fancy-schmancy hotel built that caters to the ski and snowboarding crowd.”

“That shouldn’t hurt my business,” I said. “People who stay at bed-and-breakfasts are generally looking for a different experience.”

“Especially bed-and-breakfasts with murder mysteries.”

“I know. Isn’t it great?” My Inn was proving to be quite popular. Thank goodness.

Paul hit the lights on his cruiser and
whooped
the siren as he pulled up to the curb. “Hey, Grandma, Vicki.”

Grandma held out her other arm and he took it.

Matt opened the door to his business and invited us in. “Please come in, Mrs. Ross.”

He got us settled in chairs, offered us our choice of water or soda, then took a seat next to my grandmother. “You said you’d like to ask me some questions about the Miner’s Gulch Development. Go ahead.”

That was the fancy-schmancy ski hotel, but I was more interested in the Silver Creek Development that Gene had so recently bought the land for.

Grandma started throwing out terms that impressed me. She sounded like an investment broker, herself. Paul caught my eye and I shrugged. Who knew?

Matt said, “I think it’s going to be an excellent investment opportunity.”

I took a chance and asked, “How about the Silver Creek project?”

Grandma looked at me and seemed to pick up that I needed more information. She obliged. “Yes. What can you tell us about that one?”

Matt’s face darkened. He smiled, but it was obviously forced. “Unfortunately, that project has been placed on the back burner.”

Paul said, “I understand Gene and Lamont bought that property from your father.”

Matt paused as if he didn’t want to say whatever was going to come next. “We were in the process of restructuring and getting all the property put under the trust, but that one hadn’t been done yet. Unfortunately, my father’s not as mentally agile as he used to be, and he was taken advantage of.”

“Really?” Grandma said. “By whom?”

Matt paused again. “I really shouldn’t say.”

“Oh, sweetie, you can tell us,” Grandma said. “Really.”

He sighed again. “Gene waited until I left town for a week, then he came up here and spoke with my father and brought papers for him to sign. By the time I returned, the deal was done and it was too many days after the fact to cancel legally. Gene got my father to sign away that property for a pittance. He robbed us. And I can’t get it back.”

He sounded bitter. Bitter enough to kill Gene? I wondered.

“Did you go to Gene’s house?” Paul asked. I knew Paul already knew this, so I figured he just wanted to see if he could get more information out of Matt in a more casual situation.

“The day before he died. But he was alive when I left. The busybody, old lady next door with the binoculars saw me.” Matt shrugged. “I went up there. I was trying to appeal to his sense of decency and return the property. I found out he didn’t have any sense of decency.”

“We spoke with the busybody neighbor lady. She said you did some shoving.”

Matt nodded. “I did. And he did. And then I left. I didn’t see Gene again.”

“Is your money safe, Grandma?” I asked, worried about Gene’s possible dishonest streak.

“Oh, yes. Gene has handled my affairs for years and there’s never been a problem.”

We chatted for a few more minutes, and Grandma promised to look over the brochures Matt handed her. Then the four of us left the office, with Matt closing up as we walked out.

We watched him cross the street to his car. I said, “He sounds like he might have a motive. And why were you asking all those questions that you already knew the answers to?”

“I was just fishing to see if he would say anything he hadn’t before. Because his alibi hasn’t checked out yet,” Paul said. “Nearly everyone else has already been cleared, except for one.”

“Which one?” Grandma asked, as she took our arms again.

“Gene’s brother, Jeff. The waitress who saw him at the time of the murder was on an extended

trip to Europe and didn’t have phone service. She got back and said she did remember him being there that night. She remembered him because he was a regular and seemed pretty bummed that night about Gene not giving him the money he needed to avoid bankruptcy. She talked to him for awhile because the café wasn’t very busy. And he left a hefty tip.”

“So does that mean Jeff is innocent?” I said. “Or could he have murdered Gene after dinner?”

“Time of death was within ten minutes of the time Jeff was eating; so, yes, it looks like he is innocent,” Paul said.

“And Matt is looking more guilty.” I unlocked the doors to my Jeep.

“For the moment.” Paul opened the door and helped Grandma in.

“Does he have an alibi?”

“Just his own word. He went home early and worked in his den. His wife was upstairs with a cold, lying down. He could have slipped out without her knowing.”

How could I get Matt to tell me more? To get him to slip up verbally, perhaps?

“Thanks, Paul,” Grandma said as she motioned for him to lean in and kiss her, which he did.

Liz called just then. “I’m stopping at the Moose Muffin Café for dinner. Do you and Zach want to join me?”

“Grandma and I are in town. Zach refused to leave his new dog—I’ll explain later—and so he stayed at the Inn with David. Knowing David, he’ll probably have food ready. Come to the Inn with me.”

“Come on. I’m starving tonight. We’ll just stay a few minutes, and then take treats to David and Zach.”

“Long day at work?”

“Yup. But I didn’t cry once.”

“That’s an improvement.”

“See you there in, say, twenty minutes?”

“I need to call David and see if it’s okay if I’m gone a little longer. I’ll tell him that I’ll bring dinner home for a change, and call you back.”

The call took only minutes. Yes, David was okay with me being gone. Yes, he had already begun dinner, so don’t bring any home. And have fun.

I asked Paul and Grandma, “Want to join Liz at the Moose Muffin?”

He shrugged. “Sure.”

Grandma said, “Drop me off at home. I’m a little tired tonight and want to get plenty of rest before my wild party tomorrow.”

“What wild party?”

She laughed. “A group of my old friends get together in Park City every year between

Halloween and Thanksgiving to have a pumpkin-carving contest and eat pumpkin pie.”

“Sounds like fun.”

I called Liz and told her.

Paul helped Grandma into my Jeep and closed the door, then turned to me. “I don’t want you asking people questions, Vicki. I don’t want you getting hurt.”

My heart sank. “I have to do something, Paul. I can’t just sit around and wait for the deputies to haul off my sister.”

He spoke sternly. “I want you to stay out of this. Liz is my sister, too, and I’m doing what I can. Okay?”

“Okay,” I responded, more that I was acknowledging receipt of the message than that I took it as an order. I still had to ask questions; I just had to be more careful about it.

~ ~ ~

Liz looked much better, with color in her cheeks. She had a platter full of food—burger, fries, milkshake, the works—and I was glad to see her digging into it. I hoped it meant she was finally over the worst of the stress-induced pallor she recently wore.

When I called David, he told me Zach was still pampering his new dog.

“His
potential
new dog,” I corrected.

David just laughed. “Whatever you say, boss lady.”

I ordered fries that I didn’t even have to share with Grandma because I dropped her off at home, as per her request.

The café was about half full on a Saturday afternoon. Liz and I chatted while I dipped my fries in fry sauce and enjoyed them. I started unwinding and took a deep breath. I was relieved that, for the moment, nothing drastic was happening. We’d had too many drastic things occur lately.