Killing the Carnations (A Heavenly Highland Inn Cozy Mystery) (6 page)

They offered rooms at very cheap prices
to the staff. This partly off-set the cost of their salaries and was also a great benefit for the employees as they had no commuting time. They also had access to all the amenities, such as the pool, the gardens, the kitchen, and the large banquet room. It made the employees of the inn feel more like a family to Vicky and Sarah, than just people on the payroll, and that's how they preferred it. As she walked down the narrow path through the gardens that led to the staffs’ quarters she thought once more about the crime scene.

She was certain that there was something she had overlooked in the room. Something had to explain how the murderer had left the room. She was so distracted that she found herself walking to the wrong door. She didn't realize it, until she heard noises coming from inside. She stood frozen with her hand poised to knock on the door as she listened to the unmistakable sounds that were drifting through the thick wooden door. It was moaning, but not of a fearful kind. She could also hear Emily's voice.

“Oh, Jeremy,” she moaned.

Vicky's eyes widened at what she was hearing. She tried to convince herself that maybe she was just misinterpreting, but there was no questioning it
when she heard further evidence.

She quickly lowered her hand and tried to decide what to do. Emily knew that fraternising with the guests was frowned upon, but they weren't terribly strict abou
t it. People often came to the inn looking for romance, so it wasn't that surprising if they found it with one of the staff members. But this wasn't just any guest, this was Jeremy Minkle, CEO of Ballant Industries, and the man who had threatened to destroy the inn with a lawsuit. She wondered if Emily knew about that. Before she could decide what to do, she heard her name called.

“
Vicky, are you looking for me?” Henry asked as he walked towards her. Vicky's eyes grew even wider as she heard the sounds come to an abrupt stop inside of Emily's room. She hurried away from the door and tugged Henry into his room which was right beside Emily's.

“
Did you know that Emily was dating Jeremy Minkle?” she asked in a whisper as soon as they were alone.

“
Well, how couldn't I?” Henry chuckled as he pointed to the wall. “It's pretty thin, and they're not exactly quiet.”

“
You should have told me,” Vicky chastised and crossed her arms.

“
Why?” Henry asked with surprise. “I didn't see any harm in it. Emily's a sweet girl, besides they were together the last time that Jeremy stayed here.”

“
Oh, really?” Vicky asked with surprise. “No wonder she booked him a room,” she nodded. “And it doesn't bother you?”

“
Look,” Henry shrugged. “She's young, she's a nice girl, and if she ends up marrying the fellow she'll have a very different life. Of course I've tried to warn her that Jeremy Minkle is not the marrying type, but she seems head over heels anyway.”

“
Hmm,” Vicky glanced at the wall. She could hear some scuffling around and guessed that they were hurrying to get dressed. “Well, I was looking for you,” she said as she turned back to Henry. “It turns out the murder weapon is more than likely a corkscrew. So we need to make a list of where the corkscrews are for the police.”

“
Sure, I'll get right on it,” Henry agreed, then he hesitated a moment and met Vicky's eyes. “If you decide to talk to Emily, go easy on her, she's really just a sweet kid looking for love.”

“
I'll be easy,” Vicky promised as they stepped out of Henry's room together. Her gaze lingered on the door to Emily's room. She still thought it was strange that she hadn't known about their affair. She usually knew about everything that went on at the inn. So Emily must have done a very good job of hiding it. But why would she? Emily knew Vicky well enough to realize that Vicky wouldn't begrudge her a little romance. As Vicky walked back towards the inn, she saw several police cars pulling away from the parking lot. Mitchell must have sent them home for the night. The guests were likely too tired to offer helpful interviews at this point. She stepped into the lobby to find Mitchell waiting for her.

“
Henry has headed to the kitchen to sort out the list,” she said quickly as she walked up to him. He spun around and wrapped an arm instantly around her waist.

“
I'm sorry we missed our evening,” he said with a sigh. “I'll have to get an officer to collect the corkscrews and then get that evidence back to the station.”

“
I know,” Vicky said with a patient smile. “Don't worry, we'll make up for it when we do have time.”

“
Actually,” Mitchell's lips spread wide into a smile that she knew too well. It was his 'I have a secret' smile that drove her wild, as he was incredibly good at keeping secrets. “I am planning on it,” he smiled.

“
What does that mean?” Vicky asked and studied his expression for any hint.

“
I guess we'll just have to make the time to find out,” he smiled and kissed her gently. “Go get some rest. I'm going to leave a few uniformed officers to keep an eye on the inn tonight, okay?”

“
Okay,” Vicky agreed, though she wanted to grill him about the secret that he was keeping. She knew this was not the time. When she reached her apartment she was ready to collapse. She had made sure that both the uniformed officers and the inn's security guard had her cell phone number and instructed them to call if anything came up. She placed her cell phone on the table beside her bed and then fell into it.

Vicky hadn't been asleep for very long, maybe an hour, when she heard knocking on her door. Sleepily she sat up. She glanced at the clock, and then her cell phone. As she checked to see if anyone had called, she heard another insistent knock, and then her cell phone began to ring.

“
Hello?” she said sleepily as she stumbled towards the front door of her apartment.

“
Vicky, did I wake you?” Ida asked and the knocking continued.

“
No someone at my door...” Vicky began to say until she looked through the small peep hole in her door. “Well, yes, actually you did,” she said as she hung up the phone and opened the door. Aunt Ida stood in front of her, her phone still pressed up to her ear.

“
We need to talk,” she said into the phone.

“
Aunt Ida, you can hang up now,” Vicky shook her head and set her phone down on the entranceway table as Aunt Ida stepped inside.

“
What is this about?” Vicky asked, stifling a yawn.

“
I can't sleep, can you?” Aunt Ida said quickly, her eyes wide and dancing nervously from place to place in the apartment.

“
Yes, actually,” Vicky said, and then reminded herself to be patient. “How much coffee have you had?” she asked as she studied her aunt.

“
Enough,” Aunt Ida shrugged. “I saw that the police were gone, and I thought maybe we could take a look at the crime scene.”

“
It's the middle of the night, Aunt Ida!” Vicky said with a frown.

“
Which is the perfect time,” Aunt Ida reminded her. “If Mitchell sees us looking through the room tomorrow he's going to kick us out, and you know it.”

“
Good point,” Vicky nodded slightly in agreement. She preferred not to argue with Mitchell if at all possible. That did mean that if they were going to look through the crime scene, it would have to be at night.

“
Are there any officers posted at the door?” Vicky asked as she walked back towards her bedroom to grab some fresh clothes.

“
Not that I saw,” Ida replied as she sat down on the couch. “I just can't stop thinking about poor Nicholas sitting in a jail cell. How can they still be holding him?”

“
Well, they haven't arrested him yet, not officially,” Vicky explained as she pulled on a new shirt and tucked a flashlight into her back pocket. “But they can hold him for twenty-four hours for questioning. After that they have to release or arrest him.”

“
Oh, that's a relief,” Aunt Ida said. “At least he'll be out of there by tomorrow night.”

When Vicky stepped back into the li
ving room she couldn't hide her frown.

“
What?” Aunt Ida asked when she saw Vicky's expression.

“
With the evidence they have it's very likely that they will arrest Nicholas,” Vicky explained as gently as she could. “He has no alibi, he has a motive, and he did have a corkscrew in his room.”

“
A corkscrew?” Ida asked with surprise. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“
Well, the ME believes that is what was used as the murder weapon,” Vicky sat down beside her aunt and enveloped her hand with her own. “Try not to be too upset. You know that if he's not guilty, Mitchell will figure it out.”

“
Do I?” Aunt Ida asked in a testy tone of voice. “If everyone believes he's guilty, and I'm the only one who thinks he is innocent, then how do I know that?”

Vicky hugged her aunt and nodded. She looked directly into her eyes.
“Then we'll make sure he has all the information that he needs to discover the truth. Okay?”

“
You must think I'm very silly,” Aunt Ida fretted as she glanced away from Vicky.

“
I don't,” Vicky insisted, but her aunt was not convinced.

“
I know that I've just met him, and I should trust Mitchell's judgement, but this man, there's just so much honesty in him. He even told me about his late wife. I just don't think he has the heart of a cold blooded killer, and for an innocent man to spend the rest of his life in jail is a horrible thought.”

“
I understand,” Vicky murmured as Ida's words settled in. She hadn't really looked at things from Nicholas' perspective. If he really was innocent, then he had to be terrified. “Let's go take a look at the crime scene,” Vicky said as she stood up and headed for the door. Ida followed after her. The pair walked quietly through the lobby.  Vicky was hoping to avoid the security guard and the police officers that Mitchell had asked to stay the night. She pushed the button and hoped the elevator would move quickly. As soon as the doors opened she guided Ida inside and pushed the button for the third floor. When Vicky noticed Aunt Ida's determined stare in the reflection of the metal doors she frowned.

“
Aunt Ida, I don't want you to get your hopes up,” Vicky warned. “The police did a thorough search, there may be nothing new to find.”

“
We'll find something,” Aunt Ida said with confidence. “It's just a matter of looking in the right places.”

Vicky gritted her teeth and nodded. When the elevator doors slid open she checked the hall to make sure no one was there. Then she and Ida made their way into Charleston's room. Once they had slipped
in Vicky flipped on her flashlight. She didn't want to turn on the light in the room as it might draw too much attention.

“
Look at this mess,” Aunt Ida fussed as there was fingerprint dust all over the room.

Vicky decided to
search the room. She started at one corner and made her way across the back wall, looking closely for any small trace of evidence. When she reached the windowsill, she remembered what Mitchell had said about the possibility that the murderer had gone out the window.

Vicky studied the windowsill.
The windowsill wasn't splintered or damaged in any way. It seemed very odd to her to think that someone might have climbed out of the window without leaving behind even the slightest scuff mark and where would they have gone, the room was three floors up. But that had to be the case, didn't it? When she had opened the door to the room, she was forced to shove Charleston's body in order to do so. So how could anyone have walked out of the room without disturbing the body laying in front of the door?

“
It just doesn't make any sense,” Vicky pointed out. As she swept her gaze over the scene for what felt like the thousandth time, she was beginning to feel like Mitchell. “There is no way that someone could kill Charleston and then climb over him to get out the door,” Vicky was completely puzzled.

“
Maybe he was still alive,” Aunt Ida suggested thoughtfully. “Maybe he crawled to the door after the murderer left.”

Vicky considered this for a moment as she looked at the pattern of the bloodstains on the floor.

“But there's no trail leading to the door,” she pointed out. “Everything is pooled right around and under the door,” Vicky walked towards the door, inspecting the carpet as she did. She tried to imagine what had happened inside the room. Had he known his assailant? The door hadn't been forced open, so he must have opened the door for the person to enter. It was impossible to tell for sure since there was very little physical evidence. The room was not tossed, there was nothing missing, and it was clear that the main target was Charleston himself.

“
This is so frustrating,” Aunt Ida growled as she looked around the room. “There must be something here! Maybe we are missing something because this room is so big.”