Death Rides a Pony, page 15
Hope smiled, remembering how, at her and Summer’s booth, Amelia had been credited with having an excellent eye for lighting and decor, but Stanley was the one who had been required to install it.
‘Shortly thereafter,’ Megan continued, ‘the next rotation of staff from Amethyst showed up in search of me, since nobody at the hotel or spa had bothered to pass on my message that they were no longer required to be at the festival. And before we knew it, there were nearly a dozen people in here, all just standing around and talking, with nothing in particular to do. Morris said that if we were going to have a social gathering, then we might as well have something to eat and drink. So he contacted Olivia, and Olivia – being the outstanding organizer that she is – promptly contacted the Green Goat, which is evidently another one of the festival sponsors. Daniel arrived from the restaurant’s smaller tent in the row opposite this one with the tubs of ice and beer, and we hit it off right away.’
Hope’s smile grew. Megan was both exceedingly picky and fickle when it came to men, so she was greatly looking forward to meeting Daniel Drexler and seeing how long he could hold on to Megan’s attention.
‘And the group has been growing ever since,’ Megan concluded, ‘as word is slowly spreading through the people working at the festival and more booths close for the day.’
‘Booths are closing already?’ Hope said in surprise. She glanced toward the flap doors of the tent and saw that the sun was lower along the horizon than she had imagined. Somehow the afternoon had become the evening.
Megan seemed surprised in turn. ‘Isn’t that why you and Summer are here? Isn’t your booth closed for the day?’
‘It is,’ Hope confirmed, ‘although not through our choice. Detective Nate came by earlier and shut us down. He had a lot of questions about Davis and the scarf and the carousel. He indicated that he also has questions for you. And Sean, as well.’
At the mention of Sean, Hope had expected Megan to express even more surprise, but she didn’t. Instead, Megan’s face grew suddenly serious. Her voice lowered, and she leaned forward in her folding chair.
‘It makes sense that the police would have questions for Sean. You remember how I told you before that he’s in an excellent mood?’
Hope nodded.
‘Well, that’s an understatement. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that Sean is celebrating Davis Scott’s death, but he certainly isn’t mourning the man.’
They looked over at Sean. He and Summer were sitting together, laughing and drinking, neither one acting the least bit funereal.
‘You mean Sean and Davis were acquainted?’ Hope asked, keen to learn the answer to one of her own questions.
‘Not only were they acquainted, but Davis is the reason Sean came to the festival today. He wasn’t scheduled for another shift at Amethyst’s booth this weekend.’ Megan paused and lowered her voice further. ‘I’m fond of Sean. He’s a good guy, and, as you know, we’ve helped each other out in the past at work.’
Hope nodded again.
‘So what I tell you now is in confidence. I have no desire to be the tattletale who lands Sean in hot water. Unless we end up having some moral obligation from on high, I don’t want to share this information with the police.’
‘Agreed. Nate won’t hear it from me.’
After checking around to make sure that no one was close enough to be able to listen in to their conversation, Megan said, ‘When I was at Amethyst’s booth earlier, trying to figure out whether there was any way to control the insect incursion without resorting to fire or flood, Sean appeared. He was as chipper as could be, practically walking on air. I wasn’t quite as perky in response, so he teased me about having had a late night. I started to explain what had happened on the carousel, but, to my astonishment, he stopped me mid-sentence and said that he already knew all about it.’
Hope was astonished, too. ‘He did?’
‘Yes. According to Sean, he first learned about Davis’s death from some gossipy friend who was working at another booth, and he immediately came to the festival to confirm whether the news was accurate.’
Her astonishment grew. ‘Did Sean mention how he knew Davis?’
‘That’s where it gets mighty interesting.’ Megan leaned closer. ‘Apparently, Davis was the realtor for Sean’s sister a year or two ago. As Sean tells it, Davis talked her into renting a house that she didn’t really want but a pal of his owned. After they moved in, the sister’s baby – Sean’s nephew – began to cough and have breathing troubles. Over the next few months, it got worse and worse, with doctor’s visits and medical tests and trips to the emergency room, until the culprit was finally discovered. It turned out that the house was filled with black mold hidden inside the walls. Seriously toxic stuff, by all accounts. Although he doesn’t have any legal proof, Sean is convinced that Davis and the owner of the house knew about the mold from the outset, but the owner didn’t want to pay to have it remediated, so they just kept foisting the property on unsuspecting victims.’
Hope was appalled. ‘That’s outrageous! And is the baby all right?’
‘To a point, yes. But there’s been some permanent lung scarring that makes him more susceptible to bronchitis and pneumonia in the future.’
‘How awful! No wonder Sean isn’t in deep mourning over Davis. You saw how Summer reacted to his death, and she only had an unsold house to be angry about, not a dangerously ill baby—’ Hope broke off abruptly as a startling possibility occurred to her. ‘Good god, you don’t think Sean was so angry at Davis that he …’
She didn’t have to finish the sentence, because Megan understood her immediately. ‘I hate to say it, but I think there might be a chance. After I got over the initial shock of Sean’s story, I started to ask myself the same thing that you are now. In all honesty, I don’t believe that Sean would ever plan to hurt someone, no matter how terrible a person they were – even Davis Scott. But under the right circumstances, in a weak moment with sufficient provocation, he could be capable of doing something that he would later regret.’
‘Based on his present attitude and behavior,’ Hope said, ‘Sean doesn’t appear to be regretting it.’
‘No, he doesn’t, and I don’t know if that helps or hurts his case.’
Hope considered a moment. ‘Both Nate and Dylan are of the opinion that Davis’s murder wasn’t premeditated. If it had been, the killer would have chosen a more dependable and surefire weapon than a silk scarf.’
‘Unless,’ Megan responded, ‘you’re as strong as Sean is. The truth of the matter is that the muscles in his hands and arms and upper body are so well developed from his many years of working at the spa, Sean could probably strangle somebody with very little effort at all, regardless of any scarf.’
‘That definitely doesn’t help his case. It also doesn’t help that he switched directions. Nate seems to think that’s important.’
Megan frowned. ‘Switched directions?’
‘It’s what you told Rosemarie when you were talking about how a person’s eyes could play tricks in the dark. As you were coming to our booth last night, you thought that you saw Sean heading in one direction even though you were certain that he had gone in the opposite direction only a few minutes earlier.’
The frown deepened. ‘That’s right. I did see Sean switch directions. At least, my eyes imagined that he did.’
‘Either way, Nate finds it suspicious. And now that I’m aware of Sean’s connection to Davis, I can understand why Nate wants to question him about his movements, especially if the murder wasn’t premeditated. Consider this as a possible scenario: After Sean leaves you and Amethyst’s booth yesterday evening to head home, he unexpectedly runs into Davis, who we know was wandering around the festival grounds without Rosemarie at that time. The two men go their separate ways, but after a minute, all the bad memories and anger about his sister and nephew come flooding back to Sean. He turns around – switching directions – and confronts Davis. The altercation gets increasingly ugly, and in the heat of the moment, Sean kills Davis.’
Megan sighed. ‘That sequence of events fits together well. Too well, unfortunately.’
Sharing the sigh, Hope looked once more at Sean. He and Summer were still sitting together, laughing and drinking, without an apparent care in the world. As Sean reached down to the tub at his side to retrieve a new bottle of beer, Hope caught sight of his arm. As Megan had described, it was covered with countless welts from being stung by the ants. The bright red spots were swollen and irritated. And then Hope noticed the large bandage on Sean’s elbow, which was dotted with a darker shade of red. It immediately brought to her mind the blood on the carousel platform.
‘Megan, did Sean have that bandage yesterday?’
‘Huh?’
‘There’s a bandage on Sean’s elbow,’ Hope said. ‘Obviously, he hurt himself, but when it happened could be vitally important. Do you remember if he had the bandage yesterday? Or earlier today at the booth? Or was it a result of the ant attack?’
‘I don’t know about yesterday,’ Megan answered slowly, thoughtfully, ‘because I didn’t see Sean’s arms. He had the cape on the entire time, which covered his elbows. When he left and took off the cape, it was too dark for me to notice a bandage. As for earlier today …’ She hesitated. ‘Yes. Sean had the bandage before the ant attack.’
‘You’re sure?’
‘I’m positive. I remember because when the ants were swarming all over his arm and he first tried to brush them off, a lot of them were getting caught under the bandage. And then when Sean poured the water on them to wash them away, he lifted the bandage to rinse off the trapped ones, too.’
It was Hope’s turn to be thoughtful. ‘Could it have been intentional?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘If Sean hurt his elbow in the struggle with Davis, is it possible that he intentionally got stung by the ants in an attempt to conceal the wound?’
Megan stared at her.
‘From what I’ve gathered from Nate and Dylan,’ Hope explained, ‘there was blood on the carousel platform close to Davis’s body. So whoever killed the man most likely has an injury of some sort.’
There was a brief, deliberative pause, and then Megan said, ‘I can’t tell you whether it was inattention or intentional. But I know that Sean could have avoided getting stung. While I was talking to Sorrel at the neighboring booth, I saw him put his hand down smack in the middle of the ants.’
SIXTEEN
For several long minutes, Hope and Megan sat in silence, drinking their beer and pondering what to do next. Did they break their pledge not to tell the police about Sean’s connection to Davis? Did they talk to Sean himself about their suspicions? Or did they simply do nothing?
‘I don’t know,’ Hope said at last. ‘What if we have it all wrong? We can’t accuse an otherwise decent man of murder based on a couple of coincidences, can we?’
‘It’s more than a couple of coincidences,’ Megan corrected her. ‘And they’re serious ones.’
Hope had no response.
‘I wish that we had someone else to ask for an opinion. Not the police, but another person who understands the situation and could give us an impartial assessment—’ Megan interrupted herself. ‘What about Dylan?’
‘What about him?’
‘We could talk to him about Sean. Dylan is already familiar with the basic facts of the case. He discovered Davis’s body with us, and because of his association with Nate, he probably has a good deal of extra insight that we aren’t aware of. You just said a minute ago that you gathered the information about the blood on the carousel platform from him.’
‘That’s true, but …’ Hope hesitated.
‘Dylan has no prior relationship with Sean, so he won’t be unduly swayed by either friendship or enmity. And Dylan doesn’t seem like the type who would automatically run and snitch to the authorities. If he promised us his discretion, I think that we could trust him to keep his word.’
‘That’s true,’ Hope agreed again. Still she hesitated.
‘Plus, I don’t see us having a better option. I can avoid Nate for a while, but sooner or later, he’ll succeed in tracking me down, and then I’ll be forced to answer at least a portion of his questions. It will be the same for Sean. Obviously, I would prefer that we didn’t get into trouble for withholding information from the police if we can work around it.’
Hope nodded. ‘Nate is dogged and smart. It’s only a matter of time before he figures out that we’re keeping potentially valuable evidence from him, and he won’t be happy about it. Even without knowing anything about Sean’s connection to Davis, Summer said that we should all have our stories straight and get our ducks in a row before Nate comes around with more questions.’
‘Exactly! So it’s decided. We’ll talk to Dylan at the first available opportunity and ask for his advice on Sean.’
‘Unfortunately, that might not happen as soon as we would like. When I last saw Dylan this afternoon, he was with Nate.’
‘Then we’ll have to find a way to separate them.’ Megan’s lips curled with a hint of a grin. ‘That can be your job. I’m sure that Dylan would be more than willing to part from his friend if he believed that he was going to spend some time alone with you.’
Hope rolled her eyes, mildly amused. ‘That’s your plan? You want me to get Dylan alone under false pretenses, and then we ask him for a favor?’
The grin grew. ‘You make it sound so underhanded. There is nothing wrong with a little harmless flirtation for the purpose of potentially solving a murder—’ Megan stopped abruptly and gave a short laugh. ‘Speak of the devil. Our problem has been solved.’
Not immediately understanding, Hope followed Megan’s gaze toward the flap doors of the tent. During the course of their conversation, another twenty or so people had filtered inside, no doubt all in search of a fun and relaxing Saturday evening after spending a long day in a hot booth, smiling ceaselessly at ticketholders. To Hope’s surprise, the most recent group of arrivals included Dylan.
‘Forget my previous statement. The problem has gotten substantially worse,’ Megan amended. ‘It appears that the devil has brought the law with him.’
Detective Nate had now also entered the tent. On his heels were Larkin and another woman who was likewise in her mid- to late twenties. Based on the giggles and winks they exchanged, the two women seemed to be friends. The foursome paused just inside the flap doors and began to confer. Larkin leaned against Dylan’s arm, while the other woman leaned against Nate’s arm.
Hope rolled her eyes again, this time with considerably less amusement and more annoyance.
‘The one who’s attached herself like a limpet to Dylan looks vaguely familiar,’ Megan mused.
‘Larkin. She’s the new receptionist at Morris’s office.’
‘Ah, yes. That explains it. I caught a glimpse of her earlier today when I first started to tell Morris about Amethyst’s booth being finished for the weekend. Does Larkin not believe in buttoning her blouse?’
It was Hope’s turn to give a short laugh, remembering Summer’s similar comment on the subject. ‘Summer isn’t a fan, either. The glittery banner above our booth and the faux crystal ball are both courtesy of Larkin.’
‘Hmm.’ Megan studied Larkin. ‘I wouldn’t trust her for a millisecond. Unless I’m grossly mistaken, she intends on getting her talons into Dylan.’
‘That was my impression, too.’
‘Hmm.’ Megan studied her some more. ‘Too glib of an air. Smacks of desperation.’
‘Perhaps, but none of the men seem to think so. From what I’ve seen, they all find her delightful. Morris. Dylan. Nate. And now there’s this apparent friend of Larkin’s who looks to be cut from the same cloth.’
‘Another limpet,’ Megan remarked, as the other woman leaned even more heavily against Nate’s arm.
‘I wonder how they heard about this tent,’ Hope said.
‘It might be that Nate is a truly exceptional detective and managed to ferret out the party from among all the tents and booths on the festival grounds, or – the more probable answer – Larkin learned of it from her employer.’
Hope replied with an irritated sigh. As much as she liked Morris, his lips could be inconveniently loose on occasion.
‘In any event,’ Megan continued, ‘we now find ourselves in a bit of a pickle. Nate and his questions are here. So am I. And so is Sean. Any brilliant suggestions on how we should proceed?’
‘Well, our first order of business has to be getting you and Sean out of this place as quickly and unobtrusively as we can manage.’
As she spoke, Hope glanced over at Sean. He and Summer still hadn’t budged from their folding chairs. They were surrounded by a sizable group that included a number of people who were standing rather than sitting, so they weren’t immediately visible to Nate. They also didn’t seem to have noticed his arrival.
‘Hope—’
‘It’s going to be easier with you than with Sean,’ she went on. ‘I know you told me before that you didn’t want to leave the tent and go back out into the heat, but at this juncture, I believe our best chance lies with—’
‘Hope!’ Megan interjected again, her voice low but insistent. ‘Don’t look at the entrance, but I’m pretty sure that we’ve been spotted.’
