A Whale of a Tail Read online

  “Is Becky coming as well?” Tara asked. In high school, Owen, Archie, and Becky had been inseparable. Most referred to them as the Three Nerdsketeers.

  “He wasn’t sure. He hoped Becky could make it, but her software company has grown a lot over the past two years, so she is pretty busy.”

  “I heard she is doing really well. I hope she can make it. It would be fun to catch up. We need to be sure to get the word out about the party at the bar. Owen, Archie, and Becky were in Danny and Cody’s class, but I’m going to be sure to invite those alumni who are still around from our class as well.” Tara began turning off the lights. “I’ve heard they are expecting to have a good turnout for the game this year.”

  “I’ve noticed that homecoming games played in October have a better turnout than the ones in September. I’ve also noticed that alumni are more apt to come back for the first few games after graduation, but then their attendance tapers off.” I checked to make sure the coffee machines were cleaned and ready for the morning. “It will be good to see whoever shows.”

  As soon as Tara and I finished cleaning up, we headed to the bar. Weekdays in the off-season tended to be slow, so other than a few regulars sitting at the bar, the place was mostly empty. Finn and Siobhan were sitting at the far end of the long, horseshoe-shaped bar, chatting with Danny and Aiden, and Tara and I joined them.

  “How was the author presentation?” Siobhan asked as I slid onto a stool next to her.

  “Interesting.” I leaned in a bit so I could see Finn, who was sitting on her other side. “Winnie Westminster told the group that she had solved the Amy Anderson murder and would reveal the killer in her new book.”

  Finn frowned. “That sounds like a bad idea.”

  “That’s what I thought. I feel like she is practically daring the killer to take action before she is able to make the big reveal.”

  “Do you know where she is staying?” Finn asked.

  “She rented a house on the west shore, just north of Harthaven. It is the same house she rented when she met Amy when she was a child. Amy’s family no longer lives in the house next door, and Winnie didn’t mention an address, but I’m sure you can figure it out if you want to have a chat with her.”

  “I have the address in my file.” Finn looked at Siobhan. “I hate to cut our evening short, but do you mind getting a ride home with Cait?”

  “Happy to. If it turns out that you are going to be longer than an hour or two, text me to let me know what’s going on.”

  Finn leaned forward and kissed his wife. “I will.” He looked at me. “How long has Ms. Westminster been on the island?”

  “I think she just arrived yesterday.”

  “And had you heard, prior to this evening, that the woman was claiming to have solved the Amy Anderson murder case?”

  I shook my head. “No. I did know she had written a book based on Amy and her death, but until she said so this evening, I had no idea that she was actually identifying the killer.”

  “So maybe the killer hasn’t heard that potentially dangerous information either.”

  I shrugged. “Maybe not. Unless the killer was at the meeting tonight or had attended one of the other bookstores along the prepublication tour. We’ve been advertising the fact that Winifred Westminster was going to be a guest at Coffee Cat Books for the past several weeks, and our ads did indicate that she had written a book about the Amy Anderson murder, and Winnie did indicate she either had made other stops or planned to make other stops before the book was published. Either way, if I was the killer and I still lived in the area, I might show up to hear what she had to say.”

  Finn narrowed his gaze. “I’ll see if I can get Winifred to share what she knows for her own safety.” He looked at Siobhan. “I’ll call you after I get a feel for how things are going to go.”

  After Finn left, Tara, Siobhan, and I moved to a table. Aiden stayed behind the bar, but Danny joined us.

  “I have to admit that Winnie’s talk tonight brought up a lot of really weird emotions that I suppose I’ve been suppressing for years,” Tara said.

  “I know what you mean,” I agreed. “The fact that Amy was murdered in a house filled with dozens of people and not a single person even knew she was dead until her body was found the next morning is beyond strange. It seems to me that she would have screamed if she was being attacked. If she did, you would think someone would have heard her.”

  “The music was loud that night,” Danny pointed out.

  “Maybe, but there must have been a struggle. It just seems unlikely to me that not a single person heard what was going on.”

  “I seem to remember that Amy was pretty drunk,” Tara said. “Maybe she went upstairs and passed out. Someone could have killed her while she was out. She may not have even been aware of what was happening until it was too late to scream.”

  I picked up my wine and took a sip. “I suppose it could have happened that way.” I knew Amy’s body had been found on top of the bed in Lance Larson’s parents’ bedroom the morning after the party. The medical examiner had determined that she’d died at around eleven p.m., but apparently, no one had realized Amy was missing until the next day. “Does anyone remember how she died?”

  “I remember reading in the newspaper that she was strangled,” Danny answered.

  “I wonder if Amy was drugged,” Tara suggested. “If she had been drugged and then strangled, she might not even have fought back.”

  “I won’t say I knew Amy well, but from what I did know of her, she didn’t seem to be the sort to take drugs or drink until she passed out,” I commented.

  “She wasn’t really herself that night,” Danny said. “If you remember, Brock had just broken up with her, and he showed up at the party with Jamie.”

  Brock Stevenson had dated Amy all through high school, and I did remember that Amy took it hard when he broke up with her. Brock had brought a girl named Jamie Fisher to the party that night. Jamie and Amy were both popular cheerleaders, and most kids considered them to be rivals. “I remember that when Amy saw Jamie with Brock, she did not take it well, so I suppose that Brock showing up with Jamie might explain why she got so drunk, but it doesn’t explain who killed her.”

  Siobhan had been listening, but she had already graduated and left the island by the time of the party, so she didn’t really know any of the people we were discussing. When her phone buzzed, she picked it up and stepped away to take the call. Danny, Tara, and I continued to discuss possible suspects. Once we got to tossing around names, we came up with a fairly long list.

  I glanced up as Siobhan returned to the table with a huge frown on her face. “What’s wrong?”

  “That was Finn. When he arrived at the house Winifred was renting, he found the front door partially open. When she didn’t answer his knock, he let himself in. He found her dead on the living room floor.”

  “Dead?” I gasped.

  Chapter 2

  Siobhan nodded. “He said she’d been shot in the chest. He also said her death was recent. Very recent. He suspects the killer went out the back when he pulled up in the front. Finn wants you to compile a list of everyone you can think of who was both at the party on the night Amy died and, as far as you know, is on the island this evening.”

  “So Finn thinks that whoever killed Winnie also killed Amy?” Tara asked.

  “It makes sense given the fact that Winnie announced to a room full of people that she knew who killed Amy and then she, herself, was killed shortly thereafter.” Siobhan took out her phone. “I’ll start a list. When we are done, I’ll text it to Finn.”

  “Right off the top of my head, I’d start with Gavin and Brooke Prescott,” I said. “Gavin was Amy’s date on the night of the party. He’d dated Brooke Baxter all through high school, but apparently, on the night of the party, Gavin and Brooke were fighting and were considered to be on a time-out.”

  “I remember how angry Brooke was about it,” Danny added.

  “She had every
right to be,” Tara chimed in. “She’d been dating Gavin for more than three years; then they have one little spat, and he shows up at the homecoming party with another girl!”

  “It was pretty rotten of Gavin to take Amy to the party, but Gavin and Brooke made up and are married with three adorable children, so it worked out in the end. I honestly don’t think either of them killed Amy, but they were both at the party and are still living on the island, so in terms of means, it is possible.”

  Siobhan added both of them to her list.

  “What about Brock Stevenson?” Tara said. “It is true that Brock was the one who broke up with Amy, and he brought Jamie to the party, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t jealous when she showed up with Gavin. And then she pretty much ignored Gavin and spent the entire night trying to get Chase Carter into bed, but I suppose Brock might still have been upset about the situation.”

  “Is Brock on the island?” Siobhan asked.

  “Honestly, I don’t know,” I answered. “He shows up for homecoming every now and then.”

  “Perhaps we should have two lists,” Siobhan suggested. “One can be for people who were at the party fifteen years ago, and we know, or have strong reason to believe, are currently on the island. Brooke and Gavin would be on that list. The second one can be for anyone who had a motive to want to hurt Amy and were at the party where she was killed but whose current whereabouts we are unsure of. Brock Stevenson would be on that list.”

  “What about Owen Nelson?” I asked. “I remember that he was at the party fifteen years ago, and he still lives on the island. I’m not sure he had a motive, but it still might be worth talking to him.”

  Siobhan added Owen to a third list, which she called Persons of Interest.

  “And don’t forget Lance Larson, if we are going to list people who may not have had a motive but still warrant taking to.”

  Lance Larson was the host of the party that night, and he was the one who found Amy dead in his parents’ bed the next morning. He’d left the island after graduating high school, but his parents still owned the house where Amy died.

  “It is reasonable to suspect that he could be in town for homecoming,” Tara said. “I suppose we should at least check on his current whereabouts.”

  “I’ll have Finn contact his parents,” Siobhan said. “So, who else should we add to one of these three lists?”

  “Lexi Michaels was at the party and also still lives on the island,” Tara provided. “I have absolutely no reason to suspect that she would kill anyone, but she does fit the criteria of being in both places. In fact,” she added, “Lexi was at the author talk tonight, so I know that she knew that Winnie was on the island and was claiming to have uncovered the identity of the killer.”

  “Lexi was Amy’s best friend from elementary school,” I pointed out. “There is no way she’d kill her, but she might know something that will help us figure out who did.”

  The four of us continued to discuss the possibilities until we’d compiled a pretty long list of those we knew for certain had both been at the party and still lived on the island, and those who had moved but it was reasonable to suspect could be back for a visit. Those who had moved and tended to visit, such as Lance and Brock, could be deleted from the list once Finn had confirmed they hadn’t actually been on the island this evening. Danny needed to help Aiden close up, so we all agreed to pick up the conversation the following day.

  Tara left in her own car, and I took Siobhan back to the estate, where she lived with Finn and their son, Connor, in the main house, and I lived with Cody in the beachfront cabin also on the property. We would move next door once the second and third floor of Mr. Parsons’s house was renovated. The renovation was a major undertaking, but after Cody and I married and began to discuss living arrangements, we realized that it would be important to have a home to raise our family that we both felt ownership for. Mr. Parsons, the current owner of the home, lived on the first floor, while Cody and I planned to move into floors two and three. When Mr. Parsons passed, he planned to leave the entire estate to Cody and me.

  “How is the work coming along?” Siobhan asked as we drove back toward the estate. “It looks like they have started the demolition from all the additional traffic on the peninsula.”

  “They just started, actually. We didn’t want Mr. Parsons to be disturbed by the noise and mess, so we waited to get started until Balthazar got back from his trip.” Balthazar was a man I’d met years ago and befriended. He lived in his own mansion by the sea and had invited Mr. Parsons to stay with him while renovations were underway.

  “It was really nice of Balthazar to invite Mr. Parsons to stay with him.”

  I smiled. “Both men can be crotchety, that is for certain, but they seem to get along just fine. I think they will each enjoy the company of the other.”

  “Any idea when the remodel will be finished?” Siobhan asked.

  “If all goes as planned, we should be able to move into the house in a couple of months. Three at the most. Why? Are you anxious to get rid of us?”

  Siobhan laughed. “Not at all, but I know that Cassie is excited to have her own place. She is fine staying with Finn and me for now, but she is almost twenty-one, and she is excited to have her independence. You remember how it was when you first moved out of the family home where you grew up.”

  I did remember, and I had been even more anxious than Cassie to have my own place. “Speaking of Cassie turning twenty-one, we should talk about a party. Now that she’ll be of age, I am thinking about asking the brothers if we can have it at the bar. They are closed on Mondays anyway, and Cassie’s birthday is on Monday this year, so that part seems to work out.”

  “I think a party at the bar is a wonderful idea, although I think we should discuss our plans with Cassie before finalizing anything. I’d hate to plan something only to find out that she had something else in mind.”

  “I totally agree.” I slowed to turn onto the Peninsula Road. “Cassie seems to enjoy hanging out with the family, but we should ask her. It is a milestone birthday. I can’t believe she is going to be twenty-one. She has always been the baby of the family.”

  “And she always will be,” Siobhan pointed out. “No matter how old you get, if you are the youngest, you stay the baby.”

  After I dropped Siobhan off at the main house, I took my dog, Max, for a walk along the beach. It was a dark night with a heavy cloud cover, but I had a flashlight, and Max and I didn’t venture too far away from the cabin. While the house Cody and I were set to move into and would one day inherit from Mr. Parsons, was a fantastic one right on the sea, I had to admit that I was going to miss the little cabin where I’d lived since my aunt Maggie offered it to me when I was even younger than Cassie was now. It had been my home for a long time, and in many ways, it felt like an extension of myself. Cody and I planned to have a family, so the tiny cabin didn’t make sense in the long run, but I knew that when I left it, I’d miss it a lot.

  I loved these quiet walks along the beach with just Max and me. Not that I wasn’t thrilled to have Cody join us when he was home, but it had been just Max and me for a number of years, and there was something special about spending one-on-one time with my furry best friend. I picked up a stick and tossed it down the beach, and Max gave chase. I glanced at my cell phone before slipping it into my pocket. I’d been expecting Cody to call this evening, but he never had. It was three hours later in Florida, so I doubted he would if he hadn’t by now. I was disappointed that I hadn’t heard from him, but I wasn’t worried. Cody knew I had the author talk this evening, so he couldn’t call me early in the evening, and his mother and uncle had been keeping him busy after dinner with the almost nightly bridge tournaments she entered with other members of her senior community. Cody wasn’t one to really enjoy nightly card games, but he was a good sport and wanted to make his mother happy.

  By the time I returned to the house, Cassie was pulling into the drive. I knew she had been at a party for one of
her friends who was leaving the island. I waited for her to get out of her car.

  “How was the party?” I asked.

  “It was fun. Sad but fun. I’ve known Roxie since I was six. It is going to be so weird when I won’t be able to call her to hang out whenever the mood strikes me.”

  “You couldn’t hang out with her whenever the mood struck you when you were in college,” I pointed out.

  “True.” Cassie slammed her car door. “But that felt different. For one thing, I was the one who left, while she was still here at home, where I felt like I needed her to be. And for another thing, I still saw her on weekends and during the summer. We were still able to make plans, but Roxie is moving to Texas. She is getting married and starting a new life. It really hit me that the odds are, I might very well never see her again.”

  I furrowed a brow. “You’ll see her again. You can go visit her in Texas, or she can come back to Madrona Island for a visit.”

  “While I know that the possibility exists, I have to wonder if that is how it will work out. When my friend, Stephie, moved to Virginia two years ago, we promised we’d FaceTime every week and visit each other several times a year. We promised to stay in touch, but we didn’t. We did FaceTime a few times in the beginning, but there was the time change to take into account, and she had her life, and I had mine. We really meant it when we promised not to lose touch, but losing touch is what happened anyway.”

  I supposed I understood what Cassie was saying. I’d had friends I’d been close to in high school who had left the island. We’d wanted to remain close, but in the end, once they’d moved, I’d never seen them again. There were a few who would show up for homecoming or class reunions, but as time went by, the frequency of those visits decreased. “Do you want to come in and have a glass of wine? You can tell me about the party, and I can tell you about the author who gave a talk at Coffee Cat Books and was murdered less than two hours later.”