Scene Of The Crime: Means And Motive

For the next forty-five minutes Jordon questioned the thirty-two-year-old man who had worked for the bed-and-breakfast since Joan and Ted had opened the doors for business.

Once again admiration for Jordon’s interrogation skills filled him as he sipped coffee and listened. And as before as he watched Billy closely, as he heard what the man had to say, he couldn’t help but believe the man was hiding something...but what?

“He’s a charming guy,” Jordon said wryly when Billy left.

“He definitely lacks some social skills,” he replied.

She looked down at her notes. “He answered all of my questions fairly easily, but his posture and facial expressions indicated to me that he wasn’t being completely truthful.” She looked at Gabriel. “For most of the interview he refused to meet my gaze and I could smell his body sweat. He just seemed a bit shady to me.”

“Billy is at the top of my potential suspect list because I have the same concerns about him, but I haven’t been able to find anything to tie him to the murders and I can’t figure out what he could be lying about.”

“He would be on my suspect list simply because he’s the one who found Samantha Kent in the woods,” she replied. “He could have stabbed her and then waited until he knew she couldn’t say anything to identify him and then played the hero in calling for help, knowing that she was going to die before she could say anything to anyone.”

He nodded. The same thought had definitely been in his head. “But what’s his motive? There’s certainly no financial gain in him killing the guests and he doesn’t seem to have an ax to grind with the Overtons.”

“Crazy doesn’t need a rational motive,” Jordon replied. Her eyes simmered with what appeared to be a whisper of dark ghosts and Gabriel fought against a sudden dark foreboding of his own.

Chapter Three (#u4f137cd9-44d5-5eed-9468-df56eeaa1453)

It was just before noon when thirty-eight-year-old handyman Ed Rollings sat at the table for his interview. Ed had the face of a cherub, slightly plump and with the open friendliness of a man who’d never met a stranger in his life.

However, the pleasant man was another at the top of Gabriel’s list of suspects. Before Ed had arrived, Gabriel had given Jordon just enough information to aid her in her questioning of Ed.

“I understand your brother Kevin owned this place before the Overtons bought it,” Jordon now said.

Ed nodded and a strand of his blond hair fell across his broad forehead. “That’s right. Kev had big dreams for Diamond Cove but he was short in the financial-planning area.” Ed laughed and shook his head. “That’s the story of Kevin’s life... Big dreams and no smarts for the follow-through.”

“And you weren’t upset when the Overtons took over here?”

“Why would I be upset? I was just glad they hired me on. I’d been working here when my brother owned it and jobs aren’t that easy to find around here. I don’t have any hard feelings against Ted and Joan. They didn’t screw things up for Kevin. He did that to himself.”

“What about your brother? Does he have a grudge against the Overtons?” Jordon asked.

“Kevin has a grudge against the whole world. Most of the time he doesn’t even like me or our brother Glen,” Ed replied with another laugh.

Gabriel listened to the back and forth and thought about that moment when Jordon’s eyes had darkened so much. Although he shouldn’t be curious, he was.

He was intrigued about those dark shadows that had momentarily danced in the depths of her eyes. He wondered what had caused her divorce, if her curls were as soft as they looked and what her slightly plump lips might taste like.

He also wondered if the stress of these cases was making him lose his mind. Certainly his thoughts about Jordon were completely inappropriate.

As Jordon continued questioning Ed, Gabriel got up from the table and walked over to stare out the window. From this vantage point he could see not only the cabins up on the ridge, but also the guest shed.

The scene of each murder flashed in his head, along with all of the people he’d interviewed after each one had occurred. Had he interviewed the murderer twice before already? Had he sat across from the person who had viciously stabbed Samantha Kent, Rick Sanders and Sandy Peters and exchanged conversation? Had he somehow missed something vital? That was one of his biggest fears.

“So, where were you on Sunday night when Sandy Peters was killed?” Jordon asked Ed.

Gabriel turned from the window to gaze at the man. “Where I usually am on most nights...at home with my wife.”

“And she can corroborate that you didn’t leave the house all night?”

Ed laughed yet again. “That woman knows if I turn over in my sleep. She’d definitely know if I left the house, which I didn’t.” His blue eyes shone with what appeared to be open honesty. “Look, I’ve got no reason to kill anyone and no reason to hurt Joan and Ted. Ted pays me a good wage for a day’s work. Besides, I don’t have it in me to murder somebody.”

“I think that’s it for now,” Jordon said and looked at Gabriel to see if he had anything to add.

“I’m sure Ed will be available if we have any further questions for him,” Gabriel said.

“You know where to find me. I’m either here or at home with Millie most of the time,” Ed assured them as he got up from the table.

“How do burgers sound for lunch?” Gabriel asked when Ed had left the building.

“Sounds good to me. I’m starving.” She got up from the table and reached for her coat slung across the back of her chair.

“I thought we’d grab some lunch and then head into the station. I figured you’d want to look at all the files of the other two murders.”

“Definitely,” she replied.

It took them only minutes to get into Gabriel’s car and he headed for Benny’s Burgers, a no-nonsense joint just off the main drag that didn’t cater to the tourist trade.

“I seriously doubt that the two housekeepers had anything to do with whatever is going on,” she said once they were on their way.

“I agree.” The warmth of the heater seemed to intensify the fresh floral scent of her that he found so appealing. He tightened his hands around the steering wheel.

“Tell me more about Ed Rollings and his brothers.”

“They were all born and raised here. Ed and his wife have no children but he has two brothers who also live in the area. Glen is two years younger than Ed. He’s single and works as a clerk in one of the souvenir shops. And as you now know, his older brother, Kevin, owned Diamond Cove but lost it in bankruptcy.”

He pulled into Benny’s Burgers’ parking lot, pleased to see that the lunch crowd was already gone and only three cars were in the lot.

Within five minutes they had their burgers and were seated across from each other in a booth near the back of the place. At least in here the odors of fried onions and beef were heavy enough to overwhelm Jordon’s evocative scent.

“I’m assuming you’ve interviewed Kevin Rollings,” she said and then popped a French fry into her mouth.

“Several times, but not in relationship to Sandy’s murder. He’s on my list to speak with later this afternoon. He’s another one who has been on my short list of suspects.”

“You mentioned that Billy Bond was on your list, as well. Anyone else I need to know about?”

He shook his head. “My list is depressingly short and everyone on it has had some sort of an alibi for the first two murders. You can get a better idea of what we’ve done to investigate those murders when you read the files.”

“I’m looking forward to that,” she replied.

For the next few minutes they were silent and focused on their meals. The cheeseburger and onion rings were tasteless to Gabriel as thoughts of the three murdered people weighed heavily in his head.

Jordon’s appetite didn’t appear to suffer at all. She ate her burger and fries, and then, with an assenting nod from him, she pulled his plate closer to her and picked at the onion rings he’d left on his plate.

“This has got to be somebody who wants to hurt Ted and Joan personally,” she said.

“I was hesitant to make that call until now.” He leaned back against the red leather of the booth. “I’ve investigated their background thoroughly and so far haven’t found anything or anybody that would send up a real red flag.”