Chapter 24
By the timethey reached town, it was full dark, and both search parties had either gone home or gathered in the café. Walker noted the Kennedy Escalade parked in the lot, with Francois sitting inside, drawing on his cigarette. Did that mean Carmel hadreturned?
Inside the café, Monty and Mariah were glaring at each other, but at least the mayor had waited around instead of driving back to the lodge. No other Kennedy was present though, so why was Francois here? Monty’s Tesla was usually parked behind hisoffice.
Seeing a graying blond head at the far end of the counter, Walker answered his own question. Carmel’s artist brother didn’t drive or evencome to town often. The chauffeur must have brought him. Lance was contemplating a selection of pastries as if they were a still life to be painted. Walker almost laughed when Lance moved a beignet into a more artistic composition with the fruit tarts on hisplate.
Oddly, Alan Gump, the real estate magnate from the city, was also at the counter, drinking coffee and telling loud storiesto a group of business owners. Walker had Gump pegged as behind the condo deal the Kennedys were putting together, but he didn’t need town approval, so why was he here at thishour?
The Lucys had gathered at the far end of the counter from the Nulls, near the entrance. They hugged Daisy in excitement at her return, chattering and keeping their voices low, so the Nulls couldn’toverhear.
Walker was glad these people weren’t normally violent because the divisiveness was becoming more apparent everyday.
Sam settled Daisy on a stool so Dinah could pamperher.
Confused by the way Sam, the scientist, fit in so easily with the crazies, Walker sat beside Monty for a normal summary of events. “Valdis?”
“Mariah said they searched the cemetery and didn’t findher. For whatever reason, they’re waiting for you and Sam to come up with a better solution. Got any?” Monty slugged his coffee as if it werewhiskey.
“Bloodhounds? Wiggling sticks?” Walker gratefully accepted the burger Dinah slapped in front of him. He didn’t quibble over the avocado and sprouts because the bite of sriracha sauce made nutritionworthwhile.
Monty went back to glaring,this time at the mural. Lance appeared to be studying it almost surreptitiously, in between rearranging his food. Andtherewas the reason Carmel’s artistic brother had deigned to descend from the mountain—he’d heard about Lucinda Malcolm and the mural that had been staring them in the face all theseyears.
Finding Cass looking gloomy in one of the booths, Walker decided if he had to lookat misery, it ought to at least be female, he picked up his plate and sat across from her. “How isXavier?”
“If you’ve tested the kerosene can for prints, you already know he burned the cross,” she said withouthesitation.
Walker raised his eyebrows in surprise at this admission. He knew the story he was about to hear would have nothing to do with rationality, but he asked anyway.“He burned the mountain so the Kennedys had to go forward with thecondos?”
Cass glared at him. “He says the spirits made him do it, but he thought they were thegoodspirits telling him to cleanse the evil. He says he only planted the cross and didn’t start a fire. So now he’s not so sure if the spirits were good or evil, and he wanted to ask Sam. Why would he want to askSam?”
“Because he’s crazy like everyone else up here?” Walker suggested. “Did he say where he got thedrugs?”
Cass cast him an evil eye, but at least she was looking less depressed. “Are you going to arrest him? He needs medical help, notprison.”
“Is anyone pressing charges? If he lit that fire, he pretty much destroyed the lodge’s business, so it’s Kurt and Monty you need to talk to.”Which is why Xavier had gone to Sam, Walker realized. Cass wouldn’t talk to the Kennedys, but Sam might go with him to explain. The man was only half-crazy.
“The sheriff’s office will press charges if you tell them to,” Casssaid.
“The sheriff’s office will do whatever the D.A. says,” he corrected. “I’ll take a wild guess and assume the D.A. will have difficulty convicting with onlya drug-addicted mental case’s half-confession, unless there is other evidence. The kerosene can was a plant to make sure he was implicated and probably to explain his overdose. It was wiped clean ofprints.”
Cass’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. Then she narrowed her eyes and glared when she realized she’d given away Xavier’s confession fornothing.
Walker continued without waitingfor her protests. “I can’t imagine Xavier was lucid enough to wipe fingerprints if he meant to confess. They can’t even get him for possession, since he had nothing on him. And last I checked, they still didn’t have the blood analysis. From what was said the other night, chances are good that this wasn’t a normal overdose and someone tried tokillXavier. That’s the person Iwant.”
Casslooked thoughtful. “We don’t do drugs up here anymore. Maybe I can pry his source out of him. I was reluctant to ask for fear he’d incriminate himselfmore.”
“We want killers, not demented old men, although if Xavier is in the habit of burning out the spirits, he may need help.” Walker waited, but Cass didn’t respond. Dementia had many disguises in Hillvale. “Where do you think Valdis mightbe? Is this unusual forher?”
“I don’t think she’s conscious,” Cass said worriedly. “She has a very strong presence. If she was awake, I’d eventually hear her or she would hear me. She said she wanted to visit with the spirits of her parents before she followed Daisy. As far as I’m aware, that’s the last anyone saw of her. I’d hoped she was withDaisy.”
Walker didn’t know how toreact to CasshearingValdis. But the possibility that Xavier may have been given a lethal overdose on purpose escalated the possibility that a killer was targeting the Lucys for a reason. Not that Xavier was officially a Lucy, but he lingered there on the edge, betwixt and between—as did Sam, Walker realized worriedly. And both had connections to the Kennedys—if that had anyrelevance.
Since land fraud had been the reason his father was killed... Still no obvious connection to recent occurrences. The Kennedys and the development company had all the land they needed, and the Lucys were barely a speed bump on their highway toriches.
Xavier had been in Hillvale when Walker’s father was killed. Valdis hadn’t. But Valdis was Sam’s aunt—and part owner of a rather valuablepiece of land.As was Sam.Instinctroiled.
How many people knew the farm still belonged to Ingerssons? Did itmatter?
