The Buzz Kill Read online

  “Now, for a much more serious question,” Alice said, forcing a stern expression onto her face. “Do you want to add this gluten-free almond lemon honey cake to the roster? If so, I’ll need to get some more berries from the supermarket on my way home.”

  “I think this one will be a fan favorite for a long time.” Sally raised her eyebrows. “And that’s for people who require gluten-free baking, or just those seeking something with a lot of flavor. Do I get the recipe, or are you keeping it a family secret?”

  “I’ll write it down tonight when I’m baking up another one for tomorrow,” Alice promised. “Now, I must be getting on. I want to be at home in case the vet calls.”

  “Doesn’t he have your mobile number?”

  Alice nodded. “Yeah. I’d still rather have Chester near when I get the news.” She paused, and her voice shook as she added, “Good or bad.”

  “I hope it’s good but if it’s not, remember you can call me at any time.” Sally shook her finger in Alice’s face in a mock reprimand. “Don’t you do anything silly like keeping everything to yourself. You have friends about to help you out, take advantage of them just like we take advantage of you.”

  Alice nodded and felt a warm glow in her chest as she walked along the sidewalk to her car.

  A few hours later, Alice was at home, tensely trying to go about her usual business, when the phone rang. Her nerves, already highly strung, ratcheted up another notch and her chest muscles tightened to the point they hurt.

  “Please be good news,” she whispered as she picked the receiver up from its cradle. “Let Chester be okay.”

  To her surprise, it wasn’t a call from the vet but rather the sergeant from the police station. Alice had already passed on all the information she had about Clarence and listened with her back ramrod straight as the detective ran through some pleasantries, waiting for him to explain himself.

  “If it’s okay, we’d like you to come down to the station so we can take an official statement,” DS Hogarth said, finally getting to the point. “In all the excitement this morning, it seems nobody thought to make an appointment before you left.”

  Alice nodded, feeling relieved it was something so simple. “That’s fine. When does it suit you?”

  “As soon as possible would be better,” the detective admitted. “Although we’re putting a team together to go over Clarence Agar’s property and gather official evidence, we’d also like to document the information you gathered when you visited. If we can interview you and find out what the two of you discussed while it’s still fresh in your mind, that’ll be best.”

  “Is it okay if I keep my phone on while I’m in there?” Alice asked. “I’m waiting for some test results, and I don’t want to miss the call.”

  “Of course.” DS Hogarth paused for a second, clearing his throat. “We appreciate you bringing the details you found straight to us, you know. In case nobody had thought to tell you that yet.”

  Alice flushed with pleasure. Not sure what to say in response she just said goodbye and hung up the phone. “It’s nice to know somebody appreciates all my hard work,” she told Chester. “Rather than telling me off for sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong!”

  Chester didn’t seem too interested in the situation, barely flicking an ear to show he was listening.

  “I’ll see you soon.” Alice gave the dog a quick pat goodbye. “And hopefully the vet will call me with some good news.”

  The detective didn’t take too long to go through the interview questions, and Alice breathed a sigh of relief when he left the room to fetch the transcribed statement for her to sign.

  “Just here,” he said, pointing to the signature line. “If you can read through and initial each page as well, then we’ll have everything squared away.”

  “Did Clarence Agar confess to what he did?” Alice finished looking over the printout and signed her name, pushing the papers back across the table to the sergeant. “I know criminals sometimes admit to everything in the aftermath of being arrested.”

  “Do you?” DS Hogarth raised his eyebrow, and a mild expression of amusement passed over his face. “Or have you been watching too many cop shows on TV?”

  “Well, they base those on real life, don’t they?” Alice shrugged. “And you hear about confessions being used in court all the time.”

  “I can’t talk about the particulars of any specific case.” DS Hogarth shuffled the pages together and stood up. “But I will tell you confessions are few and far between, and those that do occur often don’t stand up to scrutiny. Give me a piece of solid evidence—like a bottle of poison in a suspect’s home—any day.”

  “The bit I still don’t get is why Clarence thought he’d get any money out of the deal.” Although Alice understood the sergeant wouldn’t provide her with any more information about the ongoing investigation, she needed to voice her thoughts. “Surely, someone who can run a successful photography business understands the probate courts won’t just hand over a bunch of money based on a casual conversation? He seemed smarter than that.”

  “People can hold strange beliefs about some things while being perfectly rational in all other matters.” The sergeant held the door open for Alice and followed along behind her to the lobby of the station. “The only thing you can take as given is that people will surprise you.”

  As Alice searched in her bag for the car keys, a man walked through the front door, his collar pulled up high as though he wanted to hide half his face. He quickly moved to the reception desk, leaning over to speak in a low voice, “Can you help me? I need to talk to the police in charge of the Russell Thomson murder.”

  The sergeant immediately took an interest. As Alice looked on, his eyes scanned the new arrival from head to toe and back up again. She followed suit, frowning as she realized the face was familiar but being unable to place him. Was it from a photo? Had she seen him in the paper, or perhaps on TV?

  “I’m DS Hogarth.” The sergeant moved over to introduce himself, squaring his shoulders. “I’m in charge of that investigation. What is it you want to talk about?”

  As the man opened his mouth to speak again, Alice clicked her fingers. She remembered. He was in the wedding photograph on the mantelpiece at Betsy Thomson’s house. Understanding caused the blood to drain out of her face. “You’re Russell Thomson.”

  Relief flooded over the man’s face, and he nodded.

  Alice took a step back, wondering if she was staring at a ghost. “You’re meant to be dead.”

  “That’s why I’ve come in here today,” Russell said. “I think my wife tried to kill me.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  It took Alice a while to piece the entire scenario together. The police released Clarence and although they did it while she sat in the waiting room—the set-up for an uncomfortable confrontation—the man didn’t appear to harbor any resentment.

  “You did what you thought was right,” he said as Alice gave him a lift home—the least she could do. “I can hardly blame you for me having the means, motive, and opportunity. Sitting in that police cell taught me one thing, I need to have a good hard look at my life and stop sweating the small stuff.”

  “I’m still sorry I took those photographs under false pretenses.” The wave of guilt Alice had felt, staring at Russell Thomson in the lobby of the station, wouldn’t let her off so lightly. “I needn’t have done that.”

  “If you hadn’t, it wouldn’t have made any difference. Considering the speed with which the police got a search warrant together, I think I must’ve been on their radar already.”

  Alice nodded as she turned into Clarence’s street, then slowed down when the car reached the Thomson’s house. “I wonder what Betsy will say happened. I’d love to be a fly on the wall for that interrogation.”

  “Those two have been fighting with each other from the moment they moved in there.” Clarence took his seat belt off, then turned to Alice. “I don’t suppose you want to come in for a cup of tea or
coffee, do you?”

  She agreed with surprise, just checking her phone was still set to ring aloud as they walked into the house.

  Now the urge to snoop had passed by, Alice took a few minutes to appreciate the rest of Clarence’s home. Although it had the worn look of a residence someone had lived in for a long time, the passing years had filled it with the warmth of a happy house.

  Clarence opened the French slider door at the side of the living room, letting in the mild breeze from the warming spring day. Clumps of daffodils nodded their yellow heads as though they were a knitting circle, spreading gossip.

  “What was it you and Betsy were arguing about on that first day?” Alice sat on the edge of the comfortably worn sofa and took the offered cup of milky tea out of Russell’s hand. “She told me you’d come over to lay claim to the extended property line.”

  After taking a seat next to her, Clarence laughed and shook his head. “I went over there to find out why she and Russell had been screaming at each other the day before. I told her I had skimmed over the shouting match when the police first asked me but if they came around again, I’d tell them everything. The exchange went downhill from there.” He pulled at the collar of his shirt. “I ended up shouting some things that I regretted. Unfortunately, they also turned out to be true.”

  “Oh, dear. No wonder Betsy was so upset.” Alice took a sip of her tea and thought back to the scene she’d encountered. “I suppose that’s why she invited me inside and didn’t want me to leave, even though I had no business being there. The next day, her attitude had completely changed.”

  “By then, she must have told the police about the boundary dispute and aimed their suspicions in my direction.” Clarence set his cup down on the coffee table and clasped his hands together. “The silly thing is, I didn’t push the agenda nearly as much as Betsy implied. I just made a passing remark when they moved in. At the time, I believed I did it just to fill them in on the situation, but in retrospect, it must have seemed like I was going after their property.”

  “I think this is a very nice place, even if you can’t lay claim to an extra yard or so of land to your right-hand side.”

  Clarence smiled his thanks at the compliment. “I should learn to appreciate what I have, instead of trying for something more.”

  “It’s human nature to want more than we have. Otherwise, we wouldn’t always strive to improve ourselves.”

  Alice’s eyes widened as she saw Darlene Stamp walking up the driveway next door, at the Thomson’s house. “What on earth is she doing there?”

  “Maybe she heard Russell’s still alive and came to check on him?”

  “Do you mind if I pop over and have a quick word to her?” Alice stood up when Clarence told her to go ahead. “I’d hate to think she doesn’t know he’s still alive. Wouldn’t that be dreadful?”

  She hurried over to the neighboring property, arriving just as Darlene seemed to give up on the doorbell. “Did you hear the news?”

  Darlene looked taken aback for a second, then nodded. “About Russell still being alive? Yes, I heard. I dropped in to say goodbye, but it doesn’t look like he’s made it home yet.”

  “Goodbye?” Alice rubbed at her forehead, feeling like she’d missed an important point somewhere along the line. “Is he going somewhere?”

  “No, I am.” Darlene cupped her elbows in her hands and stared down at the driveway beneath her feet. “So much stuff has happened lately I thought it might be time for me to get a fresh start somewhere new.”

  “I’m sure he’ll be disappointed.” Alice tilted her head to one side and blushed slightly. “You know, when you told me you and Russell were a couple, I was sure you were lying.”

  “I was.”

  The answer surprised Alice so much her mouth dropped open. “But Russell told the police Betsy wanted him dead because he was leaving her for you.”

  Darlene’s lips tightened into a thin line. “Yes, and it’ll be the truth, but it’s a case of too little, too late. Did you know he lied to work about our relationship?”

  Alice shook her head. She felt inadequate to the discussion, sensing Darlene wanted a reassuring touch or word, but not knowing how to offer one. “I know that when I spoke to someone in your office, he thought you’d made the entire affair up out of thin air.”

  “Not to mention that HR got involved and were trying to fire me because they thought I was harassing him or something.” Darlene gave a large sigh and shuddered. “Still, it’s all water under the bridge now. It serves me right for getting involved with a married man, though that’s another of Russell’s lies. If he hadn’t told me he and Betsy were already separated, I never would’ve gotten involved.” She reached up to wipe a tear away before it could fall down her cheek. “I just wish it hadn’t ended in that poor man’s death. That’s the real tragedy.”

  Alice nodded. Once Russell appeared like magic at the police station, it hadn’t taken them long to pinpoint the actual victim of the murder. She remembered the homeless man, Evander Gabriel, from the red zone park the morning of the interview with the TV station. The poor man had been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

  Russell had told the cops that when Evander approached him, asking for spare change, he’d said the man should help himself to the untouched picnic. Not wanting to stay there a minute longer, he’d headed off for a long walk through the park to cool down after arguing with Betsy.

  When he returned to the scene and saw Evander dead in the stream, leaving the remains of a sugar cookie on the picnic blanket, Russell said he’d panicked. Rather than calling emergency services for help, he planted his wallet on the man, packed up the basket, and ran. His explanation was that he was scared someone would accuse him of the murder. To Alice, it seemed that he might also have been scared his wife would try again.

  Although the sergeant had made no suggestion at the time, Alice assumed the police would charge Russell with an offense for obstructing the course of justice. Even if they threw the book at him over that one, he’d be out of prison decades before Betsy ever saw the outside world again.

  The fact she’d prepared the murder weapon earlier in the day made it a case of cold-blooded murder. Alice shivered, thinking of the time she’d spent alone with the woman. To think she’d even baked her a cake!

  “I think you’re making a brave decision and I hope it works out for you.” Alice stuck her hand out, and Darlene shook it, surprised. “If you’re ever in town again, drop by the Bumbling Bumblebee Café, and I’ll shout you a jar of honey on the house.”

  Darlene gave Alice a smile. “I’ll have to remember that.”

  Alice waited until the woman drove away before she returned to Clarence’s living room, wiping her hand against her leg to rid it of the lingering touch. She was just in time to finish up her tea before it got too cold.

  “Oh,” he said as she made overtures toward leaving. “I almost forgot. Stay there.”

  Alice sat back down, turning to look out over the back garden again. A fantail swooped into view, the white flashes of its long tail causing her to gasp with delight.

  “Here we are.” Clarence stood at the hallway door, waving an envelope in his hand. “I developed these as soon as you left the other day and had just hung them up to dry when the cops came.”

  “What are they?” Alice hesitated before she took the envelope, worried by his mention of the police. She opened the lip a tiny bit to peek inside, then gave a cry of delight. “Oh. These are wonderful!”

  Inside were the photographs Clarence had taken of her on the day before. The first shot showed her standing at the car door, fingers resting lightly on the handle as she gazed back up the Thomson’s driveway. Betsy was out of shot—the camera angle facing the opposite way—but Alice could see the woman in her mind’s eye, standing behind the net-curtains of the slammed front door.

  Another showed her skin catching the sun as she turned toward the photographer. Clarence had snapped the shot just before her mouth
opened to shout out to ask what he was doing. The slight parting in her lips gave her face a relaxed expression it usually didn’t possess. Especially in photographs she knew were being taken.

  “I can’t believe your photographs are this good when you just snapped them in a few seconds out on the street!”

  Clarence gave a nod of thanks at the backward compliment. “Imagine what I could do in a proper setting.”

  Alice was just about to gush over the images again, when the phone in her pocket gave out a loud beep, signaling a new text message had arrived. She pulled it out and stared at the screen, holding her breath.

  “Results in. Call or visit the clinic to discuss.”

  “I’ve got to go,” Alice said. “Thank you very much for these.” Clarence blushed as she ran out of his house, her head stuffed full of concern over Chester.

  Why wouldn’t the vet just tell her the results in the message? What did he need to discuss?

  Alice tried to think of a situation where Josh had asked for a discussion about positive results and couldn’t. The drive to the vet’s office turned into a blur, and she sniffed the hand which she’d used to pet Chester goodbye that morning, trying for a remnant of his familiar scent.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Don’t look so worried,” Josh Freeman said as Alice followed him into the consulting room.

  “Can you just tell me what’s going on? How am I meant to stop worrying when I don’t know what the results are?”

  “They’re mixed but not too bad. Take a seat.”

  Alice sat in the chair indicated, tapping on the back of her hand with a frenzy but the stimming didn’t help. Her skin felt like she’d put it on back to front, all the nerves exposed to the outside.

  “The reason Chester has been lackadaisical lately is he has a problem with his liver.”