The Hanged Man's Noose Page 18

  Arabella heard the torment in her ex-boss’s voice. Her heart went out to him. “I’m sorry,” she said, realizing how inadequate that sounded.

  “Thank you, although I don’t just mean things might have turned out differently for Ambrose. Maybe Carter and February would still be alive.”

  “But why would Stonehaven want Carter dead? And why February?”

  “The way I figure it, Carter had something Stonehaven wanted.”

  “The apartment building.”

  “Uh huh. Gloria was ready to sell, but Carter was holding out for more money. I think Stonehaven may have hired February to give him a dose of peanut butter. I’m not saying he meant for Carter to die. Maybe he just wanted to scare him.”

  “So you think Stonehaven killed her to keep her silent?”

  “Possibly, though Michelle thinks February might have tried to shake Stonehaven down for more money.”

  So Stanford had discussed all of this with Michelle. “Did you share your suspicions with anyone other than Michelle? Confront Stonehaven?”

  “Hell, no. I had no intention of becoming victim number three, and the reality is both deaths could have been accidental. I wanted to make sure Stonehaven didn’t fleece folks with another one of his pyramid schemes. I couldn’t do that from the grave.”

  It all sounded plausible. Still… “I don’t understand why Stonehaven would come here. He had to know that you and Camilla and Levon and Johnny would recognize the pattern. Why not take his plan elsewhere?”

  “You didn’t know Garrett Stonehaven. He loved playing games, even more than he loved money. He would have thrived on us figuring out his plan, trying to stop him. He just didn’t count on dying.”

  “Who do you think killed him? Someone on the team?”

  “I think it’s safer not to have an opinion. To let the police do their job. A murderer is out there. They’ve killed at least once, possibly three times if Stonehaven wasn’t behind the deaths of Carter and February. Promise me you’ll stop all this amateur sleuthing and go back to what you know best. Antiques.”

  “I promise,” Arabella said. And she would. As soon as she and Emily solved the case.

  Arabella’s next call was to Levon. She wanted to fill him in on Emily’s conversation with Michelle. But mostly she wanted to know if Levon had once again withheld information.

  “Interesting,” Levon said. “So Ambrose suspected Stonehaven was up to no good, and a few days later he died of an accidental drug overdose.”

  “It’s more than interesting. But before I get to my theory, do you know who Ambrose’s father was?”

  “How would I know? Michelle Ellis always came to Camp Miakoda alone.”

  “Stanford McLelland.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  Even though she couldn’t see Levon’s face, after all their years together, Arabella could tell if Levon was lying as easily as she could spot red lipstick on a white collared shirt. She was convinced this was the first he had heard about Stanford’s connection to Ambrose Ellis.

  “I’m not,” she said, and proceeded to fill him in on the details.

  “I assume you confronted Stanford?”

  “I did, and he confirmed it. He said a few other things that got me thinking.”

  “Go ahead, Sherlock.”

  “Don’t make fun. I think Stonehaven may have been a serial killer, starting with Jake Porter’s drowning at Camp Miakoda. You said yourself Jake would never have gone out in a boat that day unless he was coerced in some way.”

  “True enough, but the fact remains it was ruled an accident.”

  Arabella ignored him. “Next up, Graham Gilroy, a veteran snowmobiler goes out on thin ice and dies in a snowmobile accident.”

  “Graham was always taking risks.”

  “Carter Dixon, anaphylactic shock, an allergic reaction to peanuts.”

  “We don’t know if Stonehaven was aware of Carter’s allergy.”

  “We don’t know he wasn’t. Carter was a windbag. He would have mentioned it in one of the team meetings. Then there was the waitress, February Fassbender. A drug overdose, though as long as she worked at the Sunrise Café, nobody had ever seen evidence of a problem. Ambrose, Carter, February. For all we know, there could be others.”

  “Let’s stick to what we do know, shall we? There’s already enough gossip and fear mongering going on in town. We don’t need to fuel that.”

  Arabella leaned back and tried not to pout. Levon had a point. According to Betsy, Nigel Watters had been doing a booming business at his fish and chips shop since the news of February’s death was made public. “Ghouls,” Betsy had told her with a disdainful sniff, “and Nigel lapping up every minute of it.”

  “Fine. We’ll stick with what we know. My point was that everyone knew about Carter’s peanut allergy, and there was no evidence that February was a druggie.”

  “Yes, Carter’s allergy to peanuts was widely known,” Levon said, “but we don’t know for sure that Stonehaven knew about it. As for February, if she was a druggie, she could have been clean for a while and then gone back to it. It happens all the time.”

  “Whose side are you on?”

  “Side? This isn’t a reality TV show, Arabella. I think we should let the police work on this. What if you’re right, what if there is a serial killer out there? What if it isn’t Garrett Stonehaven who was doing the killing? After all, he is dead.”

  “You think someone else may be responsible?”

  “I think you should let the police handle the investigation. Go back to the safe world of antiques.”

  What was it with the men in this town? “I’ve already promised Stanford I’d give up amateur sleuthing.”

  “Glad to hear it,” Levon said. “Did you also happen to tell him when you planned to give it up?”

  Damn Levon. He knew her all too well. She hung up without answering.

  38

  Emily watched as Arabella dusted the assorted curios scattered about the Glass Dolphin. It was either dust or eat shortbread, Arabella had told her. Dusting had fewer calories.

  For her part, Emily was comfortably ensconced in a leather and oak rocking chair labeled, “Gustav Stickley #2603 Rocker, c. 1901.” Arabella had finished updating her on her conversation with Levon, and while it was all very interesting, it had done nothing to further their investigation. She hadn’t shared the news of her termination yet. There would be plenty of time once the money was in the bank. Until then, it wasn’t official.

  “MOM,” Emily said, starting to rock back and forth.

  “Mom?” Arabella stopped dusting long enough to favor Emily with a quizzical glance. “Whose mom are you referring to?”

  “Not mom, as in mother. M-O-M.”

  “Oh, I get it, M-O-M,” Arabella said, rolling her eyes. “What the heck are you talking about?”

  “M-O-M. Means. Opportunity. Motive. If we want to solve this, we have to consider who had MOM. Starting with the first murder.”

  “The first murder?”

  “The first murder. The more I think about it, the more I’m convinced Carter Dixon’s death was not an accident. If that’s the case, it stands to reason that neither was February Fassbender’s.”

  “You sound like Stanford,” Arabella said, and filled Emily in on her conversation.

  “So with Stanford’s theory, Stonehaven had means, opportunity, and motive in both cases,” Emily said.

  “There’s one thing you’re both forgetting in all this.”

  “What?”

  “Garrett Stonehaven is also dead.”

  “So what are you saying? That Stonehaven was murdered, and whoever did it was also responsible for the deaths of Carter and February?”

  “I think it’s possible, and I’m not the only one who thinks that way. Three unexpected deaths in such a short time, in a town this size. People are starting to talk, and according to Betsy, a lot of them are getting nervous, worried they might be next. Nigel Watters isn’t helping, eith
er. He’s telling everyone who will listen about finding February’s body.”

  Emily could believe it. Knowing Nigel, no detail had gone unembellished, despite cautions from the police.

  “Point made. Any suggestions on where we start?”

  “Let’s assume we can eliminate one another,” Arabella said. “I mean, I definitely believe I can eliminate you as a suspect, and I’m hoping that you feel the same way about me.”

  “Of course I feel the same way,” Emily said, making up her mind. It was time to confide in Arabella. “Speaking of MOM, before we go on, there’s something I need to tell you.”

  Arabella put down the duster. “What is it?”

  Emily swallowed hard. “My connection with Stonehaven, and my reason for coming to Lount’s Landing, it runs a bit deeper than I led you to believe.”

  “How much deeper?”

  “Quite a bit deeper,” Emily admitted, albeit reluctantly. “My mom had worked for Garrett Stonehaven for years, most recently as his personal assistant. But a little over a year ago, Stonehaven announced CondoHaven on the Park.”

  “Sounds swanky.”

  “Swanky is an understatement. It was supposed to be way more than the usual high-rise building with retail and commercial shops on the ground floors, and condo units above. From the tenth floor up every unit housed one-half of each floor, with views of the city and the water most folks can only dream of. Not to mention the penthouse, which took up the entire top floor. The penthouse balcony encompassed the entire perimeter of the building.”

  “It sounds spectacular.”

  “Hmmm. The problem was the plan called for a complete loss of the existing public green space. Green space inner city kids and low-income families had used for years. Their tiny bit of nature in the midst of an ever-growing urban jungle.”

  “Why would anyone want to live there? Views are great, but I can’t imagine living somewhere that doesn’t have at least a bit of a garden.”

  “That’s the point. Residents would have access, but the general public wouldn’t be allowed in. Stonehaven wanted to be sure this was an exclusive building, right down to the benches and bougainvillea.” Emily’s stomach roiled at the memory. “My mother was always a social activist, volunteered at the food bank, did back-to-school book bag drives, that sort of thing. And the callousness of CondoHaven set her blood boiling. She confronted Stonehaven about it.”

  “That must have infuriated him,” Arabella said. “An employee, his personal assistant no less, taking him to task.”

  “You could say that.” Emily looked embarrassed. “At first I was angry with her. For one, my dad had been dead for years and she couldn’t afford to lose the job. Plus, I’d been working for Urban Living for a while, and folks loved reading about anything to do with Garrett Stonehaven. In Toronto, his name traded like gold, and he’d always been there for me when I needed a quick quote.” She thought of past headlines. “Stonehaven’s Condos Continue to Sizzle.” “More Hot Times at HavenSent Solutions.” “Mega-builder Garrett Stonehaven Garners Accolades.”

  She’d been so proud of her brilliant banners and clever cutlines. “I was afraid if things got too heated, I’d stop getting his cooperation. Not to mention the assignments.”

  “I gather something changed.”

  Emily nodded. “The more my mom tried to dig into the CondoHaven details, the more she believed there was something not quite right about it. She asked me to investigate. I’d had a bit of experience with exposing a toxic land brownfield scandal. But I blew her off.”

  “What did she say?”

  “She didn’t. Instead she became obsessed with what she called ‘finding out the truth.’ Even people on the committee to save the green space started backing away. It created a massive rift between us.”

  Emily bit her lip, tried desperately to fight back the tears threatening to fall. “She was my mom, Arabella. My only living relative, unless you count a couple of cousins, a self-absorbed aunt, and an alcoholic uncle I haven’t seen in more than a decade. I should have stood by her. But I didn’t. Not until it was too late.”

  “What happened?”

  “Stonehaven went after her with a vengeance. I swear I’d never seen that side of him. He’d always been unfailingly polite and professional with me, but he was absolutely ruthless. Not only did he terminate my mother’s employment, he intimated to anyone who would listen that she’d been caught with her hand in the till.” Emily’s eyes narrowed at the memory. “My mom wasn’t perfect, but she was no thief.”

  “I believe you. It sounds as if Stonehaven tried to crush your mom, emotionally and financially. What did she end up doing?”

  “She came to me, more bad luck to her. Told me she was tired of being a victim. She planned to sue Stonehaven for wrongful dismissal, had arranged to meet with a lawyer at the end of the week. I pleaded with her to reconsider, said nothing good would come of trying to cross Stonehaven any further.” Emily let out a harsh laugh. “Some days I can almost make myself believe I was trying to save her reputation, instead of my job.”

  “I assume she didn’t take your advice.”

  “She was furious with me, said I was on the wrong side and one day I’d find out the truth, and then I’d be sorry for ever doubting her. She stormed out of my apartment and I never saw her alive again. Those were the last words we ever spoke to one another.” The tears streamed down Emily’s face, but she was beyond caring. Telling someone was a relief.

  “I’m so sorry.” Arabella reached over and took Emily’s hand in hers.

  “There’s more. Something I’ve never told anyone else.”

  “What is it?”

  “After my mom left, I called Garrett Stonehaven. I told him she was planning on filing a lawsuit against him. I begged him to please reconsider, to rehire her, to tell folks it was all one big misunderstanding. I promised him a front page spread in the next issue of Urban Living. Not that I had the clout to pull that off, but Michelle would have gone for it. Stonehaven sold copies.” Emily shook her head. “I was so bloody naïve. I thought he’d do it. Instead he laughed at me, this cruel, harsh, mocking sound, tinged with revulsion and dismissal and hatred. As if I meant nothing, as if all the stories I’d written about him had never existed. He told me to grow up, said I was more delusional than my mother. And then he hung up on me.”

  “But your mom. She was still going to go see the lawyer. It could have worked out all right.”

  “Except it didn’t. My mom was dead by the time the appointment came up. The next night, she mixed too many sleeping pills with too much alcohol. Her death was ruled accidental, but the innuendo of suicide was always there. Ex-employee embezzler kills herself to avoid criminal prosecution by big-shot developer. The headlines practically wrote themselves.”

  “And you blamed yourself, and Garrett Stonehaven, for her death, regardless of the answer.”

  “Something like that.”

  “So when Michelle offered you this assignment, you thought you’d have a chance to get the goods on Stonehaven, expose him as a liar and a cheat, get payback for your mother. Except now you suspect your mother’s death wasn’t suicide or an accident. Now you think your mother’s death might have been murder.”

  Emily smiled. It was a jaded smile, tinged with regret and sadness and lost hope, but it was a smile nonetheless.

  “Exactly like that.”

  “It might have been helpful if you’d mentioned this to me and Levon when you were telling us about your reason for coming to Lount’s Landing. Is there anything else you’ve been holding back?”

  “No, nothing.”

  Arabella studied Emily through narrowed eyes. Sighed. “Oh, what the hell. I might have done the same thing if I’d been in your position. But we have to make a promise to one another. From this point on, no more secrets.”

  “Agreed.”

  “Okay then. Let’s go back to where we started. Yes, Carter and February are dead. But Stonehaven is dead too.”

/>   “Don’t think I haven’t been over that, time and again. I don’t have the answers.”

  “But we do have the questions.”

  “Huh?”

  “Who, other than Stonehaven, had a reason to want Carter dead? And I think only one person fits the criteria. Gloria Moroziuk. It would have been easy for her to put something with peanuts in Carter’s food. Heck, she might have put peanut oil on the grill for all we know. She definitely knew about Carter’s allergy. He was always going on about it.”

  “She might also have been the one to fill up the jam baskets,” Emily said, her face brightening. “That look of surprise on February’s face, when Carter went off on her about the peanut butter packets, may not have been an act after all.”

  Arabella frowned. “Something still doesn’t add up. Why would Gloria trust February? That part doesn’t make sense to me.”

  “What if she didn’t involve her intentionally? What if February saw something and tried to blackmail Gloria?” Emily tapped her fingers on the rocker’s wide oak arm planks. “Here’s another theory. Michelle Ellis is the one who suggested Gloria hire February. Michelle must have known about February’s drug addiction, past or present, and she would have told Gloria. Which means Gloria would have had a way of getting rid of February, if it came to that.”

  “I suppose so,” Arabella said, her voice thoughtful. “But the same arguments could be made for Michelle. After all, she hired her to work for Gloria, on assignment, the same way she hired you.”

  “True, but Michelle had nothing to gain or lose by Carter not selling the maisonettes, at least none that I can think of. Neither did anyone else, with the possible exception of Poppy Spencer, and I don’t see her killing someone for the sake of a commission. Mind you, she was at the restaurant, so she definitely had the opportunity.”