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“Anatoe Sinclair?” Gibson hazarded a wild guess. It was a name he knew from a long time ago. He looked down at the carpet and rubbed at his temple. The murder had happened before he had gotten a chance to find the person he was looking for—Cecilia Sinclair. Had it just fallen into his lap? Could he be that lucky? And what the hell did second cousin removed mean? That was Greek to him. But it was some kind of relative. It didn’t matter.
“It was no biggy, just a boys-will-be-boys thing,” Jonnie said.
“Oh, really? Who says that anymore? And not only that, but what about the name calling? Razing Elsie about her weight.” She shook her head in disgust. “They’re animals. The lot. That’s what happens when you’re brought up by a single mom.”
“That’s enough.” Her husband spoke sharply.
Gibson glanced up somewhat surprised.
“Well, I don’t admire any of them.” She thumped her hand on the arm of the couch in finality and clamped her mouth shut, not wishing to get into a sparring match with her ill husband.
Gibson had stopped listening. Single mom. Yeah, it just fell into his lap—Cecilia. Had to be. His mind was going in a few directions at once. The bang brought him back to the room, and he stared into Abigail’s eyes. They were a sepia brown with a ring of gold inside her iris that added a depth to her untold stories—if looks could kill. And she had just given him an unexpected tip-off to his own quandary. He heaved a sigh so deeply he thought everyone would question him, but nobody was paying any attention.
“Anything else you could tell us?” Gibson asked as if he was still in the moment.
“I don’t think so.” She shrugged.
Jonnie took another sip, but didn’t say anything. It looked like tomato juice, but now Gibson figured it was mixed with beer.
A noise at the door alerted them to the arrival of the kids.
“Inspector, what are you doing here?” David asked. He stood at the top of the stairs.
“Hello, Mr. Hunter. I’m helping with the new Task Force. This is Inspector Eckhart.”
Gibson felt a presence behind him and swung around. Jackie stood in the doorway of the back door. Her eyes scanned the room and met his smoky grey eyes.
“Hello, Jackie.”
“Hi. This is weird.” She gave a quick bark of laughter.
They both entered the room and took seats by the fireplace.
“As I said to David, I’m on a special assignment. Nice to see you.” Then he got down to business.
“Let’s start at the fireworks and work our way from there. Tell me what you know. Go ahead, David.”
“Well, I was sitting with Jackie, Savannah and Elsie. Some guy came over, but Elsie told him to take a hike. There was a small scuffle at the far end of the field that didn’t amount to anything.” David paused. “A little later, some guys were calling Elsie names again. You know, fat jokes. I think she was embarrassed because she left shortly after.” A blonde lock of hair slipped over his right eye. He nudged it back.
Gibson waited.
“When I went out to the road to stretch my legs, I heard some yelling down by the landing. Two people. One of them was Elsie for sure.”
Gibson leaned into David.
“Who was with her?”
“I can’t be certain, but I think it was the guy that does that thing with his eye. The one that Elsie had already yelled at. It was dark. There aren’t any street lights on the lane.”
“That’s my cousin, Anatoe,” Jackie said. “I didn’t see him talking to Elsie. Where was that?”
“At the fireworks. You were too busy talking to Savannah. Anyway, I’m not sure it was him or not. I couldn’t actually see his face.” He hesitated. “But it was the way he moved that made me think it was him.”
Gibson stole a peek at Eckhart.
“What were they quarreling about?”
“I don’t know. I couldn’t make out what they were saying, but I think it was something about Savannah.” He shrugged. “Next thing they were both gone.”
Gibson thought it sounded like Anatoe was being a nuisance. Or was he more than just a pest? A killer? If it was Anatoe at all.
“Give me a rundown on what you saw Jackie.”
“Wait.”
Gibson looked over to David.
“There was someone else there.”
“Who?” Gibson leaned in further.
“Mr. Tatlow. I’ve seen him once before. You know the creepy guy?” David hadn’t wanted to say anything because Jackie and her friends kept saying he was a monster from way back when. That might make Tatlow a target. They might railroad the guy and he wasn’t even sure it was him. “I shouldn’t have said anything. I knew it.”
“It’s okay. We’ll check it out.” He saw Eckhart doodling in her notebook. Probably a couple of giant question marks. “What about you, Jackie?”
“I didn’t notice anything except Elsie leaving. I hadn’t seen Savannah for years, so I was wrapped up in all the gossip.” She paused. “The news.” She shrugged in apology.
“Now, let’s move on. How did you happen to be on the beach?” He turned back to David.
“We actually never made it to the beach. Well we did, but not like you think.” He stopped, his tongue tied into a knot. “Let me start from the beginning. Jackie and I were headed for the beach, but Gregory came tearing up the stairs. He said Elsie was dead and just ran off. We tried to stop him. Jackie and I went down to see…” David stopped.
“It’s all right. I know, it’s hard.”
“I saw Elsie face down in the sand. All I could do was stare. Her body didn’t look right. I knew she was dead even before I checked her pulse. Then I called 911.”
Jackie’s bronze skin had a pale hue to it as if she was going to faint.
“I understand that Todd showed up. What happened?” Gibson hoped he would get some clarity about what the husband had done down on the beach.
“We were waiting on the landing. Todd ran down to the beach, so I ran after him. He didn’t touch anything. I’ll swear to that. I knew that would be important. You know, from the last time…”
“Go on.”
“Then the cops came. They asked a bunch of questions and we left.”
It was good that Todd hadn’t touched anything, Gibson thought. Not while David was there
anyway. This could be crucial later when they got the print off the rock. He glanced over to Eckhart and saw her scribbling in the notebook. Yeah, she’d got that written down.
“Savannah was there too,” Jackie said, “but she didn’t go down to the beach.”
“So the four of you went to Todd’s house after. Is that correct?”
“Yeah. Jackie and I stayed the night. To make sure Todd and Savannah would be okay.” He shook his head. “That’s a joke.”
“Thanks for your help. Call if you remember anything else. No matter how small it may seem. You’ve been through this before, so you know.”
David nodded that he understood, although his complexion had turned almost as white as his wife’s.
“Sorry for your loss, Jackie. I know you have been friends for a long time.”
“Thanks.” Her voice cracked.
“We’ll see ourselves out.” Gibson stood up and motioned to his partner.
“Take care.” Eckhart shoved her notebook into a pocket and also stood.
Abigail walked them out.
“You’ll find out who did this?”
“We’re trying our best.”
“Thanks.” Her lashes were laden with moisture.
“They didn’t have anything to do with the murder,” Eckhart said as they walked to the truck.
“No.”
As they were walking down the drive, Gibson glanced backwards. Abigail waved from the bay window. Eckhart drove down the street and cleared the corner.
“Okay. How about a nightcap tonight?” She ran her tongue over her plump lips.
His smoky eyes followed the movement.
“Sure.”
Eckhart bit her lip and a sudden pink blushed her cheeks. She smiled in that way that he had seen in a movie—shy and demure.
Gazing straight ahead, Gibson wasn’t sure which direction they were going, but soon they passed his motel room. The small bridge to Port Dalhousie came up next. It was a beautiful spot where the lake could be seen when looking down almost any street. Eckhart took a few side roads and then finally pulled into a paved driveway quite near to the water.
The upscale Brownstone townhouse was an end unit of six. They headed up a flight of stone steps to a crimson door with hanging baskets on either side in front of side glass panels. The foyer was minimalist with a long teak table along one wall. A huge mirror in a thin pewter frame was centred on top. The hardwood floors started at the front door and covered every square inch, all in a deep chocolate hue. From where Gibson stood, he could look into the living room and out the large windows to the lake in the north. The open concept kitchen was over to the right. The bedrooms were hidden down another long hallway on the left.
