Spring Break Murder Page 16

  Susie shifted nervously from foot to foot and I tried to keep a hold on her shoulder through my bandages. We were getting to the end of the plan, so all I could do was hope it was working it's magic on Susie. The plan had simply been to guilt Susie about the murder without actually telling her we knew she did it. If all went right, she would be willing to talk after this.

  "If we could all take a moment of silence to remember Hilda, I think that would be nice," Louise said.

  She lowered the microphone down and shut her eyes. The entire picnic pavilion went silent and I watched as most of the crowd closed their eyes along with Louise. Instead of going along with it, I leaned over and whispered in Susie's ear.

  "There are two men here who would like to talk to you," I said. "I'll walk you over there once this moment of silence is over."

  Susie glanced over at me with tears in her eyes and nodded. She seemed lighter, like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. I wasn't sure what exactly had happened between Susie and Hilda, but I knew that carrying around the secret must have been torture.

  "Thank you," Louise said. "And now if someone could come take over the microphone for the raffle and games, I would surely appreciate it."

  Laughter ran through the crowd as Louise smiled a rakish smile. This was her moment in the spotlight, cleared of being a murder suspect and she did not want to give it up. I threw a wink her way and escorted Susie out of the picnic shelter and into the capable hands of Officer Mendoza.

  Officer Johnson read Susie her rights as they brought her to the car and had her climb into the backseat. As he closed the door, she lowered her head and cried. In that moment, I think we were all relieved that the truth was about to come out. The muffled shouts behind us meant that the games had started, but it was dimmed by the sight of Susie. Louise appeared next to me and slipped her arm through mine.

  "Thank you, Tessa," she said. "The police officers told me that you were the reason I was let out. You were the one who figured out the truth. Also, I'd just like to say that I'm sorry about your hands."

  "I'm still not exactly sure what the truth is," I admitted. "But I'm just glad that you and Mandy were both proven to be innocent. When terrible things like Hilda's death happen, the real killer should be held accountable. And no worries about my hands. The bandages look worse than my hands actually are."

  The hot afternoon sun beat down, actually feeling good for once. I had sweat completely through my polo shirt during the bike ride and once I sat in the shade, it had all become cold against my skin. Sally might never be able to get this shirt completely clean so it might just have to come back to Shady Lake with me.

  Louise and I stood with arms intertwined as Officer Mendoza backed out of the parking spot and slowly drove out of the park. I gave a little wave and was surprised to get one curt wave back from Officer Johnson. In the backseat, we could only see the back of Susie's head as she hid her face in her hands. My heart broke a little bit, but in some way she had done the crime and now she would have to do the time.

  "I suppose the only way for me to get back to the park is for me to ride Susie's bike, isn't it?" Louise asked.

  We had a bittersweet laugh together as we watched the car with Hilda's killer roll out of the park. I only had two days left of my vacation, but I could finally relax.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  The morning after the Bike Brigade picnic, I was finally able to sleep in. There was nothing to be nervous about and I didn't have anything like a murder to mull over and lose sleep. When I woke up, the sun was already up and while I hadn't slept the day away, I could officially say I slept in.

  I was the last one out on the deck that morning after I go dressed and changed the bandages on my hands. Bill, Sally, Mandy, and even Trevor were all soaking in the morning sun with cups of coffee. Despite the "only four chairs on the deck" rule, we pulled another out so that we could all sit together outside.

  "I've got some things inside for us to munch on for brunch," Sally said once I was cozied into my chair. "Why don't I run inside and bring the food out? We were just waiting for you to get out of bed."

  "I'll help you," Trevor said, jumping out of his chair to hold the door open for Sally.

  Mandy smiled dreamily after him, playing with her engagement ring. She twirled it around her finger as she seemed to be daydreaming. I couldn't help but smile too. Now that the investigation was over, we could finally start to focus on the wedding.

  I closed my eyes and basked in the sun while I thought about when Peter and I had gotten engaged. We had been dating for a few years and we had both just graduated college, ready to start our first adult jobs. Peter took me to a special dinner where we got a private table overlooking the city. He did the classic "ring in a glass of champagne" proposal and even though I'd seen that in a bunch of movies, I loved it. It was classy and fun and I felt so mature even though we were still just kids.

  Tears started to build up under my eyelids which I squeezed shut even tighter, hoping to keep the tears in. It did the opposite, making the tears run down my cheeks. I felt them slowly trickle down as I remembered the excitement, the butterflies in my stomach for weeks, the absolute puppy love.

  Peter's face came into my mind and I sucked in a deep breath. He was so handsome. I missed him so much. Waves of sadness started to wash over me, sucking me down. I would have wallowed in it for a while until I felt a hand on my shoulder.

  The physical touch pulled me out of the muck and when I opened my eyes, Mandy was sitting next to me with her hand on my shoulder. Her eyes were concerned, searching my face to figure out what was going on. I wiped away the tears on my cheeks with a sniffle.

  "Are you alright?" she asked.

  "I was just remembering Peter," I said. "I was thinking about when we got engaged."

  Mandy nodded. She had been the first one I called after we were engaged. I had been sniffling and sobbing into the phone and she had started crying too. For months after that, Mandy and I had spent hours upon hours on the phone together, planning my wedding. Now here we were with our roles reversed.

  The door to the sunroom opened and Sally came out with a big metal tray loaded down with food. There were bowls of scrambled eggs and bacon, plates of cinnamon rolls and buttered toast. Trevor was close behind with a carafe of coffee and a big smile on his face. If I had a camera in that moment, I would have taken a picture of them coming out the door.

  Instead, I took a mental picture so that I could remember the end of this crazy vacation. I also wanted to remember Trevor in this helpful way instead of his lazy way. Even though this week had turned out completely different from the relaxing getaway it was supposed to be, one thing it did was to help me see Trevor in a better light. I smiled at him as he topped up my cup of coffee.

  "Don't look now, but we have a few more guests coming," Sally said. She waved toward the road with a smile.

  Of course, the first thing we all did was look down the road and try to figure out who Sally was talking about. There was the car with the tinted windows from the day before with Officer Johnson and Officer Mendoza inside.

  But the most shocking person headed this way was Cindy on her new red bike. She was scowling towards us as she rode in front of the car of police officers. Between the frown on her face and the blank face on Officer Johnson's face, it was like a parade of grumpy people. How Officer Mendoza got roped into it, I would never know because he was riding in the car with a big, wide smile on his face.

  The strange parade pulled up to the RV and Officer Mendoza hung out the passenger window. He looked so excited, almost like a big, happy dog who had been taken for a ride. It was nice to see him back as his happy-go-lucky self instead of the business self he had been yesterday.

  "Hello there," he shouted. "I hope you don't mind if we join you. We may have also invited Cindy along"

  "No problem, come on up," Sally said. "There's enough food for everyone."

  The strange crew headed up the stairs. Bill and
Trevor jumped up to grab extra chairs out of the sunroom so that everyone could join us for brunch. Cindy's face puckered up as I could see her silently counting the chairs on the deck. I knew she just wanted to be able to write it down for her next infraction report.

  "I hope it's alright if we all sit together," Sally said, also realizing what Cindy was doing. "We would love to have you and the Officers join us."

  Cindy harrumphed out a sigh before she plopped down in the chair Bill brought out for her. Mandy ran inside to grab a few more plates while I sat with my bandaged hands, feeling rather useless. Within minutes, we were all happily munching on our food. I'm not sure when Sally had made all of this, but apparently I had slept through it.

  "So, we do have an actual reason why we came," Officer Mendoza said. "And it wasn't just to eat all of your food. We came to let you know what actually happened to Hilda."

  The table went quiet; even Trevor stopped eating for a moment. We all looked up at Officer Mendoza, giving him our full attention. I had kind of assumed I would have to go back to Minnesota without really knowing what had happened. Officer Mendoza launched into the story that Susie had told him about Hilda's murder.

  *****

  After Susie had found a distraught Louise the night of the dance and helped her home, she noticed that Louise was missing her special pin. Once Roger arrived home to help Louise, Susie figured she would go back out to look for it in the last place she had seen Louise come out of; the pool area.

  When she went through the pool gate, she spotted Louise's pin under a chair but she was surprised to find Hilda sitting in a deck chair holding her head. Hilda told her what Louise had done and started threatening Louise. Susie jumped to Louise's defense and when Hilda got up and into her face, Susie decided she needed to leave the pool area.

  But when she turned to leave, Hilda grabbed her by the arm. They started to struggle and in the struggle they both ended up falling into the pool. Susie is athletic and a strong swimmer, but apparently Hilda couldn't swim and she started to panic. The scratches and other signs of a struggle on Hilda weren't from a fight with Susie, but from her fight for survival.

  Susie knew that if she didn't get away, they would both drown, so she managed to untangle herself from Hilda and swim to the shallow end. She climbed out as fast as she could and raced around the edge of the pool to help Hilda get out.

  The closest thing she could grab was Mandy's pool noodle, which happened to be on the ground next to the pool. Susie extended it out, but Hilda was already so weak from trying to tread water and from the bump she had received on her head that she couldn't manage to grab onto it. Susie said that eventually Hilda must have given up because all of a sudden, she was very still.

  At that point, Susie panicked. Instead of getting help and explaining what had happened, she left and snuck her way home so she didn't run into anyone. She said it was almost like an out of body experience; that something was propelling her home instead of finding someone to help her.

  Susie sat up all night trying to figure out what she should do but before she could think of a plan, she heard Sally's scream and ran to join everyone at the pool. At that point, Susie was caught in a web of lies that unfolded out of her control. She didn't want anyone else to be arrested for what happened but she also knew that she had not handled the situation well and that she would be in trouble if she came forward at that point.

  So Susie lived in a panic for days, simultaneously trying to cover things up and also help get Mandy and Louise released from custody. Every time she tried to make things better, it just got more complicated. At the picnic, she was ready for it all to be over. So when Louise showed up that afternoon, Susie was relieved for the entire thing to come to an end.

  *****

  We all sat on the deck, none of us having touched our food as Officer Mendoza told the story. What a horrible situation to have to witness play out. I couldn't imagine watching someone drown. And while Susie made the absolute wrong decision that night, some people naturally panic in emergency situations. I was glad to know that she hadn't murdered Hilda, but I was also upset that she had almost tried to cover it all up, unknowingly throwing innocent people under the bus along the way.

  "So it was all an accident," Cindy said. "I had no idea she didn't know how to swim."

  She had been so quiet that I had almost forgotten she was there. I was used to her loud, in-your-face brashness but in grief, her personality was a bit more subdued.

  "I don't think anyone knew," Sally said, patting Cindy's hand in sympathy. "But that would explain why she hated the pool and bobbing so much."

  We all slowly went back to eating brunch, although the mood was a bit heavier now. Hilda's death hung over all of us, a reminder that life can come to an end so suddenly. The feeling was dark in contrast to the bright, warm morning.

  "I'd like to say something if I could," Officer Johnson said, folding his hands in front of him on the table.

  Officer Mendoza gave him an odd look that mirrored what the rest of us were thinking. I got the feeling that Officer Johnson wasn't much of a talker, so whatever he wanted to say must be important.

  "Tessa, I just wanted to say that you did a pretty okay job on this," he said, which sounded like high praise coming from him. "I'm not a verbose man, so I'll just say it one time; thank you."

  I smiled, feeling my cheeks redden. Bill, Sally, Mandy, and even Cindy clapped a little bit while Trevor started in on a rollicking rendition of "For She's a Jolly Good Fellow." Once he finished singing, Officer Mendoza put his fingers between his lips and whistled, the sound cracking the mid-morning air.

  We all laughed and for once, I felt like my busybody ways were actually cheered on by a few people. That might not be such a good thing, considering I have an even longer list of people who wished I would not look into these crimes quite as close. Despite my mother's support on this one, she was at the top of the list of people who hated when I investigated.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  The sun was setting on Shady Lake and while it was a warm spring day, it was nothing compared to the warmth I had left behind in Florida. One thing Minnesota did have was the handsome man sitting next to me. Max and I were sitting in the front window of the B&B, holding hands and watching the sun set over the lake. Well, I guess I should say that Max was holding my bandage because my hands were still pretty sore and wrapped up.

  We had already gone out for an early dinner because ever since I got home early in the morning, we had spent the entire day together. It felt comfortable and perfect even though my hands were mostly useless.

  I had even told Max the entire story about my meddling down in Florida and while he tsk-tsked me and my nosiness, he couldn't help but laugh at my inability to even take a vacation. He also thought the story of my tea catching incident were pretty funny, even though he wished he could hold my hand without the bandages. I laughed along with him, just happy to be with him. Now here we were at the end of our day together.

  "I think I'm going to buy a bike this summer," I said. "I kind of enjoyed riding one down in Florida."

  "As long as you wear a helmet, Officer Max will approve that," he said, pretending to be stern.

  "Jokes on you, I'm buying a bicycle built for two," I said.

  "I'm sure Mandy will love riding that around town with you," Max said with a mischievous smile on his face.

  I threw my head back and laughed. Max was so quick with a comeback sometimes that it caught me totally off-guard. When I managed to look at him, he was intently watching me laugh. Max's blue eyes were soft and his face had a smile so wide it was about to burst. It was a look of absolute love.

  "I have a feeling that Mandy and I will be doing more wedding planning than anything this summer," I said. "She and Trevor want to get married by the end of summer. They figure they've been together long enough that they don't want to wait too long to make it official."

  "I can understand that," Max said, squeezing my hand just gently enou
gh so that I could feel it through my bandages. "We've been waiting a long time too."

  The butterflies in my stomach were back, trying to pound their way out along with my heart. This was the first time we had talked about our future together in person. Over the phone, it was so easy to say whatever without seeing the other person. But face to face it was different, almost like it was too real.

  "I want to marry you someday Tessa," Max said. He pulled me out of my chair and over to his lap. I nestled into him. "I hope it's alright if that someday might be sooner rather than later."

  "I guess that would be alright," I said, tilting my face up to kiss him. "As long as you know what you're in for, we should be able to make that happen."

  A cough from behind us made us jump. Startled I turned around to find my father's back facing us.

  "Hello lovebirds," he said. "Sorry to interrupt, but I'd like to invite you to join us for dessert and games in the living room. Fun will be had by all. I know that because I have made it mandatory."

  I giggled and stood up, grabbing Max's hand and pulled him up out of the chair with me.

  "It's alright Dad, it's safe to turn around," I said, knowing that he was trying very hard to not see his little girl wrapped up in the arms of her lover.

  He turned around with a big, cheesy grin on his face. I knew it was partially because he was so happy to see me back with Max. Peter had been great and Clark had been alright, but Max had been around the family so long that he was a part of the family even when he had been married to someone else.

  The three of us walked into the living room where my mom and a few of the guests of the bed and breakfast were eating sweets and deciding on what games to play. The living room was homey and welcoming with comfy pillows and warm blankets strewn about for anyone to make a nest out of. A fire was crackling in the fireplace and outside the window a few snow flurries were falling. While snow may not sound great in spring, I have a personal rule that snow is always magical no matter what month it falls in.