Keeping Mum (A Garden Society Mystery) (5 page)

No matter what panic she felt at the apparent murder, Annie’s emergency was personal, and she had to be strong and helpful. She stepped forward and hugged her friend. Annie was short enough to bury herself in Cam’s chest, so Cam hugged with one arm, and with the other, she speed-dialed Jake.

“This is a bigger problem,” she said when he answered.

“Bigger than dead?”

Annie’s eyes grew wide as she overheard Jake, but she didn’t interrupt.

“Yes. Annie’s father has disappeared,” Cam said.

“Disappeared? Like disappeared?”

“No call to Annie, no showing up where he was supposed to be. And this was his event.”

As much of an ass as Jake could sometimes be when banging heads with Cam over a murder investigation, she knew he would put Annie first. He was a good guy—just annoyingly “by the book.”

When she hung up, she explained to Annie about the body that had been found, then called Rob. Rob’s boss had trumped him on the thousand-dollar media spot representing the
Roanoke Tribune
. Even Griggs probably wouldn’t have been there without the funded media table so generously paid for by Derrick Windermere, though Cam was sure Derrick had had other motives besides informed citizens. But now that the supper was over, she doubted anybody would even notice if Rob showed up for a little moral support.

“Cam! Not over already?” Rob said when he answered.

“No, but we need you. Annie and I need you.”

“Oh, man. What now?”

“Just come.”

“Out the door already.” It was true, too. She heard the obnoxious rumble of his Jeep starting.

She went back to hugging Annie. “Listen. I know this isn’t ideal, but what if he just . . . tripped and hit his head or something? We should have somebody searching the grounds, right?”

Annie pulled away. “Oh, geez. I snotted on you. But . . . I guess maybe.”

Cam went to the headwaiter. She didn’t know whom to call, but he would. She explained her concern that Senator Schulz had been hurt and was out there somewhere.

“I make some calls, madam. Ten minutes, we have team looking.” Cam couldn’t identify his accent, but it didn’t matter. He was being helpful.

“Thank you!”

• • •

• • •

W
hen she returned to report to Annie, Jake had arrived. He was on his own. Clearly, the murder took precedence for the police force, but it was good to have a real cop involved.

“So where should he have been?” Jake asked.

Annie opened her iPhone and pressed a few buttons and then looked at a little map.

“Woods to the left of the second-hole tee, or that was his original note. When I tried to call with more information, he was gone.”

“So let’s go,” he said.

Annie looked pleadingly at Cam.

“We can’t both go,” Cam said. “You two go. Annie, take a bunch of pictures. I probably can’t help, but maybe something will jump out at me. And I should be
here
in case the club staff finds anything—so I can let you know.”

Annie smiled, though her eyes were wet with tears.

• • •

• • •

C
am struggled to pay attention to the rest of the murder mystery. She had to text clues to a few “witnesses” for things that came out late in the game, so it was good she could take over for Annie. But the gravity of events was too much. Even when her dad laughingly admitted he was the murderer (as Vivian Macy’s date), she still couldn’t completely enjoy it.

Rob had arrived halfway into Cam’s attempts at pretending nothing was wrong while keeping the game flowing. He stood with an arm around Cam’s waist, lending support, but not asking much. Finally he nuzzled her neck.

“Where’s Annie?”

“With Jake, trying to figure out what happened to her dad. He disappeared at around the time Derrick Windermere was murdered,” Cam whispered.

Rob whistled. It pretty much said it all.

“And where is Griggs?”

Cam pointed. Rob’s boss had followed the action of the game, rubbing elbows with the people he must have deemed most important, aside from Koontz. Koontz was clearly having a ball hamming it up. “We assigned him the role of reporter. He’s been stuck to Koontz all night. We figured it was the best way to get a lot of coverage,” she said.

“So he doesn’t know there’s been a murder?”

Rob’s expression was that of a delighted child, and it finally brought a bit of lightness to all this. Rob, in spite of not being the reporter on scene, was going to get this scoop on his boss. He pulled out his smartphone and began drafting the briefest of story skeletons.

He paused to ask Cam a few questions, then let out a giggle that was probably inappropriate, but Cam understood. A homicide scoop was a big deal, and he’d managed it on the sly. Cam just hoped Griggs wasn’t too bitter about it. If he was, Rob might be stuck with crappy assignments for months. Then again, a sports reporter’s winter was all basketball and hockey anyway. There wasn’t much that would change the majority of what Rob did.

A tap on her shoulder caused Cam to jump. The headwaiter had returned.

“Did you find anything?”

“Sadly, no. We can assure you we search all buildings on the grounds. But we don’t have men for nighttime search of the grounds. A security team is looking at cameras and will tell you if anything is found, but I want to let you know about the buildings.”

“I appreciate that. It isn’t good news, but it also isn’t bad news, so that helps.”

Cam sighed when he left. “I guess I didn’t think he’d be inside,” she said to Rob. “But I should still let Annie know.”

• • •

• • •

R
ob went to the murder scene to see what he could find and returned a short while later with a police officer she didn’t know. He whispered quietly that he was a police officer trained in high-profile kidnapping and would be coordinating with the FBI, but because of the nature of the senator’s disappearance, they were making some exceptions in the case of the murder.

“We’d normally hold everybody here to question them, but we’re worried about the safety of the senator and what the publicity might do. Do you have a complete list of everyone who is here?”

Cam assured him she did, and she made a copy of it for him immediately. He looked it over and nodded. “Best for the senator’s safety if this is kept quiet tonight, okay?”

Cam not only agreed, she thought it was a miracle they managed to have the event end without any of the guests knowing about the real murder. One astute woman asked about the first body they’d found, and Cam explained there’d been a misunderstanding—that a few people had been preselected and wires had gotten crossed. Cam felt a little guilty of course—nobody deserved to die like that, but she thought avoiding hearing the news tonight would go a long way toward preserving the goodwill of the attendees. A lot of public relations was about timing. Hearing of the murder tonight would have soured the whole evening. Being asked questions tomorrow would have less of an effect, or at least that was what she hoped.

The officer nodded at her and left, leaving Rob and Cam out of earshot of anybody else.

“So how serious is this with Annie’s dad?” Rob asked.

“He wouldn’t have just left without letting Annie know,” Cam said. “He is hurt, abducted, or worse.”

“Is there anything we can do?”

“If I were you, as the only reporter left on site, I’d get back to the police for the murder investigation. Ask if there were signs of an additional struggle.”

Rob kissed her cheek and rushed off the way she pointed. Cam realized she hadn’t even said good-bye to her dad. He would know something was up, but she’d let him enjoy the rest of his night. Vivian Macy seemed charming, and Cam sort of liked the idea of her dad dating a future senator.

“Cam! Maybe you can tell me!”

The crowd was clearing, and Samantha rushed at Cam far too fast for the heels she was wearing, and nearly stumbled when she tried to stop.

“Tell you what?” Cam asked.

“I saw the police,” she said. “It doesn’t take a genius to tell me something happened.”

Cam wondered if Samantha was slyly calling most of the party guests idiots, but decided that wasn’t the most productive response. She also thought, with an event planner like Samantha, who’d already noticed something suspicious, that the truth was better than the quiet mix of lies and half-truths the rest of the guests had received.

“A couple things,” Cam said. “Derrick Windermere is dead and Alden Schulz is missing.”

Samantha’s jaw dropped. “No!”

She began to tug Cam’s arm, pulling her back into the pro shop, where she poured two measures of gin over ice. Thankfully, it was a tall enough glass that when Samantha handed Cam hers, Cam could walk behind the bar and add tonic. She wondered just how crucial Samantha Hollister’s membership was to the country club that they would leave her in charge of a full bar.

“I can’t believe Alden would kill somebody and take off like that!”

Cam heard a gasp behind her. It was an angle that hadn’t occurred to Cam, but was one that understandably devastated Annie.

“He did not do this, you old cow!” Annie shrieked. Tears spurted from her eyes. She tried to come forward, but Jake had her around the waist.

“Oh!” Samantha said. “I didn’t mean . . . only it looks like . . .” she trailed off.

Jake kept a tight hold, but shared some news with Cam and Samantha. “There were signs of a struggle—a spot in the woods looked like somebody had been dragged away unwillingly. There were heel marks that led to the tire tracks for something wide—a truck or a van. Ms. Hollister,” Jake said, his most polite deference on display. “Is there any way onto the grounds besides the main entrance?”

“Well, of course there is. A few of the holes on the golf course are unfenced. There are roads that run very close in several places. But it would be difficult to remain unnoticed for long—there are cameras everywhere.”

“Cameras! That’s helpful,” Jake said. “Would you say all country club members know that?”

“Most,” she said. “We’ve been told as a warning against hanky-panky on the course. Of course, some think that’s an added thrill . . .”

Cam really didn’t want to hear those details, but it was good to know there was a camera running most places.

“Would you mind taking a quick look at the guest list?” Jake asked. “If you could put a check by the members that would help.”

“Sure. Why?” Samantha asked.

“My theory is that members might know better than to misbehave,” Jake said.

“Oh, of course!” Samantha said. She began scanning the list.

Cam was glad Samantha hadn’t taken Annie’s insult to heart, but then there’d been a time when Cam liked Samantha a lot. And it was obvious Annie was upset. Rob came in as Samantha read and marked the list, checking about half the names, making question marks by half a dozen. Cam wondered what they meant. Were they former members? Inactive members? Eligible people who Samantha wasn’t sure had joined or not? Whatever the case, Samantha was fairly quick at it and soon handed the list back to Jake.

“Thank you, ma’am. At this point, we should probably be on our way. Would you like us to help you lock up?”

“I can lock the door behind you,” she said.

Cam wondered if she didn’t have a secret guest tucked away somewhere—that was sort of Samantha’s style—but it was none of her business.

“If you’re sure,” Cam said.

“Of course I am, hon. I’ll be fine. You kids run along.”

It wasn’t as easy as all that. Cam grilled Jake first on how things were going, but he assured her the department’s best man was on the kidnapping case and had coordinated with the murder investigation team.

“It’s not normally how we do a murder investigation,” Jake admitted, “but the safety of Senator Schulz has to take priority.”

Cam was glad for that, thinking she had “Officer Experience” to thank, though she thought Jake might have bent the rules just a little for Annie if it had come to it.

They had four vehicles there, and Jake needed to check back with the police team, so musical cars was also a challenge.

“I don’t think Annie should drive,” Cam said.

“You’re right,” Jake said. “Annie, gimme your keys. I’ll have my partner take the squad car, and I’ll drive yours to your place. You go ahead with Cam. It might take me a little while to get out of here.”

Annie looked grateful for the solution and handed her keys to Jake. In Cam’s car, Annie huddled a little, so Cam reached over and pulled her best friend toward her.

“What do they do when they kidnap someone?” Annie asked.

“Jake probably knows better than I do, but I think they usually want money.” Cam left off the alternative of just wanting to torture somebody. She had no idea if there was residual anger about Alden Schulz’s senate term, but it was certainly possible.

“My step-monster’s out of the country,” Annie said. “Who would they call?”

Annie’s parents were divorced, and as so often happens with men of power, her dad had remarried a trophy wife.