Murder in the Devil's Cauldron (28 page)

She put on bug spray and went into her room
to get her jacket. As she was pulling it on, she had a strong urge
to check on her camera.

She looked at the closet door.

It looked fine. Now she was just being
silly.

She knew it was safe. But still….

Starr thought of the rasping noise she had
heard earlier and a moment later she was scrabbling to the back of
the closet on her hands and knees and pulling up the trap door.
Reaching inside, she half expected to find it empty, but then her
fingers touched the fabric of the bag and the bulk of the camera
underneath.

Closing her eyes, she felt the fear drain out
of her. The relief was so intense, all the strength went out of her
and she leaned against the side of the closet, unable to move. A
few minutes later, Starr realized she was still sitting in the dark
closet like a misplaced rag doll and giggled. Now she was being a
drama queen. She replaced the lid, pulled the suitcase on top of it
and crawled out of the closet.

As she zipped up her jacket, she laughed at
herself. She couldn't believe how silly she was being. He didn't
know where she lived and tomorrow she would make sure he was caught
and then everything would be fine.

All the same, she was really glad she had
such a good place to hide her camera.

Starr slung the canvas carrier with the
dishes over her shoulder, locked the door carefully and headed up
to the Lodge. Tonight the grounds of Storm Point Lodge felt a lot
spookier. It didn't help that she was still jumpy. The killer might
not know where she lived, but what if he was hiding in the trees
somewhere just waiting for her to come along? Noises she had gotten
used to now took on an ominous dimension.

She knew it was silly. It was just the
creatures who lived in the woods, but after what happened, it felt
a lot creepier than it had last night. Starr felt like a barn owl
as she tried to look in all directions at the same time, half
expecting the killer to jump out at her at any moment. By the time
she reached the Lodge, she was practically running and the carrier
felt like an anchor.

The wide steps at the Lodge entrance were
well-lit and Starr stopped there to catch her breath. She knew she
was supposed to go around back to return the dishes, but the path
going to the rear of the Lodge disappeared into total darkness
after just a few feet and Starr couldn't summon the courage to go
that way. She knew it was probably safe, but her brain simply
refused. Besides, she wasn't like those dumb girls in the movies
who went into the basement to see what had just gone bump. Better
safe than dead, she figured.

Hoping no one would notice, she pulled open
the big front door just wide enough to scoot through and poked her
head in. Fortunately, no one was in the lobby and she slipped in,
easing the door closed. Then, feeling as if she was in a spy movie,
Starr hurried past the front desk down the hallway to the kitchen
before anyone could see her.

Even though it was getting late, servers were
still hauling huge trays into the dining room and then hurrying
back into the kitchen for more. As the double doors into the
kitchen swung open and closed, Starr could see everyone in the
kitchen moving at light speed.

When the hallway was temporarily clear, Starr
scurried past the doors, hoping everyone was too busy to notice
her. Her mother had made it clear that Starr was supposed to be
invisible. Right now, that was exactly what Starr wanted, as well.
She had no idea what to say and while she didn't think any of the
other employees would complain about her, she didn't want to take
the chance. She was in enough trouble as it was.

Fortunately, no one was in the employee
dining area and Starr put the dishes onto the conveyor belt.
Looking around, she was thrilled to see that there was still some
food still sitting on the buffet and she snagged a couple of
oatmeal raisin cookies and the last lemon tart.

When she got back outside, she saw that the
citronella pots had been lit. Because the grounds had also been
well-sprayed, the mosquitoes weren't as bad as she had expected.
She and Charlie had made plans to meet at the gazebo, so at least
they wouldn't get eaten alive.

The path to the gazebo was lined with fairy
lights, so it wasn't totally dark. Besides, Starr reasoned as she
started up the path, the killer couldn't possibly know she was
going to be at the gazebo. She followed the path past the swimming
pool in the oversized glass enclosure. Inside, visitors splashed
about in the pool and soaked in the hot tub. It made her think of a
giant aquarium like Underwater World at the Mall of America. Only
this one had people inside, instead of fish.

Starr grinned as she continued on to the
gazebo.

Charlie was already there. Starr plunked
herself down on the bench with relief. Not only were the events of
the day catching up to her, but it was a relief to finally have
someone to talk to about what had happened.

"It still feels really weird," she said after
telling Charlie the story. "I mean, he just pushed her in." She
shook her head again as she relived that moment. "The problem is, I
don't think the ranger believed me."

"What about your mom?"

Starr rolled her eyes. "She didn’t want to
hear about it. She was really mad at me 'cause I was so late."

"That's totally weird," Charlie said.

Starr shrugged. "She's worried about losing
her job. After my dad left, it's been really hard. This is the
first good break she's had. That's why she worries all the time.
Maybe when she sees that everything's going to be okay she'll relax
and not get so upset."

Charlie was super quiet for a long time, her
eyes scrunched almost closed as if her thoughts were back on the
reservation instead of at Storm Point.

"So what are you going to do about the
killer?" she asked finally.

"I don't know," Starr confessed. "I guess I
thought I'd talk to Mr. Donovan again tomorrow and then maybe the
police."

"We don't have the police here," Charlie told
her. "I'll bet you have to talk to the sheriff in Ruby Cove. That's
the closest station."

"How long does it take to get there?"

"Do you have a bike?"

Starr shook her head.

"Then it'll take awhile. When were you going
to talk to Mr. Donovan?"

"As soon as the Visitor Center opens," Starr
said. "The sign on the door said they open at nine, so I thought
I'd go right after breakfast."

"OK," Charlie said matter-of-factly. "Do you
want to meet at your place or at breakfast?"

"You're going to come?" Starr couldn't hide
her surprise.

"Of course," Charlie said. "You need a guide
and I know the inside scoop on everything up here." She gave Starr
a big grin. "Besides, we're friends. I can't let you do this all by
yourself."

Starr returned her grin, surprised and
pleased. "Okay. Why don't we meet at breakfast. If we leave here
right after, we'll have plenty of time to get there. I want to
catch him before anyone else gets there."

"OK."

Starr was about to remind Charlie to bring
Ziploc bags for snacks when Charlie suddenly reached over and poked
Starr's shoulder.

Starr looked at her. Charlie put her finger
to her lips in a "be quiet" gesture and slid to the side of the
gazebo, seeming to melt into the shadows. Figuring she should do
the same, Starr slid over until she, too, was hidden. No sooner had
she made herself invisible than she heard the brush rustling. She
turned her head cautiously, thinking it was a deer.

A moment later, someone with a flashlight
crept past the gazebo towards the Lodge. As he passed, Starr saw it
was the killer and her hand went to her mouth, covering it to keep
even a little sound from escaping.

When she was sure he was gone, Starr turned
to Charlie. "That was him!"

Charlie leaned forward into the light, her
eyes huge. "Really?"

Starr nodded, puzzled. "But why was he coming
from back there?" The area behind the pool and gazebo was mainly
overflow parking and the long way around. No one parked there if
they could avoid it. Mostly it got used for special events.

"I'll bet he's up to something he doesn't
want anyone else to know about," Charlie said. "I think maybe he's
sneaky and we need to keep a real close eye on him.

"'Cause we're probably the only ones who know
the truth."

Charlie nodded. "But we have to be really
careful. If it was easy for him to kill his wife, it might be real
easy for him to go after a couple of kids."

That brought Starr's thoughts to an abrupt
halt. She knew she jumped into the deep end of the pool without
looking far too often. "I shouldn't have let him hear me at the
park," she said, finally voicing the concern that had been
bothering her all evening. "Now he knows I'm a witness."

"I might know someone who can help," Charlie
told her. "She's a little different, but really cool. And she knows
everything
. I'll bet she'll know what to do."

"Who?"

"You'll see," Charlie said mysteriously.
"She's not always around, but maybe you can meet her tomorrow."

The girls talked for a little longer before
heading back to their cabins. Charlie walked with Starr as far as
her cabin and then went on to her own cabin which was a little
further down the path.

Starr stood on the porch and watched her go,
only closing the door of the cabin after the darkness swallowed
Charlie completely. As she locked the door, Starr realized she felt
a lot better than she had when earlier this evening.

It was nice to have a friend. More
importantly, Charlie believed her and was going to help. And that
was the best present Starr had had in a long time.

That night, Fae sat in the screened-in porch
overlooking Lake Superior, opened the file folder containing
Bailey's unofficial notes and began to read, a large plate of
oatmeal raisin cookies next to her.

She started at page one and went all the way
through to the end, reading every word carefully, as if she hadn't
seen the contents of the folder before. She didn't skim and she
didn't jump ahead.

A yellow legal pad next to her, she made a
few notes every once in awhile, but not many. She was covering old
ground and, for the most part, she wasn't finding anything new.

This time she was only interested in
something she didn't know. Something that had eluded her the first
time. This time she was looking for something that didn't fit. She
wasn't sure what it was, but she knew it was there.

About three-quarters of the way through, Fae
re-read the notes on a scam Devious Dave had run several years
earlier where one of the key witnesses had gone missing. The first
time, she hadn't thought anything of it. This time, it caught her
attention. She looked up, not really seeing anything as her brain
started connecting the dots. She flipped back a few pages until she
found another case with interesting similarities and read through
it again, this time with a new filter.

She bit into one of the giant oatmeal-raisin
cookies and munched it thoughtfully. She re-read the paragraph that
had grabbed her attention and then re-read the page. Flipping back
through the files, she looked for anything that might be related.
She flagged a couple of references that might be related and
entered the information in her notebook.

Munching absently on another cookie, she
continued reading the rest of the file. By the time she got to the
end, the cookie plate was empty, a number of pages were flagged and
she had seven pages of notes. She copied the pages she had flagged,
replacing the originals in the file.

Then Fae went out onto the porch to think
about what she had discovered. It might not fit the typical profile
of a con man, but it wasn't that unusual either. While missing
witnesses could simply be an anomaly and mean nothing, it could
also mean something far more serious than she and Bailey had
considered.

Fae went back inside and booted up her
computer. After checking the BCA database for the missing people,
she made several follow-up calls to their families. Each time, she
learned that they were still missing. And, each time, she had to
disappoint them by telling them she had nothing new to tell.

Finally she called Bailey to tell him what
she had come up with.

Fae outlined everything she had discovered.
"Here's what I think," she said. "I think Devious Dave started off
as a con man, but escalated at some point to murder. I think that
somewhere along the line, he killed someone to avoid being caught.
After that, he killed selectively either to reap bigger rewards or
simply to make sure no one was able to testify against him. Maybe
he was using his real name. Maybe it would give him a bigger
return. Or it could be something as simple as staying out of
prison. But whatever the story, I think murder has become part of
his arsenal."

"And you think he's on the North Shore to run
a scam and bump off the witnesses?"

Fae heard the skepticism in Bailey's voice.
"I know we don't have any proof of that, but I think we have to
consider it. This is a great place to get rid of someone,
especially if you know the area. Think of the shoreline. No one
would be surprised if someone fell over the side. Not to mention
all the other features of the North Shore. I'm actually surprised
it hasn't happened more often, considering everything."

"So what's your plan?"

Fae sighed. "I'm going to see what else I can
dredge up and see if it turns into anything. And then keep trying
to track him down if he is up here."

She ended the call, then realized Casanova
Marmalade had snuck onto her lap at some point and was purring his
little heart out. Fae stroked his silky orange fur as she
considered her next move.