Ray Elkins mystery - 02 - Color Tour (18 page)

“Yes,” Ray responded. “I’ve been collecting them for years, and now I finally have a place for them in the kitchen. That was one of the major design considerations for this room.”

“And the work area looks like it was designed for a serious cook,” she commented as she continued her inspection of the kitchen. “The place has that new-house smell. How long have you lived here?”

“I was supposed to be in by early April, but there were a number of delays. I was sort of camping out here in May and June, and didn’t really start to settle in until July.”

“So you have two bedrooms?”

“Three actually. I was going to have two, but my local bank manager encouraged me to add a third. They don’t like to write mortgages for two-bedroom homes—something about resale value. So, I had the architect add a third bedroom. It worked out okay. I have one nice-sized bedroom and two small ones. One I’m using as a study, and the other is filled with boxes yet to be unpacked.”

Sarah helped him bring the cheese, bread, wine, apples, and a cup of coffee to a small table near the wall of glass at the front of the main room. Ray lit two candles and dimmed the lights so they could enjoy the view of the village and harbor. The glow of the candles reflected off the surface of the simple pine table creating an aura of warmth and intimacy.

“This is fantastic,” she said as she gazed at the panorama below. “How did you find the lot?”

“It belonged to friends. They were going to build here at one time. But they went their separate ways, and she ended up with it.”

“So how did you… ?”

“When she decided to move to Seattle to be closer to her daughter and grandchildren, she made me an offer on the lot I couldn’t refuse.”

“This person, was she a… a romantic interest?” Sarah asked coyly.

“We had been close friends for awhile.”

Sarah raised her wine glass. “Well, here’s a toast to you and your wonderful home.”

Ray looked across the table. He remembered how attractive he had found Sarah the first time he interviewed her. And now, in the golden glow of the candles, she was even more engaging.

“You had something you wanted to tell me,” Ray said.

“I’m enjoying everything so much, but yes—two things. First, I was putting updates of the employees’ health insurance in the faculty personnel files. Alan Quertermous, the math instructor, has this gigantic folder––he’s been at the school from almost the beginning. So, I was looking through his folder to see if there was anything that I could discard, much of the material in these files is years out of date. I don’t think anyone has ever cleaned them up. Anyway, I found a copy of the letter where Gwendolyn Howard offered him the position.”

“So, it’s an interesting piece of history,” he offered, taking a sip of wine.

“Well, it’s more than that. She mentioned the fact that they were distant cousins and how nice it would be to reconnect with that part of her family. No one has ever mentioned that before, Quertermous being related to Mrs. Howard. I thought Ashleigh was the only member of the family to ever work at Leiston. I still don’t know how Quertermous and Mrs. Howard were related, there’s no suggestion of that in the letter. And I have no idea whether or not he and Ashleigh might be blood relatives. I just thought you might find that interesting.”

“Yes,” said Ray. He pondered the information for several moments. “And there was a second… ?”

“Yes, I was talking to my son, Eric, on the phone last night. He told me about something that happened his senior year.” She raised her eyebrows, “He didn’t tell me about the incident at the time, at least not the complete story. And I hesitate here, because it’s only a rumor and probably is of no significance… ”

“Go ahead.”

“It was near the end of the spring semester. Ashleigh had taken twelve students on an extended camping trip, the final activity of her wilderness survival class. There were supposed to be two adults guiding the group, but something happened to the other leader, I can’t remember if he got sick or what. Anyway, Ashleigh, not wanting to disappoint the kids, took them solo. ”

“Where?”

“The plan was to spend about six days paddling, hiking, and doing zero-impact camping on the Manitou Islands. As I remember, it was a cold spring that year. The first few days the trip went as planned, but then they really got hit, a couple inches of wet snow and high winds. They had to stay on South Manitou an extra day. Eric remembers that Ashleigh was very cautious. She had the group listen to the marine weather report with her before they started the next crossing to North Manitou, the longest piece of open water on the trip. He remembers the forecast was calm winds and small waves. But as they neared their destination, the weather changed, and they got caught in a squall. A couple of boats capsized.” Sarah paused, her tone softened. “Eric has nothing but praise for the way Ashleigh handled what might have been a tragic situation. But I’m glad he didn’t give me all the gory details at the time,” she observed, tearing a piece of bread.

“So what happened?” pressed Ray.

“The kids were in the water. Eric said the boy, Billy, stayed with his kayak, but the girl, Monica, became fairly hysterical. He remembers that she was screaming that she was going to die and that she let her boat drift away. Ashleigh had the other kids stay together and she went after Monica. She muscled the kid onto her deck and paddled her to shore. Then she came back for Billy. He had been in the water too long, and he couldn’t help. Eric says he still can’t figure out how Ashleigh got him back in his boat, he was a big kid. Eric just remembers she sort of scooped Billy up and put him in his boat. Then she towed the kayak to shore and got the rest of the kids safely landed.

“That’s quite a story, but I don’t see… ”

“Patience,” she offered with a smile. “I’m just getting to the important part. Billy had been in the water for some time before Ashleigh was able to get him back in the boat. By the time she got him to shore he was shivering uncontrollably and not making much sense. She had the kids build a fire and start heating water, and then, to their amazement, she stripped him out of his wetsuit and got him into a sleeping bag. Then she stripped down to her underwear and got in with him and wrapped herself around him. Eric doesn’t remember how long it took before Billy stopped shivering. Eventually they moved to a tent where he was force-fed hot tea and energy bars.”

“She certainly seemed to know how to handle the situation.”

“Ashleigh was that kind of person. Not embarrassed to do what had to be done.” Sarah paused and sipped some wine. “She got the kids to set up camp and make supper. The next morning when they went to pack the boats, Ashleigh’s kayak had been vandalized.”

“Vandalized? How?”

“Eric said there were a couple of holes in the bottom of the cockpit, like someone had driven a large knife or hatchet through the boat. Eric said that when Ashleigh saw the damage, she carried on like this was part of the experience. She got out a repair kit and showed them how to prepare the surface and put on fiberglass patches. She never mentioned the incident again, but the kids talked about it.”

“Did Eric speculate on who might have damaged her boat?”

“I asked him. He thinks that one of the boys must have been very taken with Ashleigh. That her climbing into the sleeping bag with Billy triggered a jealous rage.”

“Does he have a likely candidate?”

“No, not really. He said that at the time he wished he had been the one needing help with hypothermia.” She chuckled and continued, “I reminded him that’s not the kind of thing you tell your mother.”

“Does he think Ashleigh might have been involved with a student?”

“No,” Sarah firmly answered. “Absolutely not. But Eric said Billy got a lot of teasing from the boys about how lucky he was to have Ashleigh wrapped around him.”

“How much of this got back to school? I mean, kids really talk about… ”

“It was near the end of the year. Other than Billy, they were all seniors. A couple of weeks later they were spread to the winds.”

“Does Eric remember anything else?”

“I think that’s it. He said he had forgotten all about the damaged kayak. Ashleigh’s death brought back the episode.”

Ray nodded. “The other kids on the trip, can you get me a list? I’d like to know who they are and if any are in the area.”

“Billy is still around, he’s a senior. As to the class list, I’ll have to do some digging. It wouldn’t be on our new system. Eric probably can give me the names from memory.”

“How about addresses?”

“I’ll ask Helen; she’ll be able to pull that info from the alumni database. I’ve found the incident report that Ashleigh completed at the time. Do you want a copy?”

“Please. What does it contain?”

“About what I’ve told you. It’s got the names of the students involved in the accident, and the date, time, and extent of injuries— the usual bureaucratic questions and answers.”

“But no mention of her kayak being damaged?”

“No, that wasn’t part of it.”

Ray, lost in thought, refilled Sarah’s wine glass without asking if she wanted more.

“Ask a woman up to your house and then you try to get her drunk,” she kidded.

Ray looked abashed. “Sorry. I was just trying to be a good host. Have some more food, that will help. And I can always give you a Breathalyzer test to make sure you’re below the legal limit before I allow you to drive home,” he said with a wry smile.

“And I have to stay here until I reach the… what a clever man you are.” She looked at her watch. “This has been wonderful, thank you. But I really must be going. Ashleigh’s funeral is tomorrow, and I’ve got a very early morning. Let me help you get things picked up.”

“That’s no problem, I can take… ” Ray wasn’t able to complete his sentence. Sarah was up and carrying things to the kitchen. Working together they had everything in order in a few minutes.

“Tomorrow, would it be appropriate for me to attend the funeral?” Ray asked.

“No problem,” she answered. “But you might want to arrive early. We anticipate quite a crowd.”

“What time should I be there?”

“The funeral is scheduled for eleven o’clock. I think you should be there by 10:40.”

“Yes, ma’am,” responded Ray as he helped Sarah with her coat. He followed her to the door where she started to offer her hand and then gave Ray a quick, tentative hug. “Thank you for the nice evening,” she said as she departed. Ray stood at the door and watched her taillights disappear down the drive.

After her departure Ray did a final sweep of the kitchen, wiping the counters and starting the dishwasher, and then went to his study. He retrieved his journal and pen from his desk and stood for a few minutes looking out at the lights of the village.

In the years he had been keeping a journal, he had endeavored to separate his personal life from his professional duties, but that wasn’t always possible. And this night his focus was on the murder investigation. After several pages his focus shifted to Sarah James. Had she told him everything about her relationship with Ashleigh and Warrington? He also wondered if there was any possibility that she might be involved in these murders. And finally he noted the perfume she was wearing; he became aware of it during their brief embrace. It was not a scent that he recognized, not that his knowledge of fragrances was particularly extensive. It was very subtle and pleasant. In his last few sentences he wondered if she was the person she represented herself to be.

“The students and staff, many alums and parents. And I think there might be quite a few people from the community. Ashleigh had a lot of friends.”

“How are you going to get everyone in?”

“We’re not. We can only squeeze in about 200, which is far more than this building was originally intended to hold. We’ve arranged a second seating area in the Kiva, our auditorium-like building. There’s a big screen projection system there. Once the chapel is filled, the overflow will be escorted over. And then we’re going to serve a buffet lunch in the dining hall. We have some more tables set up on the lawn. We’re lucky it’s a beautiful day.”

“You did all the organizing?”

“Yes, but I had a lot of help getting things in place. Everyone’s making an extra effort.” She paused and looked at Ray. “That’s one of the special things about working here. With a few exceptions, it’s a real community.”

“The cost, the school is handling… ?”

“Well, we were. But Ashleigh’s attorney instructed us to forward all the bills to him; he will take care of them. In fact, he was the one who suggested the lunch, told me to spend as much as necessary to make this a special occasion. He said he planned to attend. I hope he identifies himself.”

“What’s his name? I would like to talk to him.”

“Furman Gellhorn. Would you like his phone number and e-mail address? The firm is in Chicago.”

“I’d appreciate that. Tell me about the chapel,” Ray said as he studied the exterior.

“It was built soon after the main house. The first Mrs. Howard liked the idea of a family chapel. But I’ve heard the thing that really pushed the project was the marriage of their only daughter, Consuelo. Wonderful name.”

“Yes,” agreed Ray. “Good period name.”

“The chapel was built large enough for the group they anticipated would come up from Chicago for the wedding. The interior was modeled after a medieval chapel; all the materials were fabricated in England and shipped here for assembly. English masons and carpenters were brought over for the construction. Can you imagine the expense?”

“You certainly are knowledgeable about the school’s history.”

“I give tours to prospective students and their parents. In order to answer their questions, I’ve done a lot of research. I’ve looked at everything in print and talked to the old-timers. I’m a real history buff, so this has been a lot of fun.”