Set the Stage for Murder (20 page)

Roz closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She seemed to be willing herself to stop shaking. Finally, when she spoke, it was in a small, frightened voice. “I think I’m in over my head. I shouldn’t have kept things so secret.” She looked up at the two of them. “I realize now that the two of you were right last week. I should have gone to the police.”

“What about the publicity?” Teddy’s eyebrows rose slightly. “I thought keeping whatever it is you’ve done a secret was the most important thing.”

“Maybe Vicki was right. Maybe the press wouldn’t find out.”

“Maybe not,” Teddy agreed. “But that was a chance you weren’t willing to take last week. What’s changed, Roz?”

She scooted her chair back, got up and started to pace around the kitchen. “What’s changed is that I’m not sure I’m right.”

“Right about what?” Vicki asked.

“About who is doing this. I thought I knew for certain who was responsible, but now …”

“Now?” Teddy inquired.

“Now, I don’t think I’m right. At least, I’m not for sure.” She stopped pacing and looked at them. “The truth is that I’ve come to realize that I’ve hurt a lot of people and any one of them might want to get back at me.” She pulled a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from the pocket of her linen jacket and lit up with out seeking permission. She knew it would be tolerated. She was Rosamund Whiting, and she could get by with quite a bit. “And the scariest thing is that the people at the dinner table last night are just a fraction of those who wish me harm.” She sat back down at the table, closed her eyes and rubbed her temples.

“
I’m just not sure about anything at this point.”

Vicki crossed her arms on the table and leaned forward. “Are you sure there are that many people who hate you enough to send these sort of messages? All of this seems pretty extreme for simple dislike, Roz.”

“Vicki, surely you’ve noticed by now that people don’t ‘simply dislike’ me. Cary doesn’t ‘simply dislike’ me.” She got back up from the table, crossed to the window and looked out toward the river. “You’ve probably figured out that I’m holding something over Connor’s head.” She smiled wryly, as she continued to gaze at the view. “I believe the technical term for that is blackmail.” She turned and faced them. “I’m sure he doesn’t just ‘simply dislike’ me for that. And imagine how Ed and Sally must feel, if they know, which I feel certain they do, that I’m threatening their child?” She smiled again. “I mean, look at what I did because I thought Connor was a threat to Juliet. Is it such a stretch to think that one, or both, of his parents might be just as ruthless with me?” She looked back out the window and took a long drag from her cigarette. She exhaled slowly and with control. “But do you know what scares me most about this whole thing? What scares me is that I now think whoever is doing this is a little mad. And in that case, it doesn’t matter how real or how serious my offense was. Because whatever it was, it’s very real to them and they want me to pay for it.”

“That night in your dressing room, you said that you were pretty sure you knew who was doing this and what they wanted.” Teddy stared at her intently. “Now you’re not certain at all. Why have you changed your mind?”

Roz’s expression altered to one of sadness. She looked out the window for a little while before responding. “I think I was wrong. I think that secret will always remain secret.” She turned back around. “If I’d realized that at the time, I would have gone to the police immediately. I’ll do that when I get back to the city.” She crossed to the back door, opened it, and dropped her cigarette on the stone steps. Evidently, it was going to be up to someone else to dispose of the butt later. After washing her hands, she returned to the table with the coffee pot and filled her mug. “Anyone else need a refill?” They both declined, and she returned the carafe to the cabinet. “I owe the two of you an apology for last night,” she said, as she crossed back to her chair. “In fact, I should probably apologize to everyone, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to do that.” She took a sip of coffee. “No, I only really care about what the two of you think. And Phoebe, of course. And I have to make things right with Juliet and Meggie. They were both so upset with me.” Roz frowned and looked down at the floor. “Juliet left me a note asking me to meet her at the Courting Oak, but she never showed up. “When I tried calling her, she wouldn’t pick up. I suppose she had a change of heart.” She shrugged slightly. “And Meggie called my phone but didn’t leave a message. But I got the message loud and clear when both of them spent the night over here in order to avoid me.” She looked up at them sadly, blinking back tears. “The three of us have never been at odds before. I’m not sure what to do about this.”

Vicki reached across the table and grabbed her hand. “Roz, I’m sure everything will be fine with all of you once you get a chance to talk about everything. But are you sure Meg didn’t stay at the guesthouse last night? She didn’t come back over here after the two of you left, at least as far as I know.” She looked at Teddy, questioningly.

“I didn’t see her,” Teddy said. “And neither Marc nor Ethan mentioned her returning. Maybe she’s in her room with the door closed?”

Roz shook her head vehemently. “Her door was open and her bed wasn’t slept in.” Alarm was starting to creep into her voice. “Maybe Juliet let her in and she spent the night in her room?”

Vicki got up and headed for the dining room door. “I’ll go check. Teddy …”

“I’m already calling the gatehouse to see if Sam saw anyone leave.” He smiled at his wife as he dialed his phone. Vicki smiled back and walked out the door.

He turned his attention to Roz. “I’m assuming your car is still parked out front?” he asked. Roz nodded solemnly. “Hello, Sam? Has anyone left the estate? Ms. Pierce seems to be missing.” Teddy looked at Roz and shook his head. “Sam, would you do me a favor and do a sweep of the grounds? Check the Big House, too. Thanks a lot. You can reach me on my cell.” He hung up and addressed Roz. “Sam locked the gate last night when I told him to keep Connor from driving out of here. He hasn’t unlocked it since.”

Vicki reentered with a washed-out and frightened looking Juliet on her heels. The girl had pulled on a t-shirt and a pair of sweat pants. “Mother, what’s happened?” she asked as she rushed into Roz’s arms. “Vicki said Meg is missing?”

Roz held Juliet tightly and stroked her hair. “There, there, darling. Calm down. Just calm down.” She looked over the girl’s shoulder at Teddy. “There’s no reason to panic. Meggie is just … unaccounted for. We think she might have spent the night up at Phoebe’s house.”

“But Mrs. McDowell was here,” Juliet protested. “Why would Meg go up there?”

“She was upset, darling.” Roz stepped back, held Juliet by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes. “I made her very upset last night, just like I made you upset. Maybe Meggie just wanted to get away and be alone and think. At any rate, we shouldn’t start to panic until we’ve checked. Okay?”

Juliet nodded as she wiped at the tears that were falling down her cheeks. “Okay. Oh, Mother, I’m so sorry for how I acted last night.”

Roz interrupted her. “You have nothing to be sorry for. It was me who behaved horribly. I’ve been under a lot of stress and I guess it’s taking a toll. I owe you and Meggie both an apology.”

“Last night, after I’d had a chance to think about everything, I realized what a horrible week this has been for you and just how stressed out you must be. I should have called you and told you that I understood.”

Roz smoothed the girl’s hair and looked at her adoringly. “Is that why you left me that note? She smiled and gently chided her. “What happened? Did you fall asleep and forget to meet me?”

“What are you talking about?” Juliet seemed genuinely confused. “What note?”

Roz straightened, her expression changing to one of concern. “The note that asked me to meet you at the Courting Oak?”

“Mother, I didn’t leave a note for you. I never left the house last night. I was with Daddy in the library until I went to bed.”

As she and Teddy and Roz shared a look of horrible comprehension, a cold chill started at the base of Vicki’s neck and slowly made its way down her spine. Teddy put his arm around her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “Why don’t you take Roz and Juliet into the library. I’ll send Marc in with some more coffee and tea.”

Vicki nodded, picked up Clementine, and led the two women out of the kitchen and to the library, where hopefully, a fire was burning. Suddenly Vicki was very cold. So cold, in fact, that she wasn’t sure she would ever feel warm again.

Back in the kitchen, Teddy punched the redial button on his phone as Marc, who had been listening to everything, walked back down the stairs. “Sam,” Teddy said into the phone, “where are you now? No, forget going to the Big House.” He looked back at Marc and took a deep breath. “I need you to meet me at the Courting Oak.”

Chapter 20

As Teddy hurriedly made his way to the Courting Oak, he said a little prayer, asking that his suspicions be totally unfounded. It was still possible, he convinced himself, that his cell phone would ring and it would be Vicki telling him that Meg Pierce was alive and well and sitting with her in the library. The prayer and the fantasy phone call were the sort of things one’s mind did when it suspects the worst has happened, but hasn’t been forced to confront it. It was called hope, and at least it was keeping him moving forward.

When he arrived at the Courting Oak, he immediately looked over the edge of the cliff. And even though the landscape below was verdant, he spotted glimpses of white and peach peeking through the greenery far below. He had the sickening realization that Meg must have put on Roz’s scarf at some point last night. He closed his eyes and shook his head. How could she have known that by adding the accessory she had made herself the target for a murderer?

Sam arrived shortly after Teddy and the two of them ran down to an ancient wooden staircase that led to the edge of the river, seventy five feet below them. It was the only way to safely negotiate the steep cliffs and even it was a little bit scary. Years ago, Phoebe had had the staircase gated off so that no one would be tempted to traverse the rickety steps. Sam kept a key to every lock at Lenore’s Folly and managed to open the rusty padlock after only a few seconds.

Once they reached the bottom of the staircase, the two men still had to fight their way through overgrown trees and brush in order to reach Meg’s body. Teddy could only imagine the amount of poison oak they were encountering as they traveled through the dense foliage.

When he arrived at the foot of the cliff beneath the Courting Oak and saw Meg’s broken body, Teddy realized that his exercises in hope had been futile. Although he wasn’t well schooled in these sorts of things, Teddy imagined that she had died as soon as she hit the boulders. The angle of her body left little doubt as to why. Before he looked away, he saw the little gold crucifix around her broken neck glisten in the sunlight. Teddy said another little prayer, this time for Meg Pierce’s soul.

Sam took off his hat and waited for Teddy to move before pulling out his cell phone. “Mr. Mac, I’ll call the sheriff’s office and stay here with Ms. Pierce, if you like,”

Teddy smiled gratefully and placed his hand on Sam’s shoulder. “Thanks, Sam. I appreciate it.” He looked back, briefly, at Meg’s body before turning around and starting back toward the wooden stairs. “I…I have to go back to the Cottage and tell Vicki and the others.” Sam dialed his phone as he watched Teddy disappear into the thicket. He didn’t envy the task that lay ahead of his boss.

***

The abundance of tall, old elm trees that covered this part of the estate created a canopy that sheltered the stone path from the August sun, which was already strong and oppressive even though it was just a little past 8:00am. Clearly, the unseasonably mild temperatures of the past few days were a thing of the past, having been replaced by a sultry heat better suited to the tropics. Teddy welcomed the cooling shade as he walked the path back to the Cottage. The shock of finding Meg’s body, as well as the physical exertion of getting to it, had left him a sweaty, dirty mess. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed the house, instructing Vicki to find an excuse to leave Roz and Juliet for a few minutes and meet him in the kitchen. He also called his mother and told her to be there and to bring Vincent. Finally, when he passed the cutting garden, he yelled out to Ethan, asking him to come along, as well. Since both Vicki and Marc were aware of Teddy’s mission, they weren’t quite as shocked as the others were by the news. Still, they joined in the communal gasp when Teddy revealed that Meg had been wearing Roz’s peach scarf, leaving little doubt in all their minds that Meg had been killed in her friend’s place. The normally unflappable group was at a loss. Even Phoebe, who was known for keeping her composure under even the most trying circumstances, was a little shaky as she took a seat in one of the chairs at the table. Marc poured a cup of strong coffee and brought it to her.

“As you can imagine, it’s about to get pretty crazy around here; well, I suppose last night was already crazy, but it’s about to get worse.” Teddy put his arms around Vicki. “Vic, I need you to go with me to tell Roz and Juliet before they hear sirens approaching.” He turned to Vincent and Ethan. “Can the two of you make sure everyone else is up and gathered in the living room in twenty minutes or so? We’ll get Roz and Juliet over to the guesthouse or somewhere else by that point.” He looked at the group gravely. “I think it’s pretty clear that Roz can’t be left alone. I’ll have Sam or one of his men stay with her at all times.”