5 Big Bunny Bump Off (4 page)

Again
, my call was met with the sound of barking from some point beyond the hallway. I reached for my cell, only to remember that I’d left it sitting on the console of the truck. As I inched forward, I noticed a dim light in the distance. Once I made my way to the main section of the bank, security lights provided enough illumination for me to see the familiar shapes of the lobby and customer service counter. The lights were dim, so the figures within my line of vision appeared like vague images without color or texture. I hate to admit it, since I pride myself on my courage, but the eerie feeling of the empty bank caused chills to tingle up my spine.

“Charlie,” I called again, praying that he’d come and I wouldn’t have to continue into the darkness.
 

The sound of the return bark seemed to be coming from the ar
ea behind the counter, where I knew the safety deposit boxes and bank safe were located. I headed toward the open doorway, preparing to give Charlie a piece of my mind for ignoring my call, when I tripped and fell over something lying on the floor just outside of the doorway. I sat up and turned to look back toward the source of my tumble.

“Not again,” I groaned, as I scooted away
from it, stood up, and hurried back down the hall toward the phone in Blakely’s office.

“I need you to describe the man you saw leaving the bank,” Sheriff Salinger said an hour later.

“I told you,”
I snapped. “The Easter Bunny. Floppy ears, cottontail, big feet. I’m not sure what more I can tell you.”

I knew I was being short with Salinger
, who for once actually seemed to be trying to be nice, but to find another body . . . The odds, I knew, were beyond astronomical.

“How tall would you say he was?” Salinger tried again.

“I don’t know. It was getting dark and snowing, and the figure was running away from me. The man had a fake head on, so it’s really hard to say, but if I had to guess, I’d say over six feet.”

“Would you say that the costume the man wore is the same one you
’re using for the play?”

I thought about it.
It really had been hard to make out any details in the dark. “I don’t know. Maybe. It was too dark to really differentiate colors, but the costume was definitely similar.”

“And your grandfather
, Luke Donovan, is playing the Easter Bunny in the play and is currently in possession of the costume?”

“You aren’t seriously suggesting that my Pappy did this?”

“I have to explore all possibilities,” Salinger reminded me.

“Pappy didn’t do it. He
’s playing the Easter Bunny in the play, but I’m pretty sure he doesn’t have the costume at his house. Blakely insisted on wearing his costume to
every
rehearsal, but the remainder of the cast won’t actually wear costumes until the week before the performance. The last I saw of Pappy’s bunny costume, Gilda had sent it out for alterations, so I guess you can check with her.”

“Can you think of
anyone who might have had motive to kill Blakely?” Salinger asked the standard question.

“Sure. Pretty much everyone in town. The guy was a real tool.
”

“Zoe,” Salinger
said, looking directly at me, “I know you’re upset, but I really need you to focus. It’s entirely possible that something you saw could end up making the difference in whether or not we track down the killer.”

I took a deep breath. “I know. I’m sorry. What do you want to know?”

“Did you see or hear anything unusual when you entered the bank?”

I thought about it. “Not really. The door was open
, which was odd. I was supposed to buzz Blakely when I got here with the menus, and he was going to open the door for me. I suppose it’s possible the killer buzzed him and Blakely opened the door assuming it was me.”

“Your theory makes sense to a point
, but for that to be the case, the killer would have had to know that Blakely was going to be staying late and that he was expecting someone. Other than yourself and Ellie, did anyone know your plans to stop by?”

“My assistant
, Jeremy, took the message in the first place, but other than that, I didn’t mention it to anyone.”

“I
know that you’re involved in the same play Mr. Blakely was going to appear in. Other than rehearsals, have you had any contact with the victim in recent weeks?”

“Yeah,” I answered. “Some. I do my banking here
, and he’s been
very
involved with the loan he gave to Ellie for her eatery.”

“And how has he seemed during business hours?”

“Obsessive, compulsive, controlling, irritating. Totally normal.”

“I had some of my men follow what was left of the footprints left in the snow. There w
as a single set of large prints that could very well have come from prop shoes going from the rear door of the bank, across the meadow, and into the edge of the forested area behind the building. Once the prints disappeared into the forest, the large prints were mixed in with numerous others going in every direction. It’s possible there were originally several other sets, but snow tends to drift in the meadow, so any footprints made earlier might have been covered up, while the ones under the trees on the other side of the meadow would have been protected. Did you see anyone other than the Easter Bunny when you first arrived?”

I thought about it. “No
. I just saw the one figure.”

“Did you hear anything that might help us? A vehicle?
A snowmobile? Anything at all?”

“No, nothing. Although a vehicle or snowmobile would have left tracks. Where did the prints lead?”

“Everywhere and nowhere. It appears that someone ran around making prints in every direction to confuse us. So far, none of the prints appear to lead to tire tracks of any type. We plan to keep looking, but with the heavy snowfall, the tracks are disappearing quickly.”

“It sounds like you have your work cut out for you.
Are Zak and Charlie still here?”

We had been conducting our interview in one of the offices in the admin section of the bank
, but I knew that Zak had shown up shortly after I called him and had taken possession of Charlie.

“
They’re in the lobby.”

“So can I go? It really has been a long
day and I’m exhausted.”

Salinger looked at me with what could only be interpreted as sympathy. “You can go
, but if I have further questions . . .”

“You know where to find me.”

“Are you sure I can’t make you something
to eat?” Zak asked after he’d driven Charlie and me back to the boathouse and poured me a glass of wine.

“No thanks
,” I answered. “Did you get hold of Pappy?” I realized that I should give him a heads up about who had appeared to kill Blakely and how that might make him a suspect.

“I did. He was with your dad and mom
, helping put things away all day, so he has a solid alibi.”

“And the costume?”

“He said it’s tucked away safely in his closet. He ran home to check just to make sure.”

I leaned my head back against the sofa and closed my eyes. I had to be dreaming. That was the only explanation that made sense. Maybe if I focused really hard
, I could force myself to wake up from this bizarre nightmare. First there was Blakely’s absurd behavior regarding Jack Frost, and then there was the delivery of dozens of bunnies, followed by Blakely’s death by the Easter Bunny. If I wasn’t dreaming, I decided, then I must have totally lost my mind. There was no way this could all be real.

I m
ight have drifted off because the next thing I was aware of was the sensation of kisses on my cheek. Charlie kisses, not Zak kisses, but nice and comforting all the same. Charlie was very sensitive to my emotions and had barely left my side since we’d gotten home. I knew that my distress was upsetting him, so I opened my eyes and smiled at him.

Charlie laid his head on my lap and let me take comfort from his warm body. There had been so many times in the past
when Charlie had provided a lifeline to sanity as my world seemed to be spinning out of control. I don’t know what I would have done without him.

“That was Ellie on the phone,” Zak informed me.

“The phone rang?”

“Like six times. It was on the table right next to you. Didn’t you hear it?”

“No. I guess I must have dozed off. What did she want?”

“She called to ask about the menus
, but after I explained why they weren’t delivered, she insisted on coming over. I hope that’s okay.”

“Yeah
, it’s okay. Is Levi coming as well?”

“She was going to call him.”

I sat up and took another sip of the very expensive wine Zak left a supply of at my boathouse. He says he wants me to have the finest things, but truth be told, I think he simply got tired of drinking my cheap stuff.

“I
know your natural inclination is going to be to jump right into this, but I really think you should stay out of things this time,” Zak cautioned. “I don’t want you putting yourself in danger. Again.”

“I know. You’re right. I should stay out of it.”

“So will you?” Zak looked uncertain.

“Probably not.”

Zak sighed. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with you.”

“Oh
, I have a few ideas.” I grinned.

“As good as that sounds
, Ellie will be here in a few minutes,” Zak reminded me.

“Maybe
, but we still have a few minutes.”

Zak laughed. He sat down on the sofa and pulled me into his lap. He kissed me in such a way as to communicate both his love for the defect
s in my personality that caused me to become involved in things I had no business sticking my nose in
and
his concern for my safety. There are those of you who might wonder how I can interpret all of this from a single kiss, but suffice it to say that I know Zak, and I’ve come to be able to translate and understand what his heart longs to tell me.

“H
mm, hmm.” Levi cleared his throat as he and Ellie walked through the front door of the boathouse.

“Don’t you
ever knock?” I complained as Zak ended his kiss.

“We did
.” Ellie grinned. “Several times.”

“Oh
.” I blushed as I straightened my clothes and slid off Zak’s lap and onto the sofa beside him.

“Can I get you some wine?” Zak offered.

Both Levi and Ellie accepted as they settled in front of the fire.

“You realize,” Levi teased, “that you
’re never going to be able to shed your reputation as a dead-body magnet if you don’t stop finding murder victims?”

“I don’t find them
; they find me.”

“
Maybe, but this time it could have been me.” Ellie looked pale. “It should have been me. I haven’t been able to think of anything else since I talked to Zak.”

“It wouldn’t have been you
,” I assured Ellie.

“What do you mean
, it wouldn’t have been me? I was the one who was supposed to meet Blakely. If I hadn’t had to go to the county and hadn’t asked you to take the menus to the bank for me, it would have been me who found him. I’m not as brave as you are. I would have been a total basket case by this point.”

“If you
’d arrived at the bank and Blakely wasn’t in his office, what would you have done?” I asked.

“I would have left a menu on his desk and left.”

“Exactly. It wouldn’t have been you who found the body because you wouldn’t have gone looking for him.”

“I see your point.” Ellie looked relieved.

“It would most likely have been some poor teller who showed up first for work tomorrow morning,” Levi speculated.

“So what happened?” Ellie asked. “Do they have any suspects?”

I filled Levi and Ellie in on everything I knew, from the presence of the Easter Bunny to the location of the body.

“If the security
-room door was open, it had to have been a robbery,” Ellie said. “Someone must have buzzed Blakely, forced his way in through the back door once he opened it, strong-armed Blakely into opening the security room, and then killed him once he gained access.”

“Your theory makes sense
to a point. I had a similar idea myself, but Salinger pointed out that for the thief to have taken advantage of the fact that Blakely was expecting me to buzz him, the thief would have had to know that I was planning to come by. The only one who knew the plan other than you and me was Jeremy, unless you mentioned it to someone.”

“The printer knew that you were going to deliver the menus to the bank after you picked them up,” Ellie informed me. “I suppose he could have mentioned it to someone or m
ight even have said something about it while other people were in the shop.”