Deadly Reunion (32 page)

“
I mean, I think it was in really poor taste. I don’t know why Crystal used that picture of Sam in the slideshow,” she said, clucking her tongue and shaking her head. “Personally, I would have chosen a nicer photo of him. I have a really nice one that was taken in our junior year—oh here, let me go find it,” she said standing up.

Grace grabbed Beth’s hand a
nd brought her back down. “What was wrong with the picture, exactly?”

“Well
, I just don’t think they should have used it. I mean, that’s where he died.”

Containing her excitement
, Grace pressed for more details.

“It was just a picture of Sam standing up at the top of the bell tower,” Beth explained.

“Could you tell when it was taken?”

“No
, but it must have been taken right after his car accident.”

“
How do you know that?”

“He was covered in bruises. From his neck all the way down.”

Grace repeated the words back in her mind. “From his neck down? Didn’t he have any clothes on?” she asked.

“I couldn’t tell. The picture was from his waist up.
He had a blanket wrapped around his shoulders.”

“Anything else? Try to remember
, Beth.” Grace asked, hoping someone else might be included in the picture.

“Oh
, is this about your investigation? This is so exciting. Did Mr. Drake send you to talk to me?” Beth asked, jumping up and down in her seat.

“Beth! The picture.
What was in the picture?”

“O
kay. Let me see,” Beth said suddenly excited. “The picture was taken in the bell tower. Sam was standing up. He was right next to the bell. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, but he did have a red blanket wrapped around his shoulders. Um, you could see the school in the background. Oh, what else…” she said trying to remember. “Oh, I know, um, it was so cold outside. You could see his breath in the picture.”

“What was he doing?
I mean, was he smiling? Frowning?”

“Well, you know how when you try to take someone’s picture
, and they don’t want their picture taken, how they cover their face with their hands?”

Grace nodded.

“My kids do that all the time. You should see my photo album
—”

“I would love to
, but let’s focus, Beth. What else can you tell me about the picture?”

“Well, that’s what he was doing. He was covering his face with his hand. He seemed to be laughing
or crying. I’m not sure which. I think he may have been crying. Oh, oh, I know what you are looking for,” waiving her hands around excitedly. “He had something in his other hand.”

“What was it?”

Beth scrunched up her face. “I don’t know. I just remember one hand was in front of his face, and another was holding something. It kind of looked like someone was pushing him back, and he was holding their wrist. It must have been the person who was taking the picture because it was directly in front of the camera.”

Excited Grace asked, “
Are you sure it wasn’t taken at graduation?”

“No.
It definitely wasn’t at graduation. The picture was taken during the winter. I could see snow and icicles in the background. It looked like a winter wonderland behind him. Remember how hot it was during graduation? I remember, Hope saying it was so hot she wasn’t going to wear anything under her gown. I wore a handmade outfit. Remember?” she asked, pushing herself from the table. “It’s upstairs. I bet I can still fit in it. Do you want to see?”

Grabbing Beth’s hand to keep her from leaving
, Grace asked excitedly, “Could you tell who it was that was pushing him?”

“No,
” at Grace’s crestfallen expression, she added, “but why don’t you ask Melodie? She was standing right next to me when I was recording the slideshow. I think she agreed with me. It just wasn’t right to include that picture.”

“Why? What did she say?”

“Oh, she didn’t say anything, but I could tell by her expression that she was really mad though.”

*  *  *  *

“That’s it?” Kyle asked. “Why would anyone care about that picture?”

“Well, it is of Sam on the Bell Tower, apparently being pushed,” Grace pointed out.

“Yeah, unfortunately, several months before he fell. Since, it doesn’t show the other person’s face, it doesn’t really help. Besides, I doubt the murderer was putting in a practice run and taking a picture at the same time.”

“No
, of course not! But what was Sam doing out on the Bell Tower in the middle of winter? How did he get up there? Who was he with? What were they doing up there? If you can’t see the other person’s face, then what could be so damaging that he would kill to keep us from finding the picture?”

Kyle shrugged, “So
, what’s next?”

Grace shook her head, as she threw her purse onto the motel’s bed. “I have no idea. I thought for sure it would have some sort of clue.”

“Maybe Beth left something out?”

Grace admitted that it was possible
, but without the picture, they were no closer to solving Sam’s murder than they were before.

“Why are you so certain that Tom didn’t kill them both?”

“He doesn’t really have a motive to kill Sam.” When Kyle started to interrupt, she said, “I know what you think, he saw Hope and Sam hug and flew into a jealous rage, but Tom’s just not the jealous type. I’ve never known him to rage at anything, either. I still think there’s more to this. There has to be another reason why Sam died. Where are your dry erase boards?” she asked, taking off her coat and laying it across the table.

Kyle rolled off the bed and onto his knees. Peering under the bed
, he said, “There you are. I had wondered where you had hopped off to. You were supposed to be in your home,” he said, coming back up with Abry in his arms and explaining he had stashed the boards under the bed.

Grace picked up Abry’s
still locked rabbit cage. “You should have named that rabbit, Houdini. You know, he’s a better escape artist than you.”

“What have you done to yourself?” Kyle asked
, still speaking to the bunny.

Curious
, Grace walked over to where Kyle was still kneeling. Bending down she ran her good hand over the bunny’s fur. “He’s got little pink and blue spots all over his fur.”

“Green too,” Kyle said
, holding out a green bunny foot for Grace’s inspection.

Realiz
ation dawned on them both at the same time. “The boards!”

Kyle groaned as
he bent down and looked under the bed. Within minutes, he had all three boards out and displayed on the bed. The suspect boards were a mess of colorful bunny tracks. “They sort of resemble an abstract art painting. Who knew Abry was so talented?”

Grace
only took a passing glance at what remained of the suspect boards, feeling like she knew the suspects intimately at this point and could recite them in her sleep. Instead, she dragged the timeline board away from the other two, and with Kyle’s help, propped it against the pillows. Luckily, there were only a few bunny tracks, obscuring Kyle’s work.

TIMELINE

2001

May 20
th
Sam’s accident.

July 24
th
Sam is released from the hospital.

Summer
, fall, and winter – Sam works on a screenplay with Adam.

December 15
th
Christmas Party – Tom asks Hope to marry him.

2002

January 1
st
New year’s Party – Crystal and Sam start dating.

January 15
th
Sarah Collins dies when an icicle falls on her head. Witnessed by Sam. Eric is alibied by Tom.

May 9
th
Hope tells Tom, she doesn’t want Sam to live with them.

May 10
th
Graduation Day.

             
9:30-9:40 Hope and Sam meet in the tower. Witnessed by Tom.

             
10:00 Hope and Tom argue.

             
10:30 Commencement Starts.

             
11:45 Crystal finds Sam’s body – news spreads across school.

May 12
th
Sam’s funeral’; Tom breaks up with Hope.

May 20
th
Hope leaves for Europe; Grace leaves for college.

June – July
David Hart arrives. He and Melodie begin dating. Someone pushes him down the stairs (Suspects: Melodie, Steve or Larry).

June
22
nd
Crystal and Tom marry.

August
Larry runs Steve out of town.

2012

February Larry cheats – Steve investigates; Crystal begins blackmailing Larry; tries to blackmail Diana.

June 25
th
Crystal files for divorce.

July 2
nd
Larry commits suicide.

July 15
th
Crystal contacts Adam.

July
20
th
Crystal stops the divorce proceedings; Tom and Crystal reconcile.

August 1
st
– Adam arrives in town.

August
25
th
Reunion – Slideshow is stolen – Crystal fights with Adam – Adam defaces the Bird’s eye view from the Bell Tower’ drawing – ‘Most likely to’ boards were defaced (more than likely by Hope) - Crystal is murdered – three trophies are taken.

September
1
st
Adam is murdered.

Grace’s mind focused on the last entry. It was still strange to think that several of her childhood friends were dead. She felt her eyes well up with tears as she remembered playing with Sam, Crystal, Larry, and Adam in her backyard when she was a little girl.

Kyle came around the bed and stood next to her, still holding Abry in his arms.

“Grace, we need to talk,” he said, blowing out the breath he was holding.

“Uh oh. That sounds ominous.”

“It is
, actually,” he said, moving the board to the side and sitting down on the bed. “I haven’t had a chance to tell you what Steve said to me yesterday.”

Grace looked down at Kyle.
“What’s wrong?”

“Steve made a couple of good points. We really don’t know what we’re doing here.”

Grace smirked. “Since when did that bother you? Besides, we know more than Steve.”

Kyle reached out and gently took her uninjured hand. “I don’t know about that. He is
a professional.”

Grace s
coffed. “A professional? Please. He’s about as professional as we are.”

“He’s been at this far longer than we have.”

“Yes, and he’s no closer to solving these murders than we are.”

“I’m just saying things are getting kind of dangerous.
I’m worried. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

Grace smiled. “Don’t worry. I doubt the killer will be coming after me. After all
, he or she got what she wanted. Without that picture, we’re no closer to solving Sam’s murder.”

“I guess not.”

At Kyle’s pensive expression, she asked, “Did Steve say anything else?”

“Well
, he did make me an offer. He wants to become my partner.”

Grace laughed. “How did he react when you told him no?”

Kyle looked down at Abry. “Surprisingly well,” he said softly.

“I have a feeling that if we could just see that picture for ourselves, we
would know who killed Sam.”

Grace reached out and ran her
good hand through Abry’s new colorful fur, feeling slightly calmer as she petted the bunny. “How are we going to get all of these spots out?”

“Here take Abry,” Kyle said.
Grace happily cuddled the Abry next to her chest, as Kyle walked to the table and began rummaging through her purse.

“I promise you,
I don’t have any bunny shampoo in my purse.”

“No
, but you have these.” Kyle held up the keys to the Camaro. “Let’s go talk to Melodie again. Maybe if we describe the picture to her it would spark something. I mean, there has to be something on it that points to the murderer. At the very least, we can find out why she was so angry when she saw the picture. You know, she’s starting to worry me. She calls me a dozen times a day. Is she always this…” Kyle paused, searching for the right word, “intense?”

Grace stood next to the bed, staring down at the dry erase boards.