Death in a Summer Colony (7 page)

14

R
ay walked Richard Grubbs to the door and then returned to his notes, scanning the contents and making a few additions. While Grubbs’ story was completely plausible, he had the knowledge and easy access to commit the murder. If Grubbs was the perpetrator, Ray wondered where he would have stashed the weapon.

Ray’s consideration of Grubbs as a suspect was interrupted by a gentle rapping at the door. He stood and greeted David Johnson, the lighting technician. Once Johnson was seated across from him, Ray studied his face. He guessed Johnson to be about Grubbs’ age, late 60s or early 70s. He turned on the recorder and read Johnson the boilerplate.

“Have you been a colony resident long?” Ray asked.

“There are pictures of me in diapers here. Born in January, I would have been six months old that first summer.”

“And you’ve been a summer resident ever since?”

“More or less. During college I had jobs downstate, and the summer I graduated I did the grand tour of Europe. Pretty common back then. And then during medical school and my residency, I didn’t make it here for more than a weekend or two most years. But after I was in practice and married, we bought a cottage near my parents and started spending much of the summer here. After the kids arrived, my wife would be here for the whole summer, and I’d come up most weekends and spend the month of August. Since I’ve retired, we’re here for the season.”

“Medicine. What was your specialty?”

“I was a general surgeon.”

“How long have you been involved with the summer play?”

“I started acting here as a kid. I was fascinated by this magical world of grease paint, costumes, lights…everything about it. I had a part in the children’s play every summer growing up. And I also liked the technical aspects, especially the lighting. And in the winter, downstate, I was involved with the community theatre and school plays. I really thought that’s what I’d do with my life.”

“Tell me about last night. Take your time. Give me a chronology of what happened,” coached Ray.

Johnson rubbed his stubble-covered chin, then looked at Ray. “Give me a moment, I need to collect my thoughts.” He peered over Ray’s shoulder—his head cocked to the right—toward the back of the building. Then he straightened and looked directly at Ray. “I was at the party at Verity’s and saw you there. I had no idea who you were, but outsiders are rare at these events. After the wife and I got through the buffet, I sort of wolfed my food and got over to the Assembly Hall. This is old equipment. I always want to check things before anyone else is around. That gives me the time to bring out a ladder and replace a bulb or do any other wiring change without having to hurry or have people in my way. So that’s what I did. Then I went into the green
room and chatted with people until about ten minutes before the performance when I climbed back up to the light box. Not much to do up there in this play. After the first scene ends, I have to adjust the lighting on the exterior of the set. The first scene takes place at mid-day. The second scene takes place the next day in the early evening. I was in the process of making the changes when we had that incredible lightning and thunder. Everything went black. I held tight for a bit, then I climbed down and headed out to the electrical services out back.”

“Let me stop you for a bit. From your position in the…?”

“Light box.”

“What can you see? Was there anyone onstage when the lights went out?”

“With this set, I can pretty much see everything onstage. I can also see what’s happening on the off-stage wing on my side. The other side is hidden by the set. So I have to separate what I know about who needed to be there with what I can remember. The properties person would have come through to make sure everything was in place, and I think I saw her. And then there was Malcolm coming through, being attended to by Florence Carlotta, our makeup person. Malcolm had a ghastly wound on his forehead. It was huge, like something you’d see at a Halloween party. I couldn’t quite figure out what was going on.”

“I’m not following,” said Ray.

“In this scene, Malcolm plays—not really plays, he’s just a prop—a body. We could have stuffed a suit and it would have worked as well. The character just fills a chair. I couldn’t figure out why he had that elaborate makeup on.”

“Then what?”

“They went over to the table where Protheroe’s body is found sprawled across the Vicar’s desk at the beginning of the scene. Malcolm sat down and Florence helped position him. It seemed to me that they were going to a lot of trouble for nothing. When she left, he just stayed in that position, like he was taking a nap.”

“And no one else was onstage or in the wings on your side when the lights when out?”

“Correct, that’s my memory.”

“Okay, the lights go out, then what do you do?”

“Like I was saying before, I waited for a little bit to see if the power was going to come back on, then I killed the power to the dimmers, climbed down the ladder, and headed outside to the electrical panels.”

“What were you using for light?”

“I’ve got one of those headlamps with the six or eight little bulbs. I keep it there just for this kind of emergency. This is not the first time we’ve been in darkness, the problem is more common than it should be. We’ve been overloading the system for years.”

“Did you see anyone on your way out, and what door did you use?”

“Strange, I didn’t see a soul. Guess they were all in the green room. I went out the east stage door. The electrical panels are in a utility cabinet on the back wall of that side of the building. When I got there the cabinet doors were open. They should have been closed. And then I noticed some of the lights downstream from the Assembly Hall were coming back on, but we were still in darkness. So I started looking around and saw that someone had turned off the main disconnect for the building. I pushed it on and went back inside. I wanted to get up to the booth and get the lights on so we could start the next scene.”

“Did you see anyone on your way?”

“I saw Grubby. He was heading toward the stage area.”

“Did you talk to him?”

“Let me think. At that moment I was fairly agitated. It looked like a stupid act of vandalism had created a potentially dangerous situation. I may have said something. Obviously, that was not the time to discuss the matter. I climbed up to the booth and did a quick check of the lights and then noticed what was happening down on stage. I watched for a minute or so, and then started down. You arrived about that time.”

“What happened next?”

“I was herded into the green room and sat there and waited until you came to talk to us.”

“Tell me about the green room. What was happening there?”

“People were sitting in groups talking. When I walked in everyone was still in the dark,” he stopped briefly, “well, you know what I mean, in the dark as to what had happened. But I think they could tell something was very wrong. And then you came in and told us that Wudbine was dead. And when someone asked you if it was a stroke or heart attack, you didn’t equivocate. You said he was murdered.”

“And what happened when I left?”

“First there was stunned silence. Then I think people started thinking about what they should do, who would need support. Verity went to her daughter-in-law’s side, some other people as well. Then people seemed to cluster in small groups. There was some sobbing. Lots of hushed conversations. I think we were all bowled over by your announcement.”

“Did you see anyone out of place, anyone backstage or in the green room who shouldn’t have been there?”

“Not that I can remember.”

“What was your relationship with Malcolm Wudbine?”

Johnson looked off to some point beyond Ray, then back. “He was a real pain in the ass. Obnoxious and controlling. I learned years ago whenever possible to stay away from difficult people. This is a big area and our cottage is in a remote corner of the property, very private. The only time I saw Malcolm most summers was connected with the play, and I didn’t have any face-to-face dealings with the man. So while he was enormously vexatious to some people here, Malcolm was never more than a faint blip on my radar. And I worked to keep it that way.”

“You talked about electrical problems?”

“Yes, like I was telling you. All the equipment is old and should have been replaced decades ago. But it has been hard to make a case for stage lighting against the other needs of the colony. The whole infrastructure of Mission Point is crumbling. Everyone is sentimental about this place, but few are ready to put up some real cash. In fact, every time there’s been a major crisis—like our treatment plant dying and pouring raw sewage into the lake—Malcolm and his millions have come to the rescue. I think we all started to believe that we didn’t have to attend to these problems because at the end of the day Malcolm would come in and take care of them.”

“Motives for murder, do you know anyone who wanted Malcolm dead?”

“No. He was enormously unpleasant. But murder, that’s a whole different story.”

“And you’ve never had any personal or financial dealings with Wudbine?”

“Like I suggested, my motto is to avoid skunks. I always tried to stay upwind of Malcolm.”

15

R
ay’s conversation with David Johnson was just winding down when he noticed Richard Grubbs standing outside the screen door peering in, looking agitated and weary. As Johnson walked away, Ray ushered Grubbs in.

“What’s the problem?” he asked.

“I thought you should know, Sheriff, there’s a panic going on. I mean, now that people are awake and drinking coffee, and…well…people are thinking of going home. What they’re saying is that there was one murder, there could be more. They want to get away from this place, take their families somewhere safe.”

Ray didn’t respond for a long moment, then said, “I can understand their fears. I think you need to be out there helping people vent their feelings. You might want to consider bringing in a crisis response team. That said, you probably have trained mental health workers in the colony. Pull them together and get their guidance.”

“People are demanding that I hire a security service and get streetlights installed immediately.” Grubbs’ face was flush, his hand trembling as he gesticulated his points.

“I was just chatting with you twenty or thirty minutes ago. How many people are we talking about?

“Well, a few, but they were very upset.”

“You need to be calm, Richard. Think about this crime. Does this look like a random event?”

“Well, no. Someone clearly wanted Malcolm dead. This murder was, what do you people say, premeditated. But why here, why onstage?”

“That’s a very interesting question. How often is Malcolm alone? How easy would it be to get to him?”

“Malcolm was seldom alone. He always had his people around him. The ‘people’ thing, that’s his phrase, not mine. He was always saying ‘I’ll have my people take care of it, or ‘I’ll have my people look into it.’ Phrases like that.”

“Did he have a security detail?”

“Personal assistants, I think that’s what he called them. I never paid close attention. But now that I think of it, yes, they could have been security people. If rock stars and politicians all have security details, why shouldn’t Malcolm?” He paused for a moment, then pointed at his chest, “This old college professor, there’s this big world out there that I don’t understand.” He paused again, “Come to think of it, that new person, Alyson Mickels, his personal trainer and helicopter pilot, could be a security type. He bragged that Alyson was a former special ops officer. She’s quite attractive and clearly a jock.”

“Was she in the audience last night, or backstage, or when we went up to the Gull House?”

“No, I didn’t see her, and she’s hard to miss. Tall, very blond with long, thick hair like a Norse goddess. And the way she fills her clothes, I don’t think she means to be provocative, but boy.”

“There was another Wudbine in the cast.”

“Yes, his daughter-in-law, Jill. She had the part of Anne Protheroe.”

“Was his wife in the audience?”

“No. To my memory Brenda has never stepped foot in the Assembly Hall. She figured out the chemistry of this place the first summer Malcolm showed up with her. What you have to know is everyone was on Verity’s side when the big breakup took place. And to give you a little background, years before they split there were rumors of physical abuse and infidelity on Malcolm’s part.

“Brenda never became part of the colony. When she’s here in the summer, she doesn’t participate in any of our events. She just stays up there in that enormous house. I have heard that she has a group of women friends who come and visit. Rumor has it that she’s an alcoholic. I guess that’s one way you could endure living with Malcolm, but one should not speak
ill of the dead.”

Ray listened to Grubbs closely. He wondered what was really going on in the man’s mind.

“Well, I better get back,” said Grubbs. “I imagine my office is probably filling up again. And your advice was good. I’ll get some people organized to help me deal with this.”

“Events like this generate enormous stress. Like I said, people need to vent their feelings and fears. If you can get that process going, I think you will see things start to calm down.”

After Grubbs hurried away, Ray thought about the cast and crew in the green room when he went in to talk to them. He was starting to put faces with names, starting to see relationships. He wandered outside, seeking the warmth of the sunshine.

“I was hoping to catch you between interviews,” said Sue Lawrence coming down the sand trail, a well-worn path bordered on each side by moss-covered stones. The path snaked through the second-growth hardwoods.

“What’s going on?”

“There’s not much more to do there, other than tear the place apart looking for the weapon. Brett and I went out to take a break, and he called my attention to the four dumpsters sitting at the base of the hill. We went down and took a look. And while we were there one of the residents drove up with a couple of garbage bags. Here’s the deal, that’s where everyone drops their garbage. It’s all got to be bagged. Pickups are on Monday and Friday.”

“I think I know where you’re going.”

“Do I need to get a search warrant?”

Ray took a long time to answer. “Let’s be on the safe side. And get some hazmat suits. I’ll come and help you when I’m done. That Brett, he’s too observant for his own good.”