Murder on the Lake, page 9
I opened my mouth to ask what that meant, but strong hands grasped my arms and started pulling me back towards the door.
"We understand," Loke said, and I relaxed when I realized it was him pulling me away. "And, hey! Thanks for your time!"
I didn't see how Raggi reacted to that last remark because the door was once more open and the room and everyone in it disappeared under a cover of too-bright light. And then I was back outside.
Chapter 11
"You hustled us out of there in a hurry," Kara said. To my immense relief, in English.
"Raggi was getting heated up, but nothing we couldn't handle," Nilda said. "We had Ingrid's back."
"Yeah, thanks," I said. I felt a little shaky. Although I hadn't been afraid in the moment, now that I was out of that hall it was like my brain was letting in all the stimulus it had blocked out. Those people in there had not liked me in their place. If Raggi had gotten any more angry, things could've gotten ugly in a hurry.
"In future, if you need to come back here for any reason, bring a Thor," Loke said. I could see in his eyes that he was absolutely not joking, and that made my hands shake even more.
"I will," I promised. Then I said, "who was on the phone?"
"Wait, that wasn't a ruse?" Nilda asked.
"No, it was Andrew," Loke said. "There is no one in Runde with a family connection to Gullveig, but in the last few weeks he's gotten friendly with some of the police officers who keep getting dragged into town."
"They told him something? Something important?" I asked.
Loke nodded then took a deep breath. "There was a date rape drug found in her system when they did the autopsy. Her blood alcohol was barely elevated, like if she'd had a few sips of wine or something, but a lot of this drug. A lot."
"Like whoever did it didn't know what they were doing?" I asked.
"Or were trying to be very sure?" Loke ventured. "If they knew Gullveig at all, considering her stamina..."
He didn't finish his thought, but I shuddered anyway. "They didn't know what kind?"
"He didn't say, but does it matter?" Loke asked.
"Maybe. Maybe not," I said.
"It rules out Raggi, anyway," Loke said. "No way he would use something so modern when clubbing her over the head would work just fine."
"That's a bit crude," I said. Nilda and Kara were looking back and forth between us as we spoke. I got the sense that "date rape drug" was a new one for them, but since it pretty much explained itself, they had no questions, just the same revulsion Loke and I were sharing.
"I don't think he's a suspect," I said. "For that reason, but also I believe he is just the sort of guy who would keep proposing no matter how many times she said no. But not hurt her."
"No, that would lack honor," Loke said.
"So, what now?" Kara asked. "Is there anything else to follow up on? That yacht, maybe?"
"There doesn't seem to have been anyone else on the water," I said with a sigh. "Simon and Raggi's stories are very much the same. Nothing out there but that yacht, and no sign of Gullveig."
"Maybe she was on the shore when she was drugged and tried to get into the water to get away when she realized what was happening?" Nilda said.
"Where would she hope to go?" Loke asked.
"Away," Nilda said with a sad shrug.
"Well, we've chased down every witness on the water. I guess the shore is all that's left," I said.
"But you didn't draw that," Kara said.
"Maybe because I didn't specifically try to," I said. I tried to remember what I had been picturing before I had started sketching. Both times, even before I had set pencil to paper, I had been focused on the lake. But did that mean anything? "I've been trying to figure out some feelings I've been getting from the lake for weeks now," I admitted. "It might have muddied my process. I'm still new at this."
"Well, we can ask around again," Nilda said. "More general questions. By this point, with everyone talking about it all over the village, if anyone saw anything, it will be pretty easy to chase them down."
"That's probably as good a plan as any," I said. "Thanks, you two."
"Find us if you need us," she said, giving me a quick hug.
"And good job on the Norse," Kara said as she too hugged me. "Your pronunciation is getting really close."
"Thanks," I said, and waved as they walked back towards the center of town.
Not that Loke and I had any other direction to go. But we took it more at a stroll.
"Off to the cave, then?" Loke asked. "Have another stab at a drawing?"
"It doesn't feel like that will help," I said. "Maybe I should go back to where Jessica and Michelle found her, or walk up and down the shore from there."
Then I looked up and saw Mjolner once more sitting on the fence post opposite Roarr's house. But he wasn't waiting for me, or at least he wasn't looking my way. He was watching something moving back and forth in front of him, and I followed his gaze to see a woman in a blue dress and snowy white cloak pacing in front of Roarr's garden gate.
Loke beside me stiffened and was about to take flight, but I put a hand on his arm. "It's not Sigvin. It's Nefja." Not that I knew why he always ran away when Sigvin approached. It was just another one of his little eccentricities.
"You're right," he said, and relaxed, but only a little.
"I think she has a thing for Roarr," I said.
"Her and half the women of the village," he said with a disapproving tisk of his tongue.
Then Nefja heard us approaching and turned, apron balled up in her fists under her cloak as if she had been wringing it in anxiety. She released it almost like she was throwing it to the ground, then ran forward to meet us, catching both of my hands and giving them a painful squeeze.
"Oh, good! You're here!" she said.
"I am," I said. "What's going on?"
"I came here to meet Roarr," she said. "We were going to have lunch together." She made a vague gesture behind her and I saw she had left an overly full basket by the gatepost. It was covered in a thick homespun cloth, but I had to imagine there was enough food under it to feed a family of six.
"Okay," I said. "Did he ditch you?"
"Ditch me?" she repeated as if the words meant nothing to her. But she just shook her head and plowed on with her story. "His mother says he's not here. That he left this morning, early. Very early. To watch the boats come and go."
"Is that strange?" I asked, glancing from Nefja to Loke, who just shrugged. "Doesn't that just mean he's up on the meadow?"
"That's what his mother thinks he means, but it's not," Nefja said. Her cheeks, already colored from the cold air and her furious pacing, flushed a brighter pink at the idea that she knew just a touch more about Roarr than his own mother did.
"What does it mean?" I asked.
"No one is even out today," Loke said. "Every boat in Villmark and in Runde stayed ashore."
"That's true," I said, then looked questioningly at Nefja.
"He goes further away to watch boats," Nefja said. "He says it calms him. Boats come and go, but the harbor remains."
"Which harbor?" I asked. There was no harbor in Runde. There was a harbor of sorts behind the waterfall, but somehow I doubted that was where Roarr liked to go to be alone. And there weren't many boats there to watch either.
Then another thought struck me. I turned to Loke. "Is it possible he knew about the yacht?" I asked. "Simon and Raggi both saw it. Simon doesn't go to the mead hall often, although he was there on Halloween. It took a bit for him to even remember it when I was talking to him; I doubt he's told others. Especially if Roarr left early this morning."
"You're asking me if Raggi would've told Roarr?" Loke asked, and I nodded. He stroked his chin as he thought this over. "Normally, I'd say no. But Nilda and Kara weren't quiet about their investigation. If Roarr knew they were looking for a fisherman who might've seen something, he could've gotten Raggi's name and gotten to him first."
"Wouldn't Raggi have mentioned it when we talked to him? That he'd already had the same conversation with Roarr?" I asked. Loke shrugged.
"Do you want me to go back and ask?"
"No," I said. "It doesn't matter. I'm just thinking-"
"That he's looking for a specific boat, and not some calming exercise," Loke interrupted. "Yeah, I'm thinking the same thing."
"If he left Villmark, Thoralv would've seen him pass," I said.
"Maybe," Loke said. "There are, after all, other ways in and out. And we know for a fact that Roarr knows at least one of them."
"That's true," I said with a sigh. "But when I talked to him yesterday, he really did seem like he was trying to regain people's trust. Being sneaky wouldn't do that."
"It's cute how you think people never lie to you," Loke said.
"Nefja," I said, pointedly ignoring Loke. "Do you have any idea where this harbor is? Anything he told you?"
"No," Nefja said. "Just that it's not in Villmark. I know that because it's a secret. He doesn't want his parents to know. They worry."
"Okay," I said. "Nefja, can you do me a favor?"
"Anything," she said eagerly.
"Can you stay here and watch for Roarr? And get word to me when he comes back?"
"Certainly. But how do I reach you?"
"Find Nilda and Kara," I said. "They can help you."
"I will," she said.
I glanced across the street to where Mjolner still sat perched on the fence post. He gave me a slow wink, and I knew there was more than one way for messages to get to me no matter where I went in the world.
"Come on," I said to Loke, and we headed across town at a faster pace than before.
"Where do you think he is?" Loke asked.
"I don't know," I said. "I can think of a few places. I don't know which, but they all have one thing in common."
"What's that?" he asked.
"He would need someone from Runde to give him a ride to get to any of them," I said.
Chapter 12
The bonfire in the cave was banked low again, as it always was when the Thor on duty was patrolling the deeper levels. Loke and I passed through without speaking then carefully made our way down the steep path to the meeting hall.
"You spoke to Roarr already," Loke said.
"Yeah," I said. "First thing yesterday, before I even did the drawings."
"I'm guessing you didn't think he was a suspect, then," he said.
"No, and I don't think I do even now," I admitted. "Taking off is weird, and I definitely want to know what he's up to. But tracking down Raggi before Nilda and Kara did? It kind of sounds like he's running a parallel investigation, doesn't it?"
"If he wanted to help, he should've come to you and just offered to help," Loke said. "Sneaking around is never a good look."
"I don't think Roarr makes the best decisions," I said. "Maybe he did before and grief is still messing him up, I don't know."
"No, he always seemed to have a hard time getting it together," Loke said after a moment's thought. "Lisa was good for him, but she's gone now. So are we heading inside?" he asked as we reached the meeting hall's back patio.
"No, I thought we'd check in with Michelle and Jessica," I said. "If Roarr needed help to get a ride share service to come pick him up, I think he'd do it at the café since its right on the highway."
"Convenience, with a side of avoiding your grandmother," Loke said. I looked over to give him a smile and really noticed for the first time how subtle his clothing choices were. He favored black on black in simple cuts, like someone who didn't want to spend any time doing anything remotely like picking out an outfit. To the extent I'd even thought about it before, I had chalked it up to that blend of laziness and not caring about impressing others that felt very much part of Loke's character.
But now that I was really looking at him as we walked together from one world to another, I saw what had to be his real intent for the first time. His clothing choices were perfectly calibrated to fit in, no matter if he were in Runde or Villmark.
Not that he fit in with the norm in either world. The people of Runde stuck to jeans and flannel and lots of knit caps, and their shirts and jackets varied between up to four different colors. But what at a glance could be taken as black skinny jeans and a loose-fitting black turtleneck wasn't too far outside that norm.
The people of Villmark wore a larger variety of colors and styles in what looked to me like modern reinterpretations of traditional garb, but there his clothes fit in with the other leggings and tunics. I hadn't seen anyone else in Villmark ever wearing all black, but he didn't seem to draw any looks for it.
I wondered how old he had been when he had decided that was his look. Was there an experimental phase?
Trying to picture Loke as an awkward teen almost had me laughing out loud. He shot me a questioning look when I stifled back a sputter of laughter, but I just shook my head. No way was I going to tell him what I was thinking.
We climbed the path up to the level of the highway, emerging behind the garage run by Andrew's father, then crossed the road to the café. There were a few cars parked in the gravel lot, a nice sign considering it was the middle of the week.
"Hey!" Jessica said happily when we entered to the ringing of the bells over her door. "I'll be with you in just a sec."
"We'll be over here," I said, pointing to the computer area. One little cubby already had a customer in it, checking their e-mail while they sipped their coffee and munched on a scone. It wasn't anyone I recognized from Runde, and yet she had an air of someone who had picked her usual spot at her usual time. So Jessica was getting regulars who passed up and down the highway. That was a very good sign.
"I don't think that's going to tell you anything Jessica won't already know," Loke said to me, but I brought up the search history anyway. No one had used it all morning. I moved over to the next computer and did the same. Someone had searched movie showtimes and restaurants in Duluth, but that was it.
"Any news?" Jessica asked as she came out from behind the counter, giving the customer who was heading back out the door with bags of sandwiches a little smile as she passed.
"No, nothing new," I said. "Our other witness said the same as Simon. There was a yacht, too far away to identify, and probably too far away to be involved, anyway."
"So it's a dead end?" She looked even more disappointed than I felt.
"We're working on a side thing," I said. "Maybe not related, but maybe it is. Have you seen Roarr this morning? We think he left town, but since he doesn't drive or have a cellphone, he'd need help to get a ride out here."
"Oh, he didn't have to call anyone," Jessica said. "Andrew was still here when Roarr came in, and he had a car and nothing going on today, so..." she ended with a shrug.
"Andrew drove him?" I asked. Loke already had his phone out of his pocket and jabbed at one of his contacts before putting it to his ear.
"Yeah. It was a while ago, though. They're probably there by now," she said.
"Where?" I asked.
"Duluth," she said, apparently surprised I didn't already know that.
"To watch the boats come and go," I said, mostly to myself, but not so quietly that she didn't hear.
"I don't know about that," she said. "I didn't hear most of what he and Andrew said to each other because I was helping some customers, but it sounded more serious than just sightseeing."
"No answer," Loke said.
"Maybe he's still driving," I said.
"I'm texting him," Loke said.
"You say it looked serious?" I said to Jessica.
"Well, more serious than sightseeing," she said. "Not life or death serious. I don't know for sure. I went to the back to fetch more cream and when I got back out here they were gone."
"In a hurry?"
"More like the conversation was over," she said with a shrug. "Andrew wanted to help, you know. You kind of brushed him off this morning."
"I did not," I objected. "You wanted to come with to talk to Simon. Someone needed to stay here."
"If you had left an opening, he would've volunteered," she said.
"So he's not answering calls and texts because he's annoyed with me?" I asked.
"No way," Loke said. "First of all, they're my calls and texts. And second of all, that just doesn't sound like Andrew."
"No, I agree. He must still be driving," I said.
"But they must be nearly there by now if they were going to Duluth," Jessica said, turning to look at the clock on the wall behind her. "Even if the weather is different down there, which I don't think it is today."
"What do you want to do?" Loke asked me. "Wait to hear from him?"
"No," I said. "Let's get my car. We can start driving towards Duluth, anyway. Hopefully, we hear from him before we get there so he can tell us exactly where he and Roarr are."
"Call me if you hear anything," Jessica said as we headed back out the door.
We had to wait for a break in traffic to cross the highway, and I found myself looking back over my shoulder, past the café to the lake beyond. I could still feel it, that ever-present pressure against my ears that was somehow stronger when I looked to the lake.
"Loke, do you feel anything?" I asked.
"Feel what?" he asked, eyes still on the traffic.
"Magic, I guess? This feeling like something is about to happen?"
He looked down at me, his dark eyes inscrutable, but all he said was, "something is always about to happen." Then he tugged at my sleeve so I would follow him in jogging across the highway.
My car was parked at the edge of the lot in front of the meeting hall, so we had to take the path back down under the bridge. Loke glanced at his phone from time to time but always tucked it back away again without saying anything.
I hoped Andrew was just being a safe driver. I didn't suppose Roarr would be much help in responding to a text while Andrew was driving.
But I couldn't deny that there was a heaviness in the pit of my stomach, the beginning of a real sense of worry.
