Duck Disaster, page 9
She had to see if it was Carson. She put in his number, but it went straight to voice mail.
A text came back.
An automatic message: Unavailable. In meeting. Will respond later.
So he was with Kandi and Stewart.
Fine, whatever. She made her way downstairs, where she cooked an omelet with the eggs Kandi supplied from her chickens. She toasted some French baguette slices, smearing them liberally with butter and topping them with sweet carrot cake confit. A gift from one guest who’d stayed at the Inn. The wine she’d uncorked was ready, and she poured the Chardonnay into her stemless wine goblet. Finally, she lit a candle on the table.
“I can enjoy my own company, thank you very much.” She raised the goblet. “To me. I’m awesome.” She took a sip and enjoyed the sweetness of the wine hitting her tongue. Mouser watched her from his perch across the room as she took a bite of the cheesy omelet, getting mushroom, onion, and pepper in that bite. “Um, yum. So good. Sorry, Mouser, but not sharing.”
At that announcement, he turned in a few circles, and tucked his head to his chest, nodding off.
The crunch of the toast delighted her with its buttery and sweet flavors that complemented the savory omelet. Her mind wandered over the last days. The events at the Inn. The curiosity of the actor across the street. Richard’s speech to them today.
If he thought people were pointing the finger at him, he’d want to get out in front of it and share his side of the story. That’s what had happened as their visit with him had wound down, and he’d revealed the most important of the information.
Anne recounted his words.
“I thought I could go through with it. It was like I’d been in a fog and suddenly it lifted. I realized the marriage had been a mistake from day one. We were still living separate lives. I went to Rayne and told her I wanted out. That I’d ensure our child was cared for. I even said I’d commit to a reasonable amount of alimony if she wanted it.
“Funny thing, I think she was more worried about her reputation than anything else. She didn’t say anything about the baby, or us, or me. No tears. Nothing. She said she’d let me know. That’s when she came up with this scheme. Big pretend wedding would garner lots of publicity, and then afterwards, it would be leaked that I’d been cheating on her. She’d gain the sympathy card.”
Anne remembered the scowl on his face as he recounted the events.
He’d continued, “Rayne is always about ratings. Hers have been dropping. I think she may have heard about the good response from viewers when Casey stepped into her shoes when she was away with me. It had upset her to the point where she’d thrown things. I’d never seen her like that before. That’s when I knew it would never work between us. We were two different people.”
There was no mistaking that Richard had painted Rayne in an extremely bad light. So who was telling the truth—him or Rayne? Casey had said some similar things, but she was also gunning for Rayne’s job. Plus, she and Richard had dated before he started up with Rayne. Maybe they’d planned it all along together and something had gone wrong. Either Richard had put the pills in the wrong glass and Casey had drunk it instead of Rayne, or Casey had done it and maybe forgotten that the glass had been doctored.
Plus, it was convenient that both Dean and Ivy had left almost immediately after everything happened. Anne needed some answers. Two were suspects and one was dead. Then she remembered. She could get in touch with the cameraman, Lee. Maybe he could give her some information. The thing about being the cameraman is that no one ever paid attention to you much. That gave you a front-row seat to things that occurred while others weren’t on guard.
Anne looked at her now empty plate, devoid of the meal she’d eaten without even realizing it. She picked up her dishes and rinsed them off before putting them in the dishwasher. Setting Mouser’s morning feed tray, she checked that the back door was locked before heading up to bed.
Tomorrow everything would be better and clearer. But for now, she needed a break.
After getting in her pjs, she clicked on the television. The news was on, and there was a picture of the Brandywine Inn. She scooted forward on the bed.
The shot panned to her speaking about the Inn, a few shots of the interior and exterior, and then Rayne spoke while a picture of Anne and her ex-husband appeared on the screen. Anne felt like she’d been punched in the gut. Rayne went on about her and Duke, about her tragic life, and so much more. To have it plastered across the screen once more made her cry out. Rayne had gone after her, her reputation and that of the Inn.
Anger bubbled up in her. Richard had been right. Rayne had done it for the ratings. When would she be free from her past? She gathered up a pillow and screamed into it. There was only one question in Anne’s mind.
Had Rayne simply done her job as a journalist, or was this something else entirely?
Chapter Eleven
Anne thought about calling the station and asking to speak to Lee, but she knew you received a lot more information if you could see someone’s face. Plus, she wanted to have a chat with Rayne. She’d fumed all night about it but decided in the end that it would be better to bide her time. She’d already ignored calls to her phone and text messages that had poured in. Knowing it wouldn’t be long before reporters showed up, she posted a simple piece of white paper with the words: NO COMMENT in bold, black lettering and affixed it to her front door.
She stopped at the local gas station and filled up her tank. As she stood waiting for the pump to click off, she texted Carson: Come over tonight?
She’d realized it was foolish not to at least try, so was delighted when she heard the ping of a message. That quickly changed when she looked at the reply: Can’t. Busy.
Anger bloomed in her chest. What kind of game was Carson playing? Maybe it was time to admit defeat and give him back his ring. If he didn’t love her enough to be available for her…oh, so that was it.
She pulled the pump handle from the car and set it back in its cradle before twisting the cap back on and slamming the door shut. Inside, she struggled with the seatbelt, pulling it forward and backward, until she screamed out in frustration. “Ugh, work, you stupid piece—” Tears sprang to her eyes.
Where had they gone wrong? A nagging and gnawing forced its way into her conscious mind. Where did I go wrong?
She’d have to think about it later. Wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, she started the engine and drove out of the gas station. The trip back into Denver was uneventful, and soon, she was making her way to the station. Anne parked and made her way to the entrance, which was comprised of a solid gray door, a keypad, and a camera situated off to the side. Searching around, she found a call button. She pressed it, and a buzzer sounded.
“Hello. May I help you?” A woman’s voice came through the adjacent speaker.
“Hi. I’m Anne Freemont. I’m here to see Lee, the cameraman.”
“I’m not sure he’s here. I can—”
Anne responded, “I also am here to speak to Rayne about a possible guest spot.”
“Hmm, okay. Let me check. Wait there.”
Where else am I going to wait?
In a short time, a buzzer sounded, and Anne heard the click of the lock. She opened the door and found herself inside a nondescript hallway with closed doors off to the side. Making her way down the hall, she came to a desk with a young woman wearing her blue hair up in a messy bun. She sported a nose ring, and her gaze was on the computer screen in front of her.
“Hello. I’m looking for Lee or Rayne.”
She pointed with a nail sporting chipped polish.
Anne made her way down the hallway and saw another set of doors. Over one, a sign “On Air—Quiet” was dark. She doubted they’d be in there, so she moved past to a door that was open. Inside, Rayne was speaking on the phone. When she spied Anne, she held up a finger, signaling that she needed a minute. Anne nodded and looked around the room. It appeared to be a dressing area where a rack held a display of solid color sheath dresses in primary colors. No wonder they all looked the same.
On another wall, plaques of various journalistic or media awards, along with some shelves of clear trophies, were front and center. Many bore Rayne’s name.
“Anne. Nice to see you. How can I help you?”
Anne shouldn’t be shocked at Rayne’s response. “I saw your reporting last night.”
Rayne produced a closed smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes, “No hard feelings, okay? Just doing my job as a journalist.”
“Totally understand. I recognize why you did it.” Better than saying you tried to surprise me with your attack.
“Good. Well, I’m glad that’s all settled. Now, how can I help you? I don’t have much time as I have an on-site shoot soon.”
“First, before I forget, do you have Lee’s phone number?”
Rayne picked up a brush and ran it through her long, blonde hair. “Ouch.”
“You okay?”
“Yes, I recently had these stupid extensions put in and I don’t think they were done correctly. Why do you need Lee’s number?”
“I was hoping I could possibly get some stills of the Inn. For publicity use.”
“Oh, um, I’m not sure, but if he took some with his other camera versus his video camera, they may be available.”
“Great. I also wanted to see if you were still interested in a possible guest segment. I mean, with your current reporting, I’d think people would want to tune in even more to it. It could be great publicity for me and my books and ratings for your station.” Anne made sure to refer to the station versus Rayne specifically.
Rayne smiled. “Totally agree. I think we could set it up for the next few weeks. We’ll be running a feature on some of the wedding event—the dinner, at least.”
“What’s happening with Richard? Are you divorcing?”
Rayne wiggled her finger at Anne. “That’s a bit nosy.”
“Sorry. I only wondered.”
“Well, he did try to kill me, so I doubt we have much of a future after that.”
“Is it possible that it was Casey and not Richard?”
“Interesting. I’ve not thought of that. Though I wouldn’t have put it past her.” She shrugged.
“You know, the day that you said you saw someone, who was it you saw in the dress?”
Rayne stared at Anne before answering. “I can’t even recall now. It was my dress and long blonde hair. Maybe it was a ghost warning me or a vision.”
Anne bit her cheek not to break out in laughter. Sure, that was it.
“Did you see your dress after that?”
Rayne answered, “No. By the time everything had calmed down and I went back to my dressing room, the dress was gone.”
“Did you ask Ivy about it?”
“No, do you think she had something to do with its disappearance?”
“Absolutely not. I just wondered.”
Rayne set the brush back down on the vanity. “It’s all been so tragic. I’m not sure I want to talk about it anymore. What’s done is done.”
“Of course. Oh, was there a reason you asked Richard to stay the night at the Inn? He told me you’d asked him to stay there.”
Rayne stood. “When did you talk to Richard?”
Anne had to think quickly. She didn’t want to be caught in a lie, so better to tell the truth. “Recently. He’s concerned that some things may point to his involvement.”
“That’s an understatement. He tried to kill me to collect the insurance. I hope they arrest him, and he rots in prison.”
“You do plan on divorcing him, then?”
Rayne bristled. “I have a busy schedule. I’m glad we got this chance to chat about the guest segment. Now, I have to go. I’ll have someone contact you, and we can set up a date for the screening.”
She stood, signaling the conversation was over.
“Sounds good. Thanks for your time.”
Rayne gave Anne a closed, tight smile before ushering her out of the room. As soon as Anne had made it back into the hallway, Rayne closed the door behind her.
I must have hit a nerve.
After leaving a message for Lee, she drove home, a new thought about the day’s events in her head. She needed another convo with Hope and Kandi to get their ideas on it.
Anne pointed to the whiteboard where she’d erased the earlier information after taking a photo. “What do you think, Hope?”
“You’re right. It’s a pretty narrow window. If we look at the timeline, let’s say Casey returned sometime between six or seven. That gives her time to go to the studio, clock in, and then say she’s not feeling well and can’t go on. She leaves and comes back.”
Anne continued, “Then, once she’s here, she puts on the wedding dress for whatever reason—”
Hope jumped in. “Wait. Maybe she had an idea to ‘appear’ to Rayne again while she was in bed asleep?”
“A possibility. It explains why she had the dress on.” Anne replied.
Anne paced the room. “She puts on the dress and ends up drinking from the glass with the sleeping pills. Rayne is also sick. I don’t know. Something doesn’t seem right to me. If you’re sick, why would you put on the dress, and was she the one who’d taken it?”
“Good points. Maybe she felt ill, but it made her melancholy. She wanted to get some sleep, so she took the sleeping pills but took too many, so she wasn’t able to get out of the wedding dress before she fell into a coma.
Kandi came in from the bathroom where she’d been taking care of the ducks.
Anne said, “Kandi, do you remember what time it was when Ivy arrived?”
“Um, maybe nine? I was so busy with prep, I didn’t, like, pay attention.”
“Me either.” Anne walked to the board. “Let’s say we have a two to three-hour window between when Casey came back and when she was found barely alive. Listen, if you were sick, would you take sleeping pills?”
Hope said, “I wouldn’t. A nice cup of valerian tea is my go-to. But it seems a bit weird. So, let’s go with our other premise. She meant to give the pills to Rayne but got sick, forgot she’d put the pills in the water, and drank it. By the time she remembered, she rushed back to the dressing room, but it was too late.”
“Certainly a possibility. But Richard said the pills in his prescription bottle were missing. Did she know he was staying at the Inn, go upstairs and take the pills, then come back downstairs, put on the wedding dress, and then—I don’t know.” Anne sighed as she leaned against the desk. “I just don’t get the point of putting on the wedding dress.”
Kandi jolted up from her spot. “What if she was the one who’d spooked Rayne, and she meant to do it again?”
“We were just discussing that when you came in. She knows everyone will be asleep. She puts on the dress, meaning to scare Rayne, who’d be asleep. All she’d need to do was stand by the door to her room—just enough for Rayne to wake up and see her, then rush back to bed. Everyone would think she was still at the studio.”
“Let’s run with that for a minute. So, she gets dressed, but Rayne isn’t confronted. Which means, one, it didn’t happen as Rayne would have said she’d seen something, or two, Rayne wasn’t in her bed, which could be the case if Rayne was already sick and was in the bathroom,” Hope said.
“That makes sense. Let’s say she, like, goes back to her room, thinking she’ll try again. She waits a bit, comes back, and maybe she, like, hears someone or something which causes her to go into the dressing room next door. While she waits, she sees a glass of water and drinks it, not realizing it’s been tampered with.”
Kandi acted it out with Anne and Hope chuckling as she skulked across the room, glancing over her shoulder and drinking from an invisible glass before falling dramatically into a vacant chair.
Anne responded, “Which then points the finger back to Richard. I’m thinking that he may have killed the wrong woman accidentally.”
Hope said, “Okay, let’s explore that. He agrees to stay at the house. He thinks Casey is in Denver. He goes downstairs and doctors the glass. Because it’s in the dressing room, it would be a while before Rayne came in to drink in, thus having more people around in the morning and more suspects.”
“I don’t know. Wouldn’t it cause sediment at the bottom of the glass if it sat too long?” Anne asked.
Hope nodded. “Hmm, yeah, I think you’re right.”
“Where does that, like, leave us?”
Hope sighed. “Still stuck, I’m afraid. I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to solve this. I do know that it is causing us the wrong kind of publicity for the Inn. We have to talk about its future.”
“Speaking of, like, the future, Stewart popped the question last night.”
“What?” Anne and Hope cried.
Anne said, “Kandi, that’s wonderful. Please tell me you said yes.”
Kandi’s head bobbed, and a huge grin broke over her face. “I did. I’m so happy!” She squealed.
“We are too. That’s wonderful,” Hope chimed in.
Anne stilled. “Wait, last night?”
“Yes.”
“When you were with Carson?”
“No. He just came in to pick up an order to-go. He saw us and thanked Stewart for the all the help with the lighting.”
“Oh, okay.”
Anne looked at Kandi’s hands. No ring. Though younger people tended to do more of the silicone ring versus diamond or gem engagement rings, she’d noticed.
“Well, we need to have a party to celebrate. Too bad we got rid of all that food.”
Kandi shrugged, “To be honest, I kept meaning to do it but haven’t made time yet.”
“We still have the cake and everything?”
“Yes,” Kandi replied sheepishly. “I took the perishable stuff over, but I haven’t had a chance to take any of the other items.”
