Murder in the Lighthouse (Beachcomber Mystery #4)

4

A s Lacey Jarnigan settled into a chair in the den, she glanced nervously at Lucien, her hands fidgeting in her lap. “I don’t know where to begin.”

Lucien gave her a warmhearted smile. “No need to be nervous. We aren’t the cops. We want to help find whoever did this.”

“Take a deep breath and start anywhere you want,” Brogan urged. “We’re here to listen to whatever you want to tell us as long as it’s the truth. We’re big on the truth around here. Maybe begin by telling us how long you two had known each other?”

Lacey tried to relax, leaning back into the chair, and cleared her throat. “A few days into our freshman year at college, I met Sam in the cafeteria. We hit it off, and we’ve been friends ever since. We’re talking about a friendship that lasted over fourteen years. During that time, we dated occasionally, off and on, but we always stayed friends no matter what. Sam was sweet, funny, and always had a smile on his face,” she added, her voice tinged with sadness. “After we both graduated, the dynamic changed. We decided to look for jobs locally because we both wanted to remain in Santa Cruz. Me especially. And that’s what we did. Sam got a job with the city. Bethany dropped out of college and went to work full-time for the sheriff’s department. And in between all of that, I landed a job as an operations manager for a non-profit. Around that same time, Sam and I decided we were better off as friends.”

“So that was a mutual thing, right?” Brogan prompted. “You both agreed to that?”

“Absolutely.”

“Any reason you didn’t take it to the next level?” Lucien prodded.

Lacey let out a sigh. “I really liked his parents and got along well with Bethany. They felt more like family than my own did. His parents accepted me like I was another one of their kids. In my mind, it made dating rather awkward. Sam and I agreed that there was no spark between us, and we decided we would get along better as best friends than lovers. You see, I’m originally from the East Coast, Rhode Island. When holidays rolled around, instead of me flying cross-country back home, I would spend Thanksgiving, Christmas, and even Easter with the Heywoods. Barry and Marta are great people. Have you met them yet?”

“Not yet,” Lucien replied. “We’re headed to Santa Cruz this afternoon.”

“I think they’d love a visit from someone who took an interest in both cases. With Sam’s case handled by the local authorities here and Bethany’s case thrown to the sheriff’s department, it’s confusing for them.”

“How did you become so close to Bethany?”

Lacey shrugged. “I don’t know. Bethany was only two years behind us. We became like the Three Musketeers. Our friendship goes back to those years when we did everything together. We’d go clubbing, ice skating, and try out new restaurants. We’d judge each other’s dates, sizing up friends, taking trips through wine country. You name it, we did it together. It’s what best friends do. After college, we even got a three-bedroom apartment together to save on rent so that one day, we could afford to buy a house. Not altogether. Each one of us wanted our separate living space. You know, like doing the grownup thing. In California, buying a home is particularly difficult unless you come from money.”

“But you weren’t living together when they disappeared,” Lucien pointed out.

“No. A few years ago, Sam was able to buy a townhouse. He was the first one to move out. Then, a couple of years later, I had saved enough to buy my condo, leaving Bethany to get new roommates, which she did. But this past summer, Bethany bought a little fixer-upper, a bungalow about a mile from my place. She’s always been a whiz at DIY projects and was just getting started on her own renovations on the house when she went missing. The three of us did things together almost every single Saturday. We walked through the farmer’s market together the day before she disappeared. Over the summer, we went furniture shopping and stopped by all the thrift stores to find stuff for our houses. We had picnics at the beach. This is what we did for a decade.”

Lacey paused long enough to wipe away tears. “There was always something fun to do with them. Sam was...Sam was kind, always ready to share his opinion about my date or tease me about my taste in décor. Bethany is generous and sweet. They were both good workers, dedicated to their jobs. Sam was very passionate about making Santa Cruz a better place to live. But lately, he seemed...worried. Something bothered him. He mentioned some tensions at work, but he never went into detail. And I didn’t want to push.”

Brogan jotted down more notes next to Sam’s name on her tablet. “What about Bethany? Was she having any issues at work?”

“Not that I know about. Bethany and Sam are a lot alike. They don’t talk about their problems at work. We didn’t share those kinds of things. We spent our downtime relaxing, not rehashing boring stuff from work. I’m trying to explain that they’re just two ordinary people like me. None of us have dangerous jobs. We don’t go out of our way to confront others or start an argument. We get up every day and go to work. We spent our weekends doing the things we loved to do. You know, normal stuff.”

“Who was Sam dating recently?”

“That’s just it. No one. He broke up with a coworker last June. But hadn’t dated anyone since then.”

“Who’s the coworker?” Brogan asked.

“Anna Padillo. Anna met someone else on a business trip to San Francisco last spring. Apparently it got serious fairly quickly because, over Memorial Weekend, she ended things with Sam. That was in June. The three of us started spending a lot more time together after that.”

“And you can’t think of anyone who might want to harm them?” Lucien probed.

She shook her head. “No one comes to mind. Can you get to the bottom of this, find out what happened to Bethany, and find Sam’s killer?”

Brogan exchanged looks with Lucien. “We’re going to try.”

For the next hour, they encouraged Lacey to talk, to share every memory she had of Sam and Bethany, hoping it would paint a reliable picture of the brother and sister.

Brogan continued taking notes, capturing every detail about their personalities, their habits, and their relationships. Clearly, Lacey held her friends in high regard, and her concern for their well-being seemed genuine.

As Lacey finished recounting a particularly funny anecdote involving Sam and a mishap during a camping trip back in college, Brogan waited for an opening to interject. “Lacey, do you know what brought Sam to Pelican Pointe to look for his sister? Were there any ties to Pelican Pointe before Bethany went missing?”

Lacey gave a sharp intake of breath, furrowed her brow, and shook her head. “No. I don’t think either one ever mentioned Pelican Pointe. I can’t think of a single reason Sam would have been here unless he branched out to put up flyers. You know, in the surrounding area. Santa Cruz was their home, where they both grew up. It doesn’t make sense unless...” Her voice trailed off, a flicker of realization crossing her face.

Brogan leaned in, her gaze intense. “Unless what, Lacey? Please, anything you can remember might be helpful.”

Lacey sucked in a deep breath. “Bethany could’ve met someone online from here. I know because we grabbed something to eat after we finished at the farmer’s market that Saturday. Over lunch, she mentioned she had signed up at a website a couple of weeks earlier, hoping to meet new hiking buddies. Sam cautioned her, explaining that we’d go with her anytime if she wanted to hike. She didn’t need to meet strangers to go hiking. I remember how Bethany bristled at that suggestion. She didn’t like us butting in on her chance to meet new people, though.”

“It sounds like she might’ve been pulling away from your Three Musketeers,” Lucien charged.

“It’s possible. But I didn’t get that impression. Bethany could spend her weekends however she wanted and with whomever. It wasn’t my business to tell her who she couldn’t meet.”

Brogan’s eyes widened slightly at this piece of information. She traded looks with Lucien. “You did mention this to the detective investigating her disappearance, right?”

“Absolutely. I told the detective everything I knew about her social media profiles and what sites she was on. Those that I knew about. He claimed forensics had taken her laptop. Someone surely knows by now, after three weeks, who she met up with that Sunday at Wilder Ranch.”

“Let’s hope so,” Lucien said. “We’ll keep you updated through text messages if that’s all right?”

“Texts are fine. Let me know if you need any other information. What about paying you for your time? How does that work? I have my savings.”

Lucien got to his feet. “Let’s see if we turn up anything before we get to that point.”

“Sure. Okay.”

After walking Lacey out, Brogan turned to Lucien. “What did you think?”

“The truth? I watched her while she talked. For the most part, she seemed honest enough. But did you see the nervousness that flickered across her face when you mentioned Pelican Pointe? I believe she was holding something back, a piece of information she wasn’t quite ready to share.”

“Yep. I caught that.”

“Why do people ask for help when they don’t want to share everything? If they want us to unravel what’s happening, all concerned should be more forthright,” Lucien announced. “Why would she hold back knowing Sam’s dead? What benefit is that?”

“I don’t know. Do you suppose they had rekindled their relationship but wanted to keep it a secret from Bethany?”

“Why would they need to keep it a secret? Do you think Lacey had feelings for Sam?”

“Oh, most definitely. I’d say Lacey has been carrying around a torch for Sam—a big one—for several years. I’m not sure if Sam felt the same way, though. I suspect their relationship might best be described as a ‘friends with benefits’ kind of thing. For now, we need to get an idea of the situation from Sam’s parents. Let’s see if they love Lacey as much as she adores them.”

Barry and Marta Heywood lived in a middle-class section of Santa Cruz in a Cape Cod-style house not far from downtown.

Barry welcomed them into their cozy living room, filled with family photos and knickknacks collected over the years. A retired schoolteacher, Barry appeared guarded but composed, while Marta, a retired nurse, seemed clearly grief-stricken about her son and worried about her daughter.

Brogan got comfortable on the sofa while Lucien continued to stand. “Thanks for seeing us on such short notice. We know it’s a horrible time for both of you. As Lucien explained on the phone, Lacey wants us to find the person responsible for Sam’s death. In the process, we hope to find Bethany.”

“Whatever it takes,” Barry remarked. “Marta and I have our retirement savings. We’re more than happy to pitch in on a private investigation.”

“Before we go that far,” Lucien began, “there are a few things we need to understand about your children, about Sam and Bethany. Did they mention any problems to you in the weeks leading to Bethany’s disappearance? Were they concerned about their safety?”

Barry cleared his throat. “No. Sam might’ve been preoccupied with work, but he was always diligent regarding his job. His coworkers liked him. And he got along well with just about everyone.”

“Did you want him to look for Bethany at Wilder Ranch?”

“Well, yes. Sam went out that first afternoon and didn’t even see her car parked there. By the second day, when none of us had heard from her, we called the police. It was the sheriff’s department who showed up. They knew she was an employee of the county. Because of that, we expected them to do more to find her.”

“But they didn’t?” Lucien prompted.

“Not to our satisfaction,” Barry admitted.

From her position in a well-worn recliner, Marta reached for her husband’s hand, offering him a reassuring squeeze. “Do you think there’s any chance that Bethany will be found safe and sound?”

Brogan angled toward the Heywoods. “To be honest, I don’t know. Three weeks is a long time. Right now, we’re trying to figure out why Sam ended up at that lighthouse in Pelican Pointe and how he ended up deceased. We know he was looking for Bethany, but what led him to that location?”

“Was Bethany upset about anything when she borrowed your car that Sunday morning?” Lucien asked.

“I wouldn’t say upset, more like intense. She called around seven to ask to borrow my Mazda because she’d taken hers in on Friday so they could fix an oil leak. The repairs were more serious than first thought, and the work would take a few days. That meant she wouldn’t get it back until Monday afternoon. Barry took the phone out of my hands and told her to come over, and he’d fix breakfast for her. Pecan pancakes. Her favorite. We ate breakfast. We laughed. We talked. And she left about quarter to nine. That was the last time we saw her.”

Lucien rubbed the back of his neck as he paced the length of the room. “How did she get here to borrow the car? Did someone drop her off?”

Marta’s mouth dropped open. “I’m not sure. I never asked. But she was here within a few minutes after the phone call.”

“And you have no idea who she planned to meet at Wilder Ranch?”

“No. I know Beth was interested in a cold case she came across while transferring data from an old file to its digital format. It was a project she’d been working on since last spring with all the old case files. As she began moving the files containing boxes of documents, something about this case caught her attention. It had to do with that unsolved murder that occurred back in 1999. That is the one thing she discussed if we mentioned work.”

“Going how far back did she bring it up?” Brogan asked.

“As I recall, she first mentioned it around the end of summer, late August or the Labor Day weekend. So about two months ago,” Marta said.

“Did she name a specific case?”

“Sure she did. The Upland murder,” Barry answered. “It’s one of Santa Cruz’s most notorious murders. The victim was Connie Upland, a thirty-eight-year-old schoolteacher found brutally murdered ten miles from the middle school where she taught. It happened on a Thursday, April 15th, 1999, tax day. Nice lady, too. Marta and I knew Connie, her husband, and her two little girls. Our families went to the same church. Marta and I think that’s why Bethany was interested in trying to solve it.”

Lucien exchanged looks with Brogan. “You’re saying Bethany thought she could solve a twenty-five-year-old cold case?”

“Yeah. She discovered something in the file that just didn’t seem right. Bethany was convinced that she’d found two other murders that matched Connie’s set of circumstances.”

“Like what?” Lucien wanted to know.

“Connie had stayed late that day to help one of her students who was failing math. She was seen locking up her classroom around four-thirty. That’s the last time anyone saw her. Yet, her car was still parked in the lot. Her husband reported Connie missing that night when he got home from work because she’d never shown up. Their daughters were still at the babysitter’s, waiting for their mom to pick them up.”

“But what were the particular circumstances of her death that made Bethany think it was connected to the other three murders?”

Marta made a face. “I’m not sure exactly. Half the time, I tuned out those kinds of gory details.”

“A woman out walking her dog the following day found Connie’s nude body at the edge of a wooded area designated as a preserve,” Barry provided. “She’d been the victim of a brutal attack. She’d been both strangled and stabbed. Bethany believed it was the work of a serial killer.”

“Ah.” Brogan furrowed her brow, pondering this new piece of information. “Do you think Bethany’s interest in the Upland murder could be connected to her disappearance?”

“It’s hard to say,” Barry replied. “Bethany was always fascinated by cold cases, but she never mentioned feeling threatened or in danger because of them. In hindsight, we wished we’d asked her who she planned to meet that Sunday.”

Marta added, “Bethany was a smart girl, always on the computer doing her research. Maybe she stumbled upon something she shouldn’t have.”

Lucien stopped pacing, his expression serious. “Did you mention this to the detective working on her disappearance?”

“No. We didn’t want to sound crazy,” Barry muttered. “That was three weeks ago. It’s not as if the police took us seriously at the beginning. I’m not sure you know, but at first, they told us she probably ran off with whomever she met at Wilder Ranch. Of course, we don’t believe that’s what happened.”

“No. I can see that,” Lucien replied. “Okay. We need to take a deeper look into what Bethany discovered. The connection between Bethany’s interest in the Upland murder and her disappearance might not be a coincidence.”

“And it could be what got Sam killed,” Brogan assessed. “After Sam got involved trying to find his sister, how many trips do you think he made to Pelican Pointe?”

“Several,” Barry stated. “I went with him to Pelican Pointe at least twice myself during that first week. I know he must’ve gone back without me at least two more times. He put up flyers and texted his mother the last time we heard from him, saying he intended to meet with someone who had sent him a tip about Bethany.”

Brogan stared over at Lucien. “That sounds like a setup. How was this tip obtained? Through an email? A text message?”

“I don’t know. We were so focused on anything that might help find Beth I didn’t ask.”

“But it sounds like someone was leading Sam to that lighthouse, manipulating the situation,” Lucien decided. “They wanted Sam there for a reason.”

Barry’s hands balled into fists. “I want justice for my children. I want whoever did this brought to justice.”

“What can we do to help? We’ll do anything,” Marta pleaded. “We’ll do whatever you say. We just want to find out what happened to Sam. And why, after all this time, is Beth still missing.”

Lucien sent them a sympathetic smile and took out one of their business cards from his shirt pocket. “For now, let us take it from here. But if you think of anything else, any detail, no matter how small it may seem, don’t hesitate to reach out to us.”

As they headed to the entryway, Marta stopped them with a determined look in her eyes. “There is something else you should know.” She hesitated momentarily before blurting out the secret she’d kept to herself. “Beth had been receiving strange phone calls in the weeks leading up to her disappearance. She never told us who was on the other end of the line, but I could tell it was troubling her.”

Barry’s eyes widened. “What? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You know our Beth. She brushed me off whenever I brought it up. She explained it away by saying she got lots of telemarketers calling. But I know our daughter, and I could see the worry in her eyes. At the time, I let it go. I wish now I hadn’t.”

Lucien's expression sharpened at this new revelation. “Did you notice anything else out of the ordinary? Was she being followed? Did you notice any unfamiliar cars parked near your house or anyone watching the property when she visited?”

Marta shook her head. “No, nothing like that. But one night about a month ago—the first of October, I think—she stopped by for dinner at around six. While I got dinner on the table, I overheard her arguing on the phone. She had stepped into the hallway for privacy. But I could still hear her side of the conversation. She argued with someone for at least ten minutes. When I asked her about it, she assured me it was nothing important, a work thing, and told me not to worry about it. And here we are weeks later. Sam’s gone, and she’s nowhere to be found.”

“We’ll find out what happened, Mrs. Heywood,” Lucien assured her. “It might take a while, but we’ll keep at it until we develop a baseline theory.”

“You have to find her alive,” Marta pleaded again, her voice breaking with worry. “We can’t lose them both. Sam and Bethany are all we have.”