Chapter Fifteen
“He doesn’t seem overjoyed she’s gone,” said Lily as we reached the gate, her voice low enough that only I could hear. “You’d think if he wanted to be with Yvette, he’d act happier about the opportunity.”
“He might be a really good actor.” As I pulled open the gate, I cast a glance behind us.
Joel’s elbow was propped on the arm of the porch chair, his face still in his hand, but the other hand had dropped to his lap.
If he were still crying, I couldn’t tell.
“I saw Yvette take something and she left through the back, rather than see him, when she heard him come home.”
“What did she take?”
“It looked like an envelope or something papery that size but thicker. Maybe a notepad? She got it from the living room. I think there’s a desk in there? Whatever it was, she didn’t want to run into Joel or ask him for it.”
“Maybe she took the nasty letter?”
“Something like that would fit in an envelope but why would she take it?” I didn’t expect an answer.
It might not even have been the letter but I definitely wanted to take another look at the house.
It seemed both of us wanted something. Of the two items I intended to find, I’d found and confirmed only one.
So what was it that Yvette took? And why didn’t she want her secret lover to know?
We swung by the cabin for lunch. While Lily made sandwiches, I called Garrett and told him how we’d found the back protector.
There was a long, thoughtful, pause before he said, “I don’t like the sound of that, but I don’t know if there’s enough to take it to a judge for a warrant to be served.”
“It’s clearly sabotage, just like Jessica said.”
“To you. Maybe it’s poor maintenance or a manufacturer flaw. We don’t even know if it’s the back protector Mrs. Casey told you about,” he said, adding, “I got Mrs. Casey’s tox screen back.”
“And?” I cut in, impatiently.
“And nothing. No drugs, prescription or otherwise, and no alcohol in her system. Nothing strange at all. Based on that alone, I doubt the family will consent to further examination.”
“What caused her death?”
“She hit her head on the steering wheel, causing a brain hemorrhage. The coroner confirmed it by scans and indicated he’s content to close the case without further investigation, given the circumstances.”
“What about the car?” I pressed.
“Since I’m covering all bases, the investigations team hope to get started on it tomorrow or the day after.
They had a triple crash and a drug bust to complete investigating first, but this is apparently next on the list. My captain says no need to push it up the queue since all the signs are pointing towards an accident. ”
“There’s something else,” I started, “Joel and Yvette were having an affair.”
“The husband and the sister? The same Yvette Lyndsey I have listed as the owner of the vehicle Mrs. Casey was driving?”
“The same Yvette.”
“Yikes. Hmm.” Garrett paused again and I hoped he was reconsidering his approach to the case. “You’re sure about this?”
“I saw them and heard them talking about it.”
“Shoot me an email with everything you saw. I’m going to talk to my captain again. I don’t like that two people close to the deceased could have a motive to get the deceased out of the way. It could just be a poor coincidence, but poking around a little won’t hurt,” Garrett conceded.
“Will it help get that warrant?”
“Maybe. I’ll see what the captain says. Regardless, I’ll pay Mr. Casey another visit as a courtesy follow-up and do a little digging.”
“There’s something else,” I said before he hung up.
Garrett sighed. “Go on.”
“Maddox is lurking around. He says he has a professional interest in something to do with the farm but I don’t think it involves Jessica. He knew she passed but he didn’t say anything else. We’re going to meet up and swap notes.”
“I feel like I should be looped in on this. Any idea who or what he’s looking at?”
“All he said was it was a ‘site of interest in an investigation’.”
“Now that’s clear as mud,” grumbled Garrett.
“Right? But he is surveilling the farm so he might have seen something in relation to my case that he hasn’t realized yet,” I said, feeling hopeful.
It was a slim chance, and it depended on a number of things, like how long he’d been conducting surveillance and whom he had a professional interest in.
“I’ll give him a call. Any other juicy nuggets for me?”
I hesitated. “Not yet, but I’ll keep you informed.”
“Do that.”
“And if we cross paths when you’re here, pretend you don’t know me, okay? I want to keep my cover intact.”
“Got it. Call if anything comes up.”
Lily slid a plate in front of me with a thick sandwich, a sprinkling of salty chips, and a pickle. She was probably right about us getting married. I could get used to this.
“I know what you’re thinking,” she said.
“That you’re a great wife.”
“No. I am, but no. You’re thinking we need to do more snooping.”
“For sure, but I really was thinking you’re a great wife.” I bit into the sandwich and sighed. Delicious.
“You’re easy to please if all you need is a sandwich to keep you happy. You’re a great wife too. You don’t make me sandwiches but that’s not your reason to live.”
“True,” I agreed, biting into my pickle.
There were still a few hours to go until we met with Maddox, and my schedule showed two training sessions in the main school. The previous sessions had gone well, so I hoped these would too, and then we’d be free to investigate.
Lily and I headed over to the school with a few minutes to spare, and found the two riders, TJ and Becca, and horses already saddled up and walking in, bringing them to a stop in the middle of the school.
TJ’s horse was a rich brown with white socks and Becca held the reins of a pretty speckled gray with a mane like silk.
“Ask them about the horses,” said Lily, giving me a nudge and a nod towards them. “Get them to tell you stuff.”
I pressed in my earpiece a little more securely and strode towards them.
“Hey,” I said to Becca, “great to have another session together.”
Becca nodded. “I’ve been looking forward to the lesson. Can’t believe I got lumped with this hunk of junk,” she added, patting the speckled gray horse’s neck affectionately.
“Why do you say that?”
“Pepper never performs well for me. Tilly always got him to work well, but the rest of us? I don’t know. Maybe he just doesn’t like us.”
“Tilly?”
She stilled, then her lip twitched. “Tilly used to work here. She left a month ago.”
“How come?”
“We’re not supposed to talk about it.” Keeping the reins in one hand, Becca moved to the saddle, lengthening the stirrups.
I sidestepped to keep her in view and the horse stretched his nose out and sniffed me, then nudged my cheek. Becca noticed and smiled. “He likes you already,” she said.
I patted Pepper, while saying, “I’d like to know more about Tilly.”
“It’s…” She stopped, shrugging.
“It’s for Pepper,” I insisted. “Background knowledge always helps a little when I’m making my assessments. If there’s a reason Pepper is great for Tilly, and not anyone else, I’d like to know,” I added, hoping that sounded plausible. Truly, I had no idea what made a horse do anything.
“Oh. Oh, yeah, I guess it would. Tilly is a great eventer. She was the best here, aside from Jessica. Really knows how to handle a horse and has no fear. She was bringing this guy on,” she said, patting the horse’s neck again as she moved to his other side, repeating the motion with the remaining stirrup.
“Pepper used to be racehorse but he’s a little old for that and Jessica wanted to try him as an eventer.
He and Tilly already placed a couple of times in local competitions so they were doing well. ”
“Was there anything specific Tilly did with him?” I asked, rubbing the horse’s nose now as his lips quivered.
“I think it was just their connection. They really bonded and he was super responsive for Tilly. He’s not the same with the rest of us. I think they could have had a real shot at success if…”
“If she hadn’t left?” I prodded.
Becca nodded.
“Why did she leave if they were doing well?”
Becca shot a concerned look at TJ, waiting patiently with the other horse.
“Can you mount up and start walking?” I called to him. Becca clearly didn’t want to talk in front of him. “Get warmed up.”
TJ nodded, and clicked his tongue to his horse, walking him forwards and away from us.
“She was caught stealing,” said Becca softly, distaste turning her lips down and a frown creasing her forehead.
“Stealing what?”
“Money.”
From the way she looked, Becca was having a hard time believing that, never mind saying it aloud. “You believe that?” I asked.
Becca frowned harder. “No. That is… I didn’t see anything and Tilly’s been to my cabin a bunch of times and nothing’s ever gone missing.
Not even when I had five hundred dollars sitting on my kitchen counter.
And she’s been over a bunch of times when my purse was readily available.
Nothing ever went missing. Tilly doesn’t have much money — none of us do — and she’s worked here five years and nothing ever went missing the whole time! I don’t see why she would steal now.”
“How much was it?”
“A thousand dollars.”
I whistled softly. That was a lot of money to accuse a person of stealing.
“Jessica dismissed her on the spot. She said the evidence was indisputable. I tried arguing but she told me to stop. Jessica’s usually… was usually… so fair but she was really angry. She told Tilly to pack up her stuff and go. She spent a week sleeping in her car.”
“Where is she now?”
“At McClain Farm. It’s ten miles from here. A smaller farm than this one, but they’re really good. They have some great horses.”
“Did she protest at all?”
“Of course she did! Not to Jessica but Tilly said there was no way she’d steal that money and it had to be someone else, but Jessica said someone saw her and Tilly wouldn’t say who.
Not to me anyway. Just that she had to go and the farm needed good, honest, hardworking people.
Talent wasn’t enough. She was wrong though.
Tilly was all of that. And now this guy’s chances are tanked,” she said, scratching Pepper’s nose.
“If he won’t work for any of us, the farm won’t keep him.
If he’s lucky, he’ll end up at a riding school or a trail horse for someone.
Maybe you can do something with him? That must be why Jessica wanted you to take a look at him.
Should I mount?” She rolled her shoulders, her chin stiffened and I knew the conversation was over.
“Please,” I said and she led the horse away. “Did you get all that?” I asked into my mic as I locked eyes with Lily, lingering in her usual spot against the fence bordering the school.
“Sounds like Jessica might have made an enemy,” Lily said, her voice directly in my ear.
“Yeah. We need to check it out.”
I was distracted from commenting further by the horses passing me as their riders walked them around the edge of the school.
As Lily fed me instructions, I called them out to Becca and TJ, then gave them free rein and told them to take charge for the next few minutes while I yelled things like “heels down” and “straight back!” and “watch those hands” even though neither of the riders seemed to do anything once I’d said it.
When the lesson came to an end, Becca and TJ brought their horses to the center and dismounted, patting their necks and adjusting the stirrups.
“How did that feel?” I asked Becca.
“He felt so sluggish. It was hard to keep him going but he got into his rhythm eventually. He was okay, I guess.”
“What do you think made him go well for you?” I asked.
Becca twisted her lip. “I guess I spoke to him a bit and I could see his ears pricking up. Tilly used to do that.”
“Keep up with that,” I said. “Perhaps he just needs to get to know you better. I’d like you to ride him more often if you’re agreeable.”
“Yeah, I guess I could. I could stop by his stable with treats and chat to him too. We can get to know each other.” She brightened at the idea.
“I like that,” I said. “He might be feeling down without his buddy so making a new one might cheer him up. It’s all about the connection.”
“I never thought about him feeling sad. Yeah, I’ll do that. And my riding?”
“You’re showing a lot of promise,” I said. “We can work on the rough edges. A little more polish and we’ll find the diamond.”
“Thanks!”
“We’ll find the diamond?” repeated Lily in my ear.
“It sounded good.”
Becca flashed a frown at me. “Pardon?”
“I said it all sounds good. Keep up the good work.”
“Oh, right. Okay then.”
“You too,” I said to TJ. “Very smooth.”
“Her canter was all over the place,” said TJ, a puzzled look appearing on his face.
“But you were smooth,” I countered quickly. “You kept an eye on the situation and you were on it. Sharp. Good reflexes.”
TJ grinned. “Really?”
“Yes, absolutely. You know what to do, you just need to work on your confidence.”
He smiled now, and his shoulders pushed back a little as he straightened. “I know. I’m trying. She’s a tough cookie though,” he said.
“I like this pairing,” I said, wagging a finger from TJ to the white-socked horse. “I can see you two going far.”
“Do you think Joel will let me jump her in the next show?”
“I’d like to observe you in a jumping lesson and if it works out, I’ll put in a good word.”
The smile broadened into a grin. “That would be amazing!”
“Okay, back to the stable. We’ll get you back on the schedule soon.”
“Thanks so much!”
I turned to Lily as TJ left, following Becca while she led Pepper from the school, and headed towards her. “I don’t think you need me after all,” said Lily. “You had that all covered.”
“I’ve figured out the secret,” I said, resting my arms on the top of the fence. “Just say nice things to people and they’ll do the work.”
“You figured that out when you were a temp,” said Lily, laughing as we both turned to walk towards the gate, the fence running between us.
“True,” I agreed, “and now I’m putting my talents to better use. Plus, Becca is chatty. We found out something that might be useful.”