Chapter 16 Holt #2
“Did you see what I wrote at the back of the main folder?” Willa asked, settling into her chair.
“Yes,” Holt nodded. “That’s actually part of what concerns me. The targeting was clearly systematic and personal, but the official investigation seems to have ignored that pattern.”
“I told the previous detective, Nigel Frost, to keep investigating,” Willa said with evident frustration.
“But he insisted there was nothing more to check. Which was odd because when the fires started and the incidents began happening alongside them, he was the one who first thought to link them together.”
“What changed his mind?” Holt asked, making notes.
“I think there were things happening to him as well,” Willa said thoughtfully. “I’m sure he noted them down somewhere. I know his tires were slashed at least once, and he got a warning note left on his windshield.”
Holt made a mental note to contact Nigel Frost and ask about his experiences during the investigation. It seemed increasingly strange that the detective who had initially recognized the pattern would suddenly close the case without pursuing obvious leads.
“Didn’t Nigel’s mother have that fatal accident a few weeks before all the fires that led up to the main one?” Holt asked, his memory stirring. “If I remember correctly?”
“That’s right,” Willa said with a sad nod. “I think he was distracted during the arson investigations because of that. His mind was focused on proving his mother’s accident was actually murder.”
“Did he conduct an official investigation into her death?” Holt asked.
“Yes,” Willa nodded. “Chief Morrison agreed with Nigel’s suspicions initially, but all the evidence pointed to it being a genuine accident caused by a faulty brake line.”
“How often are brake lines actually faulty in newer vehicles?” Holt asked rhetorically, his investigative instincts immediately suspicious.
“Shaun agreed with Nigel’s theory that it wasn’t an accident,” Willa said, her expression darkening with painful memories.
“He was the first responder on the scene who cut Cynthia out of the car wreckage.
She was still alive when he reached her, and she kept saying over and over, ‘They wanted to kill me. Tell my boy to be careful.’“ Her eyes glistened with unshed tears.
“Nigel arrived on the scene just as they were loading her into the ambulance. Shaun heard her tell Nigel the exact same warning. She died from massive internal bleeding and organ damage on the way to the hospital.”
“If both Shaun and Nigel believed it was murder, why didn’t Chief Morrison continue the investigation?” Holt asked, genuinely puzzled.
“Alvin Frost told everyone that his wife’s mental health had been declining rapidly,” Willa explained.
“Nigel was convinced his father was lying about that. He insisted his mother’s mental health had been perfectly fine, and that his father was the one who had pushed for the bipolar diagnosis and medication. ”
“What happened when Nigel challenged that narrative?” Holt asked.
“When Nigel insisted on getting a second psychiatric opinion, his father kicked him out of the family home,” Willa said with a heavy sigh.
“And then the night before his mother’s fatal accident, she’d actually gone to stay with Nigel in his apartment because she and Alvin had gotten into a huge fight about something. ”
Holt nodded thoughtfully. “I seem to remember that Cynthia’s family had all the money, and that was the reason Alvin was appointed CEO of her father’s financial company when he married her.”
“Exactly,” Willa confirmed. “Nigel and Shaun had become close friends during the investigation period. Shaun was also completely convinced that Cynthia’s accident wasn’t an accident at all.” She frowned. “At one point, Nigel even accused his father of trying to steal his mother’s company from her.”
Something triggered an alarm bell in Holt’s analytical mind. “You mentioned that Nigel also started experiencing incidents just like Shaun in the weeks before the fatal fire?”
“Yes,” Willa nodded grimly. “When we discovered the evidence of deliberate arson from the first few small fires, Nigel was convinced they were all connected to his mother’s death somehow.”
“Did he or Shaun develop any theories about why someone would target just the two of them?” Holt asked.
“It wasn’t just the two of them being targeted,” Willa told him. “Margo Tanner was also experiencing incidents.”
“Margo?” Holt said, flipping through the files with increased interest. “I don’t see any reports about that in here.”
“Turn to page twenty-two,” Willa directed.
“You’ll see the fire reports for the dumpster fires behind Teacups and the inn.
The burners being left on in the coffee shop and bakery’s kitchens.
Plus her tires were slashed multiple times, and the windows of her cottage beside the inn were broken twice. ”
Holt turned to the fire reports and scanned them carefully. “Where are the police reports about the vandalism to her property?”
“You’ll have to ask Chief Morrison for those files,” Willa told him. “They should be in the police records.”
“Do you know if Shaun, Margo, or Nigel had any personal connection to Gilbert Fry?” Holt asked. “It seems strange that he would target the three of them specifically for no apparent reason.” His brow creased even more. “Did he know Cynthia?”
“No, none of us knew him personally,” Willa said with certainty. “As far as anyone determined, he was just here on vacation, gathering footage and content for his podcast or YouTube channel about small-town drama and tangled relationships.” She shrugged. “Whatever that was supposed to mean.”
“Whose cabin did Gilbert lock...” Holt stopped mid-sentence, his heart squeezing with sympathy for Willa as he realized how painful this topic must be for her.
Willa gave him a sad but understanding smile.
“It’s okay. The cabin that Gilbert locked them in was the one he’d rented for the summer in the forest. It was the most secluded one.
” She shook her head, and her eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
“But there was something very strange about that situation, and it’s one of the things I pointed out that no one seemed to listen to. ”
“Which was what?” Holt asked, leaning forward with interest.
“There was a key lying on the ground outside the cabin after the fire was extinguished,” Willa told him, and his eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Nigel took it and then dismissed it, saying it must have been a spare key since another key was found in Gilbert’s pocket after they recovered his body.”
“What did the forensics team conclude about the keys?” Holt asked, though he was beginning to suspect he knew the answer.
“Nothing meaningful,” Willa replied, her answer confirming his fears.
“They just noted that both keys were legitimate keys to the cabin, and that vacation rental guests always receive multiple keys while the rental office keeps additional copies. The receptionist at the main office to the camp and cabin site said that Gilbert had requested a spare key. But couldn’t tell me when, or even if, it was Gilbert who had collected it.
She was just blank on all accounts.” Frustration filtered into her voice.
“Tell you?” Holt asked.
Willa nodded. “Yes. When the chief and Nigel stopped the investigation…” She swallowed and cleared her throat. Holt could see she was having trouble with this, but she pushed on. “So I started my own investigation. But it came up short. Then I got reprimanded by Chief Morrison and Nigel.”
“So you stopped investigating?” Holt said. “All the notes on the fire folder are from your own investigations?”
“Correct,” Willa confirmed. She leaned forward. “Director Dillinger…”
“Please call me Holt,” Holt told her.
She gave him a tight smile. “You need to relook into Cynthia’s car. I got the distinct feeling the mechanic that looked at it wasn’t telling the truth.”
“Did you mention this to Nigel and Tom?” Holt asked.
“I did raise it,” Willa said with a nod. “But by then I was already in trouble for going rogue, as Nigel said, so I was told to back off, and they did nothing about it because the case was closed.”
Holt’s brow rose, and he nodded. “That was thorough of them.” He drawled sarcastically, understanding now why Willa had tried to insist the case investigation continue. What he really wanted to know was why Nigel Frost hadn’t pursued such obvious leads.
“That’s what I thought too,” Will agreed with him.
He watched her, and his heartstrings tugged as his protective instincts kicked in so powerfully that he had to stop himself from going over to her and hugging her, then letting her know he was on this now and would figure it out.
It was obvious to him that she still didn’t have the closure she needed from her husband’s death.
Looking at all the evidence, Holt couldn’t blame her, and he knew how that felt.
The loose ends that no one else saw as loose ends, but just pieces of threads that meant nothing to the case.
Them being put down to their grief and needing to have someone or something to blame for the untimely loss of a loved one.
“Has anything strange been happening around town recently?” Holt asked. “Other than the shelves collapsing, the filing cabinet incidents, and Rad getting stuck in the records room?”
“Margo’s coffee shop was broken into about a week ago,” Willa told him.
“But she didn’t file an official police report because she wasn’t entirely sure it was actually a break-in.
There were no signs of forced entry, and she thought maybe she’d just forgotten to lock the door properly when she left that night. ”
“Margo forgot to lock her business?” Holt asked skeptically. “That doesn’t sound like the Margo I know.”