Chapter 17
“Ihave food and drink set out,” Alfred said as we stepped inside Zane’s foyer. “I’ll bring the cart immediately to Rota’s office.”
“Thank you, Alfred.” I patted my stomach. “Breakfast was a long time ago.”
The ancient fairy chuckled. “Just another reason why you should eat more than peanut butter toast most days.”
I followed Zane down the hallway, past one of the many staircases in the mansion, and at the end of the hall we made a left.
From there, it was two more turns before we were finally standing in front of Rota’s extra-tall wooden double doors.
The doors were open, and inside, Link and Rota were engaged in swordplay.
“Yer gettin’ a bit slow in yer old age there, Valkyrie,” Link taunted as he whipped his tiny sword through the air. “Ye may need to hang up yer sword soon, lass.”
Rota cackled and lunged with her sword, nearly taking off Link’s ear. “The day I hang up my sword will be the day I enter Valhalla. And even then, they’ll have to pry it from my cold, dead hands!”
“Nice,” I muttered, stepping into the room. “Getting in a little practice?”
“Time!” Rota and Link called simultaneously.
They split apart, Link sheathing his sword at his waist while Rota went to put her sword away…each of them still trading barbs with each other.
“You two are ridiculous,” I said. “Aren’t you a little old for trash talking?”
They both whirled and gaped at me.
“It’s half the fun, Kara,” Rota said. “Isn’t that right, Link?”
Link’s wings glowed purple and green. “Aye, lass, it is.”
Rota went to sit behind her desk, while Zane and I sat across from her, and Link perched atop the globe on the bookshelf.
“Before we get started on backgrounds,” Zane said, “Kara and I discovered something important. It seems fifteen years ago, Mari, Hunter, Rayna Halter, Reed Masterson, and Sasha Carter were responsible for what happened to Eliza Nordic. They played a ‘prank’ as they called it, that went very wrong. It was responsible for what left Eliza permanently disabled.” He went on to tell them what happened that Valentine’s Day, adding in the part about Rayna working magic twice more against Eliza.
“Since each one of them had a part in the ‘prank,’ they made a pact to never tell what they’d done.
We aren’t saying it’s the only motive one of our suspects had to kill Mari, but it’s a huge motive.
Especially since we’ve also discovered that Mari is the one who sent the valentines to everyone in the group. ”
“This is horrible,” Rota said. “Does Eliza know?”
“We aren’t sure,” I said. “But it would go a long way to motive. Could be Mari cracked and told her, and Eliza decided to retaliate.”
Zane shifted in his seat. “Sheriff Stiles was on his way to talk to the district attorney, Calvin Haggle, an hour ago.”
I nodded. “We also know time of death was between three-thirty and four-thirty.”
Alfred entered the room, wheeling in a cart piled high with food—tiny finger sandwiches, myriad different fruits, a platter of cheese and crackers, petit fours, and what I hoped was a peanut butter pound cake.
“You don’t even have to ask,” Alfred said. “It’s a peanut butter pound cake.”
“Yes!” I raised my fist in the air in triumph. “You’re the best, Alfred.”
He chuckled. “Plus hot tea or coffee to choose from.”
“Got my mead right here.” Rota lifted the flask she’d received as a gift from Alfred. “That’ll do for me.”
Alfred smiled and shook his head, walking out of the room. We quickly filled our plates and started to eat. After a few minutes, Rota took a sip of mead and then turned on her computer and projected the image onto the wall.
“First up is Hunter Quinn. Age, thirty-three. Vampire. Was married to the victim, Mari. They have one child. He’s owned Quinn Accounting for eight years.
His personal financials are good because he and Mari merged their money.
His business finances are another story.
Over the last few years, Hunter has made less and less money.
Last year, he barely broke even. Not sure why that is.
Might be something to ask him about. No criminal record on file. ”
I popped a blackberry into my mouth. “For now. Could be a different story if the DA presses charges.”
“Motive for Hunter to kill Mari?” Rota asked.
“He and Sasha Carter were having an affair,” Zane said. “We know Mari suspected the affair, but she wasn’t sure who the other woman was. And now we know he’s having financial issues.”
“Life insurance?” I mused.
Rota nodded. “I called the three insurance companies in town and found out that Mari did have an insurance policy.” She ate a blueberry. “It was two-hundred-fifty-thousand dollars. But last year, it was increased to five-hundred-thousand dollars.”
Link flew off the globe, his wings glowing purple and green. “Half a million dollars? Now that’s motive!”
I nodded and took a sip of hot tea. “I’d agree.”
“Parker Harrington is the attorney in charge of Mari’s will,” Rota said. “He told me he spoke to Hunter yesterday about what Mari had in her will. And you better hold on to your seats because you aren’t going to believe this.”
“What?” I demanded, taking a bite of my sandwich.
“Mari split her royalties. Fifty percent are to go to Hunter, and the other half will be put in a trust for Jayla until she’s eighteen. There’s a trustee for that. But before I tell you who it is, there’s something else important you need to know.”
“What? What?” Link demanded as he nibbled on a piece of cheese the size of his body. “I can’t take the excitement.”
“The house the Quinns live in was purchased five years ago…in Mari’s name only.
She paid cash for it. I’m assuming from her royalties.
” Rota took a sip of her mead, and I could tell it was deliberate.
She had something juicy to tell us. “The house was put in a living trust for the daughter. Not Hunter.” Rota held up a finger.
“There was a caveat. If Mari died before Jayla turned eighteen, Mari gave rights for Hunter to live in the house until Jayla turned eighteen. But upon her eighteenth birthday, the house was to go to Jayla.” Rota paused and grinned.
“Mari appointed the same trustee to oversee the house as the person overseeing the royalties, and she made that change two months ago.” She paused again.
“Oh, and this trustee gets a compensation or stipend for being the trustee.”
“Who is it?” Link and I demanded simultaneously.
Zane chuckled and took a sip of his coffee.
“Eliza Nordic,” Rota said triumphantly.
For a second, no one spoke. And then we all spoke at once.
“No way!”
“Ye gotta be kiddin’ me?”
“Does Eliza know?”
Rota held up her hand. “I assume Eliza knows by now. I spoke to Parker this morning, and he said after he spoke to me, he was contacting Eliza.”
“We’ll need to speak to Eliza after this,” Zane said.
“What’s the husband’s alibi?” Rota asked.
I got up and headed to the cart. It was time for peanut butter pound cake. “Hunter told us after Sasha left his office around two, he stayed there until four-thirty. Alone. He’d had his secretary only work half a day, and she left after lunch.
Rota snorted and took a sip of mead. “Giving him time alone in his office for his afternoon delight.”
I laughed. “Afternoon delight? That’s a good one.”
“So he falls within the timeline.” Link took a sip of the hot milk and honey in his thimble. “He could be the killer. He’d get a huge chunk of insurance money and half the book royalties.”
I nodded. “Yes. The hard part now is identifying the murder weapon. Barbie said it was jute twine, but that’s common around here.
He could have gotten it from Sasha Carters’ shop—Zane and I noticed she had boxes of candy wrapped with it—or he simply could have gotten it from the local hardware store. ”
Rota clicked on her computer and projected the next folder onto the wall.
“Next is Rayna Halter. Age, thirty-three. Sea witch. Divorced twice, no children. Born and raised in Mystic Cove. Owns Halter Marina Supply & Tackle. She also sits on the city council. Rayna has no criminal record, and her personal and business financials are in good order.”
“Motive to want the lass dead?” Link asked.
“I’ll take this one.” I took a sip of my hot tea and thought a moment.
“Rayna was afraid Mari was going to tell the sheriff about what they’d done fifteen years ago to Eliza Nordic.
I overheard them discussing that very thing in the alleyway a few days back.
I even heard Rayna give Mari a sort of veiled threat about Jayla if Mari didn’t toe the line.
We now know Rayna may have added another part to the original spell which would explain why Eliza told us she felt her anger building throughout the day, until it was all-consuming.
And then Mari and the others suspected Rayna used magic again in the parking lot fight to help harm Eliza.
” I ate the last bite of my cake. “And then getting the valentine in the mail may have just been the final straw for Rayna. She realized Mari wasn’t going to back down. ”
“Her alibi and opportunity?” Rota asked.
Zane set down his coffee cup. “Rayna told us she had business drinks with a potential customer at Bottoms Up around three-fifteen and left the bar a little before four. She was back at the marina in time to see her worker leaving at four for the day.” He shrugged and lifted a hand in the air.
“From four to five, she has no alibi that anyone can corroborate.”
I nodded. “Mari showed us a receipt from Bottoms Up, but I’d like to still talk to the bartender.”
“We can do that when we leave here,” Zane said.
Rota pursed her lips. “So Rayna still had an opportunity to murder Mari, right? If TOD was between three-thirty and four-thirty, that would give her time?”
“Definitely,” I said.
“And,” Zane added, “Kara and I both saw she sells jute twine and other ropes and cords inside the marina’s store.”