25
Kate watched Garrett cross Bluff Avenue and approach Joe. He had just returned from the State Police barracks, and she overheard him tell Joe that he had gotten his text about the video of Maeve and had stopped in the security office to review the footage.
Conor took Kate’s hand and began to step away, to give the Rhode Island detectives privacy. She noticed that Sam and Lincoln were standing on the hotel verandah, so she and Conor started toward them, but Garrett called out.
“Conor,” he said.
“Yeah?”
“You’re cleared.”
Conor turned to face him, showing no emotion, as if he’d known all along that he would be cleared. But Kate saw his shoulders relax, and she knew what a relief it was to hear it—it was a relief for her too.
“You understand why we had to look at you, right?” Garrett asked.
“You did what you had to do,” Conor said.
“Look, you were soaked in her blood. Your fingerprints and footprints were all over. I couldn’t just automatically rule you out.”
“What cleared me?” Conor asked.
“I talked to Tom and other witnesses,” Garrett said. “Your alibi holds up. Plus, the medical examiner’s report just came in. Joe, did you get it? I emailed it to you.”
“Haven’t had the chance to check email,” Joe said.
“What did the ME find?” Conor asked.
“Homicidal cut-throat,” Garrett said. “Right to left—left-handed aggressor.”
Conor nodded, and Kate saw him relax even more.
“The killer was behind Belinda,” Garrett said.
“The cut began just under the right ear, two quick hesitation marks. Then deeper, extending across the entire neck. It slanted down somewhat in the center, then moved upward to the other ear. The weapon slashed the carotid arteries, accounting for the arterial spray . . .”
“So I’m cleared because I’m right-handed?” Conor said.
“Yes, along with your alibi,” Garrett said. “Plus, we found the murder weapon.”
“What is it?” Conor asked.
“An Opinel. Curved blade.”
“That’s an odd choice,” Conor said.
“Why?” Kate asked.
“An Opinel is a French knife, relatively uncommon in the United States,” Conor said. Then, to Garrett: “Where did you find it?”
“A guy was on the dinghy dock yesterday, about to get into his Zodiac and head out to his boat. He looked down—must have been low tide—and saw the knife in the shallow water. He scooped it up, and he was planning to keep it, till he heard about the murder. He gave it to a Westerly cop.”
“It’s not necessarily the murder weapon,” Conor said. “It could be anyone’s knife, right?”
“No,” Garrett said. “It’s our knife. There were strands of white silk from the wedding gown caught in the hinge, several hairs that match Belinda’s length and color. Obviously, the lab will test for DNA.”
“Prints?” Conor asked.
“It was in salt water for a while,” Garrett said. “So we’ll see. Maybe we can narrow down to where it was purchased. It’s not a common knife, at least not in the States.”
“So I really am off your list?” Conor asked.
“Yeah,” Garrett said. “You never should have been on it in the first place. Just . . . I got caught up in something.”
“Belinda?” Conor asked.
“She intended to get to you, Kate,” Garrett said.
“She obviously had it in for you. I had no idea until I saw what she did at the rehearsal dinner. By the time I got to the ER, she was already done with me. The only reason I was her date was because I could get her here, into the Ocean House for your wedding weekend.”
“And Miranda did the same with Bernard?” Kate asked.
“Apparently,” Garrett said. “Belinda and Miranda were very close. She told me they were like sisters. I wonder if they really were sisters.”
“Belinda had one brother, no sisters, when I knew them as kids,” Conor asked.
“They’re cousins,” Kate said. “Miranda told me.”
“Yeah,” Conor said. “She had cousins who spent summers in Groton Long Point. The girl was our age.”
“Maybe,” Garrett said.
“I remember that the cousins’ father—Belinda’s uncle—was an actor,” Conor said. “They lived in New York, and he was well known for doing Shakespeare. The family came out to Groton Long Point nearly every July so he could perform at the National Playwrights Conference, at the O’Neill.”
“He could have named his daughter after Miranda in The Tempest,” Kate said. “If she grew up in the theater world, that’s how she could have met Bernard. It would make sense that their paths crossed.”
“Or she targeted him,” Conor said.
“Miranda came to talk to me, to give me this,” Kate said, digging into her pocket and pulling out the wire ring to show Garrett. “She took it off Belinda’s finger while she was sleeping.”
Conor leaned closer to examine it.
“This isn’t the same one,” he said. “I didn’t realize that before, when you showed me upstairs.
I had wondered how it could still fit her—a ring she wore in first grade—but this isn’t the one.
I used soldering wire from my dad’s workbench.
It was much thicker than this. I should have noticed first thing. ”
“So she made it just to wear here, to your wedding,” Garrett said to Conor. “To get a reaction from you.”
“And from Kate,” Conor said.
“I wonder what happened to the original ring,” Kate said.
“I’d say we could ask Miranda about it,” Garrett said, “but she’s on her way back to LA. I just got word that Bernard’s jet took off from Groton–New London Airport an hour ago.”
“I doubt Miranda went with him,” Kate said, thinking of how she had confessed to tricking Bernard, just as Belinda had manipulated Garrett. With Miranda’s mission accomplished, there was no reason for her to continue the charade.
“I thought everyone was supposed to stick around, not leave till the investigation was over,” Conor said.
“That’s right,” Garrett said. “But Bernard chartered a private jet. He drove to Groton–New London Airport, got on board, and as they were taxiing, he texted me he has a big scene tomorrow and will be back on the weekend.”
“No way he’s planning to come back,” Joe said.
“He is French,” Garrett said. “He could easily have an Opinel, and since he’s flying private, he’d have no problem getting it on his jet and bringing it here. But what would his motive have been? Belinda had never met him before Friday, at the rehearsal dinner.”
“Do we know that for sure?” Conor asked. “Belinda was Miranda’s cousin. Bernard could have met her anytime.”
“I know this is all very important,” Kate said. “But what about Maeve?”
She pointed at the gold chain, still on the ground in the shadow of the wall. Joe had left it there until it could be photographed, collected as evidence.
Everyone but Conor looked down at the necklace.
Kate saw his eyes narrow as something up on the hotel verandah caught his attention.
Lincoln and Sam were still standing there.
Sam had her back to the road and was looking toward the ocean.
Lincoln stared, intent on what the police detectives and Kate were doing.
“They’re worried about Maeve,” Kate said. “That’s why Lincoln is so interested in what’s going on here.”
“Yes, of course,” Conor said, smiling at her. He gave Lincoln and Sam one last glance, then turned to watch Joe put on gloves and crouch down to pick up the fine gold chain.
But Kate knew Conor, and she knew there was more to what he had observed in Lincoln than he was saying.