Hot Cider and a Murder Page 12

  “That’s interesting. I suppose he must have spilled it on himself?”

  She nodded. “He said he was being clumsy when helping Jack to develop some film. Apparently, Jack was out of the shop for a bit, and I guess Mark decided to go ahead and work on developing the film they had taken the day before.”

  I took this in. Jack’s name kept popping up. “When I spoke to Mark, he seemed appropriately grieved about the loss of his sister.”

  “I don’t doubt that,” she said. “He’s always said that they were close. But, Daphne never really spoke about her brother when I saw her.”

  “What do you mean?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. I would bring up his name in conversation occasionally, and she would just ignore it and change the subject. But you know how Daphne was. I don’t mean to speak ill of the dead, but she was a bit self-absorbed. She was young of course, and sometimes young people are that way.”

  I nodded. “She was kind of different, wasn’t she? I mean, different from her parents.”

  “That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Agatha said. “They have such a concern for those less fortunate, and it just seems that Daphne never took on that trait. You would think being raised by people so involved in good causes that she would’ve picked up that same character trait, wouldn’t you?”

  I nodded. “Both Mark and Tim are very involved in charitable causes right alongside their parents,” I said thoughtfully. I hadn’t really thought about this until Agatha brought it up, but it was true. Daphne never volunteered to help her parents with their charitable causes. Over the years I’d seen them get involved with a lot of different things. Usually one or both of their sons were alongside them working, but I couldn’t remember seeing Daphne help out.

  “Poor thing. We shouldn’t speak evil of her,” Agatha said after a moment.

  I nodded. “That’s exactly right. Daphne was still a young woman trying to find her way in the world, and I’m sure had she lived longer she would have found her place. I’ll let you get back to your lunch; I’ve got to get cleaning up around here. It was good talking to you.”

  “It’s always good talking to you, Rainey,” Agatha said and cut into her lamb chop.

  I headed over to an empty table and began clearing it of the dirty dishes. I knew the answer had to be somewhere close. Whoever had killed Daphne had to have had what they thought was a good reason to do it, and I was certain the killer would give themselves away.

  As I went about my business cleaning the diner and clearing dirty dishes, my mind went over everything we knew about the case. Business had been slow today, and I hoped we’d get out of the diner early. I wanted to get home and start working on the floors in my house. Cade had been true to his word and had been stopping by after work, using the sander to smooth out my floors, but there was so much to be done in the house before the holidays.

  After we had cleaned the diner and the customers had left, I buttoned up my coat and headed out toward my car. The wind was blowing, and the dead leaves from the trees were swirling around the parking lot. Sam would have to hire someone to remove the leaves once the trees had dropped all of them. My car was parked up against the edge of the parking lot, and tall trees were planted along the perimeter of that side of the parking lot. The leaves were a beautiful orange and gold with a backdrop of green grass growing along the outer perimeter. The idea of being a photographer made me happy, and I stopped and pulled my phone from my pocket. I began taking pictures of the piles of leaves, feeling a bit silly, but also kind of happy. I got a great shot of the swirling leaves that I thought would look wonderful on film. As I looked at the photo, I wondered what it would look like in a sepia-tone print. And that was when what Agatha had said hit me. Photography chemicals.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  I drove over to the lodge, hoping to speak to Mark. He had some explaining to do as far as I was concerned.

  I knocked on the door and when Lana opened it, she smiled. “Hello, Rainey,” she said. “What brings you by this afternoon?”

  I smiled back at her. “I was looking for Mark. Is he at home?”

  “He’s around back in his studio,” she said. “Would you like me to call him?”

  “Studio?” I asked, puzzled.

  She nodded. “Yes, Mark has caught the photography bug. There’s a little shed back there that he’s turned into his studio and darkroom.” She laughed. “You should see him. He loves nothing more than to spend hours in that shed. And I have to admit, he’s gotten quite talented at what he does.”

  I nodded.

  “I had no idea. What does he take photos of?”

  “He loves to take pictures of nature. He’s got his garden back there, and of course there’s a great big forest and the river. You should ask him to show you some of his work. He also has some beautiful shots of Daphne,” she said, and sadness crept into her eyes when she mentioned her daughter. “They’re really quite lovely. Ask him to show them to you.”

  I nodded. “I’ll do that. I’ll ask him to show them to me.”

  “You can just go on around back, you’ll see it. It’s a little shed that’s painted red with white trim. He insisted Bryan put up the shed for his studio. Just knock on the door and he’ll let you in.”

  I nodded. “Thanks, Lana,” I said and headed back down the porch steps. Mark was a photographer. Jack was a photographer. Had Mark started taking photos before he worked for Jack? And why had he worked for Jack for such a short period of time? Something didn’t add up. Or did it?

  I walked quickly toward the little red shed behind the house, my boots making a crunching noise as I walked through the dead leaves. The lodge and campgrounds would provide a lot of interesting backdrops for photographs. I wondered if Mark planned on taking photos commercially. If he had any talent, he could make decent money selling his photos.

  Planted along the front of the shed were beautiful purple flowers. I had never seen anything like them, I stopped and admired them for a moment. Then I knocked loudly on the door. The shed wasn’t very large, and I wondered how a dark room would fit into it.

  After a moment the door swung open, and Mark stood there, looking wide-eyed at me.

  “Hi, Mark, your mom said you would be back here,” I said brightly.

  He quickly recovered from his surprise and smiled. “Hi, Rainey,” he said. “What brings you to my little piece of the world?”

  I shrugged. “Your mom mentioned that you took photographs, and I am going to be in need of an updated author photo for my new cookbook early next year. The one I have now is pretty outdated. It’s at least five years old.”

  He grinned. “That sounds awesome. I’d love to help you out with that. Would you like to come in?”

  I nodded and followed him inside the shed. He closed the door behind us, and I looked around. Just as Lana had said, there were several photos of Daphne on the wall. They looked as professional as any Jack had at his shop. The photos were in color, black and white, and sepia-tone.

  “Wow, did you take all these of Daphne?”

  He nodded proudly. “Yes, my mother insisted I take them. I really wasn’t interested at first since what I really like is taking pictures of nature, but now that Daphne’s gone, I’m glad I did. I’ve been practicing for quite a while.”

  I nodded. “They’re beautiful. Are they taken with film or digital?”

  “Film. I find it far more interesting than taking digital photos,” he said. He seemed bashful talking about his photos. It was almost endearing.

  “That’s interesting. How did you learn to develop the film?”

  He cleared his throat, his eyes on the photo of Daphne. “Jack Farrell gave me a crash course in film developing last year. I hung out around his place for a couple of months, and he showed me everything he knew. I have to say, it’s a lot of fun. Developing film, I mean.”

  “I bet it is,” I said. My eyes went to his hand, and I noticed a faint scar on the back of his hand. “Tell me, Ma
rk, have you heard anything new from the police regarding Daphne’s death?”

  He looked at me surprised. “Why are you asking me? Why aren’t you asking your boyfriend?”

  His tone suddenly became hard, and he seemed tense. “I don’t know. It’s not like Cade tells me everything. He can’t. Some things have to be kept confidential. But I thought maybe the police had talked to you or your parents about what they knew, or what they were working on.”

  “I really don’t think I believe that.” He stared at me now, his eyes going hard.

  I narrowed my eyes at him. Two could play this game. “What do you mean you don’t believe that?”

  “Everyone knows you’ve been all over town sticking your nose into our business. I told my mom that you are a very suspicious character and not to trust you, but she won’t listen to me. She seems to think that you’re a friend of the family, but I know better.”

  I was surprised at Mark’s sudden change in demeanor. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Mark. I am a friend of your family. It’s true I’ve been asking around, but it’s simply to help put Daphne’s killer behind bars. That’s what you want, isn’t it? Don’t you want Daphne’s killer behind bars, Mark?”

  He studied me for a moment. “Sure. That’s what we all want.” He moved over behind a table that he had near the back wall and began fiddling with some boxes.

  I folded my arms across my chest. “What’s going on, Mark? You know more about Daphne’s death than you’re letting on, don’t you?”

  He glanced up at me, but then kept doing whatever it was he was doing with those boxes.

  When he didn’t answer me, I moved closer to the table that was standing there. “Why aren’t you answering me, Mark?”

  “You know, Rainey, you’re just an incredibly nosy person,” he said without looking at me.

  “Sometimes you’ve got to be nosy to get to the truth,” I pointed out.

  Mark suddenly leaped from his position near the table, knocking me on my back. I tried to scream, but the air rushed out of my lungs before I could get it out. His hands went around my throat, and he began choking me. “Daphne had it coming. She was a spoiled brat who got everything she ever wanted. She got my job, she got my parent’s affection and everything that belonged to me. But I can tell you one thing: she isn’t going to get my freedom and neither are you.”

  I tried to pry his fingers from my throat, but he was stronger than I was. I began gasping for air and struggling with all my might to get him off of me. It had been over a month since I had been to the gym to work out, and I realized what a terrible mistake that was.

  “Don’t think I’m taking pleasure in this, Rainey,” he grunted while squeezing my throat. “But I don’t have a choice. I’m not going to prison.”

  The room began to spin and my ears rang. I felt myself grow weaker, and I wished for Cade.

  I clawed at his fingers on my throat, and I could hear him grunting as he fought back against my struggles. As things began to go black, I heard the door of the shed open. There was a gasp.

  “Mark! What are you doing?”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  I sat on the front steps of the Richardses’ home, a blanket wrapped around me and a cup of cocoa in my hands that someone had given to me. I watched as the ambulance pulled away, empty of a patient. They had been called and had examined me, but I refuse medical help. I knew I would be fine thanks to Lana bursting in and saving my life. I sat, numbly trying to make sense of things.

  The beautiful purple flowering plants outside the shed were wolfsbane, containing a deadly toxin that had taken Daphne’s life.

  Cade was inside the house with Lana questioning her. Mark had already been taken away in a squad car. My heart went out to Lana and Bryan once again. Losing two children so close together would be devastating, particularly because one had taken the other’s life. I shivered as a breeze blew across my body and I pulled the blanket tighter, taking a sip of my now-cold cocoa.

  The front door of the house opened quietly, and Cade walked out and sat down beside me. “Are you okay?”

  I nodded. “I’m fine,” I squeaked.

  “I wish you would have gone to the hospital and let them examine you there.”

  “There’s nothing they could have done for me besides give me some aspirin and send me home,” I said hoarsely and turned to look at him. “How is Lana?”

  “She’s about as good as she can be now that she’s been given the news that her son killed her daughter. And for having caught him trying to kill you.”

  I looked away, shaking my head. “Terrible,” I squeaked.

  “It is a pretty terrible thing,” he agreed. “I’m just glad you’re okay. I wish you wouldn’t get yourself into trouble.”

  “I didn’t. I just came by to see how the family was doing and see if anybody could give me any additional information. I didn’t accuse anyone of anything if that’s what you’re thinking,” I whispered. My neck hurt where Mark had strangled me, and my vocal cords were bruised, making speaking difficult.

  “I didn’t say you accused anyone,” he said mildly. “But you know I can’t stand when you end up in harm’s way.”

  “I’m not crazy about it myself,” I said.

  He wrapped his arms around me and gave me a squeeze, kissing me on the top of the head. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

  “What did he say?”

  “Only that he hated his sister. She had gotten everything he ever wanted, and he’d had enough. He dried and pulverized the Wolfsbane into a powder and put it into the cider that you made. But we knew that, didn’t we? The cider covered up the taste of the poison. He said he added just a little cyanide to be certain that she’d die.”

  “Cold-blooded,” I managed to say and then took a sip of my cocoa to wet down my throat. “Completely planned out and plotted.”

  He nodded. “It doesn’t get any more planned than that. I’m just thankful that Lana burst in on him when she did.”

  I had begun to black out by the time Lana opened the door, but it had surprised Mark when she walked in and he loosened his grip. Maybe it embarrassed him just a bit. Mark may not have liked his sister, but he adored his mother. To have her see him killing me may have shocked him into letting me go. That was when he jumped to his feet, completely releasing me. I had managed to keep from blacking out as I rolled over, coughing and inhaling sweet oxygen.

  “Heartbreaking. Poor Lana, Bryan, and Tim,” I squeaked out. Speaking was going to be difficult for me for a while. And right then I wanted nothing more than to go home and bathe my throat in some hot tea and ginger and then lay down and take a nap.

  He kissed the top of my head again. “I better get you home. It’s getting cold out here and you need some rest. Are you sure you don’t want to go to the hospital to be checked out just in case?”

  I shook my head. “I want to go home.”

  He stood up and held his hand out to me, helping me to my feet. I was glad Cade was my boyfriend. If I had an ordinary boyfriend, something like this would have freaked them out much more than Cade was now. Not that Cade didn’t mind me getting throttled, but he’d been in tough situations before and he knew how to keep his cool.

  Cade wrapped his arm around me as we walked back to his car. One of these days I was going to learn to stay out of trouble. But until then, I was going to get back to the gym and get my strength back. Next time, a killer would be sorry if they tried to choke me.