Read Online The Clam Bake Murder: A Windward Bay Mystery by Samantha Doyle - Free Book Online
Authors: Samantha Doyle
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suspect there’s someone else involved.”
“I know there’s someone else involved.”
He tilted his head to one side. “How do you know?”
“Never mind that. I just want to know what you know, Gordo.”
“About what?”
“About everything. The Elysium scheme, your partner in Windward, who was also Alice’s lover, and exactly what happened the night she was murdered.” I tapped the knife blade on the rim of the flashlight. “We’re not going anywhere until I get the whole tale. You understand?”
“You’re nothing like I imagined you. The way Alice described you, I thought you’d be—”
“People change. Some have no choice but to change. You should know that, you cruel sonofabitch. You drained the light right out of her. You made her life a misery.”
He stared at the ground between us, didn’t respond.
“So you tell me the truth, right here, or I’ll bring a world of misery down on you, for what you did to Alice.”
“I didn’t kill her,” he pleaded.
“Then who did?”
“If I tell you, will you promise to let me go and not tell the police I’m in Windward?”
“No.” I paused. “But I’ll think about it. You’ll have to convince me beyond any doubt.”
He waved the notion away. “Not good enough. I need to be able to move about freely for the next few days. It’s critical.”
“For what? Elysium?”
He considered his reply. “Partly. But the man who killed Alice—he’s aiming to get away with it, right under everyone’s noses. He’s pinned the whole thing on me. I need some evidence to incriminate him before we go to the authorities, otherwise he’ll squirm out of it. The same way he squirmed his way into Alice’s bed. That sneaky rat bastard.”
“Who is he, Gordo? Who’s your silent partner? Who killed your wife?”
“I’ll give you his name, but it will have to be at the end, when I’ve figured out how to link him to Alice’s murder.” He took his beanie off to scratch his scalp. “I doesn’t suppose you have anything?”
“Like what?”
“Like some piece of evidence that doesn’t quite fit if I’m the killer. You were in the house for quite a while the other night. What did you find in Alice’s room?”
“Um, nothing really. Just old memorabilia.”
“You sure?”
He’d somehow turned the tables on me— he was interrogating me. That was the last straw. “Okay, I’ll not say it again. Either you explain it all right now or I march straight to Chief Mattson and take your note with me.” I flashed the torch beam in his face for emphasis.
He just leaned forward, squinted into the glare. “Then do it. Go to Mattson. Tell him what you’ve found out, then tell him how you found it out, where you went to get that information.” Rising to his feet, he added, “But before you do, you’ll have to kill me.”
I thought about lifting the knife into the beam and holding it there as a deterrent, but figured he’d already seen it. And I realized—this wasn’t going to end well for me unless I played along. Was he armed? I doubted it; but he was certainly desperate enough to do me harm if he felt he had to.
“So what’s your plan?” I asked. Still dazzling him with the light, to blind him, I took my cell phone out of the rucksack and put it on silent. Then I rang Billy and put the phone back, leaving it switched on. Hopefully he’d realize I was in some sort of trouble and do something police-y about it: go to my house first, see if I’d dialed by mistake, then maybe trace the call, triangulate the location of my cell.
“We’re going to your place,” he said, “and you’re going to show me what you found in Alice’s room.”
“But I didn’t find anything—”
“Bull. You’ve been working overtime putting this whole thing together. Visiting Del Brady, our house, the jetty, your deputy boyfriend, and probably talking to the other Selectmen as well: you’ve earned your Girl Scout badge and then some, Cousin Sylvia.”
“
“I know there’s someone else involved.”
He tilted his head to one side. “How do you know?”
“Never mind that. I just want to know what you know, Gordo.”
“About what?”
“About everything. The Elysium scheme, your partner in Windward, who was also Alice’s lover, and exactly what happened the night she was murdered.” I tapped the knife blade on the rim of the flashlight. “We’re not going anywhere until I get the whole tale. You understand?”
“You’re nothing like I imagined you. The way Alice described you, I thought you’d be—”
“People change. Some have no choice but to change. You should know that, you cruel sonofabitch. You drained the light right out of her. You made her life a misery.”
He stared at the ground between us, didn’t respond.
“So you tell me the truth, right here, or I’ll bring a world of misery down on you, for what you did to Alice.”
“I didn’t kill her,” he pleaded.
“Then who did?”
“If I tell you, will you promise to let me go and not tell the police I’m in Windward?”
“No.” I paused. “But I’ll think about it. You’ll have to convince me beyond any doubt.”
He waved the notion away. “Not good enough. I need to be able to move about freely for the next few days. It’s critical.”
“For what? Elysium?”
He considered his reply. “Partly. But the man who killed Alice—he’s aiming to get away with it, right under everyone’s noses. He’s pinned the whole thing on me. I need some evidence to incriminate him before we go to the authorities, otherwise he’ll squirm out of it. The same way he squirmed his way into Alice’s bed. That sneaky rat bastard.”
“Who is he, Gordo? Who’s your silent partner? Who killed your wife?”
“I’ll give you his name, but it will have to be at the end, when I’ve figured out how to link him to Alice’s murder.” He took his beanie off to scratch his scalp. “I doesn’t suppose you have anything?”
“Like what?”
“Like some piece of evidence that doesn’t quite fit if I’m the killer. You were in the house for quite a while the other night. What did you find in Alice’s room?”
“Um, nothing really. Just old memorabilia.”
“You sure?”
He’d somehow turned the tables on me— he was interrogating me. That was the last straw. “Okay, I’ll not say it again. Either you explain it all right now or I march straight to Chief Mattson and take your note with me.” I flashed the torch beam in his face for emphasis.
He just leaned forward, squinted into the glare. “Then do it. Go to Mattson. Tell him what you’ve found out, then tell him how you found it out, where you went to get that information.” Rising to his feet, he added, “But before you do, you’ll have to kill me.”
I thought about lifting the knife into the beam and holding it there as a deterrent, but figured he’d already seen it. And I realized—this wasn’t going to end well for me unless I played along. Was he armed? I doubted it; but he was certainly desperate enough to do me harm if he felt he had to.
“So what’s your plan?” I asked. Still dazzling him with the light, to blind him, I took my cell phone out of the rucksack and put it on silent. Then I rang Billy and put the phone back, leaving it switched on. Hopefully he’d realize I was in some sort of trouble and do something police-y about it: go to my house first, see if I’d dialed by mistake, then maybe trace the call, triangulate the location of my cell.
“We’re going to your place,” he said, “and you’re going to show me what you found in Alice’s room.”
“But I didn’t find anything—”
“Bull. You’ve been working overtime putting this whole thing together. Visiting Del Brady, our house, the jetty, your deputy boyfriend, and probably talking to the other Selectmen as well: you’ve earned your Girl Scout badge and then some, Cousin Sylvia.”
“
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