A Wrench in the Works Read online

  “It feels as if we’ve spent the past twenty-four hours here,” I said.

  “It’s because of all the drama and horror we’ve watched unfold. It seems to have stretched the space-time continuum.”

  “Gee, that’s almost poetic,” I said, grinning.

  “Hey, I’m not just a pretty face.”

  “No, you’re so much more.” I stared at all my bags and my toolbox and wondered if I even had the energy to move everything. I glanced at Chloe. “Are you hungry? I’m hungry.”

  “I could eat.”

  I shot a glance across the lawn. “Those donuts are calling my name.”

  “Hmm, you may be starting to hallucinate.”

  “Because I’m starving.” I gazed longingly at the catering table. I could easily grab one of Emily’s delectable pastries, but what I really wanted was a cheeseburger.

  From behind me, the front door opened with a morbidly loud creak, surprising me enough that I jolted and let out a little shriek. I managed to right myself, but it was embarrassing.

  “Are you all right?” Chloe asked, alarmed.

  “That stupid door freaks me out every time,” I grumbled, feeling silly. “I’m going to oil those hinges as soon as Eric gives me the word.”

  Leo the CSI guy walked out the door, followed by Lilah.

  “Hey there, Shannon,” Leo said, while Lilah smiled and nodded.

  I pulled one of my tote bags up to my shoulder and grabbed my toolbox. “How’s it going in there?”

  “We’ve got at least another full day’s worth of work to do,” Leo said, his expression grim. “It’s a little stuffy so I thought we’d take a break while we wait for the guys to come and transport the body.”

  “Will she go to Bittermans?” I asked. That was our local funeral home, where the body would be embalmed if the family approved.

  “She’ll have to be autopsied first,” Leo said.

  “It looked to me like she’d been hit in the head.”

  “She was. But there may be more than one cause of death to choose from.”

  “Oh.” I wasn’t sure he should’ve revealed that tidbit to me, but I supposed he’d seen me with Eric on a few other murder scenes and figured I was trustworthy. Which I was. But I still didn’t think the police chief would appreciate me getting the news. Mostly because now I was going to wonder what other causes of death Bree might’ve suffered.

  Maybe she had been drugged like Blake. Maybe she had confronted her killer as he tried to drug her and she’d fought back, so the killer had to conk her over the head with some blunt, heavy object. Or maybe she was stabbed, although I didn’t see blood anywhere else. Or she could’ve been strangled. I didn’t notice any bruising around her neck when I checked for a pulse, but I wasn’t an expert, was I?

  No, I was not. And that was the very best reason to just stop thinking about all these terrifying causes of death and move along to the next topic. Maybe I couldn’t help finding bodies, but that didn’t mean I had to focus on murder, did I?

  “Are you going to be doing any work out here?” I asked.

  Leo shrugged. “Just some dusting for prints.”

  I pressed my lips together, concerned that I’d damaged their investigation. “Did you already take care of the front doorknob?”

  “Yes, the knob and the keyhole escutcheon,” Leo said, “just to be safe.”

  I walked over to the door to study the fixture. “It’s very heavily ornamented.”

  “Yes, classic Victorian and beautiful, don’t you think? But see? There’s a flat surface just around the keyhole itself.” He grinned. “You never know. Might snag ourselves a partial.”

  “I really hope you find something,” I said. “But I should warn you, I opened the door myself this morning so you might just find my prints.”

  “Chief Jensen warned me of that already, so I’ll watch out for you.” He winked at me. “We’ve got your prints on file.”

  I smiled. “Thanks, Leo.”

  “We’re lucky you didn’t use the back door, because we got some good, clear prints there. Plus there’s an aluminum screen door, so we have twice as much chance of finding something.”

  So they thought the killer might’ve come in through the back door? It made sense. I thought about the layout of the neighborhood. They could’ve parked on a side street and hiked through the woods to the Blooms’ backyard, then sneaked in through the back door and surprised Bree waiting inside.

  But who had she been waiting for? I wondered. And was the person she was waiting for the same person who killed her? Had there been a skirmish inside the house? With all the dust and cobwebs in there, I would think the forensics people would notice signs of a scuffle. Maybe the scuffle took place in the backyard and she was dragged inside and left on the fireplace hearth.

  Don’t look now, Shannon, I told myself, but you’re focusing on murder again.

  “Hey, Leo,” Lilah said. “While you’re out here taking a break, I’m going to go inside and dust for prints on the staircase.”

  “Good idea,” Leo said. “You got your briefcase with you?”

  “Never leave home without it.”

  He grinned and gave her a thumbs-up. I assumed he was talking about a fingerprint kit like the ones I’d seen other cops carry. It did look like a briefcase, but instead of papers and files, it held a bunch of tools and supplies, mainly several containers of fine black fiber powder, a soft dusting brush, and plenty of lifting tape to capture any prints they found.

  I could speak from experience when it came to cleaning up that microfine black powder they used. It was almost impossible to get rid of it all. And how sad was it that I knew this stuff?

  “Ready?” Chloe said, her arms full of the bags of clothing and supplies we’d brought with us earlier.

  “We’ll see you later, Leo,” I said, and followed Chloe carefully down the steps. When I reached the walkway I turned back to the CSI guy. “Please be careful on these steps, Leo. The wood is old and rotted.”

  “Thanks for the heads-up,” Leo said, and waved as we walked away.

  Just then, Mac jogged up the walkway. “Good timing,” he said, and took the toolbox from my hand.

  “Thank you,” I said, beaming a happy smile. “You’ve been gone awhile.”

  “I was in the trailer talking to Blake.”

  “He talked to you?”

  “Yeah. He woke up right after the EMTs showed up. Refused to go to the hospital.”

  “I’m glad he’s talking,” I said. “Mainly because I’m dying to hear what he said and what happened in there.”

  “And I’m dying to tell you.” He grinned. “Are you taking this stuff to your truck?”

  “Yes. Maybe.” I paused as an idea formed in my head. “Hey, Chloe, wait up.”

  She stopped and turned. I knew she had sped up to give Mac and me a chance to talk alone. I appreciated her thoughtfulness, but I had something else in mind.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “What would you say to getting the crew together and doing some work on the outside of the house this afternoon? It might be a day or two before we can get back inside, so it’ll give us something to do in the meantime.” When she didn’t answer right away, I cajoled a little. “The catering trucks are here. We’ve got the guys, the tools, and we could get a jump on things . . .”

  She thought about it for a moment, stared up at the massive Victorian, and nodded. “That’s not a bad idea. Let me see what Suzanne thinks. With Bree . . . gone, Suzanne will have to take over the mantle of executive producer. Much as I disliked Bree, she knew how to run the show. We’ll need someone with that quality. Suzanne is certainly organized, but I’m not sure she has it in her to knock heads together when it’s needed.”

  “Maybe it won’t be needed.”

  “Maybe.” Chloe smiled.
“I’d better get some of the crew involved, too. They’ve got their union schedules to deal with. This might take a little while.”

  “We’ll have to clear it with the police first,” I said, “but I can give Eric a call and find out.”

  “Oh, right. You should talk to Eric before I tell my people.” She frowned. “Frankly, Shannon, I’m not sure everyone will really want to go back to work. We might need to take at least a day off to honor Bree’s memory.”

  I grimaced. Okay, my suggestion was tacky. But in my defense, Bree didn’t have a lot of admirers around here. “Of course. I’m so sorry, I wasn’t thinking.”

  “That’s okay,” she said, waving away my concern. “I’m on your side. I would love to work on that porch this afternoon. It would take my mind off everything that’s happened and, hey, Bree would want the show to go on.”

  Another good point. “Do you think maybe your cameraman and some of the rest of the crew will feel the same way we do?”

  “I can probably talk them into it. I’ll have to clear it with Suzanne and our associate producer to make sure we’re complying with the union rules and all that jazz.”

  “Okay, let me call Eric and see what he says.” I glanced at Mac. “I know he’s busy right now and I’m probably the last person he wants to hear from. But this is important.”

  “You don’t have to call him, Shannon,” Mac said. “Eric is still talking to Blake. He’s right inside that trailer.”

  “Oh.” That was a surprise. “He stormed off after that confrontation with the Wagners and I figured he’d gone back to headquarters.”

  “Nope. I get the feeling he’s perfectly happy to let the Wagners stew for a while. Meanwhile, Eric and many of the other cops will probably be here for most of the day. They’ve still got to interview people and search the house for possible evidence.”

  “I knew that,” I muttered.

  Mac laughed and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “Of course you did.”

  “What about you?” I asked. “Are you going to go home? You were stuck in that trailer for over three hours. You must be ready to hit the road.”

  “Not really,” he said, smiling broadly. “We had a pretty interesting talk.”

  Oh, he was teasing me with the promise of information. “Does he know about Bree?”

  Mac’s smile faded a bit. “He does now. He was still groggy for a while so I didn’t say anything about it. But as soon as Eric walked in, Blake straightened up. Especially when he broke the news about his wife.”

  “How did Blake react?” Chloe asked.

  Mac hesitated, then said, “He burst into tears.”

  “Oh no.” Chloe pressed her hand to her mouth and I was afraid her own floodwall was about to crack.

  I patted her arm. “Are you okay?”

  She sniffled. “I’m really worried about Blake. I know he comes across as the original rugged individualist, but he was always very devoted to Bree. What will he do now? It tears me up inside.”

  I glanced at Mac. “Did they take him to police headquarters?”

  “Not yet. Guess it depends on what he tells them, whether they’ll take him in to be interrogated. I wish I could tell you more, but Eric asked me to leave when he and Tommy started getting into some of the more serious questions about his wife’s death.”

  “That’s a drag,” I muttered, completely disappointed.

  “Right?” Mac said, biting back a smile. Honestly, he knew me so well, it was both comforting and annoying. “Anyway, I’m not sure what they’ll get out of him. He was still weepy when I left.”

  “I’d say it’s been an awful day for everyone.” I really wanted to get into doing some work. Swinging a hammer and doing a little demo was good for the soul, and it could keep your mind busy when you really needed it.

  He reached for my hand. “To answer your earlier question, I’m not going home. I’m staying here for as long as you’re here.”

  I smiled. “That’s nice. Thank you.”

  “Hey, there’s a killer running loose around here and I’m not taking my eyes off you until they’re caught.”

  “Killer. Right. Good point.”

  I knew I was probably safe enough being surrounded by all these people, but it was a truly good feeling to have my very own knight in shining armor standing alongside me.

  Still, though, it would be wise to remember there was a killer in our midst. I took in a deep breath and let it go. It always helped to get a clear picture of what we were up against. Trying to lighten the moment, I said, “Well, as long as you’re staying, maybe we can put you to work.”

  “I’ll be happy to help out. Let’s go talk to Eric,” he suggested. “See what he says about your crew working on the house.”

  I looked at Chloe. “You coming with us?”

  “I’ll go check the production trailer and see for sure whether anyone’s up for working this afternoon. Will you come find me after you talk to Chief Jensen? It’s the fourth trailer down the line.”

  I walked with her to the production trailer, where we stowed our bags and toolboxes. Then Mac and I headed for Blake’s trailer. He knocked on the door.

  Tommy opened the door and stepped outside. “What’s up, guys?”

  “I wanted to ask Eric if he minds if we do some work on the outside of the house this afternoon.”

  “Let me ask him.” He walked back inside and closed the door. A minute later, he returned. “He said okay, but stay away from the area around the front door and don’t go inside the house, of course.”

  “Got it. Thanks, Tommy.”

  I texted Chloe to let her know we’d received the okay from Eric.

  She texted back, Wait for me.

  “We might as well meet her at the production trailer.” Mac and I walked down to the trailer just as Chloe stepped outside.

  “They’re rounding up the crew,” she said. “We can go to work this afternoon. The guys will need an hour for the setup, plus an hour for lunch.”

  “That’s great.”

  Chloe nodded, “I think you were right. Most of the guys really need something to do. Taking the day off would have given everyone too much time to think about what happened.” She turned to look at the Bloom house. “Besides, this is Bree’s last job. We all want to make it shine.”

  I reached out and gave her arm a squeeze. “You okay?”

  “Yeah. I mean, not great. But okay. And still hungry.”

  “Me, too,” I said. “Let’s go eat.”

  * * *

  • • •

  After arranging to meet back at the house in an hour, Mac drove Chloe and me to the Cozy Cove Diner for lunch.

  Once we were seated in a booth and our orders were taken and drinks were served, I turned to Mac. “So tell us everything that Blake said.”

  “Does he know who drugged him?” Chloe asked.

  “He doesn’t know much of anything,” Mac said. “He got to the house around six o’clock last night. Bree had a meeting so she told him she would meet him at the house around seven, but she didn’t show up until almost eight.”

  I frowned. “Why would they meet at the house so late? It’s so dark and spooky.”

  “The Wagners were the ones who insisted on meeting them there, and Bree wanted to placate them because they were so angry about the decision.” Mac took a sip of water. “Blake had a feeling they would want to go through the house and point out every little downside while giving all the reasons why their house would be better for the show. They just didn’t get that it was too late.”

  “Plus they were wrong,” I insisted. “Their house isn’t very interesting. The Bloom house has so much character and it’s such a classic style. Couldn’t they see that?”

  “Guess not. Anyway, Bree showed up almost an hour later and Blake yelled at her for keeping him waiting.” M
ac paused, shook his head. “As soon as he told us that, he started bawling all over again because he felt so guilty for yelling at her.”

  “Oh, dear,” Chloe whispered.

  “That’s rough,” I said, frowning. “He’s going to have to live with that guilt for a long time. But eventually, he’ll remember that Bree knew he loved her.” But even as I said it, I knew none of that would make Blake feel any better right now.

  Cindy arrived with our burgers and we dug in, grateful for the break. We ate in silence for a few minutes, savoring our cheeseburgers and fries.

  Finally Mac set down his burger and took up the conversation. “Blake said that Bree had set up meetings with both couples. The Blooms arrived at eight o’clock and left after about fifteen minutes.”

  “Did the Blooms find out that their house was chosen?”

  “Bree wouldn’t tell them. Even though the Wagners found out that they were the losers, Bree insisted on keeping the news from the Blooms so they could get their reaction on camera.”

  “That’s Bree,” Chloe said with a shrug. “That’s how she rolls.” She gulped. “Well, rolled.”

  “The Wagners didn’t show up until around nine thirty,” Mac said. “According to Blake, they were really fuming and said a lot of threatening stuff. Even mentioned a possible lawsuit, but Bree played it cool. Told them they’d signed a contract and they didn’t have a legal leg to stand on.”

  “That must’ve annoyed Rolly Wagner.”

  “Oh, yeah. He got right up in Bree’s face and told her there were other ways to get even that had nothing to do with a lawsuit. Blake stepped in between them and told Wagner to stop threatening his wife.”

  I reached for a French fry. “Rolly Wagner is a big, mean bully, so that was pretty brave of Blake.”

  “Yeah,” Mac said. “Blake said the guy looked like he was going to explode. Anyway, Wagner warned that they’d be sorry and then the Wagners stomped their way out of the house.” He took a bite of his burger and took his time chewing.

  I was anxious to hear more and was not exactly known for my patience. “So then what happened?”

  “At that point, Blake was ready to call it a night, but Bree couldn’t leave yet. She was supposed to meet Suzanne and go over some details about the script, but Suzanne couldn’t meet her until ten p.m.”