Premeditated Mortar Read online

  The rest of us huddled together in the hallway as if to protect ourselves from a cold wind. I felt bad for Judson Killian, though he hadn’t seemed like the most fantastic human around. But I felt horrible for us, too. Jane’s shiny new hotel had a body in it. And I, once again, was the murder magnet.

  Eric asked us all to exit the back hallway completely, requesting that we wait outside on the front lawn.

  “Wait, Shannon.” Eric pulled me aside and Mac stayed close by. “I want you to round up all of your crew and get them out of there, too.” He glanced around. “Mac, can you help?”

  “You bet,” he said. “I can take the third floor.”

  “Okay,” I said. “I don’t think we’ve got anyone working up there yet, but it would great if you could make sure.”

  Mac and I took the stairway together and at the second level I took off running. Mac kept going up to three.

  I jogged up and down the hall announcing to everyone who could hear me. “Whoever’s working on this floor, I need you out of here immediately. Take your belongings with you, but leave the ladders and heavy equipment behind. We’ve got a police emergency.”

  “Hey, boss.” Sean walked out of one of the rooms and joined me. “What the hell?”

  I leaned in close. “We found a dead body downstairs.”

  “Aw, jeez, Shannon. Not again.” He raked his fingers through his hair. We had been through this before, more than once or twice.

  “Yeah, again,” I said. “Can you make sure everyone leaves this floor right away? They can bring all their personal stuff, but leave everything else. We’ll lock up the place and be able to get back in here in a day or so.”

  “You got it. See you downstairs.” He turned and went running down the hall, stopping at every doorway to check for workers. I ran upstairs to find Mac.

  “Anyone up here?” I asked when I reached the third floor and saw him walking toward me.

  “Found four guys up here,” he said. “They were just starting to sweep the floors. I’ve rounded them all up.”

  “Okay, thanks.” I watched my four amigos come trudging down the hall with their backpacks and toolboxes.

  “Thanks, guys,” I said, and all of us went downstairs quickly. We met up with Eric on the first floor.

  “I think we’ve got everyone out who was upstairs,” I told him.

  “Good. I’ll have my officers make a final sweep, just in case.” He nodded. “Thanks.”

  “Anything else?”

  “Just have everyone wait outside. Don’t let anyone leave. I’ll station two of my guys out there as soon as they arrive, just to make sure everyone sticks around.”

  “Okay.”

  He continued, “Tell your people that I’ll be out to talk to the whole group as soon as I’ve met with Leo.”

  I could hear the sound of sirens in the distance.

  “And, Shannon, I’m sorry, but we’re going to search everyone’s belongings.” Eric winced as if he hated having to say it. But this wasn’t the first time we’d been through this.

  “What are you looking for? How was he killed?”

  Eric scowled at my questions, but then relented. “I can’t be sure until the medical examiner comes. There were no visible signs of attack. That’s all I can say.”

  “So maybe he was poisoned? Or someone gave him an injection of something?”

  “We’re finished discussing this.”

  “Okay, okay. But you know my crew would never do anything to hurt this guy.” I sighed and gave a halfhearted shrug. “But if you feel it’s a must to search everyone, then okay. I understand. But none of them were responsible for killing this guy.” I shook my head, then held up both hands. “I’ll go tell the guys.”

  He scowled. “I’d rather you didn’t tell them anything specific.”

  “How can I tell them anything specific when you won’t tell me anything specific?”

  He just gave me a look.

  “No problem,” I said, holding up my hands in surrender. “I’ll just tell the guys to stick around.”

  “That works. Just keep everyone here for now.”

  I gave him a salute. “Will do.”

  Mac and I started for the front door, and then I turned around. “Hey, Chief. Chloe said you found fingerprints in that other room. Were they Carrot Head’s? Sorry. I mean, were they Judson Killian’s?”

  He simply glared at me and said nothing. I smiled innocently. I had been the recipient of that glare on more than one occasion so I wasn’t exactly intimidated. Still, it was always a bit unnerving, for sure. Finally he simply shook his head and continued walking in the other direction.

  “Guess we better get out of here,” I murmured.

  “Yeah,” Mac said, but he was grinning as he threw his arm around my shoulders. “Told you I wouldn’t be bored. It’s always an adventure with you.”

  I shook my head. “I can’t believe this is happening again. And more important, why?”

  “Just the way things roll in your world.”

  I snorted politely. “Thanks for that.”

  When we got to the front door, he took hold of my arm to stop me from going outside. “I’ve got to ask you something. Why did you want to get into that room so badly? Did you have some kind of, you know, a premonition about it?”

  I sighed. “Not really a premonition. I just had a bad feeling about it, especially after studying the blueprints. Why had that entire wall been bricked up? What were they hiding?”

  “Whoever they were,” Mac muttered.

  “Right,” I said, feeling morose. “We have no idea who they are. And we still don’t know what’s behind that second brick wall!”

  We walked outside and I relayed Eric’s instructions to Wade and Carla. Then I said, “Do you mind letting everyone know? Mac and I need to take a little walk to clear our heads.”

  Carla squeezed my arm sympathetically. “No problem, boss.”

  “We’ll take care of it,” Wade said.

  “Thanks.”

  Mac took my hand and we crossed the grass until we reached the rows of neatly pruned hedges that lined the hard-packed dirt pathway, away from my crew who had gathered closer to the building.

  “So now one of the protesters is dead,” Mac mused as we strolled along the path. “Who killed him? Another protester? A former patient? The doctor? Her weird sidekick?”

  “And who is he? Who is Carrot Head? Why is he here?” I wondered out loud. I wasn’t used to calling the guy by his real name, Judson Killian, but I would have to try to do it. He deserved to have some dignity in death, as well as in my own mind.

  Mac sighed heavily. “We have to consider the possibility that if some of the protesters are former Gables patients, they may be dealing with some serious issues.”

  “I’ve thought about that.” I knew what he was intimating and I didn’t really want to consider it.

  We stopped to watch three black-and-white police cars come zooming up the hill, sirens blasting. They didn’t bother parking in the back but drove right up on the grass and came to a stop a safe distance away from the crowd.

  A minute later a black van pulled up and parked nearby. Leo Stringer jumped down from the driver’s seat, carrying his heavy-duty silver briefcase with all of his forensics tools and CSI goodies inside. Lilah O’Neil climbed down from the passenger seat, carrying a smaller version of the same briefcase. As far as I knew, her kit contained, among other things, all the equipment necessary for taking fingerprints. Leo and Lilah went running across the grass to the front door and disappeared inside.

  Two minutes after that, another SUV pulled up and Tommy Gallagher hopped out. He saw me and waved before walking quickly into Building Seven.

  “Full police presence,” Mac murmured.

  “They’re going to shut us down.” It made me feel like cursi
ng the universe, but I managed to keep it together. Instead of feeling sorry for myself, I would feel sorry for poor Judson Killian.

  “It’ll just be for a day or two,” Mac reasoned.

  “I hope you’re right. But I guess that will depend on what they find.”

  We walked in silence along the edge of the grass for a few minutes. The birds hadn’t gotten the dismal message that a murder had happened here because they continued their chirping and chattering and flittering from tree to tree. The sky above was blue and the sun was shining, but the air was cool. I noticed some gray clouds gathering over the water. Would there be a storm tonight?

  “He couldn’t have been in there too long,” I said.

  “No,” Mac said, knowing exactly what I was referring to. And wasn’t it lovely to be able to have a meeting of the minds with a special person like Mac? Even if our minds were meeting over the latest murder victim I’d found. “No more than twenty-four hours.”

  “Probably less.” I thought about it for a moment. “Wait. We saw him on Monday when he was hurling fake blood at Rachel Powers. He was taken to police headquarters and was released later that day. Eric said he lawyered up, remember? I don’t remember seeing him after that.” I had to take a breath. “Is it possible he could’ve been dead all this time?”

  “But Shannon, he couldn’t have been inside that room the whole time.”

  “That’s right.” My head was starting to spin, but in a good way. “Because Niall hadn’t moved all the bricks out of the way yet.”

  “And there’s a brick wall on the other side of the door. So there was no way anyone could even get close to that space behind the door before last night.”

  “Let alone open the door and drag a dead body inside. Thanks to all those bricks.”

  “Niall only just finished the job last night,” Mac said. “That’s why he and Jane were late getting to the party.”

  “So whoever killed Judson had to have hauled him into the room sometime after that.”

  Mac picked up a small stone and tossed it as high as he could. It went over the eucalyptus trees and landed in the distance.

  “Nice throw,” I said.

  The movement seemed to center him. “This is one of those things I do when I can’t figure out how to structure a scene. Take a walk, hunt for seashells, toss stones into the water. Mostly, I just need to move around, change the scenery. It all helps.”

  “What do you do with the seashells?”

  He smiled. “Sometimes I’ll keep one or two and leave the rest on the beach.”

  I took a moment to watch the leaves dancing in the breeze, then looked back at him. “Have you structured this scene yet?”

  “I’m getting there.” He knew which scene I was talking about. He brushed my hair away from my face. “You are, too, I think.”

  “I’ve got fragments,” I said, frowning. “Not the whole picture.”

  “Let’s put them all together.”

  “Okay.” I took a breath and let it out. Mac and I had done this very thing before and I thought we made a heck of a team. “Just theorizing here, but I see two possible scenarios happening last night. One, Judson met someone in that hidden room and was killed on the spot. Or two, he was murdered somewhere else and his killer moved him to the hidden room.”

  “Judson wasn’t a big guy, but his killer would still have to be really strong to move him.”

  “Oh, yeah,” I said. “That would take some serious maneuvering. First carrying the body over the wall and down into the antechamber, then getting the hidden door opened and putting him in there.”

  Mac nodded. “If Judson wasn’t killed on the spot, then it had to have happened nearby. Logistically speaking.”

  I gazed at Mac. “Like, maybe inside one of those rooms along the back hallway?”

  “It’s possible. The police had already searched all of those rooms, so the killer might’ve felt safe using one of them.” He frowned. “That’s if the killer even knew the police had been there.”

  “Right. And all those rooms were unlocked.” I scowled. “And by the way, we still don’t know whose fingerprints Leo found. Eric wouldn’t share.”

  He chuckled. “He’s stubborn that way. But look, the door to the hidden room was locked, so the killer must’ve had the keys to that lock.”

  “Jane has a set of keys to this place,” I said. “But who else does?”

  “Rachel does,” Mac said thoughtfully. “She unlocked a few doors while we were touring around the place.”

  I thought for a second. “I wonder if Dr. Fairchild still has a set of keys.”

  Mac just stared at me.

  We had been staring at each other a lot lately, probably because things kept happening around here that continued to blow our minds.

  “Oh, man, that doctor,” he said grimly. “You’ve got to wonder why she came back here.”

  “To sell her book?” I said.

  “Yeah, maybe.”

  “Or to reclaim her power?”

  Mac’s eyes lit up. “Very possible. And to make sure the Gables reputation wasn’t sullied.”

  “That makes sense,” I said. “The reputation of the Gables would reflect on her. At least, she would think so.”

  “If I were writing this book,” Mac said after a moment, “I’d bring the doctor back to the scene so she could make sure her secrets weren’t being revealed. Like, maybe she didn’t want anyone getting near those brick walls.”

  I considered that. “So she’s returning to the scene of the crime.”

  Mac grinned. “It’s always a winner.”

  Chapter Twelve

  I gazed at Mac. “Sometimes I’m awestruck by our combined brilliance.”

  He laughed out loud. “I think what we have is what’s technically called a Vulcan mind meld.”

  I had to laugh. “And the brilliance keeps on coming.”

  “Thank you.” He bowed. “Thank you very much.”

  “I think we’re getting a little punchy.”

  “We’re allowed.”

  He grabbed my hand and we continued walking. And talking.

  I plucked an odd-looking leaf off a bush as we passed it. “So obviously, Judson must’ve had a connection to the Gables. And he was part of the online protest group whose other members are also connected to the Gables.”

  “He’s old enough to have been a patient,” Mac said.

  “Or he could’ve been on staff.” I stared up at the trees, my mind wandering. “I wonder if he knew Jane’s mother.”

  Mac squeezed my hand. “Shannon, you can’t possibly think this has anything to do with Jane’s mother.”

  It was like being yanked out of a dream. “What? No! Not at all. It was just a random thought. I get them all the time.” I gave my arms a quick rubbing. “God, I’m giving myself chills. But no, there’s no way Jane’s mom could be connected to any of this ugliness.”

  After a few long seconds, Mac said, “I don’t think you ever told me why Jane decided to build her hotel in this wing of the Gables.”

  I had to take a breath. “This building housed the women’s nonviolent ward. It’s where her mother stayed when she was a patient here.”

  He nodded slowly. “Okay. That’s heavy.”

  “I know. But it makes Jane happy to think she’s turning it into a brighter place for her mom.”

  “She’s amazing,” he murmured. We walked a little farther, and then Mac said, “Let’s sit down for a few minutes.”

  “Okay.”

  “How about right here on the grass? We’ve even got a patch of shade.”

  “Perfect.”

  He knew I was still upset with myself and I could tell he wanted to comfort me. It was working. We settled down on the grass and I leaned back and closed my eyes. As I’d told Wade and Carla, I tried to clear
my head.

  After a few minutes, I opened my eyes and gazed at Mac. “I’ve got my tablet with me. How about if we look up that chat group? I want to see who some of these people are.”

  “Let’s do it.”

  I pulled my tablet from my bag. We were on the far end of the lawn and I gauged the distance. “I think we’re close enough to the building that I can connect through the Gables Wi-Fi.”

  “They’ve already wired this place for Wi-Fi?” Mac nodded slowly. “Pretty smart.”

  “Jane told me that all of the lessees insisted on it. It makes sense, right?”

  “Absolutely.” He paused, then asked, “Do you know what you’re looking for?”

  “Names. Comments. Rants.” I shook my head. “I guess I got a little off track when I veered toward Jane’s mother.”

  Mac smiled. “Hey, everything gets a green light.” He took hold of my hand. “No right or wrong track. And no judgment.”

  “I’m judging myself.”

  “Don’t. It’s entirely possible that Judson Killian really did know Jane’s mom. It doesn’t mean there’s a deeper, darker connection to it.” He stretched his long legs out on the grass. “We’re just playing the Scooby-Doo game, tossing ideas around, remember? It’s just you and me.”

  Was it any wonder I was in love with him? Even when I was being paranoid and a little bit judgmental, mostly about myself, he was being just . . . totally cool. A real superhero. I bet he’d look great in a cape.

  I smiled at him. “This is good.”

  “Yeah? You okay?”

  “I’m great.” I managed a short laugh. “It was just weird to consider, even for a minute, that Jane’s mother could have a connection to what’s happening now.”

  “It’s not totally far-fetched.”

  “Yeah, but it’s unrealistic and I’m grasping at straws and dreaming of conspiracies, just to make sense of things. Sorry.”

  “Dead bodies can do that to you.”

  “No kidding.” I swiped my tablet to open it. “Hey, speaking of connections, I’ve got one.”

  “Good. Do we know the name of the chat group?”

  “No. I’m going to try a search linking Judson Killian and the Gables. We’ll see what comes up.”