Part 12 (1/2)
”I mean,” I said, ”has any trace of Old Nick been found?”
Vida pointedly looked at her watch. ”It's scarcely after one. The searchers have been gone for less than three hours. I'd hardly expect them to have returned with any sort of information by now.”
She was right, of course. But I couldn't resist needling Vida. On the other hand, I wanted to consult with her. I tried weaseling my way out of the confrontational state between us.
”I was wondering if Old Nick actually left town,” I explained. ”That is, he might have gone somewhere else to hide out.”
”That would be uncharacteristic of his type,” Vida a.s.serted, though her expression softened. ”Those hermits always return to their lairs.”
”Yes, I suppose they do,” I allowed, gingerly approaching her desk. ”How do you like my hair?”
”What hair?” Vida asked. ”You don't seem to have any.”
”That bad, huh?”
”Well now . . .” She pursed her lips. ”It is very short.”
”Stella got carried away,” I said.
”Indeed. She also seems to have applied some sort of goo,” Vida said, still studying me from all angles. ”I won't permit Stella to put anything except a wisp of spray on my hair.”
”It'll grow out,” I said hopefully. ”Don't you want to hear why Stella lost focus?”
”You're serious?”
I nodded. Vida leaned forward. ”Do sit,” she urged, sounding like her usual self.
I saw no further reason to hold back on what Adam and Janet had told me. Stella's account only confirmed their suspicions. A possible affair between Toni and Tim might be a motive for murder.
”My, my,” Vida remarked when I'd finished. ”That's most intriguing. Tiffany's reaction makes more sense if Tim had been unfaithful. I almost feel sorry for her. But can you tell Milo all this? You know how he hates tales out of school.”
I nodded again. ”Maybe I should invite him over to dinner and ply him with strong drink.”
Vida was disapproving. ”That's a poor idea-for various reasons.”
Vida couldn't know but probably suspected that there'd been many occasions in the past when Milo ate dinner at my house-and stayed on for dessert in the bedroom. But those interludes had ended a long time ago. Now Milo and I had settled for being friends. Good friends, I liked to think.
”I don't intend to seduce him,” I a.s.serted. ”I only want to make him more receptive to the idea that Old Nick shouldn't be the sole suspect.”
Vida frowned. ”You must admit Nick's presence in the vicinity is highly suspicious. Do you think either Tiffany or Toni would be able to overcome Tim and crush his skull with a baseball bat?”
”A woman could do it if the man was asleep,” I pointed out.
”Yes, that's so.” Vida considered the concept. ”Tiffany's alibi must be checked. She had a dinner break that night, didn't she? It wouldn't take her five minutes to get home. As for Toni, if Tim let her in while Tiffany was at work, he might have gone to sleep after a romantic interlude.” Vida ran a hand through her jumble of gray curls. ”Goodness, it's quite gruesome to dwell on.”
”It puts us on the spot,” I said. ”Milo doesn't seem aware of what's going on in Toni's life. I'm not sure I want to be the person who suggests that one of his own employees could be a suspect.”
Vida nodded absently. ”A pity I don't know that new deputy better. Doe, I mean. Still . . .” Vida drummed her short nails on the desk. ”There's always Billy.”
I agreed. ”Your nephew is a very sympathetic kind of guy.”
Vida looked troubled. ”He's engaged, you know. I don't want Billy having coffee with Toni turned into gossip fodder. Earlene is very nice.”
The engagement was news to me. ”Earlene?”
”Earlene Engebretsen,” Vida replied without her usual bravado. ”A niece of George's, the county commissioner. She grew up in Skykomish. Actually, her last name is Farrell. She married a most unfortunate young man from Monroe. They had a baby-Brant is now four, I believe-and then Corey-the husband-walked out on them. Earlene has had no help from Brant's father, and has very gallantly raised the boy by herself. She works at a restaurant in Sultan. I admire her fort.i.tude.”
I sensed that Vida secretly disapproved of the match, especially since Bill would be taking on a child who wasn't his own. It was no wonder that she hadn't blared the news on her trumpet.
”A small December wedding is planned,” she added, as if she were typing it into an engagement article for her House & Home page.
”Congratulations,” I said. ”Bill will make a fine stepfather.”
”Yes, I should think so,” Vida allowed. She squinted up at the window above her desk. ”I'll put a flea in his ear about Toni,” she went on. ”Though I still think Old Nick was involved. Certainly he's someone that Milo should talk to. He may have seen or heard something. I'm convinced that Roger's search party isn't in vain.”
Vida would want to believe that. I left her then and went into my office. I wasn't sure that Bill Blatt would get Toni to open up. Another woman-Vida, for instance-might elicit what had been going on in Toni's love life. I'd already flunked the course.
Sitting at my desk, I tried to remember the names of Toni's friends. She might have confided in them. As for Tiffany, according to Betsy O'Toole, the young widow had no special chums.
I wrote down the names Milo had mentioned as Toni's girlfriends. First was Mandy Gustavson. I didn't know her very well, though all the Gustavsons were somehow related to Vida. I listed Mags Patricelli next. Neither Milo nor I could recall her married name. I didn't know her, either, except for occasionally seeing her at church.
But Heather Bardeen Bavich was a possibility. Since her marriage to Trevor, she'd continued to work for her father at the ski lodge. Her husband's job was in Everett. The couple had settled in Monroe, approximately halfway between the two work sites.
Until her marriage, Heather had been the restaurant hostess, usually working in the evenings. But the couple had had a baby in the spring, and when Heather returned to the ski lodge, it was during the day, behind the main desk. I called to ask if she had time for a break.
”I don't take breaks,” she said. ”I work only six hours a day, so except for getting some lunch in the coffee shop, I don't take extra time.”
”That's commendable,” I remarked. ”I didn't realize your dad was such a slave driver.”
”He isn't,” Heather replied. ”But he is my dad.”
Heather and Henry Bardeen had a close relations.h.i.+p. Heather's mother had died young, and her father had never remarried. ”Do you have time to answer a couple of questions?” I inquired.
”About what?” Heather sounded puzzled.
I didn't blame her. A phone interrogation was going to be awkward. There was no opportunity to work my way into her confidence without wasting time.
I came to the point. ”You're a friend of Toni Andreas, right?”
”Yes,” Heather replied, sounding surprised. I suspected that wasn't the query she'd expected. ”Toni was two years behind me in high school, but we were both in choir. I always felt kind of sorry for her.”
Ah. The perfect opening. ”Yes, I can see why you would,” I said, ”which is why I'm calling. I don't know if you've talked to her the last day or so, but . . .” I went on, detailing Toni's distress.
”That's a shame,” Heather said when I'd finished. ”I haven't talked to her, in fact, not for . . . oh, maybe a month. I don't have much spare time at work or at home these days with the baby and all. Now I feel guilty. Maybe I should call her before I leave this afternoon. You say she's taking a sick day?”
”Yes.” I paused. ”I hope it's not the job that's upsetting her. She's worked in the sheriff's office for several years. I would think that with the hiring of Doe Jameson, Toni's job would be a little easier.”
”Maybe.” Now it was Heather's turn to hesitate. ”I'm not sure that she likes Doe that much. Maybe Toni enjoyed being the only female on the staff. I don't know.” Heather sighed into the receiver. ”The sheriff isn't going to fire Toni, is he?”
”Oh, no, nothing like that,” I a.s.sured Heather. ”It's just that Toni always seems to be on such an even keel.” As in complacent, almost apathetic. ”In fact,” I continued, lowering my voice to a more intimate level, ”Milo seems oblivious to any problems Toni might be having. You know men. They don't notice mood s.h.i.+fts, or if they do, they always figure it's that time of the month.”