9

When Corrine woke the next morning, the sun was shining and the bedside clock said eight. She rose, washed her face, dressed, brushed her hair and went downstairs. There was no one in the living room, so she went into the dining room, where she found the housekeeper setting the table for breakfast. “Good morning Mrs. Wexler. Did you sleep well?”

“Surprisingly well. I suppose yesterday’s events tired us all out more than we realized. Even the staff overslept. Chef Anton just started making breakfast ten minutes ago. I hope you slept well.”

“Like the proverbial log. Have any of the others come down yet?”

“You are the first one down. Can I get you something?”

“If the coffee’s ready, I’ll have some. I’ll wait for the others to come down before I have anything to eat.”

The housekeeper got Corrine some coffee, and Corrine took it into the living room. She went over to the window looking out at the ocean and sat down. The first thing that came into her mind was Joe Tyler. In spite of what she had told Carla last night at dinner, she had been more than a little pleased to see him. She had been very fond of him in college, and she found that the feeling was as strong now as it had been then. She remembered how happy she felt when Carla had described the look on his face when he saw her. If only they had met without a murder to come between them. Could anything develop now, or..........

Her thoughts were disturbed by the sound of James coming into the room.

“Good morning, Corrine. Lisa has just come down, and I heard Paul and Carla stirring in their room. Are you hungry? Mrs. Wexler said that breakfast would be ready soon.”

“Yes I am. By the way James, who won the final backgammon game yesterday?”

James laughed. “I felt it would be prudent of me to let Paul win, since Carla was there also. I’m sure, though, that Paul will tell you he won fair and square.”

“And so I did.” They turned to see Paul and Carla just coming into the living room. “You just don’t want to admit it.”

“Any time you want a rematch”, replied James, “Just let me know.”

“Just a minute you two,” said Carla. “If we ladies are going to be here - and we are - I suggest we find something to do that we can all participate in.”

“What do you have in mind?”

“Nothing yet, but I’m sure we can come up with something during or after breakfast. I’m starved; let’s go eat.”

They joined Lisa in the dining room just as the food was being brought in. Everyone ate with good appetites, James remarking that he never realized how one person could cause so many people to lose their appetites, even when the food was so good. Lisa noted that Michael’s death sure restored everyone’s appetites quickly. The food was good and they did it justice. They finished up, then decided to go out on the beach for the morning.

“What are we going to do, if this murder isn’t solved by tomorrow?” asked Lisa when they were out by the water. “We all have jobs to go to. Will our bosses understand?”

“Let’s not borrow trouble. I for one prefer to remain optimistic that the sheriff will have it figured out before tomorrow night,” answered James. “So, what do we do until the sheriff gets here?”

“There’s not a whole lot we can do,” said Paul. “I suspect that it was Michael’s plan to bore us stiff this weekend, as usual. His get-togethers were never very interesting - at least the ones Carla and I were forced to attend. The only game I found was backgammon, which is for two people only. So, wheat can we do except read, walk along the beach of sit and talk?”

They ended up doing all three. The Sunday paper was shared, they walked along the ocean from time to time in pairs, trios and sometimes the whole group. But most of the morning was spent rehashing the previous day’s events. Carla pointed out that the fact that no one heard anything indicated premeditation, but James countered with the fact that a person planning a murder would bring his or her own weapon. Lisa suggested that perhaps the murderer did bring a weapon, but thought the letter opener was a better idea.

“And what about Michael himself?” asked Paul. What was he doing in there all afternoon? Was he creating a new program to use against someone? If so, against whom?”

“He seemed panic stricken when I left,” said Corrine. “He might have been trying to come up with something to save himself.”

“Maybe he was getting one of his programs ready to use. Oh, no, I hope it wasn’t that. I don’t think I could handle it if he has released a program accessible to the sheriff’s computers.” Lisa shuddered.

James put an arm around her shoulders and gave her a hug. “Like I said before, let’s not borrow trouble, Lisa. We’ll all deal with whatever comes when it comes.”

They talked about it for a while longer, but no one came up with any conclusions, or even theories. Finally, it was lunchtime, and they went back inside to eat.

They sat down once again at the dining table, and the housekeeper and the chef came in with the dishes of food. “The sheriff phoned a little while ago and said he would be coming by around three.” The housekeeper put her dish on the table and added, “If he should be able to solve the crime then, shall we expect everyone to return to their homes afterward?” The guests looked at each other in surprise.

“I really couldn’t say, Mrs. Wexler,” replied Corrine. “None of us had thought of that. I think you should carry on as though we were going to spend the full holiday weekend here as planned.”

“I certainly hope so,” said the chef as he put the dish of food he had brought in on the table. “I would hate to see the food I bought for this weekend go to waste. I hate to see waste in anything, but especially food.”

Corrine found it hard to suppress a smile at that. “We will just have to wait until the sheriff comes before we can decide anything.”

The housekeeper and the chef left the room and the guests began serving themselves. “Chef Anton seems to have a one track mind and it’s always on food. I’m surprised he isn’t fat,” said Carla. “I hope Michael never criticized his cooking. I don’t know what Anton would have done.”

“I never heard Michael say anything bad about Anton’s cooking,” replied Lisa. “In fact, Anton is hard at work on two cookbooks at the same time. He had Michael’s approval. But, I suspect that Michael would have found a way to take credit and most of the money for them.”

“Well, now Anton will get both the credit and the money he deserves. And he does deserve it,” said Corrine. “This soup is wonderful. In fact, I’ve never had any food prepared by Anton that wasn’t superb.”

They at the soup and sandwiches with great enjoyment. When they were finished, they went into the living room by mutual unspoken consent. When they had reached the entrance, they were surprised to see Mr. Wexler carrying boxes up the stairs.

“When the sheriff called, he gave Mr. Milton permission to pack up Mr. Collier’s things. I’m bringing him boxes for the things that can’t go into Mr. Collier’s suitcases.”

“How are you two doing under the circumstances?” asked Lisa. “Do you need anything?”

“Only an end to this uncertainty, so we can all get on with our own lives.”

“We share that wish, Mr. Wexler. You go on ahead.”

The handyman went upstairs and the guests went into the living room. James challenged Paul to a rematch in backgammon and the ladies sat down to watch for a while. Finally, Corrine, Lisa and Carla moved to another part of the living room to talk.

“I must say the housekeeper’s question about whether we would stay here if the murder was solved today really took me by surprise,” said Carla. “You were right, Corrine, saying we hadn’t thought of it. With all the talking about it this morning, I guess it never occurred to any of us that the murder could be solved quickly.

If the sheriff did solve it today,” Lisa said, “I don’t care how late; I would be out of here so fast, all you’d see would be a blur. The further away from Michael and anything to do with him I am, the better.”

“What about you Corrine?” asked Carla.

I’m not sure. I think it would have to depend on how late it was, whether I was up to the drive - and other circumstances.”

“Those other circumstances being your and Joe Tyler’s feelings for each other?”

“Okay, Carla, you win. I am very fond of him, but whether it’s enough for any kind of relationship beyond what we already had, I don’t know.”

“All I can say,” Lisa said, “Is go for it! You have nothing to lose, and a lot to gain. He is kind of cute.” She grinned and the other women laughed.

“What about you, Carla?” Corrine asked, returning to the original subject. “What do you think you and Paul would do?”

“I kind of feel the same way as Lisa. I’m not sure about Paul. He has a way of surprising me sometimes. But, I can’t imagine him wanting to stay. As for James, he’s hard to figure out, with his sudden mood changes.”

They heard the doorbell ring just as the mantle clock struck three, and saw the housekeeper answer the door. The sheriff had arrived, and he talked quietly with the housekeeper for a minute, then went down the hall. Mrs. Wexler went into the living room. “Sheriff Tyler has gone to the study. He asked me to tell you he’d like you to wait for him here. But, Miss Alcott, he requested that you join him in the study. I’m to bring the rest of the staff in here to wait for you both to return.” She hurried off. Corrine looked at the others in surprise, then left the room.

“That almost sounds ominous,” said James. “Could he have solved the murder?”

“Let’s not anticipate,” replied Paul. “It’s your move. Let’s finish the game.”

They soon completed the game, and joined the women by the fireplace. The staff joined them, looking nervous. They waited there for the sheriff and Corrine.

Meanwhile, Corrine went to the study and knocked on the open door. “Joe?”

“Come on in, ‘Rinne,” he replied from the desk. I hope you can get into this computer to find out what he was doing. I’m computer illiterate.” He stood up and motioned for her to sit at the desk.

“I did it once, and maybe I can do it again. But you must understand, anything I might be able to find has to be suspected of being phony.”

“You mean like the drug sales done by Lisa’s brother?” he replied with a smile. “She called me this morning to tell me about it.”

“I’m glad.” She smiled back at him. “Well, let’s see what I can do here.”

It was lucky she knew as much about Michael as she did, or it would have taken much longer than it did. An hour later, she got in. A little searching led her to that drug selling program they had been discussing. He had altered it to add Corrine’s name to it, and was planning to present it to the Board of Directors on Tuesday. “I can’t believe it!” she said. “Did he really think they’d believe this?

“I’m glad you said that ’Rinne,” answered the sheriff. “Otherwise it might have looked like you found out about this earlier and killed him because of it.”

“And then showed the program to you now, instead of wiping it clean when I killed him?”

“You have a point there. Anything else in there I should see?” They looked at his files for another half hour. Finally he said, “Well, that about does it for me. Shall we join the others?” They left the study.

10

When Corrine and the sheriff entered the living room, they found everyone gathered around the fireplace area. Corrine went to sit on the sofa next to Lisa, and the sheriff went to stand in front of the fireplace. “We were able to get in touch with Mr. Crandall. He was shocked when I told him what had happened, and said he couldn’t believe that any of you could have done it. He also confirmed that he had sent by messenger a letter to Corrine. Although our examination of the ashes in the trash can in the study turned up nothing, I believe that they are the ashes of that letter.”

That letter produced quite a reaction,” Corrine told the others. “I don’t know what he had originally planned to do yesterday, but we found the program he was using against Lisa. He had altered it to make me the brains behind it. I was stunned. Did he honestly believe the board would think it was real?”

There was a gasp from the others. “Every time I think he’s gotten as low as he can get,” said Carla, “He does something like this to lower my opinion of him even further.”

“We all now know what his considered reaction to Corrine’s information was. What was his immediate reaction, ‘Rinne?” asked the sheriff.

“Disbelief, at first. Then he was furious and upset. Panicky, even. He went pale and shook so much, he had to sit down. He yelled at me to get out, which I did. Afterwards, when he had to go upstairs to change his clothes, he still sounded the same. But that was only a few minutes later. Does that help?”

“It might. I only met the man briefly a couple of times, but talked to a few people in town who seem to think little of him. I need some more information. Anyone?”

“When he came into his room,” the valet answered, “He seemed agitated and very upset. As he changed his clothes, he grew grim; it seemed to me that he was plotting something, although I had no idea what.”

“He loved to torment anyone he could, and he enjoyed using the computer to do it,” said Corrine. “As much as I hate to admit it, he was a computer genius.” She paused a moment. “Or maybe not as much of a genius as I thought, since I was able to get into those programs.”

“He loved humiliating people, especially women,” added Carla. “He criticized me constantly in front of others, both professionally and personally.”

“As long as it didn’t hurt him, he would do whatever he could to hurt or humiliate anyone, even people he never met, especially if he could benefit from it somehow,” Lisa spat out. “He was a total monster.”

“If he enjoyed doing it, he did it. He always made sure he could get away with it, and he liked doing it.” James face grew dark with anger at some of the memories.

“Didn’t he ever get caught?”

“He always made sure he couldn’t get caught. It was his biggest fear. But once when we were driving - I forget where,” Lisa answered, “He cut someone off at a high rate of speed. He laughed and said if the other driver couldn’t take it, he shouldn’t be on the road. But the other guy followed us, and when we stopped, so did he. He got out of his car and came toward us. He was a good four inches taller and forty pounds heavier than Michael, all muscle. Michael saw him and started shaking. He was terrified. He apologized over and over to the other driver. He made me promise not to talk about it to him or anyone, and afterward was unable to say or do anything nasty for a week. From then on, he never did anything rotten on the spur of the moment. He was super cautious about anything mean he did, making sure there could be no retaliation.”

“He was always more polite to people who were in a position to fight back, even the household staff,” said Mrs. Wexler. “The moment he saw anyone bigger than himself, including any repairmen who came to the house, his attitude immediately changed, becoming more conciliatory.”

“He sure was a coward,” said Paul. He wasn’t about to do anything to anyone unless he was positive they couldn’t fight back, or that someone with authority wouldn’t find out and punish him somehow.”

“You all agree with this assessment?” Both the guests and the staff nodded. “Let’s see if I have it straight. He loved to dish it out, but couldn’t stand the thought of having to take it. He would never have accepted the reality of getting what he deserved.”

Corrine sat up suddenly. “He couldn’t stand it. You mean to the point of doing anything to avoid it?”

11

Joe nodded slowly. “You and I are thinking alike, I believe.”

“But how? The others began to realize what the sheriff was getting at, as Corrine asked that question. There was a look of disbelief on each face.

“If you’ll all follow me to the study, I think I can show you how it was done.”

They all got up and followed him to the study. He pulled the plastic bag containing the letter opener out of his jacket pocket.

“There aren’t any letter openers this plain to be found anywhere in town, so I’m going to use it to demonstrate. I’m very fortunate to have highly observant deputies and found a few very interesting items in their reports. One was that the household staff had touched upon his fear of reprisal. Two, it appears that he was standing too close to the bookcase for anyone to be able to stab him in the chest. You can see marks in the carpet where he took a step or two backwards before he fell. And two, very small, almost unnoticeable dents were found on the inside edges of the bookcase doors, right where they meet.”

He went over to the bookcase and open the top doors. He felt along the inside edges. “Right here and here, “ indicating two points directly opposite each other. “They can barely be seen. My deputy found them when he felt the edges of these doors. I guess it helps to be a murder mystery fan. He said he’d seen something like this on a TV show. I believe this is an instance of life imitating art.”

He turned to the others. “Mr Donovan, you are the same height as the deceased, are you not?

James nodded.

“Would you mind stepping over here to help me with a little demonstration?”

James went and stood where the sheriff indicated. The sheriff took the letter opener out of the bag and inserted it between the bookcase doors where he had indicated the dents were, so the blade was pointing toward James.

“Now, grab hold of the door handles and close the doors as much as you can, but not so much as to move the blade. Then get as close to the point as you can.”

James took hold of the handles, closed the doors and moved forward slowly. When the blade point touched him in the chest, he stopped. The sheriff let go of the blade and stepped back. The blade didn’t move. Everyone could see where it touched James.

Lisa gasped.

“That’s right where it was sticking in Michael’s chest!”

Everyone was stunned. “Was Michael that much of a coward? Asked Carla. It’s inconceivable to me that he could have preferred death to punishment.”

“I began to suspect that he actually did prefer it after talking to some of the townsfolk,” the sheriff replied. “The more I thought about it, with the reports and pictures I had on my desk, the more I believed that it’s the only possible conclusion.”

“I believe the sheriff is right. The more I think over the time I’ve been employed as his valet, the more instances I remember that would lead me to the same conclusion,” said Milton.

“He had no backbone, that one. His father said so to both my wife and me, many times,” added Mr. Wexler. His wife nodded

“Michael had justifiable reasons for committing suicide - to his way of thinking,” said James, who had stepped away from the bookcase. First, he hated to be caught as we figured out in the living room. Second, he loathed the idea of anyone getting back at him. That was obvious from the aftermath of Corrine’s meeting with him. Third, any retribution would have stopped him from continuing to do what he’d been enjoying for so long....”

“And fourth,” Corrine said suddenly, “He had found a way to torment us, especially me for what I’d done, one more time. Knowing him, that may have been the deciding factor.”

“That rat!” Lisa exploded. “If he were here now, I’d strangle him with my bare hands! And no jury in the world would convict me! Just who did he think he was?!”

Carla turned to embrace Paul, who held her close. “It’s over,” she said. “It’s really over.” She hugged Paul fiercely.

James turned to Lisa. “If that bastard were here, I’d help you kill him,” he growled. He turned back to the sheriff. “What now? Are we free to go?”

“May I suggest we all return to the living room where it’s more comfortable?” replied the sheriff. They left the study, went to the living room and sat down.

Once again, the sheriff went to stand in front of the fireplace. “I’ll have to present my findings to the D.A. I believe he’ll agree that the evidence points to the same conclusion. However, on the slim chance that he doesn’t, I would prefer that you all spend one more night here. I’m not even sure if I am going to be able to find the D.A. until the holiday weekend is over.”

“You know, I think that’s a good idea.” Paul grinned.

“What on earth would make you think so?” asked Lisa, somewhat angrily.

“Think about it. I can’t think of anything that would have irritated Michael more, than the five of us enjoying ourselves at his expense. Can you?”

“See what I meant about Paul surprising me?” Carla asked Corrine.

James looked at him a minute, then started to chuckle. “I like the way you think, Paul. I’ll stay, sheriff. I believe that, looking at it Paul’s way, the others will, too. And we all thank you for solving it so quickly.”

The others smiled and nodded in agreement.

“All right. I’ll head on out to try to find the D.A. now.” He held out his hand to Corrine. “Will you come with me to the door?”

She got up and took his hand. As they went into the foyer, she said to him, “Joe, that was wonderful. You didn’t really need my help. But tell me, how did you come to be sheriff here? I expected you to become a success in the big city.”

“I realized shortly after I got my first job in Baltimore that I was a small town boy at heart. So, I saved as much as I could for a year or so, then sold just about everything I had, jumped on my motorcycle and went looking for my life. I rode into this town a little over seven years ago and felt like I had come home. I stayed and put down roots.”

“You never married?”

“Never found the right girl. Or maybe I let the right girl get away.” He put his arms around her. “Do you have any idea how glad, and how sorry I was to see you, ‘Rinne?”

“Glad and sorry?”

“Glad, because I’ve always cared for you; you know that. And sorry, because of the circumstances. They prevented me from saying what I wanted to, until now....”

She put her hands up against his chest, but didn’t push him away. “Joe, I’ve been thinking a lot about us, but so much has happened this weekend. I need to sort things out some more; to think things through. Give me a little more time? Please?”

He turned her loose, but took her hands. “My timing isn’t the greatest, I know. I’ll give you some time, but not too much. I don’t want to lose you. I had to tell you how I feel and too much time has been lost already. I’ll go now, but I’ll be back in the morning.” He kissed her on the cheek. “Until then.” He opened the door and left.

Corrine went slowly back into the living room, where everyone was waiting for her. “What did he have to say?” asked Carla. “Or was it too personal?”

“You don’t give up, do you?” Corrine replied with a smile. “He’ll be back in the morning.”

“Is that all?”

“No, but the rest is personal.”

“All right, you two,” said James. “Until then, it’s time for a celebration. Chef Anton, do you think you can come up with an exceptional dinner for everyone, staff included?”

“Of course. I will make the most wonderful food, fit for a great party. You’ll be very pleased at what you have to eat tonight.” He immediately hurried off to get started.

“There’s one person who hasn’t been traumatized by all this. Oh my gosh, I’ve got to call my dad!” Lisa hurried off to make the call.

“I suggest we all go to our rooms to rest up, then get dressed up. We’ve got a party to go to,” said Paul.

And celebrate they did. The food was everything Chef Anton promised it would be, and more. They even had champagne, which they shared with the staff, who held their own quieter celebration in the kitchen. Both lasted well into the night.

12

EPILOGUE

The next morning, Corrine was again the first one up. She came downstairs to find preparations for breakfast were just beginning. So she went outside to stand by the water and watch the tide come in.

She had been standing there, deep in thought, for about fifteen minutes when she was startled to hear, “Hello ‘Rinne.”

Turning, she saw Joe walking up to her. She smiled at him. “Hi.”

“What were you thinking about just now? I expected you to hear me walking up to you.”

“I was thinking about Michael’s death, and how, once again, I have my freedom to make choices. I also realized that I am partially responsible for his death. He wouldn’t have done it if I hadn’t told him what I’d done.”

“You’re not blaming yourself, are you?”

“Oh, no. I wouldn’t have changed what I did, even if I knew what I know now. The mood I was in, I wouldn’t have cared what he did. But I wish he was alive to learn his lesson.”

Joe moved closer to her. “What about our little talk yesterday. Have you thought about that? Or are you just going to try to fade out of my life? Because, I promise you I’m not going to let you.”

She looked up at him and smiled. “One thing I know is that I was very glad to see you. I care about you more than I realized. I want to get reacquainted; to catch up. But I do have to leave here. I have a home, responsibilities and obligations. Do you think we can find a way to work things out? I’d like for us to get to know each other better, don’t you?”

“I do, and I can think of one good way to start,” he replied as he drew her into his arms and kissed her.

“I knew it; I knew there was something between them,” said Carla, who was standing at the bedroom window looking out at the view. Paul came over to stand behind her and put his arms around her.

“Let’s leave them to their romance. We have one of our own to see to.” He hugged her close.

Carla turned in his arms, put her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately.

But that’s another story.