The Case Of The Cupid Caper

Chapter 10

I’m not exactly sure why I went along with Cass to respond to the call, except that I followed him out of his office when he left, and when he climbed into his official sheriff’s vehicle, I climbed in the passenger side, and he didn’t argue. Like Dale Conover, Mayor White had been working in his home office when the fire started, and like Dale Conover, he’d been unable to get out in time. The fire had been extinguished by the time we arrived. Cass told me to wait in the vehicle, and I complied. He spoke to the fire chief while I used the time to call the individuals I’d set up interviews with. Ms. Cupid would have to wait. If the mayor had been shot, as I suspected, and the house set on fire, as I also suspected, it seemed there were bigger fish to fry.

Once I made my calls, I had little to do other than to let my mind wander. I watched the firefighters as they cleaned up, and then I watched as the official coroner’s vehicle pulled up and two men went inside. They returned with a black bag on a gurney a short while later. I wasn’t sure where Cass had gone. He’d walked around to the back of the house with the fire chief shortly after we’d arrived and I hadn’t seen him since.

If, as I suspected, the person who killed Mayor White and then set fire to his house was the same person who killed Dale Conover and then set fire to his house, then Lissa probably didn’t kill Dale, as Cass and I had begun to suspect. I remembered that Mayor White had been one of Dale Conover’s patients, so if I had to guess at this point, I’d have to say that someone who would be hurt by whatever Mayor White discussed with Dale was most likely the killer. Of course, I had no idea why the mayor had been meeting with Doctor Conover, or what they had been discussing. Cass had fragments of Conover’s notes, so maybe he’d managed to put things together over the past week.

I was seriously considering calling a cab and heading back into town to get my car when Cass walked back around the structure. He climbed into the vehicle and pulled away.

“So, what happened?” I asked. “Was the mayor shot like we suspect Dale Conover was?”

“He was shot,” Cass confirmed. “The fire department was able to respond sooner than they had to the fire at Dale Conover’s place, so the damage to the structure was minimal, and Mayor White’s remains were in much better shape than Dale’s had been. I’m hoping an autopsy will give us additional information about both deaths. At this point, I’m assuming the deaths are related. Both men died in their home office, and both fires seem to have been started in a similar manner.”

“So this probably clears Lissa,” I pointed out.

He nodded. “I wouldn’t go so far as to say it clears Lissa, but I don’t know of any reason Lissa would have to kill Mayor White.”

“I was thinking that the killer, assuming that both men were killed by the same person, must be someone who would be hurt if whatever Mayor White discussed with Dale during his therapy sessions came out.”

“I had the same thought,” Cass admitted. “I’m going to have to cancel my volunteer shift at the shelter today. I’m sorry to leave you to play with the dogs on your own, but this can’t wait.”

“It’s not a problem. Maybe I can bring some food to your office when I’m done.”

He hesitated.

“You have to eat.”

He nodded. “Actually, that sounds good, but call first. If I’m done doing what I need to do to follow up on today’s incident, I’ll probably prefer to go out and eat. We can meet somewhere.”

“Okay. I’ll call you when I’m done at the shelter, and we can figure it out from there.”

Once we got back to Cass’s office, I picked up my car and headed to the shelter. I had one-on-one doggy training today before the playtime Cass and I did on Fridays. I was going to miss Cass’s presence during playtime, but I did understand that with two high profile murders to solve, he was going to be a busy guy.

When I arrived at the shelter, Naomi was chatting with one of the other trainers. She waved me over, so I joined them.

“I just spoke to Cass,” she said. “You usually seem to know what is going on. Do you know what happened?”

“I don’t have all the details,” I answered Naomi’s question. “I do know that Mayor White was in his home office when a fire was set to his home.”

“I’m really not all that surprised,” the woman who’d been chatting with Naomi when I arrived joined in. “I heard from a friend who works for the town as a freelance bookkeeper, that Mayor White invited several large hotel chains to visit the area with the hope of luring them into developing resorts in our community without even getting approval from the council first.”

“I was at the town council meeting this week,” I said. “My name is Callie, by the way.”

“Ellen,” she introduced herself. “It’s true that White was pretending to go through official channels, but according to my friend, Polly, he was doing his own thing behind the scenes.”

“Polly Thorndike?” I asked. I seemed to remember she worked for the town in a freelance capacity.

“Yes, Polly Thorndike,” Ellen confirmed. “And she told me that not only has he been negotiating with developers behind the backs of everyone who should be involved, but she also said he’s doing all sorts of other things the council hadn’t authorized.”

“Like what?” I asked.

She shrugged. “I’m not exactly sure, but I think he has been doing audits and stuff. I suppose he wants to trim the fat from the budget so he can afford to lure people in with their fancy new resorts. I know when Hank Bradford found out what was going on, he threatened to shoot the man and hang his carcass in the town square if he didn’t back off with his pro-development stance.”

Okay, that sounded needlessly violent, but I knew that Hank owned the Foxtail Lake Inn, and it made sense that if a large hotel chain got a foothold in the area, he’d eventually be out of business. I also knew that Hank was the sort to say things he really didn’t mean, so I doubted he would have killed the guy. Besides, what I knew which these women might not have put together, was that Mayor White’s death was most likely connected to Dale Conover’s death, and I couldn’t see a single reason why Hank would kill Dale.

“How long has White been mayor?” I asked. He hadn’t been mayor when I’d lived here before.

“A couple of years,” Naomi answered. “The man moved to Foxtail Lake several years ago and immediately began positioning himself to run for town council. Once he was elected, he used his political clout as a steppingstone to become mayor. Initially, it seemed like he’d make a good mayor, and I thought someone from out of the area might bring a new perspective to local politics, but since he’s been in office, he’s made some decisions that I’m not at all a fan of.”

“Walter Bowman would make a good suspect in Mayor White’s murder,” Ellen said.

“Walter Bowman, the pharmacist?” I asked. “Why would that sweet old man want to kill Mayor White?”

“I guess you heard that Walter is looking to sell his business so he can move closer to his daughter.”

I nodded. I had heard that.

“Well, Walter had the place all but sold, but then Mayor White stepped in and started picking the sales agreement apart, and the next thing Walter knew, his buyer was backing out.”

“Why would Mayor White do that?” I asked.

“Because Walter wanted to sell to a couple from Aurora who planned to leave things exactly as they are. Meanwhile, Mayor White put in an offer on the same property with the idea of tearing that whole block down as part of his redevelopment project.”

“There are six businesses on that block.” I pointed out.

“There are. The bank is already set for relocation, and I’m pretty sure a sales agreement with White has already been negotiated. The diner on the corner closed a year ago, and I believe that White has an option on that property as well. The owners of the hunting and fishing store, the hairdresser, the pet shop, and the pharmacy have all held out. I think White knew that if he could get one of the three to sell, the others would be forced to comply. Walter didn’t want to be the one to bring the whole block down, so he decided to sell to the couple from Aurora. Of course, White was never going to let that happen, so he got in the middle of Walter’s deal. I know Walter was madder than a cat with his tail caught in the screen door when he found out about White’s involvement with the loss of the sale he thought was a done deal.”

It was beginning to sound as if there were quite a few folks in the community who wouldn’t be all that upset about Mayor White’s demise, but I seriously doubted that any of the folks mentioned killed him.

Several of the other trainers came in while we were chatting, so Naomi called everyone together to begin the training session. I had to admit that I was impressed with Naomi’s commitment to making sure the dogs she placed in forever homes were healthy and mostly free of negative behavior patterns that could very well land them right back in the shelter. Once the training class was done, I headed toward the playroom where Cass and I normally played with a group of dogs for ninety minutes. During the warmer months, we’d use the time to take the dogs out for a long walk around the property, but during the winter, we made do with endless games of fetch. I always enjoyed these sessions, but I had to admit that I wasn’t having nearly as much fun as I did when Cass was doing the shift with me.

Once the shift was over, I called Cass as we’d arranged, and he suggested we meet at the Pinewood Diner for a meal. The diner was a casual dining establishment located on the lake about halfway between Aunt Gracie’s place and Cass’s cabin. I wondered about Milo, who’d been with Cass when I’d last seen him, but Cass informed me that he’d actually gone home to change his clothes and drop Milo off in anticipation of my call.

Once we’d settled in and ordered, I asked Cass for an update regarding the murder cases he was working on.

“Both men were shot, or at least that appears to be the case,” Cass began. “Given the amount of damage to Dale Conover’s remains, we can’t know with any certainty what happened, but based on the marks the coroner found on the ribs of the deceased, a gunshot wound is likely, so I’m going with that theory for now. What we do know is that the remains of both men were found in their home office, which had been set on fire. If not for the link between the two men that seems to exist, I’d be looking carefully at men and women in the community who had a problem with Mayor White’s progressive views of expansion and redevelopment, but I’m not sure how Conover fits into the whole redevelopment thing.”

“It feels like the murders are personal,” I said. “Was Mayor White married?”

“Divorced. His marriage ended before he moved to the community. He never talked about his ex, but I do know that he has taken a couple of long vacations to visit his children, who I believe are in high school.”

“So both men were single at the time of their deaths. We know that Dale Conover had been dating Lissa, and according to her, they were still dating at the time of his death. I wonder if Mayor White was dating anyone.”

“I don’t know,” Cass admitted, “but I really doubt the man’s dating life will come into play. As we discussed earlier, the obvious link between the men is that Mayor White was seeing Dale professionally. My gut is telling me to follow that lead.”

“I guess that is the most obvious link at this point. Did you find anything in the files you managed to retrieve that might provide a clue as to why Mayor White was seeing a psychologist in the first place?”

“Not really. I did find documents that had random words from which I could build a theory, but it would really be nothing more than a guess. The files relating to current cases are so damaged as to render them pretty much useless. I’m still hoping to get into Conover’s laptop. I don’t know if he kept patient files on the computer, but I’m hoping at the very least that there’s a link to the online file system I suspect he must have maintained.”

“What about eyewitnesses?” I asked. “Did Mayor White’s neighbors see anything?”

“One of his neighbors remembered seeing a blue sedan parked on the street a few doors down from Mayor White’s residence just before noticing smoke coming from the house. He didn’t notice make and model, nor did he get a license plate number, and there is no way of knowing if the occupant was in any way connected to what happened. I’ve canvassed the neighborhood, and no one else that I’ve spoken with admits to having seen anything. Most of the residents were at work when the fire occurred.”

“A blue sedan isn’t much of a lead, but it may come into play at some point. I don’t suppose that other than the doctor/patient link, there are any other links between the two men.” I wondered. “Was Dale Conover involved in local politics?”

“Not that I know of. Certainly not here in Foxtail Lake. I’m looking into his political affiliations. I’m also looking into their dating lives as well as their friends and business acquaintances, although I don’t think we’ll find our answer there. Still, while it’s early in the investigation and I can’t say for certain that the fact that White was seeing Conover professionally is the link that got both men killed, it’s the lead I’m aggressively following, and it’s the motive I suspect will explain why the men were not only shot but burned as well.”