The Murders at Astaire Castle (A Mac Faraday Mystery) by Lauren Carr Page A
Authors: Lauren Carr
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the phone, she held a message sheet out for Mac to see. “The wolf man’s sister, Chelsea Adams, called and left a message for the chief.”
Setting down his coffee cup, Mac took the message sheet to read while she reported, “She’ll be leaving this morning and expects to be here later on this afternoon. She’s coming to the station and would like to meet with the chief to discuss her brother’s case.”
“Why doesn’t she go to the hospital to see her brother?” Mac asked.
“Because the news has been reporting that Damian Wagner’s body was found, and that a crazed wolf man was captured there,” Tonya said. “I saw it on the news this morning. They’re already speculating that this crazy wolf man, a deranged obsessed fan, killed the king of horror fiction, which included a lot of werewolves, his daughter, and his editor.”
“And was sane enough to hide Damian Wagner’s body so everyone would think he did it?” Mac asked with a shake of his head. “I don’t think so. Who’s the leak?”
“No one here,” Tonya said with an air of insult at the suggestion. “Most likely the hospital. It isn’t every day they get a real wolf man. I feel sorry for this Chelsea. She sounded stressed out. Here she’s been thinking her brother was dead—I remember when that happened. Their mother died of a broken heart. David felt responsible. And now poor Riley gets found, and they’re calling him a man-eating wolf man.”
As if in response to her assertion, the phone rang. She read the caller ID. “That’s the newspaper,” she groaned.
“Riley Adams didn’t kill those people,” Mac said.
“Tell them that.” She nodded to the ringing phone.
Leaving her to the tough job of handling the media, Mac refilled their cups with hot coffee and went downstairs, where he found that David had finished his phone call and returned to leafing through the case file for Bill Jansen’s murder.
After murmuring a thanks for the coffee, David said, “I compared the ME reports for Jansen and Genie. His body showed signs of being in the fire longer than hers. The burns were more extensive.” He closed the folder. “He was killed first, dismembered, and then put into the fire. Genie was killed at a later time, dismembered with the ax, and put into the fire pit. The killer then left shortly before Rafaela arrived to discover the murders.”
Mac sat back in his chair to enjoy his coffee while envisioning the scenario. “When was Damian Wagner killed?”
“That’s going to be hard to determine,” David said. “Rafaela Diaz, the housekeeper, stated that she saw no sign of him when she arrived or while she was there. The question would be, was he killed before Jansen and Genie were killed, between those two murders, or afterwards?”
“Maybe they were killed to cover up his murder and not the other way around,” Mac said. “Think about it. If he was alive, what would he have been doing while people were being poisoned and stabbed and hacked up and set on fire? He had to have been dead already.”
“That’s a thought.” David sat back to drink his coffee.
In silence, Mac watched him sip his coffee.
Finally, David cleared his throat. “What I predicted would happen, happened.”
“What?” Mac asked.
“Long distance relationships don’t work,” David said.
“She’s only been gone one day.”
“Last night, Randi went to a diner next to the complex where she’s leasing her apartment,” David said. “You’d never guess who she ran into.”
“Who?”
“Butch.”
“Who’s Butch?”
With a chuckle, David looked up from his coffee cup. “Randi’s ex-husband.”
“I thought he was in Alaska.”
“Was,” David said. “He’s in training in Quantico. They ate dinner together. One thing led to another and she ended up at his place. By morning, they decided to give reconciliation a try.”
Mac searched for the words to make David feel better. He wanted to say Randi was in the wrong, but in
Setting down his coffee cup, Mac took the message sheet to read while she reported, “She’ll be leaving this morning and expects to be here later on this afternoon. She’s coming to the station and would like to meet with the chief to discuss her brother’s case.”
“Why doesn’t she go to the hospital to see her brother?” Mac asked.
“Because the news has been reporting that Damian Wagner’s body was found, and that a crazed wolf man was captured there,” Tonya said. “I saw it on the news this morning. They’re already speculating that this crazy wolf man, a deranged obsessed fan, killed the king of horror fiction, which included a lot of werewolves, his daughter, and his editor.”
“And was sane enough to hide Damian Wagner’s body so everyone would think he did it?” Mac asked with a shake of his head. “I don’t think so. Who’s the leak?”
“No one here,” Tonya said with an air of insult at the suggestion. “Most likely the hospital. It isn’t every day they get a real wolf man. I feel sorry for this Chelsea. She sounded stressed out. Here she’s been thinking her brother was dead—I remember when that happened. Their mother died of a broken heart. David felt responsible. And now poor Riley gets found, and they’re calling him a man-eating wolf man.”
As if in response to her assertion, the phone rang. She read the caller ID. “That’s the newspaper,” she groaned.
“Riley Adams didn’t kill those people,” Mac said.
“Tell them that.” She nodded to the ringing phone.
Leaving her to the tough job of handling the media, Mac refilled their cups with hot coffee and went downstairs, where he found that David had finished his phone call and returned to leafing through the case file for Bill Jansen’s murder.
After murmuring a thanks for the coffee, David said, “I compared the ME reports for Jansen and Genie. His body showed signs of being in the fire longer than hers. The burns were more extensive.” He closed the folder. “He was killed first, dismembered, and then put into the fire. Genie was killed at a later time, dismembered with the ax, and put into the fire pit. The killer then left shortly before Rafaela arrived to discover the murders.”
Mac sat back in his chair to enjoy his coffee while envisioning the scenario. “When was Damian Wagner killed?”
“That’s going to be hard to determine,” David said. “Rafaela Diaz, the housekeeper, stated that she saw no sign of him when she arrived or while she was there. The question would be, was he killed before Jansen and Genie were killed, between those two murders, or afterwards?”
“Maybe they were killed to cover up his murder and not the other way around,” Mac said. “Think about it. If he was alive, what would he have been doing while people were being poisoned and stabbed and hacked up and set on fire? He had to have been dead already.”
“That’s a thought.” David sat back to drink his coffee.
In silence, Mac watched him sip his coffee.
Finally, David cleared his throat. “What I predicted would happen, happened.”
“What?” Mac asked.
“Long distance relationships don’t work,” David said.
“She’s only been gone one day.”
“Last night, Randi went to a diner next to the complex where she’s leasing her apartment,” David said. “You’d never guess who she ran into.”
“Who?”
“Butch.”
“Who’s Butch?”
With a chuckle, David looked up from his coffee cup. “Randi’s ex-husband.”
“I thought he was in Alaska.”
“Was,” David said. “He’s in training in Quantico. They ate dinner together. One thing led to another and she ended up at his place. By morning, they decided to give reconciliation a try.”
Mac searched for the words to make David feel better. He wanted to say Randi was in the wrong, but in
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