The Inn at Holiday Bay: Clue in the Clam, Kathi Daley [early reader chapter books TXT] 📗

“Wow. I had no idea. Colt persuaded me to set the whole Frank Ribaldi thing aside, and I did. I hadn’t really given it another thought until you showed up and reminded me of things.”

She gave me a hug. “I think your instinct about Frank being a dirty cop was right on, but it seems that he got what he probably had coming to him. I’m sorry that Ben’s association with Frank caused you to doubt your husband, but if you want my opinion, any lies Ben might have told or secrets he might have kept were simply to protect the woman he loved.”

I hugged Sydney. “Thank you. I can’t tell you how badly I needed to hear that.”

Sydney promised to check in with me about our possible serial killer once she got back to the West Coast and then headed toward her car. Once she left, Colt announced that he had a list of men and women to speak to who he felt were associated with all three murder victims, so I headed across town to talk to Noah.

Chapter 9

Luckily, Noah was in his office when I arrived.

“Abby, what a nice surprise,” he greeted, offering me a seat. “What brings you by today?”

I explained about the three murder victims and the fact that they all attended his church.

“Stan Fairfield is dead?” He looked legitimately shocked. “I hadn’t heard. What happened?”

“I don’t have all the details, but apparently, he was killed in the same manner as the other men.”

“So you’re tracking down all the connections the three men might have shared.”

I nodded. “Colt might be by at some point to speak to you personally, but he’s swamped with this one, so I offered to help out. Is there anything you can tell me about the three men that might help us figure out who might have done this?”

Noah took a deep breath. He leaned forward and rested his arms on the desk in front of him. “None of the men attend church on a regular basis, but they did all show up every now and again.” He paused thoughtfully before continuing. “The only link that comes to mind is a men’s retreat a group from the church attended a while back.”

“Is this the retreat that was held almost exactly a year ago?”

Noah paused, I assumed to think it over. “Yes. I think it was just about a year ago.”

“Did the church sponsor the retreat?”

“No. Stan approached me about a company named Evagrius Industries. They were hosting a retreat about an hour north of here. Stan wanted to use the church to recruit participants, so while I didn’t endorse the retreat or sponsor it in any way, I did allow Stan to hand out fliers. I remember Oliver and Henry as being two of the men who attended.”

“Do you know anything more about the actual retreat?”

“Not really. When I was approached by Stan, he gave me some literature to look at. The retreat wasn’t the sort of thing the church would sponsor, but it looked harmless enough, and I could see how many of the ideas they were touting might be useful in everyday life.”

“Do you remember seeing anything about the seven deadly sins in that literature?”

Noah frowned. “No. Nothing like that. The retreat seemed to be focused on issues other than religion. There were talks about success in business and community matters. I think there may have been a few things about relationships and personal growth, but nothing I saw even touched on the sort of doctrine you’d find here at church.”

“Were there other men who attended this retreat?”

“Sure. I think around a hundred men from various small towns in Maine attended. There was a van from this church full of men who drove up together.”

“Do you remember who all attended from this church?”

“Not offhand, but I may have a list.” Noah stood up and walked out into the outer office, where Christy usually sat. He opened the file cabinet and started sorting through the folders.

“Is Christy off today?” I noticed that her desk was clear of clutter.

He nodded. “Christy’s off this whole week while her friend, Rodney, is in town.”

I wanted to ask Noah how he felt about that, but it was none of my business, so I didn’t.

“Here it is.” He pulled out a sheet of paper. “I’ll make a copy for you.” Once he’d run it through the copy machine, he handed me the copy.

“Seven names,” I said.

He frowned. “And three are dead. Do you think these men died because of their link to that retreat?”

“I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “I’ll give these names to Colt. He’ll probably call to follow up.”

I took my cell phone out and called Colt, but he didn’t pick up, so I left a message.

“I’m going to see if I can track these four men down. Do you happen to know where I can find them?”

Noah looked at the list. “Travis Kubel, Don Perry, Lance Rivers, and Kurt Steadman.” He paused. “Travis works at the tire store over on Shop Street. He should be there now. Don owns an insurance agency. He’s in and out, but he should be in as well. Lance works construction. I can call around and see where he might be working today.” He frowned. “I’m not sure about Kurt. I heard he was fired from his last job. I’m not sure where he ended up.”

“Thanks,” I said. “I guess I’ll start with Travis.”

“I’m going with you.” Noah dug his keys out of his pocket.

“Are you sure you want to get involved?”

“I’m sure. These men are my parishioners. If they’re in some sort of trouble, I want to be there to warn them personally.

Noah offered to drive,