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

so I let him. He headed to the tire store where Travis worked. Luckily, he was in. Unlike the three victims, Travis had a family. Additionally, unlike the three victims, who were all considered affluent, he was a blue-collar sort of guy with limited financial resources.

“Pastor Noah. What are you doing here?” Travis asked after the two of us approached.

“Abby and I would like to speak to you a minute.” He looked around. “Is there somewhere private we can chat?”

“I guess we can step outside. There’s a bench in the back where we stack the discarded tires.”

“That would be fine,” Noah said.

Once we were settled, I jumped in. “I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but there have been three murders in town.”

“Three? I heard about Oliver, and someone just told me about Henry a while ago. Who’s the third?”

“Stan Fairfield.”

“Stan? Who would want to kill Stan?” Travis asked.

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” I answered. “At this point, we’re looking at commonalities between the three men. There are several,” I admitted. “But one of the things the three men had in common was Noah’s church.”

“And the men’s retreat a group attended last year,” Noah added.

He paled. “Do you think I’m in danger?”

“We think you might be in danger,” I answered. “We don’t know that you are, but it’s a possibility. We’re not certain if the church or the retreat is the link we’re looking for between the victims either. What we do know is that you’re on a list of seven men, three of whom have been murdered in the past three days, who attended the men’s retreat. We wanted to warn you, and we wanted to see what you might remember about the retreat.”

The poor guy looked as if he was going to pass out.

“All three men who have died seemed to have been alone at the time of their deaths. Now that you know about the possible danger, you can take precautions,” I assured him. “You’re in a public place here at work, and there are a lot of people around, so I think you’re safe for now. You’ll just need to be careful when you walk to your car at the end of your workday or if you’re alone at home. It also appears that at least one of the three victims may have gone to meet someone who’d contacted him before his death. If someone calls you and wants to talk, even if it’s someone you know, don’t go.”

“My wife and I have plans to take the kids to Virginia Beach to visit her sister. We were going to leave tomorrow, but I think I’m going to pack up the car, and we’ll leave today.”

“I think that’s a good idea. Before you go, however, I need to ask you about the retreat.”

He looked at the ground.

“Did something happen that might be considered a motive for murder?”

He didn’t answer at first.

“It’s okay,” Noah said. “Just tell us what you know.”

“It’s pretty embarrassing.”

“That’s fine. Noah and I don’t shock easily. If the killer is connected to the retreat, anything you tell us could help us track him down.”

Travis cleared his throat. “Stan invited me to attend the retreat, and to be honest, I was sort of undecided from the beginning. But you know Stan. He was a persuasive guy, and he convinced me that I had a lot of responsibility in my everyday life and that some quiet time to myself would be helpful. Anyway, I eventually agreed to go.”

“Do you know why he tried so hard to convince you to attend?” I asked.

“He said something about needing seven attendees. I guess there was some sort of special rate for groups of seven or more. Anyway, when we first arrived, things looked pretty normal. A desk was set up to handle check-ins, and everyone was assigned a room in one of the long dormitory-style buildings. We had an hour to settle in, and then everyone was supposed to meet in the conference room for a welcoming ceremony. I found Don in the crowd, so I headed in his direction. I asked about the others, and he told me that Lance had been juggling a huge job with a remodel on his own house and was exhausted. We both agreed that Lance probably wouldn’t be seen until the following morning. Eventually, Kurt joined Don and me. He said that Stan, Oliver, and Henry had gone over to the get-together in the other building. I asked what building he was referring to, and he answered that there was another huge conference center across the lawn area. I was curious, but not overly so at this point. The speeches were about to commence, so Don, Kurt, and I all took our seats.”

“And then?” I asked, hoping to move things along.

“After the welcoming speeches, everyone was free to break up and mingle. An open bar and plenty of appetizers were provided. Don went to work on the appetizers, and Kurt headed to the bar. I was curious about the other building, so I decided to take a walk and check it out. When I arrived, I found a lot more going on than team building and male bonding.”

“What exactly did you find?” Noah asked.

“A scene that looked like a bachelor party complete with booze, gambling, and women.”

I noticed that Travis wouldn’t even look at Noah, but he seemed okay maintaining eye contact with me.

“Were any of the men in your group participating in this party event?” I asked.

He nodded. “Stan, Oliver, and Henry were all there. I didn’t see anyone else at this point, but I’m pretty sure Lance actually was sleeping, and Don and Kurt were still in the main conference center, eating and drinking.”

“So what did you do at this point?” I asked.

“I went back