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

as being the sort to carry out a very methodically executed murder like the ones carried out this week. If these men had been shot and left for dead or stabbed in an alley, sure, I’d believe Kurt could be behind the deaths, but killing someone by injection and then going to all the trouble to move and pose them? I don’t think so.”

“Okay, so if the proposed development is the motive, who do you think did it?” I asked. “Who was enraged enough about what the resort would do to the town to kill three men? Who would have used the clams and the notes as diversions?”

She paused and thought about it. She tapped her chin and sipped her wine while she thought. It occurred to me that perhaps I should have thought to speak to Lonnie and Lacy earlier. They had both lived in Holiday Bay forever, but it had been a crazy couple of days, and I hadn’t thought about it.

“Probably the most outspoken opponent to the proposed development is Daryl White. Daryl is the president of the local lodging association, which I guess you must know since as a lodging property owner, you’re most likely a member of the association.”

“I am,” I confirmed. “Although I’ve never actually attended any meetings.”

“I have,” Georgia said. “I know Daryl, and I agree that he’s not at all happy that the town council has agreed to look at the project. Still, he doesn’t seem like the sort to kill anyone.”

“I agree,” Lacy said. “I’m just listing names at this point, and if we’re looking at a list of men and women who oppose the project, Daryl would have to be at the top of the list. The second person on the list would probably be Justin Brentwood, followed by Barnaby Johnson.”

“Wait!” I said. “Barnaby Johnson was on the list Genevieve gave me of men making payments to Evagrius Industries. I’m not sure that fact is important at this point, but it sounds as if this man is both opposed to the project and familiar with the retreats thrown by Evagrius Industries.”

“Is Barnaby the sort who would kill three men over something like a disruption to his lifestyle?” Georgia asked.

Lacy didn’t answer right away. When she did, she indicated that Barnaby might actually make a pretty good suspect.

“Barnaby is a very rigid man. He has definite ideas about right and wrong, and he tends to view the world as a pretty black and white place. Barnaby’s extremely conservative and isn’t the sort who is tolerant of the ideas of others. He’s the sort to judge those he comes into contact with, although I can sort of see him getting mixed up in one of those fantasy retreats. I can also see him wanting to hide it if he did. He would consider his involvement to be a sin of the biggest sort and wouldn’t want anyone else to know about his indiscretion.”

“Which would explain the payments to Evagrius Industries,” I said. “We’ve speculated from the beginning that the company might lure men out to their site with the promise of a power building retreat, only to provide a very different option once they arrived. It didn’t sound as if the men were forced to partake of the options provided, and many didn’t, but it seems that those who did give in to temptation might have had to pay the company to keep things quiet.”

“If we find out that exact thing happened to Barnaby, I won’t be at all surprised.”

“So does it seem as if this man would be physically able to kill and move the men who died?” I asked, having never met the man.

Lacy nodded. “Barnaby is a large man. Six two. Two fifty. He could have killed and easily moved the men. And he was a medic in the Army, so he’d know how to use drugs to kill a man.”

“It sounds like this man might be the person we’re looking for,” I said. “I need to call Colt. He may have already spoken to Barnaby, but if he hasn’t, I think he’ll want to.”

     

Chapter 13

I’d shared the conversation I’d had with Lacy with Colt, who agreed that Barnaby made a good suspect. He’d been trying to get ahold of him ever since I’d left, but at that point, he hadn’t had any luck. Colt still hadn’t tracked down Kurt by late yesterday but had managed to talk to and clear Clark Havilyn, Ted Newberry, and Robert Jones. He was going to keep trying to track down both Barnaby and Kurt. He’d promised to call me later that evening, but he never did, so I figured I’d call him this morning.

I wondered if he’d even gone home. When I’d left his office, he had the files and books we’d discovered that afternoon to look through, plus he planned to take a closer look at the phone and bank records of all the victims. I knew the possibility of a fourth victim was weighing heavy on his mind. It was weighing heavy on my mind as well. It was a little like being in a room with a ticking bomb. You could hear it ticking down the minutes and knew it would eventually explode, but you didn’t know when or how severe it would be.

I was about to call Colt’s number when my cell phone rang.

“Sydney?”

“Hi, Abby. I hope it isn’t too early.”

“Not for me, but I’m three hours later than you are on the West Coast. It must be five a.m. there.”

“It is, but I’m up and heading out to work. I figured I wouldn’t have time to make personal calls once I got there and wanted to check in with you. Did you find your killer?”

“No. Not yet, but we have made progress.” I’d spent the