and that old woman as a judge. I had to defuse the situation — so I improvised. Oliver helped. He told me the number of Charlotte’s stew. He said it had been compromised.” Roger shrugged. “It was easy.”
“So you got Wilma Mae out of the way, and you made sure someone other than Charlotte won.”
Roger gave her a sly smile. “From what I understand, I wasn’t the only one who was trying to influence the outcome of that contest. The entire judging process was tainted — as you probably know, I’m guessing.”
Candy indeed knew. She pressed on. “So why kill Charlotte? What did she threaten to do to you?”
“Oh, she made plenty of threats,” Roger said, his smile disappearing. “That woman could get her fur up when she was mad. She was incensed when she lost the contest. She threatened to destroy the ledger, so I’d never get it. She used it as leverage.”
“You made another deal with her, didn’t you?” Candy surmised. “What did you offer her?”
Roger let out a grunt. “What she wanted.”
“And what was that?” Candy asked.
“She wanted to get out of this two-bit town, if you must know. She wanted a more prestigious job, possibly at some museum in Boston or New York. I told her I had a few connections, I’d pull a few strings for her. And, of course, I offered her more money.”
“And the handover was supposed to take place at that picnic area up along the English River, wasn’t it?”
“She was supposed to have the ledger with her,” Roger confirmed, “but of course she didn’t. She said she’d hidden it away where I’d never find it. She said she wanted double the amount we agreed on. Apparently she’d read through the ledger and knew what was in it.”
“So you killed her,” Bob cut in, his face twisting in anger.
“I’d just left Ben’s place. I didn’t bring my fishing gear with me on the trip up here, so I borrowed some from him. I had it in the trunk. And I’d stuck the fishing line in my pocket, just in case I had to use it. Turns out it was a little messier than I thought. Good thing I was wearing gloves.”
“And for what? That damned ledger?” Bob asked incredulously. He inched forward. It was clear he was having thoughts of rushing Roger, maybe trying to overtake him. But Roger waved the gun at him.
“Stay right where you are. And yes, because of the ledger. Charlotte was the one who brought it to our attention, you know. I only found out about it recently. She said she’d heard rumors about what was in it — and I’m not talking about the recipe. Apparently Old Man Sedley let a few secrets slip when he was volunteering around this place.”
“Like what?” Candy asked, unable to contain herself. “What’s in that ledger that’s worth murdering someone?”
“If you must know,” Roger said, his gaze narrowing on her, “Sedley wrote down a few things back in the forties that are very important to my family. But that’s all you need to know for now. I met with Charlotte a few weeks ago, and we put our plan together. I agreed to fund the operation — and I helped her out by driving a willing participant her way.”
“Robbie!” Bob burst out, suddenly seething. “You tricked my son!”
Roger turned toward him, regarding him as if he were a bellboy at a hotel. “He was very helpful,” Roger confirmed. “He played right into our hands — no pun intended.”
“So you brought a ringer into one of your games to clean out Robbie, and then what?” Candy asked.
“Then we waited. It was only a matter of time. Eventually, we figured, Robbie would tell Bob — ”
“And Bob would tell someone around the museum, and eventually Charlotte would get involved and make him an offer,” Candy finished.
“Now we’re getting to it,” Roger said, sounding very pleased with himself. “It was all too easy. But in the end, it wasn’t easy, was it?” He looked at Bob. “You fell for it right away, just like you were supposed to, didn’t you, Bob? Just like we’d planned. You were supposed to steal that ledger for us, get the money for your son, which of course came right back to me, and then go away. But you had second thoughts. And look what happened. Two people died.”
“You can’t pin this on me, Sykes,” Bob said.
“Oh, but I can. And I will. It took me a while to figure it out myself, but there’s a perfect way to do it.” He pointed toward the fishing line. “The evidence is right there. And it’s in your shed, Bob. The police will surmise you took the fishing line from Ben, or maybe not. I’m sure you have other rolls of fishing line around here. It doesn’t matter. The point is, you had every reason to kill Charlotte — and James Sedley. You had a motive to do what Charlotte wanted, and then you put her out of her misery. Or, at least, that’s what the police will think. You did it because of the money and your son’s gambling debts. Didn’t you, Bob?”
The maintenance man could barely contain his anger. “You know I didn’t.”
“It’s only fitting, you know,” Roger continued, “since if you had just done your job the way you were supposed to and stolen that recipe yourself, Old Man Sedley and Charlotte might both still be alive. But somehow she screwed up the theft — veered from the plan, entered on the wrong side of the building or something stupid like that. And she got caught. And... well, we all know the rest, don’t we?”
“You can’t blame this on anyone but yourself,” Candy said.
Roger turned back to look at her. “It doesn’t really matter anymore, does it? What’s done is done. Now it’s just a matter of cleaning up some loose ends.”
“Like us?” Bob asked.
“Like you,” Roger confirmed. “It’s fairly simple from here.” He looked back out over his shoulder. “We’re headed to the tower, Bob. You’ve got the keys, right?”
Forty
What happened next was so surreal Candy found herself barely believing it. After a quick look around the area to make sure they were alone, Roger marched them to the Keeper’s Quarters, but first he told Bob to lock up the maintenance shed. “We don’t want anyone getting suspicious about doors that are open when they shouldn’t be, right, Bob?”
He held the gun on them as Bob unlocked the door to the Keeper’s Quarters and relocked it once they were inside. “We don’t want any interruptions, do we?” Roger said mockingly.
The museum’s main display area was dimly lit, and Candy thought if they had any chance of rushing Roger, it would be now. She tried to catch Bob’s eye, but he looked too stunned to be of any help. Candy twisted her head, ready to spring — but Roger was watching her, with the gun aimed toward her.
“Keep moving,” he said, making sure he stayed several paces behind them. “That way.” He pointed with the gun toward the hallway behind the wooden counter, and the locked door that led to the tower. “We’ll need your keys one more time,” Roger said.
Bob looked at him, a worried expression on his face. “We shouldn’t be going up there. Visibility’s not very good and — ”
“We’re not going up there to sightsee, Bob. Open the door.”
For a few moments, Candy thought Bob might make a move. But this was no Bruce Willis movie. They weren’t heroes or movie stars. They were just a couple of folks from a small town in Maine, trying to stay alive.
Bob opened the door.
“Hold on just a moment,” Roger said from behind them. When Candy turned, she saw Roger standing by the long counter. He had the ledger open and was flipping back through it, his eyes searching. He soon found what he was looking for, tore out several pages, and read through them, scanning the lines James Sedley had written decades ago. When he had finished, he folded the pages over and tucked them into a jacket pocket.
He tossed the ledger onto the counter. “Okay, let’s get going.”
Candy had never been in the tower before, and it was thrilling in more ways than one. It was dark and silent inside, a great echoing cone looming above them. Underneath her feet was a black and white tile floor, worn with age but well kept. A glass-enclosed sign attached to a gray-painted wall informed her that nearly a million bricks
