Carlita could see Tori still needed to talk. “Sure. We can eat first.”
The women chatted about Patrick’s arrest and Mrs. O’Brien while they ate their cereal and finished their coffee. After washing the breakfast dishes, mother and daughter headed upstairs to retrieve their suitcases.
Tori was waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs. “I can’t reach Chad. He must be running errands or is out working somewhere on the grounds.” She opened the front door. “I’ll accompany you to your car. I know where he keeps the keys.”
Mercedes was the last to exit the house and she cast a wistful glance behind her. Despite all that had happened, she’d enjoyed her time at Montgomery Hall and secretly hoped that Tori might invite them as guests again, under different circumstances, of course. She pulled the door shut and followed her mother and Tori through the courtyard and down the short trail to the detached garage.
Tori used her master key to unlock the service door before opening the overhead door and flipping the lights on. “The office is over here. I might need a bit of help identifying which keyring is yours.”
She led them into the small office and to a key rack hanging on the wall. “Do any of these look familiar?”
“There they are.” Mercedes reached around her mother and pulled their keyring off the hook. “You have a lot of keys.”
“Yes.” Tori nodded. “We keep an extra set for each of the employees’ vehicles in case we have to move vehicles around. And, as you know, guests’ keys are kept here as well.” She turned to go and abruptly stopped.
“What on earth?” Tori pulled a key ring from the rack. “This looks like my master key.” She turned it over in her hand. “What would Chad be doing with a master key? I need to find out if this is, in fact, a master key.”
The women left their bags by the door and hurried down the path to the house.
Tori picked up the pace. “If this key fits the pool house and the employee entrance door, it’s a master key. Those are two different locks.”
Carlita and Mercedes silently followed Tori to the pool house door. The key fit and the lock turned. “Let’s try the employee door.”
They made a beeline for the employee entrance. Carlita held her breath as Tori slipped the key into the lock and it easily turned. “Chad Olsen has a master key.”
Carlita turned to her friend. “Tori, the day you visited Beachy Bargains Pawn Shop to sell your…merchandise, did you drive yourself?”
“Heavens no! I rarely drive and I would never drive all the way to Hilton Head by myself. Patrick drove me.”
Carlita stared at the open door and her heart began to beat. “Is he the one who normally drives you around?”
Tori’s face grew pale. “No. Chad does, but he wasn’t able to go that day. I asked him first and when he wasn’t available, I asked Patrick.”
“But you told him where you were going?” Mercedes asked.
“Yes.” Tori nodded.
Carlita clasped her hands. “Did Patrick go into the pawnshop with you?”
“No. I don’t involve my employees in business dealings, especially something like the loose gems,” Tori said. “He waited in the car.”
Mercedes began to pace. “So it could be he didn’t know that the pawnshop purchased antique weaponry.”
“True.”
“How did you find out about the pawnshop in Hilton Head?” Carlita asked.
“I found their ad online. They’re one of the bigger pawnshops within an hour’s drive. I called to verify they purchased loose gems before making the trip.”
“I’m going to check something.” Mercedes pulled her cell phone from her back pocket and switched it on while Carlita peered over her daughter’s shoulder. “Get fast cash for gold.” She scrolled the screen. “Bingo! Check this out. Their online ad says, ‘We pay top dollar for antique weaponry.’”
Mercedes stared at Tori. “What if Chad set Patrick up? Think about it. Yes, we found women’s toiletries in the bathroom Patrick and Chad shared. What if Ava was shacking up with Chad and not Patrick? What if Chad planted the weapon and the panties in Patrick’s room, knowing that the investigators would be back with a search warrant?” She pointed to the key. “He has the perfect opportunity.”
“What was his motive for killing Ava?” Carlita asked.
“The same as it was when we thought it was Patrick,” Mercedes said. “She probably found a weapon in Chad’s room, attempted to blackmail him, he killed her and then framed Patrick.”
“Chad’s second motive may have been revenge,” Tori said. “Let’s suppose that Ava was chasing after Patrick, but using Chad in the meantime.”
Carlita pressed her fingers to her temples. “What if we’re way off and Patrick really was Ava’s killer as well as the person who stole weapons from William’s collection?”
Mercedes snapped her fingers. “The pawnshop. Surely, someone there would be able to identify the person who sold them the antique weapons, either Patrick or Chad, or if they even sold them to Beachy Bargains.”
“There’s only one way to find out,” Carlita said. “I think it’s time to call Detective Wilson to let him know what we found.”
They made their way back inside and to Tori’s office. The first thing she did was call Detective Wilson and explain to him what they’d found. He asked her to email or text a photograph of Chad Olsen and he promised her he would contact her as soon as he questioned the pawnshop employees.
Tori thanked the detective and disconnected the line. “The master key I found. That was what William was trying to show me. I’m certain of it!”
Carlita offered to stay with Tori until they knew for sure that Chad wasn’t involved,
