Seductive Suspect

Big Guy dropped to one knee and gave Ponytail a gentle nudge. Nothing. He leaned over her, bringing his ear to her mouth. His brow creased, and he pressed two fingers beneath her jawbone.

The color drained from his face, and he sat back on his heels. “She’s dead. I mean, reallydead.”

The pit grew larger. All the unkind things I’d thought about her the previous night came back to haunt me.

Victor rubbed his temples with his thumb and forefinger. “Let’s go into the dining room. Obviously, there are some…issues we need to discuss.”

I plodded across the foyer in my bare feet, trying not to look at Ponytail’s face when I passed her. Due to her position, I caught a glimpse of her lifeless eyes, and nausea churned in the back of my throat. I jerked away and focused on the giant animal sculptures to the other side. Realization dawned on me. Mr. Steele’s shooting in the library hadn’t been staged. A shiver rolled down my spine, and I tugged at the collar of my robe.

We sat in the same seats we’d been assigned at dinner. Ruth and Babette took the two vacant chairs. Some of the guests were dressed for the day, while others wore pajamas or a robe like me. Regardless of how we appeared, we were all wide awake by now.

Victor paced back and forth by the head of the table. “I didn’t want to alarm anyone last night, but I’m sure it’s clear by now Mr. Steele is also dead. I tried calling for help, but it seems the storm has knocked out the phone lines.” He wrung his hands in front of him. “And cell phone reception has always been spotty up here, even in the best of conditions.”

Those who carried their cell phones took them out to check their service and put them away just as quickly.

“I’ve been doing this for years,” he continued. “Nothing like this has ever happened, I assure you.”

“So, what can we do?” Rabbit’s nose crinkled. “Sit around and wait for someone else to die?”

The murmurs around the table indicated she’d said what we’d all been thinking.

“I hope not!” He stopped pacing and pushed open the door to the foyer. “First things first. I have a list in my room of everyone who is supposed to be here, their real names. I think we need to forget about the aliases and roleplaying and learn who we really are.”

He left the room. No one spoke. I cursed Trina for getting me into such a predicament, and then froze.Hername was going to be on the list, not mine. If that didn’t make me the most suspicious person sitting at the table… I shook my head and tried to figure out the best approach. Should I pretend to be Trina or come clean?

While I mulled over my options, Victor returned with a piece of paper and a pencil. “Mr. Steele’s real name was Jeremy Keyes, and Miss Taylor was played by Mary Stone.” He glanced up from his list at the rest of us. “Perhaps, in addition to telling everyone who you are, you should discuss the circumstances that brought you here this weekend, or if you knew any of the others before last night. I have little information on the person who booked the block of tickets with me now, but some of you may be able to shed some light on what happened before we arrived.”

Ruth sipped her tea and set the cup and saucer on the table. “Victor and I have worked for the same company for years, though this is the first time we were scheduled to be here on the same weekend. We hadn’t met in person before last night.” Frowning, she toyed with the strap of her apron. “Like him, I’ve never experienced anything like this.”

“Well, this is my first time working this job,” Babette saidwithout any trace of an accent. “I thought it would be a fun way to earn some money while classes are done for the summer.” She shrugged. “Also, my name’s not Babette. It’s Brittany. And I’m not really French.”

“No shit,” someone muttered.

She narrowed her eyes but didn’t respond.

Silence descended upon the room once more. It seemed nobody wanted to be the first to volunteer any information. Brittany swatted Shaggy’s shoulder with her feather duster, and he jumped. “Oh! Um…” He scratched the back of his head. “My real name is Dylan Rutter. Someone contacted me via my blog and then sent me the details and everything for this weekend.”

Big Guy raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t you think it was strange?”

“Not really. People send me free stuff to promote on my site and gaming channel all the time.” He smirked. “Maybe you’ve heard of me, The Savage Sniper?”

Everyone stared blankly at him.

“Whatever. It pays the bills. And, like I said, free stuff.”

The eyebrow arched higher. “You get money out of all that?”

He chuckled. “Yeah.”

“Money is not the important part,” Victor said. “Do you remember anything about the person who contacted you?”

Dylan pulled out his phone and ran his finger over the screen. “I can’t access my email, and I don’t remember the name off the top of my head.”

“For what it’s worth, my story’s similar,” Redhead said. “I’m a librarian, and someone emailed me with a proposal for a project to get the community involved in local history, or something along those lines. He—or she, I don’t remember the name offhand, either—invited me here for a fun mystery weekend and said we’d discuss further details on Sunday night.”

Victor tapped his pencil against the list. “I’m sorry, your name?”

“Oh, right. I’m Laura Hendricks.” She twirled a lock of bright red hair around one finger. “I did some research, about the company coordinating these events here and what goes in to plotting the mysteries. Everything sounded good, so I said I’d come.”