“Correct. If you solve it first, you’re free to make your own plans.”
I chose not to point out that I was already free to make my own plans without her blessing. This was going to be interesting. At the very least, it would leave Mac and me to investigate on our own. Vi would have to gather her own information and wouldn’t be badgering us. I wondered what Mac would think of it. I didn’t know if he would love it or hate it. However, if I lost the bet, Mac wouldn’t have to worry that I would leave Crystal Haven anytime soon. I was almost willing to just agree to work with Vi for a year to get Mac to back off on the police idea. And to reassure him that I was sticking around.
“Okay, Vi, you’ve got a deal.”
She grinned.
I stuck out my hand and we shook on it.
25
At lunchtime, I walked into the dining room after the knitters had already arrived. René had set up another buffet and Emmett was busy refilling serving platters. The knitters seemed subdued and were not chatting as animatedly as they had at other mealtimes. Finding a murder weapon among their things must have put a damper on their spirits.
I spotted Dad and Seth across the room and headed in their direction after filling my plate with beet salad, risotto, and grilled salmon.
I sat between them, feeling cowardly. I was still unsure of just how mad I felt about Mac snooping around behind my back. And Vi’s comment that he thought I would leave Crystal Haven bothered me. We hadn’t really talked much about the future—our future—but I thought he knew I planned to stay. And to give us a chance. I wasn’t ready to talk to him just yet and didn’t want to give him an opportunity to engage me in conversation. I planned to use my human buffers to keep him at a distance. I glanced at Seth, who had nodded at me in between bites when I sat down.
Dad leaned over and whispered, “I’ve been keeping an eye on that maintenance guy.” It took me a moment to remember why he had it in for poor Kirk.
Dad didn’t like posers and he had pegged Kirk as a fake from the moment he fixed the generator.
“I know that everyone’s a suspect, but I really think he’s just new at this, Dad,” I said. “It doesn’t mean he’s up to anything.”
“Maybe, but I don’t like coincidence.” Dad tore off a piece of French bread and stuffed it in his mouth. He took a swig of water and continued. “Doesn’t it seem strange that that poor woman was killed right after the power went out and the man in charge of the generator is incompetent?”
I shrugged, letting Dad know I really didn’t want to engage much. Plus, my own suspicions were in a different camp entirely and I didn’t want to encourage Dad’s speculations.
“I saw him outside working on the snowblower,” Dad continued. “He had the whole thing torn apart and then he put it back together and got it working again—all in about ten minutes.”
I looked at Dad and must have appeared as clueless as I felt.
Dad huffed. “If he can fix a snowblower in a few minutes, how come he couldn’t fix the generator in many hours?”
“You think he wanted the power out all that time?” I said.
Seth leaned forward.
“Papa, if he wanted the power outage to give him a chance to kill someone, why wouldn’t he just fix it after he was done? There’s no reason to keep everyone in the dark and cold.”
I agreed with Seth. Kirk had seemed sincere in his efforts to fix the generator. Plus, I was having a hard time imagining the guy who was assisting with the yarn bombing wielding a flashlight as a weapon.
“To deflect suspicion, of course. It’s clearly working on you two,” Dad said. “If he had conveniently fixed it later, then you would have suspected that he had left the power off on purpose to suit his nefarious schemes.”
“Nefarious?” Seth said.
I put my head down and smiled.
“It means—” Dad said.
“I know what it means,” Seth said and held up his hand. “Just seems like something Vi would say.”
Dad’s quick intake of breath indicated that Seth had wounded him with that remark.
“No offense,” Seth said and held up both hands.
“I would prefer not to be compared to that person,” Dad said stiffly.
“What’s the matter, dear?” Mom put her plate on the table across from Dad. “You look like you don’t feel well.”
Seth snickered and I put my hand on Dad’s back. “Dad’s still worked up over the generator,” I said.
“Not that again, Frank.” Mom sat and opened her napkin. “That poor man is doing his best. Not everyone can fix machinery the way you can.”
Dad seemed mollified at this and went back to his meal.
The conversation had started me thinking again. There were plenty of suspects and I was wondering how to narrow the list without tipping off Vi, when Mac and Lucille walked in.
He caught my eye and gave me a half smile. I knew that was his first attempt at an apology.