Her Frozen Cry (Detective Amanda Steele)

TWENTY-SIX

The waiting room at the Paws & Claws vet clinic was a zoo. Hound dogs were howling and cats were mewling and hissing. Rabbits and guinea pigs burrowed back in their carriers. One parrot was repeatedly cawing, “Happy Hour.”

Trent leaned in toward her. “The bird must be a friend of Jimmy Buffett’s.”

“Who?”

“Really? Jimmy Buffet. He sings ‘Margaritaville.’”

“Country?”

He teetered his hand. “Kind of.”

“That’s why you lost me.”

The woman at the front desk was all smiles when Amanda and Trent walked up to her. Her expression dulled when she realized they didn’t have any animals. “How can I help you?”

“We need to speak with Bethany Wagner. Is she in?” Amanda asked.

“She’s here. Can I tell her who’s looking for her?”

“Amanda Steele.” Before coming in, she and Trent decided it might be best to start off using the personal connection instead of going in flashing their badges.

The woman shifted her gaze to Trent. “And you are?”

“He’s just a friend of mine,” Amanda said. “If you could tell Bethany I’m here, that would be appreciated.”

The receptionist seemed to hesitate, but eventually nodded and disappeared down a hallway, leaving the front desk unmanned. She returned a few seconds later, her shoulders slumped forward. Behind her was Bethany—Amanda easily recognized her. The young girl was still in there, as was the family resemblance in her eyes and mouth.

“Amanda?” Bethany motioned for Amanda to follow her, and Trent came along too.

She took them into an office that had a miniature skeleton model of a canine sitting on the desk—at least that’s what the gold embossing on the base of the plaque said. A framed diploma on the wall announced that Bethany Wagner had completed the veterinary assistant program. Bethany closed the door but didn’t invite Amanda and Trent to sit in the visitor chairs. Amanda was halfway there when Bethany snarled.

“Don’t bother. Mom said you might come here, and she told me to get a lawyer if you did.”

It was like she had flipped a switch—one way in the public eye, different in private. “No need to get a lawyer involved. We just have some questions.”

“Let me be the judge of that.” Bethany knotted her arms tightly in front of her bosom.

Amanda gave it a few seconds, hoping Bethany would cool down. “Could we sit and talk? Just for a few minutes?”

Bethany eventually nodded and dropped into the chair behind the desk. Amanda and Trent sat in the visitor chairs opposite. Amanda introduced Trent.

Bethany didn’t pass him a glance. “Why are you here, Amanda?”

“I think you know the answer to that.”

“You think one of us poisoned Alicia Gordon.”

“Us being?” Amanda volleyed back.

“Dad, Mom, me? But none of us did this—not that we wouldn’t have had good reason.”

Amanda had released suspicion about Bethany being the killer because she couldn’t see a motive for killing Eve Kelley, and what would she care about the people who had bid on New Belle? Same could apply to Claudia. “Fair enough. Maybe none of you are responsible, but we have an investigation to see through. We’re here because it can’t be ignored that Alicia Gordon was poisoned with pentobarbital.” Amanda watched as that sank into Bethany’s mind and played over her features. Her eyes widened just a bit, but she didn’t say anything. “I suspect you have that drug on the premises,” Amanda added.

“Of course we do. It’s used in euthanasia.”

“It’s also fatal for humans in certain doses.”

“As I’m well aware.”

“What was your relationship like with Alicia Gordon?” Amanda asked.

“Pfft. We didn’t really have one.”

“She was married to your father.”

“Uh-huh, and I’m a grown woman who doesn’t live at home. But I didn’t really like her. Does that make me a bad person? Maybe. I don’t care. It’s the truth.”

Hating her father’s new wife might not make her a bad person, but Bethany had left town within days of Alicia’s death—a time when she should have been there for her father. Was there tension there? Estrangement even? Or had Bethany already been away when the news of Alicia’s death hit? If so, why wouldn’t she have hurried back? “You and your dad… How are things between the two of you?”

“He wouldn’t take Mom back. Instead, he married that woman.” Bethany’s cheeks flushed. “I shouldn’t tell you this because it’s not really your business. But unless you’ve gone through a divorce or are going through one, you can’t begin to understand how difficult it is.”

“I can imagine it would be very difficult,” Amanda said.

“Difficult doesn’t begin to cover it.”

Given Bethany’s volatile attitude toward her father and Alicia, did she not know that the divorce had been Bethany’s mother’s idea, not her father’s? And Bethany hadn’t really answered Amanda’s question about her relationship with her father. She would guess complicated would be the answer. A few moments ago, Bethany was defending him, and now she was angry with him.

Bethany added, “You probably don’t think their divorce should bother me so much. It’s not like I’m living at home.”

“The thought never occurred to me.” It might have if she didn’t have her own life drama, recently finding out about her father’s infidelity. She was surprised by how it had shaken her. And her parents had worked through it all. “Going back to Alicia. Do you have any ideas who might have wanted her dead?”

“How much time do you have? Likely will be a long list, if I really think about it.”

“Really?” Trent asked. “From what we hear, it sounds like she was a nice person.”

A slight stretch but not entirely untrue. It would be interesting to see Bethany’s reaction.

“A nice person? She was all about her business—above everything. She rarely spent time with her sons. Brad, I don’t think ever when he was young because she was building her business. Leo, well, he’s in the background now.”

Trent pressed his lips together, his brow furrowing, his eyes narrowing. “And how do you know all that?”

“They did become a part of my family. I’m not blind, and I saw what she was like. As for the rest, her past, I can piece it together from things Dad has mentioned. Also what I see playing out with Leo.”

“We understand Alicia had plans to be more present,” Amanda began. “She was in the process of selling New Belle. She wanted out so she could spend time with her family.”

“I’d believe that if I saw it.” Bethany tilted her head from side to side. “Though I guess it makes sense. Selling now would fit her character perfectly. Selfish.”

“I’m failing to see how that would be selfish,” Amanda said.

“Me too,” Trent chimed in.