A Christmas Wedding To Remember Part 10

Maxine shook her head. "If they have they're not telling us. Patrick is coming over later to see if you can remember anything."

Grandma Ellie shook her head. "I was out there all night. I only went inside for a minute..." Again she started slipping into sadness and Maxine grabbed her hand.

"It's not your fault Grandma, but Detective Shannon was hoping maybe you'd noticed something. Maybe something you didn't even think of at the time-he said you had a good eye for detail."

"Walt's checking on something now and I didn't remember talking to Julianna about her memory last night until I saw Patrick earlier."

"Maybe if we put our minds together we can stop anything else happening to Julianna. That poor child..."

They turned on the evening news watching as Andrew Walters stood outside the gates of Julianna's house.

"New Year's took a tragic turn at the party of Julianna Grant when a guest was found dead in the chocolate fountain.

The guest, a thirty year old man, whose ident.i.ty is being withheld from the public until the next of kin are contacted apparently drowned in the chocolate. Shouting was heard from the area earlier but most of the other guests appear to have been celebrating at the dessert bar or taking an early morning swim to celebrate the New Year..."

The story went on to detail the tragedy which had befallen Julianna at her near wedding and Maxine's appearance in other high-profile cases earlier that year. At least they didn't appear to be blaming her or her chocolate. For now. But somehow she didn't think there was going to be a rush of new business in the near future.

"I wonder who invited him," Maxine's mother said.

She shook her head. "I don't know...but I do have a guest list."

"With pictures?"

"No, but maybe in some way it will help."

Walt came out of the 'study' area.

"I think I've got something," he said joining them as her mother gave him a cup of coffee.

"Zeke was definitely looking into taking the company public earlier this year. One of my investor friends who works in a financial inst.i.tution said they were putting together an IPO when he put everything on hold."

"Why?" her mother asked.

"They never got an answer out of him on that but it seemed to be when Rohan and Julianna became an item."

"So a if Rohan and Julianna actually got married maybe the IPO would be put on hold permanently?" Maxine said.

"Could be," Walt said.

"That could be a lot of money," Maxine's mom said sharply.

"You know what detectives always say," her Grandma Ellie said. "Follow the money."

And this time Maxine had a hunch they were right. She gave Detective Shannon a call. "Not only is Grandma Ellie awake and ready to talk to you, we've come up with some new information."

"I'll be over ASAP," he said. "But try not to get too excited. A lot of leads don't pan out."

Some did though, she thought triumphantly.

He wasn't so enthusiastic about the information when he talked to her. "We've already got a forensic accountant working on that information."

He drew a deep breath. "What do you know about Kevin?"

She looked at him confused. "What has that got to do with anything? Kevin wasn't even there."

"But he was at the original event. He's the one who recommended your cake to Julianna originally."

"Along with a few other caterers," she said. "We work in the same industry. And Kevin's good to work with. His events are always successful a unless, of course, you have something like the attack on Julianna. And that's not something he could control."

"Did you know the dead man was a nephew of Kevin's?"

"Oh no," she moaned. "Kevin's going to be so upset. I have to call him." She picked up her cell phone but Patrick stopped her.

"He's gone Maxine. We checked his place. There's no sign he plans to return. We know he transferred a large sum of money to the Grand Cayman's and he bought a one way ticket there for early yesterday morning. The nephew had another one in his apartment."

A wave of nausea hit her and she got up, making her way on unsteady feet to the bathroom. It wasn't possible. Kevin was her friend.

After she returned to the kitchen she could only ask "but why? What would Kevin gain!"

"That's what we're working on." His blue eyes held hers, an intensity to them that was unnerving. "Until we figure it out, please be careful. We don't want another death." He leaned forward giving her a light kiss.

"And on a personal note, I'm not ready to lose you."

Chapter Nine.

Julianna and Rohan greeted her at the door.

"Thank you for coming," Julianna said and Maxine's heart went out to her. Red rimmed eyes she'd been unable to disguise with make-up and an unhealthy pallor spoke more tellingly than anything she could have said about how the death had affected her.

Rohan too, looked sick with what had happened on New Year's Eve. "We appreciate you taking the time to look over all the photographs with us." He shook his head. "We can't even figure out who the guy is. I don't know who he came with."

"Wouldn't that show in the pictures?"

"I suppose," Rohan said. "But the police took all our phones and cameras at the start of the investigation. "This will be our first time looking at them too."

She glanced back at Detective Shannon who was just coming in behind her now. He hadn't told them about the victim's connection with Kevin? Then again, maybe he was doing that for a reason. It would've been nice if he'd given her a head's up before she got here though.

"At least he wasn't a member of the family or close personal friend," she said.

Julianna brightened momentarily. "That's true."

Detective Shannon was carrying a laptop with cameras. Julianna led them into a small study area. "My dad uses this as an office sometimes. We won't be disturbed here." She showed him where the outlet plugs and connections were while Rohan went out to get a couple of chairs.

Finally when they were all seated in front of the screen with Detective Shannon off to the side where he could stop the pictures if necessary and watch to see how they were reacting he started the pictures.

There were tons of pictures of Julianna and Rohan. Pictures of Rohan with his best buds and group pictures. Pictures of Julia with Kerry and her little sister. Pictures of Rohan's sisters. And then when their eyes glazed over, a picture of Kevin's nephew. Talking to Roger. Julianna's New York brother.

Julianna's eyes widened, Rohan leaned into the screen and they both started peppering Detective Shannon with questions.

"Why would Roger be talking to him? And why didn't he say anything?" Julianna shook her head. "He can't be involved. He just can't."

"Maybe he didn't realize," Rohan said. "We wouldn't have known who he was or even that he'd been there if he hadn't-"

"Ended up dead," Julianna said with a rush. "Roger's out right now meeting with old friends but as soon as he gets home I'll ask him and there'll be an explanation."

Maxine didn't feel so sure but she didn't want to say anything. As for Patrick, that seemed to be exactly what he'd expected to hear.

"I can stay here and wait," he said helpfully.

"That's not necessary, is it?" Julianna said, her face clouding over. "I mean you don't seriously think he's involved do you? This is my older brother we're talking about! He's always been my biggest defender."

"I'm sure you're right," Detective Shannon said. "I'll still need to question him. At the very least he might be able to give us a new lead in the investigation we wouldn't have been able to come up with on our own."

Julianna's face brightened at that thought as did Rohan's. "That makes sense. I mean you've questioned us and obviously we didn't do it. We'll call you as soon as he comes home."

Maxine walked out with Patrick. "Are you crazy? He's got to have something to do with it. I didn't see Kevin's nephew talking to anyone else."

"Which is why we'll have police cars outside the gate and why I've got one on the grounds right now. We don't want Julianna or anyone else spooking Roger before we have a chance to pick him up."

"Oh," she said, eyes widening with the realization. "Should I stay?"

He shook his head. "We've got it under control. Besides aren't you driving your mother and Walt to the airport?"

She gave a small cry. "I almost forgot. Although if this is important..."

"We can handle it," he said.

As if there'd ever been any doubt. She smiled as she headed home. An end was in sight and though her mother had wavered on whether to stay or not, both she and Walt had decided Grandma Ellie would be OK on their own after the first couple of days had pa.s.sed along with the initial shock.

"I trust you to take care of her," her mother said now. "And you will call if you need us won't you?"

"We'll be fine," Maxine said, hugging her tight. "I'll be out to visit before you know it."

The airport was packed with other travelers returning home as well. It might not be the day after New Years but it was still close enough that family and friends taking a slightly extended vacation were returning now.

"Your staff will be going into shock," Maxine said now as they waited for the flight that would have them into Calgary by seven o'clock that night with more than enough time to relax and prepare for the next day's return to work.

"This has been a trip to remember," her mother said.

Maxine rolled her eyes. "I'm not sure that's a good thing in this case."

Her mother stopped, looking her straight in the eyes. "None of us would have chosen what happened New Year's Eve but I've finally realized you're a grown up now. And I'm proud to call you my daughter. You're beautiful, smart and intelligent. I couldn't ask for more."

Maxine's eyes started to tear up and she hugged her mother. Then she looked up and saw Roger. Her heart hammered as she realized he was going to get away unless she did something. At the same time Grandma Ellie was just recovering from New Year's Eve.

"Give me two minutes," she said. "I have to make a call." She stepped over to a corner that seemed relatively quiet and called Patrick. He didn't pick up. She left a message.

What next? She couldn't even ask the ticket lady which plane he was going on. She could see him using the automatic one now. Maybe it would jam. Maybe it wouldn't give him what he wanted.

She watched him pick up the tickets from where the machine spat them out. He started to walk towards the pa.s.senger only area. She pressed the call b.u.t.ton for Patrick again not getting any answer.

Walt was looking in her direction and talking to her mother. She waved to them mouthing, "everything's all right."

They waved back, clearly puzzled. She stopped a security guard.

"Please, you have to help me!"

An older man in his mid-forties he smiled at her. "What seems to be the problem? Do you need directions?"

"I need you to stop that man," she said pointing desperately in Roger's direction.

"Oh, I get it!" he said. "A lover's quarrel. Don't worry. These things have a way of working themselves out." He patted her shoulder in a condescending way.

"He's wanted in connection with a murder," she spat out. "You have to stop him before he gets on the plane."

The security guard took a step back, a.s.sessing her more carefully. "So why aren't the police here?"

"I don't think they're expecting him to be here," she said frankly. "When I left they were waiting at his house with family members."

"And why are you here," he said regarding her with clear suspicion.

"They wanted me to look at pictures from the crime scene," she said desperately. "Then I left to drive my mother to the airport."

"And you couldn't call the police?"

"I've tried calling Detective Shannon! It just goes to message. And meanwhile Roger's gone into the pa.s.senger only area. You have to trust me." Something about what she was saying must have made an impression because he took the phone from her pressing Patrick's number and getting the same message.

"Tell me who this man is," he asked.

"His name is Roger Grant. He's been in town visiting family. Now it looks as if," her eyes filled with tears. "He's getting away."

"You leave this to me to deal with," he said. "You go say goodbyes to your family." He was already walking her over to them, not giving her a say in the matter.

His arm pushed her as she slowed, trying to stop , without causing a scene or losing his cooperation altogether. "I could help you," she said, her voice clipped as they approached her family.

"Not necessary. I hope you've had a good visit," he said walking away from her.

"The nerve of that man," she said, seeing red.