Page 40 of Final Cost

“Wow,” Daniel mutters, turning away from the screen.

“Oh, my God,” Tamsyn says, glancing at all of us in turn. “Is this for real?”

“It’s for real,” says Randy as he hits a button on his phone. “Lucien was right. And there’s more.”

The scene on the television switches to an elegant corridor inside the inn with bedrooms on each side. The time stamp says that it’s three hours later. Nothing happens for several seconds. Then one of the doors opens midway down the hall and out comes Winwood. He’s got his clothes straight and his hair in place. There’s that long military training for you. But a female arm reaches out to grab him when he starts to walk off, and he turns back to give Ravenna a thorough goodbye kiss. Then he strides off down the hallway, shooting a furtive glance behind him to make sure no one sees him before disappearing. He’s wearing the satisfied and vaguely dazed look of a buck up to his balls in fertile does during rutting season in the forest.

“That’s it,” Randy says, turning the TV off. “Great thinking, Lucien.”

“Yeah.” I shake my head, shocked by this additional good fortune. “I may not know much, but I know Ravenna and how she operates. Operated.”

“Wait, what?” Tamsyn glances at me. “You knew something was going on with her and Winwood? But how?”

I shrug away the implication that I have some sort of special powers of deduction. “I didn’t know. Not for sure. I just caught a vibe between them that night. And Winwood’s a good-looking guy. Ravenna hates to let those go to waste.”

“Wow,”Daniel mutters again.

“So I asked Randy to look into it,” I tell Tamsyn. Then I turn to Randy. “How did you get this footage, by the way?”

Randy flaps a hand. “Through legal-ish means. Not the kind of thing you want to bother yourself with.”

Well, he’s right about that. “Has the inn turned it over to the police yet?”

“They will tomorrow, they said.”

“This is great news,” I say, relieved. “This proves that Winwood had a motive to hurt her. Now we just need to find him.”

“Hang on,” Tamsyn says, frowning. “How does this prove that Winwood wanted to hurt her? It looks like they were getting along like a guest cottage on fire. Why would he suddenly want to kill her?”

I think that over, trying to find the best way to describe the phenomenon. “The thing about Ravenna was that she turned on a dime. She was happy to fuck someone now and then ghost him ten minutes later. Or worse, taunt him about not being able to satisfy her. Once she got what she wanted out of you, she had no use for you.” I nod, liking my theory more and more the more I think about it. “My guess? Winwood is a no-nonsense kind of guy. He had to know I’d fire him if I found out about this. And if she taunted him about something? I don’t think he’s the kind of guy to let something like that go. He’s old school. Proud. My way or the highway. Like I said, we need to find him. He’s the key to everything.”

Daniel looks doubtful. “I don’t know, Lucien. I’m not sure this video does you any good.”

“What are you talking about?” I say, frowning.

“I’m saying that this video givesyouthe motive for murder. Another motive.” Daniel’s expression turns grim. “The police will argue thatyoufound out about her having an affair with your employee right under your nose. They’ll claim that this was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Maybe she tauntedyouwith the affair. And maybeyoukilled her in a fit of jealous rage.”

I’ve already considered that very real possibility and am about to tell Daniel so when my phone buzzes. I check the display and discover that it’s my criminal defense attorney.

“What is it, Gray?” I say once I hit the button on the phone.

“I’ll be there in a minute,” Gray says, sounding as grave as Daniel just did. “The police are on their way to Ackerley. They want to see you.”

17

Lucien

“We need the room,”I tell Randy and Daniel when I hang up, eager to have a minute alone with Tamsyn before my next doom-laden meeting. “Thanks.”

Randy gets up and heads for the door. “I’ll stay in touch.”

I stand and shake his hand. “I appreciate the hard work. Stay on it. I don’t need to tell you again— we need to find Winwood. The police need someone other than me to point their finger at.”

“Understood,” he says, heading out.

I start to turn to Tamsyn, but Daniel steps into my line of sight. “Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything,” he says. “I don’t know what the hell I’m talking about. Forget I mentioned it.”

“It’s okay,” I say, also shakinghishand. “I appreciate the input.”

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