Murder of a Wedding Belle by Denise Swanson Read Free Book Online Page B

men glowered at each other, and Skye quickly said to Wally, “Two members of the wedding party are not in their cabins.”
    “Were they here earlier?” Wally whipped out a pad of paper and a pen.
    “No. I haven’t seen them today. I hope they just went for an early breakfast or to church.” Skye wasn’t sure that they were religious, but it was Sunday morning, and there weren’t many other places they could be.
    “Names.”
    “Hallie and Hale Jordan. They’re twins. The groom is their father.”
    Simon interjected, “They’re children?”
    “No. College age.” Skye turned to him. “Nick is quite a bit older than my cousin.”
    “Oh.” Simon raised a brow and looked between Skye and Wally. “Dating older men must run in the family.”
    Wally’s expression hardened, but he didn’t comment. Instead he reached for his cell. “Thea, call in Sergeant Quirk. I need him to locate Hallie and Hale Jordan. Tell him to start with the restaurants in the area, then try the churches.” He told the dispatcher to hold on and asked Skye, “Do you know what religion they are?”
    “Not a clue.” She shook her head. “I know Riley can’t get married in the Catholic Church since Nick is divorced.”
    “Just like Chief Boyd,” Simon murmured. “Something else you and your cousin have in common.”
    It was Skye’s turn to glare at Simon. What was he doing? He almost sounded jealous. After the last case they’d worked on together when Wally was out of town, Skye thought she and Simon had made their peace and that they were on the road to becoming friends. In fact, for the last eight months, they’d fallen into the habit of having coffee together on Sunday mornings after Mass. So why was he acting like such a jerk now?
    At the thought of those get-togethers, guilt nibbled at Skye’s conscience. When she’d mentioned them to Wally, he’d been unhappy, but she’d insisted that she and Simon were friends and there was no harm in her talking to him. Had she misinterpreted Simon’s intentions?
    Before she could think about it, Wally clicked off his cell and said to Skye, “Reid processed the body and Xavier is taking it to the hospital in Laurel for the medical examiner to perform the autopsy.”
    Skye nodded. Xavier Ryan was Simon’s assistant. She asked Simon, “Do you have a cause of death?”
    “My best guess is she died of suffocation. There’s a suspicious bruise on her temple, some abrasions on her face, and it looks as if she was hit on the head before being stuffed into the floral refrigerator, which is airtight.”
    “How about a time of death?”
    “No.” Simon shook his head. “I wasn’t able to determine TOD because the body was refrigerated. But according to FEMA, a unit this size has enough air for about five hours, so she was probably locked in here no later than three a.m.” Simon tapped his chin. “Nothing suggests she tried to get out of the unit, so she was probably unconscious the whole time.”
    “I sure hope so.” Skye shuddered. “I pray she didn’t know she was dying.”
    The three of them were silent for a moment; then Simon said, “I’ve got to get going.” As he walked away, he added over his shoulder, “I’ll let you know when I get the autopsy results.”
    Wally turned to Skye. “A couple of boxes were knocked over in cabin four, but the room doesn’t appear to have been searched. I checked out the victim’s cottage, and her door was unlocked, but there’s no sign of a struggle.
    “So whatever happened probably started in number four.”
    “That’s my working theory.” Wally shoved a hand through his hair. “The county crime-scene techs got here about the same time Reid did, and after they finish with the floral refrigerator, they’ll check out the victim’s cabin and number four. In the meantime, I want to start interviewing people. Who-all is staying here at the motor court?”
    “The floral designer, two bridesmaids, three groomsmen, the matron of honor