Who Kissed Charlie Fine?

Chapter 16

In the peaceful sunlight of a new day, the Kiftsgate Inn was far less imposing than it had been the night before. It seemed, rather, to sag in apologetic relief for the return visit in these last lonely days of its life on the hill.

Charlie and Martin surveyed the surrounding grounds, tracing with their eyes the path the underground tunnel from the hotel had taken them, beneath grass and gravel, cutting cross-wise under the road into the treeline and then somewhere out the other side of the woods to Mary's basement. In all the commotion, Charlie had neglected to take photos of the crates and dead bugs, not to mention the bottles of commonly available alcohol. He wanted to go back inside to take a few pictures quickly. Martin, as he knew he would, refused to go with him, so Charlie had him call the real estate agency on the large SOLD sign staked in front of the inn to find out if any part of the sale of the property was still in negotiation or whether Eric Saxon was fully, legally its sole owner. Charlie was quite sure he was trespassing which meant any photos he'd take would be inadmissible in a court case as evidence, even with his investigator's license, but until he knew Eric was the owner for a fact, it would not be a lie to say he wasn't sure who owned it if and when it came up as a lead.

It was still pitch black in the cellar but with his flashlight and the light on his phone, Charlie got all the pictures he needed. His real hope was that they might be useful in obtaining a warrant to search the premises legally, and before the evidence might be cleared away.

When he met Martin back at the bike, Martin said, "Well, the good news is you're not running out screaming. The bad news is it's Eric's, lock, stock and haunted barrel."

"Admiral Blue says hi."

"Really?"

"No."

"So what do you want to do now?"

"I'm thinking these photos along with Rose's testimony will be enough to get a warrant. Sabotage will be a civil matter, but smuggling is a federal crime. I'm wondering whether we go to provincial police and let them contact the feds or if you think – "

"So not Creed?"

"Not Creed. Especially not after Graham's bit about taking care of their own. He's either incompetent or unwilling to see this thing through, at least until after tourist season."

"Smuggling two crates of booze doesn't exactly call for urgency."

"Doesn't the suspicion of importing an invasive species capable of a small scale natural disaster, especially with the likelihood of tying it to Cleave Hawkins missing persons case?"

"Yes, but what's here is circumstantial at best. The alcohol is not, in fact, illegal, and Eric could claim to have no knowledge of the insects."

"I know. I know," Charlie said pensively. "That's why finding and turning the accomplice is key. I need to talk to Claire today. See if this new information about Graham and her girlfriend will connect any dots to anyone else. She'll be crushed and I'm not looking forward to it, but Graham's the one to squeeze and I think we'll need her help to do it. Come on, let's get out of here. We don't want to risk giving anyone a head's up."

They rode back to Sterling's to wash up and change. Time was ticking away and Charlie was hyper aware of every minute passing.

Eric's alibi was tight when it came to the timeline of Cleave Hawkins' disappearance, and sabotaging a business, depending on what could be proved, was less of a crime than a civil suit waiting to happen. Eric would have to go down for violating one of Canada's Wildlife and Plant Protection acts, maybe even a lumber law along with a number of customs violations, but unless he could be linked to Cleave's murder, either by ordering it or covering it up, punishment would likely only be high fines and public shaming.